Mythology meets Astronomy: Ancient Egyptians believed Milky Way galaxy was a celestial goddess, claims study

The Milky Way galaxy is humanity's home as we know it. However, as per recent research, the massive galaxy that houses our planet Earth, along with hundreds of billions of stars, may have symbolised something else for ancient Egyptians: a celestial deity.

The deity in the sky

Pioneers in the field of astrology, ancient Egyptians, were obsessed with the stars. They are known to have observed stars, constellations, and other planets. Around 4200 BCE, they even created the concept of a 365-day year and a 24-hour day by tracking the movement of the Sun and the Moon.

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As per a new study published in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, our home galaxy, the Milky Way, could have symbolised the Egyptian goddess of the sky, Nut.

The massive galaxy, which is also known by names like "the Birds' Path", and" the Silver River," as per the study, was linked to Nut.

As per Gizmodo, in ancient Egyptian religion, the goddess Nut represented the sky, stars, and the universe as a whole. The deity was often depicted as a woman with stars all over her body as she arches over her brother, the Earth god Geb.

^{Egyptian goddess of Sky, Nut.Image credit: Britannica}

Exploring the idea that the sky goddess is a manifestation of the Milky Way, Or Graur, an astrophysicist at the University of Portsmouth,"chanced upon the sky-goddess Nut" when he was writing a book on galaxies and looking into the mythology of the Milky Way.

In a statement, Graur, the lead author of the new study said: "I decided to combine both astronomy and Egyptology to do a double analysis—astronomical and cross-cultural—of the sky-goddess Nut, and whether she really could be linked to the Milky Way."

"Nut also played a leading role in the daily cycle of the sun, swallowing it as it set in the west. During the night, the sun sailed through Nut’s body, which for a time was synonymous with the netherworld. Then, at dawn, Nut gave birth to the sun once more as it rose in the east," he adds.

For his research, Graur referred to ancient Egyptian texts, including the Book of Nut, which was originally titled Fundamentals of the Course of the Stars.

He realised that the 'Book of Nut' equates Goddess Nut's head and rear to the western and eastern horizons, and her arms extending at an angle to her body in the northwest and the southeast.

Egyptians also believed that the goddess helped transition the dead into the afterlife, a common belief about the Milky Way shared by other cultures in Africa.

Connecting past with the present

The study offers a glimpse into how our ancestors viewed celestial objects in the night sky.

"My research shows how combining disciplines can offer new insights into ancient beliefs, and it highlights how astronomy connects humanity across cultures, geography, and time," said Graur.

"This paper is an exciting start to a larger project to catalogue and study the multicultural mythology of the Milky Way," added the astrophysicist.