Imhotep discovered the circumference of the earth of about twenty-five thousand miles by studying the movement of the sun during the summer and winter solstices. He reached his deductions on the circumference of the earth, hundreds of years before Athens was even in existence. Yet, an Athenian named Eratosthenes is credited with giving the world the circumference of the earth. We must also remember that the western world did not even know the world was round until 1492 A.C.E. Imhotep knew the world was round approximately 4,000 years earlier".
WINGED GLOBE OF KEMET
Aristotle (who made quite a lot of observations about the spherical nature of the Earth) noticed that during lunar eclipses (when the Earth’s orbit places it directly between the Sun and the Moon, creating a shadow in the process), the shadow on the Moon’s surface is round. This shadow is the Earth’s, and it’s a great clue on the spherical shape of the Earth
Since the earth is rotating (see the “Foucault Pendulum” experiment for a definite proof, if you are doubtful), the consistent oval-shadow it produces in each and every lunar eclipse proves that the earth is not only round but spherical – absolutely, utterly, beyond a shadow of a doubt not flat
If you’ve been next to a port lately, or just strolled down a beach and stared off vacantly into the horizon, you might have, perhaps, noticed a very interesting phenomenon: approaching ships do not just “appear” out of the horizon (like they should have if the world was flat), but rather emerge from beneath the sea. But – you say – ships do not submerge and rise up again as they approach our view . The reason ships appear as if they “emerge from the waves” is because the world is not flat: it’s round.
2,500-year-old Chinese school of thought saw the cosmos as a sphere, infinite in size, with a round earth within it.
Ancient Afrikans knew the earth revolved around the sun, and they knew about all the planets in our solar system- even Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, which were not discovered by modern day science until 1781, 1846, and 1930!
THE DOGON
The Dogon of West Africa, who have a long and rich oral tradition. Amazingly, they knew that Sirius was a double star- despite the fact that Sirius is not visible to the naked eye. They also knew that that Sirius B had an elliptical orbit of fifty years, and that it was "the heaviest thing in the universe" [a pretty good description of a collapsed dwarf star, which modern astronomers have only recently discovered.] The Dogons also knew that Saturn has rings, Jupiter four moons, and that our moon was arid. Modern astronomers have only recently “discovered” these facts, with our advanced technology (telescopes and unmanned satellites)
THE MAYA
The Maya's grasp of astronomy and mathematics is legendary. For example, they knew of and named the Scorpion- a star cluster containing a comet, which could not be seen with the naked eye. They were also advanced enough that they were able to precisely calculate the exact number of days in the solar year- 365.2420 (as compared to our 365.2422).
THE HOPI
The Hopi tribe have a legend that explains the death of the second world. There were supposedly two twins, Poqanghoya and Plongawhoya, who were guardians of the north and south axes of the world. They were ordered by Sotuknang, a nephew of the Creator, to abandon their posts since people had become evil. This would allow the destruction of the second world, and allow a new world to form. According to the legend, when the twins left their posts, the world went crazy in space. The earth ended up changing shape, creating a new axis, and thus the third world was formed. This story is interesting, since it shows that the Hopi tribe knew not only that the earth was round, but that it had axis- a discovery we've made only in recent times.
SUMERIAN CYLINDER SEAL WITH 12 PLANETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
TO THOSE WHO NEED A BIBLICAL VALIDATION
In the Old Testament, Job 26:7 explains that the Earth is suspended in space, the obvious comparison being with the spherical sun and moon.
literal translation of Job 26:10 is “He described a circle upon the face of the waters, until the day and night come to an end.” A spherical Earth is also described in Isaiah 40:21-22—“the circle of the earth.”
Note, the Biblical Hebrew word for “circle” (çåâ—chuwg) can also mean “round” or “sphere.”
“The Earth a Sphere—Certain astronomical relations were recognized very early. The stars appear as if attached to a globe rotating round the Earth once in 24 hours, and this appearance was clearly familiar to the author of the Book of Job, and indeed long before the time of Abraham, since the formation of the constellations could not have been effected without such recognition. But the spherical form of the heavens almost involves a similar form for the Earth, and their apparent diurnal rotation certainly means that they are not rigidly connected with the Earth, but surround it on all sides at some distance from it. The Earth therefore must be freely suspended in space, and so the Book of Job describes it: ‘He stretcheth out the north over empty space, and hangeth the Earth upon nothing’
|
|
