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| The Star Deities including Imsety (center as a goddess), and Hapy (right). Tomb of Pedamenope. Thebes. |
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Part of the elaborate ceiling decoration of the burial chamber
of Ramesses VI showing the overarching body of the
goddess Nut, the newly born sun, and a number of
netherworld deities and Egyptian gods of the various hours
of the day. The scene illustrates the New kingdom composi-
tion known as the Book of the Day and shows the star trav-
elling along the inside of the sky goddess's body during the
diurnal period. 20th Dynasty. Valley of the Kings.
Western Thebes. Egypt. |
Egyptian astronomical texts and representations mention many gods and goddesses of the night sky - some representing planets as well as astral bodies - which are conveniently called star deities. Most important of these were the "Imperishable Ones" representing the northern circumpolar stars which were visible each night, as opposed to the great majority of stars which appeared and disappeared from view according to the earth's orbital movements. These constant stars symbolized the idea of eternal survival for the ancient Egyptians and it seems to have been the goal of early kings to join their number in the afterlife. Evidence for this early astral cult is clearly found in the Pyramid Texts alongside the solar theology which had achieved dominance before the 5th dynasty. The two approaches are not always successfully syncretized, so that the deceased king is said to be the morning star on the one hand, while he is also said to cross the sky in the boat of the sun god. The growth of the cult of Osiris also led to the stars being called the "followers" of that god, so that it is clear that the major theological systems attempted to incorporate the star deities into their own schemes.
The brightest object in the night sky after the moon, the planet Venus (the "morning star"), was viewed even from early times as an important deity; and from at least the Middle Kingdom the Egyptian recognized five of the planets which they called "stars that know no rest" and which were represented as gods who sailed across the heavens in their own barques. These were mercury (Sebegu, perhaps a form of Seth), Venus ("the one who crosses" or "god of the morning"), Mars (Horus of the horizon" or "Horus the red"), Jupiter ("Horus who limits the Two Lands"), and Saturn ("Horus bull of the heavens").
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Personified constellations, ceiling of the burial chamber of
Sethos I, Valley of the Kings, Thebes. |
As times progressed, many of the brighter stars were mapped into constellations, though these have proven extremely difficult to identify in some cases. At the least, equivalents of the modern constellations of Orion, the Great Bear, and perhaps Leo and Draco are recognizable, however; and these and other groupings represented either standard deities within the Egyptian pantheon or unique astral deities with their own identities. Already by the Middle Kingdom complex "star-clocks" or calendars had been constructed which divided the night sky into 36 decans or groups of stars which were visualized as "star gods" who rose and moved across the sky in the course of ten days, the most important being Sirius (Sothis), whose rising approximated the beginning of the Nile's inundation. In several of the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings - such as those of Sethos I and Ramesses VI - the night sky is depicted on the ceiling of the burial chamber and many of the important star deities are represented and named. At this time many familiar deities - such as the four sons of Horus - also appeared as star gods.
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