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The Calendars of Ancient Egypt
... As a rule "whenever the first day of lunar Thoth would fall before the first day of civil Thoth the month is intercalary". (Parker, 1950 ;Wells, 1994) Example:Given that I 3xt 4 = lunar day 18 of lunar month1, then day 1 of the second lunar month was on (civil) IV Smw 22. By the rules assumed by Parker for his second lunar calendar this is impossible; an intercalary month would have been inserted in the name ofwprnpt since the first lunar day lays within the first eleven days of the civil month. ...
... As the only truly mathematical astronomical Egyptian textwritten in Demotic yet published, the papyrus represents a true extension of the ancient Egyptian calendar without any influences from the calendars that the Greeks and Romans transferred to Egypt (the Alexandrian and the Julian calendars), it was found in Tebtunis -Fayyumdating to the middle of the 2ndcentury A.D..It conveys on one side a text of astronomical and calendar content.About 70% to 80% of the text is preserved divided on three columns.The papyrusprovides a certain method based upon the civil calendar to determine the beginning of certain lunar months over a 25-year cycle. (Parker, 1950 ;EAT,1968;Depuydt, 2016) The Demotic text consists of the following: ...
... (Wiesenberg, 2019) (****) The calendar that used the familiar Egyptian year of 365 days -12 thirty days monthsplus 5 extra (epagomenal) dayscomprised of three seasons with 4 month each. (Parker, 1950) (*****)The oldest surviving evidence for using the double date calendar (the lunar calendar and the civil calendar) dated to the year 237 B.C. -Ptolemy III, in the temple of Edfu. (Parker, 1950) (******)Since the lunar calendar was governed by the rise of Sirius, its months correspond to the same season every year, whereas, the civil calendar, which was inventedaround 2600 BCE, would move during the seasons because the civil year was about a quarter of a day shorter than the solar year.Due to the discrepancy between these two calendars, the Egyptians created a second lunar calendar based on the civil year and not, as it had previously been, upon the rising of Sirius. ...
... Each month called a name expressing to the nature of this month, while according to Parker' study the registered months referring to the lunar months, fig s . (8,9) [52,55,69,72,73]. The twelve months arranged and divided carefully by the ancient Egyptians registered equally on two registers; the first register that is above the other one, and so, there is a differentiate limit between them. ...
... While a group of deities that are the left limit consists of seven stars represented IXmw-sk, fig s . (8,9) [ 69,70]. So, the astronomical ceiling of the Senenmut's tomb (No.TT 353) is divided into two sections representing the northern and southern hemispheres' stars. ...
... The tomb was built during the eighteenth dynasty, and it belonged to Queen Hatshepsut's vizier ¤nnmwt /Senenmut, "also known as Senmut"(hhhh) , fig s .(8,9) [43,55,[69][70][71][72]. ...
The ancient Egyptians believed that the sky was divided into northern and southern hemispheres
separated by a winding channel called Mr-n-xA, each section contained an astral entity which has
unique cosmic qualities that distinguish them from the other stars. These astral entities are located in
the northern hemisphere, some of them are polar while others are non-polar and in accordance to the
proximity and distance from the center of the northern hemisphere. Examples of these astral entities in
the northern sky are a group of immortal stars known as Ixmw-sk, while the constellation located in the
southern hemisphere is a set of non-polar stars that include of a group of stars called Ixmw wrD.
... Their year was made up of twelve thirty-day months, which were separated into three seasons to represent the planting, harvest, and flooding of the Nile. Unlike the seven-day week eventually adopted by other cultures, each month was divided into three 10-day weeks (decades) (Parker, 1974). ...
... One of the most significant dates in the Egyptian calendar was the heliacal rising of Sirius, which denoted the start of the yearly Nile flood Anduealem and Goshu (2023). This celestial event was associated with festivals honoring Isis and the flood (Parker, 1974). ...
A rich interplay of astronomy, religion, and mythology is reflected in the naming of days across cultures, providing insights into how societies organized time and perceived the universe. This study focuses on Ethiopia's distinctive calendar and religious influence while examining the cultural importance of weekday naming customs in other countries. The goal is to scrutinize how astronomical observations and antiquated customs from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia, and Ethiopia combine to influence modern timekeeping. This study tracks the development of day-naming customs throughout multiple civilizations by analyzing historical documents, linguistic trends, and religious writings using a comparative cultural analysis approach. The findings demonstrate that while many cultures, including Ethiopians, name their days after solar or lunar events, religious beliefs also play a significant role, particularly in Ethiopian Orthodox Christian traditions. Day naming is a valuable tool for tracking time and a representation of cultural identity, according to the study, which finds that day name is heavily influenced by mythology and religion. It is suggested that conventional timekeeping methods be preserved via digital preservation and teaching and that interdisciplinary study be encouraged to delve deeper into these relationships.
... Mas, curiosamente, tal sugestão apresentada não foi acatada pelos escribas (sacerdotes-astrônomos) e um novo ano lunar foi proposto para ser usado em harmonia com o calendário civil. Segundo Parker [42], o calendário baseado na Lua, de 12 ou 13 meses, objetivava determinar os festejos religiosos e marchava junto com o primeiro calendário civil proposto. ...
A Astronomia, dentre as ciências da natureza, é motivadora, interdisciplinar e exerce um fascínio inegável nas pessoas. Nenhuma outra área do conhecimento tem estado, desde a Antiguidade, tão próxima do desenvolvimento do pensamento humano. Descrita como a mais antiga das ciências, este artigo trata de alguns aspectos da Astronomia desenvolvida no antigo Egito, abordando características de um povo que apresentava uma forte tendência para o aspecto prático, diferente da reflexão filosófica praticada na civilização grega. Discutiremos como a necessidade de observar o céu foi importante para estruturar uma administração eficiente e organizada, fundamental não apenas para a agricultura e os calendários, mas também para orientar geograficamente as incríveis construções piramidais que desafiam o tempo. Este texto objetiva contribuir com o estudo no campo da História da Astronomia nas antigas civilizações, subsidiando atividades em cursos de Graduação e de Pós-Graduação.
... This stands in contrast to the consensus among Egyptologists since Richard Parker's argumentations (ref. 16) that the start of the next moon month fell on the day of invisibility. Parker argued that an indication for this is that the Egyptian day began in the morning, though the new moon crescent becomes visible first in the evening. ...
In this article we explore the papyrus archive from El Lahun using a strictly schematic Egyptian civil calendar and a modern astronomical date for the start of the calendar. This leads to the absolute accession years for three pharaohs of the Egyptian 12 th dynasty. The accession years are compatible with recent radiocarbon dates for dynastic Egypt and are confirmed by all twenty-six moon dates with explicit regnal years, as well as by the Sothic date and an additional incomplete moon date included in the archive. Our investigation also sheds light on periods of co-regency, Egyptian practices of Sirius and moon observations, and the reliability of the Turin king list.
... The search for understanding how it originated tells our own story. From the arrival of man at the Moon in 1969 to the current Space exploration, Astronomy has contributed to the advancement of technologies and basic science [2][3][4][5]. ...
In this paper, we present a physical modeling activity whose objective is to allow students to determine the differences between a disk and a sphere using pure scientific criteria. Thereunto, we reproduce the Sun-Earth-Moon system with low-cost materials and compare the illumination effects on the Moon considering two possible shapes for it (a sphere and a disk). The analysis is based on the shape of the terminator line produced in each case as a function of the illumination angle. The results obtained are first discussed and then applied so that one can interpret the observed patterns in the illumination effects of other celestial bodies, such as Venus or even the Earth. Thereby, the activity can be very useful to unmask the unscientific idea of flat Earth. The entire activity is easily replicable and it may be useful to promote a more realistic view of science and its methods.
... Therefore, the further a period is removed from 664 BC, the bigger the error in time will be. Astronomical events such as solar eclipses, lunar observation and the Sirius Cycle (Parker 1950;) could only take archaeologists to 1900 BC (Luft 2006), and thus offer little help in reconstructing the absolute dates of the mid-late third millennium BC too (Bárta 2013;Shortland 2013, 25;Nolan 2008;Verner 2008). So far there are two reconstructions of absolute dates for the mid-late third millennium: the High Chronology by Shaw (Shaw 2003, 479) and the Lower Chronology by Hornung et al., (Hornung et al., 2006, 490). ...
Egyptian grave goods changed dramatically during the third millennium BC, but these changes have received little scholarly attention. Some have described this as a “decline” and attributed changes to new situations in beliefs, economy or social structures, without considering recent debates on grave goods in archaeology. This thesis experimentally applies practice-based theory in order to explain changes in grave goods meaningfully. The theory of this thesis argues that people embodied and reproduced sensorimotor experiences in funerary rituals. At the beginning of the third millennium BC, they tended to create and recreate visual experiences of grave goods in rituals by displaying them with bodies. When changes made them unable to display objects in burials, they improvised to ensure the display. These improvisations caused changes in embodied experiences and led to changes in ritual practices. From quantitative analyses and observations of unpublished tomb cards and photographs of Tarkhan-Kafr Ammar excavations, now stored in the archive at Petrie Museum, UCL, this thesis found that changes in grave goods were caused by combined forces of developments in funerary practices and formation processes of archaeological material. Before 2600 BC, Egyptians could display grave goods in burial pits because grave design allowed grave goods to be visible to participants. From 2600 BC onwards, an underground chamber appeared, which rendered grave goods invisible to most of the participants, and Egyptians shifted displays of grave goods to the ground to ensure the creation of visual experiences. This process lessened the chance of objects to survive underground as archaeological finds.
... A cultural interaction known as "accul turation" occurs when two or more cultures come into contact and influence one another. 25 There are several types of possible cultural contacts. 26 In this section, we will briefly analyze some aspects of cultural interaction claimed to be universal, such as rejection, co-existence, modification and acceptance, resistance and conflict, 27 by comparing the selected calendars. ...
The paper considers the calendar as a link between the cosmos and mankind, and itintroduces it as an instrument in studying culture. It uses the concept of calendars/calendar systemsas a criterion for recognition and formation of culture in general. Starting from an assumption thatthe calendar is a structurally organized system of events or holidays, it analyses the basic units of acalendar: day, month and year, and distinguishes a calendar holiday from a non-calendar holiday.It states that the calendars are a structural list of collective memory within a social group, wherethis memory is described in cyclical categories – calendar holidays. Furthermore, considering thatthe initial epoch of year counting may be different in different cultures, it discusses how culturalself-awareness is expressed through the epoch of the calendar era. Finally, it explores how and towhat extent the formation, interaction, and reforms of calendars and their systems reflect the changein culture. The paper concludes that calendars and their systems should be used as a criterion indefining culture.
... 32 During the 20 th Dynasty, the name of the Feast of the Valley may have been pn-int which is referred to as II Smw, the ninth month of the ancient Egyptian civil calendar. 33 The date; thanks to the Medinet Habu calendar lets us know that the Feast of the Valley was connected to the first day of a new lunar month (psDntyw) that is why different days of the month (II Smw) appear in texts, dependent of the phases of the moon in a given month. 34 Hence, since the date of the Valley Festival was determined according to the moon, no fixed civil calendar dates occur as annual work-free days associated with this feast. ...
... 25 The Egyptian calendar was not only that of the precise time reckoning based on the flooding of the Nile, it also knew the precise everyday cycle of a Lunar month as a sequence of day-by-day marks. 26 Augustine's representations of the eschatological ideas that had found their form in the Old Testament were not one-dimensional. Using these ideas he was "moulding the present", as it has been suggested. ...
This study addresses the question of the correlation in the works of Saint Augustine and other scholars of his age of the sacred history, with its origin in the Old and New Testaments, and the personal, "individual time" of life path that was realized in their understanding of the concept of "today," even as biblical concepts of the end of times and of Apocalypse formed a fundamental background to these representations. These specialized concepts of time, with their clearly marked delineations between beginning and end, were a fundamental characteristic of Christianity, including ideas about the Incarnation, Resurrection, and of the Second Coming. As founding thinkers of the early Christian church, Jerome and Augustine helped set the foundation for all further representations of sacred history in Western Christianity until the end of the middle Ages. Recent studies suggest that Augustine left a self-contradictory heritage with respect to matters of explaining how the overarching biblical history could be applied as a model to the actual history of Rome. Moreover, Rome itself also boasted a long tradition of power and had its own scheme of defining the length of historical periods characterized by its own beginnings and ends for the multiple stages of development in the history of the Western Mediterranean. In this study I seek to explore a new reading of Augustine’s take on Apocalypse. In my view, Augustine’s experience of addressing the matters of the beginning and the end of times was rooted, as we see in the "Confessions", in his own experiences of the the father-son paradigm and was closely related in turn to one of the key elements of Christology, the idea of the sacrifice of the first-born son.
... This type of calendar takes into account both the cyclical phases of the moon and the movement of the sun in the sky during the year. 19 According to this system of time measurement, the month starts on the evening of the first visible crescent in the western sky 27 Ginzel (1906) 93; similar conclusions are established by Parker (1950) 1-12 for Egypt; cf. Pritchett (1959) 154. ...
The exact days on which the Panathenaia was celebrated are not altogether clear, with the exception of Hekatombaion 28 (I 28), the day of the great πομπή honouring Athena. In two ancient scholia it is said that Athena's birthday was celebrated on this main day of the festival. This information has often been deemed false, owing to the existence of other, conflicting testimony according to which Athena's birthday was celebrated on the third of each month, a fact seemingly in accord with her epithet of Tritogeneia. The association between I 28 and Athena's birthday has been seen as the result of the confusion generated by I 28 being the third day from the end of the month (τρίτη άπιόντος). I argue that the information contained in the scholia is not the result of confusion. Athena's birthday was indeed celebrated on the main day of the Panathenaia. This date was set in stone by Pheidias on the Parthenon's east pediment.
El calendario de los terapeutas descritos por Filón de Alejandría en su tratado De vita contemplativa Resumen Los terapeutas descritos por Filón en el tratado De vita contemplativa estaban asentados a las afueras de Alejandría, en un poblado donde llevaban una vida ascética de estudio y ora-ción. Apartados del mundo pasaban sus días en la soledad de su propio refugio, pero tenían cada semana una jornada de convivencia, la del Sabbat. Su vida estaba regulada por un ca-lendario sabático y pentecontal, es decir, basa-do en los números siete y cincuenta, y a su vez enmarcado en un contexto hemerológico solar. Mientras que el siete se relacionaba con el Sabbat, el cincuenta estaba referido al día de la fiesta grande de la comunidad que acontecía cada siete semanas, desde el atardecer del día cuarenta y nueve hasta el amanecer del cin-cuenta. En este artículo trataremos de explicar las características de este peculiar calendario y sus relaciones con otros del momento. Palabras clave: calendario; sabático; tera-peuta; lago mareotis; pentecontal. Abstract The Therapeutae described by Philo in his treatise De vita contemplativa were settled on the outskirts of Alexandria, in a village, where they led an ascetic life of study and prayer. Secluded from the world, they spent their days in the solitude of their own refuge, but they had a weekly Sabbath day of fellowship. Their life was regulated by a Sabbath and Penteconta d calendar, that is, based on the numbers seven and fifty, and overall inserted in a solar hemerological context. While number seven was related to the Sabbath, number fifty was associated with the day of the great feast of the community, that took place every seven weeks, from sunset on the forty-ninth to sunrise on the fiftieth. In this article we will try to explain the characteristics of this peculiar calendar and its relationship with others of the time.
The Sothic chronology of the Old Kingdom has not yet been securely established because of the small number of suitable dates from this period. An analysis of the Old Kingdom dates associated with seasonal events (wAgj feasts, expeditionary activity, the Nile cycles) reveals that seasonal activity was shifted about a month and a half earlier than would be expected given the actual seasons. This observation suggests that, in conventional chronological reconstructions, the age of the Old Kingdom is underestimated by about two centuries. A comparison of the dates of expeditions to Wadi Hammamat during the Old and Middle Kingdoms indicates that the discrepancy is due to incorrect assumptions about the length of the First Intermediate Period. This conclusion is consistent with the results of a large-scale radiocarbon dating project by G. Bonani et al., which revealed an extensive anomaly in the age of most Old Kingdom monuments, while for the Middle Kingdom the results coincided well with expectations. The significant increase in the length of the First Intermediate Period calls for a new look at this epoch, traditionally viewed as a period of struggle for power between two royal houses and the rapid succession of one Herakleopolitan to another.
Los terapeutas descritos por Filón en el tratado De vita contemplativa estaban asentados a las afueras de Alejandría, en un poblado donde llevaban una vida ascética de estudio y oración. Apartados del mundo pasaban sus días en la soledad de su propio refugio, pero tenían cada semana una jornada de convivencia, la del Sabbat. Su vida estaba regulada por un calendario sabático y pentecontal, es decir, basado en los números siete y cincuenta, y a su vez enmarcado en un contexto hemerológico solar. Mientras que el siete se relacionaba con el Sabbat, el cincuenta estaba referido al día de la fiesta grande de la comunidad que acontecía cada siete semanas, desde el atardecer del día cuarenta y nueve hasta el amanecer del cincuenta. En este artículo trataremos de explicar las características de este peculiar calendario y sus relaciones con otros del momento.
In 2010, a construction project for a new water pumping station on the west side of Tell Timai (Egyptian Delta) encountered a limestone structure. This discovery triggered a salvage excavation that exposed a rare example of a well-preserved Delta nilometer. The architectural features of the nilometer reveal some specific and even unique adaptations consonant with the hydrological situation of the Graeco-Roman city of Thmouis. Unlike other examples of nilometers, an aqueduct runs from the north, spilling into the stairwell leading down into the stilling well. A dam stone in the aqueduct appears to have regulated the release of water. The nilometer was also articulated with an adjacent hill by a staircase. Folk tradition memorialised the stair and nilometer location in local fertility and healing rituals performed during Nile flood-related festivals; this tradition preserved the sacred space long after the nilometer and its associated architecture were buried and forgotten. The multifaceted role of the Thmouis nilometer in the cultural and economic life of the city and nome carries wider implications for the political organisation of the nome and the dynamic between syncretic forces and imperial appropriation in Graeco-Roman Egypt. Here we review the shape, function, archaeological context, ideological significance and hydrography of the nilometer and consider the implications of the nilometer for the history of the Mendesian nome and its sacred relationship with the Nile River.
The longitudinal axes of the Middle Kingdom tombs excavated in the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa were precisely oriented to the summer and winter solstices. Located on the western side of the Nile, opposite Elephantine Island, the architectural design of these tombs differed greatly from that of the Old Kingdom with elongated spaces around these axes in relation to the solar cycle. As architecture, was excavated from the landscape itself, the presence of the sun was decisive in letting light in through the single doorway, which acted as a transitional threshold to project the sunlight indoors. Funerary complex No.33 followed the longitudinal direction of the intersolstice axis. This important architectural construction of the necropolis reflects the evolution of a typical Upper Egyptian funerary model during the Middle Kingdom. Analysis of the illumination of the architectural space throughout the year confirms that the continuous movement of the sun during its cycle can be observed inside. The starting point of this analysis, is these spatial results, aiming to find an explanation for the geometric composition and specific design of the different architectural elements which make this a rounded, beautiful and harmonious complex. The QH33 funerary complex was built following very specific planning, which reworked and refined a model of a community which aimed to connect the celestial geometry to the geographical landscape through this architecture.
Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is a highly contagious and pathogenic viral infection
caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome. This pandemic has negatively affected all
sectors of the world, especially the tourism sector. Therefore, this research aimed to study
the procedures used in 5-star hotels to deal with this crisis and to analyze the gap between
actual and targeted practices. A questionnaire was used as an instrument for collecting
primary data that consisted of four dimensions; adjust hotel operations; food and beverage
offers provided at the hotel; cleaning and disinfection practices; and social distancing
practices. The sample of the research was selected using a convenience sampling technique
from 5-star managers (49) and customers (155) at Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh cities to
select a sample of the research. The results revealed that there were statistical significant
differences between the opinions of managers and customers in terms of all procedures
applied at 5-star hotels during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Moreover, there are
significant differences between that procedures and the standard level. The research
suggested that it is necessary to review the procedures followed by 5-star hotels during
COVID-19 pandemic such as; adjusting hotel operations, food and beverages offers,
cleaning and disinfection practices and social distancing practices.
Part I of this discussion of the origin of "Hathor" focused on two elements of the Hathor Icon (Hathor's original "name"), a large square enclosing a falcon in profile. The argument there was that the large square is the footprint of a pyramid enclosure and the falcon is Horus as the living and deceased King. In particular, Part I showed that the most likely pyramid was one of the three on the Giza Plateau.
This Part II will complete the discussion, focusing on the remaining element of the Icon, a small red square behind the falcon's head. Using Stellarium set to the 26th and 25th Centuries BCE, it is found that only one star-Antares-is indicated by the exterior design of the Great Pyramid. Antares follows a steady, predictable path each night that it is visible.
But Antares is not the only red object denoted by the Great Pyramid; Mars follows the same path as Antares but only every 26 months. The rest of the time, Mars as a planet wanders and brightens in a seemingly chaotic pattern against the background "fixed" stars. Even more surprisingly, Mars and Antares-chaos and order-rise together as the Sun sets on a 15-17 year cycle. Not only do they rise together, they also pass through celestial targets designated by the exterior slopes of only the Great Pyramid.
This paper proposes that Egyptians of the Old Kingdom might have interpreted these generational appearances as a frightening glimpse into the celestial battle waged each night between Apep, representing death and chaos, and Re, representing life and order. Somehow, being able to see into one particularly startling episode of this apocalyptic struggle-March 9, 2592 BCE-was a motivation, indeed perhaps THE motivation, for building the Great Pyramid to protect their quasi-divine King, a future combatant in the struggle and the viceroy of Re on Earth.
A final cautionary note: Contemporary and ancient humans tend to view the stars as never-changing in their nightly rounds. However, over a period of several millennia (4.6 millennia in this case), minute shifts slowly accumulate to the point where current astronomical observations are no longer applicable to Old Kingdom Egypt. To correct this misconception, Part II is based on data derived from Stellarium, version 0.20.1, set to various years during the Fourth Dynasty rather than current relationships.
Commagene was an independent and wealthy kingdom in the east of present Turkey from ca. 160 to 20 BCE. A text referred to as Nomos (Dörner) describes the astro-religion of Commagene (Crijns). The text on the Egyptian Rosetta Stone describes the Ptolemaic astro-religion (Rosetta Stone Online Project). It is shown here that the Rosetta text is a precursor of the Nomos, based on textual and astronomical evidence. The coronation dates as mentioned in both texts display a similar configuration in the sky as substantiated by the configuration on the Lion Horoscope at the top of Mt. Nemrud. Not only the date can be calculated, but also the precise time. The time is determined by an annual phenomenon of the marker star Sirius and Regulus, respectively. The latter has been overseen by scholars and underlines the importance of having at least a basic understanding of archaeoastronomy. These unnoticed similarities indicate that the astro-religions of the Middle East are not stand alone cults. The significant similarities point at a shared heritage i.e., a star cult dating maybe as far back as the era of the Fertile Crescent at the dawn of mankind.
Using modern astronomical parameters and based on handed-down dates for "days of the Feast of the New Moon", we propose the exact accession years for two Egyptian New Kingdom pharaohs:-1497 for Thutmose III, and-1297 for Rameses II. These accession dates comply well with recent radiocarbon dates. We also include some remarks about the eight years adjustment of the radiocarbon calibration curve (Intcal) which we have applied in our Egyptological studies. As it appears just now, this eventuality seems to be at least detected-but not yet acknowledged-in recent academic research.
Development of the astronomical science in estimating motion of stars has been of much help in solving the problem of the ancient chronology. The division on three chronologies could have been resolved with determining the time of building pyramid of Khufu.
This paper presents a round limestone offering table in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo(CG1305), which was recovered by A. Mariette during his excavations for the EAS, andis displayed in EMC-R 37. The offering table belongs to KA(.i)-Hb, dating to the OldKingdom (Fourth Dynasty) and was discovered in Saqqara, mastaba C 271 (Fig. No.1).The offering table bears a circular line of hieroglyphic writing in sunk relief around itsupper edge; the text runs anticlockwise and contains a di nsw formula, the name of thedeceased and his title.
Gökyüzü olayları Küçük Asya’nın merkezindeki Hitit uygarlığının (y. MÖ 1600–1180) kült
törenlerinde dikkate değer bir öneme sahipti. Başkent Hattuša’da, güneş tanrıları ve Eski Babil’deki astronomi ve astroloji uygulamalarının kalıntısı olan göksel kehanetlerle ilgili çok sayıda metin bulunmuştur. Bu makalede krallığın en kutsal yerlerinden biri olan Yazılıkaya açık hava tapınağının takvimsel amaçlara hizmet ettiğini öneriyoruz. MÖ on üçüncü yüzyılın ikinci yarısına tarihlenen tapınak doksandan fazla kayaya oyulmuş tanrı, insan, hayvan ve mitolojik varlık rölyefi içermektedir. A Odasındaki rölyefler günlere, sinodik aylara ve güneş yıllarına işaret etmek üzere gruplandırılmışlardır. Hitit rahipleri bu sistemi kullanarak, ay yılı ile güneş yılını eşitlemek için ek ay gerekip gerekmediğini belirliyorlardı. Yazılıkaya’nın astronomi ve astroloji açısından yorumlanması, Hitit ininin göksel yönlerini kısaca gözden geçirmek için bir çıkış noktasıdır.
Regular celestial events assumed remarkable significance for the cultic rituals of the Hittite civilisation (c. 1600-1180 BC) in central Asia Minor. Numerous texts found at the capital Ḫattuša relate to solar deities and celestial divination reminiscent of Old Babylonian astronomical and astrological practices. Here we suggest that the rock sanctuary of Yazılıkaya, which was considered one of the holiest places in the Hittite kingdom, had a calendrical function. It contains more than 90 rock-cut reliefs, dating to the second half of the thirteenth century BC, of deities, humans, animals and mythical figures. The reliefs in Chamber A are arranged in groups to mark the days, synodic months and solar years. Using this system, the Hittite priests were able to determine when additional months were required to keep lunar and solar years aligned. The astronomical and astrological interpretation of Yazılıkaya serves as a point of departure for a brief re-examination of celestial aspects in Hittite religion. Open Access: CC BY
All ancient civilizations BC had lunar months. But how exactly it was decided which daylight was daylight of Day 1 needs to be completely rethought in regard to the great civilizations of Babylon, Egypt, and Greece. The present article proposes a new template to study a little pesky issue that affected just about all the people living in BC on a daily basis. There is this universal conception that the ancients began their lunar month with first crescent visibility. Fine. However, there is only possible definition of that method. The morning of Daylight of Day 1 needs to follow the evening in which the first new small crescent is first seen after conjunction (first crescent visibility is an evening, not a morning, phenomenon). That definition is not found anywhere in the ancient sources or in modern scholarship. The result is a massive deficit in conceptual clarity. In fact, I believe that lunar months nowhere in antiquity began with first crescent visibility. But they do in Islam. Consequently, Islam became representative of all of the pre-Islam Middle East and Mediterranean.
In 1904, Eduard Meyer gave a fundamental step in the chronological
studies of ancient Egypt tying them to certain particularities of the civil year. He
related its origin and structure with the heliacal rising of the star named Sothis, and
fixed a «scientific» guideline to establish absolute dates through the «sothiac dating».
This guideline is the basis of the present absolute Egyptian chronology. A hundred
years after Meyer’s «discovery», we present a review here.
This work intends to delimitate the territory of african continent perceived and described by Herodotus in his Histories, tracing, on the one hand, the genesis of geographic thinking on hellenical world since its roots on homeric imaginary, until its ample systematization in the works of Strabo and Ptolemy, in Ancient Period; on the other hand, the present work tries to indicate the evolution of perception and knowledge from territorial extension of Africa itself between greeks and romans, analyzing the literature of works traditionally classified as Ancient Geography. Consequently, this work, on seeking reconstitute the general environment on that those old inquires happened, will bring notices of displacement capacity, weights and measures, landscapes and toponyms, climatic and geomorphological evolution, philosofies and schools of thought, ethnographic aspects, among others. We'll use the second book of Histories (Euterpe) on this investigation and its mainly geographical references concerning the african continent, trying, lastly, to estimate the herodotian contribution for the regionalization of Africa in later centuries.
Zonzamas "Quesera" (Zonzamas "Cheeseboard") is a lunisolar calendar according to evidences shown in the present paper.
Link: https://brill.com/view/journals/jeh/10/2/article-p69_69.xml?language=en
A recently discovered inscription on an ancient Egyptian ointment jar mentions the heliacal rising of Sirius. In the time of the early Pharaohs, this specific astronomical event marked the beginning of the Egyptian New Year and originally the annual return of the Nile flood, making it of great ritual importance. Since the Egyptian civil calendar of 365 days permanently shifted one day in four years in comparison to the stars due to the lack of intercalation, the connection of a date from the Egyptian civil calendar with the heliacal rising of Sothis is vitally important for the reconstruction of chronology. The new date from the Old Kingdom (3-6th Dynasty) in combination with other astronomical data and radiocarbon dating re-calibrates the chronology of Ancient Egypt and consequently the dating of the Pyramids. A chronological model for Dynasties 3 to 6 constructed on the basis of calculated astronomical data and contemporaneously documented year dates of Pharaohs is presented.
Ancient Egyptians constructed their temples and tombs in a precise orientation to specific astronomical points, as seen in the designs of the Old Kingdom pyramids and related temples. This precise orientation is seen in many religious and funerary buildings across the sequential historical epochs of ancient Egypt. This research introduces what can be called "astronomical design improvements" created by ancient Egyptians in order to better secure the precise orientation of religious and funerary monuments. Moreover, this precise orientation requires observatories to be built and used for the orientation and monitoring of celestial objects in order to determine geographical directions. Therefore, this paper discusses the Probability or Possibility hypothesis of Evidences of the existence of Astronomical Observatories in ancient Egypt, the Probability hypothesis leads to suppose the statistical evidences of this research.
Festivals played a vital role in the cultic life of ancient Egypt from its earliest history. The rituals, offerings, and processions characteristic of most festivals created moments of interaction between the human world and the divine. Their function was to maintain the essential order of the universe, whereby the gods would grant the conditions necessary for human prosperity in exchange for the requirements of their own existence. Even festivals of a seemingly secular nature, such as the king's annually observed coronation festival, should be understood in a cosmological context: as a human steward of divine kingship, the king embodied a conduit between mankind and the gods (see kingship, pharaonic egypt).
Keywords:
Egyptian history;
folkore and mythology;
religion
Most, if not all, natural disasters that occur stochastically do not have any positive effects on human civilization; in contrast, it was the cyclical natural phenomena and disasters that helped humans to invent and advance their civilizations. Research on cycles and cycle-like phenomena has never stopped since ancient times, and it has become the most dynamic part of a nonlinear civilization. In general, the most significant research progress was achieved during two major periods. The first period started at the early stage of civilizations, in which human beings had a crying need to develop a calendar. The second period lasted from the late nineteenth century till the end of the Cold War, with the interwar period being the most productive years of research.
The discovery of past spikes in atmospheric radiocarbon activity, caused by major solar energetic particle events, has opened up new possibilities for high-precision chronometry. The two spikes, or Miyake Events, have now been widely identified in tree-rings that grew in the years 775 and 994 CE. Furthermore, all other plant material that grew in these years would also have incorporated the anomalously high concentrations of radiocarbon. Crucially, some plant-based artefacts, such as papyrus documents, timber beams and linen garments, can also be allocated to specific positions within long, currently unfixed, historical sequences. Thus, Miyake Events represent a new source of tie-points that could provide the means for anchoring early chronologies to the absolute timescale. Here, we explore this possibility, outlining the most expeditious approaches, the current challenges and obstacles, and how they might best be overcome.
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