Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
Travel and Religion
Ancient Egyptian Cosmology Illustrated in Soil Core Samples

Ancient Egyptian Cosmology Illustrated in Soil Core Samples

Last updated on: October 18, 2025 at 12:27 pm by Dan Peterson

0 Comments

Ancient Egyptian Cosmology Illustrated in Soil Core Samples 2025-10-18T12:27:53-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A cover illustration, from Amazon.com
This is probably my favorite image of President Spencer W. Kimball.

This is a remarkable story: “A prophet’s flash of inspiration 41 years ago started President Oaks on the path to this moment: On April 4, 1984, a call woke President Hinckley at home at 2:30 a.m. It changed the course of President Oaks’ life”

And this 3.5-minute video is worth watching: “‘God’s hand, untouched.’ A photographer finds light in the darkness of a burned Latter-day Saint church: Stephanie VanWagoner was asked by police to photograph the aftermath of the Grand Blanc fire. She was struck by what the flames had spared”

Y9u might enjoy this article, as well: “The Joseph Smith Papers and My Christian Discipleship,” written by Spencer W. McBride.

A Latter-day Saint congregation in 2012 (LDS Media Library)

The times they are a-changin’. Or, anyway, so it currently seems:

Political map of Africa (public domain, Central Intelligence Agency). Lesotho is wholly enclosed within the Republic of South Africa near the southern tip of the continent.

I know that there have been a number of fundraisers lately, appealing to the charitable inclinations of Latter-day Saints. There have been sad but powerful reasons for them. So I’m hesitant to suggest that you pay attention to yet another — the more so, I admit with some embarrassment, because my own Interpreter Foundation depends upon the generous donations of supporters (as well as the wonderful contributions of a small host of volunteers) to fulfill its mission and because I’ll be focusing more and more on Interpreter’s needs here as the year draws to its close. I worry about possible donor fatigue. Interpreter can’t function without supporting donations and, candidly, we need to generate a fair amount of those during the remainder of 2025. But here is a case where I think we ought to step up: “Support for Minor Children in Lesotho Africa”

You may be aware of this desperately sad story from 21 June 2025:

The tragedy was powerfully discussed by both Elder (now President) D. Todd Christofferson and Elder Carlos A. Godoy in the recent October general conference.

Just for the record, my wife and I have made a small contribution to this GoFundMe fundraiser. I hadn’t seen it until recently, but I wouldn’t encourage others to donate to it if I myself didn’t have at least some skin in the game.

Kjøsnesfjorden i Jølster (Wikimedia Commons public domain image) My grandmother grew up here, on a farm that still exists on the water’s edge in the lower lefthand corner of this photograph.

My grandmother emigrated to the United States — first to Minnesota and eventually to North Dakota — when she was in her late teens. There had been no room for her (or for any of the other children beyond the firstborn son) on their small Norwegian family farm, which sat scenically but humbly between a sheer rock wall and the shore of a mountain lake — with no possibility of expansion and no realistic possibility of sustainable subdivision — at the foot of the largest glacier in Europe. She never saw Norway or her parents again. In her later years, almost all of her children having settled in California, she and my grandfather, who was born to Danish parents, moved to Los Angeles County, which is where I came to know her for the few years that our lives overlapped. (She died when I was only five.) She was a Lutheran, by the way, and never joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Anyway, given my family history, this article naturally caught my attention: “Across the Atlantic Again: Celebrating 200 Years of Norwegian Emigration to America: ‘It was more than just a ship sailing in. This is part of my history, part of my ancestry. There’s a spiritual connection there.’” I honor my grandmother for her courage. I look forward, someday, to getting to know her better.

An avenue of sphinxes leads to the main entrance of the great Temple of Karnak, in Upper Egypt. (Wikimedia Commons public domain photo)

I found this fascinating: “The Origins of Egypt’s Karnak Temple: Sacred complex may have been built on island symbolizing creation.”

For obvious reasons and probably beginning with the work of the great Hugh Nibley, Latter-day Saint scholars have been exceptionally interested in and productive of studies of ancient temples and temple ideology. One of the things that we have come to realize is that temples around the world are very commonly associated with creation stories. It turns out that both the Islamic Ka‘ba in Mecca (which has definite temple connections) and the temples of Jerusalem, as well as the temples of Egypt, stand on the first piece of solid ground — the primordial hillock — to have emerged from the waters of chaos. And now we have reason to believe that the great Egyptian temple of Karnak, perhaps the largest temple or even religious complex ever built, was — despite its current appearance, where it sits on the east bank of the River Nile — once stood on an island surrounded by two streams of the river. It’s very clear to the casual visitor even now that the Nile once flowed directly in front of the first pylon of the temple; wharves and a dry channel are plainly apparent. It’s exciting to have physical evidence for what we know were Egyptian cosmological ideas.

The Hale Centre Theatre, in Sandy, Utah, is (as I’ve often said before and will certainly say again, barring unforeseen catastrophe) a local, state, and regional treasure. (Photo from the Hale Centre Theatre website)

We’re heading off fairly soon to see The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 at the Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy. It’s allegedly very, very funny.

Travel and Religion

History and Religion

Previous Post

October 17, 2025

A horror has come upon the residents of Cody, Wyoming

Next Post

October 19, 2025 My ongoing (and, thus far, futile) war against "helpmeets"

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"DP: “But Mr. Sutherland worries about the fact that our time, when we can communicate ..."

Theodore Brandley

Learning more about a region of ..."

"Sutherland's lecture sounds interesting. He seems to restate the Washington consensus that trade brings peace ..."

B. Wilson

Learning more about a region of ..."

"In a meeting today, I learned another important reason why accurate (or at least as ..."

the PROBLEM

From Serbia’s “White City,” Belgrade

"I've been watching a lot of video interviews of NDErs and researchers. I think in ..."

brotheroflogan

Accounts of Premortality?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What covered the sky during Jesus’ crucifixion?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Clouds Fire Rain Darkness