What is it about our skies that has fascinated humanity for millennia?
That simple act of looking up as our ancestors did has launched a nonstop trajectory of relentlessly pursuing “What’s out there?”, as if charting the unknown is intertwined with unlocking answers to “Who are we?”
Chances are you and I share this fascination with the cosmos. My earliest memory of drawing who I wanted to be was that of an astronaut—a childhood dream that was not exactly encouraged. And while rewarding museum work is where I landed, my interest in space never waned. What I didn’t know, I filled with books by Sagan, Hawking, Kaku, Greene, Thorne. Where I couldn’t go, I beamed myself up through science fiction.
In recent news, I read that Jet Propulsion Lab and NASA will be launching a telescope exponentially more powerful than the Hubble. It’s named after Nancy Grace Roman, who despite being discouraged from pursuing astronomy, became NASA’s inaugural chief astronomer and first female executive, marking her legacy as “mother of the Hubble.” With the Roman telescope, humans will have the ability to watch the universe when it was only 300 million years old! How exquisitely ironic, to think that the future of space exploration is tied to how far back we can peer into our past—as if the next frontier depends on probing “Who were we?”
For thousands of years, that same curiosity with the cosmos has fueled the social and political practices of ancient civilizations across cultures, building foundations for space exploration today. From tools and technology to information access, how have we evolved from stargazing to surveying space with infrared light invisible to the human eye?
In the Penn Museum’s ongoing efforts to chart how ancient history informs modern identity, its upcoming virtual course Deep Dig: Celestial Skies delves into these types of questions—and more. I was grateful (and thrilled) for the opportunity to interview two of its esteemed instructors—Jennifer Houser Wegner, Curator in the Egyptian Section at the Penn Museum, and Derrick Pitts, Chief Astronomer and Director of Fels Planetarium at The Franklin Institute—as they shared their expertise and perspectives around this timeless continuum of reaching for the skies.
What is it about our skies that has fascinated humanity for millennia?
Jennifer Houser Wegner: I imagine it’s the vast beauty of the night sky that would have captivated people. Today, living in cities, many of us don’t fully appreciate it. But when you get the chance to be in a place without light pollution—like in ancient times when the only light at night came from the stars—it’s truly breathtaking. I experienced this firsthand the first time I went to Egypt, in the desert far from electric lights—it was incredible to watch the night sky. I can picture people in the past looking up and wondering what was up there, what caused such beauty and movement. Humans are naturally curious, and for most of us, the sky still remains a great mystery.
Derrick Pitts: What has fascinated humanity about the cosmos for millennia is our curiosity about what the twinkling lights of night might be. Other suns, other worlds, other people? Our ancestors traveling in the afterlife? How far, how many, how does it exist? Where are we from? From there? What made us?
As renowned leaders in your respective fields, how did you get immersed in archaeology and astronomy?
JHW: My interest in ancient Egypt began in the sixth grade when we studied ancient cultures like Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Mesopotamia in Social Studies class. I had an incredible teacher, Mr. Farrell, whose enthusiasm made history come alive. Egypt, in particular, captivated me—the stories of discoveries of lost tombs and the decipherment of hieroglyphs were fascinating to me. Around the same time, the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark was released, which only deepened my interest in archaeology. By eighth grade, I even mummified chickens (from the supermarket) for a science fair project, and from there, I never looked back. As a freshman at Penn, I started taking Egyptology courses, including ancient Egyptian language which is my area of specialization.
DP: Even at a very young age, I was intrigued by the mechanics of the universe. When I was in elementary school, I remember trying to figure out the motions of the sun, moon, and planets. Once I discovered the astronomy section at my local library, I read everything I could about the cosmos and that just opened more doors to deeper mysteries about the universe. Archaeology merged with astronomy for me as I learned that every ancient culture incorporated some degree of skylore into their mythologies, rituals, and daily practices. Often that included positional astronomy using erected markers, specialized structures and even dedicated buildings to observe and measure the positions and motions of stars and planets.
In Ancient Egypt, which groups had access to understanding and interpreting the cosmos? How has that access been leveraged over thousands of years to inform socio-political practices?
JHW: Priests, serving under the authority of the pharaoh, were responsible for observing, charting, and interpreting the movements of the stars and other celestial bodies. Some of these priests, serving in temples, acted as early astronomers, or star watchers. By noting the appearance of specific stars, they could predict celestial events, which in turn influenced the organization of Egypt’s calendar. It’s important to remember that in ancient Egypt, most people were illiterate. Only the priestly and scribal classes could read and write hieroglyphs, so access to this specialized knowledge was limited only to the highest levels of society.
How do you think access to the skies has evolved over time, impacting social structures and modern views on space exploration?
DP: Access to knowledge and information has impacted social structure and modern views by democratizing access to space. It’s no longer the exclusive domain of the military-industrial complex but opening more and more every day to the ultra-rich adventurer, and soon, to the general experience-seeking public.
Low-priced access to space technologies now forms the communications backbone of political upheaval across the world by providing secure, extra-governmental communications channels for dissidents to use to organize, plan, and support protests unlike any other time in history. Governments have been toppled in mere days because satellite communications enabled overwhelming flash demonstrations, protests, and widespread disruption.
What are some of the most remarkable tools and technological advancements built by ancient Egyptians to further astronomy?
JHW: The Ancient Egyptians used a tool known as a merkhet for observations and measurement. It was used to mark the hours of the sun during the day and to chart the movement of certain stars across the north-south meridian at night. During construction projects, it could also have been used as a tool for surveys to lay out the alignment of buildings.
The alignment of ancient Egyptian monuments is remarkable and well-known. The temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel is a great example. At the rear of the Great Temple, statues of the gods Amun-Re, Ptah, and Re-Horakhty are seated together with the king in the sanctuary at the back of the temple. In an impressive feat of ancient engineering, the Egyptians positioned the Great Temple’s axis in such a way that on only two days each year, a beam of sunlight from the rising sun would illuminate the statue of Ramses II in this innermost part of the temple. The interior of the temple remains in darkness throughout the rest of the year.
Some coffins and tomb ceilings bear decorations in the form of so-called star charts, suggesting an early effort to standardize the measurement of hours by observing 36 prominent star groups, each representing an “hour” over a 10-day period. This sequence begins with Sothis (Sirius) and includes stars paired with corresponding deities. The Egyptians used the regular reappearance of these stars to mark divisions in their calendar.
NASA has referred to our time as “The Golden Age of Space Exploration.” What are some of the instruments that have revolutionized our study of the cosmos? What technological breakthroughs in recent years could catapult space exploration into its next frontier?
DP: “The Golden Age of Space Exploration” has been going on for about 60 years. Highlights of this period are the Apollo program, NASA’s planetary grand tour, the Space Station era, the great space observatories, the digital telescope revolution, the ground-based telescope revolution, and the diversification of big science.
Have you observed any common barriers to technological advancements that have persisted from ancient times to today?
DP: The reluctance of humans to let go of old paradigms and embrace more radical possibilities.
Any final thoughts?
JHW: I’ve always been fascinated by the many various deities associated with celestial bodies. The ancient Egyptians had numerous gods who represented different aspects of the sun—like the sun at dawn, midday, dusk, or the sun’s disk itself. They also had several lunar deities, such as Thoth, who was also a god of wisdom, Iah, and Khonsu. Some stars and constellations were even given divine forms, like Sothis and Sah. I also find it interesting that some Egyptian hieroglyphs depict celestial elements such as stars, the crescent moon, and the solar disc.
DP: There’s a deeply spiritual component of the study of the cosmos that may not only drive our investigations but may also unite the micro and macro universes. Despite mind-boggling tech advances, we may be no closer to answering the big questions than were the earliest sky observers millions of years ago.
Meet and learn more from Jennifer Wegner and Derrick Pitts at the upcoming five-week virtual course Deep Dig: Celestial Skies, starting October 3.
Jennifer Houser Wegner, Ph.D., is a Curator in the Egyptian Section. She received her Ph.D. in Egyptology from Yale University’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. She has worked in Egypt since 1990 and has participated in numerous fieldwork seasons at the sites of Giza, Bersheh, Saqqara, and Abydos.
Derrick Pitts, Hon. D, is an American astronomer known nationwide for his extraordinary ability to translate complex science into everyday language. He is Chief Astronomer and Director of Fels Planetarium at The Franklin Institute. Pitts appears regularly as a science content expert for most national and international media outlets including PBS NOVA, BBC, Discovery Channel, Science Channel, History Channel, and Curiosity Stream. He has received numerous awards including honorary degrees from LaSalle University, Rowan University, and Wagner Free Institute.
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