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Cultural Astronomy
Cultural astronomy, sometimes called the study of Astronomy in Culture, has been described as investigating "the diversity of ways in which cultures, both ancient and modern, perceive celestial objects and integrate them into their view of the world." As such, it encompassed the interdisciplinary fields studying the astronomies of current or ancient societies and cultures. It developed from the two interdisciplinary fields of archaeoastronomy, the study of the use of astronomy and its role in ancient cultures and civilizations, and ethnoastronomy, "a closely allied research field which merges astronomy, textual scholarship, ethnology, and the interpretation of ancient iconography for the purpose of reconstructing lifeways, astronomical techniques, and rituals." It is also related to historical astronomy (analyzing historical astronomical data), history of astronomy (understanding and study and evolution of the discipline of astronomy over the course of human knowledge) and history ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interdisciplinary
Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, economics, etc. It is about creating something by thinking across boundaries. It is related to an ''interdiscipline'' or an ''interdisciplinary field,'' which is an organizational unit that crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions emerge. Large engineering teams are usually interdisciplinary, as a power station or mobile phone or other project requires the melding of several specialties. However, the term "interdisciplinary" is sometimes confined to academic settings. The term ''interdisciplinary'' is applied within education and training pedagogies to describe studies that use methods and insights of several established disciplines or traditional fields of study. Interd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egyptian Astronomy
Egyptian astronomy began in prehistoric times, in the Predynastic Period. In the 5th millennium BCE, the stone circles at Nabta Playa may have made use of astronomical alignments. By the time the historical Dynastic Period began in the 3rd millennium BCE, the 365 day period of the Egyptian calendar was already in use, and the observation of stars was important in determining the annual flooding of the Nile. The Egyptian pyramids were carefully aligned towards the pole star, and the temple of Amun-Re at Karnak was aligned on the rising of the midwinter Sun. Astronomy played a considerable part in fixing the dates of religious festivals and determining the hours of night, and temple astrologers were especially adept at watching the stars and observing the conjunctions and risings of the Sun, Moon, and planets, as well as the lunar phases. In Ptolemaic Egypt, the Egyptian tradition merged with Greek astronomy and Babylonian astronomy, with the city of Alexandria in Lower ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeoastronomy
Archaeoastronomy (also spelled archeoastronomy) is the interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary study of how people in the past "have understood the phenomena in the sky, how they used these phenomena and what role the sky played in their cultures". Clive Ruggles argues it is misleading to consider archaeoastronomy to be the study of ancient astronomy, as modern astronomy is a scientific discipline, while archaeoastronomy considers symbolically rich cultural interpretations of phenomena in the sky by other cultures. It is often twinned with ''ethnoastronomy'', the anthropological study of skywatching in contemporary societies. Archaeoastronomy is also closely associated with historical astronomy, the use of historical records of heavenly events to answer astronomical problems and the history of astronomy, which uses written records to evaluate past astronomical practice. Archaeoastronomy uses a variety of methods to uncover evidence of past practices including archaeology, anth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vainakhish Peoples
The Nakh peoples, also known as ''Vainakh peoples'' (Chechen/Ingush: , apparently derived from Chechen , Ingush "our people"; also Chechen-Ingush), are a group of Caucasian peoples identified by their use of the Nakh languages and other cultural similarities. These are chiefly the ethnic Chechen (including the Chechen sub-ethnos, the Kists, in Georgia), Ingush and Bats peoples of the North Caucasus, including closely related minor or historical groups. The ethnonym "Nakhchi" Nakh peoples and Vainakh peoples are two terms that were coined by Soviet ethnographers such as the Ingush ethnographer Zaurbek Malsagov. The reasoning behind the creation of these terms was to unite the closely related nations of Chechen and Ingush into one term. The terms "Vainakh" (our people) and "Nakh" (people) were first used as a term to unite two peoples in 1928. It was subsequently popularized by other Soviet authors, poets, and historians such as Mamakaev and Volkova in their research. Accordin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tibetan Astronomy
The Tantra of Kalachakra is the basis of Tibetan astronomy. It explains some phenomena in a similar manner as modern astronomy science. Hence, Sun eclipse is described as the Moon passing between the Sun and the Earth. In 1318, the 3rd Karmapa received vision of Kalachakra which he used to introduce a revised system of astronomy and astrology named the "Tsurphu Tradition of Astrology" (Tibetan: Tsur-tsi) which is still used in the Karma Kagyu school for the calculation of the Tibetan calendar The Tibetan calendar (), or Tibetan lunar calendar, is a lunisolar calendar, that is, the Tibetan year is composed of either 12 or 13 lunar months, each beginning and ending with a new moon. A thirteenth month is added every two or three years, s .... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serbian Folk Astronomy
This article describes Serbian folk astronomy. Sun In Serbian belief, the Sun is anthropomorphised as a man. Sometimes, Moon is described as Sun's brother or uncle, Venus as his daughter or (in one song) wife, or both stars and Venus as his sisters. Of Sun's parents, only mother is ever mentioned. Some common Proto-Indo-European religion, Proto-Indo-European beliefs about Sun are preserved: a belief that Sun is riding in a cart or riding a horse, or that it is God's eye. Various beliefs exist that explain Sun's role regarding day and night: that it travels underground or under the sea during the night to emerge again during the day, or that it dies every sunset to be born anew the next sunrise. Sun is also present in a number of other folk beliefs and customs. Moon Moon is also anthropomorphised as a man. The Moon is sometimes described as Sun's brother or uncle, and Venus as Moon's sister or wife. Also, sometimes Moon's mother or children (''mesečić'') are mentioned, ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persian Astronomy
Persian astronomy or Iranian astronomy refers to the astronomy in ancient Persian history. Pre-Islamic history Ancient Persians celebrated the vernal equinox, summer solstice, autumnal equinox, and winter solstice through a variety of different festivals and traditions. Vernal equinox Nowruz is the day of the vernal equinox and the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator has been calculated for years. Nowruz was an important day during the Achaemenid period and continued in importance through the Sasanian dynasty. Summer solstice Tirgan is an ancient Iranian festival celebrating the summer solstice. Autumnal equinox Mehregan is an ancient Zoroastrian and Persian festival celebrating the autumnal equinox since at least the 4th century BC. Winter solstice Yaldā Night is an ancient Iranian festival celebrating the winter solstice of the Northern Hemisphere. Star systems Some old Persian names in astronomy have barely survived; the names of the four Royal stars that w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inuit Astronomy
Inuit astronomy is centered around the ''Qilak,'' the Inuit name for the celestial sphere and the home for souls of departed people. Inuit beliefs about astronomy are the shaped by the harsh climate in the Arctic and the resulting difficulties of surviving and hunting in the region. The stars were an important tool to track time, seasons, and location, particularly during winter. The Inuit are a group of circumpolar peoples who inhabit the Arctic and subarctic regions of North America (Canada, Greenland and Alaska), and parts of northern Siberia. There are many similarities between the traditions and beliefs among the indigenous peoples in Arctic regions. For example, the Inuit, Chukchi and Evenks all have a worldview based on their religious beliefs and have related traditions about astronomy. While differing traditions exist among groups, they overlap in the way the stars, weather, and folk tales assist in hunting, navigation and teaching their young about the world. Their a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maya Astronomy
Maya astronomy is the study of the Moon, planets, Milky Way, Sun, and astronomical phenomena by the Precolumbian era, Precolumbian Maya Civilization of Mesoamerica. The Mesoamerican chronology, Classic Maya in particular developed some of the most accurate pre-telescope astronomy in the world, aided by Maya Script, their fully developed writing system and Maya numerals, their positional numeral system, both of which are fully indigenous to Mesoamerica. The Classic Maya understood many astronomical phenomena: for example, their estimate of the length of the Lunar month#Synodic month, synodic month was more accurate than Ptolemy's, and their calculation of the length of the tropical solar year was more accurate than that of the Spanish when the latter first arrived. Many temples from the Maya architecture have features oriented to celestial events. European and Maya calendars European calendar In 46 BC Julius Caesar decreed that the year would be made up of twelve months of appro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Astronomy
Astronomy has long history in Indian subcontinent stretching from pre-historic to modern times. Some of the earliest roots of Indian astronomy can be dated to the period of Indus Valley civilisation or earlier. Astronomy later developed as a discipline of Vedanga, or one of the "auxiliary disciplines" associated with the study of the Vedas,Sarma (2008), ''Astronomy in India'' dating 1500 BCE or older. The oldest known text is the ''Vedanga Jyotisha'', dated to 1400–1200 BCE (with the extant form possibly from 700 to 600 BCE). Indian astronomy was influenced by Greek astronomy beginning in the 4th century BCEHighlights of Astronomy, Volume 11B: As presented at the XXIIIrd General Assembly of the IAU, 1997. Johannes Andersen Springer, 31 January 1999 – Science – 616 pages. page 72/ref>Babylon to Voyager and Beyond: A History of Planetary Astronomy. David Leverington. Cambridge University Press, 29 May 2010 – Science – 568 pages. page 4/ref>The History and Practice of Anci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hebrew Astronomy
Hebrew astronomy refers to any astronomy written in Hebrew or by Hebrew speakers, or translated into Hebrew, or written by Jews in Judeo-Arabic. It includes a range of genres from the earliest astronomy and cosmology contained in the Bible, mainly the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible or "Old Testament"), to Jewish religious works like the Talmud and very technical works. Some Persian and Arabian traditions ascribe the invention of astronomy to Adam, Seth and Enoch. Some scholars suggest that the signs of the zodiac, or Mazzaroth, and the names of the stars associated with them originally were created as a mnemonic device by these forefathers of the Hebrews to tell the story of the Bible. Historian Flavius Josephus says Seth and his offspring preserved ancient astronomical knowledge in pillars of stone. In the Bible Only a few stars and constellations are named individually in the Hebrew Bible, and their identification is not certain. The clearest references include: * ''Kəsīl'' (כְּסִ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Astronomy
Astronomy in China has a long history stretching from the Shang dynasty, being refined over a period of more than 3,000 years. The ancient Chinese people have identified stars from 1300 BCE, as Chinese star names later categorized in the twenty-eight mansions have been found on oracle bones unearthed at Anyang, dating back to the mid-Shang dynasty. The core of the "mansion" (宿 ''xiù'') system also took shape around this period, by the time of King Wu Ding (1250–1192 BCE). Detailed records of astronomical observations began during the Warring States period (fourth century BCE) and flourished from the Han period onward. Chinese astronomy was equatorial, centered on close observation of circumpolar stars, and was based on different principles from those in traditional Western astronomy, where heliacal risings and settings of zodiac constellations formed the basic ecliptic framework. Joseph Needham has described the ancient Chinese as the most persistent and accurate obser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
