LINGUISTIC SYMBOLIC APPROACH OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN CONSTELLATIONS

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Assist. Prof.- Egyptology dept., Faculty of Archaeology, Fayoum Univ., Egypt.

Abstract

The ancient Egyptians believed that the sky was divided into northern and southern
hemispheres separated by a winding channel called Mr-n-xA, each section contained an astral
entity which has unique cosmic qualities that distinguish them from the other stars. These
astral entities are located in the northern hemisphere, some of them are polar while others are
non-polar and in accordance to the proximity and distance from the center of the northern
hemisphere. Examples of these astral entities in the northern sky are a group of immortal
stars known as Ixmw-sk, while the constellation located in the southern hemisphere is a set of
non-polar stars that include of a group of stars called Ixmw –wrD.

Keywords