Whereas Smenkhkare is confirmed, more convincingly than ever before, to be the father of Tutankha... more Whereas Smenkhkare is confirmed, more convincingly than ever before, to be the father of Tutankhamun, the genetic mother of Tutankhamun, KV35YL, could be princess Baketaten. Queen Meritaten, genetically more likely to be KV21B than KV35YL, was then Tutankhamun’s beloved stepmother, the mother, who educated him.
Whereas Smenkhkare is confirmed, more convincingly than ever before, to be the father of Tutankha... more Whereas Smenkhkare is confirmed, more convincingly than ever before, to be the father of Tutankhamun, the genetic mother of Tutankhamun, KV35YL, would be princess Baketaten. Queen Meritaten, genetically more likely to be KV21B than KV35YL, was then Tutankhamun’s beloved stepmother, the mother, who possibly educated him.
espanolLa orientacion de las iglesias cristianas es un elemento distintivo de su arquitectura que... more espanolLa orientacion de las iglesias cristianas es un elemento distintivo de su arquitectura que repite patrones desde epoca paleocristiana. Se ha medido la orientacion de un total de 30 iglesias antiguas de la isla de Lanzarote edificadas con anterioridad a 1810, asi como algunos ejemplos mas de epoca posterior. La muestra indica que se siguio un patron de orientacion determinante en la isla, pero, al contrario que la norma encontrada hasta ahora en el resto del orbe cristiano, este prototipo es doble. Por un lado, aparece la representativa orientacion a levante (o poniente), pero la muestra tiene ademas un patron marcado de orientaciones hacia el norte-noreste exclusivo, por ahora, de Lanzarote. Se analiza el porque de esta extrana regla, considerandose varias posibilidades desechadas en su mayoria. Encontramos que la explicacion puede ser muy prosaica, de forma que, a veces, las necesidades terrenales resultan mas relevantes y decisorias que las necesidades del culto. EnglishThe...
La orientación de las iglesias cristianas es un elemento distintivo de su arquitectura que repite... more La orientación de las iglesias cristianas es un elemento distintivo de su arquitectura que repite patrones desde época paleocristiana. Existe una tendencia general a orientar sus ábsides en el rango solar, con una predilección de las orientaciones cercanas al este geográfico (equinoccio astronómico), aunque las alineaciones en sentido opuesto, con el ábside a poniente, si bien resultan excepcionales pues no siguen el patrón canónico, no son inusuales. El caso de las iglesias construidas en el noroeste de África antes de la llegada del Islam resulta paradigmático en este sentido y pudiera reflejar tradiciones anteriores. El Archipiélago canario representa el extremo occidental de esa koine cultural norteafricana, por lo que se ha considerado relevante abordar un estudio de un conjunto compacto de iglesias antiguas en alguna de las islas, eligiendo la de Lanzarote. Se ha medido la orientación de un total de 30 iglesias edificadas con anterioridad a 1810, así como algunos ejemplos más ...
The almogaren (rock-cut sanctuary) of Risco Caído was discovered in 1996 in the Canary island of ... more The almogaren (rock-cut sanctuary) of Risco Caído was discovered in 1996 in the Canary island of Gran Canaria. It is a paradigmatic example of a complex where light and shadow effects of an astronomical character have been found within the recent archaeological discoveries of a religious and ritual character in the Canaries. The main artificially excavated camera of the cultural complex Cave 6 takes the form of a cylinder, topped with a dome in the form of paraboloid. In this dome, a 2m long tunnel is excavated by which the light of the Sun penetrates at dawn, from spring to autumn equinoxes. The entering light projects enigmatic images on the western wall of the sanctuary, where numerous pubic triangles (vulvae − the universal symbol of fertility −) are recorded in low relief. Two dots of light of the sun first illuminate the decorated wall in March 19th (and september 25th) in the proleptic Gregorian Calendar, colliding and forming a single image for the time of the equinox, thus ...
The pilgrimage along the Way of Saint James constituted the principal mechanism for the introduct... more The pilgrimage along the Way of Saint James constituted the principal mechanism for the introduction of new currents of thought into the Iberian Peninsula, such as Romanesque architecture. Taking this into account, we examined whether the standard tradition on the orientation of Christian churches was followed. We measured the orientation of 108 churches built between the end of the 10th and 13th centuries near the French Way, in the ancient kingdoms of Leon and Castile. The statistical analysis shows a clear tendency to orientate the apse of the church eastwards, specifically slightly to the north of due east. Furthermore, we found that the orientation patterns differ from one kingdom to the other. In Leon, there seems to be a predilection for the local tradition of aligning the apse toward the ecclesiastical equinox. Castile, in contrast, built their churches orientated to Easter, one of the most important feast days of Christianity.
The orientation of Christian churches is a well-known distinctive feature of their architecture. ... more The orientation of Christian churches is a well-known distinctive feature of their architecture. There is a general tendency to align their apses in the solar range, favoring orientations close to the east (astronomical equinox), although the alignments in the opposite direction, namely, with the apse towards the west, are not unusual. The case of the churches built in northwest Africa before the arrival of Islam is paradigmatic in this regard, and may reflect earlier traditions. The Canary Islands is the western end of this North African cultural koine, so we thought it would be relevant to study a compact set of old churches in one of the islands of the archipelago, choosing to start our project with Lanzarote. We have measured the orientation of a total of 30 churches built prior to 1810, as well as a few buildings of later times, nearly a complete sample of all the island Christian sanctuaries. The analysis of this sample indicates that a definite orientation pattern was followe...
En este trabajo se examina, desde la perspectiva de la Astronomía Cultural, si las iglesias román... more En este trabajo se examina, desde la perspectiva de la Astronomía Cultural, si las iglesias románicas del Camino de Santiago siguen un patrón de orientación común a todas ellas. Para ello, se ha obtenido la orientación de 191 templos en los antiguos reinos de León y Castilla, y se ha realizado un estudio comparativo. Ambos reinos comparten orientaciones hacia la salida del sol el domingo de Pascua, probablemente obtenidas en su mayoría mediante observación directa del sol sobre el horizonte, aunque León presenta una fuerte preferencia por el equinoccio eclesiástico del 21 de marzo, que no aparece en Castilla. También se han analizado las iglesias pertenecientes al Camino y una muestra de contraste en cada reino, lo que ha permitido extraer información relevante sobre las iglesias construidas en lugares concretos como Santiago de Compostela, la Ribeira Sacra, Sahagún o la Montaña Palentina
The island of Gran canaria in the Canarian Archipelago is characterized by the presence of sanctu... more The island of Gran canaria in the Canarian Archipelago is characterized by the presence of sanctuaries at the top of significant mountains and on the scarps of the huge volcanic calderas of the island (the so-called almogarenes) where particular rituals took place at precise moments of the year. In particular, the area of the Caldera de Tejeda presents a paradigmatic example of an adaptive process to a harsh but attractive environment, offering an excellent horizon, with impressive natural monuments such as the Roques Bentayga and Nublo acting as reference landmarks, where land- and skyscapes could be in close contact and permanent interaction. This chain of facts suggests it as the perfect location for a Cultural Landscape interconnected with the sky which might be defended within UNESCO and IAU Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative. The recently discovered light and shadow effects at Risco Caído are indeed a highlight within this particular context. In Gran Canaria, dedicated fi...
The volumen title is ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY IN FOLK TRADITIONS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE Edited by J... more The volumen title is ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY IN FOLK TRADITIONS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE Edited by Jonas Vaigkunas. Archaeologia Baltica volume 10 was prepared by Klaipėda University Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology and Museum of Molėtai district. Published with a grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of The Republic of Lithuania.
The study of ancient sacred sources permits us to say that the ancient Egyptians had a complete s... more The study of ancient sacred sources permits us to say that the ancient Egyptians had a complete set of constellations covering the whole sky that could be seen from Egyptian latitudes. There were two dominant groups, one (probably) in the southern sky and another for northern declinations. The northern sky, as beautifully represented in some New Kingdom tomb ceilings, was full of constellations. These took the form of a lion, a crocodile, a bull's foreleg (sometimes a complete Bull), or a female hippopotamus. The southern group was essentially formed by a belt of 'constellations' known as the decans, individual stars or asterisms whose heliacal rising was presumably used for time-keeping, at least from the end of the Old Kingdom (c. 2200 B.C.), if not earlier, since some decanal stars or constellations, such as sJI} (Sah) or spdt (Sopdet), are already mentioned in the Pyramid Texts. We know this group from the diagonal star-clocks decorating coffin lids (17 have so far come to light) of the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom, and also from later tombs and temple ceilings, including the famous Zodiac of Denderah (c. 50 B.C.). The system needed to be updated during the Middle Kingdom (c. 1850 B.C.) when the decanal star-clocks were presumably developed, although information about them has been obtained only from a later source known as the Cosmology ofNut, with two relevant extant copies in the cenotaph of Sethy I at Abydos and in the tomb of Ramesses IV (Kings'Valley 2, hereafter KV2). However, in the New Kingdom (c. 1500 B.C.), the decans were no longer useful for time-keeping, due to the wandering character of the civil year, and a new system was developed, using only the meridian (or near-meridian) transit of certain stars, belonging in some cases to huge constellations, such as the Female Hippopotamus (rrt) or the Giant (nb.t), and in others to asterisms. These star charts have been found in the tombs of the last Ramesside pharaohs (c. 1100 B.C.; hence the name "Ramesside clocks or star-charts") in the Valley of the Kings (notably Ramesses VI, VII and IX; KV9, I and 6, respectively), where they were painted for the benefit of the deceased king. The number and variety of documents of astronomical character substantially increases during the New Kingdom and after. As we have mentioned, astronomical ceilings began to depict a complicated pattern, or 'celestial diagram' as it is frequently called, in which lists of stars were combined with actual representations of both southern constellations, such as Sah, Sopdet, sit/srt (Sit or Seret, the Sheep) or wiJ (Wia, the Boat), and northern ones such as mshtyw (Meskhetyu, the Foreleg), msi (the Lion) or rnw(Anu, a falcon-head god). The best preserved, which could be considered masterpieces of Egyptian art, are those found at Thebes in the tomb of Senenmut
... 18 (JHA, xxiv (1993)) A SOLSTITIAL MARKER IN TENERIFE: THE “MAJANOS DE CHACONA” JUAN A. BELMO... more ... 18 (JHA, xxiv (1993)) A SOLSTITIAL MARKER IN TENERIFE: THE “MAJANOS DE CHACONA” JUAN A. BELMONTE, ANTONIO APARICTO and CESAR ESTEBAN, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Tenerife Introduction The majanos of ... is that of sunrise at winter solstice. ...
Whereas Smenkhkare is confirmed, more convincingly than ever before, to be the father of Tutankha... more Whereas Smenkhkare is confirmed, more convincingly than ever before, to be the father of Tutankhamun, the genetic mother of Tutankhamun, KV35YL, could be princess Baketaten. Queen Meritaten, genetically more likely to be KV21B than KV35YL, was then Tutankhamun’s beloved stepmother, the mother, who educated him.
Whereas Smenkhkare is confirmed, more convincingly than ever before, to be the father of Tutankha... more Whereas Smenkhkare is confirmed, more convincingly than ever before, to be the father of Tutankhamun, the genetic mother of Tutankhamun, KV35YL, would be princess Baketaten. Queen Meritaten, genetically more likely to be KV21B than KV35YL, was then Tutankhamun’s beloved stepmother, the mother, who possibly educated him.
espanolLa orientacion de las iglesias cristianas es un elemento distintivo de su arquitectura que... more espanolLa orientacion de las iglesias cristianas es un elemento distintivo de su arquitectura que repite patrones desde epoca paleocristiana. Se ha medido la orientacion de un total de 30 iglesias antiguas de la isla de Lanzarote edificadas con anterioridad a 1810, asi como algunos ejemplos mas de epoca posterior. La muestra indica que se siguio un patron de orientacion determinante en la isla, pero, al contrario que la norma encontrada hasta ahora en el resto del orbe cristiano, este prototipo es doble. Por un lado, aparece la representativa orientacion a levante (o poniente), pero la muestra tiene ademas un patron marcado de orientaciones hacia el norte-noreste exclusivo, por ahora, de Lanzarote. Se analiza el porque de esta extrana regla, considerandose varias posibilidades desechadas en su mayoria. Encontramos que la explicacion puede ser muy prosaica, de forma que, a veces, las necesidades terrenales resultan mas relevantes y decisorias que las necesidades del culto. EnglishThe...
La orientación de las iglesias cristianas es un elemento distintivo de su arquitectura que repite... more La orientación de las iglesias cristianas es un elemento distintivo de su arquitectura que repite patrones desde época paleocristiana. Existe una tendencia general a orientar sus ábsides en el rango solar, con una predilección de las orientaciones cercanas al este geográfico (equinoccio astronómico), aunque las alineaciones en sentido opuesto, con el ábside a poniente, si bien resultan excepcionales pues no siguen el patrón canónico, no son inusuales. El caso de las iglesias construidas en el noroeste de África antes de la llegada del Islam resulta paradigmático en este sentido y pudiera reflejar tradiciones anteriores. El Archipiélago canario representa el extremo occidental de esa koine cultural norteafricana, por lo que se ha considerado relevante abordar un estudio de un conjunto compacto de iglesias antiguas en alguna de las islas, eligiendo la de Lanzarote. Se ha medido la orientación de un total de 30 iglesias edificadas con anterioridad a 1810, así como algunos ejemplos más ...
The almogaren (rock-cut sanctuary) of Risco Caído was discovered in 1996 in the Canary island of ... more The almogaren (rock-cut sanctuary) of Risco Caído was discovered in 1996 in the Canary island of Gran Canaria. It is a paradigmatic example of a complex where light and shadow effects of an astronomical character have been found within the recent archaeological discoveries of a religious and ritual character in the Canaries. The main artificially excavated camera of the cultural complex Cave 6 takes the form of a cylinder, topped with a dome in the form of paraboloid. In this dome, a 2m long tunnel is excavated by which the light of the Sun penetrates at dawn, from spring to autumn equinoxes. The entering light projects enigmatic images on the western wall of the sanctuary, where numerous pubic triangles (vulvae − the universal symbol of fertility −) are recorded in low relief. Two dots of light of the sun first illuminate the decorated wall in March 19th (and september 25th) in the proleptic Gregorian Calendar, colliding and forming a single image for the time of the equinox, thus ...
The pilgrimage along the Way of Saint James constituted the principal mechanism for the introduct... more The pilgrimage along the Way of Saint James constituted the principal mechanism for the introduction of new currents of thought into the Iberian Peninsula, such as Romanesque architecture. Taking this into account, we examined whether the standard tradition on the orientation of Christian churches was followed. We measured the orientation of 108 churches built between the end of the 10th and 13th centuries near the French Way, in the ancient kingdoms of Leon and Castile. The statistical analysis shows a clear tendency to orientate the apse of the church eastwards, specifically slightly to the north of due east. Furthermore, we found that the orientation patterns differ from one kingdom to the other. In Leon, there seems to be a predilection for the local tradition of aligning the apse toward the ecclesiastical equinox. Castile, in contrast, built their churches orientated to Easter, one of the most important feast days of Christianity.
The orientation of Christian churches is a well-known distinctive feature of their architecture. ... more The orientation of Christian churches is a well-known distinctive feature of their architecture. There is a general tendency to align their apses in the solar range, favoring orientations close to the east (astronomical equinox), although the alignments in the opposite direction, namely, with the apse towards the west, are not unusual. The case of the churches built in northwest Africa before the arrival of Islam is paradigmatic in this regard, and may reflect earlier traditions. The Canary Islands is the western end of this North African cultural koine, so we thought it would be relevant to study a compact set of old churches in one of the islands of the archipelago, choosing to start our project with Lanzarote. We have measured the orientation of a total of 30 churches built prior to 1810, as well as a few buildings of later times, nearly a complete sample of all the island Christian sanctuaries. The analysis of this sample indicates that a definite orientation pattern was followe...
En este trabajo se examina, desde la perspectiva de la Astronomía Cultural, si las iglesias román... more En este trabajo se examina, desde la perspectiva de la Astronomía Cultural, si las iglesias románicas del Camino de Santiago siguen un patrón de orientación común a todas ellas. Para ello, se ha obtenido la orientación de 191 templos en los antiguos reinos de León y Castilla, y se ha realizado un estudio comparativo. Ambos reinos comparten orientaciones hacia la salida del sol el domingo de Pascua, probablemente obtenidas en su mayoría mediante observación directa del sol sobre el horizonte, aunque León presenta una fuerte preferencia por el equinoccio eclesiástico del 21 de marzo, que no aparece en Castilla. También se han analizado las iglesias pertenecientes al Camino y una muestra de contraste en cada reino, lo que ha permitido extraer información relevante sobre las iglesias construidas en lugares concretos como Santiago de Compostela, la Ribeira Sacra, Sahagún o la Montaña Palentina
The island of Gran canaria in the Canarian Archipelago is characterized by the presence of sanctu... more The island of Gran canaria in the Canarian Archipelago is characterized by the presence of sanctuaries at the top of significant mountains and on the scarps of the huge volcanic calderas of the island (the so-called almogarenes) where particular rituals took place at precise moments of the year. In particular, the area of the Caldera de Tejeda presents a paradigmatic example of an adaptive process to a harsh but attractive environment, offering an excellent horizon, with impressive natural monuments such as the Roques Bentayga and Nublo acting as reference landmarks, where land- and skyscapes could be in close contact and permanent interaction. This chain of facts suggests it as the perfect location for a Cultural Landscape interconnected with the sky which might be defended within UNESCO and IAU Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative. The recently discovered light and shadow effects at Risco Caído are indeed a highlight within this particular context. In Gran Canaria, dedicated fi...
The volumen title is ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY IN FOLK TRADITIONS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE Edited by J... more The volumen title is ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY IN FOLK TRADITIONS AND CULTURAL HERITAGE Edited by Jonas Vaigkunas. Archaeologia Baltica volume 10 was prepared by Klaipėda University Institute of Baltic Sea Region History and Archaeology and Museum of Molėtai district. Published with a grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of The Republic of Lithuania.
The study of ancient sacred sources permits us to say that the ancient Egyptians had a complete s... more The study of ancient sacred sources permits us to say that the ancient Egyptians had a complete set of constellations covering the whole sky that could be seen from Egyptian latitudes. There were two dominant groups, one (probably) in the southern sky and another for northern declinations. The northern sky, as beautifully represented in some New Kingdom tomb ceilings, was full of constellations. These took the form of a lion, a crocodile, a bull's foreleg (sometimes a complete Bull), or a female hippopotamus. The southern group was essentially formed by a belt of 'constellations' known as the decans, individual stars or asterisms whose heliacal rising was presumably used for time-keeping, at least from the end of the Old Kingdom (c. 2200 B.C.), if not earlier, since some decanal stars or constellations, such as sJI} (Sah) or spdt (Sopdet), are already mentioned in the Pyramid Texts. We know this group from the diagonal star-clocks decorating coffin lids (17 have so far come to light) of the First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom, and also from later tombs and temple ceilings, including the famous Zodiac of Denderah (c. 50 B.C.). The system needed to be updated during the Middle Kingdom (c. 1850 B.C.) when the decanal star-clocks were presumably developed, although information about them has been obtained only from a later source known as the Cosmology ofNut, with two relevant extant copies in the cenotaph of Sethy I at Abydos and in the tomb of Ramesses IV (Kings'Valley 2, hereafter KV2). However, in the New Kingdom (c. 1500 B.C.), the decans were no longer useful for time-keeping, due to the wandering character of the civil year, and a new system was developed, using only the meridian (or near-meridian) transit of certain stars, belonging in some cases to huge constellations, such as the Female Hippopotamus (rrt) or the Giant (nb.t), and in others to asterisms. These star charts have been found in the tombs of the last Ramesside pharaohs (c. 1100 B.C.; hence the name "Ramesside clocks or star-charts") in the Valley of the Kings (notably Ramesses VI, VII and IX; KV9, I and 6, respectively), where they were painted for the benefit of the deceased king. The number and variety of documents of astronomical character substantially increases during the New Kingdom and after. As we have mentioned, astronomical ceilings began to depict a complicated pattern, or 'celestial diagram' as it is frequently called, in which lists of stars were combined with actual representations of both southern constellations, such as Sah, Sopdet, sit/srt (Sit or Seret, the Sheep) or wiJ (Wia, the Boat), and northern ones such as mshtyw (Meskhetyu, the Foreleg), msi (the Lion) or rnw(Anu, a falcon-head god). The best preserved, which could be considered masterpieces of Egyptian art, are those found at Thebes in the tomb of Senenmut
... 18 (JHA, xxiv (1993)) A SOLSTITIAL MARKER IN TENERIFE: THE “MAJANOS DE CHACONA” JUAN A. BELMO... more ... 18 (JHA, xxiv (1993)) A SOLSTITIAL MARKER IN TENERIFE: THE “MAJANOS DE CHACONA” JUAN A. BELMONTE, ANTONIO APARICTO and CESAR ESTEBAN, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Tenerife Introduction The majanos of ... is that of sunrise at winter solstice. ...
Marín, C.; Belmonte Avilés, J.A.;
LOS PAISAJES CULTURALES Y EL CELAJE EN LOS SITIOS DE LA UNESCO... more Marín, C.; Belmonte Avilés, J.A.; LOS PAISAJES CULTURALES Y EL CELAJE EN LOS SITIOS DE LA UNESCO: CANARIAS COMO PARADIGMA Gobierno de Canarias (2023): Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Archaeoastronomy in the Roman World, Springer, 2019
Urbanism in most areas of Western Europe occurred at the time of the Roman Empire when several hu... more Urbanism in most areas of Western Europe occurred at the time of the Roman Empire when several hundred new towns were founded, notably under Augustus. Those towns were planned to incorporate astronomical phenomena as images of propaganda of their rulers, or to connect the city to the gods. The visual effect of the Sun rising in line with the orientation of the city at a given moment in its yearly movement was thus sought and incorporated for its ritual meaning. Special moments allegedly related to Augustus were considered, in particular Winter Solstice and Autumn Equinox.
Despite the fact that ancient writings indicate a clear necessity to orient Roman towns according... more Despite the fact that ancient writings indicate a clear necessity to orient Roman towns according to the path of the sun (Hyginus Gromatius, Constitutio, 1), Le Gall (1975) in an early work made clear that there was no clear preferred orientation pattern. However, Le Gall’s analysis was done by taking into consideration a sparse number of Roman towns from widely different latitudes, ranging from England to Algeria. However, recent results show that when a restricted geographic area is considered, some patterns of orientation do arise (Magli 2008, González-García and Costa-Ferrer 2011). We present the preliminary results from a survey to obtain a statistically significant sample of the orientation of Roman cities in Hispania. This region was where the greatest number of cities were founded in the western part of the Roman Empire, both during the Republic and the Empire (Laurence, Esmonde Cleary & Sears, 2011), and it provides a perfect test bed for ideas on the orientation of Roman towns. So far, we have measured 43 Roman settlements in Hispania, and we can already verify some of the ideas on how Roman towns were oriented. The orientation of Roman towns in Hispania do seem to follow an astronomical pattern, with certain directions perhaps connected to particularly important dates of the Roman calendar.
Urbanism in most areas of Western Europe occurred at the time of the Roman Empire when several hu... more Urbanism in most areas of Western Europe occurred at the time of the Roman Empire when several hundred new towns were founded, notably under Augustus. Those towns were planned to incorporate astronomical phenomena as images of propaganda of their rulers, or to connect the city to the gods. The visual effect of the Sun rising in line with the orientation of the city at a given moment in its yearly movement was thus sought and incorporated for its ritual meaning. Special moments allegedly related to Augustus were considered, in particular Winter Solstice and Autumn Equinox.
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Papers by Juan Antonio Belmonte
LOS PAISAJES CULTURALES Y EL CELAJE EN LOS SITIOS DE LA UNESCO: CANARIAS COMO PARADIGMA Gobierno de Canarias (2023): Las Palmas de Gran Canaria