“It has been pointed out, time without number, that the inscriptions indicate that by far the most important astronomical event in Egyptian history was the rising of Sirius…” Sir J. Norman Lockyer, The Dawn of Astronomy, London 1894, p. 197.
“The year and calendar were determined by the Nile and by the stars. New Year was in mid July, when the river began to rise for the inundation; this coincided with the reappearance of the star Sirius, Egyptian Sothis, in the sky after seventy days' invisibility.” John Baines, Time and the river; life in ancient Egypt was geared to the annual Nile flood, UNESCO Courier, September 1988.
"The Egyptians knew Sirius as Spdt (‘Sothis’ in Greek), and its first rising was known as prt-Spdt meaning ‘the coming forth of Sothis’ or, to use an appropriate metaphor, ‘The birth of Sirius.’ I have often witnessed this celestial event in Egypt, and can vouch how it leaves a lasting impression of ‘birth’ (or rather ‘rebirth’) on the mind and the soul. But these days, because of the ever increasing atmospheric haze and the pollution cause by sprawling urbanisation and industrialised agriculture along the Nile Valley, the event is difficult to see, and one has to go far into the desert where the air is clean and dry. An ideal place that simulates the flooded Nile landscape to perfection and provides the necessary clear horizon is the Oasis of Siwa some 500 kilometres west of Cairo. In the last ten years I have visited this oasis many times and also have arranged a few guided tours there. The oasis has two lakes, one in the east and the other in the west. Overlooking the eastern lake is a high mound on which still stands the ancient oracle temple of Amon, the latter made famous by the visit of Alexander the Great in 332 BC. From atop this mound there is a magnificent view of the eastern lake and the clear horizon beyond. The time to be there is early August. At this latitude the first dawn rising of Sirius took place at the summer solstice, 21 June, around the year 2800 BC; today, however, because of precession (see Appendix 1), the rising takes place on the 6th August. An hour before the event as the night sky begins to lighten you will see the familiar constellation of Orion rising on the right side of the luminous band of the Milky Way on its left, the latter shooting vertically out of the horizon like some cosmic river. Then, as the light of the stars of Orion fade into the glow of dawn, the star Sirius will suddenly pop out of the horizon and briefly sparkle brightly before it is swallowed by the glare of the rising sun. The lake below turn orange-gold, and a strange gust of wind form the east rustles the palm trees just as the sun disc appears. At this precise moment, as if prompt by the sun itself, the whole oasis comes alive: donkeys bray in unison, roosters chant, and falcons screech overhead with wings outstretched and facing the rising sun. In very ancient times, seen from the Nile Valley at the start of the flood season, this spectacle of Nature, preceded by the rising of Sirius with the sun, must have been truly awe-inspiring, evoking the strongest images of rejuvenation, renewal and stellar rebirth."
Robert G. Bauval, extract from the forthcoming book SIRIUS RISING, to be published in Autumn 2008.