The "Cosmic Tree" symbol appeared later in the "Cosmic Mountain". In the Negada culture I, although the method of firing pottery was used to make containers, traces of woven containers were still unconsciously preserved, as Professor Blackman believes:
The symbols of Egyptian symbols represent the woven texture of prehistoric woven baskets, which later had a certain sacredness as containers for sacrificial offerings in ancient Egyptian sacrifices. If the blue texture can only be understood as the preservation of the material, then the subsequent excavation of pottery with the paradigm of "river in the mountains" as the paradigm, the use of geometric patterns to represent the overall image of the tree is naturally given the characteristics of the "cosmic tree".
The four trees correspond to the four mountains of the "river in the mountain", and their main trunks intersect at one point to form a cross shape that diverges from the center, which is compared to the "river in the mountain" to depict the "mountain" as a triangle, and the "river" is drawn as a cross shape, in order to be the same type as the "river", the "river" is the Nile, symbolizing the ancient Egyptian creation theory in the primordial water "Nu" that gave birth to the entire universe, so the "cosmic tree" symbol has the same strong vitality.
That is, the "cosmic tree" refers to the creation myth to a certain extent, forming the abstraction and synaesthesia of symbolic thinking.
In the Negada II period, the "tree" type was drawn with free curves, and they were often associated with the "Z" type of sacred symbols on the surface, symbolizing sacred places.
Until the collection of hieroglyphs about the "tree" type during the kingdom period, the worship of the "cosmic tree" was deeply defined to several types of trees: palm trees, acacias, plane trees, lotus flowers, and reeds, etc., to express time-related meanings, such as the symbol of palm branches to represent "year", the lower part to add sacrificial bread and chant mantras to indicate "a specific time (,) when the sacrificial ceremony takes place", and the lower part to the hands holding up the sun to represent "the new year (,)".
In summary, the "cosmic tree" symbol symbolizes the time pattern of the eternal cycle, and as a measuring instrument affects the formulation of time.
The Egyptians' concept of space is related to the "cosmic tree"
In the excavated pottery, it was found that although the basic paradigm of the "river in the mountain" gradually weakened, the "mountain" type was completely preserved.
In the Negada culture II period, the pattern was more free, no longer strictly constrained by geometric figures, and more natural curves were used to express the intentions of animals, plants, rivers, etc., and the top of the "mountain" type in this period was slowly rounded and closer to the form of the real mountain.
It was not until the kingdom period where hieroglyphs were produced that the "mountain" type was finally determined, indicating the geographical space related to the mountain, which often had the meaning of sacred territory, not only that, but the concept of "river in the mountain" was also inherited by the town, with the crossroads as the central connection point to all parts of the city, affecting the planning layout and orientation of ancient Egyptian towns.
It can be seen that the evolution of the "cosmic mountain" symbol from the very beginning of the "river in the mountain" to the "space center" to the "sacred territory" and "town" has formed a spatial consciousness of "center-orientation".
参考文献：Watson T. Archaeology: Sacred tattoos found on egyptian mummy[J]. Nature: International weekly journal of science, 2016, 533(7602): 155-155.
