mysteries of egyptian zodiacs - HiddenMysteries Information Central

the identifications made by F. Peters and E. Knobel. The
idea was to consider, instead of individual stars, the whole
collection of the moving stars in order to calculate the date
when they were observed on the sky. In this approach the
whole collection was considered as a single body moving on
the celestial sphere. Let us mention, without entering into
the mathematical formalizm behind this computations, that
the obtained in [106] results do not confirm the traditional of
the Almagest but shift its dating to the epoch from 600 to
1300 A.D. This confidence interval coresponds to probability
p = 99.8%
1.8 Peculiarities in Development of
Ancient Astronomy
According to Scaliger’s chronology, the “ancient” astronomy
achieved an incredible level of development. It is considered
that its peak was reached in the Almagest by the last greatest
astronome of the antiquity – Claudius Ptolemy. After
that, in Scaliger’s chronology, the period of profound silence
takes place. Arthur Berry, in his Short History of Astronomy
states thatthe last important name associated with the ancient
Greek astronomy was that of Ptolemy.
Figure 1.21: Medieval representation of the Universe.
The heights of the “ancient” astronomical knowledge were
allegedly attained again only by astronomers in the Middle
Ages during the epoch of Renaissance. In fact, it is portrayed
that in the “antique” world the level of astronomical knowledge
was so widespread and of such unbelievable stature that
it was demonstrated in quite unscientific ways. For example,
a certain “ancient” consul in the Roman army was able
to present to his regular soldiers a lecture on the scientific
theory of lunar eclipses. In respect to this, that’s what Titus
Livy writes in his famous History of Rome: “Sulpicius Gallus,
a military tribune attached to the second legion, who had been
1.8 Peculiarities in Development of Ancient Astronomy 19
a praetor the year before, obtained the consul’s permission to
call the soldiers on parade. He then explained that on the following
night the moon would lose her light from the second
hour to the fourth, and no one must regard this as a portent,
because this happened in the natural order of things at stated
intervals, and could be known beforehand and predicted. Just
in the same way, then, as they did not regard the regular rising
and setting of the sun and moon or the changes in the light
of the moon from full circle to a thin and waning crescent as
a marvel, so they ought not to take its obscuration when it is
hidden in the shadow of the earth for a supernatural portent.
On the next night - September 4 - the eclipse took place at
the stated hour, and the Roman soldiers thought that Gallus
possessed almost divine wisdom.” We are told today, that this
detailed explanation about eclipses was given to the soldiers
of the Legion of the “ancient” Rome about 2000 years before.
For a person familiar with the history of science, this “ancient
soldiery lecture” makes a real strong impression. This impression
can be even stronger if we take a look at the stage of the
astronomical knowledge during the period from the 2nd to
10th century A.D.
After having witnessed the pronouncement of the Roman
consul in front of the soldiers of the Legion, let us move forward
to the 6th century A.D. and find out what tells us the
renowed specialist in the medieval cosmography — Kosma
Indikoplevst. What was at that time the knowledge about
the Universe, stars and Sun? In his opinion, the Universe was
believed to be a “basket” (see a copy of a medieval picture
representing the Universe on Figure 1.21). Inside this “basket,
from the flat Earth surrounded by the ocean, there was
a huge mountain rising up. The Sun and Moon were hiding
behind this mountain for a fixed time. The firmament, filled
with small nails-stars, was supported by four vertical walls.
This “highly competent” perspective of the Universe, quite
well illustrates the initial stage, which is clearly very primitive,
of knowledge at this epoch. Historians of science following
Scaliger’s chronology, are forced to call this situation
as a “relapse of childhood,” explaining that the ideas of the
flat Earth, which are usually concieved during the childhood,
found thier way to dominate peoples minds.
What’s happened? From where did this cave-man like understanding
of astronomy come from? Acording to Klimishin,
what is a typical for historian explanation, it was a decline of
the antique culture that took place:
“After a marvelous blossoming of the ancient culture on the
European continent, there came a long period of stagnation
and regress — lasting for more than 1000 years, which we call
today the Middle Ages. . . . During these 1000 years, not even
one significan astronomical discovery was made.” Basically,
the traditional explanation of this phenomena can be simply
summarized as: Christianity is not compatible with science.
According to A. Berri, “history of the Greek astronomy
essentially ends with Ptolemy. The art of astronomical observation
collapsed to such a degree that during the eight centuries,
separating Ptolemy from Al-Baghdadi, there wasn’t al-