Architecture, Astronomy and Sacred Landscape in Ancient Egypt

Giulio Magli is Full Professor at the Faculty of Civil Architecture of the Politecnico di Milano, where he teaches the first archaeoastronomy course to be established in an Italian university. After receiving a Ph.D. in astrophysics, his research today focuses on archaeoastronomy and the relationship between architecture, landscape and astronomy in ancient Egyptian, Incan and Bronze Age Mediterranean cultures. In addition to his many papers in this field, he is the author of Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy (2009) as well as one of the co-authors of the recent UNESCO-IAU thematic study on astronomy and cultural heritage. Giulio Magli has served as visiting scientist at the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research of Bombay, India and has spoken at numerous international conferences on relativistic astrophysics, as well as on the role of astronomy in ancient cultures. His research in archaeoastronomy has been reported in National Geographic and on Discovery News and CNN.

This book examines the interplay between astronomy and dynastic power in the course of ancient Egyptian history.

Part I: 1. A land for eternity; 2. A king who looks at the stars; 3. The lords of the horizon; 4. A mirage from Heliopolis; 5. Sons of the Sun God; 6. The lost pyramid; Part II: 7. Renaissance at the winter solstice; 8. A valley for the kings; 9. The horizon of the Aten; 10. The last of the greats.