What we owe to the astronomers of ancient Egypt: a perspective from science and culture

About the lecture

Ancient Egypt fascinates with its monuments and treasures, and some of its figures are part of our collective heritage. However, it is generally unknown that Egypt also made a substantial contribution to science, astronomy included. Greek philosophers travelled to Egypt in search of wisdom.

Here we will analyse how a calendar governed by the annual floods of the Nile ended up becoming the calendar that regulates the economic life of a planet of seven billion people, how our clocks mark the hours that Egyptian priests developed to worship their gods at the right moments, and how monumental architecture reflected the cosmology of its builders, to this day.

Text of the official description published by IAA-CSIC on YouTube.