Gaby
According to a new study by British astronomer Or Graur, images found in ancient Egyptian tombs suggest that the sky goddess Nut may have been a veiled representation of the Milky Way.
Nut is the ancient Egyptian goddess of the sky, who swallowed the stars and the Moon each day, only to give birth to them again (symbolizing the cycle of day and night). She was associated with the cult of the dead, lifting them to the heavens and guarding them in their tombs. It’s no coincidence that her images adorned sarcophagi and the walls of tombs.
What the study found
Or Graur, an associate professor in the astrophysics department at the University of Portsmouth, examined 125 depictions of the goddess Nut in sarcophagi and tombs, some dating back as far as 5,000 years. Graur said some of the images were remarkably detailed. In many of them, the goddess is portrayed naked and arched over the sky, sometimes with stars and solar disks above her body. Live Science reported that these illustrations give researchers new clues. A key finding is that the ancient Egyptians identified the goddess Nut with the Milky Way.
For instance, on the outer part of the sarcophagus of the singer Nesitaudjathet (11th century BCE), there is an image of Nut lying down. A “thick, wavy black line” bisects her body into two halves. Graur says the wavy line represents the Milky Way, specifically the Great Rift—a dark band of dust that crosses our galaxy.
Graur said such depictions appear in at least four tombs in the Valley of the Kings. For example, on the ceiling of the tomb of Ramses VI (who ruled from around 1143 to 1136 BCE), there are two images of Nut “separated by thick, golden wavy lines that extend from Nut’s head and stretch over her back,” Graur said.
The fact that Nut is shown with those lines suggests a close connection to the Milky Way, Graur said.
Rogério Sousa, a professor of Egyptology and ancient history at the University of Lisbon (Portugal), commented on the study: “I can say that I agree with the identification of Nut and the Milky Way proposed by Or.”
The results of the study were published in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage.
