EthnoAstronomy Star Myths

Phys90 Introduction to Astromomy AstroMyths
Phys90: Introduction to Astronomy

EthnoAstronomy: Star Myths
Deluge Stories
The story of a devastating flood is a notable aspect in several existant Mesopotamian mythic compositions. From the early second millennium BC, the
Sumerian King List notes that a flood separates antedeluvian dynasties from a longer list of dynasties, the first after the flood being Kish. After Kish, kingship
was transferred to Uruk where figures well known from Mesopotamian literature include Gilgamesh as king.
Another second century story, the Akadian epic of Atrahasis, also features a great flood. In this epic, the great god Enlil, plots to eliminate humans, who were
so noisy a creation that Enlil could not sleep. After using various unsuccessful means of plagues and pestilence, Enlil decides on a flood. Enki, the god of
fresh water, secretly reveals Enlil's plan to Atrahasis, the king, who saves his family, as well as animals and birds. They survive seven days and nights of
flooding in a reed boat coated with pitch, and finally make offerings to the gods once beached, a key element in the stories.
In the Sumerian flood story, preserved on the Nippur Tablet dated to the late 17th century BC, the god Enki reveals the gods' plan to eradicate the human race
with a flood to Ziusudra and urges him to build a boat. Again the flood lasts for seven days and nights after which Ziusudra emerges from his boat and offers
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sacrifices in return for which the pantheon grant Ziusudra life like a god's.
The story of the flood in the Gilgamesh Epic (Tablet XI), known from first millennium copies, is probably derived from Atrahasis. In seeking to learn the
secrets of eternal life, Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, seeks out Utnapishtim, the only human to have lived forever. In telling Gilgamesh how he achieved eternal
life, Utnapishtim relates a secret story of the flood. Again, the great gods decide to destroy humans with a flood, the plans are revealed to Utnapishtim, and he
is told to build a great vessel. For six days and nights the fury rages on, subsiding on the seventh day when Utnapishtim comes out to release a dove and then
a swallow, both of which return, having found no place to rest. Three days later he sends out a raven, which does not return, so Utnapishtim then offers
sacrifice, which pleases the gods, who make Utnapishtim and his wife immortal.
The Biblical flood story (Genesis 5: 28 - 9:17) was likely derived, directly or indirectly, from the Gilgamesh version. And the story of the flood was carried
down in later Jewish, Christian, and even Muslim traditions, where it occurs in the Koran (Sura 11: 25-48).
Now the archeologist, C. Leonard Woolley began digging into a early level at the site of Ur in 1928-29 and made a remarkable discovery. Nearly 4 meters of
mud covered earlier layers of painted pottery of the Ubaid period, the earliest known phase of occupation in southern Mesopotamia. He quickly associated the
strata with the flood known from the Sumerian King List, the Akkadian Epic of Atrahasis, the Sumerian flood story, and the Epic of Gilgamesh, the likely
source for the Biblical flood narrative. However, other evidence of flooding at a later date was also found at Kish. In reassessing the evidence for Wolley's
sensational flood, others argued that neither the Ur flood, dating as it did to a remote prehistoric period, nor the upper Kish flood, so late in time, could be the
source of the Mesopotamian narratives. Rather, they appear to be a natural consequence peculiar to the flat plains of Mesopotamia.
But new evidence points to a deluge from the Black Sea. Geologists Pitman and Ryan of Columbia University have investigated the possibility of a largescale prehistoric flood originating in the Strait of Bosporus, a narrow channel of water that connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
Pitman and Ryan hypothesized that melting ice from an interglacial period could have swollen the Mediterranean beyond its limits which have tried to relieve
pressure on its northeastern shore by expanding into the Black Sea. Now, because of glaciation, geologists recognize that the Black Sea has fluctuated many
times over millions of years from a saltwater sea to an isolated freshwater lake marking alternate episodes connection and quarrantine from the
Mediterranean.
What Ryan and Pitman were looking for was recently found from sediments showing a uniform layer of saltwater shellfish overlaying freshwater mollusks
testifying to a massive inflow, turning the Black Sea from fresh to saltwater in a single human lifetime. The Mediterranean ripped through the Strait of
Bosporus some 7,500 years ago, arriving with more than the force of Victoria Falls, innundating the settlements surrounding the once placid lake with an
inexorable rise of the water, by half a meter a day, slowly turning fresh water to brine. Near the Bosporus source, people would have witnessed an awesome
cataract fleeing before a stunning rush of waters. The north shore exodus would send its diaspora into and across Europe, while many southern refugees
would come finally to the land between the rivers and tell of the boat that had saved them. Is this rebirth of a whole sea the source of the deluge tales of
Mesopotamia? Perhaps these tales were also recorded in the ancient legends from the sky, from those pictoral mnemonics we call the Constellations.
Look at the constellation Argo Navis, often shown in early representations as though atop a mountain. Coming from the vessel is the Centaur, half-man, halfbeast, sacrificing an animal upon the Altar (Ara). We see, too, the Water-Snake (Hydra), with a Raven (Corvus) eating its flesh. There can be little doubt that
here we have, in human imagination and pictured on the sky, a version of the story of the Great Flood. The picture is complete with the Milky Way seemingly
rising as smoke from the altar.
Consider the following quotation, with which many of us are familiar: "And Noah built an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast and of every
clean fowl and offered burnt offerings at the altar... And God said "This is a token of the covenent which I make between me and you for perpetual
generations. I do set my bow in a cloud, and it shall be a token of a covenant between me and the earth."
Now, the Bow of Sagittarius is fixed pointing to one of the most obvious rifts in the Milky Way. Of course, this association of the Southern Constellations
with the Deluge story is not a new insight, for when the stars were mapped in the southern hemisphere by the Jesuit Lacaille, Columba the Dove was chosen
to complete the panel of constellations representing the myth.
While Pitman and Ryan's core samples demonstrate a massive flood around 5600 B.C., their hypothesis that it was the same flood that gave rise to the
Biblical and Babylonian legends is in dispute by scientists who think that memory of the flood could not have survived intact through oral history for 2,500
years until writing was invented by the Sumerians in 3000 B.C.
But we have the Constellations, those visual mnemonics whose origins are indeed ancient. Perhaps we have here in these constellation names and placement
a faint memory of human witness and perhaps history. Did the constellations inspire the myth or did the myth inspire the constellations? Perhaps the latter is
the case, for what better way to aid the memory, and establish a truth-kernel, than to associate the constellation star-patterns with these ancient stories.
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Physics 90
Introduction to Astronomy
FALL TERM 2014
Current
Earth | Moon | Sun
SELECT
QUICK PICKS
OBSERVING SESSION
ArcheoAstronomy in the American SouthWest
EthnoAstronomy
Ancient Astronomy: The Antikythera Mechanism
Current Images of the
Sun
The Sun as a Star
Hubble Space Telescope Picture

Gallery
Astronomy Web Sites
Geissberger Observatory EarthWatch Station & Current Weather Conditions
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Any Answers?
Send mail to Prof.

Ron Olowin
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http://physics.stmarys-ca.edu/AstronomyPage_files/ArcheoAstronomy.html
A Travel Course to New Mexico

Instructors:
Prof. Ron Olowin
(Office: G-103b Galileo Hall; Voice: 925.631.4428; e-mail: rpolowin@stmarys-ca.edu)
Prof. Edward Boyda
(Office: G-104 Galileo Hall; Voice: 925.631.4426; e-mail: ekb2@stmarys-ca.edu)
Text Book: Selected Readings
Course Description
In both the classroom and in the field, this course will explore the cosmographic expression of the
Chaco Culture of the American Southwest. The Chaco society, a prehistoric Pueblo culture,
flourished between AD 950 and 1150 throughout the 80,000 km2 of the San Juan Basin of
northern New Mexico. Chaco Canyon was the center of this culture. Here the Chaco people
constructed multi-storied buildings containing 100 to 700 rooms. These structures are noted for
their planned, symmetric organization, massive core-veneer masonry construction and numerous
great kivas, the large ceremonial chambers of the prehistoric pueblo culture.
Astronomy played an important role in the Chaco culture. This is expressed in the cardinal
alignments of the major axes of several large ceremonial structures at or near the center of the
canyon, and in a complex set of solar and lunar markings on
Fajada Butte, at the south entrance of the canyon. In addition, many sites in the surrounding area,
in particular, Tsankawi, exhibit petroglyphs, stone circles and other alignments, astronomical
cave paintings, planetaria as well as a myriad of other astronomically related artifacts such as
solstice and equinox markings and shadowgraphs.
The intent of this course is to explore the ArchaeoAstronomy of these peoples by providing an
historical overview of the Pueblo culture, basic astronomical observations made by the
indigenous peoples, and visits to the important and relevant sites. Several days will be spent at
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the Tsankawi site calculating and observing solar-lunar alignments both in the traditional fashion
and with modern instruments.
The planned field trip will spend 14 days in New Mexico after a preliminary introduction on
campus. The field trip portion will set up a base camp at Ghost Ranch , an Educational Retreat
and Conference Center in the high desert, North of Santa Fe , New Mexico and proceed to visit
selected sites on a daily basis.
JanTerm Photo Gallery

Photo Gallery 1 Photo Gallery 2 Photo Gallery 3 Photo Gallery 4 Photo Gallery 5
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A JanTerm Photo Gallery
The table below presents views of the JanTerm Travel Course, ArcheoAstronomy in the American
SouthWest, at Saint Mary's College. Each thumbnail photo is a link to a larger version of the same
photograph.
The travel portion of the JanTerm Course

occurs in the "Land of Enchantment" of the
southwestern State of New Mexico.
We spend our time in the north-central portions

of the State at our base-camp at the Ghost Ranch
Conference Center near the town of Abiquiu.
Ghost Ranch, an Educational Retreat in New

Mexico's high desert, is the base from which
our daytrips begin. It is close to many of the
sites we will visit and only an hour and a half
Ghost Ranch was the home of the American

artist Georgia O'Keeffe.
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from Santa Fe or Taos.
Ghost Ranch is the discovery site for New

Mexico's State Dinosaur, Coelophysis.
Many films have used Ghost Ranch as a
location.
Our accomodations at Casa del Sol at Ghost

Ranch are comfortable, spacious and inviting.
Casa del Sol interior spaces.
Though weather can constrain our activities,

there is ample opportunity to enjoy the natural
environment.
High altitude acclimation as we gather wood

for our fireplaces at Casa del Sol.
Star Trails at Ghost Ranch
Students prepare a "Star-henge" sundial as part

of their astronomy experiments.

SouthWest, at Saint Mary's College. This set of images depicts our observations and recording of
petroglyphs (images pecked into rock) and pictographs (images painted on rock). These images appear
to show astronomical content, either metaphorically, or possibly in a religious context, or as
observations of actual occurances in the sky. Each thumbnail photo is a link to a larger version of the
same photograph.
Four-pointed stars, stars with faces, and stars

with faces are significant supernaturals in the
iconography of Pueblo rock art.
Petroglyphs are often seen in panels of myriad

images; some appear to be related with group
properties, as if to tell a story.
Spiral features in petroglyphs appear to be

related to the Sun.
Some spirals are seen at "sun-watcher" sites.
The interplay of light and shadow can be used

for marking celestial events such as equinox
and solstice periods.
A pictograph at Pinasco Blanco at Chaco

Canyon showing what has been interpreted as
an observation of the supernova seen in the
year 1054. Note the faded image below which
may be related to the appearance of Halley's
Comet in 1066.
Another shadowgraph site.
Another astronomical panel (this time as a

petroglyph) with the supernova(?) of 1054 and
Comet Halley(?) of 1066.
An almost inaccessible pictograph with sun

and star images. These are sometimes called
planetaria.
The famous hunch-backed flute player (aka

Kokopeli) is the bearer of good tidings.
... and after climbing a little closer.
Another Kokopeli whose image is scraped out from

the smoky soot of a cavation dwelling ceiling.
A "birdlike" (thunderbird?) pictograph at a

planetarium site.
A complicated petroglyph panel with "star" images.
...
Petroglyph sites are often in remote locations

requiring some strenuous hiking to view and
record the images.
a tedious climb, but well worth the effort!

The table below presents views of the JanTerm Travel Course, ArcheoAstronomy in the
American SouthWest, at Saint Mary's College. Each thumbnail photo is a link to a larger version
of the same photograph.
Exploring the cavations and petroglyphys at

Tsankawi.
The landscape can be serene and desolate.
The great vistas of Chaco Canyon are

formidable.
Approaching a petroglyph site overlooking

the great Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon.
Recording data at the Nebular Site.

Investigating a petroglyph panel.
Time for rest...
and contemplation.

SouthWest, at Saint Mary's College. Each thumbnail photo is a link to a larger version of the same
photograph.
Travel by convoy in our vans gives the

opportunity to see much of NorthCentral New
Mexico.
Local experts and US Rangers share their

expertise with us as we continue our visit
itinerary.
A site visit to the Pecos National Monument.
Some interesting "hazards" can be found on near

the trails.
Traversing the snowy plateau at the entrance to

the Tsankawi site.
Ancestral Pueblo dwellings at Bandelier

National Monument.
...
An ArcheoAstronomer exploring a cavation.
and joined with colleagues.
A view from a cavation.
A bit of "local color" before lunch.

The table below presents views of the JanTerm Travel Course, ArcheoAstronomy in the
American SouthWest, at Saint Mary's College. Each thumbnail photo is a link to a larger version
of the same photograph.
The plaza of the Taos Pueblo.
Understanding the essentials of Pueblo life is

an important aspect of our visit.
Ceremonial Dances at the San Ildefonso

Pueblo include a visit and meal with Pueblo
governing families.
The Deer Dance celebrates the Pueblo

peoples' veneration of the animals.
The Town Square in Santa Fe offers an Indian

Market where SouthWest pottery and jewelry
abound.
Museum visits complement the

understanding of New Mexico's unique
amalgem of Indian, Latino and Anglo
cultures.
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Phys90 Introduction to Astromomy AstroMyths

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Phys90 Introduction to Astromomy AstroMyths

Phys90 Introduction to Astromomy AstroMyths

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The Sun as a Star

Hubble Space Telescope Picture

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Send mail to Prof.

http://physics.stmarys-ca.edu/AstronomyPage_files/Astronomy_Index.html (2 de 2)28/09/2014 17:04:55

ArcheoAstronomy in the American SouthWest

A Travel Course to New Mexico

Text Book: Selected Readings

JanTerm Photo Gallery

Return to Main Menu

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ArcheoAstronomy in the American SouthWest

The travel portion of the JanTerm Course

We spend our time in the north-central portions

Ghost Ranch, an Educational Retreat in New

Ghost Ranch was the home of the American

http://physics.stmarys-ca.edu/AstronomyPage_files/Archeo/gallery/gallery1/GALLERY1.HTML (1 de 3)28/09/2014 17:05:33

from Santa Fe or Taos.

Ghost Ranch is the discovery site for New

Our accomodations at Casa del Sol at Ghost

Casa del Sol interior spaces.

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Though weather can constrain our activities,

High altitude acclimation as we gather wood

Star Trails at Ghost Ranch

Students prepare a "Star-henge" sundial as part

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ArcheoAstronomy in the American SouthWest

Four-pointed stars, stars with faces, and stars

Petroglyphs are often seen in panels of myriad

Spiral features in petroglyphs appear to be

The interplay of light and shadow can be used

A pictograph at Pinasco Blanco at Chaco

Another shadowgraph site.

Another astronomical panel (this time as a

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An almost inaccessible pictograph with sun

The famous hunch-backed flute player (aka

... and after climbing a little closer.

Another Kokopeli whose image is scraped out from

A "birdlike" (thunderbird?) pictograph at a

A complicated petroglyph panel with "star" images.

Petroglyph sites are often in remote locations

a tedious climb, but well worth the effort!

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ArcheoAstronomy in the American SouthWest

Exploring the cavations and petroglyphys at

The landscape can be serene and desolate.

The great vistas of Chaco Canyon are

Approaching a petroglyph site overlooking

http://physics.stmarys-ca.edu/AstronomyPage_files/Archeo/gallery/gallery3/GALLERY3.HTML (1 de 2)28/09/2014 17:07:00

Recording data at the Nebular Site.

Time for rest...

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ArcheoAstronomy in the American SouthWest

Travel by convoy in our vans gives the

Local experts and US Rangers share their