We may have a great knowledge about the universe existence but who were the first observers
that placed universe on the front line? Join me as I show you, how 3 ancient civilizations,
considered the Universe. First lets start withThe Inca Empire
The Inca Empire flourished in the Andes Mountains in South America from the 12th to 16th centuries.
It contained Ecuador and Colombia, down though Peru, Bolivia, northwest Argentina, and down
through central Chile. So you get that we are talking about a great empire. Some centuries
later, The Inca Empire was destroyed by the Spanish conquest but before this happened,
the capital’s name was Cusco, today’s Peru, and more than 200 nations used to live
all together in harmony. Their god was “Inti” or in other words
our beautiful Sun who made its appearance through the Titicaca lake and gave life to
the Universe. Their love and respect for the Sun was so deep, that they considered The
Inca emperors to be the Sun’s descendants, and were worshiped as deities.
As we go further, you will understand on a deeper level how much their life was affected
by the Sun. Let’s see the ways they chose to show their
love to the Sun. They built extravagant pillars and temples
with great precision so that the sun would pass over the structures or through windows
on specific days, like the summer and the winter solstice.
Also they had the Sun Festival, celebrating Inti. It started at sunrise on the winter
solstice and was filled with feasting and dancing. The festival lasted nine days. It
was a time to thank the sun and to celebrate the beginning of a planting season.
Before we continue with our exploration to the ancient civilizations, be sure to like
or dislike the video so that we can continue to improve and make these videos better for
you. Plus, be sure to subscribe to the channel so that you don’t miss any of our weekly
videos! In their cosmology, the universe is not composed
of a series of discrete phenomena and events, but there is a powerful principle ordering
the events and objects in the physical environment. So everything in the universe is connected.
The sky had a very special meaning in managing this civilization and impacted their life.
Observing the sky was a part of their daily lives as they used it for navigation, agriculture,
ritual of circles and explanations for natural, social and cultural phenomenon. So the sky
was acting like a map to figure out their place in the cosmos.
We couldn’t talk about Incas without making reference to a monument that has a unique
beauty and an extraordinary historical significance. It’s not other than Machu Picchu!
Machu Picchu is a sacred ceremonial site, an agricultural experimentation center and
an astronomical observatory known. It is the land of Inca’s civilization and
one of the most well-known and fascinating ancient sites anywhere on the planet.
It is believed to be built around 1450-1460. Located in some very steed mountains in the
Southern Peru, and is a well-known preserved ancient city above the sacred Valley, which
is 80 kilometres northwest of Cuzco. Machu Picchu belongs to UNESCO’s World Heritage
Site from 1983. In 2007 it was voted as one of the Seven wonders of the world! So imagine
the importance it has, as our cultural heritage as humanity. And it comes not as a surprise,
as it is very imposing, and of course an astonishingly beautiful place.
This site was abandoned in the late 16th century during the Spanish Conquest of the Americas.
Imagine that although the invasion, Spanish weren’t able to come across this site. It
wasn’t until the early 20th century that it was rediscovered, and brought back in the
world’s attention, in the early 1900s. It was utilized for diverse cultural agricultural
economic religious and of course astronomical activities, due to his location of 2.400 meters
above the sea level. Though no records exist to explain the exact purpose of the site,
the stones that have been found can tell that the purpose of Machu Picchu was to be more
as a solar observatory. Inside Machu Picchu there is the Torreon which
demonstrated that the ancient Inca civilization had a very strong knowledge of the different
stages of the Sun. One recent research has discovered that those two structures were
positioned this way in order to track other astronomical alignments related to the moon
and other cosmological bodies. So as an observatory it was the perfect location
to see the moon, the stars, and the Sun.
By looking up in the sky, many stars came into their attention that looked like animals.
These were considered to be representations from their daily lives and helped them with
their agricultural activities. They sorted constellations into two groups. The first
and most common groupings of stars were linked in a connect-the dots to create pictures of
animals, gods, heroes and more. One star grouping known as Pleades was especially believed to
be influential over the well-being of animals. Let’s see some of the most famous constellations
The serpent or Mach’acuay The constellation Mach'acuay is a wavy dark
band located on the Milky Way between Canis Major and the Southern Cross. The serpent
is connected to water and the agricultural cycle. The head of the serpent constellation
came out in August and is hidden away again in February.
The Toad or Hanp’atu It symbolizes water and natural springs. The
Toad had the significance that his appearance in the night sky coincided with the beginning
of the Inca agricultural cycle: when he showed up, it meant that the time to plant the seeds
had come, until the end of October. The Tinamou or Yutu
Located at the base of the Southern Cross, Tinamou is the next dark constellation to emerge as the
Milky Way becomes visible in the night sky. Tinamou is related to crop fertility, the
rainy season and the time that rainbows appear.
The Llama or Urcuchillay The llama is perhaps the most important of
the constellations to the Incas. Although the llama is a dark constellation, the stars
Alpha and Beta Centauri serve as its “eyes” and are the first to emerge when the llama
rises in November. The constellation consists of two llamas, a mother, and a baby. Llamas
were of great importance to the Incas: they were food, beasts of burden and sacrifices
to the gods. These sacrifices often took place at certain times with astronomical significance
such as equinoxes and solstices. Llama herders were particularly attentive to the movements
of the celestial llama and offered it sacrifices. The Fox or Atoq
The fox is a small black splotch at the feet of the llama death. This constellation has
a connection to earthly foxes: the Sun passes through the constellation in December, the
time when baby foxes are born. Now let’s continue to another Empire that
also has its own unique story. The Mayan Empire!
The Mayan tribe was a native of Central America, mainly Mexico, whose first chronological finds
date back to 7,500 BC. They were scholars of the stars with a deep sense of sanctity
for nature, the planet, and the universe, whose traces were lost with the Spanish conquest.
Their famous city was Palenque, which was discovered in 1773
The Mayan tribe became widely known for their diary. Even their pyramids have an astronomical
orientation and were built for the needs of a diary. Their diary was based on 3 cycles,
which were studied and accurately determined based on the orbital time of the earth around
the Sun. The Central Cycle lasting 365,24 days for daily life (Hub), the Holy Circle
lasting 260 days (Cholkin) for their religious holidays, and a Large Cycle lasting 5,125
days. They believed that they lived in the fifth
age of the Sun because before the creation of modern man there were four tribes that
were destroyed by great floods, leaving few survivors.
According to the Maya, the period of the great cycle we are going through began on August
11, 3114 BC, according to which the gods first created the Orion nebula located in the middle
of the constellation near the three stars, three Wizards whose fire created the universe
and will end on December 21, 2012. This conclusion emerged from their mythology
that the world we live in will end when the winter solstice aligns with the "Dark Circle"
of our planet, the Underworld, at the center of our galaxy. Thus, they calculated that
the apparent movement of the solstices and equinoxes in 2012 will be due to the deviation
of the Earth's axis as it rotates from the Sun. They believed in closing one circle,
and creating another. It is surprising that they could measure time
so accurately as they did not have roles or compass. The odds are that they had discovered
their own personal way. Either way, they managed to have their life in a program.
Time could have symbolic value. So they counted the days in a set of twenty, and gave their
own names. Each zodiac sign is associated with the four points of the horizon fire,
air, earth, water. The East symbolizes initiative, the North the mind, the West the relations
and the intercourse and the South the feelings and emotions.
Imagine that so many books were written about the diary of Maya and affected the world as
they seemed like there was a wise vibe about them.
Last but not least, The Aztecs Empire This Empire dominated Central America in Mexico
in the 14th-16th centuries. It was a dominant culture of the recent post-classical period.
The name Atzekos comes from the word "Aztlan" which means white earth. Their origins are
linked to the population movements of Toltec refugees and the immigration of the Tsitsimeks
who settled around 1000 in the Mexican basin. Their capital was Tenochtitlan which means
"Stone that comes out of the water" Aztecs were concerned about a lack of stability
and the potential destruction of the world coming from the sky. According to the legend,
they believed that the universe would stop moving at the end of each New Fire of a cycle
that lasted 52 years. So Every 52 years a new cycle would commence.
They had accurate and specific knowledge about the duration of the year, the determination
of the solstices, the phases and eclipses of the Moon, the phases of Venus, the open
cluster of Pleiades and various other constellations. In the late 18th century, the Sun Stone was
discovered, often called the "Aztec Diary". But it is not only a diary, but also a commemorative
stone of a sacred date. For the Aztecs, it was the fifth sun, following
the earlier four suns having come to an end with various destructions of the world. They
thought that Sun existed because God did sacrifice himself for Humanity. So God helped Sun to
be in our lives, and be able to exist To sum up, The tribes of South America gave
the essence of the sun, a divine form, creating monuments, calendars which in addition to
historical value have a special beauty. And of course they show the will to find a way
to explain the importance of the sun and the stars. Though their beliefs weren’t scientific
approved, they helped to enrich our knowledge based on empirical observation, and on the
verification of assumptions through science and its tools.
Thanks for watching everyone! I would really like to know your opinion regarding these
ancient civilizations. Can you image the impact that had the Sun on their religious beliefs?
Do you think that Machu Picchu deserves to be protected by UNESCO? What is your opinion
about star consellations. Did you know about The Mayan diary?Let me know, in the comments
below, be sure to subscribe, and I’ll see you next time on the channel!