The title of this short article may surprise the reader. Ancient Egypt and space seem predisposed to represent two opposite fields that have nothing in common: the first represents the distant past of our civilization, the second offers a glimpse of the future, or, at least, of whose knowledge? It will only be revealed to us gradually over the coming years, centuries or millennia.
However, various media (such as written magazines and many sensational documentaries) often conflate these two facts in a pseudo-scientific world. Who hasn’t read “news” in ufological-themed magazines about the construction of the Egyptian pyramids by visitors from other worlds? Or even more so, it is well known that there are proponents of the Great Plains pyramids. Giza In Cairo they are nothing more than a star map that reproduces the arrangement of the stars in the sky of Orion’s belt.
Various authors have developed various hypotheses to prove (and fail) the arrival of extraterrestrials on our planet at the beginning of time and their decisive participation in the origin and development of the first human civilizations. Ancient Egypt.
The main contribution (although not the first) to this pseudo-scientific current called “ancient cosmonauts” (gods who created life and human cultures as space travelers) is exposed in various works of the Swiss writer. Erich von Danikenas Future memories (1968), Chariots of Gods (1969) Oh History is a lie (2009), among others. If Däniken’s hypotheses in these books had no scientific basis and were often delusional, his contribution to popular culture was undoubtedly accidental. Or what is the same: the main value of his ideas lies in their ability to stimulate the imagination of fiction writers.
Alien invasion
Thus, these questions have largely fueled the science fiction genre in films, novels, and comics, in which Egyptian characters and settings abound, inserted into stories common to space fantasy. Let’s see some examples below.
In the picture Stargate, the door to the stars (1994) Roland Emmerich, an alien visited Earth in a pyramid-shaped spaceship early in our history. in the name of RaThis evil creature then establishes a reign of terror over the primitive people of Egypt’s Nile Valley, which he suppresses with his supernatural powers and the technologically superior weaponry of an army of jackal-like and hawk-like hybrids. Anubis Y Horusrespectively).
The opening premise of the episode of the British series “Pyramids of Mars” (1975) is very similar. Who is Dr. In this case, the malevolent Sudek, that is, the Egyptian god Seth, is the last survivor of the galactic lineage of the Osirians, who inhabited our planet in the distant past and served as inspiration for the gods of later Egyptian mythology. So the Egyptian gods as we know them would be considered extraterrestrials. It is an American film, with an Afro-futuristic overtone Space is place (1974) by John Coney, in which the protagonist, American jazz musician Sun Ra, travels the galaxy in search of a planet where the black race can settle and thrive.
Anubis in a spaceship and ship
The plot of the Franco-Belgian comic is different Ian Kaledin: Secrets of the Taiga (1963), however, it repeats some of the above themes, mainly the invasion of Earth. In this work, a race of interstellar pharaohs and Egyptian gods land on our planet and found a city in the wastelands of the Russian steppe, where it remains hidden until discovered by early comic book characters. xx.
Appearances in comedy are equally troubling Fair of Immortals (1980) by Enki Bilal A pyramid spaceship in the sky in the middle of a dystopian Paris. XXI. Inside are the divinities of the Egyptian pantheon commanded by the jackal Anubis and the cat Bastet.
The pyramid as a symbol
Other evidence is less obvious, but the inspiration in ancient Egypt is unmistakable. First, we can raise the case of the short story “El Sentinela” (1951). Arthur C. ClarkA literary precursor to film 2001, A Space Odyssey (1968) by Stanley Kubrick. If in the latter, an essential element of the plot is represented by the ubiquitous monolith, in Clark’s story a human expedition to the moon unexpectedly discovers a pyramid on the planet’s surface, founded millions of years ago by an unknown alien civilization. Although nothing is told in the story that allows us to know (or imagine) what these beings from space are, the use of the pyramid as a visible element of their intervention reintegrates the Egyptian (as the author himself confirms. ) in a science fiction universe.
Pharaonic Egypt is more than just a past civilization known for its archaeological remains.
In the same way, in the well-known “Saga of the Hechi”. Like Frederick, the human race, spread across large sectors of the universe, encounters an alien race that humans know only about their ships and other technological devices. His appearance was completely unknown to them. Faced with such a conundrum, one of the characters in the plot of the Saga’s third volume, Heechees date (1984), envision them as having distinctly Egyptian characteristics (especially in relation to the appearance of their eyes).
In short, we can still point to several examples of contemporary popular culture that introduce the Egyptian into the general constellation of science fiction. In all of them, we observe a series of main themes that are often present in many of these films, comics or novels: on the one hand, the Egyptian is a manifestation of the other, unknowable and mysterious, different from us; On the other hand, it is often evil and frightening, an obvious threat to life on our planet.
Considered in this way, Pharaonic Egypt was more than just a past civilization known for its archaeological remains. Other visions and perceptions are possible in the world of fiction, even seemingly contradictory ones, such as connecting pharaohs and spaceships.
Abraham I. Fernandez Bichel He is University Professor and Researcher in Egyptology at the History Center of the Faculdad de Letras, University of Lisbon. is running Egypt popcult project.
