Cool Sun Facts · Historical beliefs

The Sun in history and belief

What particular people, in particular places and times, built, wrote and did about the Sun: from a scribe's hymn in Thebes to a line of towers in Peru. Each page says who, where, when, and what kind of evidence it rests on.

Your sky today, explained →

SunHistorical beliefsAdoring Re from his rising to his settingAn Egyptian scribe kneels with a hymn to the Sun, about 3,400 years ago.

SunHistorical beliefsAkhenaten and the light in the Sun's discFor one reign, the Sun's disc with rays ending in hands was Egypt's chief god.

SunHistorical beliefsStonehenge and the solstice SunMidsummer sunrise one way, midwinter sunset the other.

SunHistorical beliefsNewgrange: winter sunlight in a passage tombFor a few dawns around the winter solstice, light reaches the chamber.

SunHistorical beliefsChankillo: thirteen towers that count the daysA line of towers in Peru spans the whole year's sunrise and sunset arc.

SunHistorical beliefsInti: the Sun in Inka CuscoA temple walled in gold, and a festival of the June solstice still held today.

SunHistorical beliefsSurya's chariot in stoneA 13th-century temple in India built as the sun god's chariot.

SunHistorical beliefsAnaxagoras: the Sun is a red-hot stoneA Greek philosopher said the Sun was not a god, and was charged with impiety.

SunHistorical beliefsSpots on the Sun, recorded without a telescope“A black gas like a coin”: Chinese court records from 28 BC onwards.

The Sun in history and belief

Settings

Gear that makes it better

Where these numbers come from