The ancient Greek astronomical calculating machine, known as the Antikythera Mechanism, predicted eclipses, based on the 223-lunar month Saros cycle... Read More The Astronomical Orientation of Ancient Greek Temples ... Despite its appearing to be a simple question to answer, there has been no...
The astronomer Ibn Yunus (c. 950-1009) observed the sun's position for many years using a large astrolabe, and his observations on eclipses were still used centuries later. In 1006, Ali ibn Ridwan observed the SN 1006, a supernova regarded as the brightest steller event in recorded histor...
In ancient Mesopotamia, a lunar eclipse was considered a direct assault on the king. Myths and prophecies surface as Pakistanis gaze 'blood moon' As Western definitions of science are grounded in the concept of nature as an observable, stable reality, it would seem that the nonexistence of such...
of the movements of the sun, moon, planets and stars through the heavens. Learn more about just how complex and impressive this knowledge was. There is evidence that the people of the Neolithic knew about the 19-year Metonic cycle of the moon, as well as being able to predict eclipses....
In about 390 BC Athen's old enemy of Aegina joined the fray. The Spartan harmost on the island, Eteonicus, began to raid the Attic coast. The Athenians built a fort on the island, and resisted a first Spartan attempt to capture it. 389...
talkaboutpoliticsandthingslikethat,butwomenhadtostayathome.womenwerenotallowedtotakepartinpoliticsandpubliclife.Theyjusthadtostayathomeanddothedomesticwork.Mostfamiliesalsohadslaves.TheseslaveswerenotgiventhesamerightsasaGreekcitizen.Theycouldn'towntheirownhousesorland--theyjusthadtobeservantsinsomebodyelse'shouse...
China is a mosaic of divergent philosophies and traditions. And we must remember this when we talk about China’s ancient mythology. Despite their many themes and variations, most Chinese myths possess one common and central element: the battle of ordinary people against great adversity. ...
, and they associated these with particular aspects of nature or their myths. Twelve of these formations lay along the band of the ecliptic and these became the basis of astrology. Many of the more prominent individual stars were also given names, particularly with Arabic or Latin designations....
when Fenrir discovered he had been tricked and would not be released, he bit off the hand of Tyr,who had known this would happen. But the wolfhadto be tricked and bound, or he would have devoured the Sun itself. Perhaps this myth was inspired by the fear of a total solar eclipse. ...
withdrawing its light for a time. Some of these myths may explain eclipses, times when the earth's shadow temporarily blots out the sun or moon. A solar eclipse creates a period of eerie near-darkness in the middle of the day—an event that surely cried out for a reassuring explanation....