A Golden Calendar from the Bronze Age

Sviatopolk-Tchetvertynski I. A.: The systematic study of the position and arrangement of symbols within Sumerian and Babylonian religious texts is suggested by the existence of numerous so-called ‘Lists’, compiled by Sumerian and Babylonian scribes (e.g. ‘An-Anum’, List of ME etc). The arrangement of symbols related to certain gods is of great importance for us, because the same principle is presented in the structure of the Nippur Calendar which was wide-spread around the Ancient Near East since about 2000 BC. Sacrificial cults were directly incorporated into the calendar system and they made up the most ancient skeleton of it. In this paper we make an attempt to trace the internal logic of this incorporation. We used the arrangement of symbols from three basic sources, which enables to offer the reconstruction of the Sumerian-Babylonian World Outlook: 1. The list of a hundred МЕ (Farber, 1973). 2. The Sumerian-Babylonian calendar of holidays from Nippur (Cohen, 1993). 3. The ‘Astrolabia B’ (Weidner, 1915). Such a Late-Babylonian source as the ‘Astrolabia B’ presents parities between the names of gods, certain constellations and months of the Nippur Calendar related to them. They are presented in the summary table as a systematic observance

The work of Alexander Thom on the geometrical and astronomical achievements of prehistoric Britain— depending as it does almost entirely on data gained from surveying and statistical analysis—is rarely referred to now by British archaeologists.Yet his idea of the prehistoric sixteen-“month” solar calendar—in which the year is divided successively into halves, quarters, eighths and sixteenths—can now be tested with evidence from other fields, including some spectacular archaeological artifacts and from excavations specifically designed to examine the hypothesis. This article reviews the origins of the idea and presents some new evidence which has emerged since Thom’s time which bears on it. This material includes five sites which excavation and surveying have shown to be probable accurate solar- calendar markers and three spectacular artifacts which, in their different ways, shed further light on the idea. These are the gold lozenge from Bush Barrow,Wiltshire, the “sky disc” from near Nebra in eastern Germany, and the fan-shaped design on stone K15 at the Knowth passage grave in Ireland. This diversity of evidence provides powerful support for Thom’s hypothesis and, it is suggested, makes more likely the existence of intellectually skilled professional priesthoods in north-western Europe in the Neolithic period and the early Bronze Age.

The time period in Greek prehistory defined as the ‘Bronze Age’ lasts roughly for two millennia. From the later part of the period, the 2nd millennium BC, we have both texts and other material culture remains as sources of evidence for a discussion on how time was perceived, defined and even administered. Time in human terms is understood and delegated on the basis of the movements of celestial bodies, namely the sun, the moon and the (visible) planets, they therefore constitute the focus of interest here. First the evidence of written texts is examined, mostly the Linear B records dating to the later half of the millennium. It has long been established that the Linear B tablet registrations make explicit references to years and months, and some of the month names were also recorded and are in this way known. The parameters of month definition on the tablets pertain to religious practices and events, but what was of course of interest to the authorities was the administrative and economic aspect of this time management. Along with the textual evidence, there is also a more challenging set of evidence, that of material remains in general. We have iconographic evidence on seals and preserved seal impressions of the sun, the moon, the sky and the stars. Recent archaeological finds include a possible sun-decorated warrior armor from Pylos in Messenia as well as more seal iconographic evidence, that have the potential to update the discussion on the importance of celestial symbols and Minoan-Mycenaean iconography and religion. Iconographic evidence appears to be more challenging because it allows for a variety of interpretations with its inherent ambiguity. The meaning and eventual importance of celestial bodies in Aegean iconography of the 2nd mill. BC is assessed and discussed in conjunction with the previously known textual evidence.

JNES, 2013

A recently published paper proposing a “strict solar alignment” of figurative rock carvings in southern Sweden requires some critical and cautionary remarks. Using the paper “Strict solar alignment of Bronze Age rock carvings in SE Sweden” by N.-A. Mörner as a case study, various pitfalls and challenges in archaeoastronomical investigations are highlighted. Substantiating the idea of a relationship between the orientation of archaeological features such as rock carvings and astronomical events such as sunrise at winter solstice requires accurate and precise determination of (i) the orientation of the archaeological features and (ii) the azimuth of the astronomical event at the time of creation of the rock carvings, taking into account all influencing factors such as changes in Earth orbit parameters, surrounding topography and vegetation. Furthermore, possible motivations or intentions of Bronze Age rock carvers have to be considered. When trying to support a causal link between the orientation of archaeological features and astronomical events, it is indispensable to discuss and exclude possible alternative explanations, related to, for example, rock carving practice and visibility. Taking into account the above issues, there is no evidence for a solar alignment of the Järrestad rock carvings. The issues discussed using the Järrestad rock carvings as a case study are relevant to archaeoastronomical investigations in general.

The identity of the face at the center of the Aztec "Calendar Stone" or Piedra del Sol has long been debated. This essay proposes that two hieroglyphs directly adjacent to the central image, one a personal name of the ruler Moteuczoma and the other a reference to the deity Huitzilopochtli, serve as captions or labels for the central image. The face may therefore be a hybrid form representing the deified ruler as the personal embodiment of the sun in its varied aspects - a trope familiar in Classic Maya ideology. This draft of an essay is still a work in progress, and is excerpted from a longer manuscript now in preparation that looks at many other aspects of the Calendar Stone's glyphic design and spatial setting.

EIRENE, 2015

In introducing this subject it is necessary to give the definitions of the key words kernos and calendar which are at the core of this paper. The current definition of kernos (plural kernoi) is that it is a pottery ring or stone tray in which several cups for holding offerings are carved. A calendar is a managing time system by which the beginning, the length, and the division of a time period (e.g. 365 days) are fixed and by which days and longer divisions of time (weeks, months and years) are arranged in a definite order. The calendars that have been used by humanity so far are the lunar, the lunisolar and the solar. In this paper it will be proved for the first time worldwide that around 1800 BCE the Minoans used stone kernoi as calendars which counted the 365 days of a solar year as follows: 3 days for celebrations (at the beginning of the year) + 5 months (of 36 days per month) + 2 days for celebrations (at the middle of the year) + 5 months (of 36 days per month).

Symbols are visual images representing an idea, a signal, or a sign of a universal truth. People have symbolized and used the objects and forms that are important to them. The symbol that constitutes the subject of this study has been referred by various researchers with different names such as '' signe royal '', '' Cappadocian symbol '' and 'sun symbol'. Several comments have been made about whether this symbol is part of a kingdom's administrative mechanism or that it is a "symbol" that must be evaluated within the belief system of the time. The symbol is first seen in Anatolia at the early stages of the Assyrian Trade Colonies Period. It is thought to be derived from the Mesopotamian solar disk and has been introduced to Anatoliathrough Assyrian merchants. The motif which bears unique Anatolian features is seen on ceramics, stamps and weapons during the late stages of the Assyrian Trade Colonies Period. During the Late Bronze Age, it appears on medallions in the settlements both in and outside of Anatolia. The aim of this study is to reveal new interpretations of the symbology related to the sun through the typological classification of the symbols, the re-evaluation of the archaeological material within its contexts and assessment of different opinions about the meaning of the symbol.

Journal of astronomy and Earth sciences education, 2022

In teaching the history of astronomy, mosaics found at ancient synagogues in the Middle East are invaluable. The ancient Zodiac signs forming such mosaics are related to the seasons indicating the fact that the precession of the Earth axis had been neglected or even unknown. We demonstrate that the sage's derivations of the patriarch's ages in the chronology of the Septuagint version of the bible correspond to the signs of the zodiac, an assumption supported, for example, by the inscription found in the ruins of the Jewish synagogue in Ein-Gedi. Through our astronomical calculations we solve the sun-moon conjunctions occurring at the beginning of the zodiac signs-at the Vernal Equinox-considering the real sun's orbit. Since the Septuagint version of the bible is assumed to have been translated into Greek in the 3 rd century BC from an earlier existing Hebrew source, the fact that the ages of the patriarchs correspond to the observations of the real sun's motion, leads to the conclusion that the Septuagint version is an important book of the history of science. As a result of our findings, the bible can, thus, be regarded as one of the most ancient detailed scientific teaching sources leading to improved astronomical models which determined the planetary orbits.

in: D. Shibata/Sh. Yamada (Hg.), Calendars and Festivals in Mesopotamia in the Third and Second Millennia BC. Studia Chaburensia 9 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz) 1–34, 2021

In the third millennium, the age of early urbanism and city-states as polities, not only one calendrical system or set of similar calendars appeared, but various methods co-existed for counting the months of a year and for naming them. These authoritative sequences of month names represented a cultural construction of time beyond purely measuring it since the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia and Syria lived “in” their calendars. Beyond exploring the chronological and geographical reach of various calendrical systems, one wonders how these specific constructions of time can be placed in the worldview, the society and the role of the individual in the Early Bronze Age. By reference to dates, especially with the use of month names, a social group attributed meaning to time.