Sothis

Sothis is the name of a star that the Egyptians considered unusually significant. The star is not explicitly identified, but there are enough clues for modern scholars to be almost unanimous in identifying Sothis as Sirius.

• Plutarch states that The soul of Isis is called Dog by the Greeks
  • Sothis was identified with Isis in many Egyptian texts
  • The Greeks called Sirius the Dog ()
• Sirius is the brightest star visible in the sky
• The first appearance of Sirius in the sky each year occurs just before the annual Nile flooding
• The Greeks called the Sirius period the Dog Days and associated them with the hottest days of summers as well as diseases 'caused' by this heat. The Egyptians also associated the Sothic period (of Sirius) with epidemics