When the Sun Was Swallowed: Egypt's Eclipse of the Century, 2 August 2027

Oct 25

6 min read

By Moshy, licensed Egyptologist· 4-minute read

The total solar eclipse path across Egypt on Aug. 2, 2027. (Image credit: Created and annotated by Jamie Carter using MapHub.net. Source: Esri, Maxar, GeoEye, Earthstar Geographics, CNES/Airbus DS, USDA, USGS, AeroGRID, IGN, and the GIS User Community)

Picture a farmer on the banks of the Nile, three thousand years ago. It's midday, and he's working in his field. Then something feels wrong. The light turns thin and silvery, the air goes cool, and the birds suddenly stop singing. He looks up, and the sun, the great god Ra himself, is disappearing.

I often wonder what went through his mind in that moment. To find out, let me take you into the stories my ancestors told about the sky.

The serpent who tried to swallow the sun

For the ancient Egyptians, the sun was Ra. Every day he sailed across the sky in his golden boat, and every night he travelled through the dark underworld. And down there, a monster was always waiting for him: Apophis, a giant serpent of chaos who wanted just one thing, to swallow the sun and leave the world in darkness forever.

Every night the gods fought him off, and every morning Ra rose again. The priests even recited spells to help him win. I love this story, because it means that, for the Egyptians, every sunrise was a small victory.

Now go back to our farmer. Darkness at noon would have looked as if Apophis had attacked in broad daylight. And then, a few minutes later, the sun came roaring back. To be honest with you, we don't have an ancient text that tells us exactly how Egyptians explained an eclipse. But I think you can feel why this story meant so much to them.

Wings of light: the secret of the winged sun?

Next time you visit an Egyptian temple, look up above the doorway. Very often you'll see a sun disk spreading two huge wings. This is the winged sun, a symbol of divine protection, and it's one of my favourite images in all of Egyptian art.

So where did the idea come from? Here's something beautiful. During a total eclipse, the dark moon is suddenly surrounded by the corona, the sun's glowing outer atmosphere, which we normally never see. Its long, pearly streamers often stretch out to the left and right, just like wings.

The solar physicist Serge Koutchmy has suggested that the Egyptians may have seen exactly this and turned it into the winged sun . It's still a theory. But I promise you, once you've seen the corona with your own eyes, the winged sun will never look the same again.

Akhenaten's darkened sky

Now let me introduce you to one of the most fascinating characters in Egyptian history. Around 1340 BC, the pharaoh Akhenaten did something nobody had dared to do. He turned away from Egypt's many gods and worshipped only one: the Aten, the shining disk of the sun. He even built a brand-new capital for it in the desert, Akhetaten, which we know today as Tell el-Amarna.

Akhenaten and Nefertiti worshipping Atun, Amarna relief

And here's where it gets exciting. In 1338 BC, a total solar eclipse may have passed over that very land. In the tomb of the high priest Meryra at Amarna, there's a strange scene of the sun surrounded by arcs, and some researchers think it could be a memory of that day. A few have even wondered whether the eclipse inspired Akhenaten to found his city there, while others believe it came later as a terrible omen.

I have to be honest: no ancient document proves any of this. But just imagine it. A king who worshipped nothing but the sun, watching his god vanish in the middle of the day. In 2027, the shadow comes back to Minya, the gateway to Amarna, and you can stand there and wonder for yourself.

An eclipse carved in stone

This next story is very close to my heart. About thirteen centuries after Akhenaten, Egyptian astronomers carved a breathtaking map of the sky on the ceiling of a chapel in the temple of Hathor at Dendera. It's called the Dendera Zodiac, and it shows the constellations, the 36 star groups the Egyptians used to tell the time at night, and the planets.

If you look closely, you'll find two little circles. In one, the goddess Isis is holding a baboon by its tail. In the other sits an Eye of Horus. The researcher Éric Aubourg believes they show a solar eclipse on 7 March 51 BC and a lunar eclipse in 52 BC. If he's right, my ancestors recorded an eclipse in stone more than 2,000 years ago. Isn't that incredible?

Sadly, the zodiac isn't in Egypt anymore. In 1821 it was cut out of the ceiling and taken to Paris, and it's still in the Louvre today. But the temple is still here, and on 2 August 2027, it will stand in the shadow of an eclipse once again.

Chasing the shadow

People have been chasing eclipses for centuries. The very first photograph of a total solar eclipse was taken on 28 July 1851, in Königsberg. And in 1973, a team of scientists flew aboard Concorde 001, racing the moon's shadow across Africa at twice the speed of sound. They stayed inside totality for 74 minutes, the longest eclipse anyone has ever seen.

The good news? You won't need a supersonic jet in 2027. The shadow is coming to us, here in Egypt.

2 August 2027: the shadow returns.

I still get goosebumps writing this. This will be the longest total solar eclipse on easily accessible land in the 21st century, and there won't be a longer one until 3 June 2114. In Luxor, the sun will disappear for about 6 minutes and 20 seconds, from around 13:02 to 13:08, high above our heads in a clear August sky.

The moon's shadow will cross Spain and North Africa, then sweep across Egypt, from Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert, down the Nile Valley, all the way to Luxor and the Red Sea. Cairo, Aswan, and Abu Simbel will only see a partial eclipse. But inside the path, the very places from these stories will go dark (sources):

Where	Approx. totality
Abydos, Temple of Seti I	6 min 22 s
Luxor: Karnak, Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut's temple	about 6 min 20 s
Dendera, Temple of Hathor	about 6 min 13 s
Siwa Oasis	about 5 min 35 s
Minya, gateway to Amarna and Beni Hassan	about 4 min

How to watch safely

Please read this part carefully, because I want you to enjoy the eclipse and keep your eyes safe. Ra may be hidden for six minutes, but his light is still powerful.

Glasses ON from the moment the moon takes its first little "bite" out of the sun, more than an hour before totality.
Glasses OFF only when the sun is completely covered and the last tiny bead of light has gone. Now look up. This is your moment to see the corona.
Glasses back ON the second you see the first flash of sunlight return, the dazzling "diamond ring".

If you're outside the path, in Cairo or Aswan for example, keep your glasses on the whole time. And please use only certified ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses, never ordinary sunglasses.

"But Luxor is fully booked!"

I hear this every day now, and yes, it's true: hotel rooms in Luxor are almost gone for eclipse week. But please don't worry. The shadow is generous. It stretches across the desert and the whole Nile Valley, and some of the most magical places to watch it are far from the crowds. You don't need a Luxor hotel room. You need the right plan, and someone who knows the stories.

Come and follow the shadow with me

I've created a few very special private experiences for eclipse week. Each one takes you to a place from the stories above, with certified eclipse glasses, comfortable private transport, and me telling you the stories along the way.

☀️ Luxor, city of Amun-Ra (one day): watch more than six minutes of totality among the temples of ancient Thebes.
🌞 Akhenaten's city: Minya, Tell el-Amarna and Beni Hassan (one day): stand in the land of the sun-king as the sun disappears, then explore the painted rock tombs of Beni Hassan.
🏛️ Abydos (one day): one of the longest totalities in all of Egypt, at the stunning Temple of Seti I, the sacred city of Osiris.
✨ Dendera, home of the Zodiac (one day): watch the sun vanish over the temple where Egyptians once carved an eclipse into stone.
🏜️ Siwa Oasis (two days): see the shadow race across golden dunes and palm groves in the Western Desert.
🔑 VIP exclusive opening: a site of your choice, opened just for you and your group for two hours during eclipse week.
🌙 A night at Philae: the island of the goddess Isis all to yourselves, at sunset or sunrise. Aswan sees a deep partial eclipse rather than totality, so this is a perfect magical extra before or after your eclipse day.