The book is divided into two parts. In the first, the reader is taken on an ideal world tour of many wonderful and enigmatic places in almost every continent, in search of traces of astronomical knowledge and lore of the sky. In the second part, Giulio Magli uses the elements presented in the tour to show that the fundamental idea which led to the construction of the astronomically-related giant monuments was the foundation of power, a foundation which was exploited by replicating the sky. A possible interpretive model then emerges that is founded on the relationship the ancients had with nature, in the sense of everything that surrounded them, the cosmos. The numerous monumental astronomically aligned structures of the past then become interpretable as acts of will, expressions of power on the part of those who held it; the will to replicate the heavenly plane here on earth and to build sacred landscapes.
Finally, having formulated his hypothesis, Professor Magli returns to visit one specific place in detail, searching for proof. This in-depth examination studies the most compelling, the most intensively studied, the most famous and, until recently, the most misunderstood sacred landscape on the planet - Giza, in Egypt. The archaeoastronomical analysis of the orientation of the Giza pyramids leads to the hypothesis that the pyramids of Cheops and Chephren belong to the same construction project.
The book is divided into two parts. In the first, the reader is taken on an ideal world tour of many wonderful and enigmatic places in almost every continent, in search of traces of astronomical knowledge and lore of the sky. In the second part, Giulio Magli uses the elements presented in the tour to show that the fundamental idea which led to the construction of the astronomically-related giant monuments was the foundation of power, a foundation which was exploited by replicating the sky. A possible interpretive model then emerges that is founded on the relationship the ancients had with nature, in the sense of everything that surrounded them, the cosmos. The numerous monumental astronomically aligned structures of the past then become interpretable as acts of will, expressions of power on the part of those who held it; the will to replicate the heavenly plane here on earth and to build sacred landscapes.
Finally, having formulated his hypothesis, Professor Magli returns to visit one specific place in detail, searching for proof. This in-depth examination studies the most compelling, the most intensively studied, the most famous and, until recently, the most misunderstood sacred landscape on the planet - Giza, in Egypt. The archaeoastronomical analysis of the orientation of the Giza pyramids leads to the hypothesis that the pyramids of Cheops and Chephren belong to the same construction project.
Über den Autor
Giulio Magli is an astrophysicist/archaeoastronomer and currently a Full Professor of Mathematical Physics and Head of the Department of Mathematics at the Politecnico di Milano. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Milan, he initially conducted research in Relativistic Astrophysics but gradually moved toward Archaeoastronomy and, more generally, to the study of the relationships between architecture and landscape among ancient cultures. For many years, he worked on Egypt and the Mediterranean, but his current research focuses on Asia and especially on Imperial China. His previous books include Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy (Springer 2009), Architecture, Astronomy and Sacred Landscape in Ancient Egypt (Cambridge University Press 2013), and Archaeoastronomy - Introduction to the Science of Stars and Stones (Springer 2017). He taught the first massive open online course on Archaeoastronomy ever developed, freely available on the MOOC platform of the Politecnico di Milano and on Coursera, and has appeared as an expert on Archaeoastronomy in several TV broadcasts for CNN, the History Channel, and Discovery Channel. He was also one of the authors of the UNESCO-IAU document on Astronomy and Cultural Heritage.
Zusammenfassung
The first complete and authoritative introduction to the young and fascinating science of Archaeoastronomy
Explores the ancients' motives in constructing such grandiose buildings as the city of Teotihuacan or the Giza pyramids
Illustrates how Astronomy is a key to understanding our ancestors' way of thinking
Uniquely studies the astronomical knowledge of our predecessors by analyzing their monuments
Discusses both famous and little known archaeological sites from an Archaeostronomical point of view
Contains complete, up-to-date and extensive discussion of the exploration of the 'shafts' in Cheops' pyramid
Includes supplementary material: [...]
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1.- Thirty thousand years of silence.- Forests of stones, rings of giants.- The island of the goddess.- A Civilization entitled to no place.- When the method is lacking.- Wheels, octagons and golf courses.- Straighr road , circle Buildings, and supernova.- The land where the god where born.- The tree of the world.- The four part of the Earth.- The People of the lines.- The last of the lands.- 2.- Apicnic on the side of the road.- Predidting the past.- Power and Replica.- 3.- The age of the Pyramides.- Gatway to the stars.- On the path of the Ancient Stars.- The scared landscape in the Age of the Pyrimid.