Page 14 - The 'X' Chronciles Newspaper - June / July 2018 Edition

14 Ancient Astronomers

Ancient Astronomers of its kind so far discovered. Like Stonehenge, you that the Egyptian pyramids are time
it marks sunrise and sunset at midsummer, but machines, UFO bases, or gates to other
Astronomy wasn’t invented a couple of other than that, no one knows who built it or dimensions. Thank heavens (no pun intended)
hundred years ago. The study of the what else it might be for. The site was for the Mayans of Mexico, who left detailed
stars is almost as old as humanity abandoned after two thousand years, just before written documents to explain the astronomy
itself. the rise of the Egyptian Old Kingdom. Did the behind the construction of their pyramids. It
ancient Egyptians get their astronomical turns out that the Mayans had a highly
knowledge from an older civilization in the developed calendar system, using astronomical
The oldest and most famous cave paintings
Sahara? events to fix magical dates for sacrifices and
(16,000 to 20,000 years old) are in Lascaux,
other rituals. Their pyramids were built on
France. The animal and human figures in the
cave were long thought to be symbols of magic SERIOUS ABOUT SIRIUS alignments that pointed toward the positions of
or worship meant to help hunters. Eventually The star Sirius was worshiped by a whole range the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars at these special
someone noticed that the dots of paint that of ancient peoples, from the Arabs and ancient dates. It can be definitely proven that the
decorate the animals are actually diagrams of Egyptians to the West African tribes of the Egyptian pyramids, or similar ziggurats of
groups of stars. Most of the constellations have Dogon and the Bozo (don’t laugh, they’re real). ancient Mestpotamia, were built on the same
different symbols today, but the giant bull The Egyptians built whole rows of temples kind of idea, but the astronomical alignments are
(possibly th best known image in cave art) is pointing at the spot on the horizon where Sirius similar, and so far, no one has come up with a
actually the constellation we still call Taurus - would rise each year. This was the beginning of better explanation.
the bull. His eye is the star Aldebaran, and a V- their calendar year and marked the flooding of
shaped decoration of dots around it represents the Nile. For them, Sirius was the resting place A FEW OF MAYAN FAVORITE
the Pleiades star cluster. of the dead and the most important star in the THINGS
sky. For the Mayans, the two most interesting objects
NOT JUST A PILE OF STONES in the sky were the planet Venus and the Sun.
THE INVISIBLE SUPERSTAR While Stonehenge and other ancient sites fixed
The first ancient monument to be identified as
an astronomical observatory was England’s Among the Arabs and some tribes in Mali, there the position of the midsummer sun at dawn, the
was a belief that Sirius had a companion, which Mayans used the moment when it was directly
Stonehenge.It’s attracted a lot of interest from
the tribesmen called the Eye Star, and which overhead. Venus dips below the horizon at a
wanna-be Druids over the years, but current
was supposed to have supernatural qualities. variable date in the year and rises about 50 days
researchers think it was built and rebuilt by
Sirius really does have a companion: a small later. The Mayans were able to calculate this
three separate cultures between 5,000 and 3,000
white dwarf called Sirius B, which is not visible period, and they were also able to predict
years ago. While it’s not clear exactly what it
to the naked eye. So how did these primitive eclipses. They marked these occasions with
was used for, the astronomical alignment of the
stones are unquestionable. The stones mark out people know about it? The Dogon have precise human sacrifices and chose days to go to war by
the sunrise at midsummer and midwinter, and astronomical information about its movements, consulting their astronomical calendars.
the rising and the setting of the moon (which which they celebrate with rituals, even though
they admit that it’s invisible. They even had a STONEHENGE, U.S.A.
repeats in a cycle of 8.6 years). Some people
story about a third star, the Star of Women, In the Hills of Wyoming, there’s an ancient stone
claim to have found many more significant
which was also invisible, And guess what? In construction called the Big Horn Medicine
alignments and have suggested that Stonehenge
1995 it was discovered that there really is a Wheel, which some have called the American
could have been used to predict eclipses - pretty
third star, a red dwarf that’s been named Sirius Stonehenge. A similar construction is the Moose
sophisticated stuff. But did the Druids actually
C. Mountain Wheel in Alberta, Canada. Both were
make these calculations? We’ll probably never
know. sacred sites for local Native Americans, but
PYRAMID SCHEME archaeologists date them from before the Plains
STONEHENGE SOUTH Because questions remain about the alignment Indians arrived to some unknown indigenous
of ancient monuments, the field is wide open for people.
Just as mysterious is the recently discovered
speculation. New Agers (who speculate wildly
stone circle of Nabta, Egypt, which at 7,000
at least three times before breakfast) will tell (Continued on Page 15)
years old is the oldest astronomical observatory