Ancient star knowledge included astronomy, astrology, and chronometry, and in the past it was an especially important subject in knowledge. A characteristic Egyptian version of this celestial knowledge was in use long before a specific expressed Babylonian astrology was taken up openly in Egypt.
          In the Karnak/Thebes temple already at an early stage, an observatory was placed on top of the sanctuary of Khonsu, the Moon god-son. And from most ancient times astronomical lines of sight were used in planning the axes of the temples.

          The great number of Senmut's many posts - in addition to being the administrator of the Egyptian calendar - was reasonable; for instance, the secretary of Pharaoh Amenhotep II was the chief-astronomer at the Karnak (Thebes) Temple and also a surveyor as well as the inventor of the world's first public book-keeping.
          The oldest astronomical traditions in Egypt are scarce and merely a few drawings of constellations. They show in particular Sirius - and the Great Bear, called khepesch (or sometimes meskhetiu) formed as a leg of an ox. Fragments have been found showing the 36 decan-constellations (earliest findings from 2300 BC) marking the Egyptians' division in 36 sections of the ecliptic (the apparent course of the sun).

          However, in the second and latest tomb of Senmut (in Thebes: no. TT353) the presentation was far better than by fragments, because the ceiling of the main chamber is adorned with a detailed astronomical and astro-mythological, complete star map, which for the first time presents an entire celestial system. This impressive map was both a landmark and an invention in Egyptian astronomy. And at all, they are the oldest collected, complete astronomical images.
          This unfinished and never used, secret tomb of Senmut was discovered in 1925 and dated to between 1500-1470 BC. The dating will be further elaborated and it will appear that in 1493 BC the construction of the tomb ended abruptly.

          It is peculiar that Senmut, whom many researchers presume was of a middle-class descent, has equipped his tomb in this special way not even a Pharaoh had been up to.
          Thus the tomb contained a special astronomical equipment, not only the oldest known in Egypt, but still for the next almost 300 years also the only example of such an elaborated, complete star map. It is a fact that after Senmut a few star maps have been found, and normally only with the Pharaohs. But later on, in the tomb of Seti I 1200 BC, such a regular, astronomical and astro-mythological celestial arrangement of stars was found again. And after this there is one with Ramses II, however not so elaborated.

          What kind of a man was Senmut, when he could compete on equal terms - even surpass the pharaohs in this for that time so important area? All traces and inscriptions show that although Senmut, besides having a deep knowledge about the stars, was the country's greatest man after Hatshepsut, and although he was backed up by a strong party, he mysteriously fell in disgrace all of a sudden and disappeared completely. Therefore, Senmut never took this tomb into use, and there are obvious traces showing that the work was interrupted suddenly. Materials from the Senmut tomb show dates made by the workers. The latest dates are from the interruption, which contribute to pinpoint the time when he disappeared.

(The above text is reproduced with permission, - source: Ove von Spaeth's work, "The Enigmatic Son of Pharaoh's Daughter").



Below:  The World-axis stretching from the Canopus Star via the Sirius Star up to Vega in the constellation Lyra, the sky's three most bright stars and they appear on a perfect, straight line. To compare with the Senmut map's axis - a cosmic factor thus resembling the obelisk symbolism presented in the Egyptian creation myth.

Both as regards time and place, Senmut lived in focus of an expansion in many levels within religion, especially coming from Thebes. The concept of religion included also the special, celestial relation of cosmology and its arrangement - again in many levels - with which Senmut has been acquainted.
          However, even if Senmut also in this field showed much intelligence, he has not himself invented the division system of the celestial maps - they are known to be a result of a long tradition of star based chronometry ("star clock"). But apparently he has invented decisive improvements with extensions (cf. Ove von Spaeth's book: "The Enigmatic Son of Pharaoh's Daughter", the entire Appendix 2 is dealing with this star map) and even innovations in the construction of the star maps.

          This first, complete star map installed in Senmut's secret tomb had set a fashion of which in principle was copied during the following 1,500 years in Egypt. However, a special motive - which in other star maps in tombs of later pharaohs and in the temples was gradually less emphasized and sometimes being disappeared completely - is originally the most dominant with Senmut: the World-axis.
          As this axis has been created by the three most brilliantly shining stars of the sky, i.e. Canopus, Sirius, and Lyra/Vega (see Ove von Spaeth's book: "The Suppressed Record", Chapter 10 is dedicated to these facts), this phenomenon should not be mixed up with the axis of earth. Together these three stars show the straight line along the shining Milky Way across the sky.

          Although Senmut's star map has the oldest picture of the World-axis known anywhere, it is called "a mast" by the few Egyptologists who have at all noticed it. Maybe the only person known to have recognized the World-axis on the Senmut star map was Ernst Zinner, German Astronomer, Astronomy Historian, and Manager of the Bamberg Observatory. In his treatise, "Die Sternbilder der alten Ägypter" in the "Isis" Science Magazine (1933, Vol. 16, pp. 92-101), he mentions it directly as the World-axis of the star map - few years after the finding of the tomb and thus the map.

          Senmut's star map is also constituting a celestial portrait, which in fact is the world's oldest known 'horoscope' in the original understanding of this term, which expressed to "read the sky" - especially in order to determine the time based on figurations in the horizon. A close analysis of the inscriptions of Senmut's star map reveals that almost all planets are gathered around the Sirius Star and thus the World-axis. This indicated a certain date:
          The position of the planets and their special succession at the Sirius section of Senmut's star map is such a rare combination that this individual form has only appeared less than four times in several thousand years - e.g. in the case of Senmut: in May 1534 BC. In this concern all the years between 2200 BC and 200 AD have been examined by the present author (cf. analysis in my treatise's big table or vol. 2's Appendix 2).

          Research, however, has not noticed this ability in the Senmut map so far. Apparently nobody has examined if the said arrangement on the map concerning the planets has existed - the very planets have long ago have been identified by the Egyptologists - although such a special group of planets in fact could be seen in the sky exactly at the time of Senmut.

(The above text is reproduced with permission, - source: Ove von Spaeth's work, "The Enigmatic Son of Pharaoh's Daughter")



Below:  The Horus, here as the sun-related sacred falcon, is connected to the World-axis which (now as the Horus' perch) is the very mooring post for Isis' celestial barge (to the left, and carrying the Hathor sky-cow goddess) - all of Egyptian tradition. The Denderah temple's celestial relief showing a mixture of ancient Egyptian tradition and a Babylonian-Greek influence, late in the Egyptian history.

With the discovery of the Senmut map's dating message, some exact traces are being disclosed, which may support the indications of a concealed background of Senmut and his actual status. But first:
          Many more exact examinations of other Egyptian star maps have disclosed the fact that in the 1,500 years to follow, the versions of star maps were modelled after that of Senmut's map in those cases when the planets are in a similar way gathered around Sirius, but often in a succession with a little difference.

          The differences show in what way the planets were individually placed in the sky at the exact times to which these later star maps were made. Only in the more late periods of Egypt's history, circumstances as regards time may seem a bit more incidental.
          However, the time correspondence of the earliest maps is exact. Consequently, the dating of the Senmut map might be able to establish more correctly the period of Senmut and his contemporaries: Hatshepsut and the Tuthmosis-kings.

          Based on the visual statements of the star map, evidently this period in Egyptian history of the 18th Dynasty is often determined 20-30 years too late, if the so-called low-dating seen in the works of many Egyptologists is being used, and according to which Tuthmosis III only ruled from the year 1479 BC - instead of the real time (of his coup d'état) in 1486 BC.
          Their dating however, is also a passing trend. Cf. that in the more than 200 years of 'history' of Egyptology (from when Napoleon's scientifical staff started off in 1799) it has often been tried to improve the datings which have thus been moved and redefined after intervals of approx. twenty years. Every time twenty years have passed and a new generation of researchers has arrived, a new dating was suggested - but still without a confident result.

(The above text is reproduced with permission, - source: Ove von Spaeth's work, "The Enigmatic Son of Pharaoh's Daughter").



Below:  The Senmut map's "mast", the World-axis with its revolving constellation Meskethiu (Great Bear) which is connecting with Horus and his harpoon. Above is placed the star goddess of the Scorpion star (which in the real sky also is placed exactly here, and thus being near the constellation Cygnus-Swan).

In the Egyptian religious tradition the highest god Amun(-Re) was the father of the king, and the king himself was a god. The religious teaching included one god of creation - Amun in Thebes in Upper Egypt, and in Memphis in Lower Egypt the name of the god was Ptah. Cosmologically the Egyptian religion was like all the other major, ancient religions - and thus it also included knowledge of the stars.
          A certain concept appears again and again in ancient religious cults: "the World-axis". From cultures simultaneous with the Egyptian culture there are several traditions which refer to it as a certain column - often in a temple where it represents the World-axis in cultic form.

          Very few historians have ever dealt with the idea of the World-axis. In order to better understand the background for some of the cultic ideas popular in antiquity, it is essential to understand how much importance the World-axis (often also called World Column or World-Tree) was given in the great, ancient cultures.
          The World-axis (not to be mistaken for the Earth's Axis) was perceived as consisting of the sky's three most radiant stars, i.e. Canopus as the root of the World-axis, Sirius a bit above this, and Vega (Lyra) as its top pole, high in the northern region. The positions of these certain stars can be seen as on a straight line across the sky along the radiant band of the Milky Way stretching all the way from the south up to the far north.

          In about 12,600 years Lyra will again become the North Star as it was approx. 13,000 years ago when the World-axis - seen from the Earth at that time - was positioned like a direct extension of the position of the Earth's axis out into space. A perspective also suggested in many old myths about the stars.
          The ancient Greeks demonstrated a kind of knowledge concerning this. In his world history (2:142), written 2,400 years ago, Herodotus says that the Egyptian priests had handed down knowledge about the beginning of major changes in the world 11,000 years earlier, i.e. now approx. 13,000 years ago. The commencement of that era was understood to be a decisive, cyclic starting point.
 

The World-axis or the World Pillar was known by the ancient cultures all
over the Earth - and still in much later times among the ancient tribes on the
northern Sibirian plaines, from where this drawing was recorded around 1910.

          The World-axis or the World Pillar was known by the Philistines, the peoples in India, the Chinese, the Celts, the Norsemen, and the Teutons - and by the Finnish Samians until only 200 years ago. And even on the American continent among Indian cultures. And among the ancient tribes on the Sibirian plaines - cf. above drawing.
          To the Mayas it was the World Tree, called the giant of the jungle, the Xibalba tree, with roots in the underworld and branches in the sky. Likewise to the Babylonians - as well as in Norse mythology. The latter called the tree Ash, and often they called it Yggdrasil or the Joermin pillar - linguistically a version of Irminsul, which was the name of the ancient Germans' World Pillar.
          Metaphorically this axis has been reproduced as a vine or vine stem in many ancient narratives as well as in the Bible; for instance, Agoste, the mother of the Persian king Cyrus the Great, is said to be standing at the foot that vine as the base of its main stem - according to the narrative of Herodotus (1:107-130).
 

Latest known astronomical use of the World-axis was carried out by
Ole Roemer, the Danish astronomer and discoverer of the speed of
 light, who, around 1695, had the presented scientific drawing made
 with the axis now turned upside down, considering the Sirius star as
 most important for his measuring and celestial references.
Today, the astronauts use the Canopus star (not included in this
drawing) - at the 'bottom' of the World-axis' Lyra-Sirius-line - as an
important point of reference for  orientation in space.

          The World-axis is a forgotten item in works of present-day research literature on world history as well as the history of astronomy. The latest known use of this celestial phenomenon was by Ole Roemer, the Danish Astronomer (discoverer of the speed of light) who in ca. 1700 by means of a measuring technique for certain star relations, used this distinctive axis - but only from Lyra to Sirius because Canopus in the south cannot be seen from north of the Mediterranean area.
          A so far almost complete lack of knowledge of circumstances relating to the World-axis has created many enigmas and often naive interpretations among researchers concerning cosmology in ancient religion, ways of thinking, and perception of the world.

(The above text is reproduced with permission, - source: Ove von Spaeth's work, "The Suppressed Record").
 

Below:  Beams of light are brightening up the brilliant gold-plated covering on the pyramidion top of the Ramses II obelisk. It weighs 230 tons and stands 22.83 metres high in the centre of the Place de la Concorde, Paris, since 1833 - a gift (1829) from the Viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali.
     The obelisk had lost its top already in 6th century BC. Based on the original concept in ancient Egypt the French Government, in 1998, provided it with a guilded capstone - now being the only antique obelisk in the world with a gold covered pyramidion.

The oldest known Egyptian image of the World-axis is on the exceptional star map from ca. 1495 BC - the time of Hatshepsut - in the tomb of Senmut, the magnate, in Thebes.
          The latest known image in Egypt is dating from ca. 45 AD - the time of Emperor Claudius - in the famous 2.5 metres wide star map on the temple ceiling in Dendera (now in the Louvre in Paris). It has been a riddle why the star map is positioned obliquely in relation to the corners of the world, and so far it has not been noticed that its bearings are exactly according to the World-axis, shown here as an Egyptian column placed correctly in relation to all the constellations.

          The Egyptian text, "The Book about Day and Night" dating from the time of Ramses IV, calls the axis menit (mnj.t), the ‘mooring post' of the celestial boats sailing between the planets. Another text, "Papyrus Harris", calls it:
                    "... a column from the Earth up to the sky ...".

          The World-axis or the World Tree in the form of a certain pillar or post - to be found in some of the ancient temples and sanctuaries - is also recognized in the Hebrew Bible's text of Deuteronomy (16:21-22):
                    "... do not plant a tree .. as a holy post close to the altar of Yahweh, your god ...".

          In the Hebrew Bible's "First Book of the Kings" (18:19) the prophet Elijah (Elias) has a religious dispute with King Ahab's 400 Ashera prophets, i.e. priests of the holy post.
          Likewise the Hebrew "Second Book of the Kings" (21:3) from 700 BC and "Second Book of the Chronicles" (33:3) it is said that Manasseh, the Judaean king in Jerusalem, had:
                    "... holy posts placed ... and bowed to the army of the entire heaven and worshipped them ... and practiced magic and took auguries ...".
          Several times the Bible uses the expression "armies (hosts) of heaven" meaning the many 'stars of heaven'.
          The Hebrew text of "Second Book of the Kings" (23:3) recounts about Josiah, king of Judaea, 622 BC in the "House of Yahweh" - i.e. in the very temple of Jerusalem - where:
                    "... the king stood by the pillar, and made a covenant before the face of Yahweh ...".


The World-axis - and the Paternity of the Spirit of the Descended God

The World-axis was considered a magic place where the gods would reveal themselves and descend along the pillar or the post as a Jacob's ladder from the upper regions of the heavens. Cf. Jacob's dreaming at the foot of the ladder - in the Bible (Genesis, 28).
          Later, a Greek myth mentions that the god Zeus descended like a swan and fertilized Leda (Ionic for 'woman'), who later gave birth to twins, Castor and Pollux - the Gemini constellation.
          The entire narrative is related to the astro-mythological expression of the mysteries, as the position of the constellation The Swan (Cygnus) near the star, Vega (Lyra), at the upper pole of the World-axis was considered the starting point of a divine power that followed this course of the magical World-Axis from the upper sky and down to earth to the "woman at the foot of the axis"; the sons are the Gemini stars situated directly above this lower part of the World-axis.

          By this holy pillar - or the holy tree, i.e. the World Tree - linked with these special powers, the said cultic ritual called hieros gamos, 'the sacred coitus', could be executed by the royal couple of the country or by the crown prince and crown princess. Apparently, this special ritual at a holy cult site or a special section of the temple seem to have developed later into the custom of temple prostitution.
          In Egyptian temples the World Pillar is not normally seen or even mentioned as an actual physical pillar but is only referred to in relation to the heavens.

          From Homer's ‘version' of the Greek mythology it appears that when Odysseus was reunited with his wife, they lay in a conjugal bed carved from the stump of a huge olive tree - still with its roots in the ground. The holy intercourse beneath the stars took place at the very root of the tree, its lower "Canopus-part". The idea behind this can be seen later in European royal conjugal beds for the wedding ritual - they were the first with a star-decorated canopy - called the canope, "as at Canopus".
          In the Egyptian mythology Horus was conceived and reborn in the coffin of Osiris at the foot of the World Tree pictured as a kind of Erica, i.e. the approx. 2 metres tall benu heather tree. This is a play on words on the "bird of rebirth", the Phoenix, which likewise by the Egyptians was called benu.

          Star cult was often connected with worshipping of the post, the World-axis, supplemented with oracle observance and possibly temple prostitution.
          The Bible also mentions for instance temple prostitution connected to the cult for the goddess Astarte (Balith or Ashera) in Jerusalem, which the previously mentioned King Josiah banned in 622 BC. In ancient Israel a figure of her was wide-spread, a type where she was as slim and straight as a pillar: as mentioned Ashera is Hebrew for 'sacred pole'.
          In Egypt Hathor, the sky goddess with a cow's head, can be seen in the shape of pillars bearing "the sky", which is the star-adorned ceiling - for instance in the Hatshepsut Temple in Deir el-Bahari, which was specially dedicated to this goddess.
          Already Pharaoh Amenhotep II (1456-1430 BC) introduced the Canaanite-Cainitic goddess Astarte - also known as Balith or Anath - and later included her as part of the Egyptian religious concept.


The World-axis - Also Important Tradition of Ancient India and China

In ancient India a special cosmic-religious-philosophical tradition also had focusing the North Star (Stella Polaris) which is connected in reference to the Turtle Star, Kurma. It is all mentioned in the ancient text, "Patañjali's Yoga Sutras", The star is the thirdmost brightest star in the sky and is known in the Near East and Europe both by the (Arabic) name Vega and Greek name Lyra.
          This star is to be located as an uppermost centre in the northern sky and was known in Egypt, India, China, as well as by the Greeks. The genuine North Star or Turtle Star, Kurma, i.e. Vega, was the original North Star 13,000 years ago, however, it constitutes still and always the top of the World-axis.
          When the alters were founded in ancient Indian temples these alters contained on the inside a tortoise shell - contributing to the temples' implementing connection with the sky above.
          Inside Beijing, in its seperate holy Prohibited City for the emperor of China, an enormous turtle cast in bronze is placed in the exact centre of a special area of the foundation-architecture's celestial inspired arrangement.
          The above mentioned "Yoga Sutras" contains 195 stanzas of learning - and is connected to ancient India's "collection of supreme knowledge", the Vedanta-doctrine in the texts of the Upanishades. Approx. 2,300 years ago, the sage Patañjali wrote the "Yoga Sutras" in their final form.
          A special group of stanzas in Patañjali's Yoga Sutras, Book III, Sutras 25-31, informs about the stars and their cosmic arrangement of placement in space. The Sutra 28 reads:
                    "... By intensive meditation (Samyama) on the Polar Star (Pole star) the person who practice this yoga shall obtain knowledge about the movements of the stars. ..."

 

Nut, the Sky goddess.

The vital spirit of concept

In ancient Egypt the long obelisks expressed: in "the beginning" when the first top reached up and up receiving the first light beams. And the Benu bird - representing life of eternity - appeared to sit on the top. Light and life thus in the arch-cosmic connection.
          From the Earth we can see our own galaxy almost like the diametrical cut of a dish, the very cut being exposed as the nesau - the Egyptian expression for the ‘Milky Way' - crossing over the sky from the south to the north.
          The light of the universe has a special quality for life and this light is being "amplified" when passing through a galaxy. This is what happens when the light is passing diametrical via our galaxy's outside curved rim and in our case beaming out from the long narrow surface appearing as "a cut", i.e. the bright ribbon-like Milky Way, which in mythology was conceived as the informative and "nourishing" World-tree of Life.
          This light, the cosmic all-penetrating radiation light, is forming superstring-like connection and coherence of the Universe. This light, self-organizing intelligent structured and extruded through our galaxy in the said way, was considered as a creation tool, i.e. the very medium of the Universe being formative - and, indeed, informative. Its information will never disappear or dissolve (although it may change media) - this fact is of consistency also with all modern astronomy and quantum physics/mechanics.

 

 

          For instance, transporting data, pictures, and music through light in optic fibre cables - is today a well-known principle. However, far beyond such limited, earthly function there is a power of the cosmos. There is no such thing as "emptiness", because even the dark masses of the Universe - i.e. more than 80% of the Universe - are also cosmic radiation of various kind of frequencies, although not directly visible to the human eye, i.e. what we conceive as light of special qualities of which many can be measured by science.
          The light's functioning methods have some of the same qualities as language, which - by itself - contains information, for instance of distinction, time (present, future etc), location (sequence), and many other data. More so, the light also - by itself - contains data (besides some technical and astronomical information) among which some are needed for the life forms and their development, expansion, and maintaining (e.g. curing). These abilities are to be found in the very logos - in ancient civilizations through ages it was visualized as the World-Tree of Life and the World-Tree of Knowledge united, where the branches and twigs of the one tree constitutes the root and root-twigs of the other, all as a reflection of its celestial picture, the Milky Way.
          Thus, the Milky Way can be seen as the true, enlightening life-supporter in the sky; - from the cosmos it is transmitting the radiation's special bio-energetic light forms.
          The ancient Egyptians and many other cultures before them had a religious, vital knowledge about several features of these matters, although not comprehended by the technical details as in a modern sense, but by an otherwise impressive conception.

          Concerning the primal light, the obelisks represent many of the same features as the World-axis, and although they are not the same they have these qualities in common.. The measurements of the Egyptian big sizes obelisks mainly produced in the 18th and 19th dynasties show - in principle - some very special ratios by the lengths of the shaft combined with the breadth of the shaft both at its foot and at the slim upper part beneath the pyramidion on the top, and even with the diagonals. These mathematical proportions should be examined by modern science and compared or related to measurements or numbers in certain basic biological features and conditions and also to the influence or behaviour of light.

          Apparently, when some this conception about the light forms were known or expressed by the ancient cultures, we should be inspired to discover some important information. Today, such special light - particularly when also being of high frequency radiation - should on this basis, together with its possible influence on life, be thoroughly scientific investigated.

 

Below:  From the Egyptian creation myth - the phase of creation and development of Nut, the goddess of the sky, who is elevated above Geb, the god of the earth, all being done by Shu, the god of the air. Geb and Nut are his offspring.

 

A Résumé: The Cosmic Starry Line of Sight Being Expressed in Stone

From the Earth is seen the three most bright stars of the sky appearing on a complete straight line following the streaming Milky Way. To several cultures in the past this straight celestial line was conceived or expressed as the - magic - mast, indeed.
          Also the constellation called "ox-loin" by the Egyptians - and Great Bear by peoples at many other ancient places - is circling around the mast every day (as seen from the Earth) being the use as a cosmic symbol of the cycles of life, rebirth etc. In this way it was being expressing cycles of eternal life which itself connects to the magic mast in the middle.
          With the Benu  bird of eternal life sitting on the top - the pyramidion being this cap stone - and with obelisk's shaft beneath, the Egyptians consequently gave this kind of elegantly and spiritually shaped, slim monoliths - being never surpassed cultic sculptures - the name Ben-ben.
          However, later the Greeks - who like Pythagoras, Solon, Plato etc. studied for many years in Egypt concerning the knowledge, spirit and science inside the Egyptian cults - then called it the word we still use today: obelisk, meaning in Greek ‘ox-spear' or even ‘ox-spit' because of its turning of the ox-loin like it was a roast on the kitchen fire. In later times already the Romans sometimes called it a needle, cf. "Cleopatra's needle" in Alexandria.
          On one of the pair of obelisks which Senmut had made for the Queen-Pharaoh Hatshepsut and placed them in the Karnak temple, Egypt's main temple, the very obelisk inscription of Hatshepsut is strongly referring to the vital part by using the expression "... The Creation and the Radiating Essence of the Universe ...".

(The above text is reproduced with permission, - source: Ove von Spaeth's work, "The Suppressed Record").

 

Below:  Of the Egyptian creation myth: after creation of Nut, goddess of the sky, -she became the mother of some of the next gods of power: Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys.