Representation of the ancient peoples about the structure of the world. How the world (earth, planet) and the structure of the Universe were represented in the Middle Ages
From ancient times, knowing environment and expanding living space, a person thought about how the world works, where he lives. Trying to explain the Universe, he used categories that were close and understandable to him, first of all, drawing parallels with familiar nature and the area in which he himself lived. How people used to represent the Earth? What did they think about its shape and place in the universe? How have their views changed over time? All this makes it possible to know historical sources that have come down to the present day.
How ancient people imagined the Earth
First prototypes geographical maps known to us in the form of images left by our ancestors on the walls of caves, incisions on stones and animal bones. Researchers find such sketches in different parts peace. Similar drawings show hunting grounds, places where game hunters set traps, as well as roads.
Schematically depicting rivers, caves, mountains, forests on improvised material, a person sought to pass on information about them to subsequent generations. In order to distinguish objects already familiar to them from new ones, just discovered, people gave them names. So, gradually mankind accumulated geographical experience. And even then our ancestors began to wonder what the Earth is.
The way ancient people imagined the Earth largely depended on the nature, topography and climate of the places where they lived. 'Cause the peoples different corners planets saw in their own way the world, and these views differed significantly.
Babylon
Valuable historical information about how ancient people imagined the Earth, left us civilizations that lived on the lands between and the Euphrates, inhabited the Nile Delta and the banks mediterranean sea(modern territories of Asia Minor and southern Europe). This information is more than six thousand years old.
Thus, the ancient Babylonians considered the Earth a "world mountain", on the western slope of which was Babylonia - their country. This idea was facilitated by the fact that the eastern part of the lands they knew rested on high mountains which no one dared to cross.
South of Babylonia was the sea. This allowed people to believe that the "world mountain" is actually round, and is washed by the sea from all sides. On the sea, like an inverted bowl, rests the solid heavenly world, which is in many ways similar to the earthly one. It also had its own "land", "air" and "water". The role of the land was played by the belt of the Zodiacal constellations, which blocked the celestial "sea" like a dam. It was believed that the Moon, the Sun and several planets move along this firmament. The sky for the Babylonians was the place of residence of the gods.
The souls of dead people, on the contrary, lived in the underground "abyss". At night, the Sun, plunging into the sea, had to pass through this dungeon from western edge Earth to the east, and in the morning, rising from the sea to the firmament, again begin your daily journey along it.
The way people represented the Earth in Babylon was based on observations of natural phenomena. However, the Babylonians could not correctly interpret them.
Palestine
As for the inhabitants of this country, other ideas reigned on these lands, different from those of Babylon. The ancient Jews lived in a flat area. Therefore, the Earth in their vision also looked like a plain, which in places was crossed by mountains.
Winds, bringing with them either drought or rain, occupied a special place in the beliefs of the Palestinians. Living in the "lower zone" of the sky, they separated the "heavenly waters" from the surface of the Earth. Water, in addition, was under the Earth, feeding from there all the seas and rivers on its surface.
India, Japan, China
Probably the most famous legend today, which tells how ancient people imagined the Earth, was composed by the ancient Indians. This people believed that the Earth was actually a hemisphere, which rests on the backs of four elephants. These elephants stood on the back of a giant tortoise swimming in an endless sea of milk. All these creatures were wrapped in many rings by the black cobra Shesha, which had several thousand heads. These heads, according to the beliefs of the Indians, propped up the universe.
The land in the view of the ancient Japanese was limited to the territory of the islands known to them. She was credited with a cubic shape, and the frequent earthquakes that occur in their homeland were explained by the rampage of the fire-breathing dragon that lives deep in its depths.
About five hundred years ago, the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, observing the stars, established that the center of the Universe is the Sun, and not the Earth. Almost 40 years after the death of Copernicus, his ideas were developed by the Italian Galileo Galilei. This scientist was able to prove that all the planets of the solar system, including the Earth, actually revolve around the Sun. Galileo was accused of heresy and forced to renounce his teachings.
However, the Englishman Isaac Newton, who was born a year after the death of Galileo, subsequently managed to discover the law of universal gravitation. Based on it, he explained why the Moon revolves around the Earth, and the planets with satellites and numerous revolve around the Sun.
In this lesson, we will learn about what the Universe is, how it works. We will discover the world of mysterious and incomprehensible outer space. Let's talk about how ancient civilizations imagined the Universe. Let's get acquainted with the scientists, whose ideas have taken an important place in the development of science.
Theme: Universe
Lesson: How ancient people imagined the universe
As we found out, the methods of cognition can be different. The tasks and goals set for the study are also different. But the only most important thing will remain the interest of knowing the world, the Universe, living and non-living. What is the Universe?
Definition.Universe - it is boundless outer space and everything that fills it: celestial bodies, gas, dust.
If we peer into the starry sky, we will see various star constellations, solar systems, the Moon - they are all components of the Universe, even stars that cannot be seen without the help of special instruments - telescopes (Fig. 1).
In ancient times, there were no such telescopes, and people have been observing the movement of the Moon, the Sun, and the planets for thousands of years, so it is clear that modern views about the structure of the Universe did not arise instantly, but evolved gradually, and the earliest views differed significantly from what we know today. Various peoples worlds represented the universe in different ways.
According to the ideas of the ancient Indians, our Earth was like a hemisphere, which rested on the backs of huge elephants that stood on giant tortoise. The turtle leaned on a snake, which closed the space and personified the world (Fig. 2).
For example, the Egyptians had a different idea of the structure of the universe. Their views were expressed in the form of a myth.
The god of the earth - Geb and the goddess of the sky - Nut loved each other very much, and therefore at first our Universe was merged together. Every evening, Nut gave birth to stars that appeared in the sky. Every morning before sunrise she swallowed them. And so it went on day after day, year after year, until Geb began to get annoyed, because of which he called Nut a pig that eats its piglets. Then the god of the sun, Ra, intervened and called the god of the wind, Shu, so that he would separate heaven and earth. So Nut ascended into heaven in the form of a cow. Sometimes Tehnud came to help her husband Shu, but she very quickly got tired of supporting the heavenly cow and began to cry, and her tears fell like rain on the ground (Fig. 3).
The ancient Babylonians imagined the earth as a huge mountain. In the west of this mountain was Babylonia, which was surrounded by mountains in the east, and the sea in the south. The sea as a whole surrounded this entire mountain, and on top of it, in the form of an inverted bowl, was the sky. The inhabitants of Babylonia thought that there was also land and water in the sky, perhaps even life. The celestial land is a belt of 12 constellations of the Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces. They also believed that the sun comes out and enters back into the sea (Fig. 4). They could not explain the observed phenomena of nature.
The ancient Jews imagined the Earth differently. They lived on a plain, and the Earth seemed to them a plain, on which mountains rise in some places. The Jews assigned a special place in the universe to the winds, which bring rain or drought with them. The abode of the winds, in their opinion, was in the lower zone of the sky and separated the Earth from the heavenly waters: snow, rain and hail. There are waters under the Earth, from which channels go up, feeding the seas and rivers. Apparently, the ancient Jews had no idea about the shape of the entire Earth.
The ancient Greeks made a great contribution to the development of views on the structure of the universe. For example, the philosopher Thales (Fig. 5) imagined the Universe as a liquid mass, inside of which there is a large bubble shaped like a hemisphere. The concave surface of this bubble is the vault of heaven, and on the lower, flat surface, like a cork, floats flat earth. It is easy to guess that Thales based the idea of the Earth as a floating island on the fact that Greece is located on islands. Pythagoras (Fig. 6) was the first to suggest that our Earth is not flat, but looks like a ball. And Aristotle (Fig. 7), developing this hypothesis, created new model world, according to which the motionless Earth is located in the center and it is surrounded by eight solid and transparent spheres. The ninth - provided the movement of all celestial spheres. According to these views, the Sun, the Moon and the planets known at that time were attached to the eight spheres (Fig. 8). Aristotle's views were not shared by all scholars. Aristarchus of Samos got closest to the truth, because he believed that the center of the universe was not the Earth, but the Sun, but he could not prove it. Subsequently, his views were forgotten for many years.
Aristotle's views on long time strengthened in science, for example, the ancient Greek scientist Claudius Ptolemy at the center of the universe also had a motionless Earth, around which Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn revolved. The entire universe was limited to the sphere of fixed stars. The scientist outlined all these views in his work “Mathematical Construction in Astronomy”. The views of Claudius Ptolemy lasted more than the 13th century and for a long time were a reference book for many generations of astronomers.
Rice. 7
In the next lesson, we'll talk about further development views of the universe.
1. Melchakov L.F., Skatnik M.N. Natural history: textbook. for 3.5 cells. avg. school - 8th ed. - M.: Enlightenment, 1992. - 240 p.: ill.
2. Andreeva A.E. Natural History 5. / Ed. Traitaka D.I., Andreeva N.D. - M.: Mnemosyne.
3. Sergeev B.F., Tikhodeev O.N., Tikhodeeva M.Yu. Natural History 5.- M.: Astrel.
1. Melchakov L.F., Skatnik M.N., Natural history: textbook. for 3.5 cells. avg. school - 8th ed. - M.: Enlightenment, 1992. - p. 150, assignments and questions. 3.
2. State Interesting Facts which concern the views of the ancient Greeks on the structure of the universe.
3. Imagine that you need to observe the starry sky. Think over and describe the sequence of actions that you will perform.
4. * Invent a new universe. Describe what is in it. What are the names of the planets and constellations? How do they interact with each other?
We imagined the Earth, there are many answers, since the views of our distant ancestors were radically different depending on which region of the planet they lived in. For example, according to one of the first cosmological models, it rests on three whales swimming in the boundless Ocean. Obviously, such ideas about the world could not have arisen among the inhabitants of the desert, who had never seen the sea. Territorial binding can also be seen in the views of the ancient Indians. They believed that the Earth stands on elephants and is a hemisphere. They, in turn, are located on and that - on a snake, curled up in a ring and closing the near-Earth space.
Egyptian representations
The life and well-being of the representatives of this ancient and one of the most interesting and original civilizations completely depended on the Nile. Therefore, it is not surprising that it was he who was at the center of their cosmology.
The real river Nile flowed on the earth, underground - underground, which belonged to the kingdom of the dead, and in the sky - representing the firmament. The sun god Ra spent all his time traveling by boat. During the day, he sailed along the heavenly Nile, and at night, along its underground continuation, flowing through the kingdom of the dead.
How the ancient Greeks imagined the Earth
Representatives of the Hellenic civilization left the greatest cultural heritage. Its part is ancient Greek cosmology. She found her reflection in Homer's poems - "Odyssey" and "Iliad". In them, the Earth is described as a convex disk, resembling a warrior's shield. In its center is land, washed on all sides by the Ocean. A copper firmament spread over the Earth. The Sun moves along it, which rises daily from the depths of the Ocean in the east and, making its way along a huge arcuate trajectory, plunges into the abyss of water in the west.
Later (in the 6th century BC), the ancient Greek philosopher Thales described the Universe as an infinite liquid mass. Inside it is a large bubble in the shape of a hemisphere. Its upper surface is concave and represents the vault of heaven, and on the lower, flat, like a cork, the Earth floats.
In ancient Babylon
The ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia also had their own, original ideas about the world. In particular, cuneiform evidence from ancient Babylonia, which is about 6 thousand years old, has been preserved. According to these "documents", they represented the Earth in the form of a huge World Mountain. On its western slope was Babylonia itself, and on the eastern slope were all the countries unknown to them. The World Mountain was surrounded by the sea, above which, in the form of an overturned bowl, there was a firm heavenly vault. It also consisted of water, air and land. The latter was a belt of the constellations of the Zodiac. In each of them, the Sun was annually about 1 month. It moved along this belt along with the Moon and 5 planets.
There was an abyss under the Earth, where the souls of the dead found shelter. At night, the Sun passed through the underground.
The ancient Jews
According to the ideas of the Jews, the Earth was a plain, on different parts of which mountains rose. As farmers, they assigned a special place to the winds, bringing with them either drought or rain. Their storage was located in the lower tier of the sky and was a barrier between the Earth and heavenly waters: rain, snow and hail. Under the Earth were waters, from which channels went up, which fed the seas and rivers.
These ideas have been constantly evolving, and the Talmud already states that the Earth is round. At the same time, its lower part is immersed in the sea. At the same time, some sages believed that the Earth is flat, and the firmament is a hard, opaque cap covering it. During the day, the Sun passes under it, which moves above the sky at night and is therefore hidden from human eyes.
The ideas of the ancient Chinese about the Earth
Judging by archaeological finds, representatives of this civilization considered the tortoise shell to be the prototype of the cosmos. His shields divided the plane of the Earth into squares - countries.
Later submissions Chinese sages have changed. In one of the oldest text documents, it is believed that the Earth is covered by the sky, which is an umbrella rotating in a horizontal direction. Over time, astronomical observations have made adjustments to this model. In particular, they began to believe that space, surrounding the earth, is spherical.
How the ancient Indians imagined the Earth
Basically, information about the cosmological ideas of the ancient inhabitants of Central America has come down to us, since they had their own written language. In particular, the Mayans, like their closest neighbors, thought that the universe consisted of three levels - heaven, underworld and earth. The latter seemed to them a plane floating on the surface of the water. In some older sources, the Earth was giant crocodile, on the back of which there were mountains, plains, forests, etc.
As for the sky, it consisted of 13 levels, on which the star-gods were located, and the most important of them was Itzamna, who gave life to all things.
The lower world also consisted of levels. At the lowest (9th) were the possessions of the deity of Death Ah Pucha, who was depicted as a human skeleton. Heaven, Earth (flat) and the Lower World were divided into 4 sectors, coinciding with parts of the world. In addition, the Maya believed that before them the gods destroyed and created the Universe more than once.
Formation of the first scientific views
The way ancient people imagined the Earth changed over time, primarily due to travel. In particular, the ancient Greeks, who had achieved great success in navigation, soon began to try to create a system of cosmology based on observations.
For example, the hypothesis of Pythagoras of Samos, who already in the 6th century BC, radically differed from how ancient people imagined the Earth. e. assumed that it was spherical.
However, his hypothesis was proved only much later. At the same time, there is reason to believe that this idea was borrowed by Pythagoras from the Egyptian priests, who used it to explain natural phenomena many centuries before classical philosophy began to form among the Greeks.
After 200 years, Aristotle used observations of lunar eclipses to prove the sphericity of our planet. His work was continued by Claudius Ptolemy, who lived in the second century AD, who created the geocentric system of the universe.
Now you know how ancient people imagined the Earth. Over the past millennia, mankind's knowledge of our planet and space has changed significantly. However, it is always interesting to learn about the views of our distant ancestors.
For thousands of years, people have observed the movement of celestial bodies and natural phenomena. And they always wondered: how the Universe works. In ancient times, the picture of the structure of the universe was greatly simplified. People simply divided the world into two parts - Heaven and Earth. About how the firmament is arranged, each nation built its own ideas.
The earth in the view of the peoples of antiquity was a large flat disk, the surface of which is inhabited by people and everything that surrounds them. The sun, moon and 5 planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn), according to ancient people, are small luminous celestial bodies attached to a sphere that continuously rotate around the disk, making a complete revolution during the day.
It was believed that the earth's firmament is motionless and is located in the center of the universe, that is, each ancient people one way or another, I came to the conclusion: our planet is the center of the world.
Such a geocentric (from the Greek word Geo - earth) view was present in almost all peoples ancient world- Greeks, Egyptians, Slavs, Hindus…
Almost all theories about the world order, the origin of heaven and earth that appeared at that time were idealistic, since they had a divine beginning.
But there were differences in the representation of the structure of the universe, since they were based on myths, traditions and legends inherent in different civilizations.
There were four main theories: different, but somewhat similar ideas about the structure of the universe by the ancient peoples.
Legends of India
The ancient peoples of India imagined the earth as a hemisphere, leaning on the backs of four huge elephants, standing, in turn, on a turtle, and all near-Earth space closed black snake Shesh.
The idea of the structure of the world in Greece
The ancient Greeks claimed that the Earth has the shape of a convex disk, resembling a warrior's shield in shape. Around the land was surrounded by an endless sea, from which every night the stars came out. Every morning they drowned in its depths. The sun in the face of the god Helios on a golden chariot rose early in the morning from east sea, made a circle in the sky and again returned to its place in the late evening. And the vault of heaven was held on its shoulders by the mighty Atlas.
The ancient Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus imagined the Universe as a liquid mass, inside of which there is a large hemisphere. The curved surface of the hemisphere is the vault of heaven, and the lower, flat surface, freely floating in the sea, is the Earth.
However, this outdated hypothesis was refuted by the ancient Greek materialists, who provided convincing evidence of the roundness of the land. Aristotle was convinced of this, observing nature, how the stars change their height over the horizon, and the ships disappear behind the swell of the earth.
Earth through the eyes of the ancient Egyptians
The people of Egypt imagined our planet in a completely different way. The planet seemed flat to the Egyptians, and the sky in the form of a huge dome rested on four high mountains located at the four corners of the world. Egypt was located in the center of the earth.
The ancient Egyptians used the images of their gods to personify spaces, surfaces and elements. The earth - the goddess Gebe - lay below, above it, curving, stood the goddess Nut ( starry sky), and the god of air Shu, who was between them, did not allow her to fall to Earth. It was believed that the goddess Nut swallowed the stars every day and gave birth to them again. The sun daily passed its way through the sky on a golden boat, which was ruled by the god Ra.
The ancient Slavs also had their own idea of the structure of the world. The world, in their opinion, was divided into three parts:
Between themselves, all three worlds are connected, like an axis, by the World Tree. In the branches of the sacred tree live the stars, the Sun and the Moon, and at the roots - the Serpent. sacred tree was considered a support, without which the world would collapse if it was destroyed.
The answer to the question of how in ancient times people represented our planet helps to find ancient artifacts that have survived to this day.
Scientists find the first prototypes of geographical maps in different countries, they are known to us in the form of images on the walls of temples, frescoes, drawings in the first astronomical books. In ancient times, man sought to pass on information about the structure of the world to subsequent generations. Man's idea of the Earth largely depended on the relief, nature and climate of the places where he lived.