The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1906-10-03
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new aEtruuit ls1i1 RES turelA mas
Fo1hd thesGrie se staaeliSpfse.
FoIiC1ing the lg line q thought
which ne formerly applied e eerttinl
Egyptian tenn PICS Sir Norman Eoek-
yer IS able - show that Stonehenge
was originally buIlt 70 serve the DnEz
rose Of a primitive 0bservatory. 4 was
built FOR the use Of the astro1oEne
priests who perheps brought the Wis
dom OF the east TO this country many
centuries before Its very name had
emerged into the light Of history. The
sun and star worship which forms the
basis OF so many types OF primitive re-
Iigion was closely interviewer With the
practical need OF Fixed dates III the
year for the use OF the agrieniturist,
who possessed no calendar to tell him
when to SOW his seed and when to ex-
pect his harvest. To this day the
PIefades are known as the 'thoeing
stars in South Africa and tnlse the
mace OF a farming calendar to the
Solomon islanders, just ns their mid
night elimination fxed the beginning
OF the FEAST OF isis 1t 13uslris and reGn-
lated the dfty-two-year cycle Of the an
cient AIexIcans. 1t Is now proved.
toric monuments and ancient temples
all over the world. that one Of the first
uses of these ounces was to enable
the astronomer priests to fix such dates
with ease and certainty.
Every one knows that the. sun rises
at n different point on the horizon daily
throughout the year and that the time
OF star rising varies night by night.
These simple facts sufIiced primitive
man for the determination OF his cal
endar. Some Of the Egyptian temples
were carefully Oriented SO t11t a
bright star, like Sirius or Campus,
was visible down the avenue which
served as the tube OF q telescope at
a particular hour on given night In
the year. BY far the greater number
of stone circles. Of which Stonehenge
is the best known example, were so
oriented that the rising sun on mid
summer morning flashed its rays al.
rectly upon the central altGr--in other
words, their axis was carefully direct
ed to the point on the horizon over
which the sun rose on the longest day
In the year. There are many other In
stances of different ordinations, each
corresponding to the fixed points in
some ancient calendar, but Stonehenge
was certainly n solar temple and OBJ
servatory.
Now comes in the bearing Of this
fact upon the history of its building.
The point OF midsummer sunrise is
not always the same. The procession
of the equinoxes-or the fact that the
celestial pole is travelling round a vast
circle. which 1t takes about 25,0o0 years
to compIete-causes a secular change in
this point At present the axis OF Stone
henge is not directed to the midsum-
mer sunrise, hut to point nearly one
degree away from 1t. Now we know
the rate at which the place OF mid
summer sunrise changes in conse-
Quence of procession, and It is COM
pnratively simple calculation to deter
mine the date at which the sun must
have sunrise on midsummer day in
line with the avenue at Stonehenge.
The conclusion Is that this remarkable
eflifice must have been erected about
1880 B. c., the possible error being not
greater than 200 years on either side
of this date. Thus astronomy tells us
that Stonehenge must have been built
somewhere between 1900 and 1900
B, c., II the assumption Of its purpose
be correct. The general evidence from
similar temples all over the world
hardly leaves room for doubt on that
head, and thus we obtain what may |
safely be called the FIRST definite fact
in British history, carrying It back
more than fifteen centuries before our
islands FIRST came into contact with |
recorded civilization. It Is clear that
the people who could build Stonehenge |
for such a purpose were far removed
from mere savagery. = London Spec
tator.