mysteries of egyptian zodiacs - HiddenMysteries Information Central

“... the same time intervals which are used for measuring
earth ... time acquire quite a different duration. ... When used
to measure biblical events ... Augustine equalized each day of
the Creation to a millenium and attempted to determine the
duration of the history of mankind. ... 24 .”
In the 13th and 14th centuries, devices for measuring time
were very rare and expensive. 25
“The sundial ... sandpiece and clepsydra were common in
medieval Europe, with the sundial being suitable only when it
is fine, and the clepsydra remaining a rarity 26 .”
In the 9th century candles were commonly used to measure
the time. For instance, the king Alfred of England used
candles of equal length when travelling 27 . The same methods
were still employed even in the 13th and 14th century, for
example, during the reign of Charles V.
It is generally known that a devise for a precise time
measuring is required for astronomical observations and it
is clearly not sufficient to read psalms or sacred books (like
it is claimed in [128] p. 94) in order to determine the elapsed
time. In fact a clock with the second hand was required for exact
astronomical observations. The mechanical clocks which
were used widely in Europe did not have minute hand for a
very long time. Otto Spengler in his The Decline of the West
claimed that the mechanical clock was invented around the
year 1000 by A. Gerbert. However, this assertion was questioned
by A.Ya. Gurevich who maintained that Gerbert only
constructed an improved clepsydra. Gurevich also writes
“... the mechanical clock was invented at the end of the
13th century A.D. 28 .”
By the way, it is commonly believed that the Chinese astronomy
achieved very high levels of sophistication thousand
years B.C., while there is no evidence that time measuring
devises were usedf for these purposes. In fact, there are some
records showing that the Chinese rulers were not interested
in such European inventions, like mechanical clocks, which
were considered just as funny toys rather than a precise time
piece! 29
Anachronisms appearing in the medieval historiography
provide us with very interesting information. For example,
A.Y. Gurevich writes that 30 “The past is represented in terms
of the same categories as in modern times. . . . The biblical
and ancient historical figures are wearing medieval costumes.
. . . Depicting kings and patriarchs of the Old Testament
with ancient sages and evangelical personages side by
side on cathedral portals discloses the anahronistic attitude
toward history best of all. . . . The crusaders were convinced
at the end of the 11th century that they castigated not the de-
24 See [128], pp. 109-110
25 See [154].
26 See [128], p. 94.
27 See [128], p. 95.
28 See [128], pp. 134-135.
29 See [155], pp. 80-87.
30 See [128], pp. 117-118.
1.5 The Chronology of the Biblical Manuscripts 9
scendants of the Saviour’s murderes, but the murderers themselves
. . . ”
These anachronisms are explained by the modern historians
that in the Middle Ages “epochs and notions were mixed
up” on a very large scale, and that the medieval authors
identified ancient biblical times with the Middle Ages only
because of their “ignorance.” Let us stress out that this allegedly
inexplicable “love for anachronisms” can be explained
from another point of view. It is possible that all these statements
of medieval authors, which seem strange now, are authentic
and are regarded as “anachronisms” only because we
follow another chronology.
The Scaliger version of chronology was not unique. In fact
it is only one of many other medieval chronological concepts.
Along with the traditional chronology adopted today, there
were other chronlogical versions as well. For instant, the Holy
Roman Empire of the l0th–l3th centuries was considered as
the immediate successor of the Roman Empire, which, according
to Scaliger’s chronology occurred in the 6th century
A.D. 31 . There are also some traces of a very strange medieval
controversy (from the modern point of view): Petrarch, assumingly
basing his claims on a series of philological and
psychological observations, questioned the authenticity of the
privileges given by Caesar and Nero to the Austrian duchy (in
the 13th century). 32 . For a modern historian, the very idea
that Caesar and Nero were contemporaries of the Austrian
duchy who began ruling only in A.D. 1273, i.e., 1200 years
later, is absurd. But in the 14th century, Petrarch’s opponents
were not so sure about it and thought that a “proper
proof” was needed. 33 .”) Another example is the famous gladiator
fights that supposedly took place only in “the ancient
past.” But this is not so obvious. According to V.I. Klassovsky
they also occurred in the 14th-century 34 — in Naples, in the
year 1344. 35 . As in antiquity, thee medieval fights ended in
the death of a fighter 36 .
1.5 The Chronology of the Biblical
Manuscripts
The chronology the biblical books and their process of dating
are difficult to be determined and we are supposed to rely in
this respect on the authority of the Christian theologians of
the late Middle Ages.
The contemporary researcher of Christianity — I.A.
Kryvelev 37 writes the following: “The real story behind the
origins of the books of New Testament is not exactly as it is
proclaimed by the Church. . . . The presently accepted order of
some New Testament books is contrary to the order established
31 See [156], Vol. 1, p. 16
32 See [156], Vol. 1, p. 32
33 See [156].
34 See [159].
35 See [158], p. 212..
36 See [158].
37 See [159], pp. 267-268