01.05.2023 Views

Constellations Thesis Book by Nesrin Zidan

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

...

66

It is said that the first appearances

of the famous Hailey’s comet were documented

by the Babylonians (7 Ancient

Cultures and how they shaped Astronomy,

2018).

From the tablets of the Babylonians

to the development of Astrology and

the Zodiacs, Mesopotamia is credited with

many achievements in the Sciences, especially

their study of the cosmos (Gleiser,

2022).

They looked at the stars and created

patterns. They noticed how some lights

in the sky moved differently than others,

establishing an association between the

stars and religion. A scribe in the early

third millennium BC, in the city of Uruk,

was able to deduce that the day and night

stars were the same; a piece of knowledge

that hadn’t been discovered for another

2,000 years in Europe (Steele, 2019).

The ancient Mesopotamians were

also able to form ideas about the solar

system. They understood this through

observing the recurring presence of the

planets that were visible to the naked eye,

which were Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars,

and Saturn with the inclusion of the moon

and Sun. This knowledge resulted in the

creation of a calendar of sorts.

.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!