Stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments Astronomically ConsideredLockyer, Norman, Sir
History
Stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments Astronomically Considered
Lockyer, Norman, Sir
Druids and Druidism; Great Britain -- Antiquities; Stonehenge (England); Sun worship; Temples
Secondly, the atmospheric conditions which prevail in Britain during
November would not be conducive to the making of stellar observations
_at the horizon_, and only risings or settings were observed with regard
to the quarter-days.
_February Warnings._--In the same way that Arcturus served the double
purpose of clock-star and herald for the August sun, so did Capella
serve to warn the February sun in addition to its use at night. The
alignments and dates given in the Capella table will therefore hold good
for its employment at the February quarter-day.
_The Solstitial Year Monuments._
In Egypt generally, the solstitial worship followed that of the May and
equinoctial years. The religion of Thothmes III. and the Rameses was in
greatest vogue 2200-1500 B.C.
We find little trace of it in Greece proper, though Mr. Penrose has
traced it in Calabria and Pompeii, and in some of the islands.
The solstitial cult was born in Egypt; it is a child of the Nile-rise. I
have shown in my _Dawn of Astronomy_ that the long series of temples
connected with the solstice may have commenced about 3000 B.C.; but for
long it was a secondary cult; it was parochial until the twelfth
dynasty, say 2300 B.C. Egypt’s solstitial “golden age” may be given as
1700 B.C., and her influence abroad was very great, so that much travel,
“coastwise” and other, may be anticipated. It is for some centuries
after the first date that the introduction of the solstitial worship
into Britain may be anticipated. It, for instance, is quite probable
that the pioneers of this worship should have reached Stonehenge in 2000
B.C.
The solstitial alignments found by Mr. Penrose in Greece are as
follows:--
+----------------+-----------------+--------+-------+-----
|Temples. | | Decl. | Day. |Year.
+----------------+-----------------+--------+-------+-----
| | | | |B.C.
| | JUNE. | | |
|Athens, Dionysus|Antares (setting)|-11° 2′|June 20|1700
|(Upper Temple) | | | |
|Pompeii (Isis) |β-Geminorum |-16 44 | „ 19| 750
| | | | |
| | DECEMBER. | | |
|Metapontum |β-Geminorum |+29° 38′|Dec. 21| 610
| | (setting) | | |
|Locri | „ |+29 40 | „ 21| 610
+----------------+-----------------+--------+-------+-----
We find plentiful evidence that the worship of the solstitial sun such
as was carried on in Egypt at Karnak and at other places[125] was
introduced into Britain some time after the May-year worship was
provided for in the monuments.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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