Ancient Egypt was a civilization in which architecture sprang from religion. No better example could be given than the Egyptian Tomb. The ancient Greek historian Diodorus, who lived in the first century BC, wrote of the Egyptian fascination with the afterlife. Diodorus speaks, “The inhabitants of this region consider the term of man’s present life to be utterly insignificant, and devote by far the largest part of their attention to the life after death. They call the habitations of the living ‘places of sojourn,’ since we occupy them but for a short time; but to the sepulchers of the dead they give the name of ‘eternal abodes,’ since men will live in the other world for an infinite period. For these reasons they pay little heed to the construction of their houses, while in what concerns burial they place no limit to the extravagance of their efforts.”
As to extravagant efforts of construction, no other work of Egyptian architecture stands out more boldly than the pyramids of Giza. What is even more astonishing about the three pyramids perched atop the Giza plateau, is their alignment with the three stars in the constellation of Orion’s belt. Lets dig a little deeper. Now in plan view, the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the middle pyramid of Khafre line up perfectly when drawing a straight line at a 45 degree angle from each of their two center-points. However, when extending that same line towards Menkaure (the small pyramid), it doesn’t line up with the other two larger pyramids. When comparing this offset of the pyramid with Orion’s belt, the same offset is seen in conjunction with the third and smaller star in the constellation. Thus we see here an architecture based on astronomy.
Now besides the pyramids of Giza lining up with Orion’s belt, there are also other pyramids to the north and to the south of Giza that correspond to other stars in the constellation of Orion. For instance just five miles north of Giza is Abu Rawash, which is the site of Egypt’s most northerly pyramid. It is also the earthly counterpart to the celestial Saiph, the star in the lower left position in Orion. Traveling south to the town of Zawyet El Aryan, we find two pyramid complexes which on land correspond to the star Bellatrix in the upper right area of Orion which is above. Also when looking at a map of Egypt facing south we see the constellation of Orion before us, with the Nile River symbolizing the Milky Way.
For the ancient Egyptians the constellation of Orion was also associated with the god Osiris, the Lord of the Underworld and of rebirth. The concept of death and rebirth was for the Egyptians a common occurrence, which played out in the very geography of the Nile Valley. For each year the Nile would flood bringing with it rich and fertile soil that was essential for agriculture. The time of the flooding of the Nile also coincided with the reappearance of the constellation Orion, which had been out of sight for 70 days. Thus with the annual flooding of the Nile, Osiris was reborn. To the left of Orion is the star Sirius associated with the goddess Isis, the consort of Osiris. Isis followed Osiris across the sky. There they ruled the heavenly kingdom. They ruled the night, for theirs is the kingdom of the dead.
The tombs of the Egyptians were covered with hieroglyphics, also known as the pyramid texts. The ceilings were covered with paintings of the sky, along with paintings of the gods mingled with the constellations. However, the Great Pyramid though believed to be a tomb has no hieroglyphics at all! Not in the Queen’s chamber nor in the King’s chamber, and neither in the Grand Gallery. What is present in both the Queen’s and King’s chamber are shafts that would seem to point to certain stars and constellations. For example, the angle of the southern shaft of the King’s chamber is 45 degrees. When calculating back to the building of the Great Pyramid, the shaft lines up perfectly with Orion’s belt. When using the same calculations in the Queen’s chamber the southern shaft points to Sirius, the star associated with Isis the consort of Osiris.
The ancient Egyptians worshiped the stars, for the stars were manifestations of their gods. The Egyptians also used the positioning of the stars to help them build and align their monuments. Also, the hieroglyphics etched within the tombs of the dead pharaohs would assist the soul on its ascension to the constellation of Orion and be united to Osiris. So it is evident that both architecture and religion were intertwined in ancient Egypt, and that astronomy was the glue that bound everything together. So, after examining the relationships of Egyptian architecture and religion and how astronomy was the guiding factor for both, then we could argue that the ancient Egyptians were attempting to build none other than heaven on earth.
References:
Bauval & Gilbert. The Orion Mystery. (New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 1994).
Rawlinson, G. History of Ancient Egypt, Vol. 1. (Boston, MA: S.E. Cassino Publisher, 1882).