Sirius and its meaning to Eqyptians

[***Lover***]

I have been fascinated with stars and their constellations all my life. Very quick to point out the big dipper but was always taught to believe that the handle point to the brightest star in the sky (i.e. the North Star) but after reading the brilliant posts here I have now learned that is not true. I have always had trouble finding the little dipper, but not anymore due to the unbelievably intelligent words and descriptive pictures of those that have posted on this site. After spending most of the night gazing at the stars with with my boyfriend I quickly recognized Orions belt but had no idea what that bright bright bright star was to the left. after reading I learned that it was called Sirius. I would like to know more about Sirius and its ties to the Eyqitian star they call "Iris".... I am new to astrology but have always been captivated by its like and meaning to "Earthly" world. Can anyone shed some light??

[geckzilla]

Do you really want to discuss astrology? It is, in fact, not allowed, because it is a form of pseudoscience. This is an astronomy forum. It's very likely that anything we could tell you about Sirius is better explained at its Wikipedia article. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirius

[mjimih]

http://www.crystalinks.com/sirius.html

...Sirius is also known colloquially as the "Dog Star", reflecting its prominence in its constellation, Canis Major (Big Dog). The heliacal rising of Sirius marked the flooding of the Nile in Ancient Egypt and the "dog days" of summer for the ancient Greeks, while to the Polynesians it marked winter.

There is much more on the importance of Sirius to Egypt on the page above.

Mark

[Beyond]

And don't forget, Sirius had a role to play in the Harry-Potter series of movies.

[neufer]

[b][color=#0000FF][size=150]Two Niles Meet in Khartoum, Sudan[/size][/color][/b]

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Two Niles Meet
Earth Observatory, May 19, 2013

<<Though it moves just a tiny fraction of the water carried by the Amazon, Congo, or Niger rivers, the Nile is the world’s longest river. Its main tributaries—the White Nile and the Blue Nile—meet in Khartoum, Sudan, a rain-poor city of nearly 2 million residents that relies on the Nile for irrigation. Well-watered crops line the river banks, and patchworks of croplands (including center-pivot irrigated fields) dot the city’s outskirts.

The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite acquired this natural-color image on April 26, 2013, near the end of the region’s dry season. Compared to the White Nile, the Blue Nile is skinny and its highly variable flow is near its lowest point at this time of year. Harsh dry seasons and droughts can periodically dry out the Blue Nile completely.

The White Nile and Blue Nile derive their colors from the sediments they carry. Originating in the Equatorial Lakes region, the White Nile is rich in light gray sediments. As this long river meanders over flat terrain, it loses over half of its water to evaporation.

Shorter than the White Nile, the Blue Nile starts in the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea, picking up black sediment en route to Khartoum. The Blue Nile is fed by monsoon rains, and when rains are abundant, the Blue Nile can actually flow backward near its confluence with the White Nile.

Upstream from both rivers, residents rely largely on precipitation for farming. Most of the water extraction along the Nile occurs in Sudan and Egypt, where rainfall is too sparse to support crops. More than 120 million people rely upon Nile waters for irrigation and other uses.>>

[mjimih]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sothic_cycle
Sothic cycle

The Sothic cycle or Canicular period is a period of 1,461 ancient Egyptian years (of 365 days each) or 1,460 Julian years (averaging 365.25 days each). During a Sothic cycle, the 365-day year loses enough time that the start of the year once again coincides with the heliacal rising of the star Sirius (the Latinized name for Greek Σείριος, a star called Sopdet by the Egyptians, in Greek transcribed as Sothis; a single year between heliacal risings of Sothis is a Sothic year). This rising occurred within a month or so of the beginning of the Nile flood, and was a matter of primary importance to this agricultural society. It is believed that Ancient Egyptians followed both a 365-day civil calendar and a lunar religious calendar.

[bystander]

Ancient Egyptians accessorized with meteorites
University of Manchester | via EurekAlert | 2013 May 30

Analysis of a prehistoric Egyptian iron bead with implications for the use and perception of meteorite iron in ancient Egypt - Diane Johnson et al

• Meteoritics and Planetary Science (online 20 May 2013) DOI: 10.1111/maps.12120