Time and Astronomy in Past Cultures

The volume contains 12 papers presented at the conference "Time and Astronomy in Past Cultures" (Toruń, Poland 2005). Five of them concern Near Eastern calendars and sky-watching, three are devoted to European archaeoastronomy (including a paper on Stonehenge), and two represent ethnoarchaeological research in the Baltic area.

Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC

Availability: In stock

SKU (ISBN): 978-1-60724-668-8

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Publication Status: In Print

Series: Gorgias Précis Portfolios 6

Publication Date: Oct 28,2009

Interior Color: Black

Trim Size: 7 x 10

Page Count: 188

Language: English

ISBN: 978-1-60724-668-8

$160.00

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The volume contains selected papers presented at the conference "Time and Astronomy in Past Cultures" which was held in Toruń, Poland early spring 2005. The meeting was organised as a commemoration o the late Andrzej Wierciński (1930-2003) who in mid-1970s initiated in Poland the scholarly research on astronomy in culture and ancient calendars. Among 12 papers published in the present book, five concern Near Eastern calendars and sky-watching, three are devoted to European archaeoastronomy (including a paper on Stonehenge), two represent ethnoarchaeological research in the Baltic area.

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	Contributor
	Arkadiusz Soltysiak

Cover page (page 3)
Copyright (page 4)
Table of contents (page 7)
Preface (page 9)
Complete list of papers presented at the conference (page 11)
The Calendar in the Flood Narrative (page 15)

Abstract (page 15)
A. State of the field (page 16)
B. Quantitative (or absolute) numbers (page 18)
C. Relative numbers (page 22)
D. The first date in the relative numerical system (page 24)
E. How and when dates are changed? (page 28)
F. Changed dates … changed calendars (page 29)
Conclusion (page 33)
Abbreviations (page 34)

Sabbatical Calendar and Priestly Narrative (page 35)

Abstract (page 35)
1. First Key: the Sabbatical Calendar (page 36)
2. Second Key: the Priestly Document (page 38)
3. Third Key: the Priestly Narrative as a Week of Seven Eras (page 42)
4.1. Day 1: Creation, the first week (page 43)
4.2. Day 2: Antediluvian Era (page 44)
4.3. Day 3: Re-Creation (page 44)
4.4. Day 4: Postdiluvian Era: orphans, barren women and exiles (page 46)
4.5. Day 5: Exodic Era (page 47)
4.6. Day 6: Wilderness (page 47)
4.7. Day 7: Shabbat (page 48)
5. Conclusion (page 49)

Mesopotamian Influence on Persian Sky-watching and Calendar (page 53)

Abstract (page 53)
Introduction (page 53)
Mithra and Shamash (page 54)
The reform of Artaxerxes II (page 58)
Solar festivals in Persian calendar (page 59)
Conclusion (page 61)
Abbreviations (page 61)
Bibliography (page 62)

The Philosophy of Time and Time Telling Devices in the Early Islamic World (page 65)

Abstract (page 65)
Muslim conception of time and sociological/theologicalapproaches (page 68)
The abstraction of time … A brief survey on early Islamic timetellingdevices (page 72)
Conclusion (page 73)
Bibliography (page 73)

On Timekeeping by the Lunar Mansions in Medieval Egypt (page 77)

Abstract (page 77)
1. The method (page 77)

1.1. The lunar mansions in Islamic astronomy (page 79)
1.2. Timekeeping by night by means of the lunar mansions (page 79)
1.3. al-Siqillis treatise on timekeeping by means of the lunar mansions (page 80)

2. The presentation (page 84)

2.1. Folk astronomy and scientific astronomy in medieval Islamic societies (page 84)
2.2. Al-Siqillšs arrangement of the material (page 85)

3. Appendix: The Pleiades (page 86)
Bibliography (page 88)

Music in the Iconography of Venus Children (page 91)

Figures (page 97)

Chronotypic Variation among Early and Middle Neolithic Societes in Poland (page 103)

Abstract (page 103)
Introduction (page 103)
Temporal orientation of Mesolithic foragers and first farmersin north European Plain (page 105)
Varieties of social time among LBK and post-LBK communities (page 106)
Visibility and orientations of LBK longhouses (page 108)
Enclosures (page 109)
Social time in FBC communities (page 109)
Temporal Orientation of GAC communities (page 112)
Conclusions (page 113)
Bibliography (page 114)

Ethnographic Correlates of One Type of Soli-lunar Alignment: The Doubling ofWinter Solstice Sunset with the Southern (Minor or Major) Standstill Moonsets (page 119)

Abstract (page 119)
Recent shifts in archaeology and anthropology (page 119)
Testing these models by the archaeoastronomy of ancient monuments (page 121)
Recent archaeoastronomy (page 122)
The main alignment at Stonehenge (page 122)
Previous interpretations of the Stonehenge main alignment (page 125)
Remaining properties of a horizon alignment on a lunar standstill (page 127)
Remaining interpretations from horizon properties of a lunar standstill (page 130)
Conclusion (page 130)
Bibliography (page 131)

The Calendar of Coligny and Related Calendars (page 135)

Abstract (page 135)
1. A first analysis (page 135)
2. The origin of the calendar (page 136)
3. Research history (page 137)
4. Relation to other calendars (page 138)
Bibliography (page 139)

The Medieval Liturgical Calendar, Sacred Space, and the Orientations of Churches (page 141)

Abstract (page 141)

The Finnish Wooden Calendars and Some Aspects of Folk Knowledge in the Middle Ages (page 151)

Abstract (page 151)
Introduction (page 151)
Calendar sticks (page 154)
Distribution (page 154)
Signs (page 155)
Runic calendars (page 156)
Streak calendars (page 157)
Notch calendars (page 158)
The oldest known Finnish calendar (page 158)
Traditional time reckoning and feasts (page 159)
Conclusions (page 167)
Acknowledgements (page 167)
Bibliography (page 167)

The Observation of Celestial Bodies and Time Counting in the Lithuanian Folk Culture (page 169)

Abstract (page 169)
I. The Sun (page 169)

Determination of the time of the day (page 169)
Determination of the calendar time (page 172)

II. The Moon (page 174)

Daytime measurement (page 175)
Calendar time determination (page 175)

III. Stars (page 178)

1. Pleiades (page 178)

1.1. Hour estimation (page 178)
1.2. Timing of agricultural activities and meteorological observations (page 179)

1.2.1. Evening (heliacal) setting (page 180)
1.2.2. Morning (heliacal) rising (page 180)
1.2.3. Morning culmination (page 180)
1.2.4. Morning (cosmic) setting (page 181)
1.2.5. Evening (achronal) rising and evening culmination (page 181)

2. Orion (page 181)

2.1. Hour estimation (page 181)
2.2. Estimation of calendar day (page 182)

3. Ursa Major (page 183)

3.1. Hour estimation (page 183)

4. Venus (page 185)

IV. Time conception in traditional Lithuanian culture (page 186)
Acknowledgements (page 187)
Abbreviations (page 187)
Bibliography (page 188)
Unpublished sources (page 189)