Posted on 06/04/2007 10:50:49 AM PDT by blam
Fathers of the zodiac tracked down
Astronomer shows when and where his ancient counterparts worked.
Geoff Brumfiel
The MUL.APIN tablets record the dates that constellations appeared in the Assyrian sky. R. D. Flavin
Using modern techniques — and some rocks — a US astronomer has traced the origin of a set of ancient clay tablets to a precise date and place. The tablets show constellations thought to be precursors of the present-day zodiac.
The tablets, known collectively as MUL.APIN, contain nearly 200 astronomical observations, including measurements related to several constellations. They are written in cuneiform, a Middle-Eastern script that is one of the oldest known forms of writing, and were made in Babylon around 687 BC.
But most archaeologists believe that the tablets are transcriptions of much earlier observations made by Assyrian astronomers. Just how much older has been disputed — the estimates go back to 2,300 BC.
Now Brad Schaefer, an astronomer at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, says he has dated the observations to 1,370 BC, give or take a century.
The tablets contain a number of different observations, including the day each year that certain constellations first appeared in the dawn sky. These dates change over the millennia because of a tiny wobble in the Earth's axis.
"It's like a big hour hand in the sky," Schaefer says.
By studying these dates and other astronomical information, such as the dates certain constellations were directly overhead, Schaefer nailed down the year the measurements were taken.
He also worked out that the ancient observers lived within roughly 100 kilometres of 35.1° N — an area that includes the ancient Assyrian cities of Ninova and Asur. The results were presented at the American Astronomical Society's summer meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Star gazing
To double-check his measurements, Schaefer did his own observations at the McDonald Observatory in the Davis Mountains of Texas. Rather than using the observatory's massive 9.2-metre telescope, he stood outside and gazed at the stars. "The best equipment I used was rocks to mark where my feet were," he says.
Nevertheless, these measurements allowed him to pinpoint his own position and date more precisely than he could those of the Assyrian astronomers. He is not sure why his measurements worked better.
Schaefer's work will help settle a long-standing debate, says Hermann Hunger, an Assyriologist at the University of Vienna in Austria. Previously, historians had based their arguments on single stars or constellations on the tablets.
Schaefer's statistical analysis of all the observations on the tablets "will impress historians who cannot do the same on their own — including myself", Hunger says. He adds that most historians have settled on a rough date of 1,000 BC for the tablets, which agrees well with Schaefer's analysis.
GGG Ping.
rocks?.......Even a string and a stick would have been better......The ancient astrologers were not stupid. Their very lives depended on their measurements. If they screwed up their heads would be on the sticks........
What’s amazing is that the ancient astronomers figured out the precession of the equinoxes caused by a wobble in Earth’s spin axis. A fixed viewpoint would follow a circle in the sky, with the 12 constellations of the Zodiac in that circle. The amazing part is the precession cycle is almost 26,000 years, but they figured it out with very short observation time. No civilization lasted anywhere near long enough to observe very much of the precession arc. I wonder if they had....help?
World's oldest telescope?According to Professor Giovanni Pettinato of the University of Rome, a rock crystal lens, currently on show in the British museum, could rewrite the history of science. He believes that it could explain why the ancient Assyrians knew so much about astronomy. It is a theory many scientists might be prepared to accept, but the idea that the rock crystal was part of a telescope is something else. To get from a lens to a telescope, they say, is an enormous leap. Professor Pettinato counters by asking for an explanation of how the ancient Assyrians regarded the planet Saturn as a god surrounded by a ring of serpents?
by Dr David Whitehouse
Thursday, July 1, 1999
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“Nevertheless, these measurements allowed him to pinpoint his own position and date more precisely than he could those of the Assyrian astronomers. He is not sure why his measurements worked better.”
I wonder if the figures he had in his tables had copyist-introduced errors, as is common in later manuscripts? How about continental drift for another, somewhat wilder, explanation?
“World’s oldest telescope?”
Neat article. The ancients seemed to think that their times were degenerate, compared to earlier times. Our world seems to think we’re the Golden Age. I wonder, sometimes.
I thought that was Jacques Costeau?
L
Rough life, being an Astronomer.
Rades, do you have any comment?
RA has opused out and gone to WideAwakes.net.
... and they discovered the Ouija board also dated to the same period.
Unless it were the Nefilim/Anunnaki, who would have reason to use the heavens as a time clock and calendar. Each sign of the Zodiac supposedly corresponded to the length of earth time marking the beginning and end of rulership of the Pantheon members. Also used to determine the location of the rogue planet (Nibiru, original home of the Nefilim) at any given time within its 3,600-year (shar) orbit around the sun. (Re: Sitchin)
I'm sure no man-made clocks/calendars would have lasted that long, except perhaps some of the ancient observatories/temples (including the pyramid) which were oriented (astro-archeologically) to point to zero degrees of the houses.
IIRC, Marduk (son of Enki), according to myth, got his panties all in a wad and started a war to usurp the throne early, claiming that he was allowed to use lunar time instead of solar time.
"Do you have a reputable link for that?" /sarc
Cheers!
I assure you we are in a golden age.
Not the first, won't be the last (Well, maybe this one will, we do have the technological capability to clear the planet of all meaningful life).
I expect that as no more of this Great Society will survive the next Ice Age than survived the last one...
Dang!
I’m not sure, but it seems to have happened during the bugzapper thread. They were discussing it over here...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/1840286/posts?page=1072#1072
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