Architecture, Astronomy and Sacred Landscape in Ancient Egypt

Magli, Giulio

doi:10.1017/cbo9781139424554

Cited by 22 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…As a consequence, Archaeoastronomy took a long way to evolve in a quite complete discipline which today works in rigorous partnership with archaeology and takes into careful account all the possible sources of information (see e.g. Ruggles 2005, Magli 2013). The work presented here aroused exactly from one such situations: an archaeological discovery led us to investigate astronomical issues, which in turn furnished a quite coherent scenario for a better interpretation of the archaeological records.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…3) The orientation of Merida A case of special relevance here is certainly that of Emerita Augusta (modern Merida, Spain) (Gonzalez Garcıa andCosta-Ferrer 2011, Gonzalez Garcia andMagli 2013). The town was indeed probably founded in the same year of Aosta, 25 BC (Mateos Cruz 2001).…”

Section: ) Orientations Of Late Republican/julian Townsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…In spite of this, attempts at establishing a common rule have been doomed to failure up to now due both to methodological issues and to the practical mentality of the Romans, which in many cases appears to have overruled symbolic principles in favour of local (e.g. geo-morphological) considerations (Magli 2008, Gonzalez Garcia andMagli 2013). However, deliberate astronomical orientation can actually be documented in (many) specific cases, as we shall review in next section.…”

Section: The Orientation Of the Urban Layout Of Aostamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Augustus' Power from the Stars and the Foundation of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum

Bertarione¹,

Magli²

2015

CAJ

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Augustus' propaganda founded the ruler's power on a series of references to the sky: Caesar's comet, which helped establishing the divine nature of kingship, the completion of the calendar's reform celebrated in the Campus Martius' meridian, and Augustus' association with the Capricorn, the zodiacal sign of the winter solstice. A variety of proofs coming from texts, works of art and numismatics show the key role of such a "power from the stars". We present here new archaeological and archaeoastronomical evidences coming from Augusta Praetoria Salassorum (modern Aosta), founded around 25 BC after the victory of Augustus' army on the Salassi. An emergency excavation along the Aosta's Roman walls has indeed brought to light a block in situ on a corner of one of the towers which carries several reliefs -including a plough and a spade -apparently related to the town's foundation ritual. As a consequence, we carried out a complete analysis of the original urban plan of Aosta and of its relationship with the sky and the landscape, taking into account the complex natural horizon of the Alps in which Aosta's valley is nested. The results show that the town was oriented in such a way as to pinpoint Augustus' "cognitive" relationship with the "cosmic" signs of renewal.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ) Orientations Of Late Republican/julian Townsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: The Orientation Of the Urban Layout Of Aostamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Augustus' Power from the Stars and the Foundation of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum

Bertarione¹,

Magli²

2015

CAJ

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“…The religious symbolism associated with cosmic order is reflected in the orientations of ancient buildings worldwide [Magli 2013], and Angkor is no exception. It is indeed well known that almost all the temples, enclosures and barays are oriented cardinally.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeoastronomy in the Khmer Heartland

Magli

2017

SDH

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Archaeoastronomy in the Khmer Heartland GIULIO MAGLI, Politecnico di Milano, ItalyThe heartland of the Khmer empire is filled with magnificent monuments built over the course of many centuries. These monuments include the world-famous "state temples," such as Angkor Wat, and also many other temples as well as huge water reservoirs. Using data from Google Earth as well as GIS and reconstructing the ancient sky with Stellarium, we investigate the relationships of astronomy with orientation and topography in a systematic fashion, following the methods of modern Archaeoastronomy and strictly keeping at bay vague and/or esoteric proposals put forward by previous writers. As a result, a very clear pattern of cardinal orientation and alignment arises, connected with the temples' symbolism and the management of power by the Khmer kings. As a bonus, a comparison with the Angkor monuments allows us to put forward an explanation for the anomalous orientation of two unique "peripheral" state temples of Cambodia.

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“…The pediment is illustrated on a coin of Vespasian (seeDressel, table IV); it also seems to be referred to by Dio Cassius (80.10.1). The motif of Isis riding a dog is also attested in the pediment of a monument (possibly a tomb) from Cerveteri; see Lafaye 1881.79 On the association of Sirius with Isis see, e.g.,Morentz 1973:270; Wells 1985:259, 290, 293n13;Magli 2013:47. On the alignment of temples of Isis in Egypt to Sirius seeWells 1985:290.…”

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confidence: 99%

Archaeoastronomical experiments supported by virtual simulation environments: Celestial alignments in the Antinoeion at Hadrian's Villa (Tivoli, Italy)

Frischer

Zotti

Mari³

et al. 2016

Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage

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The archaeological site at Hadrian's Villa (Tivoli, Italy) conventionally called the Antinoeion was used as a testbed for studying the utility of simulation environments for archaeoastronomical research. The site consists of a sanctuary with three temples facing an open plaza which may, or may not, have had an obelisk in the center. Two reconstruction models were made of the site using AutoCAD and 3D Studio Max. In one version, the obelisk was present; in the other, there was no obelisk. The models were imported into two simulation environments: Unity and Stellarium. They were then used to support observations of the sun in relationship to the built features in the sanctuary throughout the year. Several solar alignments were detected, and the dates and times in the two simulation environments coincided, thereby allowing us to replicate our own results. The most important result is the orientation of the site's main axis toward sunrise on the summer solstice. Stellarium also supported simulation of the nighttime sky. An interesting alignment was observed between the asterism Antinous and one of the temples; a second temple appears to be associated closely with Sirius. The results of the study suggest that simulation environments can facilitate archaeoastronomical research. They also suggest that the excavator was correct in identifying the site at Hadrian's Villa as an Antinoeion.

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Architecture, Astronomy and Sacred Landscape in Ancient Egypt

Cited by 22 publications

References 80 publications

Augustus' Power from the Stars and the Foundation of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum

Augustus' Power from the Stars and the Foundation of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum

Archaeoastronomy in the Khmer Heartland

Archaeoastronomical experiments supported by virtual simulation environments: Celestial alignments in the Antinoeion at Hadrian's Villa (Tivoli, Italy)

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