The Egyptians celebrate the phenomenon of the sun perpendicular to the Karnak temple in Luxor on December 21 of every year, from six to eight in the morning, a phenomenon that reflects an aspect of the greatness of the ancient Egyptian, who was familiar with astronomy and the movement of the sun accurately.

In this context, Professor of Egyptology, Dr. Bassam Al-Shamma’, explains, in exclusive statements to “Sky News Arabia”, some of the amazing facts about the sun’s perpendicularity to the Karnak Temple, and the connotations represented by “time” and “place” that reflect an aspect of the greatness of the ancient Egyptians.

Al-Shammaa begins his speech by referring to the significance of timing, on December 21 of each year (the date changes to December 22 every four years, in a leap year), given that that date represents astronomically the beginning of winter (the season of germination for the ancient Egyptians), noting that This reflects an aspect of the development and high efficiency of the ancient Egyptian in studying the celestial bodies and the movements of the sun, stars and even planets. The ancient Egyptians in the Middle Kingdom were able to know at least five planets, including Venus and Mars, and the ancient Egyptian gave them special names.

From the greatness and significance of “timing,” the Egyptologist proceeds to talk about “the significance of the place,” noting that the “temples” of Karnak are the perfect place for such a phenomenon, because of the special importance of Karnak. It is the house of the god Amun-Ra (Hieroglyphic Emin-Ra), which is the hidden idol of the ancient Egyptians. Karnak temples are considered the largest religious center at that time in Egypt, and therefore it is very natural that the relationship between the disk of the sun and (Emin-Ra) is formed there.

He talks about the difference between the perpendicularity of the sun to the Karnak temple and its perpendicularity to the Abu Simbel temple, noting that the Abu Simbel temple is one temple and carved in one period, and therefore specific astronomical studies were conducted on it for the perpendicularity of the sun, while Karnak witnessed the addition of other buildings throughout the ages and up to the era of The Romans, and even the Ptolemies, added temples inside Karnak.

The genius lies in the fact that with all these different buildings the phenomenon still exists, and the sun’s rays can penetrate inside the temple to have a relationship with the religious ritual by going on the main axis of the temple. “And here the genius of the ancient Egyptian astronomer and those who came after him emerge… It can be said that this phenomenon is well-known. Over the course of thousands of years, with evidence that when construction was done inside Karnak until the days of the Ptolemies, it was preserved… No building came to block the sun.”

In his interview with “Sky News Arabia”, the Egyptologist talked about a remarkable phenomenon when the sun perpendicular to the Karnak temple, explaining that “there is a wonderful relationship – which lasts for more than a day – between the sun disk and the entrance to the temple … the sun is concentrated at a certain time above the entrance to the temple.” Karnak, so that the one standing in front of the entrance from the outside can see an edifice on the right and another on the left, and the sun is concentrated between them above the entrance in the middle.. It is a design similar to the word “akhet” in the hieroglyphs, a word meaning “horizon” that the ancient Egyptian used to draw with a hill on the left and another on the left The right and the sun between them.

Thus, this scene represents the word (Akhet), which reflects the grandeur of the ancient Egyptian building, and from here the Karnak entrance building forms the word “horizon” on the ground, so that the viewer of this wonderful scene actually sees the horizon, where the sky and the sun are.

He explains that saying that the phenomenon of the sun’s perpendicularity is not intended in itself, is rebutted by more than one evidence, among those evidence is that at the same time the sun perpendicular to the Qarun Palace in Fayoum, although each of them was built in two different eras, meaning that this phenomenon is known and intended. In itself, he explained that “the ancient Egyptian when he was building did not build arbitrarily. He used to choose and specify specific locations and heights in order to keep pace with the astronomical phenomenon he wanted to perform. He was a student of the phenomenon of the solstice and the equinoxes.”