The logo of the Melammu Project

The Melammu Project

The Heritage of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East


  The Melammu Project
  
   General description
   Search string
   Browse by topic
   Search keyword
   Submit entry
  
   About
   Open search
   Thematic search
   Digital Library
   Submit item
  
   Ancient texts
   Dictionaries
   Projects
   Varia
   Submit link
  FAQ
  Contact us
  About

  The Newsletter
  To Project Information >

 

Observations of the Sun (1)

Printable view
Topics (move over topic to see place in topic list)

05 Scientific knowledge and scholarly lore



Keywords
solstice
sun
Period
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Channel
Indian culture


Text
A Vedic text describes the motion of the rising point of the Sun north and south along the eastern horizon between the solstices, in similar detail as in Mul Apin.

Mul Apin 1.11-13, 17-18:
The Sun which rose towards the north with the head of the Lion turns and keeps moving down towards the south at a rate of 40 ninda per day. The days become shorter, the nights longer … The Sun which rose towards the south with the head of the Great One turns and keeps coming up towards the north at a rate of 40 ninda per day. The days become longer, the nights become shorter.

Kauṣītakibrāhmaṇa 19.3:
On the new moon of Māgha he (= the Sun) rests, being about to turn northwards … He goes north for six months. … Having gone north for six months he stands still, being about to turn southwards. … He goes south for six months. … Having gone south for six months he stands still, being about to turn north.


Sources (list of abbreviations)
Kauṣītakibrāhmaṇa 19.3
Mul Apin 1.11-13
Mul Apin 1.17-18

Bibliography

Keith 1920, 452Keith, A. B. Rigveda Brahmanas. The Aitareya and Kausitaki Brhamanas of the Rigveda. Translated from the original Sanskrit. Harvard Oriental Series 25. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1920.
Pingree 1989, 443-444Pingree, David. “MUL.APIN and Vedic Astronomy.” In: Hermann Behrens, Darlene Loding and Martha T. Roth (eds.). DUMU-É-DUB-BA-BA. Studies in Honor of Åke W. Sjöberg. Occasional Publications of the Samuel Noah Kramer Fund 11. Philadelphia: Samuel Noah Kramer Fund 1989, 439-445.
Pingree 1998, 128Pingree, David. “Legacies in Astronomy and Celestial Omens.” In: S. Dalley (ed.). The Legacy of Mesopotamia. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1998, 125-137.

Amar Annus


URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0000184.php


Illustrations
No pictures


^
T
O
P