Sesostris I and the sunrise at Karnak and Heliopolis

Luc Gabolde (1)

1 ASM - Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes

In Egypt, political and religious spaces are more or less superimposed. They are embodied on the ground in the Temple, medium between earthly and heavenly worlds. Taking into account this role, it results that the orientation of the sanctuary (the first rite performed during the foundation ceremony) bears a strong symbolic content. At Karnak, the axis was oriented on the sun rise at winter solstice, at Dendara on the rising of Sirius, at Tell el-Amarna on the sun rise at the very date and place of the first worshipping of the sun disk on the site by Akhenaten. It is then proposed here to complete the research with the study of the two major solar temple remaining to be documented : the temple of Atum at Heliopolis and the temple of Amun-Ra at Tanis. An accurate determination of the azimut of their major axis (still missing) shall be implemented, followed by astronomical studies and theological or chronological conclusions.

Mots clés: 12th dynasty; Karnak; Héliopolis; Middle kingdom; Astral orientation

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Luc Gabolde. Sesostris I and the sunrise at Karnak and Heliopolis. Middle Kingdom Egypt: New Discoveries, Metropolitan Museum of Arts, Jan 2016, New-York, United States. ⟨halshs-02114550⟩