Modern city dwellers have very little reason to gaze at the night skies, but life was different for the ancients. As they had no nightlife and no entertainment, they had ample time to explore the night sky.
Human interest in astronomy dates back to several thousands of years. We have always been fascinated with celestial bodies, their behaviour, and their impact on the earth. Not content with observing what was visible to the naked eye, humans invented tools enabling them to explore distant heavenly bodies. The discoveries and inventions of the past have played an important role in shaping modern astronomy.
The ancient civilizations had many reasons to express interest in astronomy. The practical value of astronomy in their daily lives was great. Based on their observations of the skies, they could create calendars that helped them become successful farmers.
Also, astronomical observations were of great assistance to seamen, preventing them from losing their way on their voyages. Thanks to astronomy, people could also tell the directions and find their way during the day as well as night.
Astronomy also helped the ancients to:
- Tell the time
- Predict the weather
- Understand the cosmic origin of humanity
- Predict eclipses
- Keep track of seasons
- Tell the directions
Let us now explore the practical value of astronomy in the following ancient civilizations:
Ancient Babylonian Civilization
The Babylonians were among the first people on earth to document the movements of celestial bodies like the sun and the moon, and their documents were quite accurate. They maintained detailed records of the daily, monthly, and yearly positions of various celestial bodies.
They used this information to predict natural disasters. For example, they documented the first appearance of the Halley’s Comet in the skies. To aid their studies and observations, they also divided the skies into zones.
Ancient Greek Civilization
Nobody has formulated as many theories or mathematical equations to unravel the mysteries of the universe as the Greeks. No wonder they are widely acclaimed as “fathers of ancient astronomy.”
For example, Eratosthenes, a well-known Greek scholar, excelled not only in astronomy but also in mathematics, geography, music, and poetry. As a result, he bears the credit for several astronomical breakthroughs in ancient Greece.
Eratosthenes is the one who calculated the circumference of the earth, and he missed the correct number by just a few hundred or thousand miles. This can be considered quite accurate considering the lack of technology in ancient Greece. The scholar also calculated the angle at which the Earth’s axis tilts and explained the concept of the leap year.
We also cannot forget the contributions of Pythagoras although he is better known as a mathematician. He proposed that the earth is just as spherical as the other celestial bodies visible to the naked eye. He came to this conclusion after noticing how ships vanish after sailing past the horizon. Also, he was the first to propose that the movements of celestial bodies can be numerically equated.
Ancient Indian Civilization
The astronomical contributions of ancient Indian scholars are many. Thanks to the efforts of the Indian scholar Aryabhata, astronomy in India finally became free from the clutches of religion and mysticism.
Even though most of his works are based on the premise that the earth is geocentric, many of them apply to modern astronomy and mathematics. Aryabhata proposed that the Earth rotates around its axis and the moon doesn’t have any light of its own but reflects the light it receives from the sun.
Ancient Egyptian Civilization
The astronomers of ancient Egypt have contributed the most to modern astronomy. Like any other ancient civilization, they had a bundle of myths to help them understand astronomical events. They built large temples and pyramids based on the positions of celestial bodies. For example, they constructed the Great Pyramid of Giza in such a way that it aligns with the North Star, which was Thuban in those days.
One of the most fascinating astronomical locations in Egypt is the Nabta Playa, which includes a circular stone structure that serves as a calendar to track seasons and astronomical events.
Astronomy, for the ancient Egyptians, had practical as well as religious value. They used the valuable information they received from the skies to predict floods and make the required preparations to protect people.
The calendar system they developed bears a striking resemblance to the calendar we use today. The ancient Egyptian calendar too had 365 days of 12 months with 30 days in each month. However, the ancient Egyptian week comprised 10 days and not seven like the modern calendar. Owing to this difference, their month had three weeks instead of four.
Ancient Mayan Civilization
The astronomers of ancient Mayan civilization have learned many valuable lessons from the skies. They were passionate about studying the movements of celestial bodies like various plants, the sun, the moon, and the stars.
They also invented devices that helped them to accurately document the movements and positions of celestial bodies across the sky. And they used the information and knowledge they received from their observations to create the famous Mayan Calendar.
Ancient Persian Civilization
Astronomy as a subject of study was very popular in the post-Islamic era of the Persian civilization. One of the most brilliant astronomers of the time was Azophi, who first described the Andromeda Galaxy in a book titled “The Book of Fixed Stars.” He also revised and corrected Ptolemy’s earlier observations of constellations.
Another brilliant Persian astronomer, Abu-Mahmud Khojandi, built a huge sextant to calculate the axis of the earth. He built it on his own, and owing to its size, he was able to provide an accurate calculation that was off by just two minutes. He was the first to attain that level of accuracy while calculating the earth’s axis.
Ancient Chinese Civilization
Ancient Chinese astronomers were also good at accurately documenting the positions of celestial bodies and various astronomical events. The most notable ancient Chinese astronomer was Gan De, who noticed Ganymede for the first time. He referred to it as a tiny red star in the vicinity of Jupiter.
Another Chinese astronomer Shi Shen created a detailed catalogue of the stars. Called the Star Catalogue of Shi, it is the oldest of its kind in the world. A modern archaeologist discovered the Dunhuang Star Atlas in an ancient Buddhist Cave in Dunhuang, considered to be the world’s oldest star map dating back to 700 AD.
To conclude, we can safely say that astronomy continues to be a valuable subject of study even today, continuing to provide answers to humanity’s questions regarding the nature of the universe and also leading to technological innovations.