I read the wikipedia article on the Prime Meridian which goes right through the Royal Astrononomical Society and has been tweaked four times since initiation.

I'm quite a BritoPhile ... BUT ... figuring you got the PM because of Stonehenge, the oldest Temple of Time on the Globe -- why o why at one of the times tweaked did not some druid descended astronomer place the PM running right through the Cross of the Solsticial sunrises/sunsets at Stonehenge ...

I'm quite a BritoPhile ... BUT ... figuring you got the PM because of Stonehenge, the oldest Temple of Time on the Globe -- why o why at one of the times tweaked did not some druid descended astronomer place the PM running right through the Cross of the Solsticial sunrises/sunsets at Stonehenge ...

mmm nice thought. Despite my national prejudices I must admit there are much older sacred temple sites around that make Stonehenge, Minoan Crete, or the Great Pyramid look comparatively recent:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe

The site seems to pictorally represent several constellations:

http://timothystephany.com/gobekli.html

I suppose it was just boring old realpolitik with London being the capital of an empire including a quarter of the world's population in 1884. No wonder the French took their ball home and wouldn't play with GMT for over 25 years.
Just as well they agreed something. Can you imagine what it would be like trying to reach an agreement across the world today?

Stonehenge's loss is Greenwich observatory's gain. They are now charging Tourists ?10 a hop to step back and forward across the Meridian line:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scie ... -line.html

Incidentally, in one of the few places where the ancient British language is still spoken they are debating having their own time zone.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales ... -28980155/



Mark

I did not say it was the oldest Temple -- but rather the oldest Temple of Time (eg Observatory ...)

though did appreciate the 9th millenia turkic temple site.

I did not say it was the oldest Temple -- but rather the oldest Temple of Time (eg Observatory ...)

Stonehenge is a very special place. I am not denying that. The accompanying site at Avebury make this part of the world one we should all treasure as an ancient centre of astral spirituality. Great Britain and Ireland have many other remarkable locations that date back to our neolithic past.

However, I think the claim that Stonehenge was the oldest 'Temple of Time' is incorrect. Ancient peoples didn't just acquire such knowledge in Britain. They brought such astronomical knowledge with them across Europe.

For example, there is a site in Armenia at Karahundj 'The Armenian Stonehenge' that some think dates back to around 4-5,000 BCE. The name derives from kar ?stone? and may mean ?singing stones?. The other famous name for the site is is Zorats Kar (Zorats stones) and this pre-historic megalithic structure is located near the city of Sisian in Armenia.

The site consists of hundreds of vertically constructed boulders situated in a deliberate arrangement covering over 3 hectares. At first glance they appear to be randomly scattered but aerial views reveal a surprisingly arrangement of these giant stones.

The arrangement of stones, like other major henges in Europe (such as Stonehenge), was most probably meant for astronomical observation and for keeping the time as a large calendar. But other speculations describe this as a part of an ancient city with the temple of the ancient Armenians? main God, Ari (the Sun), situated in the central part. In total, there are 203 stones in Karahunj and 76 of which have 5-7 cm diameter holes bored through them which might be an observing viewpoints to locate where the Moon and the rise on different dates. The largest of the boulders weigh more than 50 tons and were hauled from a quarry situated several kilometers away.

There are several other ancient sites in Armenia of astronomical significance. In particular Metsamor (or Metzamor) now generally recognized as probably the worlds most ancient astronomical observatory dating back to 5000BCE. This astronomical observatory predates all other known observatories in the ancient world. That is, observatories that geometrically divided the heavens into constellations and assigned them fixed positions and symbolic design.

Using an early form of geometry, the inhabitants of Metsamor were able to create both a calendar and envision the curve of the earth. This site challenges the assumption that the 12 sign zodiac originated in ancient Babylonia since the observatory at Metsamor possibly predates the Babylonian kingdom by 2000 years.

The following articles are very good. Just keep in mind the author is at times discussing quite different sites in Armenia. In particular Karahundj aka ('The Armenian Stonehenge') and the totally separate ancient observatory site at Metsamor. Metsamor was an ancient town near the river Metzamor, 35 km from Yerevan, in Armavir province.

http://www.astrologycom.com/armstone1.html

http://www.astrologycom.com/armstone2.html

http://www.astrologycom.com/armstone3.html

http://www.astrologycom.com/armstone4.html

http://www.astrologycom.com/armstone5.html

http://www.astrologycom.com/armstone6.htm

http://www.welcomearmenia.com/armenia_t ... rats_karer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorats_Karer

http://www.aras.am/Archaeoastronomy/ast ... menia.html

I also believe the neolithic temple site at Gobekli Tepe in modern Turkey dating back 11,000 years (9,000 BCE) had a similar purpose in terms of astral worship.

http://timothystephany.com/gobekli.html

Mark

Fascinating ... especially Gobekli Tepe, even if it wasn't astral. The 10,000 bc is an important date insofar as the Galactic Plane lined up with the Solstices (as today -- but half way) -- this about the time of the end of the Ice Age

thank you