Whether ancient Egyptians identified the entire Milky Way with the sky goddess Nut

Ascertain whether ancient Egyptian cosmology identified the entire Milky Way as a single continuous constellation personified by the sky goddess Nut, rather than treating the Galaxy only as a figurative highlight of specific parts of her body across seasons.

Background

The paper addresses the tension between Nut’s static, ever-present orientation (head in the west, rear in the east) and the Milky Way’s seasonally changing orientation. It proposes interpreting the Milky Way as figuratively highlighting Nut’s torso or arms, while noting cultural precedents (Greek and Navajo) for viewing the entire Milky Way as a single monolithic constellation.

In this context, the author explicitly notes uncertainty about whether ancient Egyptians similarly identified the entire Milky Way with Nut, indicating that this remains an unresolved question.