Archaeoastronomy in the Temple of Amun (Kharga Oasis, Egypt). 24th ALSSA Seminar of Archaeoastronomy.

(Università Popolare Sestrese, Piazzetta Università Popolare, Genoa Sestri, tel. 010-6043247.)

On Sunday May 15, at 10:45 am, during the at the 24th Seminar, Marina De Franceschini and Giuseppe Veneziano present a study on the astronomical orientation of the ancient temple of Amun, located in the oasis of Kharga in Egypt.

Its construction spanned through several centuries: it was begun by the pharaoh Psammetich II (who reigned from 595 to 589 BC) and completed by Darius the Great (522-486 BC). Then there were other changes with Nectanebo II (379–361 BC), with Ptolemy II (283-246 BC) and also in Roman times (from the time of Claudius, 41 AD).

The study started from an article published on September 6, 2015 in the Egyptology blog “Djed Medu” by Mattia Mancini: «The Sun rises in axis with the Temple of Hibis» with the image of a spectacular illumination (hierophany). It was discovered by Ahmed Awad, a researcher at the Faculty of Engineering of the October 6 University of Giza (Egypt), during his studies on the orientation of the Egyptian temples with respect to the Sun.

The hierophany, however, does not occur at the dawn of the Winter Solstice as it occurs in the temple of Karnak and not even on a key date as it happens in the Temple of Abu Simbel (February 22, the day of the accession to the throne of Ramesses II) and October 22 ( day of birth of the same).

Instead, we have April 7 and September 6, dates that do not correspond to religious rituals known from the sources (such as the Navigium Isidis). It is likely that those days were dedicated to the worship of the Theban triad Amon-Ra, Mut and Khonsu, to whom the temple is dedicated.

Curiously, those are the same dates in which the Arc and the Square of Light are seen in the Pantheon of Rome (6-7-8 April and 4-5-6 September). This prompted us to investigate the symbolic meaning of the dates of the hierophany of Kharga - several centuries older - as a possible precedent to those of the Pantheon.

The Archaeoastronomy Seminar, organized by Alssa and the Astronomical Observatory of Genoa, will take place at the Università Popolare Sestrese, Piazzetta of the Università Popolare, Genova Sestri, Italy tel. 010-6043247.