Ancient Egyptian Illustration Suggested to Represent the Milky Way’s Great Rift
New studies indicate that ancient portrayals of the Egyptian sky goddess Nut could include an early illustration of the Milky Way galaxy. Dr. Or Graur, an astrophysicist and associate professor at the University of Portsmouth, suggests that a recurrent dark, zigzagging line across Nut’s back might represent the Great Rift, a thick dust lane traversing the Milky Way. This finding provides another insight into the extraordinary astronomical knowledge of ancient Egyptian civilization, affirming their status among early innovators of celestial interpretation.
In ancient Egyptian mythology, one of Nut’s functions was to safeguard the world from a menacing void, known as Nun. Nut was frequently shown arching protectively over the Earth, often represented by her brother and another Egyptian deity, Geb. A set of ancient Egyptian astronomical writings called the Book of Nut also connects the sun’s rising and setting with the goddess. It states that Nut gives birth to the sun each morning and consumes it at night to complete a daily cycle.
Nut’s depiction had been analyzed by Dr. Graur before the new findings. He theorized that her arms are sometimes illustrated to reflect a north-south alignment. Graur correlates this observation with the notion that Nut symbolizes the Milky Way, which extends north to south in winter and east to west in summer.
In his latest research, Dr. Graur expands his theory by investigating variations in Nut’s depiction across 555 ancient Egyptian coffins. Several of these, including representations from the funerary casket of the priestess Nesitaudjatakhet and from the tombs of pharaohs Seti I, Ramesses IV, and VI, portray a dark band zigzagging down Nut’s back in a manner that aligns with Graur’s hypothesis.
Dr. Graur succinctly summarizes his findings: “I believe that the undulating curve represents the Milky Way and could symbolize the Great Rift—the shadowy band of dust that slices through the Milky Way’s luminous band of diffused light. Comparing this image with a photograph of the Milky Way reveals the striking resemblance.”
According to Dr. Graur, these depictions of the goddess are not intended to personify her as the Milky Way but rather to serve as a canvas upon which celestial entities like the stars, the sun, the moon, and galaxies can be oriented in various directions.
Moreover, Dr. Graur posits that the depiction of the Milky Way in these ancient Egyptian illustrations might indicate it was referred to as the “Winding Waterway.” This notion implies that ancient Egyptians shared particular similarities with the cosmologies of other cultures, including some Native American communities. These connections pave the way for a deeper understanding of how early civilizations perceived the cosmos, and how intricately interconnected their perspectives of the night sky may have been.