In the womb

The author explores the symbolism by which the ancient Egyptians defined their universe. In the cycle of life, death and rebirth, the symbolism of the female body plays an important role. In the cult of the sun-god Ra, sunrise is understood as the birth of the sun from the womb of the sky-goddess Nut. Other elements of the female body and of conception, pregnancy and birth are borrowed in the pictorial language to describe the cosmos.