Ancient New Year’s scene from Egypt uncovered on roof of 2,200-year-old temple

by


A stunning New Year’s scene painted by ancient Egyptians has been uncovered by researchers restoring artwork on the ceiling of the Temple of Esna — a temple built around 2,200 years ago that underwent a major renovation about 2,000 years ago when the Romans controlled Egypt.

The paintings show the Egyptian deities Orion (also called Sah), Sothis and Anukis on neighboring boats with the sky goddess Nut swallowing the evening sky above them — a mythology that details the Egyptian New Year, according to a statement from the University of Tübingen in Germany, which jointly led the restoration with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Ancient Egyptian temple ceiling before restoration, covered in thousands of years’ worth of dust and soot. After restoration reveals iconography of Egyptian god with four heads, possibly a representation of the sun god in the sixth hour of the day. (Image credit: © Ahmed Amin/Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA))

In the depiction, Orion represents the constellation of the same name, while Sothis represents Sirius, a star which was invisible in the night sky in ancient Egypt for 70 days of the year before becoming visible again in east, that day marking the ancient Egyptian New Year, Christian Leitz, an Egyptology professor at the University of Tübingen who is part of the team, said in the statement. The Nile seasonally flooded at this time, and the ancient Egyptians believed that about 100 days after the appearance of Sirius, the goddess Anukis was responsible for the receding of the Nile’s flood waters.