MARAVELIA_LingAeg (StudMon 19)_Time and Space - Of Eternity, Everlastingness & Stars (original) (raw)
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1997
This paper is an anthropological reading of mythical and historical texts aimed at exploring the dynamics by which archaic Egyptian cosmology was constructed and reconstructed. Using Dumont's ideas of hierarchy and Sahlins' work on cultural reproduction, the study presents a synchronic and diachronic analysis of the underlying themes and principles upon which archaic Egyptian cosmology was constructed. The opposition of visible/invisible is the common principle around which other principles or sets of oppositions are clustered. The study shows that archaic Egyptian cosmology underwent a transformation from a structure based on natural entities into socially significant cosmological system. The paper further elaborates the striking homology between the archaic social cosmology represented in Osirian mythology and Christianity in the early centuries of the Christian era.
"Space and Time in the Ancient Near East"
Abstract. This paper argues that efforts to understand historically remote patterns of thought are driven away from their original meaning if the investigation focuses on reconstruction of concepts, instead of cognitive ‘complexes’. My paper draws on research by Jan Assmann, Jean-Jacques Glassner, Keimpe Algra, Alex Purves, Nicholas Wyatt, and others on the cultures of Ancient Greece, Israel, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Etruria through comparative analyses of the semantic fields of spatial and temporal terms, and how these terms are shaped by their relation to the sphere of the sacred. It shows that there are three super-ordinate timeframes - the cyclical, the linear and the static - each of which is composed of lower-order cycles (days, lunar months, and seasons). These timeframes reflect their cultures’ ideas about the nature, scope and power of the gods, and structure the common point-of-view about the present, the past and eternity. There are also super-ordinate spatial frames which reflect their cultures’ ideas about the heavens and which structure both the sacred precinct and the profane field of action and exchange. Close analysis of texts that use words such as eternity, forever, past, present, and future, for example, do not reveal that there is anything like a general abstract concept of time in virtue of which some thing or event can be said to be in time or to have its own time. Archaic patterns of thought do not differ from our “modern” patterns in having different concepts, but in not having anything like concepts at all.
Time and Cosmos: A Zoomorphic Cosmological Monument of Late Antiquity
Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 2010
The protome of the ram from West Bulgaria is a lunisolar calendar of parapegmatic type from the period of antiquity (2nd-4th century AC), which imparts encoded calendrical, cosmological and cosmogonic information. On the protome there are marked synodic, sidereal, and draconic months; lunar, solar and draconic years, as well as different time periods-seasons and cycles. One of the images on the protome's body can be interpreted as an image of the Draco constellation around the fixed point of the North Pole in the centre of the ecliptic. The symbols of seven luminaries-the Sun, the Moon and five planets-which were known at the beginning of the first millennium are also featured on the protome. In the context of the monument, the presence of the astronomical concept of the world axis and the centre of the ecliptic means that the creators of the ram's protome perceived it as an omphalos, the sacred centre of the world, the zoomorphic model of the world mountain and the world tree. The suggestion is confirmed by the structural particularities of the protome, by the images of mythological characters and by scenes of cosmogonic motifs. The given artefact represents the conceptualisation of the world in a generalised, syncretised and interdisciplinary way through the language of astronomy, mythology and calendaristics. In the period of antiquity, time and space were perceived as a united integer and as an endless divine beginning connected with the universe and its divine essence. The calendar is an attempt to comprehend the phenomenon of an infinite and cyclic time and use it in practice during the terrestrial life.
Time and Space at Issue in Ancient Egypt
Lingua Aegyptia – Studia Monographica, 2018
This volume is a collection of papers that were presented during the international conference Time and Space in Ancient Egypt organised by the Université catholique de Louvain and the Université de Liège (Louvain-la-Neuve, 9–11 June 2016). The participants were invited to examine in the broadest possible way the interactions between the expressions of time and space. This volume does not pretend to come with definitive solutions or conclusions, even less, with a new theory. As suggested in the title, one of our main goals was to problematize these topics by promoting interdisciplinary discussions on possible links of interconnectivity between time and space, two among the most basic modes of cultural organization.
Res Antiquitatis 1, 2019
In ancient Egypt, Time was part of the whole "being" that was brought into existence in the "First Time" (sp tpj). Following a linear conception (D.t) of Time we might ask: if Time had a beginning, should we expect for it to come to an end? However, the simultaneous Egyptian circular approach to Time (nHH) turns each end into a new beginning. How should we approach Time before its existence? Can we refer to a "post-Time"? Is the "end" definitive or temporary, awaiting for the (re)start of a new Demiurge's action? Is the immobility of the pre-Creation similar to one after the "end of the world"? This paper intends to be a preliminary approach to this issue. We will follow the traces suggested by some textual sources, focusing on the Demiurge, an entity connected to Time by means of creation and destruction.
Time and Cosmos: A Zoomorphic Cosmological Monument of the Late Antiquity
2015
Abstract: The protome of the ram from West Bulgaria is a lunisolar calendar of parapegmatic type from the period of antiquity (2nd–4th century AC), which imparts encoded calendrical, cosmological and cosmogonic information. On the protome there are marked synodic, sidereal, and draconic months; lunar, solar and draconic years, as well as different time periods – seasons and cycles. One of the images on the protome’s body can be interpreted as an image of the Draco constellation around the fixed point of the North Pole in the centre of the ecliptic. The symbols of seven luminaries – the Sun, the Moon and five planets – which were known at the beginning of the first millennium are also featured on the protome. In the context of the monument, the presence of the astronomical concept of the world axis and the centre of the ecliptic means that the creators of the ram’s protome perceived it as an omphalos, the sacred centre of the world, the zoo-morphic model of the world mountain and the...
THE CELESTIAL TAPESTRY WOVEN INTO EGYPTIAN LORE AND ICONOGRAPHY
University of Wales Trinity Saint David: Ancient Egyptian Religion, 2023
Since the dawn of humanity, mankind has looked to the vast array of stars overhead for a great many things. These nightly luminaries have inspired great mythologies and tales, as well as answers to some of life’s questions on origins and the afterlife for various cultures. In many cases, the stars have also provided chronological cues regarding seasons and the passing of time throughout the year. For civilizations around the world, looking up to the night sky has not only driven thoughts on the composition of the celestial tapestry of stars and planets, but a deep question regarding its possible significance and meaning. This is no different when it comes to Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs. What role did the stars, moon, sun, and planets play in developing and shaping the cosmological landscape of early Egypt, and what possible stories and beliefs were derived from looking up at the night sky? In this paper, I present some theories on the possible origin and utilization of some of the early Egyptian iconography and religious practice derived from observation of the night sky. One such important discussion is the Egyptian ankh and its representation of life and the afterlife. Where did the symbol originate from? What role did it possibly play as a physical object? How was the physical form of the Ankh perhaps further utilized in crafting the narrative of the afterlife in Ancient Egypt? The discussion then dives into the cosmic relation to the afterlife, and how night sky places like the northern circumpolar region were significant to the Ancient Egyptians. What clues do we have from Egyptian records on the possible means for calculating perfect north, even without the existence of a North Star throughout much of their history? This paper presents some examinations of those questions and provides some new theories of original research to be pondered and further investigated regarding the night sky and Egyptian cosmological beliefs.
International Conference "Sources to Study Antiquity: between texts and material culture, 2016
As any other civilization, the Egyptians thought about Time, something that can be understood not only by their complex setting of their daily (political, administrative, economical, social…) activities but also by their theological and philosophical speculation. According to the Nilotic people, Time was experienced in two different ways: a linear (D.t) and a circular (nHH) one. Nevertheless, in ancient Egypt, Time was by no means an ever existing reality. It was part of the whole “being” that was brought into existence by the Demiurge, in the “First Time” (sp tpj). Therefore, following a linear conception of Time we can ask: if the Time had a beginning, how/when should we expect for it to come to an end? However a circular approach to Time makes us face each end as a new beginning and this permanent restart leads us to consider an “eternal return”. How should we approach the Time before it is Time? Does the fact that it had a beginning imply the assumption that it would have an end? How can we refer ourselves to the “post-Time”? Is the end definitive or temporary, awaiting for the (re)start of a new Demiurge’s action? Is the immobility of the pre-Creation similar to one after the “end of the world”? Can we identify “apocalyptic” ideas in ancient Egypt? Which are the pertinent texts to consider this? This paper intends to be a preliminary approach to this issue, considering these and other questions. We will follow the traces suggested by textual sources as we will be focusing on the Demiurge, the author of Creation and therefore extremely connected to Time by means of creation, destruction and recreation.
Eternity, Perpetuity, and Time in the Cosmologies of Plotinus and Mīr Dāmād
The Philosophical Forum, 2024
The present piece focuses on the influence of Plotinus' understanding of time and eternity as articulated in Plotinus' third and fifth Enneads upon Mīr Dāmād's (d. 1631–2) conception of eternity, perpetuity, and time found in his Book of Blazing Brands (Kitab al-Qabasāt). Although Mīr Dāmād's conception of eternity, perpetuity, and time resembles that of Plotinus' cosmology and ontology, he departs from Plotinus' hypostases in establishing strict parameters for each domain. Unlike Plotinus, Mīr Dāmād argues that the realm of eternity is reserved for God alone, while the realm of Perpetuity contains the Platonic Forms. For Mīr Dāmād, the realm of time is an effect of the realm of Perpetuity and a tool for human beings to understand how to measure events in the temporal world. Unlike many other Shī'ite philosophers, Mīr Dāmād's articulation of these three cosmological realms incorporates thought found in the works of both prominent Sunni and Shī'ite scholars such as Ibn Sīnā, Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghāzālī, Suhrawardī, and Naṣīr al- Dīn Ṭūsī. Although his most successful student, Mullā Ṣadrā Shirazī, had ultimately disagreed with his teach- er's cosmological doctrine, he remained influenced by the multitude of sources that his teacher had used.