The BA Antiquities Museum is hosting an exhibition entitled “The Chapels of the Sacred Horizon: Photographs of the Solar Alignment with Ancient Egyptian Chapels and Temples” at the museum entrance, located on the B1 floor of the BA Main Building, from 21 February to 22 April 2018. The exhibition was prepared by researcher Ahmed Awad, assistant professor at the Department of Architectural Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, October 6 University. This exhibition is the first of its kind, as it features photographs documenting the solar alignment phenomenon with ancient Egyptian chapels and temples other than the well-known phenomenon that occurs at Abu Simbel and Al-Karnak temples. The showcased photographic documentation is part of the concluding results of Awad’s Master’s thesis on the symbolism of ancient Egyptian arts and architecture.
The exhibition also includes the results of another of his research papers entitled “The Phenomenon of Solar Alignment with Ancient Egyptian Temples and Chapels: Facts and Speculations”. Awad presented this paper at the first international conference held at Cairo University in October 2015.
The exhibition showcases 22 photographs documenting thephenomenon ofwhen the rising sun aligns withthe“Holy of Holies” (Naos) of the temples of Deir el-Bahri, Deir el-Shelwit, Kalabsha, Hibis, Qasr el-Ghoweita, and Deirel-Hagar, as well as “the house of divine birth” (Mammisi) of Dendera Temple and the Temple of Horemheb (The Great Speos) at Gebel el-Silsila. It also documents the alignment of solar noon with thenaos of the Temple of Edfu.