Were Greek temples oriented towards aurorae?

Liritzis, Ioannis; Vassiliou, Helen

doi:10.1111/j.1468-4004.2006.47114.x

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Celestial phenomena produced by aurorae have fascinated mankind and played an important role in the culture, traditions and religious beliefs of past societies (Masse ). Examples interpreted to reflect auroral occurrences include four passages in the Old Testament (see Eather ) and the north–south orientation of temples dedicated to Apollo, the god of light and the Sun, in ancient Greece (Liritzis and Vassiliou ). A possible relationship between the origin and meaning of symbols found in prehistoric rock art and the occurrence of intense auroral outburst has been proposed based on laboratory experiments (Peratt ; Peratt et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in Mid-Latitude Auroral Activity During the Holocene*

Korte

Stolze

2014

Archaeometry

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Estimates of the past location of the auroral zone can aid archaeologists in the interpretation of documented light phenomena in the night sky; in particular, during periods without written records and in regions where aurorae are scarce today. Aurora occurrence largely depends on solar activity as well as the tilt and strength of the geomagnetic field. Here, we introduce a tool (AUREST) that visually combines the time-dependent variations of these parameters to provide relative estimates of aurora occurrence in mid-latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere over the past 10 000 years. Tests against historical aurora observations show good compatibility with AUREST.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in Mid-Latitude Auroral Activity During the Holocene*

Korte

Stolze

2014

Archaeometry

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“…Many distinguished researchers [6,7,8] enrich with their archaeoastronomical results the analysis of archaeological evidence, about the cult of gods and the related rituals. In the case of the Ancient Greek temples, for example the temples in Delphi, in Delos, and other ritual places of central cultural and religious importance, basic results have been obtained, based on literary and worship, as well as on working field evidence [9,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Orientations of Thirteen Apollo's Temples: A Gnomonic Perspective

Perez-Enriquez,

Panagiotis,

Moussas

2018

Ann Archaeol

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Apollo, the Sun God, is one of the most prominent deities in the Ancient Greek religion. The temples and the oracles dedicated to the cult of Apollo correlate the selection of their geographical site with their special orientation, as based on ancient astronomical practices of symbolic and ritual importance. By studying the Ancient Greek temples, as for example the temples of Apollo, various researchers in the field of Archaeoastronomy, as for example, Ranieri discovered their special, non-random orientation. In this paper the special orientations of thirteen temples of Apollo are studied by the application of a novel criterion, the criterion of the platonic gnomonic factor (fgp). The majority of the temples have special arithmetic values of their corresponding fgp, and this result leads us to suggest a hypothetical application of a methodology, relating to the value of the gnomonic factor and the orientation of the temple; implemented at the time of the definition of its construction. We find that for six out of thirteen temples of Apollo, a correlation between the gnomonic factors implied by the site selected for them, their specific orientation as well as the size of their basement, exists. This analysis of the sites and orientations from a gnomonic perspective could shed light to some cultural aspects of the ancient civilizations, and their symbolic relation with the cult of this Sun God..

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“…Χξ εη ημφημο εα ιπμνμφζε κα οπμηεεεί υηζ μ πνμζακαημθζζιυξ ημο ικδιείμο ζπεηζγυηακ ιε ηδκ πενίμδμ ηεθέζεςξ αοηχκ ηςκ εμνηχκ. (Dinsmoor 1975, Lawrence 1983, Κμηημνμφ-Ώθεονά 1991, Μαζηναπάξ 1994, Παπαπμζηυθμο 1994 (Liritzis & Vassiliou 2006).…”

Section: μεηξήζεηο -ώπνηειέζκαηαunclassified

Ερμηνευτική Διερεύνηση Του Αστρονομικού Προσανατολισμού Προϊστορικών Αρχαίων Και Βυζαντινών Μνημείων Της Νοτιοανατολικής Μεσογείου Μέσω Αρχαιολογικών Ιστορικών Θρησκειολογικών Και Μυθολογικών Πηγών

Βασιλείου¹

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Τπμδζαίνεζδ ηδξ διέναξ ηαζ Λεζημονβζηυ διενμθυβζμ ηδξ Βηηθδζίαξ ΚΔΦΑΛΑΗΟ 2. ΔΠΗΚΟΠΖΖ ΣΖ ΔΡΔΤΝΑ ΑΣΡΟΝΟΜΗΚΧΝ ΠΡΟΑΝΑΣΟΛΗΜΧΝ 2.1. Ένεοκα ζε ικδιεία δζεεκχξ, εηηυξ πςνχκ ηδξ Μεζμβείμο 2.2. Ένεοκα πνμζακαημθζζιμφ ικδιείςκ ηδξ εονφηενδξ πενζμπήξ ηδξ Μεζμβείμο 2.3. Ένεοκα πνμζακαημθζζιμφ ζε Ώζβοπηζαηά ικδιεία 2.4. Ένεοκα πνμζακαημθζζιμφ ζε ικδιεία ηδξ Μάθηαξ 2.5. Ένεοκα πνμζακαημθζζιμφ ζε ανπαία ικδιεία ηδξ Βθθάδαξ 2.6. Ένεοκα Πνμζακαημθζζιμφ Υνζζηζακζηχκ καχκ ΚΔΦΑΛΑΗΟ 3. ΜΔΘΟΓΟΛΟΓΗΑ 3.1.1.Έκκμζεξ ηςκ βςκζχκ ηαεμνζζιμφ ημο αζηνμκμιζημφ πνμζακαημθζζιμφ ηςκ ικδιείςκ 3.

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Were Greek temples oriented towards aurorae?

Abstract: Ioannis Liritzis and Helen Vassiliou assess the evidence that the Ancient Greeks saw the aurora borealis, and that it was a rare and special event, strongly enough associated with particular gods to build temples of unusual orientation.

Cited by 7 publications

References 18 publications

Variations in Mid-Latitude Auroral Activity During the Holocene*

Variations in Mid-Latitude Auroral Activity During the Holocene*

Orientations of Thirteen Apollo's Temples: A Gnomonic Perspective

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