In ancient Egypt, the sun was not only a celestial body, it embodied the divine order. He was found in particular in ras, creative God who traversed heaven in his solar boat, and in Horus, the god of royalty and heaven. Both played a central role both in the shaping of cosmology and in the Egyptian royal authority.
However, even if these gods represented both the vital force and the unshakable power of divine royalty, an event dating from 2471 BC. J.-C. came completely upset these old traditions. Under the reign of the Pharaoh Chepseskaf, a total solar eclipse caused a diurnal darkness throughout Egypt. This event was not trivial, but the symbol, according to the Egyptians, of a divine message or a disturbing warning, relates the Daily Galaxy site.
After the eclipse, the last pharaoh of the IVe Dynasty then radically broken with these traditions. Removing the suffix “Ra” of its royal title, which marks an unprecedented rupture, it also decides to abandon the construction of the pyramids. These tombs were however strongly associated with the pharaohs (the latter being perceived as the manifestation of RAR on earth) and carefully aligned on celestial events and solar symbolism.
Thus, the Pharaoh Chepseskaf was buried in a tomb known today under the name of Mastaba El-Faraoun and located, not in Giza, nor aligned with Heliopolis, the religious epicenter of solar worship, but far to the north. His grave is located near Bouto, an important religious center traditionally associated with Lower Egypt and deities like the goddess Ouadjet.
The mystery finally raised
For many researchers, this notable change in traditions had nevertheless remained a mystery. New astronomical analyzes have finally made it possible to lift the veil on the reasons for this religious upheaval. Giulio Magli, archaeoastronome at the Polytechnic School in Milan, used modern calculations to trace the trajectories of old solar eclipses.
He thus discovered that the eclipse of 2471 BC. AD allegedly caused a diurnal darkness throughout particularly impressive Egypt. However, the texts of ancient Egypt offer only waves allusions to this type of phenomena. The Houy stele, for example, talks about“Darkness during the day”.
Religious practices have not been frozen following this eclipse. The Egyptian Fifty Dynasty has seen a renewal in solar worship. The pharaohs then resumed the construction of pyramids and also erected distinct sun temples, dedicated specifically to solar deities. Although more modest than their IV counterpartse Dynasty, these structures nevertheless marked a return to the cult of the sun.
Near a millennium later, another total eclipse swept egypt under the reign of Akhenaton in 1338 BC. This pharaoh is known to have promoted ATON, the solar disc, and has largely adopted the symbols of our star, despite an experience similar to that lived by Chepsseskaf.
