Astronomy
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Astronomy: The Sumerians recorded the movements of the planets over hundreds of years. A Sumerian priest who could read the cuneiform text about astronomy could tell you 50 years in advance on what day there would be a lunar eclipse. They had very accurate astronomical information, which we have confirmed with our modern science. They actually listed the distance between the outer planets and correctly cited the color of the outer planets such as Uranus and Neptune. When we sent the Galileo and Voyager probes into deep space in the late 70's and early 80's they took the first color pictures on the outer planets. NASA’s pictures exactly matched the Sumerian descriptions from 6,000 years ago as bluish-green planets. Evidence of their knowledge can be seen is this amazing cylinder seal found in the British museum. Where as a backdrop to the drawing, we see our solar system with all the planets we know of and the sun listed correctly in the center. We did not know the sun was in the center of our solar system well into the time of Copernicus and Galileo. They used advanced mathematics combined with new advances in the telescope to make these conclusions. But somehow the Sumerian culture from 6,000 years ago already knew this information. But how did they know? The Sumerians were the first ones to divide the heavens into 12 parts, assigning each section of the sky with a symbol. Remember the number 12 as we will see it has a key influence in our our modern culture directly passed down from the Sumerian culture. As we move into later sections of the book, we will discuss in more depth the profound importance of the 12 signs of the zodiac and the precession of the equinox as seen in the constellations of the night sky. Bear in mind that the Sumerians identified the 12 constellations of the zodiac and the precession of the equinox—and we still use the same system today. They clearly had a remarkable system for understanding the night sky, and they were quite familiar with a race of beings who came to them from out of that sky. In fact, with any study of ancient Sumerian texts, it becomes more and more clear that the Sumerians did not come up with everything they knew just on their own. As we move on, keep in mind also the image of the astronaut so clearly carved into the Nazca plain that we discussed earlier. Keep in mind the inexplicable faces of the megalithic statues on Easter Island, the remarkable astronomical significance of the arrangement of the Egyptian Pyramids and the massive stones that make up Stonehenge. You must ask yourself—what is the connection among all these things?
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simple lesson in astronomy
Transcript of Astronomy
Astronomy: The Sumerians recorded the movements of the planets over hundreds of years. A Sumerian priest who could read the cuneiform text about astronomy could tell you 50 years in advance on what day there would be a lunar eclipse. They had very accurate astronomical information, which we have confirmed with our modern science. They actually listed the distance between the outer planets and correctly cited the color of the outer planets such as Uranus and Neptune. When we sent the Galileo and Voyager probes into deep space in the late 70's and early 80's they took the first color pictures on the outer planets. NASA’s pictures exactly matched the Sumerian descriptions from 6,000 years ago as bluish-green planets. Evidence of their knowledge can be seen is this amazing cylinder seal found in the British museum. Where as a backdrop to the drawing, we see our solar system with all the planets we know of and the sun listed correctly in the center. We did not know the sun was in the center of our solar system well into the time of Copernicus and Galileo. They used advanced mathematics combined with new advances in the telescope to make these conclusions. But somehow the Sumerian culture from 6,000 years ago already knew this information. But how did they know?
The Sumerians were the first ones to divide the heavens into 12 parts, assigning each section of the sky with a symbol. Remember the number 12 as we will see it has a key influence in our our modern culture directly passed down from the Sumerian culture. As we move into later sections of the book, we will discuss in more depth the profound importance of the 12 signs of the zodiac and the precession of the equinox as seen in the constellations of the night sky. Bear in mind that the Sumerians identified the 12 constellations of the zodiac and the precession of the equinox—and we still use the same system today. They clearly had a remarkable system for understanding the night sky, and they were quite familiar with a race of beings who came to them from out of that sky. In fact, with any study of ancient Sumerian texts, it becomes more and more clear that the Sumerians did not come up with everything they knew just on their own. As we move on, keep in mind also the image of the astronaut so clearly carved into the Nazca plain that we discussed earlier. Keep in mind the inexplicable faces of the megalithic statues on Easter Island, the remarkable astronomical significance of the arrangement of the Egyptian Pyramids and the massive stones that make up Stonehenge. You must ask yourself—what is the connection among all these things?
