The Sun, Moon and Stars of the Southern Levant at Gezer and Megiddo. Cultural Astronomy in Chalcolithic-Early and Middle Bronze Ages

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ProQuest Information and Leaming300 North Zeeb Road. AnnArbor, Ml 48106-1346USA

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THE SL'N. MOON AND STARS OF THE SOUTHERN LEVANT

AT GEZER AND MEGIDDO:

CULTURAL ASTRONOMY IN CHALCOLITHIC/EARLY AND

MIDDLE BRONZE AGES

by

Sara Lee Gardner

A Disse r ta t ion Submitted to th e Facu l ty of the

DEPARTMENT OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

In Par t ia l Fu l f i l lmen t of the Requirements

For the Degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

In th e Graduate College

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

2002



UMI Number; 3073283

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UMIUMI Microform3073283

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2

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ®

GRADUATE COLLEGE

As members of the Final Examination Committee, ve certify that we have

read the dissertation prepared by S a r a L e e G a r d n e r

entitled T H E S U N . M O O N A N D S T A R S O F T H E S O U T H E R N L E V A N T S T P F Z F R A M D

M E G I D D O : C U L T U R A L A S T R O N O M Y I N C H A L C O L I T H I C / E A R L Y A N D M I D D L E

B R O N Z E A G E S

and recommend chat it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation

r e q u i r e m e n t f o r th e Degree of D o c t o r o f P h i l o s o p h y

//-J . E d w a r d l - / r i a

H . > i i . ] k i n s o n

4/10/200^

Date

4/13/2002Date

4/12/2002

rônd . W h i t e

Date

4/12/2002Date

IL '^-co2,Date

Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon

th e candidate's submission of the final copy of the dissertation to the

Graduate College.

I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under ny

direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation

requirement.

Dissertation Director Date



STATEMENT BY AUTHOR

This dissertation has b e e n submitted in panial fu l f i l lm e nt of requirements fo r

an ad\anced degree at the University of Arizona and is d e p o s i t e d in the University

Libra r \ ' to be made available to borrowers under the ru les of the Lib ra r> ' .

Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special

p e r m i s s i o n , provided that accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. R e q u e s t s

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w h o l e or p a r t may be granted by the head of the major depanment or the Dean of the

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the author.

SIGN"ED^>^/^ V y^



4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The l ist of peop le who have innuenced m\ jou rney to the completion of the

disse r ta t ion and b e l i e ve d in my ability to make a con t r ibu t ion to the "greater b o d y of

knowledge" i s over ly long—as it should b e . LMtimate ly . th e most i m p o r t a n t p e r s o n is

William G. Dever (Near E a s t e r n Studies), who was wi l l ing to support the s l igh t ly l e ss

than m a i n s t r e a m s u b j e ct I chose. His support, w i t h o u t w h i c h this disse r ta t ion would

n ot have b e e n w r i t t e n , has made the journey w o r t h w h i l e . J. Edward Wright's (Near

E a s t e r n S t u d i e s ) c o n s ta n t challenge tha t I could do m ore th a n I thought, pu shed me

forward in the t e x tua l mater ia l s , fo r w hich I am f o r e v e r g r a t e f u l. I thank Raymond E.

White (Astronomy), who h a d the challenge of leaching an d guiding me in th e

rudiments of astronomy, and then helped me to t r ans la te those rudiments in to v iab le

scholarly desc r ip t ions w i t h p r a c t i c a l applications. I a l so w a n t to express m y

apprec ia t ion to R i c h a r d H . Wilkinson (Egyptology), w h o came to my committee a t

the las t m i n u t e . His inpu t and support were i n v a l u a b l e .

In Israel I thank th e W. F. .A l b r ig h t Ins t i tu t ion staf f a n d visiting . scholars fo r

their su ppor t a n d encouragement during my s h o r t s tay . Pa r t icu la r ly . I thank J.

Rosenberg fo r h i s sur\eying expertise and his w i l li n g n e s s t o drive to the N e g e v and

Gezer—more than once. H is photos are inc lu ded in th is dissertation, and h is

measurements are th e foundation for the exposition on G e z e r .

Cla i re R. Fa r re r introduced me to the f ie ld of archao/ethnoastronomy. and

when I fa l te red , gave me th e courage to p e r s e v e r e . One group from which I rece iveda copious amount of support, advice, and knowledge w as th e participants f rom the

In te rna t iona l Oxford Conference on Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy. Edwin

C. Krupp (Gr i f f i th Observatiory) and Steven McCluskey (University of W e s t

Virgina) h a v e p r o v i d e d me w i th articles, advice, and opin ions on request. I w a n t to

thank B r a d l e y E . Shaeffer (University of Texas. A u s t i n ) who helped me sor t o u t

astronomy, an d Anthony F. Aveni (Colgate Univers i ty ) fo r taking their va lu ab le time

lo read m y w o r k a n d to send me comments. The m e m b e r s of the History of

• A s t r onom y l ist (HASTRO-L) have al.so been extremely va lu ab le to my resea rch by

answering q u e s t i o n s and providing references; pa r t i cu la r ly . Gary D. Thompson, an

engineer who h a s compiled an extensive bibliography o n ancient western astronomy

th a t h e made read i ly available.

H e r m a n n Hunger (University of Vienna) who responded to an unknown

student a r o u n d t h e w o r l d and answered my questions o n Mesopotamian astronomy

v ia e-mail, also rece ives m y appreciation for his time, pa t i e nce , and support.

Fina l ly , I thank my children. J. Steven Gardner. H . Christine Lindblom.

Leslie J. Christ, a n d J. Eric Lindblom, who have su ppor ted me from the incep t ion to

the completion of th i s journey. They have walked e v e r y step of the way w i t h me,

listened, encouraged, an d believed. Without the i r love a nd be l ie f tha t I could

accomplish my goal, my journey would have more a r d u o u s and less sa t i s fy ing .



D e d i c a l e d to my children,

w ho are my b e s t f r iends

J. Steven Gardner

H . Christine L i n d b lo m

L e s l i e J. Christ

J. Eric Lindblom

"And there are those who have l i t t le an d give it all.

These arc the believers in l i fe an d the bounty of l i fe , an d their coffer is never empty.

There are those who g i v e w i t h joy. and that joy is their reward."

The Prophet b y K h a l i l G i b ra n 1923



6

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES II

LIST OFTABLES 1 4

ABSTRACT 1 5

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 6

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND THESIS ORGANIZATION 1 7

CHAPTER 2 : ARCHAEOASTRONOMICAL CONCEPTS 2 1

The Birth of Paradigm: Modem Methodological O r i g i n s 2 1

•"Green" a n d "Brown" Archaeoastronomy = Cu l tu ra l Astronomy 22

Archaeo/Ethnoastronomy N o w 32

Gre a t Bri ta in and Europe 34

M e s o am e r i ca 34

S o u t h w e s t Uni te d States 35

E g y p t 36

I s rae l 38

CULTURAL ASTRONOMY 39

O b s e r v a t i o n . Perception, a n d U se 39

W h a t i s observ ed? What a re th e instruments of observation? 40

W h a t a re the perceptions"! 45

Luna r , so la r , and lunisolar calendars in the a n c i e n t N e a r East 46

W h a t is the use of the ohservaiions and perceptions'! 48



7

TABLE OF CONTENTS—continued...

SUMMATION 49

ENDNOTES 52

C HAPTER 3; CONTACTS W I T H EGYPT AND SYRIA 54

Introduciion 54

Late Chalcolithic/Eariy B r o n z e Age t r ans i t ion (3400-2900 BCE) a n d E g y p t 54

E a r l y Bronze Age I (EB I: 3300-3100 BCE) a n d E g y p t 55

E a r l y Bronze Age II (3100-2650 BCE) and E g y p t 57

Late Chalcolithic/Eariy B r o n z e Age I (3400-2900 BCE) and Syria 58

ASTRONOMY AND THE LEVANT 59

R e l i g i o n and A s t r a l I m a g e s : Wall Paintings a n d Art i fac t s 60

A s t r a l Images: Standing Stones. Sacred Poles, an d Stars 64

STANDING STONES IN THE SOUTHERN LEVANT 67

RUJIM EL-HIRI: A CASE STUDY FROM EARLY AND MIDDLE BRONZE

AGES 68

The site 68

Astronomical alignments 71

TEMPLE ORIENTATION 75

SUMMATION: PICKING THE TEST SITES 78

ENDNOTES 81



8

TABLE OFCONTENTS—(w/rmz/fJ...

C HAPTER 4: GEZER 83

Location and E x c a v a t i o n 83

Occupation H i s t o r y 85

THE S T . A N D L N ' G STONES OF GEZER 87

The Stones of Gezer 87

Standing stones, pu bl ic a re a s and astronomy a t Gezer 89

Applying g e o c e n t r i c astronomy to the Standing Stones of Gezer 92

The Stones and H o r i z o n in the draw i n g s of Cave 30/IV 98

SUMMATION 10 1

ENDNOTES 103

CHAPTER 5: MEGIDDO 104

Location and E x c a v a t i o n 104

Area BB; The C ha lc o l i t h i c and Early B ro n z e cult areas and pavement 106

Occupation and spec ia l iza t ion in the Chalcolithic period a n d th e Early Bronze

Age 108

ASTRONOMY AND CHALCOLITHIC RELIGION II1

Occurrence and I n te rp re ta t ion of th e L i o n in Near Eastern I c o n o g ra p hy 11 1

Shoulder ornaments on animals 117

The Lion in the Sky 118

COMETS AND CULTURE RESPONSE 120



9

TABLE OF CONTENTS—cominuecl...

H o w d i d conicts look to anc ien t observers? 1 2 5

M L L . A P I N AND THE CONSTELLATION LEO 1 2 7

SUMMATION 1 3 3

ENDNOTES 1 3 7

CHAPTER 6; SUMMATION. FURTHER RESEARCH. AND CONCLUSION...140

The Standing Stones of Gezer and Cave 30/IV 140

The C o n s t e l l a t i o n Leo O c c u r r e n c e a t Megiddo 1 4 6

FURTHER RESEARCH 1 5 3

CONCLUSION 1 6 5

ENDNOTES 1 6 6

APPENDIX A: EARLY ASTRONOMY 1 6 7

Astronomy a n d Mesopotamia (1800-500 BCE) 1 6 7

THE EARLY HISTORY OF ARCHAEOASTRONOMY 170

Stukeley a n d Lockyer L o o k a t Stonehenge 170

Sir J. N o r m a n Lockyer; Greece. Egypt, and England 17 2

2 0 t h century Criticism o f S t u k e le y and Lockyer 1 7 4

Modem Archaeoastronomy; Gerald Hawkins, Astronomy and

A rc ha e o lo g i s t s 1 7 7



10

TABLE OF CONTENTS—continued...

Archaeoastronomy: Alexander Thorn a n d th e Next Generation 179

ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE 180

Astronomy and Theology: 1200-1700 CE 180

Astronomy of th e Bib l e : 1750-1950 CE 183

PERSPECTIVES AND SUMMATION 192

ENDNOTES 195

APPENDIX B: TABLES 1 -4 : ORIENTATION OF SELECTED SITES AND THEIR

FEATURES 197

ENDNOTES 200

APPENDIX C: T H E A L H A G E S T 201

ENDNOTES 205

REFERENCES 206



LIST OF FIGURES

Fig . 2.1. V i s u a l p e r s p e c t i v e of r i s ing /se t t ing celestial phenomena 36

Fig . 3.1. Tele i la t Ghassul star 61

Fig . 3.2. Tele i la t Ghassul horizon w i t h luminar\' 62

Fig . 3.3. Rays o f th e Sun and human f rom Teleilat Ghassul 62

Fig . 3.4. . \ 1e g iddo Harper 63

Fig . 3.5. .Vlegiddo Marchers 63

Fig . 3.6. Lion, fa l len enemy, and comet 64

Fig . 3.7. F i g u r e w i t h comet 64

Fig . 3.8. Y a d i n w i t h Hazor stele 65

Fig . 3.9. Hazor s te le 66

Fig . 3.10. Hazor a l t a r 66

F i g . 3.11. Rujimel-Hiri 69

Fig . 3.12. Compass r o s e f o r temple or ien ta t ion 77

Fig . 4.1. Standing Stones of Gezer 87

F i g . 4.2. Plaster surlace under altar basin 88

Fig . 4.3. Standing Stones looking f rom east to west 89

Fig . 4.4. Standing Stones looking f r om w e s t to ea.st 90

F i g . 4.5. Standing Stones of Gezer 90

F i g . 4.6. I mpor tan t stones 91

F i g . 4.7. Azimuths and selected event po in ts a t Gezer 1600 BCE 94

F i g . 4.8. Equinox events a t Gezer 1 6 0 0 BCE 95



LIST OF FIGURES—

Fig . 4.9. .A ng l es created b e t w e e n S t o n e V and altar bas in for December

Sols t i ce event 1600 B C E 96

F i g . 4.10. .A ng l es created b e t w e e n S t o n e V I and altar bas in for June

Solstice event 1600 B C E 97

F i g . 4.11. Gezer astronomical e v e n t s a nd points of observation 98

Fig . 4.12. Cave 30/IV and e n t r a n c e 99

F i g . 4.13. Cave w i t h placement o f drawings 99

Fig . 4.14. a) Drawings 37-39; b ) D r a w i n g 21; c) Drawing 52 99

Fig . 4.15. Comparison of h o r i z o n in Drawings to modern ea .s tem hor izon

at Gezer 100

Fig . 5.1. . M e g i d d o aerial view 105

Fig . 5.2. .Area 88 paved area a n d Temple 4050 1 0 7

F i g . 5.3. Lion , fa l l en enemy a n d c o m e t 110

F i g . 5.4. . M e g i d d o Harper 110

Fig . 5.5. Bat t le f ie ld Palette 113

Fig . 5.6. Lion being slain by hero /k ing f rom Warka stele 114

F i g . 5.7. Y o u t h slaying lion, y ou th s lay ing griffin and youth w i t h l ion 115

Fig . 5.8. .Assu rban ipa l [ I slays l ion I 1 6

Fig . 5.9. Lion w i t h a man on vo t ive a l ta r from Gezer 120



LIST OF F I G L RES—

F i g . 5.10. Com c t . s . 1 ) Chinese comets; 2) comet depictions by California Native

Americans 1 2 5

Fig. 5.11. Renaissance comets 1 26

Fig. 5.12. a) Hallcy's Comet drawing in 1688 b ) Halley's Comet in 1910 1 26

F i g . 5.13. . M e g i d d o drawing i m p o s e d over constellation L e o 131

Fig. 5.14. . A pro jec ted scenar io fo r Halley's Comet in 3464 BCE ± 100

ye a r s lau 0.164276) 132

F i g . 5 . 1 5 . . M e g i d d o l ion (3300 BCE). Jericho s e a l w i t h l ion an d m an

(1800-1600 BCE); Gezer votive (1400 BCE) 1 34

Fig. 6.1. S e a l collection 1 4 8

Fig. 6.2. P h o e n i c i a n A r t 1 4 9

F i g . 6.3. Lion and crocodiles 1 5 0

F i g . 6.4. Macalister's pla n of th e Standing Stones and a dja ce nt

s t ru c tu res 15 5

Fig. 6.5. a) Megiddo Flarper . b) Orion constellation 15 7

Fig . 6.6. a) Baa l stele; h) E g y p t i a n Osiris 1 5 8

Fig . 6.7. Megiddo drawing or ie n te d to a star map of Sag i t ta r iu s and Scorpius....1 5 9

F i g . 6.8. H o r s e figures 1 6 0

Fig . 6.9. Complex Megiddo drawing 1 6 2

Fig . 6.10. The elements of th e complex drawing 1 6 3



14

LIST OFTABLES

Table 4.1. Azimuths for the sun a t Gezer 1600 BCE 94

T a b l e 5.1. Stars iden t i f ied from Mesopotamian t ex ts 128-129

T a b l e 5.2. Comparing Ptolemy's stars w i th M e s o p o ta m i a n star l i s t s

including magnitude 129-130



ABSTRACT

1 5

A s t r o n o m i c a l images are f o u n d on m o n u m e n t a l structures an d decorative art.

and metaphor ica l ly in seasonal myths, and a re documented by ca lendars . In Is rae l

and th e sou thern Levant, images o f th e sun. th e moon, and the s t a r s w e r e common

decora t ing motifs. They were found on w a l l s , pot te ry , and seals and date to as early

as th e Chalcolithic period; for example, the w all painting of a star at Tele i la t Ghassul

( N o r t h 1961) . This dissertation establishes that the people of th e Le va nt were aware

of th e a ppa re n t movement of th e sun. and th i s w i l l b e discussed in Chapter 4. They

b e ga n re cord ing through representation d r a w i n g s , astronomical phenomena no l a te r

th a n th e Chalcolithic/Early Bron/e . A g e and con t inu ed to do so la te into the Middle

B r o n z e A g e . The argument moves beyond th e simple use of symbols to th e use of

m i a g e s to represen t constellations, w i th the focus on the constellation Leo in Chapter

5. Fu r the rmore , the use of astronomy as a p o w e r and po l i t i ca l tool is also suggested

in C h a p t e r 6. Nonetheless, th e primary p u r p o s e tha t is addressed h e re i s the tendency

in Sy ro -Pa les t in ian archaeology has been to a t t r ibute technological evidence found in

the nor thern and southern Levant as diffused f rom E g y p t or Assyria, par t icu la r ly

a s t r o n o m y . This dissertation f i rmly establishes that a . s t ronom y was use d in the

s o u t h e r n L e v a n t before any s ign i f ican t contact w i t h the civilizations o f Egypt or

.Assyr ia .



1 6

CHAPTER 1 :

INTRODUCTION

To create u n i ty i s par t of a n a t u r a l h u m a n desire to seek order , to

cons t ru c t a world less f r a ug h t w i t h dissimilitude, it is rea . sonable to

assume t ha t , of a l l n a t u re = s events, those tha t happen in the sky. b e c a u s e

they are the most dependable a n d re l i ab le tha t our senses confront, w o u l d

of fe r the idea l role m o d e l to w h i c h organized soc ie t i es would tu rn to seek

s t ru c tu re in themselves, to discover hidden pa t te rnsof behavior

b e t w e e nthe i r l ives and the l ives o f the s t ars (Aveni 1 9 9 2 : 1 0 ) .

The aim of archaeology is to u n d e r s t a n d human behavior in the pas t .

L 'n fo r tu na te ly . th e nature of a r c h a e o l o g y , which is to remove m a t e r i a l r e m a i n s from the

oanh. requ i res archaeologists sp e n d the i r time l o o k i n g down, and thus overlooking an

e n v i ro n m e n t tha t interacts w i t h the earth=s human occupants; tha t environment is the sky

and i ts components. Astronomy and i ts u.se by a c u l t u re have been n e g l e c t e d b y main

stream a rc ha e o lo g y . Why shou ld archaeologists consider the sky and i ts components as

i m p o r t a n t w h e n i t appears to u s to have n o direct ef fec t on humansCmodem or ancient?

The sky movesCor ra ther , th e ce les t ia l bodies appear to move across th e sk y C i n an

ordered, pred ic tab le pattern tha t c o r re l a te s w i t h the changing seasons. P e o p l e w a t c h the

movement o f ce les t i a l objects a c ro s s t he dome of the sk y and re la t e it n igh t ly to changes

in w e a t h e r , growing seasons, l e ng th o f day and night—as w e l l as other t h i n g s in t he i r

e v e ry d a y l ives . These celestial phenomena are u n iversa l in tha t the sky is observable to

a l l p e o p le in a ll places. Over the past t w e n t y years n ew disciplines i n a r c h a e o l o g y and



1 7

e t h n o l o g y have emerged from astronomy: archaeoastronomy and ethnoastronomy. By

1 9 8 9 th e contributors came from a variety of disc ip l ines tha t inves t iga ted the interaction

hctvveen astronomy and human behavior. They e x t ra c t mathematical alignments created

h \ th e angles found in the bui l t environments s u c h as temples and s t a n d i n g stones or b y

natura l ly occurring fea tu res in the landscape; tha t is . points found b e t w e e n mountains and

a g i v e n feature at th e or ig in of obser\ation. F r o m h i s t o ri c a l /e t h n o g r a p h ic a l perspectives

that rely on written records , pictographs. and e t h n o g r a p h i e s , celestial events are related to

m yth , r i tua l , and re l ig iou s be l ie fs (Aveni 1989: 3 ) . Astronomers, as w e l l as a small

n u m b e r o f archaeologists and anthropologists, are developing and c o n t r i b u t i n g to the

s tudy of astronomy in cu l tu ra l context; this young disc ip l ine is known as

iircluico/cihuoastronomy or cultural astronomy ( R u g g l e s 1993; 6). I t u ses a l l of the

l o l l o w i n g disciplines: astronomy, history of sc ience , anthropology, a r c h a e o l o g y .

cthnohistor\ . ethnography, architecture, a r t h is tory , a nd the his to ry of r e l ig ions , and each

of th e se disciplines h as a particular methodology and epistemological a p p r o a c h (Ruggles

1 9 9 3 : 4).

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE AND THESIS ORGANIZATION

Astronomy h as i ts beginnings in ancient t im e s and i s culturally a t tes ted in

m o n u m e n t a l structures, decorative art. sea . sona l m yth s , and calendars. In Israel the built



18

environment of Rujim ei-Hiri mariced th e June solstice, w h i c h was observed from 3000-

2000 BCE (Aveni and Mizrachi 1 9 9 9 ) . I m a g e s of the sun. the moon, and the stars are

found on w a l l s , pot te ry , and seals an d date to as early as th e Chalcolithic period; fo r

example, th e w a l l painting of a star a t Te le i l a t Ghassul ( N o r t h 1961). Furthermore, the

t e n d e n c y in Syro-Palestinian archaeology h as b e e n to a t t r ib u te technological evidence

f o u n d i n the nor th e rn and southern L e v a n t as diffused from E g y p t or Assyria, pa r t i cu la r ly

astronomy. This study will establish that th e people of the L e v a n t began recording

a s t r o n o m i c a l phenomena no l a t e r than th e Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age and c o n t i n u e d

to do so l a te in to th e Middle Bronze A g e , p r i o r to occupation b y E g y p t or Assyria an d

from th e i r cu l tu ra l and indigenous pe rspe c t ive .

In Chapter 2 di . s cuss ion establishes a rch a e o/e th noa . s t ronom y as a discipline, and

r e v i e w s some of th e work being pursue d worldwide, pa s t and presen t . Ruggles an d

Saunders (1993) ou t l ined some di rec t ions for understanding culturalastronomy, an d their

s u g g e s t i o n s are examined. The type of archaeological and w r i t t e n information u.sed i s

also discussed.

The i s su es of contact w i t h E g y p t , A s s y r i a, and S y r i a in th e Chalcolithic per iods .

Ea r ly B r o n z e t h r o u g h Middle Bronze A g e s are addressed in Chapter 3. as are some o f the

pr inc ip le s discu ssed in Chapter 2 to determine if astronomy was used in pre - I s ra e l i t e

Canaan. A case s tu dy of Rujim el-Hiri. a si te in the Golan H e i g h t s , demonstrates c u r r e n t

r e sea r c h and methodology (Mizrachi 1 9 9 3 : A v e n i and M i z ra c h i 1999). A second .s tudy



addresses the importance of orientation of th e h ur ia l chambers or nawamis l oca te d in the

N e g e v (Bar-Yosef tv (//. 1 9 7 7 ; Bar-Yosef tv (//. 1983: Mazar 1992a: 82). A l imited survey

nf t e m p l e orientations in th e southern Le va nt is included: together with a rev iew of

mater ia l remains th a t de pic t identifiable a s t r o n o m i c a l phenomena. Also in Chapter 3 is

th e ra t iona le for the se lec t ion of two sites. Gezer and Megiddo. which w i l l be test for

poss ib le indications that the people were o b s e r v i n g the heavens.

The topic of Chapter 4 is the site o f Gezer w i t h it s standing stones and Agraffi t i@

found in Cave 30/IV. The discussion beg ins loca t ion and excavation history o f Gezer and

then places the c u l t s i t e w i t h in i t s a r c h a e o l o g i c a l and historical settings. The

identif icat ion of th e s t anding stones as a cu l t s i te or Ahigh pla ce ® continues by

es tab l i sh ing the i m p o r t a n c e o f the continued u se of the cult area. Alignments b e t w e e n the

s tand ing stones and a l ta r a id in deducing poss ib le astronomical observation, and

comparing the Agraffi t i@ tound in Cave 3 0 / I V w i t h the standing stones and e x t a n t horizon.

The examination a n d discussion of Early Bronze Age etched figures on p a v i n g

s tones a t Megiddo occurs in Chapter 5. The d i sc u ss i o n establishes the cult s i te w i t h i n i t s

a r c h a e o l o g i c a l and his tor ica l settings, desc r ibes pavement figures, the elements w i t h i n the

f igures , and the a p p a r e n t astronomical p h e n o m e n a found in the drawings. One se lec ted

i m a g e . A l i o n over a fallen enem y @ may represent the constellation Leo. Tracing th e

o c c u r r e n c e of the l ion m ot i f and i ts cultural s i g n i f i c a n c e in the ancient Near Ea s t adds to

m y argument. Contained w i t h i n the drawing, another figure resembles drawings of



20

c o m e t s f r o m other cultural contexts f rom which a c o m p a r i s o n i s drawn. A r e v ie w of th e

pla ce in his to r \ th a t comets h old comprises becomes im por t an t to understanding cu l tu ra l

im pl ica t ions . Turning to . M e s o p o ta m i a n fi .xed stars ident i f ied by Hunger and P ingre e

( 1 9 8 9 . 1 9 9 9 ) . t h e image of th e l ion placed over the s ta r s b e c o m e s identifiable w i t h the

cons te l l a t ion L e o .

In Chapter 6 the in fo rmat ion f o u n d in the bui l t e n v i r o n m e n t of Gezer a nd Cave

. • > 0 / I V comprised a review. A discuss ion of the Gezer lunar calendar as it re f lected the

agr icul tura l seasonal patterns ensues. Joshua 10 ; 1 2 - 1 3 . th e solstice documented the re in ,

an d th e establishment of Joshua as a culture hero and the va l ida t ion of the Tribes o f Israel

con t inu e th e discussion. The l ion i m a g e w i t h i t s comet, as w e l l as i ts place in the

w o r l d v i e w of th e Canaanites an d Israel i tes , w i l l f in i s h o u r discussion.

The n e x t section of Chapter 6 addresses the ne e d for further research; 1) data

col l e c t ion pertaining to astronomy an d generating sta t i s t ical data applicable t h r o u g h o u t

I s rae l a n d t h e n o r t h e r n Levant; 2 ) th e r e cove ry of in form a t ion fo r the site of Gezer by

e x a m i n i n g t h e original rubbings t aken during Macalisier=s excavation, and a di .scuss ion

of possible information tha t could ga th e re d b y r e -e xca va t ion of the area east an d w e s t of

the s ta nding stones and Cave 3 0 / I V ; 3 ) further e x a m i n a t i o n of the drawings on p a v i n g

s t o n e s f rom Megiddo, and sugge.s t ions fo r more re .search ; and 4) since, the na tu re o f the

i m a g e s s u g g e s t s tha t other drawings m a y al.so be re la ted to con . s t e l i a t ions and conta in



21

in form a i ion on the a s t r o n o m i c a l perspective o f the occupants of Megiddo. avenues of

r e sea r c h on individual i m a g e s is drawn: and 5) f inally, a brief conclusion .



CHAPTER 2:

ARCHAEOASTRONOMICAL CONCEPTS

The Birth of a P a r a d i g m : Modem M e t h o d o l o g i c a l Origins

Archat'o/ethniHistronomy as a disc ip l ine is in a pe r iod of de f in i t ion and

redefinition: de f in i t ion in what the disc ip l ine should encompass and b y redefinition, an

ordering of th e p r e c e d i n g decades of contributions. Archaeoastronomy b e ga n as a s i n g l e ,

undefined f ie ld of r e se a rch from w i ih in th e discipline o f astronomy. B y 1989 the

contributors came from a variety of di .scip l ines th a t addressed astronomy a n d human

behavior. I t a p p e a r s divided along th e l i nes of mathematical a l i g n m e n t perspectives in

th e Old World, a n d h is tor i ca l / e th noh is tor i ca l perspectives that re l ied on w r i t t e n records,

pictographs. a nd ethnographies in t h e N e w World. The former m i g h t or m igh t no t r e fe r

to w rilten r e c o r d s or accompanying pic togra ph s . and the l a t t e r m igh t or m i g h t not re fer to

alignments, a rch a e olog ica l remains, or s t ruc tu re s , ye t b oth pe r spe c t ive s are published as

a rch a e oa . s t ronom ie s (Aveni 1989: 3).

Problems of definitions fo r archaeo/ethnoastronomy have resu l ted from these two

perspectives. W h i l e th e European pe rspe c t ive focu.ses on archaeoastronomy founded in

archaeology a n d sta t is t ica l methodology, th e American pe rs j j e c t ive re l ies on cultural

anthropology and ethnohistory. In the past the i r constituents a r g u e d th e va l id i ty of the i r

perspective, bu t they fa i led to come to a g r e e m e n t on a comprehensive methodology that

would combine the th ree parent di .sc ipl ines . cultural anthropology, a r c h a e o l o g y , and



eihnohistor\. nd their ancil lar)- disciplines of fo lk lore , mythology, a r t histor> . and the

h is tor \ of r e l i g i o n w i t h a s t r o n o m y (Ruggles and Saunders 1 9 9 3 : 15-16).

"Green" an d "brown" archaeoastronomy = cultural a s t r o n o m y

The megalithic s t ruc tu re s of Europe w i t h s ta nding stones, b ur ia l m o u n d s , and

l ong deliberate passageways l e nd themselves w e l l to m a t h e m a t i c a l f o r m u l a t i o n s taken

f rom astronomy and t r i g o n o m e t r v — b o t h plane a nd sph e r ica l . Data are col l e c te d

precise ly , and attention i s g ive n to b oth the archaeo log ica l record and poss ib le

as t ronomica l events at r e spe c t ive points on the h or iz on such as the solstices, iu nas t ices ,

and a n n u a l rising/setting of f i xed stars. This focus i s e .xem pl i f ied in the book t i t led

A r c h i U ' O L i s l r o t w m y in the O ld World edited by D. C. H e g g i e (1982); the c o v e r o f which i s

g re e n , hence, "green" a r c h a e o a s t r o n o m y (Aveni 1 9 8 9 ; 3 ) . Green archaeoastronomy is

l imi ted to mathematical and a.s t ronomicaI data, b ut a lso it seeks to establish a unive r sa l

sca le for th e astronomical in te l l ige nce of prehistoric, l o w - l e v e l technology. The b a s i c

l evel o f perception is to r e c o g n i z e the pa t te rn of solar movement—solstices a n d

equinoxes, the n e x t l e v e l , precession^ an d then, m o v i n g to th e more i n - d e p t h observation

a n d da ta collection l e ve l required to calculate the Iunast ices ." Astronomical

inte l lectua l i ty in a cultural c o n t e x t is measured b y th e pre c i s ion found in da ta extrapolated

f rom th e archaeological r e m a i n s (Aveni and U r t o n 1 9 8 9 ; 4).

N e w World or "brown" archaeoastronomy. a b r o w n volume t i t led

Ethnoastronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the A m e r i c a n Tropics (eds. A v e n i and U r t o n



23

1 4 8 2 ) approaches th e astronomical data differently, mostly b e ca use th e data are encoded

di f fe ren t ly . Astronomers collect data f rom Mexico. South and C e nt ra l America on the

or ien ta t ion of b ui ld ings , relationships b e t w e e n iconography and e t h n o l o g i c a l ev idence as

it w a s gathered by th e Spanish padres of th e 16'^ c. CE. They relate tha t ev idence to

ce le s t i a l phenomena an d extend th a t relationship to pol i t i ca l p o w e r s t r u c tu r e s (Aveni

1 9 8 9 : 3-4; D e a r b o r n and White 1982: 2 4 9 ; Bauer and Dearborn 1 9 9 5 ; Carlson 1993).

Solving the M a y a n g ly p h system added p h i l o l o g y and t e x t d e c i p h e r m e n t to the l is t of

sources available to th e N ew World archaeoastronomer. From the pe rspe c t ive of

A n t h o n y Aveni. " I n t h e N ew World, we seem to be collectively d e v e l o p i n g an

anthropology of a s t r o n o m y rather th a n a h is tory of astronomy" ( A v e n i 1989:7). In 1989

A v e n i . a Colgate Unive r s i ty profes .sor . ra ised some in te res t ing qu es t ions about the

di re c t ion that archaeoastronomy was m o v i n g :

1 ) What is th e source of archaeoastronomical hypotheses, an d how can

evidence draw n from the a l l ied disciplines be b r o u g h t to b e a r on testing

these hy po theses?

2) What k i n d s of evidence are admissible in a g i v e n argument?

3) What are the deficiencies in s tu d ies conducted from th e pe r spe c t ive of a single

discipline, and how can such studies be improved? (Aveni 1989; xii)

in 1993 C l i v e Ruggles and N i c h o l a s Saunders responded to Aveni's "green" and

"brown" archaeoastronomies w i th the s u g g e s t i o n th a t the discipline shou ld proceed as

cultural aslronoiny.

. . . the study of cultura l a . s t ronom ie s is concerned w i t h the divers i ty of ways

in which cu l tu res , bo th ancient a nd modem, perceive ce les t ia l objects and

integrate them in to their view of th e world. This fac t , b y de t ln i t ion .



24

i l lust ra tes tha t a society's view o f and beliefs a b o u t th e ce le s t i a l sphere a re

inex t r i c ab l y linked to th e r ea l m of politics, economics, r e l ig ion and

i deo l og y (Ruggles and Saunders 1 9 9 3 : 1 ) .

A society's perception of i ts environment is k e y t o u n d e r s t an d i n g the soc i e ty

Itself. A s p e c t s of the natural w or ld or phy s i c a l surroundings such as mountains, bui l t

environments such as Stonehenge. a n d c e l es t i a l phenomena a re important to peop l e ;

fu r th e rm ore , th e i r importance in te ra c t s a nd shapes th e i r worldview. The authors s u g g e s t

that th ree d i s t i nc t processes ne e d to be considered;

1. Ohscrvtiiion competence-, is th e observation c asu a l or deliberate?

2. Perceptions: what are th e pe rce pt ions of a par t icu lar society concerning

celest ia l phenomena ? Do t h e y m a k e sense of th e phenomena? Do th e y a t t ac h

m e a n i n g to the phenomena?

3. L ' se \ w h a t is the religious, pol i t ical or ide o log ica l u se o f celestial phenomena

fo r a pa r t i cu la r society? ( R u g g l e s and Saunders 1 9 9 3 : 2 - 4 ) .

T h e fi rst process, observation competence,suggests establishing the leve l of

"scienl i f i c" know ledge obtained w i t h i n the t a rge t society. T h a t l eve l ranges f rom a casual

( .observa t ion—such as w atching the Hale-Bopp comet in our w e s t e r n sky in the spr ing of

1997. or the l u n a r eclipse on . M a r c h 25, 1 9 9 7 , in the Tucson e a s te rn sky. or w a tch ing the

sun r i se over . M o u n t Tabor al the June 1 9 9 4 . sols t i ce f rom the doorway of an Ear ly Bronze

Age t em pl e at Megiddo in Israel—to the in -de pth ob.serva t ion done b y trained

astronomers a t the Ki t t Peak O b s e r \ a l o r > ' in Arizona. W h i l e casual obser\'ation a nd th e

vary in g d e g r e e s of observation may no t be considered to h a v e the scientific soph is t i ca t ion

used, fo r example, a t the K it t Peak O b s e r v a t o r y , these are l eve l s of observations.



The second proce ss , perception, is con t ingen t on the worldview of the

pa r t i c ipa nt s . The o b s e r v a b l e celestial p h e n o m e n a may be th e same from society to

scK'icty, b u t their pe rce pt ion of the celestial w o r l d differs in vary in g degrees from bare ly

discemable to extreme. Drawing on examples f rom the Southwest, the overlapping

cu l tu res of Hopi. P u e b l o , a nd nomadic t r a d i t ions incorporated H i s p a n i c elements to

rc s tmc tu re a t a le abou t a H o p i boy who discovered how the Sun t r a ve le d the world, an d

t hen , the tale re la ted the Sun's role in the cu l tu re of the Hopi. The ta le re f lec ted the

cu l tu re s of the Hopi. P u e b l o , and Hispanic p e o p l e and was told by a Zufi i . thus

accommodating se ve ra l d i f f e re n t groups w i t h c u l t u ra l affinities (Erdoes and Ortiz 1 9 8 4 :

1 4 5) . F n contrast, th e Inu i t in the n o r t h e r n m o s t r e a c h e s of N o r t h America interpreted a

l una r eclipse as the raping o f the female Sun by th e male Moon, w h i l e the Winnebago of

the nor th e a s t U n i t e d S ta te s in te rp re ted a similar e v e n t as the f a i lu re of the Sun to rise

b e ca use the Sun was a captive of Li t t l e Bro ther who ha d snared it (Erdoes and Ortiz

1 9 8 4 : 164-66. 1 6 9 - 7 1 ) .

Na tu ra l ce les t ia l phenomena that r e gu la te perception are as simple as where the

o b s e r v e r is standing on th e earth. In the t rop ics , ce les t ia l phenomena have a vertical to a

ne a r ver t i c a l ascent an d d e s c e n t w i t h r e spcc t to th e horizon: ce le s t i a l objects ri .se and se t

at an a n g l e to the hor izon in the temperate la t i tudes ; and circular rota t ion of celestial

ob je c t s parallels th e h or iz on a t the Poles (Fig. 3. 1 . ) .



26

E q u a l n r i a l Z i i n c Tfmpt 'Rilc Zono C ' i r c u m p o U r Zones

l l n r i / i t n

Fig. 3.1. Visual perspective of rising/setting celestial phenomena (Illustration by S.

G a rd n e r ) .

In th e equ a to r ia l soc ie t i es , the ver t ica l ascen t of the stars emphasizes up-down directions;

in the semi- t rop ica l la t i t udes , the zen i ih and n a d i r positions of th e stars become

important; th e h i g h e r latitudes focus o n th e almost horizontal movement of the stars; and

fmally. th e Pola r r e g i o n s have l imi t ed visibi l i ty becausc extreme w e a t h e r conditions cause

cloudy a n d h a z y atmosphere. The l e ng th of the w inter nights a nd the days often filled

w i t h lunar l igh t , th e l ack of v i s ib i l i t y o f s t ars and planets, a ll contribute to the limited

development of star lo re among the inhab i tan ts of the nor thern p o l a r r e g i o n (Ruggies and

Saunders 1 9 9 3 : 3 ) .

Fina l ly , use is how the a s t ro n o m i c a l data is incorporated in to c u l t u ra l systems.

That is. w hat i t s m e a n i n g and s i g n i f i c a n c e is to the society such as i ts ro le in religion and

pol i t i c s , soc ia l a re n a s tha t can confer pres t ige and p o l i t ic a l p o w e r , a n d what is the over-all

consensus of the soc ie ty about the const ruc ted universe (Ruggies a nd Saunders 1993: 4).

A n example of soc ia l power is demonstrated in a puberty ceremony among the Mescalero



27

Apache w h e n the head singer. B e rn a rd Second, used th e apparent motion of the stars to

lime his ceremonial gestures tha t "pul l " or lift the su n from below the hor izon to above

th e horizon (Farrer 1991). While we knc^w he used the earth's motion and the natural

progress o f the stars and the sun. the ceremonial act ion empowers the actor (head singer)

w i t h superhuman powers becau se he appears to con t ro l celestial phenomena (Ruggles and

Saunders 1 9 9 3 : 4).

Ru g g le s and Saunders remind us that cu l tu ra l attitudes and perceptions of the

par t ic ipan ts are different from ours in the sense that each culture embodies objects.

na tu ra l phenomena, animals, an d people with impor tan t cultural qualities tha t are unique

to t he m . The implausible and the concrete become mixed in the cultural symbols integral

to ind iv idu a l worldviews a n d are found in myth, graphic arts, iconography, religious, and

pol i t ica l perspectives. The i nanimate becomes a n i m a t e ; the unbelievable becomes

be l ievab le . One example f rom th e ancient Near East is the "fish-man", w h i c h is an

element identifiable in th e astronomical mythology in the ancient Near Eas t , and

t herefore , is a record of cu l tu ra l perspectives of celest ia l phenomena (Ruggles and

Saunders 1 9 9 3 : 6-7). The ear l ie s t extant record ( la te 4 " ^ - early 3^'' c. BCE) addressing the

re la t ionship between astronomy and the "fish-man" was written by Berossos. a priest of

B el ( M a r d u k ) . Berossos w r o t e that the Oannes. the "fish-man", was one of seven fish-

m o n s t e r s or Seven Sages that emerged from the sea at th e beginning of th e world. The

A k k a d i a n god Ea (Sumerian E n k i ) who was the g o d of the f resh water, wisdom and

incan ta t ions , also the helper of mankind. He se n t the seven divine sages (apkallu) to help



28

mankind by t each ing them the arts a n d crafts needed in civilization. The sages were

paired w i th the k ings th a t ruled Mesopotamia before the Flood, and the ir collective name

became " c ou nse l o r s" (muntalku: [Da l ley 1989: 320; 327-8j).

The llsh-man was named .A dapa . and from his legend we know how he was

placed in th e sky. W 'e are to ld that in th e early days of Eridu. Adapa w as a man who was

as wise as the gods, he spoke as w isely as Ea himself—it was as t h o u g h Ea h ad spoken.

H e had command over th e priests of Er idu because of his wisdom. A d a p a was also a

f i she rman and one day while he w as llshing he broke the wing of th e Sou th Wind in

anger , prompting Anu. th e god of the heavens, to summon him. Ea a dv i se d Adapa that

w h e n he w e n t to se e Anu n o t to partake of the "bread of death" or th e " ' w a t e r of death"

that would be offe red him. Adapa answered Anu's summons and appea led his case, and

d id not eat or dr ink as E a instructed h i m . Anu asked him why he did not eat th e "bread of

life " or drink th e " " w a te r of life." then Adapa knew tha t Ea was a t r icks ter and had denied

h im immortality (Sandars 1971: 1 6 9 - 7 2 ) . In the end. Anu was angry that Ea had caused

•Adapa to lose the immortaiiiy ihai was offered and placed Adapa in th e heavens:

Then the man looked f rom the horizon of heaven to th e

meridian; h e saw the majesty o f heaven, and Anu gave the m a n h i s

orders and he gave the priests of Eridu the rule of their lives. B ut

as for him. th e m an child of man. who broke the wing of the Sou th

Wind in his a r rogan t fashion, who went up to heaven—he b rough t

on us the su f fe r ings of mankind. He brought disease to our b odie s

tha t only th e L a d y of healing can assuage (Sandars 1971: 1 7 2 ) .

The creation of th e heavens had a central role in the Epic of Crea t ion or the



29

Enuni i i Elish. which was w r i t t e n in the early Z"' ' mil lennium (m.) BCE (Dalley 1 9 8 9 : 228-

.^0). In Tablet IV the sky and the eanh were created f rom t he b o d y of Tiamat:

H e divided the monstrous shape a n d created mar\els (from i t ) .

H e sliced her in hal f l i ke a f ish for dr \ ng-.

H a l f of her he put up to roof th e sky.

Drew a bolt across and made a guard hold it .

H e r waters he arranged so that t hey could n o t escape... (Dalle\ 1989: 2 5 5 ) .

The appearance and disappearance of th e stars w ere the domain of Marduk:

They se t up in their m i d s t one constellation.

A n d t he n they addressed Marduk their son.

" M a y your decree. O Lord, impress the gods!

Command to destroy and t o rec rea te , and let it be so!

Speak again and le t t he cons te l la t ion vanish!

Speak to it again and le t the constellation reappear . "

H e spoke, and at his word the constellation van ished .

H e spoke again and the conste l la t ion was rec rea ted (Dalley 1989: 250).

in Table t V Marduk fixed the stars in their courses according to a designated path .

ar ranged the constellations around th e stars, assigned th ree stars to each of the twelve

m o n t h s , a n d planned the days of the y e a r (Dalley 1989: 2 5 5 - 5 6 ) . A description o f the

m o o n pha.ses in metaphoric images was contained in th e Emuna Elish:

H e made the crescent moon appear, entrusted the nigh t (to i t)

A n d designated it the jewel o f n igh t to mark out the days.

Go for th every month w i thou t fail in a corona.

A t th e beginning of the month, g low over the l and .

Y ou shine w ith horns t o mark out s ix days;

On the seventh day the crown is hal f .

The f i f t eenth day shall always be the mid-point, the half of each month.

When Shamash (sun) looks at y ou from the ho r i z o n .

Gradually shed your visibi l i ty and begin to wane.

A lw ays bring the day of disappearance close to the pa th of Shamash.



30

A nd on the th ir teenth day. th e [year) is always equalized, tor Shamash is

(responsible for) th e y ear (Da l ley 198*^ : 2 5 6 ) .

The above re f lect the world\ i e w s about celestial p h e n o m e n a as perceived by th e

M e . sopotam ia ns across two mil lenn ia . It includes h o w a n individual star

r e pre se nte d th e man child of man. . Ada pa . and was place in th e sky b y Anu. th e

god of ih e heavens; h o w t h e heavens were formed by the god Marduk from the

body of Tiamat. how the cons te l la t ions of the h e a v e n s w e r e controlled by . M a r d u k .

and th e simple description of the pha.ses of the moon and th e moon's relationship

to th e sun, Shamash.

Symbols and perspec t ives were shared w i t h a dja ce nt cultures tha t have similar

cu l tu ra l characteristics as we know from our studies of th e ancient .N ear Ea.st . for

example, the goddesses Ina nna (Sumerian). Ishtar (Akkadian). Asherah (Canaanite).

.Asher tu (H i t t i l e ) and Athena (Greek) were thought to he th e personification of the planet

Venus, an d represented spec i f ic cultural qualities, such as fe r t i l i ty and "good mother." in

their ind iv idua l societies (P a ta i 1990: 1 3 8 ) . While th e goddesses were similar, they

remained culturally unique. U se of . sym b ols and metaphors allowed the participants to

navigate the ir cultural w orld by providing recognizable e . xa m ple s of optimal human

qualities an d culturally cor rec t behavior as e .xemplif ied by th e godde s . se s and br idged the

re la t ionsh ip between the ce les t ia l sky and l i fe on earth (Ruggles and Saunders 1993: 8).

Cro.ss -cul tura l comparisons are important to u nders tand ing celestial resources,

how they in te gra te into bel ie f systems, and h o w the m o v e m e n t of the planets an d stars



31

ref lec t in the cul tural perspectives of th e observers. As yet. cultural astronomy needs to

h e developed, and accordingly an an thropo log ica l frameu ork or th e "anthropology of

astronomy" w o u l d supply the best fou nda t ion for i ts development (P ia t t 1991; Ruggles

and Saunders 1 9 9 3 : 10-12). According to Ruggles and Saunders, anthropology lends

i tself to "integrat(ing) different bu t c o m p l e m e n t a r y types of evidence" and can lead "to

th e establishment of a new and unique c ross -d isc ip l ina ry approach" 1 1 9 9 3 ; 16).

Problems ex is t in anthropological methods. For example, can the study of living

ind iv idu a l cultures o r erlino^ruphy b e a viable source for visible information?

Ethnography i s co l lec ted by researchers w h o u n k n o w ingly br ing bia.ses to the collection

processes in either the questions asked, or in some cases, thei r preconceptions. J. Rowe

dismis . sed Spanish texts (ethnography) as a source of viable in fo rmat ion on the use of

astronomical markers tha t ha d been destroyed, i.e.. th e destroyed markers along the I nca

horizon ( 1 9 7 9 : 231-32). Row e also argues basica l ly tha t the need fo r complex methods

for data collection was n o t important, f i rs t by criticizing the need for a t rans i t fo r data-

gathering, then s la t ing that all one has to do was observe a . so ls t ice or equinox to know if

the archaeological site was significant ( A v e n i 1 9 8 9 ; 11).

The on-going studies in the Southwest Uni te d States and Mesoamerica are used to

understanding soc ia l and political in s t i tu t ions ; in a sen.se, the pr iv i lege of power to have

an d distribute the ce les t ia l data throughout a g i v e n civilization v ia m yth and ritual. In the

case of th e Incas. the large public rituals were conducted by the imper ia l government to

view celestial events. The ritual focu.sed o n t h e r is ing and setting sun aga ins t a horizon



32

m a r k e d by s ta nding stones or pi l l a r s . The m o n i t o r i n g of the sun b e ca m e an imperial

symbol of th e re l ig ion and the power of the rulers to appear to c o n t r o l th e sun's

movement. The ar r ival of the Spaniards and thei r subsequent de s t ruc t ion of the pillars

served to dise nf ra nch i se both the imperial l eaders and the gods of th e Incas (Bauer and

Dearborn 1995: 1 52-58) .

Ethnoastronomy also holds keys for understanding how th e m o v e m e n t of the sun.

th e moon, the s ta rs , and the planets were embedded in cultural myths and rituals, and

empowered ru lers and priests. Through unde rs ta nding the symbols found written and

rendered, the m o v e m e n t of the celestial sphere c a n b e described in th e t e rm s of the

soc ie ty , pa r t i cu lar ly w h e n we have th e vas t a m o u n t of literature and cul tural remains tha t

w e have in th e ancient N e a r East.

"The im m uta b i l i ty of the sky. the commonality of the f e a tu re s w i th in i t , and th e

fact tha t we c a n reconst ruc t i t directly, give a number of special a dva nta ge s to the study of

cu l tu ra l astronomy wi th in the study of cu l tu ra l systems as a w hole" ( R u g g l e s and

Saunders 1 9 9 3 ; 9 - 1 0 ) . That is to say. the a d v a n t a g e that the study of a s t r o n o m y and its

relationship to a g iven cultural system has i s that the m o s t important component, the

ce les t ia l sky a n d the movement of celestial b odie s therein, has no t been los t to the

investigator th rough archaeological decay. The nigh t sky can be r e cons t ruc te d to emulate

closely w hat the anc ien t astronomer observed—with modem a s t ronom ica l methodology.

This pote n t i a l e xa c tne s s is not alw ays available in other types of a rch a e ology .



Archaeo/ethnoastronomy Now

The 19% Oxford Internat ional Conference on Archaeoastronomy he ld in Santa

Fe. New M e x i c o , and the 1999 O x f o rd International Conference on Archaeoastronomy

he ld in Tener i f e . Canar\ Islands, asce r ta ined tha t the m e t ho d o lo g i c a l differences st i l l

exist in th e tw o schools of thought, "brown" and "green" archaeoastronomy. and the

proposal o f a more encompassing "cu l tu ra l astronomy" st i l l has n o t been addressed.

Americans st i l l t end to work from cu l tu ra l anthropology, e thnohis to ry. nd a rc ha e o lo g y ,

while the E u ro p e a n s emphasize m a t he m a t i c s , although integra t ion can be seen. A n o t he r

problem emphasized a t the Oxford Conferences is that th e field is stagnating from to o

much data co l lec t ion ("green") a n d not enough cultural sy n thes is ("brown"). In sp i te of

methodological and philosophical di f f erences , the range of resea rch is global from G r e a t

Britain to China, from Australia to H a w a i i , from Alaska th rou ghou t the Americas, an d

culturally and per iodica l ly inexhau s t ib le w i th studies on prehis tor ic builders of th e Bri t ish

I s les and E u r o p e (Thom and TTiom 1 9 7 8 ; Ruggles 1999; M a c K i e 1988). the Basques of

the Pyrenees (Frank 1996). the M i t h r a s cu l t o f the ancient N e a r E a s t (Ulansey 1989.

1996). medieva l Europe and H o p i a .s t ronomies (McCluskey 1993; 1977; 1990). the

Aboriginal peop le of Australia (Ca i rns 1996). the Vedics of India (Worthen 1991).

alignments in Thrace (Valev and Dermendjiev 1996). the naviga t ion of the Hawaiians

(Warther 1996) . a n d Native Americans throughout the A m e r i c a s (Carlson 1996. 1 9 9 3 ;

Bauer and Dearborn 1995; Farrer 1 9 9 1 ; Malville and P u t n a m 1 9 8 9 ; Krupp 1993) to list a

fe w . Since the be.st in te res t of this di . ssenat ion will n o t be se rved by an exhaustive



34

r e v ie w o f the l i te ra ture , only a brief summary will be made a b u t th e pa s t and on-going

r e se a rch in Gre a t Britain. Southwest Uni te d States. Mesoamerica. Egypt, and I s rae l .

Great Bri ta in and Europe

Dolmens, megaliths, grave mounds (cairns), and m e ga l i th ic a rt characterize sites

w i t h astronomical affinities throughout Europe in Great B r i ta in . Holland. France.

Switzerland. Italy. Germany, and B e l g i u m (Joussaume 1988) . Im por ta n t representations

of astronomical alignments embedded in architecture are found in the bui l t environment

of Stonehenge (see Appendix I) . and the long narrow pa .ssage o f Newgrange that opens to

the December solstice. A long shaft of l ight from the rising su n a t the solstice strikes the

decorated stone a t the end of the Newgrange passage (Chippindale 1994: 227). As

discussed above, the emphasis of research has been on mathematics, statistics, and

geometry w i t h l imited cultural interpretation—although th rough th e work done b y Clive

Ruggles and other researchers in the Bri t i sh Isles, cultural considerations are coming to

the fore. R u g g l e s wrote a comprehensive book on archaeoastronomy in the British Is les ,

Astronomy in Great B r i ta in and I re land (1999) that reviews th e his tory of the discipline,

the debate that exists over the present s ta te of ideas and makes suggestions of the future

of archaeoastronomy.

Mesoamerica

Archaeoastronomy in Mesoamerica includes alignments w i t h l imi ted stat i .st ical



data; ins te a d th e focus i s on the re la t ionsh ip between astronomy and culture.

Investigators inc lude written texts, iconography, standingstones, and temple a l ignm e nt in

their analysis ( s e e A v e n i and Urton 1 9 8 2 ; Dearborn 1996) . The re .search in . M e s o a m e r i c a

i s no t l imi ted to th e sun and the moon, bu t also explores the role of Venus in th e

agricultural cyc le (Car l .son 1 9 9 6 ; Sprajc 1993: 270-77). The researchers draw thei r

information toge th e r to understand soc ia l organization such as power structure ( B r o d a

1982: 81-110; Bauer and Dearborn 1 9 9 5 ) and worldview (Klein 1982: 1 - 3 5 ) . The

emphasis is cul tura l rather th a n stat i .st ical; although, s ta t is t ica l data collection an d

analysis has not been abandoned ( .Aveni and Hartung 1 9 8 2 : 63-80).

Southwest U ni t ed States

The inte rplay of shadow an d l ight on petroglyphs is th e primar\ focus of research

in California. Arizona. Colorado. Uta h , and New Mexico. Re.search has demons t ra ted

that a po in ted shadow or shaft o f l ight moves across a pe t rog lyph to strike a s ign i f i ca n t

feature a t th e t im e of the solstice or equinox (Ambruster and Williamson 1993; 2 1 9 - 2 6 ;

Krupp 1 9 9 3 : 2 5 1 - 6 3 ) . A t Chaco Canyon petroglyphs are spiral-shaped and date to abou t

1000 CE. The spira l interacts w i t h a "dagger' of l i gh t that falls across or points to a

given pos i t ion on th e spiral at th e t im e of the solstice an d equinoxes. A venical cliff o n

Fajada Bu t te i s etched the l a rge s t k n o w n spiral, which was drawn with nine and a half

turns. The shaf t of l ight pa.s.ses th rough a pair of upr igh t stones at the June solstice just

prior to n o o n fo rming a round poin t of l i gh t above the spira l . The p o i n t of l i gh t or "sun



36

dagger" elongates into a shaf t tha t points to the center and then moves to the bo t tom of

th e spira l in a matter of t w e n t y minutes. An adjacent petroglyph has a similar in te rac t ion

w i t h another shaf t of l i gh t ( A v e n i 1993; 128; M a l v i ll e and Putnam 1989; 3 0 - 3 1 ) .

•Vlore infonnation o n astronomy comes f rom the star ceilings tha t were pa in ted

w i t h as tra l symbols and w e r e connected to the star lore of the Navajo (Chamberlain and

Schaafsma 1 9 9 3 ; 227-41). The astronomy of the Ana.saz i included a tower bui l t for

as t ronomica l observation at Y el low Jacket. The G r e a t Tower formed a sou theas t

alignment w i t h th e Great K iva tha t marked the December solstice. A l ine of monoliths

and wal l s po in t ing to the nor theas t and starting a t a semi-circular enclosure m a r k e d the

June so ls t ice . When the soLst ices occurred, reports were then passed onto the Y e l low

Poin t popu la t ion and the neighboring community a t Goodman Point; this sy s tem was

u sed a rou nd 1200 CE (Malville and Walton 1993; 242-50). The di . sseminat ion of the

in fo rmat ion from the Great Tower to the community indicates the importance o f

astronomy to th e participants an d implies a central organization through w h i c h

astronomical information was collected as well as a communal effort to su p p o r t that

collection.

E g y p t

J. N . Lockyer or ig ina ted the study of temple orientation when he no t iced tha t

Greek temples appeared to face particular directions, and over time the directions

changed. H e postulated tha t the directions the temples faced were to specific s ta rs as the



37

star rose in i ts season, and th e di re c t ion th a t the temples faced changed as the stars to

which they were oriented shifted as a resul t of precession. H e applied his theory lo

Egyptian temples an d Pyramids, w h i c h have become the m o s t studied architecture from

th e perspective of archaeoastronomy outside of Stonehenge. Just as w i th Stonehenge.

Lockycr's applications to Egypt ia n arch i tec tu re had some problems; but nonetheless, h is

original hy po thes is remains va l id . G. Hawkins concurred that Lockyer's calculations for

th e orientation of th e Temple of Amun-Re were correct, b ut discovered that the Theban

hi l l s were high enough to block th e r a ys of summer solstice sun from entering the Temple

at the correct al ignment (Krupp 1 983 ; 254-55).

H aw k ins , who w as no t de te r red b y th e original conclusion, argued tha t the

orientation of the temple was to th e southeast and the December solstice occurred th rough

a secondary fea ture , a two-room chape l in the rear of the complex that was pa r t of the

Tuthmosis Ill's Fe s t iva l Hall. A w i n d o w in the chapel opened to the southeast. An a l ta r

in the shape of th e hieroglyph l i e t ep for "offering" was pla ce d in f ron t of the window as

a n object for the sun s rays. Other evidence confirming the temple as important to

astronomy was fou nd in its in sc r ip t ions tha t re fe r to the r is ing sun specifically as w e l l as

other astronomical features (Krupp 1 9 8 3 ; 255-56). E. Krupp followed in Hawkins" pa th

a nd confirmed his figures and conclusions w i t h independent resea rch .

Krupp continued his research in E g y p t by beginning w i t h Lockyer's work from a

more enlightened perspective—one that i s now available becau se more archaeological

data e.xis t . The orientation of the G r e a t Temple of Amun-Re. the u.se of lietep altars and



38

obelisks in open temples a t Heliopolis. t ex tu a l references, and solar sanctuaries a t A b u

S i m b e l emphasize the importance of the su n when constructing temples (Krupp 1 9 8 8 :

4 7 3 - 9 9 1 . Krupp also examined the solar sanctuarv ' of Hatshepsut's mortuary temple at

D e i r E i - B a h r i and th e sun temple of Neuserre a t Abu Ghurab and concluded:

Solar alignments in Egyptian temple .still give us some problems.

B u t the connection between sunlight an d sanctuary is clear enough. Even

the pylon—the m a s s i v e wall that fronts the temple—reiterates the sun's

ro le . In Egy pt ian temples, the p y l o n was called the "Luminous Mountain

Horizon of Heaven", and its two towers made a notched skyline out of the

py lon profile. The winged sun emblem occupied the spot above the main

door, on th e m a in axis, between the tw o "mountain peaks" created by the

py lon towers. The sun. then, sat in a no tch upon the "luminous mountain

horizon in heaven" and solidified in a monumental symbol what was

probably an or ig ina l source of E g y p t i a n concepts of celestial order:

prac t ica l observation of the sun on the horizon. Professor Thorn argued

tha t the horizon w as the fundamental tool in prehistoric Britain. The

horizon-lodged sun. or akhet. h a t shows up in Egyptian hieroglyphs and

on temple faqades is a hint that someone did watch tha t horizon—at l eas t

in Egypt—for signs of cosmic order. A n d they put those signs into

"symbolic, m y s t i c a l " temples, whose purpose—the visible display of

social and pol i t ica l order—is as prac t ica l as the calendar (Krupp 1988;

498).

Israel

Research in archaeoastronomy is l imi ted in I srael to Rujim el-Hiri in the Golan

H e i g h t s and the tuin amis on the Sinai Peninsula. Rujim el-Hiri. a fiatten circle complex,

is similar to bu t larger than m o s t Western Eu ropean astronomical complexes and "no

m e g a l i t h i c complex on this scale has been s tu d ied before in the Near East" (Mizrachi

1 9 9 2 ; 45). It was u sed for marking the June solstice during a period of about a thousand



39

years from 3000-2000 BCE (see Chapter 31. In th e Sinai nawamis were simple round

Structures cons t ruc te d of loca l stone, range in from th ree to six meters in diameter, date

from the Chalcoiithic period and appear to have been used and reused fo r secondary

burials, in one case, during modem times. They w e r e consistently or ie n te d towards the

west. Bar-Yosef e t al. suggest th a t graves are an expression of a belief in th e afterlife and

ihe setting sun is in some way related to the dead (Bar-Yosef f/ al. 1983; Bar-Yosef el al.

1977:66-88).

Solar phenomena are n o t ignored completely by Is rae l i archaeologists b ut are

referenced by innuendo. For example. A. Kempinski paraphrased A. B e n - T o r (1973: 97-

8). "Another characteristic architectural feature tha t f irst appears in the ear ly group and

continues to b e fou nd in the EB II . is the location o f the entrance to th e m ain cult chamber

m the east, w h e r e th e rays of the rising sun i l lu mina te the statue of the g o d or sacred

object" (Kempinski 1992:56). Scholarship is hi i -o r -miss . a t best. For example,

conclusions are drawn about constructed sites using u nre l iab le orientation data by J. G.

Taylor in Ya l iu ch and the Sun (1993; see below).

CULTURAL ASTRONOMY

Observation. P e rce pt ion and Use

"Tradi t ional" astronomy, i.e.. cultural astronomy, i s tha t astronomy pra c t i ce d b y

"traditional', prehis tor ic or protohi . s tor ic societies (McCluskey 1993: 33; Bai ty 1973:



40

41S). L'ni ike modern t i m e k e e p i n g , which is perceived as an uninterrupted and

u ndi f fe ren t ia ted H ow . ancient timekeeping was punctuated by celestial events. Specific

ce les t ia l events such as the sols t ices , the equ ino .xes . and th e r is ing of certain stars at

specific times in the cyclic y ear s igna led changes in the length of days and nights and

an t ic ipa ted changes in the seasons. The occurrence of ce les t ia l events designated .sacred

days that were integral to re l ig iou s observance and fac i l i ta ted the connection b e t w e e n

celestial events (astronomy) to the everyday life of plan t ing , cultivating, har\esting. the

birthing o f lambs and calves, e t c . . Anoth e r important aspec t o f " t r a d i t iona l " astronomy is

Its t r ansmiss ion from one genera t ion to the n e x t (McCluskey 1993: 33-35).

• A r c h a e o a s t r o n o m y and ethnoastronomy are such broad disciplines and u ndef ined

tha t fu r the r discussion i s impor tan t to enable an ordering of m a t e r i a l and ethnographical

c\ idence. Addressing cultural astronomy. Ruggles and Saunders discusses ohservarion

compi'tcnce. perception and use (see abo\e). So questions tha t can b e asked are: W h a t i s

observed? What are the instruments o f ohservaiion ! What are the observer's

perc ep t i ons ' ! What is the use in a give n society?

What is observed? What are the instruments of observation !

Cu l tu ra l astronomy can be considered an observational science that is use d to

discover th rou gh observation w h a t t he na tu ra l laws of celest ia l phenomena are.

The ce les t ia l sphere, tha t which is observed, is an im a gina ry plane tha t seems to fo rm a

• " d o m e " or a spherical surface that is discemable to the ear th bound observer. The



41

apparen t movement of the sun and the m o o n through the tlxed s ta rs and the apparent

pos i t ion o f th e fixed stars are ob se rv ed in re la t ionsh ip to the obsener and the observer's

hori/on. The following is a short l ist of v \ ha t is observable: 1) the orbi ta l change in

di rec t ion of th e earth's ro ta t iona l axis v v it h r e spe c t to the sun. w h i c h causes the sun to

appear to move along horizon to the nor th and then to the south and resu l t s in the seasons

as dic ta ted by latitude ; 2) the orbital revo lu t ion o f the earth around the sun during one

s i d e r e a l y e a r . 3) the apparent diurnal m o v e m e n t of the fixed stars and/or their patterns

[ a s t e r i s m s or c o n s i c U a l i o n s Y . 4) the m o v e m e n t of the equinoxes a long th e ecliptic to the

wes t" ' or l i i n i s o l a r preccssion: and 5) the apparen t movement of the sun. the moon, and

the planets on a fixed path or the ecliptic.

Leve ls of observation indicate the vary ing levels of awareness based on what is

observed; that is . what is the par t ic ipan t watching—the sun. the m o o n , the fixed stars,

comets, or other celestial phenomena? Observational competence as suggested b y

Ruggles and Saunders (1990: 2) is a t i t s most basic level here, the part ic ipant is aware of

recu r ren t phenomena. This l e ve l can bes t be described as o h s e r v a t i c m a l awareness. An

impor tan t dynamic is the loca t ion of the obsener. north or south o f the t e r res t r ia l equator,

w h i c h g o v e rn s the relationship of the sun's posi t ion on the horizon to the seasons and

w hich f ixed stars are observed.

The ne x t level of astronomical observ a t ion i s data collection, w h i c h requires

devices to be u sed to observe. Instruments for observ ation and data collection range f rom

te lescopes lo complex stone structures such as Stonehenge to simple, g e n e ra l orientations



42

of temples/churches to a particular poin t on the horizon to the a l i g n m e n t of features in a

natural landscape toward a celestial e v e n t su ch as a solstice. The hor izon i s where

celestial phenomena are most easily observed where the sun and/or the moon moves

against a b a c k g r o u n d of naturally occurr ing irregulanties such as mountains, slopes,

peaks, and val leys . The horizon can be a l te red by setting up .stones to m a rk points a t

which a ce les t ia l event w i l l occur. B ui l t environments such as Stonehenge also create a

static reference mechanism w i t h the hor izon . The celestial event that would occur on a

given horizon, cither natural or constructed, then becomes s ign i f ican t (Ruggles 1999:

153: Thomas 1 9 9 1 : 47).

The data that can be generated from astronomical instruments a n d the prec is ion o f

the data indicate the observer's level of astronomical knowledge o v observational

Iompewm c.^ D a ta collection transformed th e observation of the celest ia l sphere, and the

celestial bodies the re in , into concrete in fo rmat ion . Data collected ranged from 1) the

sequential p ha se s o f the moon over a per iod of 29-30 days: 2) the movement of the sun

nor th and sou th a l o n g the horizon over a per iod of 365.24218967 d a y s : 3) the movement

of the f i .xed s t ars and/or constellations over the same period: 4) the movement of the

moon in its phases nor th and south along the hor izon over a per iod o f 19 years: and 5) an

adjustment of the data to accommodate the s low change in pos i t ion of the fixed

stars/constellations as they shift their relationship to a "slationarx " earth due to precession

which takes about 26.000 years to complete it s cycle.

"Megalithic astronomy" in G r e a t Bri ta in was founded on alignment



43

measurements b e t w e e n stones of prehistoric s i tes ; then astronomical hypotheses were

developed to exp la in alignments and establish orientations.'' Two l e ve l s of investigation

now exist for the s tudy of alignments; 1) the verif icat ion of an a l ignment w i th possible

astronomical s ign i f icance and based in archaeo log ica l enquirv. a nd 2 ) the investigation of

a corpus of sites th rough statistical analysis by sampling alignments from several sites

(Ruggles 1989: 13-14 ; Ruggles 1999; 72-75). When combined w i t h archaeological

perspectives, alignments through s ta t i s t i ca l means can demonstrate a preference for a

given p o i n t on the h or iz on b y a culture. Ideal ly , the selection of s i tes should be ba.sed on

geographical l oca t ion ; i.e.. regional, and cu l tu ra l traditions when that can be established

(Ruggles 1989: 2 3 2 - 4 9 ) .

Or ien ta t ion" describes the direction that a l ine draw n b e t w e e n given features of a

bu i l t environment such as a line of stones or pa ssa ge w ay of a t emple or between na tu ra l

features of the l andscape and the horizon to a poin t w here a ce les t ia l event occurred

(Ruggles 1999: 1 4 8) . Orientation as an ind ica to r of the importance of astronomy to a

society is present in other ways. For example, a n early use of the t e rm " or ie n ta tion"

referred to the Chr is t ian burials, where the corpse "s f e e t pointed to the east. Late-Minoan

b ur ia l sites on Crete w e r e oriented to a range of possible positions of the moon as it rose

in relationship to M o u n t Vrysinas. which i s poss ib ly a . ssocia ted w i t h a moon cult

(Papathanassiou a n d H o s k i n 1996; Papa l hana . ss iou et al. 1992). In th e T' c. BCE

Vitruvius w rote in a Roman architectural handbook. De Archireclura. tha t the face of the

deity should look to the w e s t so that the su pp l ican t faced the altar and looked to the



44

eastern sky. A selection ot " churches tVom the Holy Roman Empire was oriented to the

place the sun rose on the birth date o f their pat ron saint (McCluskey 1990: 1 1 2 ) .

In the ear ly 1900s G. Martiny ( 1 9 3 2 . 1933: 41-45. 1 9 4 0 ; 92-96) argued tha t

temple or i enta t ion to celestial phenomena b e g a n in Mesopotamia in the 3^'' m. BCE. B y

the 2" ' ' m. BCE temples were oriented to spec i f i c stars; the cu l t statue faced the direction

of the r i sing s ta r ; . Ma r t iny suggested that th e star would have r i sen on the A ssy r i a n New -

Year a t sunrise. H e charted the changes o f orientation of temples a t Assur f rom 3000-500

BCE and no ted a "steady" e a . s twa rd m o v e m e n t in their orientations. His chart i ndica t ed

tha t he e .xamined this "steady" ea . s twar d movement with th e changes in azimuths for

P Andromedae. .Accord ing to M a r t i n y . Assy r ian temples or i ented to the southea.s t and

Babylonian temples to the northeast ( .Mar t iny 1940: 94). One of the issues w i t h the

figures presen ted b y . M a r ti n y i s tha t the or i enta t ion of the Gimilsin Temple and th e Palace

Chapel were char ted according to True M a g n e t i c Nonh ra ther than True North and

adjustments w e r e made accordingly. H e m a d e no mention for the data on the orientation

of the other temples in his chart. F u r t h e r m o r e , the chart, w h i c h is included in the article

"Orientation of Gimilsin Temple and Pa lace Chapel." showed the eastward movement of

th e A .ssu r temples and P Andromedae but is . s o m e w h a t v a g u e (Martiny 1940: 93: Fig. 84).

In spite of his work, which was su ppor ted b y P. Neugebauer (1934: 68-78). this line of

study never ga ined popularity in A.ssyr iology; although, w r i t t e n evidence supports the

importance of t emple orienlalion to sou theas t and its role in politics of the Neo-Assyria

period ( L a n f ra n c h i 1995: 131-52).



45

E n o u g h global evidence exists to determine that orientation and alignments were

imponant. no t only to more d e v e l o p e d communities (civilizations) but also for smaller

groups of peop le (tribes). Although th e reasoning is lost to us. the orientation m ay have

ser\ed to connect the community to th e "natural order of the universe". The a l i g n m e n t of

a doorway. a ro w of stones, etc.. w i t h the rising/setting o f the sun or the moon gave

special m e a n i n g t o a particular occas ion such as equinoxes, sols t ice . s and lu nas t ices .

Astronomical information was sy mbol ica l ly embedded in monumental architecture and

tha t rellected the community's w o r l d v i e w . i.e.. their "perceptions of cosmic order". B y

building a "relationship" between th e cosmic order an d their lives, they were able to

understand it w i t h i n their social context, and thus, "control led" their relationship to the

r i s ing and se t t ing of the sun, t h e m o o n , a n d the stars (Ruggles 1999; 154-55).

What are the perceptions'?

Calendars are one prac t ica l perception of astronomical data. They are based on

th e measurements of time in days, months, and years. Measurements are a cognitive way

to order the natura l world and br ing it into a cultural re la t ion.sh ip with humans; u n i t s of

length, weight,a n d time

are symbols oftha t

relationship (Renfrew and Bahn1 9 9 1 ;

347).

Units of time help to organize social structures by anticipating sea.sonaI cycles, i.e..

anticipating the r igh t lime to prepare th e ground, to plan t , or to harvest with th e gods'

blessings. Calendars then can be cons ide red the social representations of the re la i ion .ship

of humans to th e cycles of the seasons and how humans re la ted those cycles to c l imat i c



46

an d environmental changes in their natural w o r l d (Ruggles 1999: 152. Krupp 1997: 2 7 4 -

78. L o c k y e r 1892c: 487-90. 1892d: 104-7; 1 8 9 2 e : . ^2 -5) . '

According to J. .North , th e natural progress ion of calendrical development beg ins

w i t h th e observation of the moon's phases—a simple month-by-month observation—that

are ad ju s ted according to the seasonal year as marked b y the rising/setting positions o f th e

su n . The ne x t stage combines solar movement w i t h lu nar movement to create a solar-

lu nar calendar. Solar obser\ a l ion i s the mechanism t h ro u g h which seasons and lunar

phases a re coordinated, an d a la t e r inclusion of in tercalary months provide a more

sy s temat ic application (Nonh 1994; xxiv-xxv). In an e f fo r t to make sense of the p a s s a g e

of t ime , ancient observers re la te the sky to the earth by focusing on the events tha t occur

o n th e horizon, and from th is calendrical concepts probab ly develop. In most societies

the calendar was developed along the above progress ion (Ruggles 1999: 1 5 2 ) .

One example of combining the horizon and the bu i l t environment to construct a

so la r calendar was found in the ruins of the I nca civilization. The Incas marked the

horizon w i t h standing stones and towers to follow the path of sun through the year. '^ The

solar calendar was used to synchronize with a lunar calendar that was eleven days shor t o f

the so la r y ea r and to regu la te the festival calendar. The I nca calendar was no t limited to

the obser\ ations of the sun and the moon bu t also inc lu ded the stars and the planets

(Bauer a n d Dearborn 1 9 9 5 ) .

Lu nar , solar, and lunisolar calendars in the ancient N e a r E a s t



47

The na tu ra l progression of calendars a ppe a r s to be from lunar to solar to lunisolar

in ancient Near East.'" In Mesopotamia a lu nar calendar was based o n th e cycle of the

m o o n a n d started w it h the t1rst thin crescent af te r th e New Moon to the ne x t th in crescent

after the New Moon on the western horizon (Rochberg 1995; 1931). A complete cycle of

the lunar phases t a ke s about 29.5 days with 12 cyc le s over a period of 354 days. 11+ days

sh or t of a year. To reconc i le a lunar calendar against the tropical year , a lunar year was

ad ju s ted to contain th i r teen months (iniercalaiion) every three years, that way ensuring

the coordination of the seasons to the months (Rochberg-Haiton 1992: 810-11; Brown

2000: 1 2 0 ) . Sumerian and Semitic calendars used a lunar year of 1 2 - 1 3 months of 29-30

days each (Sallaberger 1993; Cohen 1993). The O ld A s s y r i a n calendar made no

inte rca lary adjustments, which allowed the m onth s to sh i f t back into the ir relationship to

the sea .sons. After 32 .5 years the months and .sea.sons are once more coordinated

(Rochberg-Haiton 1 9 9 2 : 811; van der Waerden 1 9 3 5 / 1 9 3 6 : 27-29). The Old As.syr ian

a nd Ebla lunar calendars began with an autumnal N e w Year, and the so la r year was

coordinated with the lu nar months (Rochberg-Haiton 1 9 9 2 : 811; Larsen 1 9 7 6 : 192-93;

Pet t ina to 1974/1977: 33-35). The Egyptian calendar was al so lunar bu t standardized with

1 2 months of 30 days each'' and intercalated w i t h tlve extra days at th e end of the year.

The B a b ylonia n year began near the v e m a l equinox in the B a b ylonia n month of

N is c in n i r , it was a l una r calendar and in te rca la te d w i t h a thirteenth month. In the 5 " * c.

BCE the Babylonians introduced a i 9-year inte rca la t ion between the sun and the moon

cy c les (Brown 2000: 174-75). That is to say, 2 3 5 cy c les of the moon are equal to 19



48

a n n u a l cycles of the sun. which is ca l led "the Metonic Cycle."'" Succinctly, every 19

\ears to the day the moon moves into an identical re la t ionsh ip to the sun. the s t ars , and

the hor izon (Krupp 1991: 153).

W h a t is the use of the observations an d percept ions '^ .

Use is how the data is embedded in the social representations such as symbols,

m y t h s , and religion. I ts presenta t ion is constructed b y a g i v e n society and shapes the

over -a l l consensus of said society (Geertz 1979: 78-89: Ortner 1979: 93-94). O f t e n the

m e a n i n g is imbued in religion, ideo logy , social pres t i ge , and po l i t i ca l power (Ruggles and

Saunders 1990:1).

Religious ceremonies w e r e u.sed to anticipate and m a r k important times of the

y ear . The rising/setting sun at the solstices and equinoxes, the rising/selling moon at the

lu nas t ices . and the rising/setting constellations were cor re la ted w i t h important feas t days

tha t ce leb ra t ed the first planting or the beginning of the harves t (Ruggles 1999: 148 ;

Krupp 1 9 9 7 : 274-78). Rituals assoc ia ted with seasons, spec i f ic days, and designed

periods a re then social representations of astronomical phenomena. In order to regulate a

sea .sonal calendar the observers, re l ig iou s and/or poli t ical leaders , or a combination

the reof had specific, and possibly, sec re t knowledge t ha t in su red their position of p o w e r .

Re l i g i o u s and po l i t i ca l powers w e r e conveyed through r i tual to the community, and often

impl ic i t was the understanding that the r i t ua l was preorda ined and sanctified by th e divine

(Rappaport 1999: 33). Furthermore, repeated use of a spec i f ic and limited set of symbols



49

in r i tual shaped pol i t ical beliefs and created social solidarity (Kertzer 1 9 8 8 : 72. 95). In

oth e r words, r i tua ls , and symbols founded in astronomy empowered and legitimized

ide o log ica l and pol i t ical ideals (after B e l l 1992: 1 8 6 - 8 7 ) .

Seasonal m y t h s explained reoccurring phenomena related to the s ide re a l

movement of the sun. and the astral myths explained celestial events such as eclipses and

pa ssa ge s of comets in terms tha t were understood w i t h i n a given cultural context.

Ceremonies af f i rmed these events and reinforced the ir place in the cu l tu ra l worldview.

Im por ta n t ly , th rough th e offices of religion and pol i t ics , the transmission of astronomical

know ledge w as insured from generation to generation. Furthermore, w hether or not. th e

knowledge w as indigenous, it was transmitted f rom one culture to another and tha t within

i tself signifies th e importance of astronomy (McClusky 1993: 34; B a i ty 1973: 418).

SUMMATION

Archaeoastronomy and ethnoastronomy are new disciplines defining themselves

by incorporating mathematical, anthropological, an d ethnographical perspectives.

R u g g l e s and Saunders called for a combining of "green" and "brown" astronomies into

cul tura l astronomy over an anthropological framework to establish a "new unique cross-

disc ipl inarv ' approach." In th a t way. a broad spectrum of archaeological mater ia l and

wr i t t en information becomes available to an inqu i r j ' . This approach, st i l l m ire d in

methodological di f fe re nce s , has not slowed research. Re.search extends to ancient and



50

ex tant cultures globally.

In an attempt to order the mater ia l . I looked a t the specific categories of

ohscrviiiion. perception and use. The da ta collected from observ ation can b e simple

charting of the m o o n through the year to complex records tha t calculated the movement

of the sun. the moon, and the planets found in the Mesopotamian astronomical t ex ts . A

simple drawing can record the moon as it forms its t l rst crescent or a comet moving

t h r o u g h th e s k y . Data collected over repea ted ob . se rva t ions . and then te.sted a ga ins t earlier

data verif ies i ts reliability. One way to encode astronomical data is through the u.se of

calendars.

Calendars varied according to th e perspective of the astronomers, from lu nar to

st)lar to lu nar -so la r . . A variety of these types of calendars is found throughout th e ancient

N e a r East. Calendars unified seasonal changes w i th the cycles of agriculture a n d were

symbolic representations of the cosmic sk y coded in a way recognizable to h u m a n

par t ic ipan ts . Calendars are. then, a cul tural perception of astronomical data.

Use is the last consideration. Rel ig iou s ceremonies were one way that th e

i n format ion a b o u t the celestial movement was disseminated into the society, and were

use d to mark i m p o r t a n t sea . sona l /ag r icu l tu ra l days. Rituals an d feast days become soc ia l

representa t ions of astronomical phenomena. Seasonal myths explained the movement of

the sun a n d the moon, and the astral m y t h s explained the unexplainable such as eclipses

a n d comets. Importantly, the people w e r e u n i ted by common beliefs about the

unknowable. Furthermore, those who w e r e p ri v y to and controlled the knowledge were



51

those appeared to he ordained or sanctified b y the divine a n d as a result he ld re l ig iou s a n d

pol i t ica l power. A combination of data texts and i conography demonslrates be low that

the above can be practical in examining the worldview of the people of the sou thern

Levan t .



52

ENDNOTES

1. The term general prfcession refers to the gyration of the ro ta t iona l axis of the earth

a round the pole s of th e Ecliptic plane due to the combined grav i ta t iona l attractions of th e

sun. the moon, and th e planets. These fo rces cause the axis of th e earth to move around

in a cone of angular radius of about 23" 26 ' around the Ecliptic poles. It lakes about

25.800 yearsfo r th e N o r t h

CelestialP ole to re turn

toa given poin t . One example

ofth eef fec t is tha t during the 3^'' m BCE the N or th Celestial Pole poin te d to the star Thuban (a

Draconis); toda y , it points to the star Polar is (a Ursae Minoris).

Precession affects what we see in th e celestial sky in that the sun appears at a

different point— generally related to the zod iaca l constellations—along the ecliptic a t the

equinoxes and the solstices (Mitton 1 9 9 1 : 301; Ridpath 1997; 373; Krupp 1983: 10) .

2 . , A limustice occurs when the moon s i ts a t its northernmost an d southernmost points in

th e sky. At th e se points, the moon appears l ike the sun to stand still, i.e.. a lunar standst i l l

or a limustice. A limasiice occurs approximately 5" from the ecliptic path, both inside th e

path and outside at th e northernmost an d southernmost extremes along the horizon. The

grav i ta t iona l pull of the earth affects th e moon's orbit so tha t th e period between major

>iandst i l l s is 1 8 .61 years with minor stand.sti l l a t 9.3 years after each major standstill

( .Vlalvil le and P u t n a m 1989; 17-9; K r u p p 1 9 7 8 : 19-20).

3 . The orientation of the earth's ro ta t iona l axis is fixed in space. Due to the earth's

revo lu t ion , the ax is i s more directly or ien ted towards the sun twice in a single revolution:

1) in the northern hemisphere, w hich occurs a t the lime of the June solstice: and 2) in th e

sou th e rn hemisphere, w hich occurs a t the December solstice. The earth is furthest from

a round July 4'*'. an d closest to ihe sun a round January T' (White 2002: personal

communication).

4. See Note 2.

5. This does not renecl the observer's pote n t i a l ; It indicates w h a t they thought was

important.

6. Archaeologically. this approach was somewhat misleading since the consensus in ear ly

s tudie s centered on the concept that th is was a single society that h ad developed a



53

mega l i lh ic astronomy: in fact, th e studied sites spanned a per iod of more than four

mil lenn ia (Ruggles 1999).

7 . S. McCluskey (2002; persona l communication) sa ys tha t the orientation of Holy

Roman churches i s limited an d r e por t s mostly pos i t ive resu l t s . Nonetheless, the repor ted

or ien ta t ions , patronal and equinoctal. exceed the approximate Wc hits expected b y

chance.

S . In these articles Lockyer c red i ted the Egyptians w i t h th e invention of the calendar.

9 . A c c o r d i n g to the Spanish chroniclers of the 15"' ' c. CE.

1 0 . R u g g l e s cautioned tha t this is a perspective of W e s t e r n civilization and n o t

necessar i ly applicable to n o n - W e s t e r n societies (Ruggles 1 9 9 9 : 152).

11 . Each month was divided in t e n -da y segments or decans (Rochherg-Halton 1992:

8 1 1 ) .

1 2 . M e l o n of Athens adopted th is intercalation in S " * c. BCE. Some recen t evidence

indicates that th e Metonic Cycle was u.sed in the Shang dynasty (1766-1 1 2 2 BCE) in

China (Krupp 1991: 153).



54

CHAPTER 3:

CONTACTS WITH EGYPT AND SYRIA

In t roduc t ion

The powerful impact that the Egyptians had o n Canaan, and later Israel and

Judah. often colors our thinking; as scholars, we tend to treat the southern Le va nt as a

b a c k w a r d area incapable of independen t development (see Frankfort 1985). hut

dependent on the neighboring cu l tu res for new ideas an d technologies such as astronomy.

C o n t a c t b e tw e e n people has been seen as the way new ideas and technologies moved

from cul ture to culture; in other w o r d s , original ideas or technologies did no t develop

co inc iden ta l ly in other areas but w e r e passed from th e originating culture to a dja ce nt

c u l t u r e s — k n o w ledge v,us di f f i t sc i l {Renfrew 197b: 33; Trigger 1989; 1 5 0 - 5 5 ) .

For tu na te ly , scholarship address ing developments in the Chalcolithic per iod and Early

B r o n z e A g e in the southern Le va nt are discussed as independent, evolutionary, and local

(Levy 1 9 8 6 : 86; . A m i r a n 1985; Callaway 1972; Miroschedji 1971).

L a t e Chalcolithic/Early Bronze A g e transition (3400-2900 BCE) and Egypt

Vil lages in the southern Le va nt grew into the l a rge advanced farming

communities (Levy 1986: 83. 85-96) tha t marked the t rans i t ion from the Chalcolithic

per iod to the Ear ly Bronze Age. L o n g distance trade ac ross a va s t area of th e anc ien t

Near East developed during the Chalcolithic period: ba.sall mined in northern reg ions was



f o u n d at Becrsheha on th e edge of the Negev D e s e r t in the south, along w i t h she l l s

( .ol lectcd from the Red Sea and t he N i le River, copper from Timna. arsenical copper from

the T a rsu s Mountains. I ran, or th e Caucasus Mountains, ivory tusks from A f r i c a . Egypt,

or N o r t h Syria (Gonen I W2h: 62). Independent cultures developed bu t were n o longer

closed communities, economical or culturally. Fore ign elements found in th i s pe r iod

mdicate peacefu l contacts an d perhaps the assimilation of immigrants (Ahstrom 1 9 9 3 :

I 1 . ^ ^ - 1 4 ) .

E a r ly B r o n z e Age I (EB I: 3300-3100 BCE) an d E g y p t

EB I as a per iod of inc reased contact w i t h Egypt ba.sed on the number and

character o f Egyptian art i fac ts found a t southern sites. The majority were sm a l l clay

\cssels; tw o w i t h the screkh' s ign for the name of Namier from Arad and Tel Eran i .

Other serekhs were also f o u n d from this period as w e l l as the signatures of Egy pt ian

off ic ials . The lack of a des t ruc t ion layer by i nvading forces from Egypt and the pre .sence

of Egy pt ian pottery indicates a commercial relationship between southern Pa les t ine and

Egypt, not an occupational one according to J. Weinstein (1984: 65-67). Grave goods a t

A/or in sou thern I s rae l inc lu ded Egyptian imports: pottery, a cosmetic palette, an d a flint

knife. Some of the skeletal remains were iden t i f ied as being of African origin. Although

i so la ted Egy p t ian artifacts w e r e f o u n d in nor the rn Palestine, the number of art i fac ts

diminished the further nor th the s i t e . E.xamples o f artifacts include bu t are no t l imi ted to:



56

a cosmctic pa le t te at Jericho, a cylinder sea l a t Gezer. a closed vessel, an d mace head al

Mcgiddo (Ben-Tor 1992: 92-93: Ahstrom 1 9 9 3 ; 124-25).

During the 1996 excavation season" a l . M e g i d d o a collection of "Egyptianizing"

vesse l s was found in what appears to b e a l a rge EB I temple compound. The vessels

w e r e loca l ly manufactured in the shapes of Egyptian vessels, and then, pla ce d a t the site

of an abandoned Canaanite temple. This r e ce nt data found is found fu r the r nor th than

cxpected and leads the excavators to consider new approaches to u nders tand ing the

Egy pt ian presence in Canaan" (Finkelstein 1 9 9 8 ; Oren 1998).

First, if the ini t ia l interpretation o f the Egyptianizing pottery is acceptable,

it means that Egyptian settlers co lon ized some locations in the m o r e

nonhem pans of the country as w e l l , perhaps w i th in the Canaanite

populations of the larger settlements. Second, it shows that...Canaan, or a t

l eas t Megiddo. was already fully urbanized, or even declining f rom its first

urban cycle, when th e first Egy pt ian civilization, as shown in th e m a te r ia l

remains of Megiddo. w as in f lu enc ing Canaan. Finally, if indeed th e

vessels were brought to the temple as some type of offering, it shows an.

u n t i l now. u nde tec ted cultural sy nc re t i sm between the Egyptian element

and their Canaanite hosts (Oren 1998) .

The urbanization of EB I in Palestine was considered to be due to the Egy pt ian influence

in past scholarship. New evidence and in te rp re ta t ion suggest this approach is no longer

viable (Finkelstein 1998; Oren 1998).



Ea r ly Bronze Age M (EB I I : 3100-2650 BCE) a n d Egypt

The c on tac t w i t h Egypt i nc r eased dramatically by EB II . The towns in the sou th

where EB I contacts were already es t ab l i shed continued to t lour ish . Rationally, these

setllements w e r e Egyptian trade s ta t ions wh e re exportation of Pales t inian goods was

prepared fo r sh ipm e nt and moved i n to t he Eg y p t i an market. T r a d e moved both directions

from Egypt to P a le s t ine and Palestine to Egypt—based on th e assemblages a t the w a y

stations, a predominance of P a le s t in ia n ceramics a t some and Eg y p t i an ceramics a t

others. The sea ls and serekhs of Eg y p t i an off ic ia ls and ph a ra oh s indicate that Eg y p t i an

traders ope ra te d under a central a u th or i ty , an d th e lack of seals for th e Palestinian t raders

interprets as a l ess centralized trade that w as based on ind iv idua l city-states. Luxury

items were l imi ted to alabaster or g r an i t e vesse l s such as those f ou nd in the " Ai temple in

southern I s rae l , and perhaps, some g o l d a nd s i lve r jewelry inse t w i t h semiprecious gems

(Ben-Tor 1 992; 118-19).

Trade w i t h Egypt increased in th e early part of EB I I . and the distinctive Abydos

ware was indicat ive of the period. A b y d o s ware was first f ou nd in the tombs of the

pharaohs of the Fi r s t Dynastic pe r iod (3000-2800 BCE " ' ) a t S a q q a ra and Abydos among

others. Im por ta n t ly , th e w are also a ppe a re d throughout major si tes in the Levant; from

A r a d in th e sou th e rn Levant to Tell Jude ide h in N o r t h Syria; th e major sites included

Megiddo in nor thern Israel and Gezer in c en t r a l Israel. The w a re was probably

manufactured in southern Palestine an d dis t r ibuted from there. The Second Dynasty

(2800-2675 B C E ) in Egypt was a per iod of decline; the Canaanite pot te ry found in F i rs t



58

D yna s t i c contexts became sca rce in the Second Dynastic Period, and non-e x i s te n t by

th e e nd of the period. Egypt's decline im pa c te d marginally on the EB II economy except

in the south w here it may h a ve b e e n an element in the decline of .Arad and other southern

se t t l e m e nts . Contact w i t h E g y p t does n o t r e s u m e unt i l Early Bronze I II (EB III : 2650-

2400 BCE) in the north at B y b l o s and in th e sou th a t A i (Ben-Tor 1992: 1 0 7 . 1 1 9 - 1 2 0 ) .

L ate Chalcolithic/Early B ronz e Age I (3400-2900 BCE) and Syria

Specialization b e c a m e an important socia l organizer during the Late Chalcolithic

pe r iod . P o t t e ry production, metallurgy, ivory carving, f l int quarrying, tool

manufacturing, and cull b e ca m e specialized. Ritual organization w as in th e h a nds of th e

pr iests , who were focused and full-time (Ahstrom 1993: 108-109). . M u c h of th e

innova t ion in the northern L evan t showed a f f in i ty to M e . sopota m ia n development of the

same per iod and earlier in th e Chalcolithic per iod (Ahstrom 1993; 95-108). Reasonably,

th e no r th e rn Levant was a lso in contact w i th nor thern I.srael as evidenced in t e m ple plans

(Kempinski 1992a: 56-58).

Indicators of a f f in i ty foun d betw een nor thern Palestine. Syria, and .Vlesopotamia

are tw o temple types, the h r n a c l - r o o n t and meâron'. First, the hroud-room t e m ple

found at . M e g i d d o in northern Israel (Temple 4050). a t Byblos in Lebanon, a n d at Khafaje

in nor thern M e . so p o t a m i a ( la te 4'^ m. BCE; Kempinski 1992a: 56-57; Frankfort 1 9 8 5 ; 23)

m a y h a v e originated in Syro-Palestinian regions at the end of the Chalcolithic per iod a n d

reached Mesopotamia th rough Semitic tribes m igra t ing into the Diyala region. The

me ^Li nm temple of EB I I I or ig ina te d in Anatolia a n d eastern Syria. Once a ga in it is



59

t ho u g h t tha t th i s temple type came into the southern L e v a n t through the migration of

people, this t i m e along an east-west route. The m e ^ c i r o n is found a t Megiddo (Stratum

XVI and XV). at the acropolis temple a t 'Ai. and a t Tel l Huwara. Syria (Kempinski 1992:

56-58).

• A th ird ind ica t ion of Early Bronze contact b e t w e e n Palestine and Syria is the

K h i r b e t K e r a k w a r e (EB III); its introduction is also explained by the migra t ion of people

into the nor the rn and southern Levant. Khirbe t K e ra k ware was m a rk e d ly different from

the loca l w are in fo rm and regional production methods. The ware was found throughout

nor the rn Is rae l in the Jezreel Valley and t he Jordan Va l le y , w i th a few pieces in the

southern r e g i o n s (Ahstrom 1993: 129-30; Amiran 1969:68-77).

The ear ly per iods in the southern L e v a n t a p p e a r to have limited contact w i t h

neighbors to the nor th and south. Contact w i t h E g y p t centered on trade: the stronger

contacts were to the nor th with Syria. If then, temple f o rm s can b e considered an

indication, a pr imary p o i n t of contact is . t herefore , re l igion. Contact b e t w e e n the

southern Levan t and Mesopotamia was f i l te red th rou g h Syria during th is period.

ASTRONOMY AND THE LEVANT

Large quant i t i es of material w r i t ten by the B a b y l o n i a n s and Egyptians, as w e l l a. s

data from the monumental architecture of E g y p t , have been studied in an effort to

understand w h a t these people knew about astronomy. Furthermore, astronomical

symbols found on cul t objects and in sacred l i tera ture of the southern L e v a n t have been



60

discussed, bu t th e connection between those symbols an d astronomical events su ch as

solstices a n d equinoxes has no t been pursued. The m a jor i ty of discussion is app l ied to

cultures ou ts ide the southern Levant, even though m o n u m e n t a l architecture such as

icmples a n d megalithic structures are found throughout southern Levant, and

astronomical symbols permeate the a rt and literature.

The O ld Testament lands of Amurru. Phoenicia. Is rae l , Judah. Ammon. Moab.

and Edom—all of which were in the land of Canaan—extended from modem day Syria

through L e b a n o n to the Sinai in th e south, and west of the Jordan River. The re l ig ions of

the L e v a n t w e r e based on indigenous be l ie fs that bear some resemblance to the ir

ne ighbors ; th e Mesopotamians. the Hittites. and the Egy pt ians . It is my bel ie f that the

people in th e se areas have a common knowledge based on the observation of th e

movements of th e sun. the moon, and th e stars.

Rel ig ion and Ast ra l Images: W a l l Paintings and Art i fac t s

Ast ra l images demonstrate ohsen ational awareness of celestial phenomena, and

depictions of the sun. the moon, and the stars appeared in th e early Chalcolithic pe r iod

(4'* ' m. BCE). Several plaster w a l l paintings were f o u n d w i t h celestial images a t Teleilat

Ghassul. w h i c h is situated across th e Jordan River from sou thern Israel. In one bu i ld ing ,

an eight-rayed star (1.84 m in diameter) was on the w e s t w a l l tha t opposed th e east-facing

entrance (Fig. 3.1).



61

Fig. 3.1. Teleilat Ghassul star (North 1 9 6 1 : F r o n t plate;

[Note: a u th or ' s outline of a h u m a n f igure on the le f t ) )

A cre sce nt moon l ef t of (h e star is used to decorate th e wing of an imag inary creature^,

a nd fu r th e r left , a human f igu re l i f ts or guides a r is ing mask between his /her hands. The

star is su r rou nded by masks, animals,and temples and testifies to th e cultic na tu re of the

pa in t ing and o f the room (Mazar 1992a: 75-6). Two more paintings were found in

se pa ra te b u i ld ings : one painting located on an east-facing wall depicted the sun or the

moon r is ing above mountains (Fig. 3.2; [North 1 9 6 1 : Plate I I I ) ; ihe second pa in t ing had

rays to th e left s i tu a ted b e h ind a small human figure. In front of the f igure were three sets

of larger-than-life feet that appear to be placed on stools (Fig. 3.3 (North 1961: Plate III ) .



62

Fig. 3.2. Teleilat Ghassul horizon with luminary (Nor th 1961; Plate 1 1 )

T , •

, 1

iFig. 3.3 Rays of the Sun and the human from Teleilat Ghassul

(Nor th 1961: Pla te III)

These pa in t ings f rom Teleilat Ghassul expl i c i t ly demonstrate that ce les t i a l phenomena

were observed an d recorded. Representations of suns and s t ars are f o u n d in eight-,

seven-, a n d f ive - ray ed figures on incised pebbles, pendants, a n d ossuaries as w e l l as



63

p e r m a n e n t features su ch as the paved area arou nd an altar at Megiddo from Early

B r o n z e I (3300-3000 BCE; [Elliot 1977; 12] ) .

A t Megiddo a l a rge paved open area s loped to the east towards Mount Tabor and

M o u n t Moreh. In the center o f the pavement a stone altar*^ was situated (Loud 1970: 54).

Thir ty -s ix of the pav ing stones, which were placed adjacent to the altar, were incised w i t h

a var ie ty of human a n d animal figures, and geometric shapes; f ive had astral symbols that

inc lu de representations of stars, comets, and a crescent moon (Fig.3.4-7);

l".

'-."J

Fig. 3.4. Megiddo Harper Fig. 3.5. Megiddo Marchers

(Loud 1970: PI. 273. Fig. 5) (Loud 1970: P I . 275. Fig. 6)



64

\

n\

Fig. 3.6. Lion, fallen enemy, and comet

(Loud 1970; P I . 275. Fisi . 9)

Fig. 3.7. Figure with comet

( L o u d 1 9 7 0 ; P I . 273. Fig. 7)

In summation, the Teleilat Ghassul pa in t ings , paving stones f rom Megiddo. and other

art i fac ts contain important represen ta t ions of astral images fou nd in a.ssociat ion with cull

ccntcrs an d indicate the importance of astronomy to the culls of the pre-Canaanites a n d

prc-lsrael i tes .

Ast ra l images: Standing Stones, Sacred Poles , and Stars

The importance of the heavens fo r the Israelites is conspicuous in the Old

Testament; E l, the god of Abraham. Isaac, an d Jacob, created " l igh ts in the expanse of the

hea\ ens to separate the day from the n igh t , and le t them, be for signs and seasons, and for

days and years" (Gn 1; 1 4 ) " . and then, c rea ted the sun and the moon (Gn 1:16). The



65

" l i ght s in the expanse of the heavens" as "signs and seasons" alluded to th e stars and

t he i r movement across the ce les t ia l sky in rhythm w i t h th e seasons and the marking of

"days and years".

A s t r a l images fou nd o n decorated stele, al tars , a n d plastic artifacts from Hazor

su gges t h o w standing stones, or perhaps, sacred poles/pi l lars {asherim) or both , were

u s e d . O n the southue.st s ide of the Hazor tel l , a t emple y i e lded two statues and t en stelae

( 1 3 - 4 0 " h i g h ; Fig. - v 8 [Mazar 1 9 9 2 a ; 254]).

Fig. 3.8. Yadin with Hazor stele ( Y a d i n 1970; 222)

The sta tue on the r igh t is a sea ted figure w i th a c rescen t m o o n engraved o n h i s chest

iden t i fy ing him as a moon god (Gonen 1992; 253). The statue on the lef t is a lion, which

was one of the s\ mbols of Asherah. the goddess o f Israel and Judah. Nine of the len



66

sic lae are u n d c c o r a t e d , bu t the cen t ra l stele depicts a disc c rad led in an upward turned

c rescen t w it h two knobs underneath. The emblem rises a b o v e two u pr igh t arms an d

hands that , according to Y. Yadin. represented the consort o f the moon god (Fig. 3.9

I V a d i n 1 9 7 0 : 222; Gonen 1992; 232] ) .

A temple at th e nor th end of the mound contained a basa l t s ta tue of a god w i th the s ta r

emblem on h is chest, and an altar w i t h two upright stones or poles , which had the same

emblem r is ing above them (Fig. 3.10; [Gonen 1992a; 228]). There is a striking s imi la r i ty

b e t w e e n th e u pr igh t hands from th e cen t ra l stele and the upr ight po les on the altar: the

hands/poles are pos tu red stiffly; each h as a celestial emblem rising above them (after

Fig. 3.9. Hazor stele

( Y a d i n 1 9 7 0 )

Fig. 3.10. Hazor altar

(Gonen 1 9 9 2 a ; Fig. 7.9)



67

Ma/ar IWZa: 2861 . The depictions ind ica te th a t standing s tones and/or sacred po les

m a y have been u sed in conjunction w i t h the rising celestial bodies .

STANDING STONES IN THE SOUTHERN LEVANT

Standing stones appear to b e a fea tu re of some of the va r ious cult sites in the

sou thern Levant, and have a long history of use in the Levant. Platforms with standing

s tones were found a t Tel D a n (Barkay 1 9 9 2 : 311-12). a t Nahar iy a . and a t Megiddo

( K e m p i n s k i 1992c: 174). a ll of w hich are in northern Is rae l . T h e y seem to fa l l p r imar i ly

into two categories: the f i rs t includes the single standing stone used in an open a i r shrine

at Te l l el-Farah (biblical Tirzah) in th e nor th (Mirochedji 1 9 9 3 : 438). and a single

s tand ing stone found in f ron t of the entrance of the temple in th e cu l t complex a t

Shechem in central I s rae l . The cult complex dates to 1450-1200 BCE—at the end o f the

Late Bronze Age. The standing stone is abou t 1 .5 m in w i d t h , a n d a little over 1 m th ick

(Campbell 1993: 13-52). The original h e igh t is n ot known becau se it appears to have

been destroyed, perhaps during Hezekiah's or Josiah's reforms'" in the 8'*' and 7' ' ' c. BCE.

At th e i r command standing stones, sacred poles, altars, and i m a g e s of gods were

demolished throughout Judah. Another example of a single s tand ing stone was found a t

Ru j im el-Hiri: a single stone stands a t it s northeast entrance that was used to mark the

June sols t ice in 3000 BCE. Another s tone was located a t the site in its southeast

entrance, but the stone's purpose i s u n k no w n (see b e low ) .



68

The second category is grouped standing stones. One example is a groupoften

stonesf o u n d at

Gezer.The

Gezer standingstones

wereerec ted in th e

MiddleB r o n z e

Age (2000-1500 BCE). Two stones are over 3 m high, and an a l ta r behind the row of

stones on t h e w e s t . The area around th e stones was plas te red and surrounded by a low

w a l l (see Chapter 4; (Dever 1 9 9 2 ; 1000|). To date, no viab le fu nc t ion of these stones has

been suggested; although, no one doubts tha t it had a cultic fu nc t ion .

R U J L M EL-HIRI: A CASE STUDY FROM EARLY

AND MIDDLE BRONZE AGES

The site

Rujim el-Hiri. a megalithic Bronze Age complex, is loca ted 1 6 km east of th e Sea

o f Galilee in th e upper valley of N a h a l Daliyyot in the c e n t r a l L o w e r Golan Heights.

I srael . It was discovered on an archaeological survey in th e la te 1 9 6 0 s (Drucks 1 9 7 2 ;

Eps te in and Gutman 1972; Zohar 1989). The site is comprised o f a massive central stone

tumulus (20 m in diameter 4.5 m high) tha t contained a b ur ia l chamber located near the

center of ihe complex and which is surrounded by four concentric stone walls (Fig. 3.11).



69

Fig. 3.11. Rujim el>Hiri (after Aveni a n d Mizrachi 1998: 4 7 8 , F i g . 2)

Surrounding the immediate complex are hundreds of dolmens in sc r ibed with

p e t ro g ly p hs . making it one o f the most impressive examples of monumental building in

Is rae l . The site has baftled archaeologists, who h a v e identitled it as a ceremonial center,

defense enclosure, central s to rage facility, and a l a rge bur ia l complex ( A v e n i and

M i z r a c h i 1998: 475). In 1 9 9 2 Y . Mizrachi identif ied the site as a sols t ice observation site

( M i z ra c h i 1992).



70

Since 1 9 9 2 Aveni and Mizrachi have undertaken to unders t and the complexity

o f Rujim el-Hiri. The concentric w ai ls are nine in number, w i t h four walls around the

cent ra l tumulus, two along the pa thw ay s from the outer w all to th e tumulus and three t ha t

tbrm the tumulus. Wall 1 is the outer w a l l and is a slightly f l a t tened circle. 155 m in

diameter on th e nor th /sou th axis and 14 4 m on the east/west ax i s . The outer wall has

entrances on the nor theas t (29 m wide) and southeast (26 m w i d e) . The NE outer

entrance opens on a path aligned w i th the central tumulus passageway, and the SE

entrance opens also to a path hu t is not aligned to any particular f ea tu re . In each of the

entrances a rec t angu lar structure existed at the time of the or ig ina l construction and

obscured the l ine of sight from the tumulus to the entrances. In th e center o f each

entrance is a mega l i th , and two addi t ional megaliths are located eas t o f the complex

outside of Wall I . W a l l 2 is nearly circular and measures 115 m o n the north/ . south axis

and 105 m on th e east/west axis; the w a l l has several openings. One opening is roughly

aligned w i th the NE entrance in Wall I and designated as the N E entrance. Wall 3

i s near ly circular an d measures 90 m on the nonh/south axis a nd 70 m on the east/west

axis. Wall 3 is connected to Wall 2 w it h several radial walls. W a l l 4 is semicircular and

circles around the n o r t hw e s t side of the tumulus; it measures 50 m in diameter and

connects to W a l l 3 w i t h two radial w a l l s . Walls 5and 6 are radial walls tha t form a path

to the tumulus f rom the NE entrance; Walls 7. 8. and 9 are the c i rcu lar walls of the

tumulus. The tumulus forms an oval s t o n e heap. A t the center o f the tumulus Wall 9

measures the highest a t 4.5-5 m. Walls 7. 8. and 9 are terraced an d decrease in height



71

from the center outwards to the outer wall; Wall 8 is shorter an d leans into Wall 9 as

does W a l l 7 into Wall 8 (Aveni a n d M i z rac h i 1998: 477.480).

The tumulus was located in the center of the complex an d covered a bur i a l

chamber; th e tumulus measures 7 .2 m in diameter. The in ter ior of the burial chamber is

circular w i t h a diameter of 1.96 m and a height of 1.45 m. U n d e r the tloor of the tomb a t

the center was a long slab t ha t po in ted along its long a. \ is to the NE entrance of the tomb.

The NE passageway (3.44.x 1 .1 m) w as u sed to enter the tomb f rom a n inner courtyard

w i t h a paved floor covered w i th bea ten earth (ca. 13x15 mj. The tomb and passageway

v\e re robbed bu t a fe w artifacts remained: gold earrings, bronze points. Hint blades,

ceramics, an d some camelian beads dated to the las t hal f of the 2" ' ' m. BCE (Aveni and

Mizrachi 1 9 9 8 : 480).

Astronomical alignments

The earlier inve .s t iga t ion b y Mizrachi. under the g u i d a n c e o f Aveni. determined

t ha t the N E entrance marked the June solstice (Mizrachi 1 9 9 2 : 1 1 2 - 1 8 ) . Their research

re l i ed on the mathematical methodology u se d for the mega l i th ic structures of Europe.

The complex at Rujim el-Hiri was a f l a t tened circle with a sl ight of f-centered tumulus as

a foca l po in t , similar to the complexes at European Bronze A g e sites. The excavators

established that the tumulus was a d d e d in the Late Bronze A g e i n d i c a ti n g that the original

complex was the circular structure buil t for a purpose other than interring the dead

(Aveni a n d M i z ra c h i 1998: 483). To establish the u.se of the complex as an astronomical

observation site. Aveni calculated the equatorial coordinates graph ica l ly for the June



72

sols l ice in 3500 BCE with a n error fac to r of ±V\ Accordingly, if the observer stood in

th e center of the complex a t th e t ime of the June solstice 3000 BCE. the f i rs t l ight of the

sun would have appeared in the ce nte r of the NE passageway. By the end of the 3''' m .

BCE the solst ice event moved s ignif icant ly off-center; th is analysis determined tha t the

complex was used fo r the June sols t ice from approximately 3000-2000 BCE. The SE

passageway continued to have no discemable astronomical func t ion (Mizrachi 1992: 1 1 3-

1 7) .

Y . I t z h a k i (1995) observed that several alignments in th e orientation of the radial

w a l l s r e l a te d to celestial phenomena of the 3" * and 4" ^ m. B C E . In order to determine

ce les t ia l alignments Aveni e x t ra pola te d th e equatorial coord ina tes back to 3500 BCE; the

coordinates have an error of ±1 " ( A v e n i and Mizrachi 1 9 9 8 : 488). The following

alignments were tested and e s ta b l i sh e d :

1 ) Rujim el-Hiri is or ie n te d on a True North/South axis to Mount Hermon l oca te d

nor th of th e site; three of the radia l w a l l s attached to Wall I point to the h or iz on in th e

east, the south, and the west ( A v e n i a n d Mizrachi 1998: 481).

2) The NE axis of the complex was oriented to the June . so ls t ice of th e 3" * and 4 " ^

m. BCE. A line drawn from the geometr ic center of the complex through the center of

th e NE entrance veers f rom the 4000 BCE June sols t ice sunrise by 0" 33" and f rom

th e 3000 BCE June solstice sunrise by 0" 43". a difference o f 10'. The alignment with th e

NE wwer entrance was not a l igne d to th e June solstice; the on ly possible date tha t it could



73

have been aligned is 1 5 , 0 0 0 BCE. By the mid - to - la te 2" ' ' m. neither the NE outer or

entrances were or ien ted to the June sols t ice (Aveni and Mizrachi 1998: 484-85).

3) The SE entrance h ad no s ign i f ican t ce les t ia l alignment (Aveni a n d M i z r ac h i

1 9 9 8 ; 485).

4) The tw o s tand ing stones east of the comple .x created a no tch th rou gh w hich the

inves t iga to rs thought the equinox would b e observable. The alignment is o ff by 1 " 30" or

approximately one to two days. The authors suggested that this was an ant ic ipa torv '

d e v i c e to determine th e changing seasons or more precisely th e movement from w et to

d ry periods. The movement of the sun t o w a r d th e NE outer entrance approached th e two

s tand ing stones about the time the rainy sea.son b e g a n and moved away from t h e N E

o u t e r entrance and approached the two standing stones in anticipation of th e dry .season

( .Aveni and . M i z ra c h i 1 9 9 8 : 485-86).

5) The raJuil w a l l s are distributed t h r o u g h o u t the site, a n d three of the walls mark

th ree cardinal directions. Another function for th e walls may have been alignment-fixing

de\ ices fo r fixed stars. Therefore, the inves t iga to rs selected the 2 2 br igh tes t stars (1.6

m a g n i t u d e or better) a n d tabulated the equatorial coordinates. Converting the w a l l

azimuths to declinations, they established correspondences between 30 w a l l alignments

and the rising/setting po in ts of the 22 stars w i t h an error margin of ± 1 " . While th e data

was tes ted against a ll per iods back to 3500 BCE. the greater frequency of matches are in

the pe r iod between 2500-3500 BCE as expected w i t h a concentration a t 3000 BCE, an d



74

poss ib ly . 2500 BCE with 20 matches out of a possible 30." The per iod of 2800-3300

BCE y ie lded approximately 60^r m a t c he s (Aveni and M i z ra c h i 1998: 488).

The n e x t step was to allow for random (not purposeful) matches ba.sed o n the

movement of the fixed stars through dec l ina t ion range of 10" for t hree millennia; the

cxpected random matches were ca lcu la t ed to be 16 ±4.'" The resu l t s of the w a l l

alignments to br igh t stars were 37 coincidences with the preponderance occurring around

3(KX) BCE ± 250 indicating tha t the coincidences are stat i st ical ly significant. The

alignments were produced primarily by th e Walls 9. 10. 1 3 a n d 14 . Furthermore, the

nor the rn section (325"-035" or the area of the circumpolar s ta rs ) contained one radial

wall, and the southern section (or area of non-circumpolar s ta rs ) contained 39 radia l

w a l l s . The southern section of the sky is where most of the brighte.st stars m a r k e d by the

radia l w a l l s lie—south of the celestial equator—14 of 22 f ixed stars or a frequency of

6 9 * ^ ^ ( A v e n i and . M i z r a ch i 1998:488-89).

6) The orientation of the entranceway of the burial chamber was in a g e n e r a l NE

di rec t ion and accurately aligned to the N E inner entrance. The tumulus was bui l t over a

thou sand years later and was not const ruc ted to f i t any other f ea tu res of the si te .

Therefore, the authors po.s tula te tha t th e orientation of the tumulus was cultural a n d thus

symbolic, and an expression of cu l tu ra l an d religious continuity between the Ear ly

B ro n z e a n d Late Bronze builders.

Astronomical ob.serv ation appears to be the primary fu nc t ion o f Rujim el-Hiri.

The observations went beyond simple marking of the sun's path along the horizon, ihey

extended to obser\ations of the br igh tes t stars. How the a .s i ronomica l data from Rujim



75

c l -Hi r i was used by th e obsencrs. and if il w as disseminated to the people, stil l needs

to be addressed. In other words, what was its role in the soc ie ty tha t bu i l t and used the

astronomical complex?

TEMPLE ORIENTATION

One pra c t i ca l m e t h o d that can be u se to determine whether th e Canaanites and

Is rae l i tes w ere pract ic ing astronomy i s to survey the orientation of cu l t buildings, and the

placement of their entrances and/or cult n iches or statues. Y et , studies on orientation are

l a ck ing and the re la t ionship between direction and astronomical phenomena i s limited to

an occasional comment with the exception of J. Glen Taylor's monograph. Yahweh and

t h e Sun: Biblical and Archaeological Evidence fo r Sun Worship in A n c i e n t I s r a e l ( 1993).

Taylor focused on temples from the I ron Age and Hellenistic per iod , and used textual and

art historical evidence to establish tha t the Israelites were w o r s h i p i n g Yahweh as a sun

g o d . This w ork considers th e archaeological evidence for Yahweh w i t h the same strength

that it considers th e bibl ical t e x tua l evidence. TTie author compared images created in the

bibl ical texts to the iconograph ic images; for example, the iconography on the temple cult

s tand from Ta'anach. Furthermore. Taylor examined the or ien ta t ion of I ron Age temples

to the eastern horizon. His w o r k is extremely important because th e author was using an

unprecedented approach, the association o f the horizon and the r is ing sun w i th the

archaeological site, but it is seriously flawed because he re l ied o n t h e excavator's figures

to draw his conclusions on the orientation of the temples. Excava t ion reports are not



76

uni t 'orm in th e recording o l " map directions; sometimes the di rec t ion u sed is True North

or Magnetic Nor th or plo t ted randomly from the confmes of the dig house. Taylor

assumed that th e direction on site plans is either True North or m a g n e t i c N o r t h and

adjusted accordingly, "Calculations are based on the assumption that the compass point

in the pub l i sh e d report...points to True Nor th . I f the compass poin t re f lec t s Magnetic

.North , the a n g l e of the temple would be . . . . " (Taylor 1993: 266. 2 6 8 . 270. 272. see

Footnotes). However, th is is a work that should not b e ignored for two rea .sons: (I) it

gives equal w e i g h t to b oth the archaeological evidence and bibl ica l te.xts ; and (2) it opens

areas of s tu dy that have yet to be d e v e l o p e d in ancient I s rae l i te and Canaanite religion. In

his summary o n solar orienlation. he concluded. "While orientation to the sun is not

always charac te r i s t ic o f sun temples, th e lack of clear orientation to the sun on the part of

the Y a h w i s t i c cu l t i c structure attested provides no firm indication of ihe presence of solar

elements wi th in th e cult" (Taylor 1 9 9 3 : 86). a statement that should be challenged by

collecting s ta t is t ica l data.

G. R. H . Wright called for studies o n the orientation of temples because he found

this in fo rmat ion sad ly lacking (Wright 1 9 8 5 ; 254). b ut he does no t sta te why such a study

is important. One broad survey used se le c te d temples located as fa r nor th as Mari in

Syria, to the sou th a t Timna in the N e g e v Desert, west to Kition o n Cyprus in the

Mediterranean, and ranging in date from th e Middle Bronze to the I ron Ages. The survey

re l ied on data f rom e .xcavat ion reports as did Taylor's research (Fig. 3.12; [Mazar 1992b:

178|).



Nor th

77

<14•'e,

le//

'(»." y

^6,

'^âri Dagarf^^rt]

West-Arad (Iron A g e ) —

vV^

W "

^ 2"i ^ C:ig

- ^s

fli~^

:u; w

4

ac

" O" D /

South

cxT-

F a s t

tVn

^ . V (

Fig. 3.12. Compass rose for temple orientation (Mazar i992b; 178)

In reviewing the survey. A. M a z a r staled. "The diagram indicates lha t the orientalion of

t e m p le s in I srael follows no consi s t en t pattern. The majority of the temples...point to the

w e s t e r n p a r t of compass rose . . . (but) no set rule can be established" (1992b:1 8 7 ) . TTie

above statement is vague becau se Mazar does not c lear ly stale w h al "orientation" is

ba.scd on. the walls or corners of the temple, its entrance, or other fea tu res , etc.. oriented

north, south, east or west, to a mountain, hill. etc.

Ultimately, the a rc ha e o lo g i c a l reports p ro v i d e evidence for t e m p le orientation,

albeit Hawed (See Appendi .x 2 for charts). Using th e cursory data in The Architecture of



78

Ancient Isnii l (Kempinski and Reich 1 9 9 2 ) . eight cult sites were dated to the Neolithic

period and Early Bronze Age. The entrances or important features o f f ive were oriented

cast ( 6 2 ^ 1 ) . and one to the nonheast {13 '^f ) . and two to the southeast (25 '^r ) . ' ' Eleven cult

sites were dated to the Middle Bronze Age. Nine entrances or im por ta n t features were

oriented ea.st ( 8 2 ^ ^ ) ; two entrances oriented southeast (18^^). F o u r cul l sites from the

Late Bronze Age have two entrances or important features that w e r e oriented east (SC/c);

one entrance o p e n e d southeast ( 2 5 ^ ^ ) , and one entrance opened nor th (25 '^ r ) . Four other

cull sites and one bibl ica l description (Temple of Solomon) dated to th e I ron Age: three

sites and the Temple o f Solomon site opened east (80*^): one site cou ld no t be

determined (20 '"f i. '^ In summation. 1 9 o f the 27 selected sites were orient towards the

east, and five sou theas t ; so 70.4^ of the cult sites were oriented east. 18 .5 *^ southeast.

7.41 north, and 3.7'^ unknown. In response to Mazar's statement, the above values

suggest tha t the eas tern horizon was i m p o r t a n t to the people of th e sou th e rn Levant, and

the preference o f the architects of Canaanite and Israelite temples. These data were

generated from t e m ple s and high places spanning a period of almost four thousand years

and demonstrates consistencies and inconsistencies that need to be reevaluated.

SUMMATION; PICKING THE TEST SITES

In the Chalcolithic period and Ea r ly Bronze Age trading con tac ts between the

southern Levant and i t s neighbors were in the south with Egypt and in th e north with the

urban communities of Syria. The EB II contact with Syria was cu l tu ra l and, in fact.



79

showed a religious affinity in that allowed temple sty les to move across cu l tu ra l

boundaries in both directions. Nonetheless, no evidence exists to support the southern

Levan t as dependent on either E g y p t or Syria for n e w i d e a s or technologies. A t this

po in t , it is secure to say tha t any evidence for astronomy before or during the Ear ly

B r o n z e can be considered either us developed independen t ly of Egypt and/or developed

in the southern and nor the rn Levan t .

One goal that was se t for th for this dissertation (Chapter 1 ) was to determine i f

archaeological sites in southern L e v a n t w arranted tes t ing for th e presence of a s t r o n o m i c a l

know ledge. The data drawn from the orientation of t emples , the collection of as tra l

draw i n g s . Old Testament t ex ts , a nd th e solstice site of R u j i m el-Hiri assessed collectively

ind ica te tha t astronomy w as a par t of the southern Levan t ine culture. I dea l ly , a l a rge

se lec t ion o f sites would be draw n u pon to generate s ta t is t ica l data, but due to economic

constraints, two sites w il l be se lected to te s t for as t ronomica l awareness an d knowledge:

Gezer from the Early Bronze Age (3300-2000 BCE) th rou gh the Middle B r o n z e Age

(2000-1500 BCE). and Megiddo from the late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze I t rans i t ion

(3400-2900 BCE). The standing stones a t Gezer are se lec ted becau.se the s tone complex

appears to face west. The w e s t s i de s of the stones have f in i shed surfaces, and the altar is

loca ted wes t of the stones. The pa r t i c ipa nt would have s tood on the west side an d looked

east to the horizon, perhaps to ce les t ia l events such as the sun r i s ing at the June an d

December solstices and equinoxes, or rising stars. The "graffiti"found in Cave 30/IV

w il l be considered a source of iden t i fy ing the function of the standing stones. A different

approach w il l be taken for the draw ings found etched o n the paving stones a t M e g i d d o .



80

The drawings are cu l tu ra l ly signitlcance a nd their significance has y el to b e explored

b e y o n d identification as cu l t symbols: here they w i l l be approached as records of celestial

observation and as t ra l phenomena. .Vlot ifs tha t are clearly as t ra l depic t ions such as the

sun. th e moon, and the s t ars are supporting indicators. From Megiddo. one depiction will

be selected, namely "the l ion over the fa l len enemy", and compared to it s ce les t i a l

counterpart, the conste l la t ion Leo.



81

ENDNOTES

1. Serekh were an early form of name signs for Egyptian royal names (Clayton 1 9 9 4 : 18) .

2. Under the d i rec t ion of I . Finkeistein. D . Usshiskin and B. Halpem.

3. Ahstrom (1993: 125) points o u t " 1 should add that Egyptian pottery also has tu rne d up

in th e \Aniuq area in Syria, b u t nobody has made an Egyptian empire out of that."

4 . Dates f rom Civilizations of the Ancivnt Near East (Sasson ed . 1995)

5. Broudroom (German: Breitraum] t e m p l e s are long rectangular rooms with th eentrance o n one of the long sides (Kempinski and Reich 1992: 312).

6. Meâron (Greek: (iâpv) temples was generally a long room w i th the entrance o n one

of the short sides: the facj-ade was extended on each side by antae. In between the untae

and f lanking the entrance were two columns ((Kempinski and Reich 1992: 317).

7 . Tenta t ive ly iden t i f ied b y . M a z a r ( .M a z ar !992a; 75)

8. The a l ta r contained a Neolithic f e m a l e figurine, indicating that the area was used

ear l ie r forcultic functions (Loud 1 9 7 0 : 54).

9. All b ib l ica l quotes are from The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha

(Metzerand . M u r p h y 1991).

10 . Hezekiah's reform is found in II Chr 29: 1-31 and II Chr 3 : osiah's reforms are

f o u n d in II Chr 33: 3-7.

11 . 20 ou t of 30 = 677f

12 . 26 wall/36 1 0 " increments x 22 b r igh te s t stars = 16 random hits.

1 3 . The temples a t Megiddo change di rec t ion in Early Bronze ll-III. I would pos tu la tehere tha t a defensive wall was b ui l t obscuring the view to the east causing the next

genera t ion of temples to be oriented differently. The "high place" found in direct

assoc ia t ion w i ih ihe Early Bronze II temple appears lo have continued in u.se w i t h th e

temples that were b ui l t later. Therefore, th e percentages could be wrong but. since the

premise o f this paper is ba.sed on existing evidence. I have presented their orientation as it

appears.



82

1 4 . The cu l t sites tha t have been iden t i f ied as Is rae l i te temples in the I ron Age are a ll

oriented to the east. The t emple iden t i f ied as Phil is t ine at Tel Qasile "is charac te r ized byan indi rec t entrance and a plan w h i c h lacks a l l a t t e m p t a t synimelry and clear

a rch i t e c tu ra l rules and pr inc ip les" (Mazar 1992b: 177) and. therefore, cannot be

def ini te ly oriented.



S3

CHAPTER 4:

GEZER

L o c a t i o n a n d Excavation

Gezer is located in cen t ra l Israel and was occupied almost continually f r o m t h e

Chalcolithic to th e I ron Age. Two per iods of occupation have distinctive fea tu res tha t are

re la ted to astronomy; Cave 30/fV (E B I-II ; ca. 2900 BCE) w i t h i ts numerous hi the r to

unexplained drawings and th e te n mega l i ths with an altar containing a bas in (Middle

Bron/e HI [MB IHI : 1600 BCEl.

Tell Gezer, also known as Tel l Jezar. Gazara.Ga-az-ru. Tell el-Jazari. Tel l Jezer.

an d Tell el-Khaider. was first ident i f ied by C. Clermont-Ganneau in 1870. It is l oca te d in

the Hil l Cou n t ry , which extends f rom th e coastal pla in on the w e s t to Jordan on the ea.st.

Gezer i s th ree kilometers SSE o f Ramaleh. Situated on the edge of the foothills of the

Judean Range adjacent to th e Shephelah. the mound covers 33 ac res and is 228 meters

above sea leve l . Its location a t the edge of the foothills placed it at a crucial po in t in th e

trade route on th e Via Maris b e t w e e n Jerusalem and sites in the Va l ley of A i j a l o n (Dever

1 9 9 2 ; K X X ) ; Dever 1993: 33-54).

The f irst extensive excavations at Gezer were conducted by R. A. S. M a c a l i s t e r

f rom 1902 t o 1 9 0 9 and were spon.sored by the Palestine Exploration Fund. M a c a l i st e r

pu b l i shed his findings in the quanerly Palestine Exploration Journal, culminating in a

f inal three-volume publication in I9I2. which repre .sented the f irst comprehensive



84

archacologicul r e por t in the discipline ot" archaeology iMacalisier 1 9 0 5 : 16-33: 1905; 97-

1 1 5 ; 1 9 0 5 : 183-199; 1905:309-27; 1905:364; 1907: 184-204; 1907:245-53; 1908: 1 - 2 5 ;

1 9 0 8 : 96-1 1 1; 1 9 0 8 : 200-18; 1908: 272-98; 1 9 1 2 ) . The Macalister repor t s represent the

ear ly days of archaeo log ica l methods, i.e.. h e foundation of cu l tu ra l -h i s to r ic archaeology,

making it understandable why the repor t s were somew h a t flawed. M u c h of the

archaeology since Macalister's excavations has been done to reso lve and understand the

problems created by the ini t ia l interpretations. Nevertheless, the vo lu mes and quarterly

repor t s contain an abundance of information (Dever 1973: 62).

In 1934 .A . Rowe attempted the second excavation a l Gezer. but stopped when he

hit b e d ro c k after s ix w e e k s (Rowe 1935: 1 9 - 3 3 ) . In 1937 G. E. W r i g h t wrote a history of

Gezer from .M aca l i s te r 's Gezer excavation repor t , but found tha t the mater ia l was so

di f f icu l t to understand that only the early per iods could be sorted out (Wright 1937: 67-

78; Dever 1973: 62; D e v e r 1992: 998). W ri g h t launched a t en -y ear excavation project in

1964 sponsored b y th e Hebrew Union College Bibl ica l and A r c h a e o l o g i c a l School' and

H a rv a rd Semitic . M u s e u m Excavations, pr imar i ly supported t h r o u g h grants from the

Smithsonian Inst i tu t ion in Washington D.C. (Dever 1973: 62; D e v e r 1 9 9 2 : 998). The

excavation" resulted in numerous volumes (Dever ei al. 1970; D e v e r 1 9 7 4 ; Dever and

Lance 1986; Gitin 1 9 9 0 ; Seger 1989). W ri g h t directed the pro jec t f rom 1964-65; then he

became an advisor and W. Dever directed the pro jec t from 1 9 6 6 - 7 1 an d again in 1984; J.

Seger was the pro jec t director from 1972-74. In 1990 Dever {1993: 33-54) took another

team f rom the Univers i ty o f Arizona to determine the date of the outer w a l l and gate.



85

Occupation Hi.s tor \

Gezcr wasoccupied for

aper iod of more than

threethousand

years (Dever 1973:

62). The ear l i es t occupation was in the late Chalcolithic period (3400-3300 BCE).

Stratum XXVI. The materia l evidence was deposited in thin layers on the surface of th e

hcdrock a n d consisted of ceramic and lithics from the Ghassul-Beersheba hor i zon . In EB

1 (Stratum XXV; 3300-3100 BCE). the occupants u sed an e .x t ens ive network o f caves for

habi tat ion and storage. In la ter periods the caves w e r e reu .sed for burials. In EB II

(Stratum XXIV-XXIII; 3100-2650 BCE). the pr im a rv buildings appear to be u.sed for

dt>mest ic occupation. Cave 30 / IV belonged to this per iod and should be d a t e d n o l a t e r

than 2900 BCE (Dever 1 9 9 8 ; p e r so n a l communication). The material evidence for this

perit)d is l imi t ed and poor (Dever 1 9 9 2 : 999). B y t h e early EB IILA (2630-2400 BCE).

Cic/er was deserted and remained so u n t i l the end of EB IV (2400-2000 BCE).

In th e .Vl iddle B ro n z e Age (MB I . .M B I I A . IIB and MB IIC: 2000-1550 BCE).

Cjezer underwent an unpara l le led per iod of growth a n d prosf )er i ty . By 1900 BCE

(Stratum XXI) elaborate domestic structures, house w i t h courtyards and pla.stered lloors

were bu i l t . Cisterns hewn f rom rocks caught water tha t was directed to s t ruc tu res from

catchments along plastered an d stone-capped drains. A partly subterranean g ra n a ry was

b u i l t w i t h a stone ba.se . a n d its mud br ick construction sealed with a thick coat o f plaster

(Dever a n d Lance 1986). The he i g h t o f Gezer's power came in MB I I -I IC (S t ra tum XXI-

X V I II ; 1800-1550 BCE) w h e n the f i rs t fortifications around the city were buil t , the 'Inner

W a l l " , w hich was punctuated w i t h towers and a three-entryway gate. The se c o n d



important structure ot " this period was th e "high place" or the te n megaliths (Dever et al.

1 9 7 0 ; Dever 1 9 7 3 : 64-70; Dever 1974) .

At the beg inn ing ot' the early La te Bronze Age (LB: ear ly 1 5 " ^ c. BCE) Gezer had

l im i te d occupation. The most s ign i f ican t evidence was the r e m a ins of several dozen

bu r ia l s found in a cave. The occupants were severely arthritic, poss ib ly the condition of

ag e or stooped labor . Gra\e goods of impor ted ivory. Egy pt ian gla s s , alabaster, and an

u nu su a l terracotta sarcophagus in th e Mycenaean tradition indica te international trade

(Seger 1989). Gezer began lo rebu i ld in LB I IA (Stratum XVI: 1 5 5 0 BCE-1470 BCE).

The artifacts from (h is stratum contained fragments of Egy pt ian f a ie nce bowls and

pendants, glass beads , scarabs, pieces of gold foil, and the ba.se of an Egyptian statue. A

crucible fo r copper smelting and a complete bronze serpent w e r e among the l oca l items

(Dever t7</ / . 1986). B y Late Bronze IIB (LB H B ; 1300-1200 B C E ) Gezer was declining

a ga in as w as the rest of I s r a e l in the post-Armana Age. Gezer con t inu ed to have limited

occupation in the la t te r pa r t of Late B r o n z e Age. and may have been partially destroyed or

de.serted by the t ime tha t the "Sea Peoples" an" ived (1200 BCE; D e v e r 1992: 1001).

Although, the site w as reoccupied in la te r periods, those per iods h a ve no bearing on this

s tu dy .



THE STANDING STONES OF GEZER

87

The Stones of Gezer

A principle feature of Gezer is ten megaliths or standing stones that were

excavated by Macaiister (Fig. 4.1.) The area of the standing stones has been cursorily

identif ied as a cultic installation or "high place"—first sugge.s ted by Macaiister a hundred

y ears ago ( .Macasl i .s ter 1902: 23-36) . His identification has been generally accepted by

scholars, but has been challenged by others. For example, the stones were described as a

row i > l pil lars for a Solomonic stable by M. Noth (1958; 210) and a mortuary shrine w i t h

m e m o r i a l .stele erected over a per iod of time to honor the t r ibes of I srael by Albright

( 1957: 252-58).

Fig. 4.1. Standing Stones of Gezer (Photo courtesy of W. Dever)



88

One problem inherent in Macalister's reports was the lack of clear s t ra t ig raphy .

H e identified eight stra ta , and using th is stratigraphy, the date for the megaliths ranged

f rom Late Chalcolithic to the Iron Age (Dever 1973: 68). Excavations under th e direction

of Wright identified twenty-six . stratified layers. In 1968, under the direction of W. Dever

and A . Furshpan. the stones were re-excavated to establish a more secure date (Dever

1 9 7 3 : 69).

The stones rest in a crushed rock pavement and remain placed much as Macal i . s te r

found them. A t the t ime of the re-excavation an undisturbed area of plaster u nder the

altar (Fig. 4.2) y ie lded some MB II wheel-made sherds and .Monochrome or Ba.se Ring

sherds . .A s a resu l t we h a ve a firm date for the existing stones of 1600 BCE. Another

discover) under the stones (Stratum 4a-b) was extensive pla.ster surfaces th a t w e re u.sed

f rom 2 9 ( X) - 2 60 { ) BCE; thus indicating tha t the area of the standing stones and pla.ster may

have been used over a l ong period of time (Dever 1973: 69).

Fig. 4.2. Plaster surface under altar basin

(Photo courtesy of W. Dever)



89

A funher indication of their continued use was a large megal i th fou nd prone under the

south end of the pavement and under the existing standing stones. Macalister postu la ted

tha t it indicated an early sequence of standing stones (Macalister 1902: 30). The second

plaster surface from 2900 BCE. the prone stone of an earlier sequence, and the extant

stones dating to 1600 BCE. a ll confirm that the area had a long histor> of use as an

impor tan t public area. The quest ion has been and. stil l is. f o r w h a t use were the standing

stones an d the public area intended ? If they were u sed for astronomical observation, a

re la t ionsh ip between the stones, a l ta r wi th its basin, horizon, and the apparent movement

of the celest ia l bodies can be established.

Standing stones, public areas an d astronomy a t Gezer

The first difficulty tha t w e encounter is tha t the perspec t ive from which w e have

t radi t ional ly looked at the mega l i ths i s the one that we see in Macalister's and Dever's

drawings...at ground level, standing in situ as the original builders and inhabitants viewed

them (F ig . 4.3 & 4.4).

T O P or I

CLCvat*on fROM EAST

Fig. 4.3. Standing Stones looking from east to west (Macalister 1903: 28. PI. VII)



90

"HI G H PLACE*

S t c t f *

GEZER-FIELD V i ^ f>

Fig. 4.4. Standing Stones looking from west to east (Dever 1973: 99. F i g . 3)

To faci l i tate understanding of the s tones , an overhead view is important (Fig. 4.5).

The stones are on a True North/South a l i g n m e n t and appear to face w e s t because the

tlnished sides of the stones and the main feature , the altar with i ts basin, are located on

the w e s t side of the stones. The participant w o u l d have stood on th is side and faced to the

ea.st (Fig. 4.4).

* i t o n f l\

s u m * ^ I

M o n e V

M u n r I I I

ao

S l o o c N I I I S ( 4 i n c N I IStonr Ii o n r I I

S l u n e l\

GROIP.^

GROlP2

I I I :* ' ' ' "

Fig. 4.5. Standing Stones of Gezer ( I l lustra t ion by S. Gardner)



91

Looking at the stones from o\ erhead, a pattern begins to form. From Stone I to

the altar the alignment appears straight. Stone V at the southeastern comer of the altar

beg ins an arc to the east that appears t o end w i t h Stone VII. Stones VI I I through Stone X

form another arc that may be unrelated to the f i rs t arc. In the overview and the view f rom

ei ther the east or the west (Figs. 4.3 & 4.4) . y ou can see that the stones can be divided

into t hree groups; Group 1 or the cent ra l g roup; Stones I I I . IV. V . the altar. Stones V I and

VII ; Group 2 or th e southern group; Stones I and II ; and Group 3 or the northern group;

Stones V I I I . IX and X. The stones range in he igh t from 3.1 meters (Stone I) to 1.65

meters (Stone II) .

it

.Stone l.\

. Imported

material

. ocketed in

another

stone

. cup marks

in face

Stone. ointed ape\

. djacent altarStone I

. Largest stone

. otched top

Stone \'ll

.mported

material

. urbed groove

on liice

. cup mark on

foce

_ - -L_s^

Stone III

. cup mark on

bee

Fig. 4.6. Important stones (Il lu .strat ion by S. Gardner)



92

The important individual stones are established b y : I) any distinguishing

characteristics and 2) their apparent relationship to other fea tures in the complex. B a se d

on tha t criteria, the following stones emerge as important: Stone I s squared across th e

top and the top is notched: Stone V II and Stone IX are impor ted material: Stone V and V I

are adjacent th e altar, and the altar appears to be the central feature (Fig. 4.6).

Applying geocentric a.sironomy to the Standing Stones of Gezer

Archaeoastronomy depends on geocentric astronomy, how the celestial sky is seen

trom the earth...as the sun. the moon, and the stars appear to move around the earth. The

view of the sky is dependent on the l oca t ion of the observer and is based on latitude and

longitude: Gezer is located at North Latitude 31" 51'. East Longitude 34" 55'. From a

geocentric perspective the sun. the moon, and the zodiacal constellations traverse a path

known as the ecliptic plane: an angle is created between the ecliptic plane in i ts

relationship to the earth and that angle is dependent on the latitude a t which the observer

stands. As the earth shifts on its a.xis through millennium, the angle of the ecliptic shif ts .

A t Gezer. at the time of the placing of the stones, the angle was 23.87" rather than 23 .44"

that it is today. The next thing that is taken into consideration is refraction.

The atmospheric layer of the ear th bends l igh t from celest ia l bodies causing them

to apjjear displaced from their actual posi t ion In the eye of the observer: this phenomenon

is known as refraction. In the sky. celest ia l bodies can actual ly be below the horizon

when the observer first sees them, because the atmospheric lens bends the light around



93

the cur\ ature of the ear th so that they appear to b e above the horizon. The atmospheric

layer of the earth affects celestial bodies to a l e sse r and lesser degree as the object moves

to a higher altitude, be ing undeflected a t the zenith, i.e.,an altitude of 90". An adjustment

for r e f r a c t i o n is determined by the angular height of the features on the horizon; a t Gezer

the hor izon i s almost u n i fo rm at an altitude of 1" 3 0 " . causing any rising celest ia l body to

be disp laced upward b y 21 arc-minutes (21'); the re fo re , a rising body such as the sun or

the m o o n has a true altitude 21' less than 30' or 1"09'.

The major celestial events on the eastern horizon, the June and December solstice

su nr i ses , and the March and September equinoctial po in ts are my focus. The solstice

occurs at the point where the sun in i ts path appears to "stop" or "s tand . s t i l l " as it moves

along the horizon and then it appears to "turn"and moves back along the horizon in the

direc t ion from whence it came. In the northern hemisphere, the summer solstice "occurs"

in June, the winter solstice in December. The midpoints between the solstice are when

the verna l and autumnal equinoxes occur. March and September respectively. The point

a t w h i c h a celestial object, i.e.,sun. moon, or star r ises on the horizon is ind ica ted by i ts

azimuth. The azimuth is the horizontal angle from 0" (True North) moving ea.st along the

hor izon to a given point (Fig. 4.7).



94

December soLstirc

l l» r 29' 49"s

I S I I *

Fig. 4.7. Azimuths and selected event points at Gezer 1600 BCE (Illustration by S.

Gardner)

True E a s t a t 90'' azimuth.True South at 1 8 0 " azimuth. True West at 270". and back to

True N o r t h at 360" or 0" azimuth. Adjusting azimuthal data with horizon and refrac t ion

data to the sunrise at Gezer in 1600 BCE, the following orientations appear;

Solar events Azimuths at Gezer 1600 BCE

June solstice 62" 05'49"

Observed equinox 89" 33' 10"

True equinox 90" 44' IT'

December solstice 119" 29'49"

Table 4.1. Azimuths for the sun atGezer 1600 BCE

The ne x t step is to compare the alignments created by the angles found in the

Gezer complex to the above significant points on the hor i zon (Table 4.1). Lines of Sight

(LOS) are drawn between two objects or along a flat side of an upright stone in the case

of the Gezer stones. Using that criterion, stones in Group 2 and 3 are eliminated becau se



95

there does no t appear to he any viable po in ts across which to draw lines. That is not to

say that these stone groups are no t important, bu t w ithout being able to establ ish a point

f rom w hich obser\ ations were taken, or two points through which a line can be drawn, it

I S diff icu l t to say how they were used.

Confining our observ ations to Group I and beginning with Stone III. the tallest, a

l ine drawn along the left side of the upper por t ion of the stone i s at an angle of 91" 30';

then drawing a line along the r igh t side o f the upper portion of the same s tone creates an

ang le of 89" > . 3 " 10". These lines are consistent with the azimuth points on th e horizon of

ihc True and the Observable Equinoxes (F ig . 4.8).

< > t t s i T \ cd K . i | u i i n ) \U f

I.i|iiinii\ i - \ f i l l * .

IhdO BC I.

f ru t - Kquinox

I- -

Fig. 4.8. Equinox eventsat Gezcr 1600 BCE (Illustration by S. G a rd n e r )



96

Moving lo Stone V. a LOS d r a w n along the right side of the stone to the

southwest comer of the altar creates an angle of 118" 30". Another line drawn along th e

chiseled comer on the left side of Stone V to the southwest comer of the basin opening

creates an angle of 119". Both angles are consistent with the azimuth of the December

solstice sunrise at 1 1 9 " 29' 19"". The shadow created by the sunrise covered the comer of

th e altar, falling from the outer southwest comer of the altar to the .southwest comer o f the

basin in the altar (Fig. 4.9).

Fig. 4.9. Angles created between Stone V and altar basin for December Solstice

event 1600 BCE (Il lu .strat ion by S. Gardner)

When a LOS is drawn between the r ight side of Stone V I to the southeast comer

of bas in opening in the altar, the angle is 62 A second line is drawn along the lef t s ide

•D«ci-mbcr Solstice Event

I64KI BC b

S t u n v \

\ l t a r B j ^ i a



97

nt Slone V I across the nor th we s t comer of the basin opening of the altar, the angle is 60".

The resu l t illustrates tha t in 160() BCE a shadow fell across the opening of the basin of

the a l ta r a t the time of the June solstice sunrise, w h e n the sun reached tha t LOS on the

eastern horizon. The angles are consistent w it h the 62" 05' 49" azimuth for the June

sols t ice sunrise (Fig. 4.10).

Fig. 4.10. Angles created between Stone VI and altar basin for June Solstice

event 1600 BCE (l l lu .strat ion by S. Gardner)

In Group I the stones in relationship to the a l ta r marked the June and December

soLstice sunrises. The LOS for the June solstice r ise and the equinoxes crossed in f rom of

Stone I I I or the equinox stone. I suggest thai the LOS crossings indicate where the

par t ic ipant .s tood to ob .se r ve and to mark these astronomical events (Fig. 4.11).

June Solstice E\ cnt

1600 BCE

J : 62" 05' 49"

V t f a r f U ' t i t i

Left angle



98

The (Jt ' /cr F . \ c n l . s

I 6 ( H » BCR

June SiiKticrh : 5 " 4 « » "

Obscovd Ft|iiin<i\

»9 " V V Ifl"

I rue Ktiuincix

WWr"

l>fci'mbcr SciKlicc

1 4 M "

.lunt- >oUticrl>rci-mhrr Sulstirr

H i e h ' a n i - l fKignl anglr IIX ' W

<>2"I rl l Jnult'

I * )

ObMiner >

KquiniiiKi^hi a n t > l i r

•»r .«rI i T t a n g l rS'l-

cr>

< Ohscner

Fig. 4.11. Gezer astronomical eventsand points of observation ( I l lust ra t ion by

S. Gardner)

The Stones and Hor izon in the drawings of Cave 30 / IV

Numerous caves were discovered during Macalisler's excavations; in the seventh

excavation season Cave 30/lV was f ou nd (Figs. 4.12 and 4.1311908; 213-19)). Cave

3()/IV is dated l enta t ively to 2900 BCE or earlier (Dever 1998: per sona l communication).

The cave was u nu su a l because a ledge situated at eye-level was covered with drawings.



Fig. 4.12. Cave 30/1V and entrance Fig. 4.13. Cave with placement of

(Macaiister 1908: 214. drawings (Macaiister

1912: Fig 4) Plate XLVII)

According to Macalistcr the cave conta ins 64 drawings" (for examples Fig. 4.14;

[Macaiister I902|).

Fig. 4.14. a. Drawings 37-39 (Macaiister 1 91 2; Plate XLVII), b. Drawing 21

(Macaiister 1912: Pla te XLVI); c. Drawing 52 (Macaiister 1912: Plate XLVII)

Before we can begin to understand the drawings. Macalister's groupings ne e d to be



100

questioned. Macalister listed Drawings 37-39 (Fig. 4.14a) as th ree compositions (two

separate animals and some hor izon ta l /ve r t ica l lines) in s tead o f seeing it as one

composition; two animals above horizontal and vertical l ines .

Original ilr;iuing

Ancient Horizon without

standing stones

East Horizon todav

U i l l

Ancient horizon

with standing stones Standing stones today

Fig. 4.15. Comparisonof horizon in Drawings to modern eastern horizon atGezer (Illustration by S. Gardner and Photo by J . Rosenberg)

B y removing th e animals and the ver t ica l l ines (Fig. 4.15). the horizontal lines are

comparable to the extant horizon a t Gezer. The lines follow the contours of the eastern

hills much as th e obser\ er drew them in the Chalcolithic or EBl (ca. 2900 BCE). The



101

ver t ica l l ines represented stones or. perhaps , wooden pole s being used in a similar way as

the standing stones ot " the MB lie. This was an illustration o f what the participants were

obser% ing: they saw the standing stones aga ins t the eastern horizon w ith constellations

recognizable by them in the forms of bo\ ines and ungulates.

The drawings are depictions of the forerunners of th e extant standing s tone s .

These compositions support the u se of stones or w ooden pole s as auxiliary in .s t ruments

for assisting astronomical observation. Wooden poles, as auxi l ia rv in. s t ruments fo r

assisting a.s t ronomical observation, was common in other par ts of the w orld such as Peru

and England, and may indicate a similar function for the wooden poles or asherim in

ancient Canaan. Some animals appear to ascend at an angle tha t is consistent wi th the

angle of the ecliptic plane.

SUMMATION

A t Gezer astronomy began prior to the EB 1 period and w as recorded in Cave

30/rV. The Ear ly Bronze astronomical obser\ ation took pla ce in the area w here th e

standing stones are located. The presence of a plaster f loor found under the ex tan t stones,

and the size and long-time use of the f loor indicate tha t it was u.sed for community

gatherings. The drawings in Cave 30 / IV further support the use of astronomy b e ca use

they demon.st ra te schematically one of the ways that the stones of the MB lie w e r e u.sed:

to chart the r ise of constellations. The M B lie June solstice sunri .se was the ce nt ra l



102

celestial event recorded by the standing stones. The e\ent was cen t ra l because it occurred

across the cen t ra l feature of the stones, the altar basin.

Drawings in Cave 30/IV showed a facsimile of the eastern hor izon that can be

compared to the extant standing stones and the modem horizon. The animals were

pictures of the constellations (possibly zodiacal). as they were perce ived by early

observers a t Gezer. bu t not necessa r i ly the perception of the observers at other sites in the

Late Chalcolithic and EB I . . MB . or today .



10 3

ENDNOTES

1. Now the Nelson Gleuck School of Bibl ica l Archaeology.

2. Archaeological philosophy wa.s ba.sed on the new methods developed in precessual

archaeology or "new a rcheo logy " tha t began in the la te 1950s and ear ly 1960s (Trigger

1989) . The new standard was to create formulas to give archaeology the same appearance

as hard sciences. I mpor tan t ly , this perspective supplied tools to the Gezer excavators that

a l l o w e d them to u nrave l some of the problems in the original excavation reports.

3. It is impossible a t th is point to look at the drawings as a complete collection at this

point becau.se not al l of them were published.



104

CHAPTER 5:

MEGIDDO

Loca t ion and Excavation

Megiddo (32" 35 " North Latitude. 35 "01" East Longitude) is a major

archaeological site known as Tel Megiddo (Hebrew) and Tell el-Mutesellim (Arabic).

Loca ted in the Central H i g h la n d s of Palestine (the W e s t e r n Hills), it is situated on the

w e s t e r n edge of the Megiddo ag r icu l tu ra l plain in the Jez ree l Valley. The eastern horizon

i s u n in te r ru p ted with the excep t ion of Mount Tabor to the northeast. Mount Moreh to the

east, and Mount Gilhoa to the sou theas t (personal observation). West of the site is a

passage that opens to the ea.stem .M edi t e r ranean Sea; the northern section of the passage

I S def ined by Mount Carmel and th e southern edge b y another mountain formation

(L ' s sh ishkin 1992: 1003. 1 9 9 2 : 666: May 1993:48). The main mound ri .ses 40-60 m

above the surrounding plain and measures 230 x 300 m (F ig 5.1. aerial view [Loud

1970] ) . Surrounding the main mound is a 15-acre se t t lement dating from the Late Bronze

Age to Roman periods.

G. Schumacher began th e excavation of Megiddo (1903-1905) under the auspices

of the German Society of Orien ta l Research. He dug a 20-25 m wide trench on the

nor th /sou th axis—from one side to the other—as w e l l as some test pits in various parts of

the mound.



105

Fig. 5.1. iVIegiddo aerial view (Loud 1970)

From 1925-1939 the Oriental Inst i tu te of Chicago excavated a t Megiddo under

the direction of J. Breasted and la ter under th e combined direction o f C. Fisher. P. Guy.

and G. L o u d . The original project was to excavate the entire mound, but by the fourth

year it b e c a m e apparent that the area was too extensive to realize that goal. Instead they

elected to excavate in certain areas. Area AA, BB. CC. and DD (Aharoni 1993; 1004-

1005). A r e a BB. the cull area, was selected becau se it was on the ea.sl side of the mound,

where they decided to place the dump.

In 1 9 6 0 . 1961. 1966, 1967. and 1 9 7 1 Y . Yadin began excavation to better

understand th e I ron Age as a pro jec t for the Ins t i tu te of Archaeology at the Hebrew

University of Jerusalem (Aharoni 1993; 10 0 5 ) . In 1993 Tel Aviv University, under the

directorship of I. Finkelstein and D. Usshishkin, and Pennsylvania State University, under



106

th e direction ofB. Halpren opened a new project that included su rvey ing the surrounding

area and excavating the mound. In 1994 they b e g a n excavation by reopening some old

areas and beginning new areas. L'sshishkin supervi . sed the reopening of .Area BB

(Finkelstein 1994: persona l communication; L'sshi .shkin 1994: pe rsona l communication').

The excavation of . Me giddo is an on-going project a t thi.s time.

Area BB; The Chalcolithic and Early Bronze cu l t areas and pavement

During the third expedition under Schumacher, the large cu l l area (Area BB) was

opened on the eastern side of the settlement. The earliest use period for Area BB w as

pr io r to 3300 BCE. and it continued in 1200 BCE; that is. from lute Chalcolilhic unti l

La te Bronze. . A temple. Temple 4050. was loca ted to the west of a paved area thai sloped

towards the east. Unt i l 1994 the lemple was placed in the Late Chalcolilhic period or EB

1 (Fig. 5.2: [Loud 1 9 7 0 : Fig. 390; Kempinski 1992a; 53-59]).



107

Fig. 5.2. Area BB paved area and Temple 4050 (Loud 1 9 7 0 : Fig. 390)



108

The results of the 1994 excavation established tha t Temple 4050 was the upper o f

two temples that date to EB I . The size of the paved courtyard indicates a large area o f

use . Both in the earlier and the current excavation have unearthed comets, which are

typical sacred ves.sels indicative of the Chalcolithic period.

On th e northern half of the cour tya rd and to the east w e r e two levels of flat pav ing

stones; 36 of the paving stones were e tch e d w i th images. The courtyard contained a cul t ic

basin or a l ta r in association with the inci.sed stones. In some cases the drawings are

deta i led an d clearly identifiable, in others, they are not (Loud 1 9 7 0 : Plates 271-82). The

area where the drawings were found w e n t ou t of u.se when the city w a l l was bui l t over it .

Occupation and specialization in the Chalcolithic period and the Ear ly Bronze Age

Megiddo was an unwalled agr icu l tural ly -ba .sed settlement w i t h trade connections

to Syria and Mesopotamia v ia Syria in the Chalcolithic and Ea r ly Bronze f )e r iods . The

Chalcolithic per iod (late 5"'-4''' m. BCE) was an era of social and technological changes

in th e Le va nt . Evidence for these changes comes from the formal temples, designated

bur ia l grounds, and craft specialization (metallurgy, flint-tool production, ivory indus t ry ,

ba.salt industry , animal hu .sbandr y . and ceramic technology). Temple grounds were laid

out in areas separate from the main vi l lage at En-Gedi or in a separate sanctuary at

Teleilat el-Ghassul. Gilat. and Megiddo (Le vy 1986: 82-109; Aharoni 1993: 1005). The

presence of designated areas for temple complexes points to the specialization of re l igion



109

and cull. Cull siaiues and images in association w i t h the temple complexes have been the

source for speculation on Chaicolilhic religion.

In "The Religious Bel ie fs of the Gha.ssul ians c. 4000-3100 B.C." C. Elliot

assigned the images and the statues to fenility an d hunting. Further, she recogn ized some

images as solar and astral symbols as well as birds and monsters (Elliot 1 9 7 7 : 3 - 2 4 ) . She

discus.sed the images found on the paved cult area a t Megiddo. identifying them as

hunting and religious scenes (El l io t 1977; 1 2 - 1 3 ) . The Megiddo paving stone images

range from distinctly simple elements, such as a s ta r , to complicated draw ings tha t apf )ea r

to be multiple elements imposed one over the other. The more distinctive images are a

l ion tha t appears to stand over a human, a m a n w i th an elaborate belt holding a harp, three

or four men walking (perhaps in a procession), and a person holding a spear (F ig . 3.4-7,

sec Chapter 3). Two of the mentioned drawings have identifiable celestial images : a

cre.scent moon with the harper and a star with the procession. In the other two drawings,

the l ion and the person holding a spear, is a fea the r - l ike image that has been identif ied as

a t ree-of- l i fe or a plant (Elliot 1 9 7 7 : 12). I believe that the latter images are identif ied

incorrec t ly , and are images of comets.

1 state in Chapter 3 that these drawings w i l l be considered as a cultural expression

o f w h a t observers are see in the n igh t sky. Are these drawings then conceptual

i l lustra t ions of the celestial sky? To reiterate, the drawings contain astral i m a g e s : stars, a

crescent moon, and perhaps, comets, but is that enough to determine that the anc ien t



11 0

obser\ers were watching the celest ia l sky and conceptualizing the patterns in the sky in

recogn izab le motifs?

Remarkably, several of the images are similar to figures associated w i t h the

constellations listed by the Mesopotamians and in Ptolemy's Almagest. For example, the

l ion is l ikened to Leo (Fig. 5.3) and the man with an elaborate belt is likened to the

"Shepherd of Anu" or Orion (Fig. 5.4); yet. they are di f fe ren t from Greek images found in

the Ptolemaic constellations. F or instance, the f igure o f man is lying prone under the

onslaught of a l ion rather than jus t a l ion in its various depictions as the constellation Leo.

A harp appears in the lef t hand of a man with a sword girded by an elaborate belt, while

in the constellation Orion, a weapon or a lion's pelt is extended in his lef t hand. The

similar i ty of these draw ings to the images used by Mesopotamian astronomers and/or

Fig. 5.3. Lion, fallen enemy and comet

(Loud 1970; PI. 275. Fig . 9)

Fig. 5.4. Megiddo Harper

( L o u d 1970: PI. 273. Fig . 5)



I l l

Ptolemy to designate constellations is no t enough evidence for identification: however,

other evidence exists.

My invest igat ion begins w i th th e bas ic element of the drawing, the lion, by

reviewing the occurrence and inte rpre ta t ion of the l ion motif in the ancient Near East; i ts

importance v\ill establish as well as it s association with the ce les t ia l sky. Then, since!

propose that th e plant-like image represented a comet, I weigh this proposi t ion against

other representations of comets and discuss their cultural inte rpre ta t ion according to

literarv" sources and depictions. In an effor t to place the l ion in the ce les t ia l sky. the

original lion drawing from Megiddo wi l l be placed over the stars l isted in the

Mesopotamian and Ptolemaic star catalogs concentrating on the constellation Leo.

followed by a scenario for Halley's Comet approaching the constellation Leo. The

original draw i n g w i ll be compared to other artifacts found in Israel an d throughout the

ancient Near Ea s t over the next three m il l e nnia (3300-800 BCE). and f ina l ly , the

discussion w i l l conclude.

ASTRONOMY AND CHALCOLITHIC RELIGION

Occurrence and Interpretation of the Lion in Near Eastern Iconography

From th e 4 " ^ m. to P' c. BCE. a widespread and frequent image in the ancient Near

Ea s t was the l ion ; it was used to decorate seals, axe handles, ivories , s te le , and sculpture.



1 1 2

both or thos ta t re l ie fs and statues from Persia to Rome. The l ion was coupled with

bovines. ungulates, or a human figure in Syria and western Mesopotamia, and with a

crocodile in Eg\pt. It is the subject of many studies (Cornelius 1 9 8 9 : Lewis 1996;

Wreszinski 1932; Boussac 1915; Wilkinson 1989; Kantor 1 9 4 7 ; Collins 1998;Caubei

1 9 8 5 ; D e at o n 1 9 9 8 ; Bonnet 1971; Cassin 1987; Hopkins 1965; Borowski 1998; Hartner

1 9 6 5 ) . The l ion image appeared alone, standing, striding, s i t t ing, rampaging, in combat

w i t h other animals, and in combat w i t h humans in which it kil led or was killed, i.e.. the

role of the slayer or the slain (Comelius 1989; Behm-Blancke 1 9 7 9 ; Bamett 1957: 66-

73). The l ion was described in l i te ra ture , both as the slayer and the slain, in literal and

metaphor ica l descriptions (Bamett 1957: 69; Keel 1978: 20; B o u s s a c 1915; Lewis 1 9 9 6 ) .

1 . Comelius (1989) sought to explain the symbolic nature of the lion images

wi th in specific categories. "The Lion as Aggressor." "The Hunt ing of Lion." "The L i o n as

King." "Deities and Lions: War and Love." and "Lions as Protectors of Palaces. Temples

and Tombs." The f i rs t three categories are those that concern us h e re , and will be t rea ted

individually.

In the f irst category- , the image of the lion killing a human, a bull, and other

animals represented an "overwhelming power" that caused l ions to b e greatly feared

(Comelius 1989: 55). One of the ear l ies t e.xamples o f this is the Batt le f ie ld Palette dated

to 3200-3000 BCE (see Fig. 5.5); Nagada III [3200-3000 BCE|; [Smith 1981: 32, Fig. 42;

Wilkin .son 2000: personal communication)).



1 1 3

In this we see a clear manifestation of the power o f the lion over the t ra i l human

as the l ion rips at his stomach (Cornelius 1989: 55: Keel 1980: 93). This pale t te has been

inte rpre ted as a lion scavenging the dead bodies f rom a battlefield (Smith 1 9 8 1 : 32) and

as a roya l message tha t the king was as powerful as a l ion , when he rages a ga ins t his

enemies (Keel 1980: 93: M o s c a t i 1963: 78). The l ion tearing at the rear hau nch of a

bovine or other hoofed an imal was also an i l lus t ra t ion thought to be a manifestation of

k ing ly power (Cornelius 1 9 8 9 : 55).

Fig. 5.5. Battlefield Palette (Smith 1981: 32. Fig. 10)



1 1 4

"The Hunting of Lions" was the second category approached by Cornelius (1989;

55-56). In this scenario a king or hero hunts the lion; an early example was found on a

ste le from Warka (3300-2900 BCE)", heroes/kings ' are seen killing l ions in two different

w a y s , w i t h a spear, a n d w i th a bow and arrow (Fig. 5.6; [Frankfort 1 9 8 5 ; 33. Fig . 24]).

According to Cornelius, th is early representation depicted the king and his power over

aggressive lions; the power of the king over the lion al.so informed the v i e w e r that the

k ing was able to protec t the people/country from lions/foreign enemies.

The image w as transformed in severa l ways during the 9" ' - 8" ' c. BCE. The sword

was introduced in Syrian an as the pre fe r red method of slaying the l ion , either by king or

hero . Later in the Eastern Mediterranean the theme is that of a youth s laying a l ion or a

four-winged griffin (F ig . 5.7; [Bamett 1 9 5 7 ; 66]).

•sW %.

Fig. 5.6. Lion being slain by hero/king from Warka stele (Frankfort 1 9 8 5 ; 33. Fig. 24)



1 1 5

A youth holding a lotus and standing face - to - face with a l ion was also depicted in the

Nimrud ivories ." '

Fig. 5.7. Youth slaying lion, youth slaying griffin and youth with lion (Hermann

1986: F ig . 78/79 and 77)

This t h e m e continued throughout the history ' of the ancient Near East from Persia to th e

Eastern M edi te r ranean and was best represented by Assurbanipal II's relief of the lion

hunt (F ig . 5.8; [Cornel ius 1989: 55-58; Collon 1995: 155]).

The third theme is "The King as a L i o n " . Here Cornelius a rgue d th a t the king w as

represen ted by the l ion based on the metaphor used to describe kingly qualities in Near

Eastern an d Egy pt ian inscriptions (Cornelius 1 9 8 9 : 58-59). "The strong l ion with ra ised

talons an d m igh ty roar, at whose voice the deser t animals tremble" was u sed to describe

R am es . ses I ! (Lurker 1980:77). N ot only did th e Pharoahs "roar." bu t so did the

Mesopotamian kings. Assumasarpal II and Senacherib in battle (Lu ckenbi i l 1927: 129-

130).



1 1 6

Fig. 5.8. Assurbanipal 11 slays lion (The upper inse t shows a star-like ornament found in

the mane of the l ion, [modified from Collon 1995: 155. Fig. 123))

In general, the consensus is that the l ion represented a king/hero or the power of

the king /hero to protect and/or ru le the people. Comelius concluded th rou gh his analysis

tha t the l ion represented an u ncer ta in power that was both negative, i.e.. the l ion slaying

the human, and positive, i.e.. the king slaying the l ion. He further concluded that these

images depicted "chaos and destruction." while a t the same time, the "power of royalty,

fer t i l i ty , and protection" (Comelius 1989: 65).



117

Shoulder ornaments on animals

In 1947 H . Kantor placed the shoulder omamenl found on l ions, bulls, and other

animals firmly into the scholarship of the anc ien t Near East (Kantor 1947: 256-67). She

traced the use of the shoulder ornament across thirty-one centuries, f rom the 2 3 ^ " ^ c. BCE

when the earl ies t ornaments apf)eared in E g y p t to 7" ' c. CE in Pers ia (Kantor 1947: 264).

An early occurrence of the motif was found in the late Sixth Dy nas ty (2345-2333

BCE) fu nera ry chape l of Queen Neith and was carved on the shoulders of lions set to

pro tec t the throne (Kantor 1947: 250; Clayton 1 9 9 4 ; 64). The shoulderornament was

represented in severa l ways; a rosette, concentric circles, a rosette or a star in the circle,

solid circle, a s t ra igh t - l ine circle, and a swirled-line circle (Kantor 1 9 4 7 ; 250-52)^; while

il appeared often on the shoulder of an animal (see Fig. 5.8 inset) , it was also found on

ihe rump. . Accord ing to Kantor. the symbol transferred to Syria from E g y p t in the 14'*' c.

BCE. The shoulder omament has been identif ied with the sun (Pope 1 9 6 7 ; 729: Roes

1938; 168-75) or associated w i th Inann a/I . sh tar (Contenau 1934; 243; Frankfor t 1985:40).

Inanna/lshtar w as the "Lady of Heaven" and represented Venus (Frankfor t 1985; 22. 40).

While Kantor recogn ized that the shoulder omament was important as a collective

group, about the importance she wrote, "whatever significance the omament could

conceivably have possessed in Egypt would no t have been transmitted to Asia" (Kantor

1947; 265). Furthermore. Kantor a.sserted tha t it was impossible to know what the

significance of the shoulder omament would have been, both points w e r e in direct

contradiction to other scholars who believe tha t it is a representation of the sun (Orbelli



118

and Trever 1935; Roes 1 9 3 8 ) or. a t the ver\' least, an astra l symbol thought to mark the

l ion as belonging to the goddess Inanna/Ishtar (Contenau 1934: 243). Kantor's exception

to their interpretation appeared to be tha t the association was being made to the

astrological relationship b e t w e e n the sun and the constellation Leo (Kantor 1 9 4 7 : 264-

65). '^

The suggestion tha t the image of the Near Ea.stem l ion was astral and/or

assoc ia ted w i th the constellation Leo is not new to scholarship. W. Hartner argu ed tha t

the depictions of animals w i ih "shoulder ornaments" indicated that these were

representations of constellations (Hartner 1965; see Appendi .x 1. Note 11). Lions and

other images of animals often h ad an "ornament" on their shoulder or rump, and I believe

that th is is an indicator that, in some ca.ses. the image was representative of celest ia l

pat terns and can be related to a specific constellation.

The Lion in the Sky

The most recent work on the Near Eastern l ion as the constellation Leo is "A

possible origin for the 'shoulder ornament" in Egy pt ian representations of Lions"

(Wilkinson 1989: 59-71). R. Wilkin.son applied an astronomical perspective to the

iden t i f ica t ion of the lion w i t h a shoulder ornament. Firs t , he connected the con.s te l la t ion

Leo w i t h urûlalurmahhii o f Mesopotamia and ntr-nv "the l ion god" or nv-n / rv "the

divine lion" of the Egyptian l ion constellation (Wilkinson 1989: 60). A group of .stars or

asterism named "The Sickle" forms the head of the l ion in the modern version of Leo and



119

Il ls in ihe head of ihe Egyptian lion. Secondly, he confirmed tha t Retûlux (a Leo) was

ident i f ied with L u ^ t i l f rom the Mesopotamian star charts (Wilkinson 1989: 61-62). This

star was also named "the l i t t le king" or "heart of the lion" (see below).

Other works inc lude a brief sojourn by B . Strawn into the astrological l ion

iconography. Strawn investigated the connection of Leo to bibl ica l pa.s.sages. H e focused

on the references to L eo tha t occur in Job 38:32and Job 9:9 (Strawn 2001: 1 05-6 ) . In

Religion in Jiu la l i under the Assyrians 732-609 (1973). J. McKay examined a vot ive allar

found at Gezer (Fig. 5 . 9) . The votive has two drawings, which are di .scemable . The first

one is fragmentary and depicts a man standing ne x t to an animal. The second one is

in tac t and pictures a l ion engaged w i t h a human figure—perhaps in bat t le , as indica ted by

the weapon in the hand of the human figure. The lion has a l a rge star depicted over i ts

back and a star on its shoulder. McKay identified the star on the shoulder as Liifâl

(Mesopotamian) or Reiû lus (Greek) from th e constellation Leo (Fig. 5.9; [McKay 1973:

461).



120

Fig. 5.9. Lion with a man on votive altar from Gezer (1400 BCE. [Keel 1 9 9 8 ; 331.

Fig . 372!)

Identify ing tiie l ion iconography w i t h the constellation L eo has n o t been neg lec ted in

scholarship, bu t to date the only viab le research has been by Wilkinson and the recumbent

Egy pt ian l i on , in my opinion.

COMETS AND CULTURE RESPONSE

Observations of comets have been recorded th rou ghou t lime in cultures around

the w o r l d . Comets ' * appear to t rave l in orbital paths, w h i c h originate in a spher i ca l region

surrounding the Solar System cal led the Oort Cloud'^ arou nd the sun, then re tu rn ing back

into the Oort Cloud. The orbitsof m o s t comets are highly eccentric (extremely oval),

although about a hundred or so are in lo w eccentricity ( c lose to circular) orbits.



Cornels are categorized into two groups, short-period and long-period. The short-

period comets a re the ones thai we see at interv als of less than 100 years or so . like

Haliey's Comet (Comet P/Halley; the "P" stands for "periodic"). A comet is not

"captured" b y th e gravitational pull of the sun in a single con.s ianl orbit, as are the orbits

o f the planets, but comeiary orbits are influenced by variations in their velocities caused

by increa .ses in gas emissions, which in turn causes the comet to increa.se i ts speed, and b y

th e pu l l of other massive bodies when the comet is in proximity to them, especially the

planet Jupiter. The dominant mass of th e sun is the pivotal poin t or "orbital focus" in the

orbit of a comet, causing it to ""boomerang" around the sun b a ck in to the Oort Cloud. The

l a rge mass of Jupiter results in a sufficiently in ten .se gravitational field that also can

influence the orbit of a comet; the perturbations cau.sed by Jupiter are cumulative and can

draw the comet closer and closer unt i l it crashes into the surface, as Comet

Shoemaker/Levy 9 did on Jupiter. Other planetary mas.ses in our solar system may cause

minor perturbations that can ca u . se major, cumulative changes in the orbit of a comet over

many passes (B a i l e y e l al. 1990; White 2002: personal communication; Schaeffer 2001:

pe rsona l communication). The effect is tha t a given comet does not re turn to the same

place in the sky that it was last observed. More to the point, the outside gravitational

influences on th e orbits of comets make the prediction of the date o f their return for

observation is reliable only for few orbi ta l periods with today's technology with the orbit

o f Haliey's Comet is the most reliable. Furthermore, the re turn of Haliey's Comet

happens approximately every 76 years, bu t the orbital period is not exact w i t h variations



up to 79.3 ye a r s (Amett 2001). Historicaily. Halley's Comet appears to have been the

most observed comet: in fact. Hunger et ul. believe tha t i ts observations have been

r e corde d since 240 BCE (Hunger ei al. 1985: 61).

To the earthbound ob se rve r , a comet appears to be a l arge star surrounded by

br ight t r a nspa re n t cloud w i t h a tail or tails that moves th rough the atmosphere around our

solar system. This perspective was held until 16"^ and 17" ' c. CE when a gradual

understanding of comets was developed by Tycho Brahe. Johannes Kepler. Isaac Newton,

and Edmund Halley (Kuhn 1 9 8 9 : 362-63).

The modem nomenclature is from Aristotle who cal led the astronomical

phenomena w i t h long ta i l s kometes. which is derived from koma. Latin for hair (Genuth

1997: 17) . Seneca was aware that there could b e a pattern or sequence to a comet's

movement even though comets did not followed a fixed pat tem like the stars (Genuth

1997: 19) .

In ancient times comets w e r e harbingers of evil and disasters. Aristotle th ough t

tha t comets were signs tha t announced "a wind, drought and cold weather": Pliny saw

them as wiunings for coming "severe w inds and heat." Seneca mentioned that a comet

observed b y the Ethiopians and Egypt ia ns in 60 CE escorted "violent storms everywhere

and earthquakes in Achaea and Macedonia in particular." H e. as did Aristotle, noted tha t

the sea claimed Buris and He l ice wh e n the comet of 373-372 BCE occurred (Genuth

1997: 20-21). One e.xcept ion to comets as carriers of evil w as Caesar's Comet in 44



123

BCE. which was described a s having rays shooting out from all sides: that comet would

"look upon the west, the l and of Italy w il l achieve it s fonde s t w ishes." Particular types of

comets then were said to br ing good fortune to a reg ion in the Roman periods (Ramsey

and Lich t 1997: 146).

The identification of comets in Mesopotamian texts has been s o m e w h a t tenuous.

Re ce nt work by F. Stevenson. K . Ya u and H. Hunger provided (1) datable evidence for

th e observ ations of comets. (2 ) unambiguous descriptions, particularly fo r Halley's

Comet in 164 BCE and 87 B C E . and (3) a 2 " ^ * c. BCE Babylonian word identifiable with

comets. Si / / / / /m/« / i (Hunger 1985: Chadwick 1 991 : 172) . One l i te rar \ description

was "A star w hich has a cres t (or point) in front of a tail behind is seen a nd turns the sky

l ike a comet" (Weidner 1 9 1 5 : 12: Chadwick 1991: 171) . The u.se o(sallumnm as a term

for "comet" can possibly be projected back to earlier texts and was def ini te ly an indicator

in 7' ' ' -S"* c. BCE texts (Chadwick 1991: 174). That is not to say. tha t it was the only

indica tor . For example. E . Weidner f i rs t identified " w i n g e d stars" as comets (Weidner

1 9 1 5 ) . H. Hunger prefers to t rans la te salliunmit as "Tirebali" (Hunger 2002: personal

communication).

Descriptions o( sallummii var ied and carried, in most cases, ominous threats.

B e ginning with A. Oppenheim's reference from " 'A B a b ylonia n Diviner's Manual":

(If) a star (sallummu^) is seen tha t has a crest in f ron t and a

tail behind and th e sk y turns light' their g o o d and evil portents are in

harmony (i.e..confirming each other). The signs on earth jus t as those

in the sky gives u s s igna ls . Sky and earth p r o d u c e portents. Though



124

appearing separately, they are n o t separate (because) sky and earth are

related. A sign tha t portents evil in the sky is (al.so) evil on the earth.

one tha t portends evil on ear th is evil in the sky (Oppenheim 1933:

197) .

The text went on to say that w ithout favorable omens to counteract the "evil in the sky"

then the overriding force of the comet w as "a reference to an enemy or to a disease or to a

famine." In conclusion:

(When) y o u have iden t i f ied the sign and (when) they ask y ou to save

the city, the king and his subjects from enemy. p)est i lence and famine( that has been predicted), w h a t w i l l you say? When they complain to

you. how w i l l you make (the evil consequences) go away ?

Other texts described the consequence of a comet: "When a bright star (sallummii)

appears in the ecliptic (Path of Anu). the re w i l l be slaughter of Elam with the sword"

(Thompson 1977: Ixiv-lxv. No. 183). and in the Eniona Anu Elil. "If a comet {sallummii)

crosses toward the Field: for three y ears the Euphrates" high water w i l l be reduced"

(Reiner and Pingree 1975: 73).

"An awesome radiance {sallummii) equals an awesome radiance" (Chadwick

1991: 174) ref lec ted the perception of ancient observers. Comets foreboded dire an d evil

consequences that would befall the country or king. The earliest firmly identified

historical reference to a comet is 234 BCE. but an earlier re fe rence may be found in the

Assurbanipal l ibrarv ' and dated to 8 " * - 7 " * c. BCE (Stephenson an d Walker 1985: 17) .



125

How did comets look to ancient observers?

What is observable in the celestial sky is recorded in some way by the observers,

even comets. Examples drawn from three cultures demonstrate the similar i ty as w e l l as

the differences in celestial views of comets. First, illustrations from China depicted the

various forms of comets as they w e r e drawn on the walls of a tomb from the Former Han

Dynasty (Fig. 5.10.1: [Hunger t - r a/ . 1985; 481)-. second, examples from tribes in

California (Fig. 5. 10.2; [Hudson and Underhay 1978])"; third, drawings u sed to

i l lustra te comets in Europe during the Middle Ages (Fig. 5. 11 [Clube and Napier 1982:

177 ; Genuth 1997:63]) and f ina l ly , a drawing and photo of Halley's Comet (Fig. 5.12;

[Stephenson and Walker 1985: 60. 63]).

S A NbernaaoinoNYO

tNVO SIERRA

VENTURA

Fig. 5.10. Comets. I) Chinese comets (Hunger ei al. 1985; 48); 2). Comet

depictions by California Native Americans (Hudson and Underhay 1 9 7 8 )



126

Hg. 5.11. Renaissance comets (Ciube and Napier 1982: 177. F i g . 22; Genuth 1997: 63.

F i g . 26 [Hevelius 1668)).

Fig. 5.12. a) Halley's Comet drawing in 1688 (Hunger e/ al . 1985: 60

(Hevelius 1668]); b) Halley's Comet in 1910 (Hunger et al. 1985: 63)

These illustrations have in common the elements that we expect to see in a drawing of a

comet, the head or beginning po in t of the comet with a tai l or multiple tails streaming



127

f rom out in its wake. The drawings found inc ised on the rocks a t Megiddo strongly

resemble the depictions of comets from other cultures and periods (Fig. 5.1. Fig. 3.5

(Chapter 3]).

MUL.APIN AND THE CONSTELLATION LEO

In the final analysis of the astrolabes and MUL.APIN, 60 constellations from the

paths of Enlil. Anu and E a and six circumpolar constellations, also assigned to the path of

Enli l , were listed in star catalogs. The l is ts included, but were not limited to. a sequential

l ist of dates fo r the hel ical rising of certain constellations, a list of simultaneously rising

and setting of constellations, a list of the "starting" (ziqpu) constellation stars w i t h

calendrical culminations and coordination with certa in constellation r i s ings , and a l is t of

17 constellations in the path of the moon (Hunger and Pingree 1999: 58). Through a

detailed analysis of the texts, the authors established and named the stars.'' The largest

group of identified stars that can be associated w i t h a constellation are in the constellation

Leo.



1 2 8

VIesopotamian stars in the constellation UR.GU.LA

also IJR.A and LR.MAH (nesu [1800-500 BCE])

Stars (Bayer/

Flamsteed

designations'^

Enuma Ami

Enlil

|i L e o n i s /

24 L e o n i s

c L e o n i s /

17 Leoni s

C L e o n i s /

5 L e o n i s

y L e o n i s /

41 Leonis

ri L e o n i s /

30 L e o n i s

a L e o n i s /32 Leonis

o L e o n i s /

14 L e o n i s

7 t Leonis/

29 Leonis

LUGAL

(sarrii). star in

the breast of

UR.GU.LA

MLL.APIN

Ziqpu stars

I. AO 64781 4

IS2. VAT 16436

Head of the

lion""

2. XXI

Head of the l ion

1. XX, XXI

2. XXI

Breast'

2. XXII

Breast

2. XXII

Breast

2. XXII

Breast

1 . XXII

2. XXII

MUL.APIN

GU texts

"string stars'*

BM 78161 (*indicates

listing in

Ziqpu Stars)

Right foot of



129

p Leonis/

47 Leonis

6 Leonis/

68 Leonis

0 Leonis/

70 Leonis

P Leonis/

94 Leonis

Ummula stars

in the tail of

the l ion

Thigh"

2. XXIII

Thigh

1. xxin

2. XXIII

Tail'"

the Lion

Foot in th emiddle of the

Lion

1. XXIV

2. XXIV

Table 5.1. Stars identified Troni Mesopotamian texts

When Ptolemy b e g a n his catalog of stars, he began with the earl ies t Babylonian

observations available, the records f rom the re ign of Nabonassar I (8'*' c. BCE: [Toomer

1984; 9)). The continuity f rom Baby lon ian mathematical astronomy to Ptolemy's

Alm ui ie s i makes comparing the Baby lon ian star l ist to the Ptolemaic star list possible.

Stars'"

|i Leonis /

24 Leonise Leonis /

17 Leon is

C L e o n i s /

5 Leonis

Magnitude'

>3

Constellation Leo

Mesopotamian Star

List-

Two stars in the head

o f th e l ion

N o r t h e r n m o s t and

southemmost of the

two stars in head

F o u r stars in the chest

o f the l ion

Ptolemy's Almagest23

The northernmost of the two stars

in the headThe southemmost of these

The northernmost of the three

stars in the neck



130

y Leonis/

41 Leonisr ) Leonis/

30 Leonis

a Leonis/

32 Leonis

;r Leonis/

29 Leonis

p Leonis/

47 Leonis

6 Leonis/

68 Leonis

0 Leonis/

70 Leonis

P Leonis/

94 Leonis

4

4

<2

->

< 1

King; Luf>a l

Right foot of the l ion

Fool in the middle of

the lion

Two stars in the rump

of the l ion

The one close to these, the middle

one of the three, called 'Algiebra'The southernmost of them

The star on the hear t , called

•Regulus"

The star on the left [front! knee

The star on the left armpit

The most advanced of the iwo

stars on the rump

The southernmost of these

Single star in the tail of The star on the end of the tail,

the lion called "D e ne b ola "

Table 5.2. Comparing Ptolemy's stars with Mesopotamia!! star lists

i!!cludi!ig magnitude''*

Using the l ion drawing from Megiddo. the l ion being the shape associated with

the constellation Leonis in western astronomy, th e lion i tse l f fits w e l l b e tw e e n Alterf

Leonis) as the eye and Denebola (P Leonis) as th e tai l , as is traditional for Leo and

complies w i th the Mesopotamian star l ist (Bayer/Flamsteed designation in larger print)

found in Leo (Fig. 5.13);



1 3 1

/ I.m l

• L/Ou LecLeo

•

» • ' Leo

V Leo • T f H>a

:t Leo ' ">• • . 1 l l y a•Leo -^ 3 I L « >LeolIILMi

» lliva

5Leo

/. LeoLeo

u H>a

LeoP Leo

I ' L m ^Leo 87l4r«,.Mr

\ ir• ; ir*

Fig. 5.13. Megiddo drawing imposed over constellation Leo (Ulust ra t ion by S.

Gardner)



1 3 2

A projected scenario for the Haliey's Comet at 3645 BCE ± 100 years places it in

a similar posi t ion in relationship to the constellation Leo as the fea thered image in Fig.

5.14).

66Aur Gem

9UM a

•'5UMa• TUMa 2 6UM a

•..aMa6 U M a> 4 L y r » 3 ' L * n

Gemalle\ Gemini* U M a 3 5 L v r64Gem 47Gem'

.-•Gem

Comet V pathh G«m

i S C n c•.UM a . I G e m 5 ^ G e f %

- r C n cLW' • :OLMu - 3Cnc

I 'LMi 2tLMt

34LM

30LMi I S L e o46LM

46UM a •3 7 L M i: r 3 L M i

4 2 L M

Sun s path

Edipr ic43LM

W L e c4 n M5 7 L e o

72Lec 40Lec n Leo

45Gem

38Gem

BSGem ;4Gem

' i G e m 'eacemiCMt

• 6CMJ ^

/•CMi

^ T C M . • ? C M inCMi

.. 2Cnc

• • iCoc 45CfK:

„ 50Cnc2Cnc

60Cnc* u CfK

CM.

^ iCMi

•;CM«

mcM

.6Mor

27Mon

Fig. 5.14. A projected scenario for Halley*s Comet in 3464 BCE± 100 years (au

0.164276)-'

Halley's Comet has b e e n well placed as far back as 164 BCE in the Babylonian lexis.

Nonetheless, the nature of the comets" orbits makes the above pro je c t ion suspect, and

therefore, n o t a reliable conclusion.



1 3 3

SUMMATION

From early times a l ion was depicted w i t h a man. The lion and the human figure

were placed so t ha t a space or a negative area separa ted them; that space was often

br idged by a knife, a shield,or the paw /leg of the l ion reaching tow ards the human. In the

r'm. BCE the Egyptians sometimes used a lotus llower (Fig. 5.7). Adhering to these

guidelines, the l ion and the man on the Batt lef ie ld Palette (Fig. 5.5) do not have a

negative space situated b e t w e e n them; and the surrounding figures indicate that this is a

depiction of a battle ra ther than our motif.

To date the earl iest image of a single l ion juxtaposed across f rom a man is found

at Megiddo (Fig. 5.3). Generally, the man is identif ied as either a fa l len enemy or

king/hero. The majority of the depictions appear in the southern L e v a n t in the Late

Bronze and I ron Ages, a l though some occur in the Middle Bronze Age. Although a l ion

and man appear on many seals in apparent combat, scenes include mult ip le lions, other

animals such as bulls and/or more than one man. In some cases, a bull- or lion-headed

man wrestles w ith a lion. N o n e of these seals dateearlier than the early 3 " ^ m. BCE. A

Middle Assyrian cylinder sea l and the early Warka stele (Fig. 5.6) appear to be the closest

representations of our moti f outside the Levant unti l the T'm. BCE. At th i s time, it

becomes a common theme in Mesopotamia as w e l l .

Placing the drawing f rom Megiddo over the constellation Leo provides a

beginning



1 3 4

point 10 understand the image. A seal fou nd a t Jericho and the votive altar from Gezer

repl icate the Megiddo image;

Fig. 5.15. Megiddo lion (3300 BCE). Jerichoseal with lion and man (1800-1600

BCE[Keel 1998: 25; Fig. 7]). Gezer votive.

The th ree images depic t ed here have the f o l lo w i n g characteristics: 1) the image is

composed of a l ion and man with a negative space separating them: 2) the man is wearing



a pointed kilt; 3) in the first scene , a m an extends his arm holding an object, perhaps a

shield, the second scene a man ra i ses his hand, and in th e third a long knife or a sword is

extended, all in similar postures; 4) the f ron t legs of the l ion are extended in a l ike -

fashion but the back legs arc di f fe ren t in the Jericho seal (the l ion is sitting on his

haunches); an d 5) in two of the pic tu res the ta i l of th e l ion does n ot appear to be

important, but in the third it over extends the full sweep of the back. Furthermore, by

placing the Megiddo lion drawing over th e constellation Leo. the drawing reoriented to

how it was seen as it rose on the eastern horizon—with th e head of the l ion and th e man

up as it is in the Jericho seal a nd Gezer votive. The head is formed by k. . an d |i Leonis.

and the forefront (chest) of th e b o d y is formed by E . rj . y . and C Leonis with a Leoni s in

th e position of the heart, p Leoni s falls on the leg midway along the body of th e l i on . 6

and 0 Leonis arv along the back and haunch, and P Leoni s is a single star that designates

th e tail. N e a r Ea.stern astronomers recognized f j . . c. r) . y, C . . p. 6. 0. and P Leonis . n

Leonis is also l is ted and is described as "Right front foot of the Lion"; it can he i nc luded

in the l ist as i t l ies just in f ron t of the foreleg of the Megiddo lion. Only two stars , 0 and ic

Hydrae. f rom the l ist of Mesopotamian stars appear in the figure of the man. who has a

pa t te rn consi s t en t with the upper ponion of Hydrae. The shield falls over p. C and 0

Hydrae. an d in tere .s t ingly . the br igh tes t star in Hydra, a Hydrae fits in the poin t of the kil t .

Bo th the l i on /man on the Jericho seal and the Gezer l i on /man votive are replicas of the

earlier drawing from Megiddo. The Gezer votive shows two stars, one in the breas t of the

l ion which M a c K a y suggests is a Leonis or Liigal and a star over the back which I



1 3 6

identify with C Leonis or one of the "four stars in the breast" because it is above and

forward from a Leonis. Importantly, in 3300 BCE the summer sols t ice occurred when p

Leonis rose, making this star an impor tan t celestial marker.

Two of th e drawings have the l ion on the left, and the original has the l ion on the

r ight . The Megiddo drawing demonstrates how the constellation L eo is seen from earth

looking into the n igh t sky; the second v i e w i s how the constellation Leo i s seen from the

celestial sky (heaven) looking towards the earth or the god's view. " ' '

The drawing from Megiddo f i t s we l l over the constellation L eo of Mesopotamia

and Greece. The thi rd element in th e drawing from Megiddo. the comet, is somewhat

problematic. E v e n though it cannot be f i rmly identified as Halley's Comet or any specific

comet, which does not in anyway detrac t from its impact had on the observers a t

Megiddo.



137

ENDNOTES

1 . 1 was a square superv isor in Area BB in 1994.

2. The stra tigraphy is questionable on the Warka stele. It can date to Inanna IV (3300-

3100 BCE) or Inanna ID (3100-2900 BCE: [Ellis 2001: p e r so n a l communication:

K a w a m i 2001: personal communication]).

3. Frankfor t suggested that this might be a hunter, even though the coiffure w as used to

di s t ingu i sh leaders or perhaps kings unti l the time of S a rg o n of Akkad (Frankfort 1985:

34). ^

4. The ivories found in Mesopotamia a t Nimrud and Nineveh were imported f rom the

Levan t by three different venues—booty, tribute, and t rade (Winter 1976: 1 - 2 2 ) .

5. I u sed the l ist of shoulder ornaments from by R. Wilkinson (1989: 63) f rom his article

"A Possible Origin for the 'Shoulder Ornaments' in Egy p t ian Representations of Lions".

6. In astrological venues, the su n "rules" the sign of L eo (George 1990: 30).

7. The Sickle is composed of th e Bayer designated s t ars a. ]. y , C , and c Leonis(Wilkinson 1989: 61).

8. Comets are comprised of a small nucleus surrounded by ice. dust, and gases (Bailey er

« . / . 1 9 9 0 : 425-36: Ridpath 1 9 9 7 : 92).

9. The Oort Cloud is an accumulated collection of stel lar debris from which comets are

formed. The Oort Cloud surrounds our solar system and extends over one th ird o f the

distance to the nearest star (Bai ley et al. 1990: Ridpath 1 9 9 7 : 337).

10 . Oppenheim did not recognize sallummu as a word fo r "comet" in the beginning, but

opted for this translation in " " M an and Nature in Mesopotamian Civilization" (Oppenheim

1 9 7 8 : 640. N o t e 74).

11 . The illustrations from California rock art are tentat ively identified with comets, but

m i g h t also be meteors or a combination of both (Hudson 1984: 40).

12 . The work done to correlate the modem designations for the stars with the ancient



138

l ists of stars represents decades of work done by astronomers, mathematicians, and

Assyriologists. The w o r k culminates in Astral Sciences in Mesopoianmi (Hunger and

Pingree 1999).

13. In 1603 CE J. Bayer system assigned Greek le t ters to the stars within a constel la t ion

according to their approximate level of brightness, w i t h the brightest stars assigned the

Greek let ter a (alpha; [Ridpath 1997; 48]). In the I S ' * " c. CE. J. Flamsteed a.ssigned

numbers to the stars in a constellation according to the increasing right a.scension of a

star ; that is. the stars as they appear in the sky on the eastern horizon, moving from east to

w e s t (Ridpath 1997: 168) .

14. Hunger and Pingree 1999: 85

15 . Hunger and Pingree 1999: 85

16. The te.xt reads "Two Stars from the Head of the Lion" (Hunger and Pingree 1 9 9 9 :

91) .

17 . The t ex t reads "Four Stars from h is Brea.st" (Hunger and Pingree 1999: 91) .

18 . The t ex t reads "Two Stars from the Rump of the Lion" (Hunger and Pingree 1 9 9 9 :

92) .

19 . The t ex t reads "Single Star from his Tail" (Hunger and Pingree 1999: 92).

20 . Bayer/Flamsteed designations

2 1. Toomer 1984: 367-68

22 . Hunger and Pingree 1999

23 . Toomer 1984: 367-68

2 4 . The smaller the number the more visib le the star . The numbering began wi th the

G re e k astronomer. Hipparchus. 1 being the l i ght of th e star t ha t was first visible .

Visibi l i ty becomes fa in t at 5 magnitude in today's nigh t sky flooded with artificial l i ght ,

but a star at the magnitude of 6 can slill be seen in a dark sky (Ridpath 1997).

25 . I u sed Redshift 2 (Maris 1995). which are computer programs to estimate w h e r e and

w h e n Halley's Comet w o u l d be seen in the Megiddo sky and approaching at the cor rec t



1 3 9

angle. The accuracy of dating in computer programs that fa r back in time is not re l iab le .

26. Interes t ingly, both views are incorporated into a seal, the ini t ia l f igure on the seal

impresses to the opposite perspective.



140

CHAPTER 6:

SUMMATION. FURTHER RESEARCH

AND CONCLUSION

The Standing Stones of Gezer an d Cave 30/IV

A t Ge/er the earliest record o f astronomy is found in Cave 30/IV (ca. 2900 BCE

or earlier). On the walls of Cave 30/IV, "schematic" drawings depicted the eastern

horizon. Ve r t i ca l lines represented wooden poles or possibly standing stones above

w hich an imal figures appeared lo r ise , and I believe are representations of constellations

(Fig. 4.14 and 4.15). What manifes t s from these depictions is that the early a . s t ronomers

w ere w atching the horizon, and they mapped out areas of the sky with discreet

boundaries lo represent constellations according lo their worldview. B e y o n d identifying

these drawings as their p e r c e p t U m of constellations, where these were pla ce d in the

celestial sk y and where along the hor izon they rose, is unknowable to us. There is

ohserviiiion c i w a r c n c . s s . b ut the leve l of their ohsenation competence w i t h the pre.sent

data can only be surmised. Simply put. they were watching the horizon and drew their

observations on the walls in Cave 30/IV. The eastern horizon is identifiable w i t h the

horizon as seen from Gezer today . Other drawings may show other horizons but have no t

been analyzed as yet.



1 4 1

The observ ers appear lo ha\ e a concept of the sidereal year because of the

dep ic t ions o f constellations (ohservalum awareness and competence). It takes one

^ldcrca l year for the constellations to return to the depicted place in the celestial sky; if

then, the sky was represented in a recognizable fashion, the drawings were records, and

by extension, indicate record keeping. With the presen t information, it was not

knowable how the information is incorporated into the culture or how it was used. i.e..

soc ia l representations.

The standing stones from 1600 BCE were placed in a plastered floor over an

earlier plastered tloor (2900-2600 BCE). The earlier tloor and the prone megalith found

under the extant standing stones indicate tha t there was a long pe r iod of use. They also

indica te a long history of astronomical obser\ ation. Observation awareness of the

observers was extrapolated from the placement and relationship of the stones and al tar .

That awareness included I) the apparent movement of the sun on a fixed path or the

e c l i p t i c : and 2) the sidereal year. I demonstrated the data from the stones indicate that

solar indicators divided the year in to the e q u ino . xe s (Stone I I I ) , the June solstice sunrise

(Stone V II and the basin of the al tar) and December sols t ice sunrise (Stone V and the

s o u t h w e s t corner of the altar).

Data from astronomical observations are u sed to regulate agricultural calendars'

and to predict the beginning and end of the dry and ra iny sea.sons (Borowski 1987: 89).

The standing stones anticipate seasonal markers, the equinoxes and solstices bear ing out



1 4 2

that the data from Gezer m i g h t be coordinated w i t h th e agricultural cycle of preparing the

L'nt i l the t l rs i rains came in mid October, the land was too hard to cultivate. After the

ra ins came the ground softened and sow ing began . The rains lasted until A p r i l , if there

w e r e not other adverse conditions present, such as drought. Beginning with the ve rna l

equinox (Stone I I I ) , the season of harvesting began. In the summer months, the grains

w e r e gathered, followed by the collection of grapes and other fruit. The impor tan t time

of th e year was a t the June solstice (Stone V I and the basin of the altar), when the sun

turned in i ts pa th , "one month of summer" f o l l o w e d by "two months of gathering". The

agricu l tural season closed w i t h the autumnal equino.x (Stone I I I ) . By the lime the

December solstice (Stone V and the . southeas t corner of the altar) arrived, the rainy

sea.son h ad already begun in October (Borowski 1 9 8 7 ) .

The stones marked the passage of the year but the emphasis was on th e June

sols t ice . The shadow thrown across the basin of the altar was a focal point. The bas in

may have held either a wooden pole or even a s m a l l tree. The pole could have been

rec tangu la r f i l l ing the basin; the resu l t would have been a long shadow at the sol .st ice

soil, plan t ing , cultivating,and harvesting. The 10' ' ' c. BCE Gezer calendar described the

c\clc of the asricultural vear in lunar terms;

T w o months of gathering.

Two months of sow ing.

Two months are la te planting;

One month of gathering (cutting)

tlax.

One month of gathering (cutting) barlies.

One month of gathering (and ) all;

Two months of pruning.

One month of summer

(Borowski 1987; 88).



143

sunrise. A tree placed in the hasin would not have impeded the shadow cast by Stone VI

since the shadow w o u l d have st i l l crossed the important comers of the hasin opening.

The ancient Israeli tes recorded celestial phenomena as w e read in the ve rses of

Joshua 10:12h- I3a. In the l O ' * ' c. BCE poem follows the verses in which we are told that

Joshua spoke to Yahweh. on the day that Yahweh gave the Israelites vic tory over the

Amorites. Then in the full view of Israel Joshua said;

Shamash. at Giheon. stand still! Y e r a h " . in the Valley of Aijalon!

So Shamash" stood still, and Y erah stopped until the people

took vengeance on their enemies.

"Shamash" was a Semitic name for th e su n god (Oppenheim 1964: 195). and "Y erah"" '

was the western Semitic name of the moon god (Gray 2001).

What e.xactly th is passage is describing has been w idely discu s . sed : meteor

phenomenon, solar eclipse, the sun hiding behind clouds. Joshua pleading that the sun

and moon he silent an d not give omens to the Amorites. tha t it was an i ncanta t ion for

good omens for Is rae l denoting a favorable day, directing the gods no t to i n t ervene , and

so for th (Nelson 1 9 9 7 : 143; Phythian-Adams 1946; Sawyer 1972; Scott 1952; Hel le r

1966; Wilson 1918; Dus 1960). One point of agreement is that this poem w as inser ted

into the te.xt; and the p o e m dates to an earlier period (Holladay 1968; 168; Nelson 1997;

142) . Furthermore, the story of the events was most likely transmitted down th rou gh the

generations as pan of an oral tradition (Holladay 1968: 178). Nonetheless, w h a t is clear

is that the writers were recording celestial phenomena.



1 4 4

Viab le arguments addressing the visibility o f the sun and moon have centered on

the sun r is ing in the east and the ful l moon setting in the west. Based on comparisons

w i t h Mesopotamian texts. J. Holladay connected the vis ib le sun-moon opposition w i t h

texts tout ing favorable conditions for the defeat o f an enemy and with "trustworthy

speech" (Holladay 1968; 175-761 . From an a .s t ronomica l perspective, the sun and the fu l l

m o o n can appear at any point along the horizon—cast and west, respectively. Joshua 10 :

12b-13a s ta ted t ha t Shamash and Y erah "stood still"; the only time that these

as t ronomica l phenomena happen is at the time of the solstice and lunastice (lunar

standst i l l ) . The solstice occurs twice a year—summer and winter, the lunastice occurs

abou t every 19 years. The solstice and lunastice ment ioned in Joshua 10 : 12a-13a

occurred over Gibeon and the Valley o f Aijilon. w h i c h are east and southeast of Gezer.

respect ively . The place o f observation would have to be one from which the r i s ing su n

w o u l d appear on the eastern horizon a nd the setting m o o n on the western horizon; tha i

observ at ion would not have been possible fo r the observers at Gezer. R. Nelson

sugges ted that Joshua, i.e.. an observer, would have had to stand at Beth-Horon (Nelson

1997: 142) . which I agree with as a possibility based on i ts location. Nonetheless, the

obser\ ers o f Gezer w ere aware of solstices, and the w r i t e r s o f Joshua were aware of the

summer solstice and the basic elements t ha t identify the ce les t i a l event: the sun appears to

stop in it s movement along the hor i zon (verses 12b-13a;. This can also be said of the

moon an d an aw arencss of northernmost lunastice.



1 4 5

Joshua became a social representation in the form of a culture hero who was

empowered by Yahweh. god of the Is rae l i tes , w ith the ability to con t ro l celestial bodies

that represented the gods Shamash ( su n) and Yerah (moon). B y giving Joshua power

over foreign gods not only did Yahweh establish his superiority over other gods, but also

he authenticated the destiny of the Tribes of Israel to settle the l ands of Canaan. If then,

th e hero had the power granted to h im by h is god to control the heavens, who better u pon

whom to place the fate of the nation? N ot only is he empowered, but so were the Tribes

of I srael . B y extension. Joshua was privy to astronomical data. This is a good example

of both myth, re l ig iou s , and political agendas and how they are empowered by

astronomy.

We cannot know a t this time w h a t rituals were performed at the Gezer high place,

but i ts large public appearance and al tar indicate that rituals w e r e performed. Since the

s tones marked the seasons of the year, it would be reasonable to assume that agricultural

festivals (social representations) occurred on specific days a t specific limes. Knowledge

f rom obser\'ations regulated a seasonal calendar and empowered the observers, religious

and/or political l eaders , or a combination thereof, by establishing a connection between

them and the divine.

One more thing that must be considered is tha t Gezer was abandoned a t the end of

E B IV , as were m os t of the major sites in Is rae l (Dever 1992: 999). The repopulalion of

the site after four hundred years could w a r r a n t the reconstruction of the standing stones.



146

w h i c h apparently had fa l len as indicated by the prone stone. However, it br ings into

qu es t ion how astronomical information was t r ansmi t ted from the earlier occupants to the

later occupants over the period of the four hundred years that Gezer w as not occupied?

This is one more question that needs to be addressed in subsequent research.

The Constellation Leo Occurrence a t Megiddo

The image of the l ion (Fig. 5.3) found on one of the paving stones (3300 BCE) at

M e g i d d o i s identified as the constellation Leo in Chapter 5. Once again, the early

astronomers were dividing th e sky into discreet areas tha t were represented by images

tha t re f lect their w orldview. They too had a concept of a sidereal year. U n l i k e the

cons te l la t ion representations a t Gezer. the l ion image is identifiable w i th the

Mesopotamian and the Greek constellation. Leo. In 3300 BCE the June solstice occurred

at p L e o n i s just behind Regulus. b u t w i th our presen t information tha t may or may not be

significant. As above at Gezer. there is ohservatUm awareness but observation

competence w i th the present data can only be surmised and . should be l imi ted to the

observers were aw are of th e sidereal year. The approach of a comet, perhaps Halley's

Comet, was a record of an e v e n t observed, as was th e event of a lunar crescent. The

impor tance of the latter is unknowable a t the time.

The lion image is the most easily defined of th e images because it appeared

frequently throughout the anc ien t Near Eas t and has been the subject of many studies. I ts



1 4 7

continuous u se from the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze through the I ron Age points to i ts

importance across time. In a very rea l sense, the lion moti f re f lec ted the po l i t i ca l bel ie fs

of the anc ien t N e a r Eas t and functioned as a symbol of power and kingship. It

symbolized th e power of the king and th e king's ability to pro tec t the land and the pe ople .

The l ion represen ted v ic to ry and power, and he w as vi ru len t and sanctified. Desc r ip t ions

and depictions were l i t e ra l and/or metaphor ica l , in other words, they showed rea l l ion

hunts and dep ic ted the ability of men to conquer lions, both real and representative.

While th i s is probab ly applicable to a ll l ion images. I have argued tha t a specific

depiction—the l ion spaced apart from a m a n w i th something crossing the negative

space—w as the representation of t.he cons te l la t ion Leo.



14 8

Fig. 6.1. Seal collection: From left to right: Middle Bronze lib (Jericho: [ K e e l 1 9 9 8 :

83. F i g . 99]); LateBronze/Early Iron Age (Megiddo: [Lamon and S h ip ton

1 9 3 9 : Plate 67. F i g . 40]): iron Age I I (Southern Pa les t ine : Keel-lui 1 9 9 1 : 76.Fig. 91): Iron Age (Tel Fara: [Tufnell 1984: Plate XL. Fig. 2610]): Iron Age

(Jericho: [Tufnell 1 9 8 4 : P la te XL. Fig. 2607]): I r on Age (Tel Ajjul: [ Tufne l l

1 9 8 4 : Plate XL. F i g . 2640]): Iron Age lib (Lachish: [Keel 1998: 267. Fig .

268al): Iron .A g e lib (Phoenician: Keel-lui 1991: 91. F i g . 107]).

Facs imi les of the Megiddo l ion appeared on a Middle B r o n z e scarab sea l f rom

Jericho and at Gezer on an altar vo t ive . The l ion image con t inu ed to be u.sed in the

southern L e v a n t into the I ron Age o n seals (Fig. 6.1). It also appeared in the eas te rn

M e d i te r r an e a n bowls and on i vor ie s a t Nimrud (Fig. 6.2).



149

Fig. 6.2. Phoenician Art: From left to right: Iron Age (Kourion; [Marco 1985; 256.

detail from CY8]); I r on Age (Ras S h a m ra ; [Marco 1985: 355: detail from

Comp. 1]): Iron A g e (Nimrud: ( H e r m a n n 1986: Plate 16. Fig . 77j)

Another manifestation of th e l ion image was seen in Egypt and on Egyptianized

seals/scarabs found in Israel (Fig. 6.3). The i m a g e showed the s ta nding or recumbent

l ion over a crocodile: Wilk inson has aptly de m ons t ra te d that th e Egypt ia n recumbent l ion

also was consistent w i t h th e con.s te l la t ion Leo. The use of the crocodi l e instead of a man



150

demonstrates another cu l tu ra l perspective. Also miss ing was the bridging element, such

as a paw. kn i fe , or lotus.

Fig. 6.3. Lion and crocodiles: a. Middle Bronze; ( K e e l and Uehlinger 1998. 25; Fig .

6); b. 13''' c. BCE; (Ceiling detail from tomb of Seti I; [Wilkinson 1991. Fig .

2]K c. Iron Age ( I s rae l ; [Tufnell 1984; Pla te XL. Fig. 2624])

The l ion metaphor l ink ing th e king to a l ion was no t limited to the ru le rs of Egypt

a n d A s s y r i a , b ut can also b e f o u n d in Hittite epitaphs for Hattusili I (ca. 1650 BCE); th e

epitaphs s ta te tha t "I cross[ed] the Ceyhan Rive[ rJ and overthrew (?) Hassuwa l ike a l ion

w i [ t h ] m y paws..." and in another document "Mike a l ion I kept Hahhu at bay..." (Co l l ins

1 9 9 8 : 1 5 ) . A t a later date th e writers of the Old Testament compare the king to a l ion;

f irst in P r o v 19:12a. "A king's anger is like the growlingof a lion but his favor is l ike

dew on the g r a s s " ^ and then Prov 20:2a. "The dread o f anger of a king is like the

growling o f a lion; anyone who provokes him to anger forfeits life itself."

The l ion metaphor was also app l ied to warriors in 10' ' ' c. BCE; 2 Samuel 1 7 : 1 0 ^ .



1 5 1

Then even the valiant warrior whose hear t is like the hear t o f a l ion w i l l melt

ut te r ly in fear....

In Gen 49: 2 - 2 7 .we fmd de.scr ipt ions of th e twelve tribes of Is rae l ; the de .scr ipt ion of the

t r ibe of Judah r e a d s in verses 9-10.

Judah is a lion's whelp, from the prey y o u have (risen).

H e crouches dow n. he stretches out l ike a lioness—who dares rouse him up.

The scepter shall n o t depart from J u d a h nor the ruler's m a c e f ro m between his

feet unt i l tribute comes to him and the obedience of the peop le i s his.

In t eres t ing ly , in Deut 33; 20-22 '* . Gad a n d D a n were associated w i t h th e lion.

And of Gad he said;

Ble.s.sed be the enlargement o f Gad!

Gad lives like a lion; he tears at arm and scalp.

H e chose the bes t for himse l f for there a commander's allotment was

reserved;

He came at the head of th e peop le , he executed the just ice of the Lord, and

his ordinances for I s rae l .

And o f D a n he said;

D an is a lion's whelp that leaps for th from Bashan.

In some cases, the man struggled w i t h the l ion and in others the l ion was

controlled b y the man. The shift and/or simultaneous association of th e lion w i t h

Gad/Dan s u g g e s t a different worldview based on individual t r ibal percept ions ; another

component of the descriptions tha t differ i s the image of Judah as k ing a n d of Gad/Dan as

a warrior or l eader . The appearance of the l ion on the Gezer vot ive impl i es tha t by 1400

BCE the astronomers at Gezer may have been using the lion in the .same way as the m o t i f

was u.sed a t Megiddo in 3300 BCE. The astral symbols on the vo t ive l ion from Gezer

support its relation.ship to the sky and. subsequently, the drawing f rom Megiddo fi t the



152

>tar designations fo r the constellation Leo as it was f )e rce ive d in Mesopotamia. If the l ion

was use d in concert w i t h the old bovine and u n g u l a t e images from 2900 BCE. it is not

known. The l ion moti f w as recognizable th rough ou t the ancient Near Ea.st across four

millennium, and I w o u l d argue that its s ta y ing power can be attributed to two things, first,

i ts presence in the ce les t ia l sky. and secondly, it s association with hero/kings.

The r e pre se nta t ion of the lion at Megiddo also had an element to the r igh t of the

lion's head tha t 1 ident i f ied as a comet, poss ib ly Halley's Comet. Comets fore told dire

and e v i l consequences for the country or king . Halley's Comet i s w e l l documented in

Mesopotamian a s t ronom ica l texts. While a f i rm identification of the comet i s no t

feas ib le , to argue that it was an "awesome rad iance" for the observers at Megiddo is in

keep ing w i th the cul tura l perspectives r e corde d in later times. The presence of a similar

clching in the d r a w in g o f the person w ith a spear suggests that another comet approached

th rough a different constellation, not yet ident i f ied.

The ident i f ica t ion of the lion in j ux ta pos i t ion to a man as the cons te l l a t ion Leo

was no t a random se le c t ion b u t selected from the corpus of images from the Megiddo

paving stones, w h ich included multiple as tra l symbols—a crescent moon, s ta rs , and

comets. The evidence deposited at Megiddo w a s the result of an accumulation of

know ledge by the astronomer/priests of Megiddo. and most probably, the surrounding

areas. The use of th e l ion motif as i t appeared at Megiddo throughout the a nc ie n t Near

Eas t demonstrates a continuity of astronomical t radi t ion from the Chalcolithic pe r iod to



ih c Irt>n Age. The origin of the symbol, as has been described above, is the Levant,

probably the sou thern Levant. While I can infer th e relationship between the celest ial

l ion and the metaphor for kings/heroes. 1 cannot say anymore about th e astronomy at

Megiddo a t th is time.

FURTHER RESEARCH

I dea l ly , a selection of significant sites with t e m p l e s and/or cult places would be

m a p p e d and a l igned to significant features w i th in the site and/or to the hor izon to

generate s ta t is t ica l data. Statistical data w i l l only help to understand w h a t th e

ohsenatioti awureness/competence is , w hile helpful it does not e.xplain how the

information is in teg ra ted into the social, cultural, a n d poli t ical persona of th e people.

Further analysi s of the Gezer "graffiti" is necessa ry to see i f any additional

information c a n b e extrapolated from the drawings. Some questions tha t should be

asked: 1) w h a t add i t ion information can be found in the sixty-four drawings from Cave

30/IV.' For example, what other horizons are depicted? Can further in fo rmat ion be

fou nd by recons t ru c t ing the arrangement of the drawings in Cave 30/IV? I dea l ly . Cave

30/ I V would be re-excavated and the draw ings examined first-hand. That is no t always



154

pract ical , so the second best opt ion i s to study th e or ig ina l rubbings made b y Macalister.

w h i c h are loca ted a t Palestine Exploration Society in London. England.

Another puzzle to be addressed is the loca t ion of two round structures w e s t of the

stones an d allar. The soulhem structure was a platform: the northern h ad six-foot walls

w iih a f in i shed noor of small stones (Fig. 6.4). It contained a corpus of MBII pottery

fragments a n d a bronze snake (Macalister 1912: 398). Macalister a.s.sumed tha i the

s t ruc tu res were related to t he s tones bu t what their relationship was is unknown. An

excavat ion of the area could es t ab l i sh if t hey w ere s igni f i cant , w ha t their significance

was. and if relevant to the analvs i s .



1 5 5

» ,9 • ,/ uJ - .

.VcAfc'fciA i S ' V # V . , '

Fig. 6.4. Macalister's plan of the Standing Stones and adjacent structures (Macalister

1 9 1 2 : 397. Fig. 486).

Belh H o r o n is one site tha t shou ld be considered fo r fu r the r research. Was upper

or lower Beth H o r o n the place from w h i c h the obser\ations recorded in Joshua 10: 1 2 a -

1 3a were taken ' If not. perhaps a site n e a r Belh Horon w o u l d p r o v e to be a more viab le

prospect. 1 su gges t tha t such a study w o u l d f ir s t establish that astronomical observations

were t a ke n b y locating the arch i tec tu ra l indicators; th e orientat ion of a cult site and the



1 5 6

I ca iL ir c s within the cult site or standing stone(s) or the natural relationship between the

place from which an observation could have been taken and the markers on the horizon.

A t Megiddo, a l a rge number of sta t i s t ical measurements need to b e made

addressing alignments that m ay or may not occur between the very na r row doorway of

Temple 4050. i ts a l ta r , an d th e ba.ses tha t cou ld have held pillars and/or statues to the

natural features along th e horizon. Mount Tabor to th e northeast. M o u n t .M ore h to the

east, and . M o u n t Gilboa to th e southeast. The rea.son that I think that these landmarks are

s ign i f i ca n t i s that the June solstice occurs over M o u n t Tabor today and the shif t of the

ecliptic is no t so l a rge that that would have m o v e d o f f that landmark. A n attempt to

recons t ru c t the p l a c e m e n t of the drawings on the pavement should be undertaken, so as to

es tab l i sh the order in w h i c h th e paving s tones were placed and th e re la t ionsh ip of the

i m a g e s to one another. The orientation of the stones in the p a v e m e n t m ig h t also be

h e lpfu l , if the or ig ina l b ui lde r s place the drawings in a particular m a n n e r , for example,

w a s th e lion and m a n placed vertically as it appears on the Gezer vot ive , ins tead of

hor izon ta l as it appears in publications?

Some drawings fou nd on the p a v e m e n t b e a r similarities to s ign i f i ca n t features o f

other constellations u.sed by the M e . so p o t a m ia n an d Ptolemaic a.s t ronomers . Particularly,

one drawing, the m a n w i t h a harp or lyre and a sword a t his r ight s ide w i t h the crescent

m o o n , is similar to O r i o n , a n d later repre .sentat ions o f Baal and Re se ph resemble that

drawing (Fig. 6.5.). Osiris has been ident i f ied as Orion (Krupp 1 9 8 3 : 19) . A n Israelite





1 5 8

; ^ i l ' . ;V ,

; ' X r •- • •

lu i- '

Iyy r ':^

M f : ^ p

Fig 6.6. a. Baal stele (MB lib. Keel 1978: 213, Fig . 291); b. Egyptian Reseph

The following drawing ha.s affmilies w i t h th e con.s te l la t ion .s of Sag i t ta r iu s and

Scorpius. The figure on th e left appears to be s tand ing nex t to a hoofed a n i m a l tha t is not

idenlifiabie- . the figure on th e r ight has a head shaped as a curved l ine tha t ends in a sharp

h o o k , m u c h liive the tai l of the scorpion and matches the crooked tai l of Scorpius

compr i .sed of the stars u, /. , k . i, 0. r | . C. ( i , and c Scorpius.



159

/

« 1 C « pm 2 C m

r S c t

• O s f l• J 0 0 p « = 0 ( « * S e o

• t S e o".s*

•iim > < X » i« 0 « i i '*L*

l O t h

'*9 tM » ,* « # •

8 2 a « • N > V

I i S y

'»» .s. • i . S g r

»0^

«gr j i o , ^ • - ^ O g n

C 3 l * i

P "* 0 ( n

' m J S e O » *'•". 0 | * « •1«"

'•Seezaee •

* «_ a S G O• i8» *v

• ; s»«9

•o

' t S e o• « S 0 « "

• C f A" t C / A

. < C r *, »OA•s» * p f A

» 2 S v

•.»gr

* i S »

>2«

• A

• •.« l * I T t (

•fto

, S o a• f e e

• S e o .

i t l S c o

* S c o ,

. ( i S c a« « 9 C O

1 3 Vm

»L *•L*tu^* * ^ L a 0

Fig. 6.7. Megiddo drawing (above) (Loud 1970: Pi. 274. F ig 10);

oriented to a star map of Sagittarius and Scorpius

(Maris 1 9 9 5 : Redshift 2)



160

The f i rs t f igure is reminiscent o f Sagittarius with its horse's body and man's upper torso .

The vot ive altar from Gezer has th e constellation Leo on one side and the adjacent s ide

has a m an standing behind an animal, which is unidentifiable (Fig. 6.8a). The horse-and-

rider images figure prominently in the iconography of th e L e v a n t , and other

represen ta t ions are found on seals an d as statuettes, the la t te r were found in large

numbers throughout I s rae l (Keel 1 9 9 8 : 343; Taylor 1 9 9 3 ) . Taylor argued that the disk

found b e t w e e n the eyes of some of the horse figures represen ted the sun (Fig. 6.8. b an d

c).

Fig. 6.8. Horse figures: a. Gezer votive (Keel 1998; 381. Fig . 372); b. Horse with

headless rider (Taylor 1 9 9 3 . Fig. 9); c. Horse head (Taylor 1993. Fig. 1);

d. Horse with rider/manand figure in front of horse (Keel 1998: 142. Figs .

164b . 163a . and 164a).



1 6 1

i believe tha t t he p l a c e m e n t of the hoofed animal's feet on the c rook representing

the man's head tells th e v i e w e r where this figure is placed in the sky. The m o s t

p ro m i n e n t feature of Scorpius is the crook of i ts tail , which strongly r e se m b le s the crook

o f the man's head, even t h o u g h the rest of the f igu re does not follow th e traditional

pat te rn of Scorpius. I th ink tha t these two f i gures shou ld be researched as separate

i m a g e s , and as a conjoined image (Fig. 6.8.d). A bibl ica l description, w h i c h might

identify the two figures i s fou nd in Gen 49: 17. "Dan sha l l be a snake by the roadside, a

viper along the pa th tha t bites the horse's heels so tha t i ts r ider falls backwards."

I believe the more complex d ra w ings from Megiddo also contain information on

th e perceptions of the observers . The initial impact f rom the following drawing (Fig. 6.9)

is one of confusion but. b y breaking the drawing in to par t s , the elements become

recognizable (Fig. 6.10). These elements need to be iden t i f ied and then re la ted to the

o t he r elements in order to unders t and the message of the drawing.



Fig, 6.9. Complex Megiddo drawing (Loud 1 9 7 0 : F i g .



1 6 3

Fig. 6.10. Theelements or the complex drawing:a. bulls' heads, b. incense altar, c.

man (with two heads?), d. fish tail, e. tree, f. bird, g. bull (with bleeding eye?) and h.

a mountain (Illustration b y S. Gardner).



164

The incense a l ta r (Fig. 6.1O b) appears on another stone, although the original pla te shows

it upside down: nonetheless, its appearance in the complex drawing ties i t to the other

drawings. The mountain could b e one of th e three mountains to the east of Megiddo; the

t r ee perhaps is an early representation of th e sacred tree (Asherah). it may provide a

starting po in t to understanding the o r ig ins of Asherah. A ll the elements t an ta l ize the

investigator to ru.sh analysis when th e approach must er r on the side of caution.

•Vlore resea rch needs to b e done on th e role of th e l ion motif in I srael i te society.

Does the u se of the lion simile as it is app l ied to the t r ibes of Gad and Dan have po l i t i ca l ,

religious, or soc ia l structures impl ica t ions? 18"" and 19'"' c. CE arguments have been

p(»scd tha t a.ssign the zodiacal constellations to the Twelve Tribes of Israel. I am no t in

disagreement w i th that proposition but . unt i l we understand the t r iba l lists bet te r , I do n o t

hclicve that viable analysis i s poss ib le . The research on other non-zodiacal constellations

such as Orion a l so i s important. Cu l tu ra l ro le and worldview of the constellations w i l l

enable us to u nders tand more about w h a t the ancient Canaanites and Israelites saw as

w e l l as the ro le o f the celestial sky in the i r lives.





166

ENDNOTES

I Scholarship lo date inse cure ly suggests th a t th e " fe a s t of ingathering" celebrated at the

lurn of th e year" or a t th e end of the year should be placed at the a u t u m n a l equinox

(Vanderkam 1992: 817; Clines 1974: 22-40). Other scholars have su gges ted that the

"turn o f the year" could be pla ce d a t the vernal equinox (Clines 1974: 3 9 - 4 0 ) . Clines

goes on 10 say that the re is no conclusive evidence lo support either a n autumnal new

year or ve rna l new y ear .

2. In translating the poem contained in the ve r se s of Joshua 12b-13a. J. Holladay deleted

ihc conjunction from mr.arguing that "the conjunction i s rare in early poe t ry an d serves

no usefu l function here" (Hollodav 1968: 168, N o t e 8: Cross and F r e e d m a n 1953: 17-

19) .

Hol la da y deleted th e ar t ic le from arguing tha t it "... was unsui table both in

terms of th e personification o f Sun and Moon in th is poem and in terms of early Hebrew

poetr\" (Holladay 1 9 6 8 : 1 6 8 , N o t e 11).

4. " . 'Xs a male deity, th e m o o n was worship b y th e Sumerians and by the Semites in

general. The moon-god was k n o w n as Sin among th e eastern Semites and as Erah or

Yerah in the "west" (Gray 2001).

5. The w o r d for lion' in Pr\ . 1 9 : 1 2 a and Prv. 2 0 : 2 a i s 1 3which t rans la te to "roar" and

m ay be u.sed translated as "lion" ba.sed on its a.s.sociation with in oth e r verses such as

Job 3 8 : 3 9 - 4 0 , "Can y o u h u n t th e pre y for the l ion , or satisfy the appetite o f the young

l ions , wh e n they crouch in their dens or lie in w a i t in their covert?" (K a pla n 1981: 57-58).

6. He re the word for "lion" is ira? and means " l ion ' (Kaplan 1981: 3 3 - 4 0 ) .

7. Fre e dm a n (1979) pla ce d th e content of this archa ic poem in 14'* ' -13"' c. BCE, and its

compos i t ion in 1 l''' c. BCE.

8 F r e e d m a n (1979) pla ce d the content of this archaic poem in 12th c. BCE. and i tscomposition in 1 Ith c. BCE.



1 6 7

APPENDIX A;

EARLY ARCHAEOASTRONOMY

Astronomy an d Mesopotamia (1800-500 BCE)

The earl ies t evidence for mathemat i ca l geocentric astronomy is found in the

astronomical t ex ts from Mesopotamia that date from th e early 2 " * ^ mil lenn iu m (m.) BCE

to r'm. BCE. Evidence for a s t ro n o m i c a l observations is found in su rv iv ing tex ts from

I gar i t to Susa w i t h the earliest corpus of such texts being collection of lunar eclipse

t>mens . The m os t comprehensive t ex ts are Enunui Ann Enlil."Three stars e a c h " or

Astrolabe t ex t s a n d M L ' L . A P L N a n d fou nd in Mesopotamia. Texts f o u n d outside of

Mesopotamia a p p e a re d to belong to a common source tha t originated in Akka d and

B a b y l o n (Hunger a n d Pingree 1 9 9 9 ; 8). E n i i m a Ann Enlil. which inc lu ded lunar , .solar,

vêather , s t e l la r , a nd planetary omens, w a s copied as la te as the Achaemid and Hellenistic

per iods (Hunger a n d Pingree 1 9 9 9 ; 14) .

The . M e s o p o ta m i a n view of the universe is geocentric and divides into t hree

spher i ca l layers stationed around a t la i ear th . Astrolabes represented the sky an d i ts

layers w i t h the s t ars in place and coordina ted to the months of the year. A st ro n o m e rs

note d when a par t icu la r star or se t o f s ta r s rose on the ea.s lem horizon a par t icular star or

set o n the westem horizon, and that the pat tern of rising/setting stars was related to the

apparen t ce les t ia l movement according to th e months, seasons and pass ing of a year



1 6 8

(Hu xley 1 9 9 7 : 194-97).

The earliest known tables, th e "omen texts", were from Old Babylonia and l i s ted

luna r and solar eclipses in the guise of pred ic t ive omens or divination (Rochberg 1 9 9 5 :

1 9 2 5 - 2 6 ; Koch-Westenholz 1995; H u n g e r and Pingree 1999:5-8). These early t e x ts w e r e

not s tandard ized according to formulas presented in the la ter texts. Nonetheless, the

o m e n t e x t s appeared to b e the precu rsor for the later E n i u n u Ann Enlil (Hunger an d

P ingre e 1 9 9 9 : 8). Omen texts were found at .Vlari (Durand 1 9 8 8 ) . Hattu . sa (Koch-

W'estenholz 1993; Giiterbock 1988. Le ib ov ic i 1956; Rochberg-Halton 1988). Emar

(Amaud 1 9 8 7 ) . Ras I bn Han i (Die t r ich and Loretz 1990: 165-195). Ugaril (Amaud 1 9 9 6 ;

dc J o n g and v an Soldt 1987/1988; Dietr ich and Loretz 1 9 9 0 : 39-62) Alalakh (Wiseman

1 953) . Qatna (Bottero 1950). N u z i ( L a c h e m a n 1937) and Su.sa (Scheil 1917; Doss in

1 927) .

• A few tablets from the Middle B a b y l o n i a n and Middle Assyrian periods w e r e

fnund also and provided examples of the transition from the Old to New Babylonian

Eniuna Ann Enlil of the early P'm. BCE (Hunger and Pingree 1999: 12). The Eniima

Ann E n l i l is th e subject of enumerable s tu d ies (Reiner-Pingree 1975. 1981 and 1 9 9 8 ;

R o c h b e r g - H a l t o n 1988; A l - R a w i - G eo r g e 1991/1992; van S o l d t 1995; Koch-Westenholz

1995 ; Hunger and Pingree 1999).

The astronomical contents o f En i lma Ann Enlil were expressed as omens. One

s tudy of the tab le t s by Virolleaud (1905-12) divided the t ex ts in to sections according to



1 6 9

th e names of th e gods. Sin (lunar) Shamash (solar). Adad (weather) and Isiar (stars and

plane ts ) . The m o o n or lunar omens included early appearances o f the moon and eclipses;

the data for ec l ipses included; the dale of the occurrence, time an d duration, appearance

(size, motion o f th e shadow and color), and a.s .sociated phenomena (wind, weather,

earthquakes a n d vis ib le stars/planets).' T h e solar texts provided descriptions of the su n a t

sunrise in re la t ionsh ip to atmospheric p h e n o m e n a (such as clouds an d their color) and

some eclipses. The sections on the stars an d the planets contained omens as w e l l as

astronomical knowledge, i.e.. star li.sts. specif ic constellations, a nd planetary movements.

Be\ond some basic planetary periods, little in the E n C m u i Ann Ei i l i l reflected the later

niathemalicai a s t r o n o m y (Hunger and P ingre e 1999; 15-22).

. • \no the r genre o f astronomical tex ts w a s the ".A.strolahe" or "Three Stars Each"

tablets in w h i c h the fixed stars were plot ted by their helical r i s ings , one star for each o f

th e three paths represen ted by Anu. Enlil. an d Ea. The astrolabes pla ce d the stars in the

sk y according to the ir seasons, which w a s b orne out later by . M U L . A P I N (Rothberg 1 9 9 5 ;

1 9 2 9 ) . B. L. van der Waerden considered the astrolabes as the beg inn ing of

"systematization of prescientiHc popular knowledge about stars appearing in the sky

during the different sea . sons of the year" (van der Waerden 1949; 6).

In the T " " C. BCE the .MUL.APIN w a s written, and it appeared to be a

comprehensive co l lec t ion of astronomical knowledge. In Tablet I th e fixed stars were

l isted according to th e three paths of Anu. Enl i l and Ea. as they w e r e on the a .s t rolabes .



170

Their hel ical r ise was r e corde d along w i th a l is t of meridian crossing stars stars)

an d th e s ta rs on the path of th e moon. In Ta b le t II. w hich has been divided into sections

descr ib ing the sun in i t s course, th e astronomical se a sons , stellar calendars for the winds

an d th e appearance and disappearance of th e pla ne t s as w e l l as their visible orbi ts , the

ru les fo r the intercalation of th e lunisolar ye a r , shadow l e ng th s cast by gnomon, th e length

of da ys a nd nights, and the dura t ion of lime unt i l the m o o n rose and set (Rochberg 1995;

A t this time it is be l i eved tha t there m a y b e a third tab le t as yet undiscove re d

( H u n g e r a n d Pingree 1989: 8 ). MUL.APIN was c o m p i l e d from many sources w i t h th e

l lnal compilation in 686 BCE. w h i c h is the date of the star catalogues (Hunger an d

Ping r ee 1 9 8 9 : 10) ." The dif ferent copies of th e text h a v e variations, b u t th ose va r ia t ions

are insigni f icant enough to m a k e it difficult to estimate the date for the ear l ies t

com pi la t ion (Hunger and P ingre e 1989: 9).'

THE EARLY HISTORY OF ARCHAEOASTRONOMY

S tuke le y a nd Lockyer Look at Stonehenge

The relationship b e t w e e n ancient monumental a rch i t e c tu re and astronomy i s th e

d o m a i n of bo th th e astronomer a n d archaeologist, bu t th e fi rst observation that such a

conne c t ion existed was made b e fore archaeology was an established discipline, an d by a

m an of sc ie nce . In the e a r ly 170 0 s Rev. William S tuke le y became fa .scina ted w i t h



1 7 1

Stonehenge and other monuments located in the English countr\side. H e attributed these

sites to th e Dmids/ Stukele\ " s interest was fue le d b y both his curiosity in antiquities and

his scientific training. H e studied science a t Cambridge and applied w h a t he learned to

f ie ld observations made at Stonehenge and Avebur>/ In 1719 he b e ga n his research with

sketches, and by 1722/23 he detected connections between the angles o f the built

environment as they re la ted to the cyclic movement of astral bodies. H is observ ations.

acuteK accurate, were a na lyz e d and recorded in both written and dra f ted forms (Piggott

1935; 26-27). For e .xam pl e . Rev. Stukeley observed tha t the axis of Stonehenge and its

avenue were oriented to w h e r e "the Sun r ises w h e n the days are longest" (Michell 1989:

9).

The dichotomy b e t w e e n science and re l igion shaped the views of Rev. Stukeley.

who reconciled his in te rpre ta t ion of archaeological and astronomical evidence with the

"orthodox" view of histor\ as outlined in the Old Testament. He claimed tha t the Druids

i ^ f Stonehenge were descendants of Abraham a n d every pagan religion, especially the one

practiced by th e Druids, w as a foreshadow ing o f Christianity and the Tr in i ty . In his

opinion, th e Druids pract iced the earliest form of C h r i . s t i a n i ty , and th e re l igion practiced

b y Moses h ad clouded Christianity's purest fo rm (Piggott 1935: 26. 29-30; Richardson

1984: r; Chippindale 1 9 9 4 : 84-85). Rev. Stu ke ley stated. "When I f i rs t b e g a n these

Studies about th e Druid antiquities. 1 plainly discem'd, the religion profess'd in these



172

places was the first, simple, pa t r i a rch a l religion " (Richardson 1984: i ). This type of

reconc i l ia t ion between chu rch and science was a common phenomenon in I S ' * * century . ' '

Interes t continued in Stonehenge through the m id-19 ' ' ' ce n tu r> ' and produ ced more

attempts to study the monument, but no collective consensus between scho la rs on i ts

astronomical characteristics was reached. Nonetheless, noted scholars such a s Fl inders

Pe t r ie a n d Charles Darwin continued to pursue this l ine o f research. Fl inders Petr ie

supported Stukeley's hy po thes is on Stonehenge astronomy: "What can be m o r e probable,

and w hat can be better su ppor ted b y the facts, than that u n le t te red man in his f irst worship

and reverence , would di rec t h is attention to tha t glorious luminary the Sun?-the generator

of his da i ly b le s s ings . —th e uni fy ing power of the earth, an d plants, and f rui ts - - the source

o f his subsistence" (Petrie 1 8 8 0 : 33). Petrie's statement re f lec ted his bel ie f that th e

monuments and traditions of th e ancient Near Eas t sh a re d th e same astronomical

affinities as Stonehenge (Chippindale 1994: 136-137). B y th e end of the 19'''century. Sir

J. Norman Lockyer. an eminent astronomer, scientist, a n d the "father of

archaeoastronomy" became inte res ted in the orientation of Greek and Egypt ia n temples to

the po in ts of sunrise and star r i s ings (Chippindale 1 9 9 4 : 1 4 0 ) .

Sir J. N o r m a n Lockyer: Greece. E g y p t , and England

While on vacation in Greece, J. Norman L o c k y e r not ice d that the P a r th e non was

originally constructed on one a. \ is . th e n reconstructed o n a slightly rotated axis. With



173

further examination he found shi f ts in the orientation o f other temples in Greece su c h as

Eleusis. H e suspected that th e same w o u l d be true of the temples in Egypt. Taking his

research to E g y p t . Lockyer d i sc o v e re d that the temples o f E g y p t were oriented to specific

points on the horizon: the temple a t Kamak was aligned w i t h the June and D e c e m b e r

solstices, a n d t he temples a t Giza a n d Memphis to the M a r c h and September equinoxes.

H e extended his hypothesis to inc lu de the alignments of Egypt i an temples to certa in stars

( H e t he r i n g t o n 1 9 8 7 ; 14-17). Beginning in 1891 L o c k y e r wrote series of ar t i c les on

a n c i e n t a s t ro n o m y t ha t appeared in N a t u r e . These art ic les included considerations t ha t

were drawn f rom Mesopotamian t ex t s and the Old Testament. H e published the first

volume o n the relationship b e t w e e n astronomy and monumental buildings, and the focus

was E g y p t i a n . The Dawn of Astronomy (1894).

L o c k y e r wrote that the Egy pt ians bu i l t the p y ra m i d s and temples in "s t r ic t re la t ion

to t he s t a rs indica t ing astronomical knowledge" (Lockyer 1894: 14) . a point that he

t ho u g h t was w e l l supported by pyramid/temple wall-paintings and inscriptions ( L o c k y e r

1 8 9 4 : I S) . H e also recorded a di f f erence in the or i enta t ion of the temples found in

Lower a n d U p p e r Egypt, "...in L o w e r E g y p t , the temples are pointed to stars rising near

t he nor th po in t of the horizon or se t t ing w e s t of north. In Upper Egypt we deal chief iy

w i t h temple di rec t ed to stars r is ing in the south-east" (Lockyer 1893b: 319). H e

postu la t ed that th e Great Temple o f Amon-Re at Kamak was oriented to the set t ing June

solstice sun b e c a u se its entrance faced the northwest. According to Lockyer. a s ight l ine



1 7 4

of 1 . 996 fe e t could be drau n down the central pa ssa ge where the sun shone on th e s ta tue

of th e god on the day of the exact December so ls t ice , and establish the exact l eng th o f th e

so la r ye a r (Krupp 1983: 253-254).

In 1901 Lockyer a l o n g w i t h F. C. Penrose, a f r iend and colleague,directed his

inqu i r \ to Stonehenge w h e r e th e axis aligns w i t h th e June and December solstice su nse ts .

Both are view ed from the center of Stonehenge th rough portals created b y the

ar rangement of the mega l i ths . Based on measurements taken from this axis. Lockyer

es tabl ished the date for Stonehenge a t 1680 BCE ±200years, b u t th e tables from w h i c h

h e w o r k e d were later found to contain an error of 200 y ears . Readjusting his figures

brings h is date to 1860 B C E ±200 years and is ver i f ied by recent radiocarbon dates

( M i c h e l l 1989: 23).

20' ' ' century criticism of Stu ke ley and Lockyer

P r ior to the 2 0 ' * * cen tu ry , esoteric approaches to the study of mythology, sacred

historv ' . th e Kabbala. H e b r e w , and Platonic phi losophy focused on content as a record of

k n o w l e d g e . In the perspec t ive of Stukeley and W o o d as well as others, these earlier

r e cords were n o t records of a primitive society, bu t a n intellectual application of early

a s t ronom ica l principles. Knowledge gained from astronomy was encoded in re l ig ion a nd

re l igious writings; for example, the Star of Bethlehem r i s ing at the bir th of the Christ

ch i ld .



175

In th e atmosphere of the 20"* centur\ th e esoteric fe l l victim to scient i f ic

rationalism. Monumental structures such as Stonehenge are relegated to the class of

primitive monuments and their constructors to a group of primitive pe ople who were

incapable of scientific or astronomical know l edg e . It is assumed that they founded their

beliefs in re l ig ious ignorance. For example, in cr i t ic ism of A. Watkin's w o r k on le y lines.

O. G. S. Craw ford, editor oi Antiquity, states it "b e t r a ye d a complete i gnora nce of the

nature of pr im i t ive society" ( .M i ch e l l 1989: 45). Eng l i sh scholarship re lega tes the concept

that early peop l e observed celestial movement to the German Vnhimmheit (or ig ina l

stupidity), an d consistently criticized archaeoastronomy.

Lockyer's re .search i s fraught w i t h inaccurac ies in his application of astronomical

calculations, both in Egypt and a t Stonehenge. H is conclusions on the Great Temple of

,Amun-Re a re inaccurate because he failed to consider the Theban hills that r ise high

enough on th e horizon to block the rays of the S un f rom the proposed s igh t l ine (Krupp

1983: 254-55). A t Stonehenge he t r ied to in tegrate " w a m i n g " stars that foreca.sted the

approaching solstices and e q u ino . xe s to co r re l a te w i t h f eas t days of the Celtic calendar

and " c l oc k stars' that mark the hours of the n ig h t . H e concluded tha t Stonehenge was a

May-November calendar that evolved into a solst i t ial temple (Chippindale 1 9 9 4 : 220).

Although. Lockyer's theory of ancient astronomy continued to be r e spe c te d on the

Continent, objections to it were raised in Engla nd . Er ror s and misconceptions contained

in his volume on Stonehenge were the focus o f h is cr i t ics . Even in their criticism, noted





1 7 7

Modem Archaeoastronomy: Gerald Hawkins. Asironomy an d Archaeologists

In 1963 at Boston University. Gerald Hawkins found one of th e many articles

v\nt len by J. Norman Lockyer in th e early e di t ions o(Nature.^ Hawkins took the

conspicuous site lines and stone alignments draf ted by L o c k y e r . encoded them, and then

fed the data into a computer. Combining those figures w i th so l st i ce s and external

lunas t i t ia ls around 1500 BCE. he discovered that ten of the l ines point to solar azimuths

and founeen to lunar; the la tter coordinate extreme alignments o f moonrises and

moonsets according to the 18.6 year cycle of the moon (Krupp 1983: 218). He continued

his w o r k on the 56 Aubrey Holes tha t are located inside th e ear then embankment that

surrounds Stonehenge; the holes form a circle w i t h a diameter of 284.5 feet. Hawkins

c la im e d the holes form a device to calculate the lunar eclipse cyc le that takes 56 ye a r s to

complete. Although. Hawkins" re.search is highly disputed, h e a pt ly demonstrated that the

pe ople who b ui l t Stonehenge and A v e b u r y are no t the "illiterate barbarians" that

scholarship professed them to be. Mainstream archaeologists had continued to ignore

research on ancient astronomy and its practitioners until Hawkins wrote Stonehenge

D e c o d e d (1965). then the popularity of the book required that a response be made. In tw o

ar t ic les in Nature (1966) and Antiquity (1966: 212-16) a Bri t i sh archaeologist and

f o r e m o s t expert on Stonehenge. Professor R. Atkinson, cr i t ic ized Hawkins for his s tyle of

w r i t i n g , his inaccuracies in history and a rch a e ology , and flatly de nie d that the existence o f

any astronomical alignments a t Stonehenge—any alignment tha t occurred occurred only



178

hy chance. He was equ a l ly adamant about an y evidence that the A u b r e y Holes were used

to char t the lunar eclipse c y c le (Michell 1 9 8 9 ; 66-68).

Archaeologists su ch as R. Atkin . son and S. P i g g o t t continued to a sse r t that

a s t r o n o m y w as b e y o n d the capabilities of the ear ly builders of Stonehenge or any other

>ite; J. H aw kes wrote in Antiquity (1967: 1 7 4 - 8 0 ) that people who professed that

Stonehenge was an as t ronomica l instrument w e r e imposing modem scient i f ic ideas on

ancient people w ho were incapable of science."* In From Stonehenge to Modem

Cosmology (1972) Sir Fred H o y l e , a noted c o sm o lo g i s t from Cambridge corroborated the

ca lcu la t ions used b y H a w k i n s and thus suppor t ed Stonehenge as an astronomical

m s i r u m e n t . Even w i t h val idat ion from a no ted exp>ert. archaeologists re fu sed to recognize

that primitive humans m igh t not have been so pr imi t ive . The turning po in t seems to be

w h e n Atkinson, who prev iou s ly had criticized Hawkins severely, accep ted that astronomy

w as an element in the const ruc t ion of Britain's anc ien t standing stones. He called

at tent ion to the fac t tha t archaeologists were educated in a particular manner, were s low-

to c h a n g e , and w ary of in fo rmat ion outside of the i r field—in other w o r d s , they did n o t

k n o w anything about a .s t ronomy. Atkinson's arguments opened the f ield of

archaeoastronomy to archaeolog i s t s and a l l o w e d them believe that anc ien t humans were

capab le of understanding th e complexities o f observational astronomy—including P i g g o t t

(P iggo t t 1974: 275-76).



1 7 9

Archaeoastronom\: Alexander Thom and t he N e x t Generation

A . Thom. an engineer, mathematician and Oxford professor , spent years survey ing

the mega l i th ic si tes of the Bri t i sh Isles, and in 1954 he came to the conclusion tha t some

a l i g n m e n t s were oriented to the solstices (Thom 1954: 396-404). In 1955 he continued

th e ana ly s i s w i t h the statistical significance of solst i t ial and equinoctial sightlines. a n d

in t rodu ced th e possib i l i ty of stellar lines (Thom 1955; 275-295). In his first book.

M c i i a l i t h i c Sites in Great Britain {1967) he collected au thor i t a t i ve l is ts of sightlines from

14 5 mega l i th ic sites with the deliberate exclusion of Stonehenge (Heggie 1982: 11 ;

R u g g l e s 1 9 8 2 : 83-86. 1993: MacKie 1988: 207). Thom w as meticulous in his data

co l lec t ion , but his stat i st ical arguments were too formidable for m o s t archaeologists and

c o n se q u e n t ly ignored (MacKie 1988: 207). Nonetheless, th e stat i st ical data appealed to

other di sc ip l ines tha t have made a continuing contribution to three imjwnant f ie lds of

s tudy : geometrv. mensuration a n d astronomy (Ruggles 1 9 8 8 : . r ;) .

Thom's collection of mathematical and .statisticaJ data is legendary (see Ruggles

1 9 8 8 ) a n d i s used primarily in th e British Isles. The Thom p a ra d i g m is basic:

I) a l i g n m e n t s a t a given site could have occurred i n d e p e n d e n t of a . s t ronomy and stil l be

co inc iden ta l ly a l igned to astronomical events; 2) s ta t is t icaJ data can demonstrate th e

intentional i ty of alignments to astronomical events; a n d 3 ) a l a rg e body of data can be

u sed to asce r ta in tha t the alignments are intentional and m o re common than chance would

permi t (Ruggles 1988: 232). The u.se of the Thom parad igm outside of the Bri t i sh Is les



180

is l imi ted ; although, in th e volume dedicated to A. Thorn. A. Aveni does apply it to

pe cke d circles on s tones found in Mesoamerica (Aveni 1988: 442-72). an d E. Krupp

loose ly applies it to th e Ptolemaic temples of the 3 ' ^ ' ' and 2"' ' c. BCE (Krupp 1988: 473-

9 9 ) .

Since Thorn's f irst volume in 1967 archaeologists became more read i ly accepting

and forthcoming: for example, Piggott states. "The astronomy cannot be pursued in

v a c u o , but only in ful l knowledge of the archaeology involved..." (P iggot t 1974: 276). In

1979 new interest in this field produced a supplemental journal to The Journal for the

H i s t o r y of Astronomy Archueoaslronomy, dnd in 1 9 8 1 the first "Wor ld

Archaeoastronomy Symposium" was he ld (Ruggles 1988: xii). Since then there have

been an additional f ive conferences known as th e International Oxford Conferences on

A s t r o n o m y in 1986. 1 9 9 0 . 1992. 1996 and 1 9 9 9 . Furthermore, archaeoastronomy has

e x p a n d e d t o include ethnography in a div is ion known as ethnoastronomy (Aveni 1989:

R u g g l e s a n d Saunders 1993: Farrer 1991).

ASTRONOMY AND THE BIBLE

A s t r o n o m y and Theology: 1200-1700 CE

A controversy exists between science and the l i tera l in terpreta t ion of the Old

T e s t a m e n t and has ex is ted from the time of Copernicus and Galileo. A t the beginning of



1 81

the Renaissance, th e "heavens" w e r e modeled over a geocentric perspective first

fo rmu la ted by Aristarchus of Samos (2" ' ' c. BCE) bu t popularly ascribed to Claudius

P t o l e m y of Alexandria ( 2 " " * c. CE). The Ptolemaic system was based on the earlier

t r ad i t ions of Ari s to t le (384-322 BCE) and Hipparchus (ca. 160 BCE) and was consistent

w i t h Chri s t i an theology as we se e put for th by Thomas Aquinas. Thomas Aquinas (1224-

1 2 7 5 CE) blended the Ari s to t e l i an "unity of the world", which sta ted that everything h as

a natura l place a n d the earth is the center, with Ptolemy's Almagest and Chri . s t ian

doctrine. B y f i t t ing these perspec t ives together in to a l i tera l t ransla t ion of the Bible, it

placed humans at the center of a universe created by the god of the Old Testament, i.e.,

the p a r a m o u n t placement of humans in the scheme of creation (Hale 1989: 295-96; K u h n

1 9 8 9 ; 47. 60-1; Braudel 1 9 9 4 ; 366-67). Working from Ptolemy's Nicolaus

Copernicus, a churchman, mathemat i c i an and astronomer, m o d e l e d a universe tha t was

he l iocen t r ic an d presented his w o r k in On the R e v o l i i l i o n s of the Heavenly Spheres (1543;

[(Hale 1 9 8 9 ; 2 9 6 1 ) . " '

Ga l i l e i Galileo (1564-1642). a mathematician, astronomer a n d instructor of

mili tary m e c ha n i c s , followed Copernicus. With the aid of a n e w l y invented optical

instmment or telescope des igned for distanceview

ing. Galileotu rned

the telescope tothe

sk y for th e f i rs t time, "Forsaking terrestr ia l observation, I turned the celestial ones, and

f i rs t I s a y th e M o o n from as near at hand as i f I were scarcely two t e r res t r ia l radi i away.

A f t e r that 1 obser\ ed often with wondering delight both the planet s and the fixed stars"



182

(Kuhn 1 9 8 9 ; 103). He discovered that planets h ad disk shapes and differed from point

l ike stars, the moon resembled th e ear th and that Venus h a d phases similar to the moon's

suggesting tha t the source of l igh t was the sun; a ll of w h i c h supported a he l iocen t r ic

u n ive rse . Academically, he was l a ude d and elected to a pos t a t the Lincean Academy

w h e r e he convinced many of the Jesui t astronomers that h is observations w e r e authentic.

H ow ever, in Florence controversies arose b e tw een th e sc ience of Copernicus and

theo logy of the Church. In Rome Galileo argued tha t a conf l ic t between Copemicanism

a nd b ib l i ca l authority did not e x i s t on the basis tha t each was a representation of the mind

of God. and therefore, were not in contradiction. Ul t im a te ly , Copemican cosmology and

th e work o f Galileo were condemned, and Galileo was sen tenced to life imprisonment

that was commuted to hou.se arres t . H e continued to sy s temat ize the physical foundations

i > f astronomical mechanics during the las t decade of his l i fe . He la id a foundation for the

ensuing scientific revolution an d th e future of astronomy (Hale 1989; 147-48; Kuhn

1 9 8 9 ; 103-16).

The theological and sc ientif ic dichotomy of th e Renaissance and Reformation

shapes scholasticism from then unti l now. The Renaissance was the period of intellectual

act iv i ty tha t "followed a ra t iona l , humanistic point of view" (Hale 1989; 297). Science

expanded i ts boundaries, which had been limited to mathematics and medicine in the

Middle Ages. Mathematical astronomy and physics w e r e founded on the n e w l y

discovered manuscripts of the a nc ie n t Greeks, and medicine advanced by creating new



183

f ie lds in botany and zoology. In short, the scholars or "natural philosophers" began to

investigate the w o r l d around them.

Throughout the preceding Middle Ages the Church had con t ro l led the flow of

knowledge and bibl ical interpretation, b ut in the atmosphere ofscientillc rationalism the

t r ad i t iona l doctrines of the Church were challenged. In the ca.ses of pseudo-sciences such

as astrology and a l c h e m y , the Church assumed a posture of to le rance . In the cases of true

sciences, it was host i le a n d condemned natura l sciences on the p r e m i s e tha t th e biblical

a c c o u n t provided the only important information. Furthermore, it was no t the place of

humans to challenge the Church and i ts doctrines (Burckhart 1945: 1 7 5 . 311).

The R e f o r m a t i o n was a time of redef in ing the role of re l ig ion in the state, in

sc ience , and in evervday l ife within a new parameter of////// w / z m ///. but w i t h sober reality.

The common pe ople became more directly involved in religion, the l inks with the

Church in Rome w e r e broken, and the Bible had a new set of in terpreters , the Protestants.

The Protestant m o v e m e n t supported the growth of scientific t h o u g h t as long as it could

be reconciled wi th r e l ig ious thought (Braudel 1994: 349-55).

Astronomy of th e Bible : 1750-1950 CE

In the w ake of the Renaissance and the Reformation, th e ensuing periods of

scholarship attempted to b r idge the schism between science and re l igion w i t h

impassioned polemics such as those fXJ stured by Rev. Stukeley's theory tha t the Druid



184

re l ig ion represen ted Christianity in i ts truest form (see a b o v e ) . This dichotomy w as based

on the di f fe rences between theo logy and science, and it outl ined a premise tha t astronomy

was the fou nda t ion over w hich the Old Testament and some par t s of the New Testament

were wri t ten . Astronomical/biblical the.ses were w r i t ten from this perspective b y

astronomers and theologians, appear ing early in the 19' ' ' cen tu ry . One of three stances ( in

vary ing d e g r e e s ) were assumed in these tracts: 1) theo log ica l and allegorical t racts sta ted

tha t a l l of the passages in the Bib le were ba.sed entirely o n astronomy, and on the ce les t ia l

sphere w a s w r i t t e n the spiritual m e ssa g e of God; 2) theo log ica l and scientific t r ac t s

re f lec ted th e be l ie f tha t the power o f God conirolled the u n iverse and the ability o f

humans to observe the heavens; and 3) non-theological t racts postulated that the B ib le

contained re fe rences to astronomical phenomena and re f lected early astronomical

know l e dge .

Theo log ica l studies of the f irst stance instructed the reader tha t the Bible w a s th e

definitive source for understanding astronomy because celest ia l movement was God in

action, and the Bible was the source for the mes . sages for thcoming from tha t action (Kurtz

1857; Bullinger 1911). An early example is The Bible and Astronomy: An Exposition of

the B ib l i c a l Cosmology (Kurtz 1857) . J. Kurtz treaded nervou s ly between sciencc and

theology appea l ing to both the sc ientis t and theologian. "The Bible and Nature, s ince both

were the w o r k of God. must agree. Where this does n o t a p p e a r to be the case, the

e .xeges is e i the r of the theologian or the student of nature m us t be a t fault" (Kurtz 1 8 5 7 ;



185

21). The remainder of the b ook dwelt on the th e o log ica l perspective, an d in spite of its

scientific promise, b e c a m e an exposition on th e o log ica l ways to accept science as an

instrument of God.

T/ie Wiiiiess of the Stars (Bullinger 1911) represented the second type with a

slightly different message—more messianic than m o s t approaches. E. B u l l inge r drew

f irst from the Bible, and then from Egyptian and Greek sources to a r g u e that the Bible

was a diagram of the course humankind followed, and following that course would

eventually come fu l l circle as do the stars in the h e a ve ns . Bullinger did a n exposition of

re la ted Hebrew words and Arabic star names w i t h i n the context of propose d a s t r a l myth

beginnings based on the pre m ise that the celestial order and the names fo r the

constellations and a s tc r i sm s remained constant th rough ou t the ancient w o r l d (Bullinger

1911:9). For example. B ul l inge r analyzed the n a m e s u s e d fo r the z odia ca l constellation

L eo from the Egyptian, th e Hebrew, and the Arabic sources. The D e nde ra h zodiac

showed a lion treading on a serpent and underneath the lion/serpent was the word Knem.

or " w ho conquers" w h i c h according to the author refer red "to v ic tory of the . se rpent" .

The Hebrew name of th e sign was Arieh or the l ion hunting for its pre y ; the Syrian name

w a s Aryo. the rending l ion , and the Arabic name is A l A s c u l . which m e a n t "a l ion coming

for th vehemently, l e a p ing forth as a Hame" (Bullinger 1 9 1 1 : 163-64). H is summation of

the role of zodiacal s ign of L eo follows:



186

Here is the conclusion of the whole matter! He re i s the triumph of

the S o n of Man in th e consummated \ ictor%' of th e Seed of the Woman:"Worthy is the Lamh that was slain to receive p o w e r and richcs, a n d

wisdom, and strength, an d honour, and glory, and blessing" (Rev. v

12) . . . .Man has ever s o u g h t to roh Christ o f His glory. H e has long s ince

done h is best to obl i te ra te His name and His w o r k f ro m the Revelation

w h i c h had been wr i t t e n in th e stars of l igh t (Bullinger 1911: 170-71).

The th e m e of h is volume t raced th e ful l cycle of the z odia ca l constellations a nd re l a te d

them to the aforementioned messianic message.

In terest ingly , the third ca tegory included the olde s t treati .se tha t I h a ve di .scovered

so fa r . Writ ten in 1 8 1 1 by Sir William Dmmmond. an astronomer, Oedipus Juikiicus was

a col l e c t ion of dissertations on astronomical symbolism in the Old Testament. In his

pre fa ce D r u m m o n d clearly sta ted tha t his purpose was to examine astronomy an d possible

r e fe re nce s found in the B i b l e academically—not theo log ica l ly . He challenged th e reader

to pu t a s ide the ir theological pre ju d ices and to examine the evidence in te l l ec tu a l ly . In

response to the atmosphere of the period, he also slated that h e would control the

distribution of his work to a selected few "who are of like mind". Oedipus Judaicus

co l la ted scient i f ic astronomy w i t h proposed astronomical references that re la ted to th e

cons te l la t ions , both zodiacal an d extra-zodiacal (Drummond 1 8 1 1 : iii-xxvii). H e

discus .sed d e c c m s and prec ession, noted that the Pen ta teu ch was written less than 1500

years before the birth of Christ, and traced the his tory o f the zodiac through it s supposed

inve nt ion by the Egyptians (b e fore 1500 BCE) through th e alterations and contributions

from the Chaldeans, Greeks, an d Indians (Drummond 1 8 1 1 : xxxii-lvi). The f irst



187

dissertation discussed plates from the scholarship of the time on e x ta n t zod iaca l

representations and as trologica l symbols f o u n d in Egypt, western A s i a , a nd India , and

then weighed them agains t th e b ib l i ca l text. The plates included th e D e nde ra h zodiac

from Egypt, the Esne z odia cs from India, and M i l h ra i c monuments f rom the eastern

Mediterranean. The discuss ion included w h e r e t h e June solstice a nd September equinox

occurred in ancient t imes—re ly ing on a ge ne ra l f igu re of 2150 y ears fo r th e precession of

a single zodiacal cons te l l a t ion into the pos i t ion of the preceding con . s t e l l a t ion—a nd

concluded that the June sols t ice occurred in the T' degree of Virgo a round 4600 BCE

(1811: Ivi i i ff.).

Drummond's disser ta t ion on Genesis 49 compared the twelve t r ibes of I s r a e l to

th e zodiacal signs, and q ue s t ione d the t radi t iona l interpretation of th e O ld Testament:

Before I proce e d , however, to ana ly ze the chapter im m e dia te ly

under consideration, it m ay be proper to remark, that there is e ve ry rea.son

to suppo.se. tha t the twel\e signs of the zodiac were rea l ly painted on the

standards of the tw e lve t r ib e s of Is rae l . Aben Ezra reports, that according

to the traditions, the f igure of a man was pa in te d on the ensign of Reuben,

that of a b ul l on th e ens ign of Ephraim. that of a lion on the e ns ign of

Judah. and th a t of an eagle on the ensign of Dan. If we turn to the Targum

of Jonathan B e n Uz z ie i . we find tha t the l ion is still ascribed to Judah. b u t

the bull i s given to Reuben, the man to Ephraim. and a basi l isk , ins tead of

an eagle, to Dan. The captains of th e se t r ib e s were each the leader of a

host, and a h os t w a s composed of th ree t r ibes . Thus Issachar and Zebulon

w ere associated w i t h Judah on the eas tern side of the camp--Simeon and

Gad with Reuben, on the sou th - -M a na . s se h and Benjamin w i t h E p h r ai m on

the w es t—and A.sher a nd Naphtali w i t h D a n on the north. Now the man.

the bull, and the l ion , evidently answer to the signs Aquarius, Taurus, and

Leo. The basi l isk m ay have been su bs t i tu ted for Scorpius. a nd th e eagle



1 8 8

seems to have been adopted as the symbol of tha t s ign , which being

deemed accursed, was re jec ted, if we t ru s t Kircher. by t he t r ibe of Dan(Drummond 1811:5-6).

Oedipus J iuU i i c us was insightful a nd compared evidence avai lab le from archaeological

sites, ancient documents, and philological discussions, w h i c h t hen was synthesized w i t h

observational astronomy. For tu na te ly , it was n o t the only w o r k from an analytical, non-

theologian perspec t ive .

Astronomy in the Old Testament b y G. Schiaparell i (1905) and The Astronomy of

the Bible b y W. Maunder (1908) w e r e volumes also w r i t t e n by astronomers that re l ied

primarily on t e x tua l evidence. G. Schiapare l l i wrote tha t "we as scholars should no t

expect to t lnd a high level of sc ientif ic knowledge among the I s rae l i te s such as that found

among the B a b y lo n i a n s and Egy pt ians . Nonetheless, we shou ld no t be surprised tha t they

mdeed had a "foundation of a simple and clear cosmology". H e pointed out tha t the

know ledge for th is cosmology was m os t l ike ly resident in a selec t group of people or

specialists, a n d iden t i f ied them w i t h the t r ibe of Is . sachar . and poin ted to the imagery of

the celestial sphere embedded in poe t ry and similes. He pos tu la ted tha t the source for

astronomical knowledge was Baby lon (Schiaparelli 1905: 1 - 1 0 . 20-21). The contents of

the bookcovered the

Hebrew cosmography, the sun. them o o n ,

and the starsin

the Old

Testament, the Mazzaroth/Mazzaloth or sys tem of celestial objects. Jewish months, and

the Jewish Y e a r .





190

knowledge of astronomy b a se d o n education and research (Maunder 1 9 0 8 : 351-52).

F r o m that premise he proceeded to approach Joshua 10; 1 2 . "Sun. stand s t i l l th ou u pon

Gibeon; And thou. Moon, in the va l ley of Ajalon" f rom a scientific perspective. H e

ob . se r \ e d several important poin t s : 1) the sun and m o o n to b e visibly associated w i t h

spe c i f i c locations such as Gibeon a n d the Valley of Ai ja lon could be no higher t han 10 "

degrees above the horizon: 2) for b o th the sun and moon to visible at the same time, the

sun w o u l d have to be on one h or iz on while the moon was on the opposite horizon

b e ca use if th e y were on the same h or iz on the moon would b e in i ts New Moon pha.se:

th e re fore , in a crescent phase invis ib le to the human observer: f ina l ly . 3) tha t Joshua

would have h ad to stand b e t w e e n t h e two geographical poin t s to observe b oth events w i t h

th e sun in th e east and the moon in th e west. Through some convoluted rea .soning.

. M a u n d e r disproves a ll three o f h is original statements and concluded tha t the bibl ical

statement m u s t b e literally t rans la ted: 1) Joshua was a t Gibeon: 2) the sun was direct ly

over Joshua's head: 3) the moon was P' quarter (ha l f - ful l , according to Maunder) a n d on

w e s t e r n horizon: 4) the date of th e event was on July 22. n o t a solstitial date: and 5) th e

event was the resul t of divine in te rve nt ion (Maunder 1 9 0 8 ; 351-84).

The second event that Maunder discussed was the turning back to the sundia K s

shadow on th e steps of Ahaz in Isa iah 38; 8. The author reviewed and dismis .sed earlier

th e or ie s on this par ticular event w h i c h were; 1) tha t a sundia l such as an obelisk exi.s ted

in Jerusalem. It was suggested that because of its loca t ion in a tropical latitude a t cer ta in



1 9 1

limes of the y e a r the shadow would appear to move backwards; 2) an earthquake caused

th e i)bser\ers to see the shadow move backwards as the stairs m o v e d ; and 3) tha t a par t ia l

Milar eclipse occurred on January 11. 689 BCE and as a resu l t o f the eclipse th e shadow

cas t by the sun m o v e b a c k t e n steps as prophesied. Fur thermore , t he direction tha t the

steps might have faced (eas t or northeast) allowed them to opera te as an instrument tha t

cas t shadows a n d m a rk e d time. Speculatively, he suggested the s ick king might ha v e

looked to w ard the temple in his time of illness as a cloud m o v e d across the face o f the

su n and elongated the shadow back ten steps. However. Maunder concluded that this

event happened, an d it was the result of divine intervention (Maunder 1908: 385-92).

The las t e v e n t appeared in Matthew 2: 2. 5-10 and narra ted the appearance o f the

Star of Bethlehem a t th e bir th of the Christ child. B e f o re Maunder b e g a n his discussion,

h e lamented that if th e author of the Book of Matthew ha d wr i t t e n one more verse , even a

shon verse, the my ste ry of the Star of Bethlehem would be so lvab le . He once aga in

covered earlier s tu d ies on the problem beginning with Kepler's theory t ha t there was a

conjunction of Jupi t e r and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces in the month of M ay in 7

BCE. This theory w as dismissed by Prof. C. Pritchard who argu ed tha t the planets would

not have been one over the other, bu t would have stood apart an d appeared as two s ta rs

no t one. Furthermore, t hey would not have stopped in their m o v e m e n t across the n igh t

sky over Bethlehem. The second suggestion was t ha t the a p p e a ra n c e of a new star burs t

mto being and then faded from sight and would reappear at the t ime of the second coming



192

Christ. The appearance of a star and then its disappearance was based on the

appcarance of a "new" star in the conste l la t ion of Cassiopeia in the year 1572 CE." This

star remained visible for 16 months a n d then disappeared. Maunder supported this theory

on the premise that the Star of Bethlehem appeared and disappeared. He concluded that

there was no t enough information in the narra t ive to draw a ny conclusions.

PERSPECTIVES AND SUMMATION

The recogn i t ion tha t astronomy has a long history and i ts hi s tor i ca l beginnings are

in the ancient N e a r E a s t has long b e e n a c c e p t e d . Scholarly e.xplorat ions continue to

explore w h a t leve l a n d understanding that th e ancient astronomers ha d of observational

astronomy, w hether in the ancient Near Eas t , the Stone Circles of Bri t a in , or on the

heights of Peai. In tha t l igh t the f ie ld o f archaeoastronomy developed, and in essence,

predates archaeology, i.e.. the work of Stuckley. It n o t only survived bu t has b e e n

transformed in the hands of astronomers, hence the ordering found in its title, archaeo-

being attached to -astronomy. Archaeoastronomy is a valuable too l for archaeologists

because it extends t he i r cultural view from a downward orientation to upward or i enta t ion

and t he v i sua l environment that surrounded ancient people. Us place in traditional

archaeology s t i l l w a i t s to be established, an d I venture that the re are two rea . sons in

particular. First, archaeology has a t endency to re f lec t the concerns o f the times. For



193

example, in the past when na t iona l i sm abounded, archaeology explored long time lines

that established the cultural r ight of the nation sponsoring the research to occupy and

con t ro l a given area or countr\' (Trigger 1989: 85-86). Today, we are concerned about the

prese rva t ion of the environment, an d so as can be expected, archaeology developed

environmental research projec ts that incorporate demographics, land use. etc. No

pressing need as yet has turned research to explore th e relationship of the he a v e n s to the

occupants of the earth.

Second, i t requires the archaeologist to learn the fundamentals of another science,

astronomy. That is n o t to say that archaeologists do no t learn the fundamentals of other

sc iences , b ut most of the t i m e t hose fundamentals are introduced into our educational

program as a matter of course; for example, po t te ry technology and meta l lu rgy .

Astronomy is not a science that is introduced peripherally—beyond as t ra l images found

on seals and in art (Keel and U e h l i n g e r 1998: 1 7 7 - 3 7 2 ) . As result th e m a i n contributors

to the field of archaeoastronomy are astronomers (with a few exceptions), who know only

the rudiments of archaeology and depend heavily on the conclusions ar t icu la ted in

se lec ted published works—whether challenged or not.''

Science and the l i te ra l i n t erpre t a t ion of the Hebrew Bible and the N e w Testament

es tab l i shed a controversial s tance a t the time of Copernicus and Galileo, in spite of

Galileo's assertion that both the scient i f ic and theo log ica l perspectives re f lected the mind

of God. The varv ' ing approaches to astronomy and theology discu s . sed above echo



194

Galileo's perspective: nonetheless, four of the five works r e v i e w e d have value for fu ture

s tudy ; Oedipus J i u U i i c u s was founde d on scientific astronomy applied to archaeological

evidence—w h ic h is better class i f ied as art historical evidence—and texts. Considering

the plethora of evidence no t a va i l a b le to Drummond. his w o r k was perceptive, as was G.

Schiaparelli's Astronomy in the O ld Testament. Schiaparelli re l ied on mathematical

astronomy of th e Babylonians and philological evidence w i t h o u t consideration of

a rch a e olog ica l or a r t historical evidence. The final two volumes b y Maunder and

B u l l i n g e r. w h i c h were w r i t t e n f rom the perspective of th e o logy , propose astronomical

bibl ical r e fe re nce s based on ph i l o l og y wi th occasional re ferences to the zodiac at

Denderah. and in spite of their t heo l og i c a l approach offered philological insight, th ough

they were l imi ted by their theology an d cultural biases. These two volumes categorized

ih c Hebrew B ib le and some pa r t s of th e New Testament as h a v ing only an a.stral b a se , and

not as an in tegral part of history or ref lec t ion of the society. A failing that can be found in

all of these ear ly works—because of th e archaeological, ar t h is tor ic and philological

evidence { i .e . . th e Ugaritic texts) w e r e not available to them—was that they re la ted the

bibl ical works to their contemporary pe r iod , and failed to unde rs ta nd how a . s t r onom y

functioned in the Canaanite and I s rae l i t e culture. The ins igh t that the authors provided

reminds us that images created in th e texts and on artifacts convey different meanings to

different observers. This ins igh t is invaluable to the present an d future studies on the u.se

of astronomy by the people of Canaan.



195

ENDNOTES

1. N ot a l l entries contained a ll the information l i s ted .

2. This date is n o t in a g r e e m e n t with v an der Waerden 1949: 14-17 who placed the lime

b e t w e e n 1400-900 BCE. H e calculated the " f i r s t stars" to rise in a given conste l la t ion at

the latitude ot " Babylon ra the r than Assyria. Late r in agreement with Papke { 1 9 7 8 ) he

m o v e d the date back to 2500 BCE (1984).

3 . Only two tablets contain dates. 687 BCE an d a par t ia l date for a t ab le t f rom the

Hel len is t ic period (334 BCE-165 CE). The rest are dated archaeologically t o N e o -

Assy r ian or Neo-Babylonian per iods (1000-539 BCE; [Hunger and Pingree 1 9 8 9 ; 9;

Frankfor t 1985; Weiss 1985) .

4. These were so iden t i f ied ear l i e r by John A u b r e y (Michell 1989; 9).

5. A lso spelled Abury or A u b u r y .

6. D u r i n g the same per iod J. Wood mapped th e ru ins of the Druid Temple a t B a t h ,

Woodhenge and Stonehenge. According to Wood, the Druid Temple was a func t ionary

m o d e l of the planets in th e he a v e n s ; its seven mounds repre . sen t ing the plane ts , and

Stonehenge was a device to map lunar cycles ( M i c he l l 1989; 9-19).

7 . "On Some Points in th e Early Hi.story of Astronomy" (1891a; 1891b; 1 8 9 1 c ; 1 8 9 Id;

1891e) . "On Some Points in A n c i e n t Egyptian Astronomy" (1892a; 1892b), "The Origin

of the Year" (1892c; 1 8 9 2 d ; 1 8 9 2 e ) . "On the Ear ly Temple and Pyramid

Bu i lde rs" ( 1893a). "The Astronomical History of On and Thebes" (1893b; 1893c ) . "The

I n l lu ence of Egypt upon Temple Orientation in Greece" (1893d), and "The Early

Asterisms" (1893e; 1 8 9 3 f ; I 8 9 3 g ) .

8. See endnote 4.



196

. I n te res t ing ly . Hawkes h a d previous ly suggested tha t Stonehenge was used toras t ronomica l obse rv ation ( R u g g l e s 1 9 9 9 : 7).

10. Although, his studies f o l l o w e d Ptolemy's work closely an d led him to propose a

h e l ioce nt r i c universe, his or ig ina l focu s was to reform the ca lendar as proposed by Leo X

( H a l e 1 9 8 9 : 296)

11. A supernova appeared in Cass iope ia and was observed by Tycho Brahe (White 2002:

personal communication).

1 2 . Fore.xample. E. C. Krupp. the director of the Griffith Obsenatory in Los Angeles,

has promoted an article by W. Ha r tne r . "The Ear l ie s t History of the Con. s te l l a t ions in the

Near East and the . Mot i f of the Lion-Bull Combat" Jounuil o f Near Eastern Studies XXIV

(1&2) 1 9 6 5 : 1-16 in his popu la r book Bevond the Blue H o r i z o n (Krupp 1991). The basic

proposa l is tha t the motif dep ic ted the constellation Leo chas ing th e constellation of

Taurus over the horizon w h e n L eo is h igh in the celestial sky . In m y opinion, the two

f igures compri . se one motif and therefore should n o t be se pa ra te d . Moreover, the re are

no t a ny supporting texts tha t descr ibe the lion in pu rsu i t o f the bu l l tha t would explain

this repre .sentat ion as proposed by Ha r tne r . H. Hunger ( 2 0 0 0 : pe rsona l communication),

a gre e d that the above is subjecti\ e, and therefore, does not suppor t Hartner's proposition.



1 9 7

APPENDIX B:

TABLES 1- 4 ; ORIENTATION OF SELECTED SITES AND THEIR FEATURES'

Site Structure Features or Orientation or Compass

Elements Elements Direction

Udva Va i le v Open air court 15 animal figures entrance opens; E

ya rd with cult laid o u t in stone; court comers Cardinal

room standins stones 13 fisures face: E

Te le i l a t cult rooms w a l l paintings of entrances open: E

Ghassul su n or star; rising paintings face : E

l um ina rv

Megiddo open air sanc paved area; paving s lope s : Etuary; temple; temple entrance; entrance opens; E

h i g h place hamah court; entrance o p e n s ; SE

{hcimah) s ta i rs stairs

approached: E

Table 3.1. Neolithic Period-Early Bronze Age (5500-2250 BCE)


Elements Elements DirectionRujim e l- circular solstice/ standins standing stones:

Hir i equinox stones; NE passage: NE

complex centered : E

SE passage: SE

Tumulus entrance NE

central

tumulus

Hazor temple comers oriented; Cardinal

entrance opens: E

Shechem temple comers oriented: Cardinal

entrance opens: E

M e sz i d d o temple comers oriented: NE. NW,

SE,SW

entrance opens; S

Lachish temple comers oriented: NE, NW,

SE,SW

entrance ofjens: E

later entrance opens: W



198

Tel t e m p l e comers oriented; NE, NW,

Vievorakh SE, SW

entrance opens: SENahariya high p lace

(h i i m a h )

standing

stones

placed: E

V l o u n l

Ehal

high p lace

(hiimah)

platform w i t h

ascension

ramp

ramp faces: E

The "Bull high pla ce standing placed: E

Site" (haimih) stones

Tell Dan high p lace entrances entrance 1 faces; E

(hamah) entrance 2 faces: S

Gezer open a ir site standing oriented: N/S

stones located on: W

altar

Table 3.2. Middle Bronze Period (2250-1550 BCE)

Site Structure Features or Orientation of Compass


Ha/or t e m p l e comers oriented: Cardinal

entrance faces: SELachish t e m p le comers oriented: NE. NW.

SE. SW

entrance faces: N

acropol i s comers oriented; NE. NW.

SE. SW

entrance faces: E

Shechem temple comers oriented: NE. NW.

SE. SW

entrance faces: E

standing stones placement: E

Table 3.3. Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 BCE)



199



B e t h southern temple comers oriented; NE. NVV.

Shean SE. SW

entrance faces : E

northern temple comers oriented: NE. N\V.orthern temple

SE. SW

entrance faces: SE

Solomon's temple comers oriented: NE. NW.

Temple SE. SW

entrance f a ce s : E

Tell D an temple comers oriented: NE. NW.

SE. SWentrance faces : E

Tell temples walls/comers oriented: not deter

Qasile mined

Table 3.4. Iron Age (1200-586 BCE)



ENDNOTES

200

1. T h e s e tables are intended to b e indicative of the or ien ta t ion of sites and th e possibility

of it s importance in the inve s t iga t ion of astronomy, but under no circumstances should

ih c Lihove charts be considered accurate or conclusive at this time.



201

APPENDIX C:

THE AUMAGEST

Almagest is a large astronomical treatise by the Greek astronomer Claudius

Ptolemaeus or Ptolemy. Ptolemy worked in Alexandria between 1 2 7 - 1 5 1 CE. His

original t i t le of the treatise was "The Mathematical Collection". La te r it was titled "The

Greatest". The f ina l t i t le is an .Arabic corruption of a Greek t i t le , it is one of the most

important works o n astronomy ever written. It included a star catalog that drew strongly

from the earl ier Babylonian star catalogs. The movement of the m o o n and planets were

included in it s su b jec ts , as well as the rules fo r calculating the fu ture positions of the

planets. It r a nks among the most impor tan t works on astronomy ever written. The rules

fo r calculation in the Almagest w e r e ba.sed on geocentric pr inc ip les , and the volume was

u sed for centuries (Toomer 1984: 1 0 - 1 1 ) .

In t h e f o l lo w i n g chart l is t ing the stars that comprise Leo. 1 h a v e included the stars

that Ptolemy l i s ted, along with the Mesopotamian stars. I have al.so inc lu ded translations

of the Greek and older Arabic slar names from the work done by P. Kunilzch. Der

Almaêsi ( 1 9 7 4 ) . 1 believe that the l a t te r names help clarify the earl ier u.se of the star

placement.



202

The constellation Leo

Stars (Bayer/

Fiamsteed

designations')

Magnitude(Toomer

1984: 367-68)

Ptolemy^s Almagest(Toomer 1984: 367-

68)

Der Almagest(includes Greek

and Arabic star

names (Kunitzch

1974: 276-81)

i c Leonis/

1 Leonis

4 The star a t th e tip o f the

nos t r i l s

Greek; E n d of the

Nose

/ . Leonis/

4 Leonis

4 The star in the gaping

jaws

Greek; Revenge

Arabic: Opening of

the m o u t h ; Of the

face

( 1 Leonis/

24 Leonis

3 The nor the rnmos t o f

the two stars in the

head

Greek; H e a d

E Leonis/

17 Leonis

>3 The sou thernmos t o f

these

C Leonis/

36 Leonis

3 The n o r t h e m m o s t of

the three s ta rs in the

n e c k

Greek; N e c k

Arabic; N a p e of the

Neck

y Leonis/

41 Leonis

2 The one c lose to these,

the m i d d l e one of th e

three

Arabic; Shoulder of

the Lion

r | Leonis/

30 Leonis

3 The southemmost of

them

a Leonis/

32 Leonis

1 The star o n th e heart,

called "Regulus"

Greek; Regulus. The

star re ferred to as the

King

Arabic; Lit t le King,

King l igh t

31 Leonis 4 The one sou th of th i s ,

about on the c h e s t

Greek; Breas t

V Leonis/

27 Leonis

5 The star a little in

advance of the star on

the hear t

Greek: He a r t

v j / Leonis/

1 6 Leonis

5 The star o n the r igh t

knee

Greek: (Right) Knee

c Leonis/

5 Leonis

5 The star o n the r igh t

f r o n t c l a w - c l u t ch

( l i tera l ly t rans la ted

'grasping h a nd")

Greek; the (other)

claw

Arabic; Opening of

the paw, th e other



203

and. Paw

o Le onis /

14 L e o n i s

4 The star on the left

f ron t claw-clutch

Greek: the (other)

clawArabic: Opening o f

the paw. the other

hand. Paw

7 t Leonis/

29 L e o n i s


[front] knee

Greek: Knee

p Leonis/

47 Le onis


armpit

Greek: Shoulder pit

i Leonis/

46 L e o n i s

6 The most advanced of

the th ree stars in the

bel ly

Greek: Stomach.

Belly

52 Le onis 6 The northernmost of

the other, rearmost 2

53 Le onis 6 The southernmost of

these

60 Le onis 6 The most advanced o f

the two stars on the

rump

Greek: Hip. b e ne a th

the tai l on the b a ck

Arabic: Hip. b e ne a th

part on the back.

Back

6 Leonis/

68 L e o n i s

<2 The rearmost of them Arabic: the other

pa n of the back:

withers of the l ion

81 L e o n i s 5 The northernmost of

the 2 stars in the

buttocks

0 Leonis/

70 L e o n i s

3 The southernmost o f

these

Arabic: On the H a n k ,

hind cheek. The h ind

part of the Lion

I Leonis/

78 Leonis

3 The star in the h ind

thighs

Greek: The opposite

thigh

Arabic: The hind

[part] of both thighsa Leonis/

77 Leonis

4 The star in the hind leg-

bends

Greek: The hind

knee (groove)

Arabic: Both hind

knees (grooves).

Behind the thigh

T Leonis/

84 L e o n i s

4 The one south of th is ,

about in the lower legs

Greek: The

underarm



204

Arabic; B o t h less

u Le on i s /

91 Leonis

5 TTie star on the hind

claw-clutches

Greek: The (back)

clawsArabic: B oth h ind

fee t tips, the opening

of the hind claws

P Leonis/

94 Leonis

< 1 The star on the end of

the ta i l

Greek: Tail end

Stars around Leo outside theconstellaflion

41 L eo Minor 5 The more advanced of

the 2 over the back

Greek; B a c k

54 Leonis 5 The rearmost of them

X Leonis/

63 Leonis

<4 The northernmost o f

the 3 under the flank

Greek: F l a n k , side,

groin

59 Leonis 5 The middle one of

these

58 Leonis 5 The southernmost of

them

15 Coma

Berenices

F The northernmost of

the nebulous mass

between the edges of

Leo and Ursa [Major],

called Coma

[Berenices!

Greek: Hazy, foggy

concentration (of

stars)

7 Coma

Berenices

f The most advanced of

the southern outrunners

of Coma

Greek; The hair lock

Arabic; Mane o f the

Lion

23 Coma

Berenices

f The rearmost of them,

shaped like an ivy l eaf

Greek; The f igure

ivy leaf-shaped



205

ENDNOTES

I The Greek letters are the B a y e r designations, a n d t he numbers F l a m s t e e d designations.



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Documents

The Sun, Moon and Stars of the Southern Levant at Gezer and Megiddo. Cultural Astronomy in Chalcolithic-Early and Middle Bronze Ages