Posted on 09/26/2002 4:23:38 PM PDT by blam
Spooky finds in German archaeological dig
September 25 2002 at 07:44PM
Nebra, Germany - Archaeologists offered a first glimpse on Wednesday of a lost culture's holy site atop a German peak, and confirmed it as the source of the world's oldest map of the heavens.
The exact location has been kept secret for weeks, amid fears that treasure-seekers would move in and disturb Bronze Age remains.
The site is atop the Mittelberg, a 252m hill in the Ziegelroda Forest, 180km south-west of Berlin.
Adding a spooky touch is the discovery that, seen from the Mittelberg, the sun sets every June 22 behind the Brocken, the highest mountain in northern Germany. The Brocken is in a direct line of sight on a clear day, 85km to the north-west.
'The oldest concrete representation of the stars in the world' The Brocken is fabled in northern European mythology as the place where witches gather for a coven every April 30.
Scientists are still scratching their heads at the full meaning of a 32cm bronze-and-gold disc found by treasure hunters on the Mittelberg in 1999. The map on its face shows the Brocken as well as 32 stars including the Pleiades.
Experts in pre-history can only guess at the identity of the people who made the "Nebra Disc" 3 600 years ago.
"This disc, with the oldest concrete representation of the stars in the world, was placed in a pit in the middle of a ringwall during the early Bronze Age," Harald Meller, the chied archaeologist in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, said on Wednesday.
"We still don't know if it was a princely grave or a treasure store for holy objects."
On Wednesday reporters were shown a clearing where the archaeological dig had gone down about half a metre into the soil, leaving what appeared to be loose stone walls standing. The site was once surrounded by wooden palisades and a complex of defensive ditches.
Wolfhard Schlosser, an expert in ancient astronomy at the University of the Ruhr, added, "The ringwall was built in such a way that the sun seemed to disappear every equinox behind the Brocken."
Experts believe the map and site formed an observatory, which was used to set the calendar for planting and harvesting crops.
The nearby forest contains 1 000 barrows or princely graves from the period, but little else is known about the lost people, who are not mentioned in ancient Greek or other Mediterranean sources.
Meller said two bronze swords found at the site had been made with a technique unique to Mycenaean and Anatolian swords, and had a similar shape to arms found in modern Romania and Hungary. The site is to become a tourist attraction when the dig finishes in a year or two. - Sapa-DPA
LOL. It would be rare if two people agreed on everything, huh? Aren't all your dates dependent on the validity of the dates of the 'Kings List.'
Actually, since none of those dates has any effect on the whereabouts of The Lost Tribes of Israel I have no dog in that fight. I'll leave the date of the Exodus to others more interested.
But I am interested as you try and match up dates of global physical events with Biblical events. Just don't try too hard to "force fit" them...{ggg}. Use of a large hammer is not allowed.
Be nice. (I'm just ahead of the curve)
I thought there was a great deal of controversy both about whether the Exodus happened at all, and, if it did, about its date. But, in any case, isn't 1628 BC a rather early date? Here's what the Oxford Companion to the Bible has to say:
Unfortunately, there is no way to locate this admittedly loose chronological sequence with any precision, either in an Egyptian setting or in a wilderness setting. A wide variety of dates has been suggested, from the first half of the fifteenth century BCE to the early part of the thirteenth century BCE.
Harper's Bible Dictionary gives similar dates.
They'll come around one of these days.
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Note: this topic is from September 26, 2002. |
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