HUMAN AND STARS
We do not know exactly when Homo sapiens appeared and when the beginnings of human civilization arose. It is accepted, that it was about 35,000-40,000 years ago. However, there are data supporting this, that it happened much earlier.
Human civilization did not arise in just one place: was formed in China, Central and South America, on the Euphrates and the Tigris, in Egypt and Greece. The traces of old cultures also have ancient origins in Central and Western Europe.
The primitive man lived in organized groups; he was engaged in hunting and fishing, was picking fruit, over time - he also cultivated fields and raised cattle, he made tools and used fire. Prehistoric paintings and drawings, preserved here and there in caves, they also testify to this, that he had a highly developed artistic sense and spiritual needs. It was, moreover, a form of communication. Paintings and drawings, preserved on the rocks, after all, they reflect the reality of that time, world, in which not only man lived, but he participated creatively, it changed and shaped it, using the resources of the Earth and the forces of nature.
However, only then can one speak of civilization, when a person began to lead a sedentary lifestyle. It was then that a sense of continuity in the existence of individual and collective life began to emerge, Tradition and history began to develop.
The world of the people of that time was limited in space. Its circle was within half a day's hike from the place of permanent settlement, to be within the range of a home or cave fire again before nightfall. Everything more distant was unknown and mysterious, like the sky and the interior of the Earth. It stimulated fantasy, contributing to the creation of literature, art, religion or philosophy.
Unknown and mysterious forces took the form of deities. The biggest of them was the Sun - the creator of day and night, life giver. Then the Moon - illuminating the night darkness with its light, changing regularly, every now and then, your face. And also stars and planets shining in the sky…
On the Euphrates and Tigris the sun god was Shashash, who wandered the sky in a chariot drawn by donkeys from the east to the west gates. In Egypt - Osiris, who traveled on a great canoe on the blue river surrounding the Earth, and when he died at the hand of his brother, Seta - the son of the murdered and his avenger took over the helm of the boat, Horus, also known as Ra. In Greece •-. Helios. He was driving a golden chariot, which were pulled by four horses. In China, Heaven and Earth were also worshiped. It was the personal privilege of the Son of Heaven - the emperor. In the Maya - Hunab Ku was the god, but right after him in the hierarchy of deities was Itzamna - the Lord of the Day, Of the night and the heavens. The Aztecs, on the other hand, are the god of the sun, Inti.
The Moon has always been second behind the Sun.. On the Euphrates and Tigris he was the god of Sin. In Egypt - Khonsu, and then the left eye of Horus, who looked at Earth with it from his boat. At the Maya - the goddess Ixchel. U Azteków - Mama Quilla, sister and wife of the Sun.. In Greece - Selene, sister of Helios. In Rome - Luna.
The sun ruled the day. His way in the sky - from the east to the west - was the rhythm of the contemporary life. The night was beginning, when the sun was behind the western horizon, and she finished, when it swung to the east. These two phenomena, on a regular basis, they were a "natural" unit of time, which was discovered probably the earliest - 24 hours.
But the Moon was also undergoing metamorphosis: 4 phases (new moon, first quarter, full, last quarter), which followed what 7 days, creating one distinct unit of time - a month.
Month is the old Polish name of the Moon. Present - it appeared only in the fourteenth century and is derived from… prince. For the sun was "king" (be a "big prince"), while the Moon is a "prince" (or "little prince").
Another cycle of changes, which people had observed in the old days, it was about the seasons. They were repeated regularly, although not the same number could be distinguished everywhere. In our geographic zone, it stands out: spring, side, fall and winter. And in Egypt: the period of the flood of the Nile (real), sowing period (project) and harvest (shonu).
These three astronomical and natural phenomena, and so: the apparent daily motion of the sun, resulting in the sequence of day and night, the movement of the moon and the periodic repetition of its phases and the cyclical seasons of the year are the basis of the oldest count of time. They made it possible in very ancient times to determine the appropriate units of its measurement: times, month and year.
