Teaching The Astronomical Visualization Used For The Explanation Of The Ancient Ein-Gedi Archaeological Zodiac And Its Related Inscription

It has been generally acknowledged that falconry was unknown in Antiquity until it was imported in the 5th century AD by Germanic tribes into the lands of the Roman Empire. However, this theory contrasts with a 1st century AD epigram by Martial that depicts a hawk kept in captivity that regrets hunting for a fowler, a concept that can be perfectly understood as falconry. Due to a lack of knowledge of Iberian iconography and the absence of other early sources that attest to the existence of hawking in Antiquity, historians of hunting have interpreted Martial's epigram in diverse ways to avoid accepting that the poet was familiar with falconry. However, a careful look at Iberian figurative arts between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC reveals that Iberians depicted scenes perfectly coherent with falconry. Furthermore, some of these images were created in the region around Bilbilis where Martial was born, grew up and retired. Thus, we can conclude that it is highly likely that Martial was describing falconry in his epigram due to his knowledge of the sport in his native Hispania. Iberians seem to have practiced falconry since at least the 3rd century BC. This constituted an exception in the ancient world, since there is no evidence to prove that falconry was known in Middle Eastern, Greek or Roman civilizations.

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)1. INTRODUCTIONThe Antikythera Mechanism,1 found in an ancient shipwreck in A.D. 1901, is an extraordinary 2000-year-old astronomical computer that calculated the position of the Sun and the Moon in the sky, was used as a calendrical device, could predict eclipses, and displayed the year when ancient panhellenic games were held. Extended astronomical and technical inscriptions covered its front and back doors and plates.The front side of the Antikythera Mechanism is mainly preserved in Fragment C where small parts of two concentric rings are found: the outer one displays the Egyptian calendar (with month names ???O?, ?????, etc.) and the inner one the signs of the zodiac (???T???S, XHAAI, etc).2 On the zodiac dial, above some of the scale divisions of each zodiac sign, small capital letters (A, B, G,...) are inscribed, that follow the sequence of the letters of the Greek alphabet.3 Attached to Fragment C, there are also two pieces (Cl -a and Cl-b4) of flat plate, inscribed with lines of text describing astronomical phenomena. At the beginning of each line is a separate letter. These 'index letters' almost certainly correspond to the small capital letters found on the zodiac dial, thus forming a 'parapegma'.5 Parapegmata - calendars of astronomical and meteorological events - were widely used in ancient Greece.6 Incomplete lines of parapegma text have been found in four other fragments (Fragments 9, 20, 22 and 28).On the largest of the two pieces of flat plate (Cl -a) attached to Fragment C, the most extensive parapegma inscription, with 9 lines of text (see Figure 1), can be read. From the lines bearing the index letters ?, M and N, only the last words are visible. The rest of the letters were visible duringAlbert Rehm's investigation (early twentieth century) but nowadays they are not, as part of the inscribed plate has broken away since then. These inscriptions were reported by Price,7 who based his reconstruction on unpublished notes of Albert Rehm.The events mentioned on plate Cl -a are typical of events found in parapegmata and are categorized as follows:(a) There are 6 events that refer to the rising and setting of stars. The verb used is either ... (rises) or ... (sets), indicating that the star is in the east or the west, respectively. It is followed by the adjective ...(in the morning) or ... (in the evening) indicating that the Sun is in the east or the west, respectively. The subject is always a star, a star cluster or a constellation. Combining the star and Sun positions, four star events are formed (morning rising (mr), evening rising (er), morning setting (ms) and evening setting (es)). These four events are sometimes called 'star phases' or 'heliacal risings and settings' by modern scholars.(b) There are 2 events that refer to the signs of the zodiac (henceforward called zodiac statements). The subject is always a zodiac constellation/sign, followed by the phrase ... (begins to rise), indicating that the constellation/sign is in the east. The ancients used the same names to indicate the irregularly shaped and sized zodiac constellations and the uniformlysized, 30°-long, zodiac signs. The fact that there is always an index letter at the first scale division of each sign of the zodiac on the zodiac dial (for all three signs with their first scale division preserved ...) indicates that these events most probably mark the crossing of the Sun from one zodiac sign to the next.8 This is somewhat unusual among Greek parapegmata. Parapegmata, not uncommonly, indicate the entry dates in some manner but this is the only parapegma that uses the verb 'rise' to designate the Sun's entry into zodiac signs. More typically we see a notice that a zodiac constellation to on a day that is not necessarily the first day that the Sun is in the zodiac sign of the same name. For example, in the Geminos parapegma, we read that, according to Callippus, the constellation Leo begins to rise on the 30th day that the Sun is in the sign of Cancer; or that, again according to Callippus, the constellation Aries begins to rise on the 3rd day that the Sun is in the sign of Aries. …

The connections between astronomy and timekeeping are longstanding. One approach to the teaching of Astronomy is it can serve as a unique platform to illustrate the advancement of science from ancient times along with the strong interrelation between science and religion. Here we chose to describe the influence of astronomical measurements that led to the determination of calendars with emphasis on the Islamic epoch: During the second century the Ethiopian Church placed the world’s year of creation (YOC) at exactly 5500 years before the Incarnation, thus expressing the view that it is related to the first day of the second half of the sixth millennium since their believed to be the YOC. The Ethiopian Church also believed that the astronomical visualization of the sky in the YOC which placed the vernal equinox and the newmoon in the same day, repeated itself in the year 5500. In a previous work we showed that “Astronomical coincidence" is a notion originated from Jews who believed that the YOC, Exodus, and the building of the Temple were mystically connected by similar rare newmoon events relative to the vernal equinox. Here we show that the founders of Islam believed in a similar mystical coincidence, explicitly that the 16th of July, 622 AD,- the epoch of the Islamic calendar-, is exactly the day in which the 6000th lunar year started after the biblical creation based on the number of solar years from creation as determined by Eusebius. We show that our astronomical calculations are in accordance with a tradition mentioned by Abu al-Fadl and Badauni.

DR. KRICHENBAUER believes that he has discovered a new key to ancient mythology. With the help of the Iliad and Odyssey, the gods of Greece are resolved into stars and constellations, and the facts of astronomy are made to explain their nature and attributes, as well as the myths that were told of them. In the deities of Egypt, of Babylonia, of India, and of Iran, Dr. Krichen bauer finds fresh confirmations of his views. The development of this early astronomical theogony falls into two periods, the first period being one of creation and growth, the second of fixity and nationalisation. The first period has its “climacteric” in B.C. 2110, when the Ram already ushered in the year. But its real history belongs to that earlier age when the Bull took the place of the Ram, and it is the Bull, accordingly, which stands at the head of the religious system, and breaks in sunder the egg of the universe. The second period begins with the change of the summer solstice from the Lion to the Crab in conse quence of the precession of the equinoxes, and thus falls about 1462 B.C., when the commencement of the year was transferred from the summer solstice to the vernal equinox. The equal division of the path of the sun into the twelve signs of the Zodiac took place about seven centuries later. This, briefly put, is the substance of Dr. Krichenbauer's work. His interpretation, however, of the passages of Homer upon which his theory is based, is purely subjective, and is not likely to commend itself to others. Homeric scholars, at any rate, will not admit that any portion of the Iliad or Odyssey is anything like so old as he would make them, or can contain traditions of anything like so old a period. His acquaintance, again, with the facts that modern research has recovered from the monuments of Egypt and Babylonia, is of the most meagre kind. Hence he is quite unaware that we happen to know a good deal about ancient Babylonian astronomy, and the history of the Zodiacal signs, as has lately been pointed out in NATURE, and that what we know is altogether inconsistent with his statements and conclusions. Thus the year began with the vernal equinox, and the heaven was divided into twelve equal portions at least as early as B.C. 2000, and probably much earlier, while it was in Babylonia that the constellations and Zodiacal signs were first named. On the other hand, there was not the remotest connection between the theology and mythology of Babylonia and Egypt. Before Dr. Krichenbauer again writes on this subject it would be advisable for him to be better acquainted with the results of modern Oriental research.

The purpose of the article is to analyse the development of the worldview system of Ancient China, in particular, the philosophy that directly determined the cultural and musical traditions of the country. The research methodology provides historical and biographical methods for the subject studying. We have researched the effects of the worldview of Ancient China on the country’s musical traditions. Furthermore, we have defined the historical names of philosophers who influenced the development of musical art and education mostly, which also affected cultural traditions. Conclusions. Chinese musical culture has been proven to be originated from the performance of ritual song and dance rites during work, then it was repeated in court and temple traditions. As a result, by the time of the early Western Zhou period (the 11th – 3rd centuries BC), a music institution was created, which started a school of music and dance. Music took a philosophical content in the late Eastern Zhou period (770 – 256 BC) following the emergence and spread of Confucianism and Taoism. During the Han period, due to the cultural influence of India and other Middle Eastern countries, Buddhism spread in China, and new musical instruments appeared. In the 6th – 7th centuries, musical compositions for qin and pipa were composed, written in the form of dialogues that included songs and dances; the role of the orchestral part began to grow. During the 11th – 13th centuries, musical styles were divided into northern (heroic moods, heptatonic scales) and southern (strict rules of composition, pentatonic scales). Since the 17th century, Chinese music has been introduced as folk songs. Jingju theatre performances became popular. Shi fan xue orchestra music was actively developing. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Chinese musicians did already use the European instruments and perform European music. Changes have been taking place in the vocal art, where the socalled musical form tanci has appeared. In the 20th century, Chinese professional music was formed, and the system of music education was developed. There was a search in the musical style in order to emphasise the national basis. Chinese composers in their original works combine national and stylistic origins with models of European music, thus creating their own nationally coloured style.

Символіка Зодіакального Кола в єврейському мистецтві Східної Галичини XVIII – першої третини ХХ ст.

در این پژوهش، ساختار گردش بزرگ‌مقیاس جو و رفتار تابستانه جت جنب حاره در منطقه خاورمیانه در بازه زمانی 16 آوریل (27 فروردین) تا 15 جولای (24 تیر) برای دوره 30 ساله (1981-2010) با استفاده از داده‌های شبکه‌بندی روزانه مؤلفه باد مداری تراز 200 هکتوپاسکال، مورد تجزیه‌وتحلیل قرار گرفت. در هر سال، تغییر رفتار روزانه جت به‌صورت تصویری و عددی مورد پایش قرار گرفت. در بررسی رفتار روزانه جت، شدت‌جریان و میزان جابجایی عرضی هسته جت معیارهای اصلی جهت تشخیص تغییر الگوی گردش و آغاز فصل تابستان در نظر گرفته شد. پردازش داده‌ها بر اساس رفتار جت در دو آستانه زمانی، شامل زمان آغاز و زمان خاتمه پرش شمال سو صورت گرفت. یافته‌ها بیانگر آن است که در منطقه خاورمیانه تابستان واقعی- بر اساس حقایق مبتنی بر گردش کلی جو- با لحاظ نمودن دو آستانه زمانی آغاز و خاتمه پرش شمال سو به ترتیب حدود 21 روز و 17 روز زودتر از تاریخ نجومی (اول تیر ماه) آغاز می‌گردد. صحت تعیین زمان آغاز تابستان توسط آزمون کای اسکور مورد تأیید قرار گرفت. بررسی روند تغییرات، نشان دهنده روندی با شیب مثبت، برای زمان آغاز تابستان در منطقه است. یافته‌ها همچنین بیانگر آن است که آغاز فصل تابستان در 15 سال دوم مورد مطالعه، انحرافات و نابهنجاری‌های قابل ملاحظه‌ای در قیاس با 15 سال اول دارد. ادامه داشتن این روند باعث نزدیکی زمان آغاز اقلیمی تابستان به آغاز نجومی و از طرفی کوتاه شدن طول فصل تابستان خواهد شد.

In the second, revised edition of the work, Alsted offered his reader a Treasury of chronology, in which the whole series of times and histories . . . is placed before the eyes, so that the foundations of chronology can be unearthed from sacred letters and astronomical calculations.’ This emphasis on astronomical calculations is also reflected in five new preliminary chapters which outline the technical framework of historical chronology, survey ancient epochs and calendrical systems, and present evidence gathered from historical eclipses, which Alsted calls ‘the incomparable treasures of chronology and astronomy, inasmuch as they are the natural and thus infallible bases and characters of time.’2 The greatest chronological innovation of the immediately preceding period had been the application of the increased accuracy of modern astronomical calculations and observations to establish the dates of the eclipses recorded in ancient sources. Mathematics and philology, science and humanism were thus fused in the best Renaissance tradition to create a polyhistori-cal discipline par excellence exemplified above all by the greatest humanist scholar of the day, Joseph Scaliger.3 It was only natural that an encyclopedist should emphasise the contribution of this fascinating new science to establishing the foundations of his system of historical and prophetic chronology.

Ring mail from AarhusDuring the almost two millennia which elapsed from the introduction of ring mail into Europe via the Roman army in the 3rd century BC until body armour went out of general use in the course of the 17th century, ring mail has played a surprisingly major role, despite the weakness of its presence in the archaeological record. When the Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century AD, ring mail became the dominant form of armour for almost a millennium. The most commonly occurring piece, the hauberk (fig. 1), appeared with a range of variations from the Roman Empire until long after the general use of armour ceased. The introduction of plate armour in the 14th century led to flexible ring mail developing from general to more specialised use: to protect the parts of the body and joints which non-flexible iron plates were unable to cover and as a supplement to cheap types of armour such as the brigandine (fig. 2). When armour technology had, in general, reached the limit of its usefulness in the 17th century, and in step with a decline in the art of making ring mail apparent through the centuries, this form of armour largely went out of use in Europe. In the Middle East and in Africa it acquired a more ceremonial role, as a status symbol for powerful chieftains, and with no real link to its origin as body armour.Even though the construction of ring mail is easy to explain – four rings are joined together with a fifth and these quintets are then linked together with further rings (fig. 3) – the practical execution of the technique is rather more difficult as, when the rings are correctly assembled, ring mail is only flexible in one direction (fig. 4). As the rings themselves can be made in several different ways – from wire hammered out from ingots or as cut strips of sheet iron or perhaps drawn through a swage or stamped out whole from sheet iron – and they can be assembled in various ways – either riveted, forge-welded or just butted together – this gives many possible permutations for the construction of ring mail. These factors make a useful contribution when determining the type and date of archaeological finds of ring mail.There are five archaeological records of ring mail from Aarhus. The major excavation in Bispetorv yielded two small pieces (fig. 5). These are dated stratigraphically to the 10th century, but they are too small for their original function to be ascertained. The example from 21 Graven (fig. 6) is a long, narrow piece which was probably used to cover an armpit or similar in association with plate armour, but it is not possible to give this a more precise date than the High or Late Middle Ages. Other finds from Aarhus include a brigandine sleeve (fig. 7), dated to the end of the 16th century on the basis of its appearance and construction. The example from 27 Volden (fig. 8) is a well-made ring mail collar, dated to the second half of the 16th century on the basis of European parallels and the quality of its craftsmanship.Ring mail has not, however, completely disappeared. It has enjoyed a veritable renaissance in recent times with butchers, zoo keepers and marine biologists who dive with sharks and other piscine predators. Ring mail’s flexibility and toughness has saved many limbs from bites and cuts in modern times, just as it shielded many limbs from ugly wounds in the past.Lea Hillebrenner PindMoesgård Museum

The Alexander Romance is a fictionalized life of Alexander III of Macedon (Alexander the Great, 356–323 bce), originating in the 3rd century BC, though the earliest evidence for its circulation in textual form is from the 3rd century ce. Originally written in Greek (in which there are five recensions), it was translated into Latin in the 4th century ce, and from the 5th century, into every language of Europe and the Middle East. It narrates Alexander’s birth to Olympias, as son of the last Pharaoh, Nectanebo II, of Egypt; his upbringing; his campaigns (in a strange order); his encounter with Queen Candace of Meroe; and particularly his adventures in India and beyond, including his encounter with the naked philosophers of Taxila; his death, and his will. Later versions (recensions L, gamma) include a meeting with the Amazons and his invention of a diving bell and a flying machine.

Agriculture is the foundation of human civilization. Transition from hunter-gatherer to settled agriculture, as evidenced by the use of crude implements for tilling and harvesting, may have occurred in modern day Iraq and elsewhere around 11,000 years ago (Troeh et al. 2004). The beneficial role of growing cover crops in improving soil productivity had been recognized for at least three millennia and probably longer. Use of cover crops as green manure had been advocated in most ancient cultures (e.g., Indus Valley and Middle East) to improve soil fertility. In China, for example, use of cover cropping dates back to the Zhou dynasty 3,000 years ago (Lipman 1912; Pieters 1927; Meisinger et al. 1991). Cato, a Roman philosopher during the 3rd century BC, advocated the use of green manure and compost to improve soil productivity (Winiwater 2006; Brevik and Hartemink 2010). By the 4th century AD, grain yields of wheat (Triticum aestivum) in Rome declined drastically due to the lack of cover cropping and were hardly 270 to 400 kg ha−1 (4 to 6 bu ac−1), and that of barley (Hordeum vulgare) were only 220 to 320 kg ha−1 (195.8 to 285.1 lb ac−1; Paine and Harrison 1993). Therefore, during 395…

Most of the onomastic units mentioned in the written monuments of ancient times are valuable sources in terms of studying the past, language, lifestyle, ethnogenesis, ethnography of our people today. While these monuments are important in terms of clarifying historical realities and shedding light on obscure issues, on the other hand, their study is politically important in modern times. At a time when our hated neighbors are looking at our lands and making historical distortions, the study of onomastic units in ancient monuments – toponyms, anthroponyms, oronyms, hydronyms, etc. – can be a convincing answer to baseless fabrications. It should be noted that we come across information and explanations about each of these hydronyms in scientific and historical sources written from ancient times to the present day, and the core of each of them is of Azerbaijani-Turkish origin. The monument involved in the study names countless water bodies associated with the territory of Azerbaijan. They are also very valuable in terms of studying the lexical and semantic development of our language. We come across information and explanations about each of these hydronyms in scientific and historical sources written from ancient times to the present day. One of the hydronyms directly connected with the territory of Azerbaijan in the source is the Caspian Sea. Books and articles about the Caspian Sea give it different names and etymological-linguistic analysis of the word Caspian. Another hydronym mentioned in the source is Tartar river. The article provides extensive information about the Tartar River in terms of its geographical structure. The hydronym Tartar is given in Arabic, Russian, Georgian and ancient Turkic sources with different phonetic structure. The name of the Urdun River is mentioned several times in the source. However, it should be noted that the Urdun River flows not in the Albanian country, but in the Middle East, and most of it flows in the territory of modern Jordan. Although the explanation of some of the hydronyms included in the ancient Caucasian Albanian territory in the source is convincing, the exact explanation of many ancient hydronyms still remains controversial. One example of such controversial hydronyms is the Urdun River. The last hydronym mentioned in the article is Goycha river. Extensive geographical, historical, etymological interpretations and linguistic analysis of the hydronym are given. Key words: river, morphemes, geographical names, modern areal, hydronyms, onomastic

From the ancient practice, implied by many textual sources although never formally prescribed, of identifying the twelve horoscopic places (the δωδεκάτροπος dōdekatropos) with the zodiacal signs, recent scholarship has often concluded that such identification constituted a tenet of ancient astrology even at a conceptual level. On the basis of a close reading of Vettius Valens’ Anthologies, supported by other ancient sources, this paper argues that while the places, like other elements of horoscopic practice, were often provisionally approximated by sign position alone, calculation of places by degree, with boundaries differing from those of the zodiacal signs, was consistently upheld in principle as more accurate and useful. Specifically, Valens’ preference appears to have been for places calculated from the quadrants formed by the intersections of horizon and meridian, a method also occasionally used in the Anthologies for defining planetary configurations and for annual transmission (παράδοσις paradosis). In several cases, such methods are explicitly employed even for horoscopes presented in a simple, signs-only format.

Hoards containing hundreds or thousands of coins have been found under floors of various Late Antique synagogues. The coins are so dispersed that it is clear they were never meant to be collected, but were intentionally scattered. The custom is not alluded to in any ancient Jewish source, making it hard to interpret. Archaeologists have acknowledged the phenomenon, but without dealing with its characteristics or cultural background. In this article, we first present the phenomenon with its physical settings, chronological boundaries and geographical distribution. The practice is documented in a restricted geographical region in northeastern Palestine, apparently pointing to a localized custom. The main part of the article is devoted to interpreting the phenomenon and comparing it with foundation deposits in other areas in the ancient world, concluding that it seems to have been a praxis meant to protect the building, which developed during a period in which magical practices and beliefs flourished among the Jews.

The still controversial date of the birth of Jesus Christ (Nativity Day) is investigated by using multidisciplinary elements: historical tradition, ancient calendars (Julian and luni-solar) and astronomical calculations. The Nativity Day dates of Western—December 25—and Eastern traditions—January 6—have been compared with Kislev 25, the initial day of the Jewish feast Hanukkah, reported in an ancient source of the IV century as the Nativity Day. The same source sets the Epiphany on Tevet 6. Astronomical calculations allow us to reconstruct moon phases and ancient luni-solar calendars, and to verify whether Hanukkah can be associated to the Nativity Day of the Christian tradition. By considering the leap years wrongly introduced in the first decades of the Julian calendar, and the flexibility of the Jewish luni-solar calendar of 2000 years ago—regarding the beginning of months and embolismic years—our astronomical calculations show that the Nativity Day set on Kislev 25 is compatible with the Eastern tradition, 6 January 1 after Christ, in agreement with the year calculated by Dionysius Exiguus. Moreover, also the Epiphany is compatible with the Eastern tradition of January 6, if it is set on Tevet 6 of a year later, just in the day indicated by an ancient source of the IV century.