Astronomy and The Anceint Egyptians

Astronomy as we know it would not exist if not for the work of ancient Egyptians. Ancient Egypt was home to many of the first few great scientific minds and did many great things in the field of astronomy. Stars and many other constellations were believed to be the gods of the Egyptians, this was the basis of how many constellations were formed. For example, the constellation that we consider to be Orion the Hunter, was known as Osiris the God of death, rebirth and the after life. The Milky Way was believed to be the birth of the sun God Re from the Goddess Nut. From these beliefs the Egyptians mapped out of sky and we still use some of the mappings and recognizing of the constellations that they used. Much of the work that the Egyptians did became the framework of many of the breakthroughs and basis of the movement of stars and many other beliefs in the field of astronomy.

Ancient Egyptian Priests, who were also astronomers helped use astronomy to give humans and understanding of the timing of the seasons as well. Egyptian astronomers realized that the all important flooding of the Nile always occurred at what we know as the summer solstice. Using this information the priests were able to predict the annual flooding of the Nile. This also gave the entire human race one of their first calenders. From their information they were able to create our very first three hundred and sixty five day calender which consisted of twelve, thirty day months with a five day feasting period.

Egyptians even built building according to some of the things that they viewed in the sky. Temples of certain religion would be oriented to having sunlight shine in a certain point of the temple at a certain time of year. Even the great pyramids were aligned in different ways according to the stars. The 2 of the edges of the pyramids are aligned directly north and south, and it is believed that the Egyptians used constellations that we know very well today as the Big and Little Dipper. to help with this orientation. Orientating the pyramids this way was believed by Egyptian mythology to give the deceased access to the northern sky. Also, it is theorized that the positioning of the pyramids is directly correlated to the orientation of Orion's belt. This would make much sense, since Orion was believed to be Osiris the Egyptian God of death, rebirth, and the afterlife. From the interest that the Egyptian had in the stars it would not come as much of a surprise if the pyramids did have such an orientation.


http://www.egyptologyonline.com/astronomy.htm
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetearth/stars_pyramids_wg_001116.html
http://www.robertbauval.co.uk/articles/articles/gizaorion.html

Vikings establish Dublin

Ireland’s capital city Dublin was originally founded by Vikings. In fact they founded many of Ireland’s first cities including Waterford, Wexford, Arklow, Cork, and Limerick. The Vikings raided and looted the Irish cost but eventually made stronger impacts on Ireland and not all of them were bad.

The Vikings started making raids on Ireland around 795 AD. They descended on churches and monasteries up and down the Irish coast. Their main goal was to plunder but over time they began holding relics, abbots and noblemen for ransom. The Vikings found even more money by capturing Irishmen and selling them as slaves. After decades of raids the Vikings decided to set up camp and stay in Ireland.

In 841 a Viking by the name of Turgeis lead his band ashore at present day Dublin. It was a perfect place to lunch raids all along and into Ireland. It was next to the Liffey River and had a harbor on the sea. The Vikings built houses, defensive walls, and established an affective Vikings trading and raiding settlement.

Dublin would be in Viking control for over a hundred years. The Barbarian invasion of Ireland by the Vikings caused panic, death, and destruction, but it also brought positive impacts. The Vikings introduced the concept of cities to Ireland. The cities became centers for international trade. They also taught the Irish to build ships and introduced coinage.

Information available at

http://www.ncte.ie/viking/listt.htm
http://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/pre_norman_history/vikings.html
and in this book
http://www.amazon.com/Barbarian-Invasions-Shaped-Modern-World/dp/1592333036/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255586303&sr=8-5

Confusius Say

Since we just discussed Confusius and Confusianism in class I thought that it would be a good subject for this blog. Confusius was born in China, in the state of Lu, in 551BCE to an aristocratic family. His actual name was K'ung Futzu, which means Master K'ung. Confusius is the latin pronunciation of K'ung Futzu which was adopted originally in Europe. One of the Confusius' main ambitions throughout his life was to become a major government official. So he traveled throughout China searching for an opporunity. This did not ever happen though. He was never able to get past being a minor official in his home state of Lu. He instead returned to his home state and continued teaching and studying. It was through these teachings that his students were able to collect his discussions and form them into the Analects, which are the basis for Confusianism.



Confusianism is a religion based on the thoughts and ideas of Confusius. He believed in three main principles. The first principle is Ren. It is the source of all the virtues that Confusius believed that people should express. These virtues included kindeness, empathy, charity and respectfullness. The second principle was Li. This term means propriety. Confusius believed that some people were superior, while others were inferior, and people should know there place in society. The third principle was Xiao, which is the term for filial piaty. Confusius believed that it was important to respect elders. Confusius also had a optomistic view of human nature and this view has become a key characteristic of Confusianism. Although it may not have been the intention of Confusius, his teachings, which are viewed today through the Analects written by his students, have become one of the most well known religions/phylosphies in the world today.

http://www.religionfacts.com/a-z-religion-index/confucianism.htm

Strayer, Robert W. Ways of the World. Boston : Bedford/ St. Martin's, 2009. Print.

Mayans Master Math

Along with Latin America, I also have a personal interest in mathematics. Combining these two interests, I recently learned that the ancient Mayans discovered two important ideas in mathematics. They are positional value and the concept of zero. Today, these two concepts are so effortless to us that it may not seem like a huge discovery. However, two educated civilizations, the Greeks and the Romans, failed to discover the concept before the Mayans. Although we currently use both concepts, our number system is different than the Mayan’s.

Unlike the number system we use, which is based on the number ten, the Maya system is based on the number twenty. This means that the Mayans counted from zero to nineteen before they moved to the next order, while we currently only count to nine. While we learned to count on our fingers, the Mayans must have learned to count using their fingers and toes.

There is also a difference in the symbols we use to count. We recognize a different symbol for each of the ten numbers. On the other hand, the Mayans only used three symbols. They used a shell for zero, a dot for one, and a line for five. For example, to represent the number thirteen, the Mayans would use two lines and three dots.*

The Maya system, in my opinion, was more efficient than the previous systems of the Romans and Greeks. Try to imagine writing a large number using the Roman numeral system in comparison to the new and improved Maya system.

Also, I cannot help but compare our decimal system to the ancient Maya system. I may be a little biased, but I do believe our decimal system is the most efficient system thus far. However, since our system is based off of the Maya system, I feel the need to say thank you ancient Mayans, for making math class easier.

*To see a picture of the symbols used, or to read more about the application of Maya mathematics, follow this link: http://www.mexconnect.com/articles/1122-the-maya-civilization-maya-numerals-and-calendar