ANCIENT ASTRONOMY:NO UNIVERSAL THEORY
Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi
June 28, 2008
For tens of thousands of years, human beings have been fascinated by the patterns of stars in the sky above Earth. Early on, they noticed that the Moon changed shape from night to night as well as its position among the stars.
Early people noticed constellations of stars in the sky that looked like animals and people, and made up stories about what they thought they saw. In fact, the oldest records we have of astronomical observations are 30,000-year-old paintings found on the walls of caves.
Long before recorded history, which began about 5000 years ago, people were aware of the close relationship between events on the Earth and the positions of heavenly bodies, the Sun in particular. People noted that changes in the seasons and floods of great rivers like the Nile in the Egypt occurred when the celestial bodies, including the Sun, Moon, planets and stars, reached a particular place in the heavens. Early agrarian cultures, which were dependent on the weather, believed that if the heavenly objects could control the seasons, they must also strongly influence all Earthly events. This belief undoubtedly was the reason that early civilizations began keeping records of the positions of the celestial objects.
In southern Mexico, the Mayans built special buildings to watch the Moon and the planet Venus. They had a calendar by 800 A.D. that was more accurate than the calendar used in Europe.
Most of the Maya cities were located south of this latitude, meaning that they could observe the sun directly overhead during the time that the sun was passing over their latitude. This happened twice a year, evenly spaced around the day of solstice.
The Maya could easily determine these dates, because at local noon, they cast no shadow.
The highest development of astronomy in the ancient world came with the Greeks in the period from 600 B.C. to A.D. 400. The methods employed by the Greek astronomers were quite distinct from those of earlier civilizations, such as the Babylonian. The Babylonian approach was numerological and best suited for studying the complex lunar motions that were of overwhelming interest to the Mesopotamian peoples. The Greek approach, on the contrary, was geometric and schematic, best suited for complete cosmological models. Thales, an Ionian philosopher of the 6th cent. B.C., is credited with introducing geometrical ideas into astronomy. Pythagoras, about a hundred years later, imagined the universe as a series of concentric spheres in which each of the seven "wanderers" (the sun, the moon, and the five known planets) were embedded. Euxodus developed the idea of rotating spheres by introducing extra spheres for each of the planets to account for the observed complexities of their motions. Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) summarized much of the Greek work before him and remained an absolute authority until late in the Middle Ages.
The ancient Babylonians viewed the Universe as a flat disk of land surrounded by water. They were the first people to keep detailed records of the paths of planets.
The Australian Aborigines felt a strong connection to nature which shaped their view of the universe and their place in it. The sun for all Aborigines was female and associated with light and goodness. This reveals that the Aborigines believed women to be intrinsically good, for they are they ones who brought human life into this world.
Ancient Indians' interest in astronomy was an extension of their religious pre occupations and in as much, astronomy and mathematics ran parallel. The chief sources of astronomy-related information are the Vedic texts, Jain literature, and the siddhantas (texts), as also the endeavors in Kerala (southern state of India). Some seals of the Indus Valley period are believed to yield information of the knowledge available to those early settlers, as also the orientation of certain constructions clearly governed by such considerations.
Rig Veda and Atharva Veda hymns point to the observance of a lunar year. The Moon itself was regarded as the 'maker of months' - masakrt. Many indications are present as to the awareness of the autumn equinox - references to Aditi (this corresponds to Pollux, longitude 113degree). Daksha (Vega longitude 284degree), Rudra (Betelgeuse, longitude 88degree) and Rohini (Aedebaran, longitude 69degree). The changing longitudes mentioned are a consequence of the precession of the equinoxes. These details are useful for another reason: they reveal the date of composition. Thus, allowing for 72 years per degree (plus, allowance for error) the years should be 6200 BC, 5400 BC, 4350 BC and 3070 BC respectively. Hymn 1.164 of the Rig Veda composed by the sage Dirghatamas refers to a wheel of time with a year of 360 lunar days and twelve lunar months. The year mentioned in the hymn begins with the Autumn star Agni , corresponding to the year circa 2350 BC. Apart from naming twenty seven stars beginning with Krttika, these Vedas mention five planets and name two of them - Juipter (Brihaspati) and Venus (Vena).
Regardless of the exact details of an ancient site, the exploration into the lost world of our ancestors offers many fascinating rewards. In the process of discovering the past we can see within all the peoples of the world a common bond in the creative examination of the vastness of the night sky.
Early people noticed constellations of stars in the sky that looked like animals and people, and made up stories about what they thought they saw. In fact, the oldest records we have of astronomical observations are 30,000-year-old paintings found on the walls of caves.
Long before recorded history, which began about 5000 years ago, people were aware of the close relationship between events on the Earth and the positions of heavenly bodies, the Sun in particular. People noted that changes in the seasons and floods of great rivers like the Nile in the Egypt occurred when the celestial bodies, including the Sun, Moon, planets and stars, reached a particular place in the heavens. Early agrarian cultures, which were dependent on the weather, believed that if the heavenly objects could control the seasons, they must also strongly influence all Earthly events. This belief undoubtedly was the reason that early civilizations began keeping records of the positions of the celestial objects.
In southern Mexico, the Mayans built special buildings to watch the Moon and the planet Venus. They had a calendar by 800 A.D. that was more accurate than the calendar used in Europe.
Most of the Maya cities were located south of this latitude, meaning that they could observe the sun directly overhead during the time that the sun was passing over their latitude. This happened twice a year, evenly spaced around the day of solstice.
The Maya could easily determine these dates, because at local noon, they cast no shadow.
The highest development of astronomy in the ancient world came with the Greeks in the period from 600 B.C. to A.D. 400. The methods employed by the Greek astronomers were quite distinct from those of earlier civilizations, such as the Babylonian. The Babylonian approach was numerological and best suited for studying the complex lunar motions that were of overwhelming interest to the Mesopotamian peoples. The Greek approach, on the contrary, was geometric and schematic, best suited for complete cosmological models. Thales, an Ionian philosopher of the 6th cent. B.C., is credited with introducing geometrical ideas into astronomy. Pythagoras, about a hundred years later, imagined the universe as a series of concentric spheres in which each of the seven "wanderers" (the sun, the moon, and the five known planets) were embedded. Euxodus developed the idea of rotating spheres by introducing extra spheres for each of the planets to account for the observed complexities of their motions. Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) summarized much of the Greek work before him and remained an absolute authority until late in the Middle Ages.
The ancient Babylonians viewed the Universe as a flat disk of land surrounded by water. They were the first people to keep detailed records of the paths of planets.
The Australian Aborigines felt a strong connection to nature which shaped their view of the universe and their place in it. The sun for all Aborigines was female and associated with light and goodness. This reveals that the Aborigines believed women to be intrinsically good, for they are they ones who brought human life into this world.
Ancient Indians' interest in astronomy was an extension of their religious pre occupations and in as much, astronomy and mathematics ran parallel. The chief sources of astronomy-related information are the Vedic texts, Jain literature, and the siddhantas (texts), as also the endeavors in Kerala (southern state of India). Some seals of the Indus Valley period are believed to yield information of the knowledge available to those early settlers, as also the orientation of certain constructions clearly governed by such considerations.
Rig Veda and Atharva Veda hymns point to the observance of a lunar year. The Moon itself was regarded as the 'maker of months' - masakrt. Many indications are present as to the awareness of the autumn equinox - references to Aditi (this corresponds to Pollux, longitude 113degree). Daksha (Vega longitude 284degree), Rudra (Betelgeuse, longitude 88degree) and Rohini (Aedebaran, longitude 69degree). The changing longitudes mentioned are a consequence of the precession of the equinoxes. These details are useful for another reason: they reveal the date of composition. Thus, allowing for 72 years per degree (plus, allowance for error) the years should be 6200 BC, 5400 BC, 4350 BC and 3070 BC respectively. Hymn 1.164 of the Rig Veda composed by the sage Dirghatamas refers to a wheel of time with a year of 360 lunar days and twelve lunar months. The year mentioned in the hymn begins with the Autumn star Agni , corresponding to the year circa 2350 BC. Apart from naming twenty seven stars beginning with Krttika, these Vedas mention five planets and name two of them - Juipter (Brihaspati) and Venus (Vena).
Regardless of the exact details of an ancient site, the exploration into the lost world of our ancestors offers many fascinating rewards. In the process of discovering the past we can see within all the peoples of the world a common bond in the creative examination of the vastness of the night sky.
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