Can’t make out the hieroglyphs too clearly but above represents an afterlife scene from the burial chamber of Sennedjem (21st dynasty). The squatting figure (squatting figures are to be associated with the afterlife) on the right is Re-Harakhty seen wearing the traditional sun disk and cobra on his head. The deceased, Sennedjem is shown as a squatting figure with a green face squatting on a sun-calf. He will shortly become ‘Horus’ and rise with the Sun. Many Egyptians aspired to spend eternity with the Sun god, others in the company of Osiris. Hardly surprising given a sky littered with large red boulders and cometary bodies who were believed to be the kas (doubles) of the Egyptians. Such bodies would literally appear to rise and set with the eternal sun, others were seen to join Osiris as stars (transposed Egyptians) in the night sky.
The Sun was said to rise each morn in the form of a calf between two sycamore tress made of turquoise. This is an allusion to the celestial cow goddess Hathor (“house of the king”), whose numerous epithets included “mistress of Turquoise” - or as I contend earth’s rings which were physically observed nurturing many kingly planets and smaller satellites during the night and as they initially rose each day. (The same phenomenon occurring as we speak between Saturn’s rings and Prometheus, which can be seen sucking material from Saturn’s F ring.
http://www.gks.uk.com/gks2/). As the red Sun rose its light would appear to split the vast amounts of dust and debris littering the horizon into two turquoise trees.
Fortunately I don’t need to call upon complicated explanations for the wonderful but enigmatic world of the Egyptians. I simply add planetary chaos into the equation and many enigmatic scenes such as the one above become understandable. Chaos gave us a sky dominated by red disks and I’m not surprised by the two orbs above. The one on the left in all probability doesn’t represent the Sun, otherwise it would be shown the same as the one on the right i.e. red disk with a yellow ring incorporating the cobra. It represents Sennedjem as a red disk rising with the Sun god Re. Again, we’re back to the numerous references of the deceased spending the afterlife in the ‘company of Re’ (numerous refs in the BOD).
The Red Sun.
3,000 years of Pharaonic rule and yet not one single yellow/gold Sun with a
complete(important) sweep of sunrays. I can even explain the yellow ring surrounding the red sun above. This represents the much hotter and highly active corona which was clearly seen lashing out into space to vanquish Egypt’s enemies. I am of course referring to CME’s, prominences and flares - all observed and naturally represented by a snake that literally spat fire and venom. Only the Sun’s ‘snake’ can spit fire, cobras on earth do not spit fire. As the Red Sun set into a debris filled horizon its defensive actions became even more visible (same scenario as Red sun at sunset today), hence the belief that Re was about to commence battle with the demons of the underworld (flat earth). He was seen kicking and screaming as he set in the west and still fighting as he rose victorious in the east. Where else could such beliefs come from given Egypt today has one of the most sunniest and driest climates in the world? How do you look at the tranquil Egyptian sun and believe battle is about to commence? How do you pass on such weird beliefs throughout the generations? For me there is only once plausible explanation, the Sun was actually observed battling on a daily basis, exactly as recorded. Furthermore, it appeared red exactly as depicted because it was hazed behind 93 million miles of dust and debris.
‘Red is also a colour given to the Sun, red at its rising and its setting.’
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/colors.htm
Really, so where’s the daytime suns?
‘With decorations in gold leaf or yellow paint to represent gold, which both form the flesh of the gods and as a colour had a close association with the Sun god.’
(Robins, quoting on the gold funerary mask of an elite woman, The Art of Ancient Egypt, 2000, p 146)
But the Sun was depicted Red! What are they on about? Perhaps, like many others, their subconscious cannot accept a red sun.
‘Because of its warm glow and indestructibility, gold was thought to be the flesh of the Sun god Ra and contained supernatural powers.’ (Discovery Channel, Age of Gold, 2004)
‘The colour yellow was often associated with the sun-disk and with gold, or nbw. Gold was not only associated with the Sun, it was also the flesh of the gods.’ (
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/colors.htm).
I could go on, and on, and on….
Gary Gilligan
http://www.gks.uk.com/