Sirius, Dogon, Fish-People pt 2 of 2

[Doug Millison]

At 6:27 AM 7/21/97, Eric Alan Weinstein wrote:
>     During his researches, Temple learnt that "...the ancient Egyptians had
>the same Sirius tradition which we have encountered from the Dogon tribe in
>Mali."

Anybody interested in following up this tantalizing detail can find much to
ponder in a book called "The Death of Gods in Ancient Egypt" by Jane B.
Sellers, published in 1992 by Penguin Books. I've been reading it for the
past few weeks. Sellers argues that Egyptian religion originates in
explanations for the gradual shift in the night sky due to the precession
of the stars that over a period of centuries displaced the familiar
constellations that rose just before dawn -- "the skies were out of
kilter....the stability of their world was severely threatened". Sellars
argues further that the detailed stellar observations necessary to notice
the effects of the precession took place during centuries prior to the
beginning of recorded Egyptian history, thus challenging a traditional
belief that "primitive" peoples (such as the Dogon) were incapable of that
sort of accomplishment. Sellars then explores the Osiris myth as an
explanation for a complex series of astronomical events, including the
precession, and a series of total eclipses that are believed to have taken
place over Egypt at crucial moments during early Egyptian history. It's a
fascinating book.


D O U G  M I L L I S O N ||||||||||| millison at online-journalist.com