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The picture of the world according to the ancient Egyptians: below - the Earth, above it - the goddess of the sky, on the left and right - the ship of the sun god, showing the path of the sun across the sky (from sunrise to sunset).

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ancient babylon

The Babylonians represented the Earth as a mountain, on the western slope of which Babylonia is located. They noticed that to the south of Babylon is the sea, and to the east there are mountains, through which they did not dare to cross. Therefore, it seemed to them that Babylonia is located on the western slope of the "world" mountain. This mountain is round, and it is surrounded by the sea, and on the sea, like an overturned bowl, the firm sky rests - the heavenly world. In the sky, as well as on Earth, there is land, water and air. The celestial land is the belt of the constellations of the Zodiac, like a dam stretching in the midst of the celestial sea. The Sun, Moon and five planets move along this belt of land.

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This is how the Slavs imagined the universe. Presumably, the world of the Slavs consists of 9 layers - the underworld, the world of people, and seven celestial spheres. Let's start our short description from the Underworld - Hell. Among the southern and western Slavs, the lower kingdom was hot and fiery. However, often the underworld was watery, in its dark depths the Lizard lived - a crocodile, the owner of the abode of departed ancestors. Above him towered the world of people, the White Light. It is nourished by fertile arable land - Mother Earth Cheese. People - men and women - spend their time in labor and battles, are born and die. They thank the Earth, Water and the Sun, Fate and Military Power, Birth and Death, pay attention to everything, so as not to accept gifts without any response to them.

Heavenly spheres rise above the White Light. They are filled with heavenly waters - abysses, the Sun - Dazhbog walks on them, and at the very top, in the seventh heaven, there is bright Iriy - paradise.

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Ancient Greek scientists did a lot for the development of views on the structure of the Universe. One of them is Pythagoras (about 580 - 500 BC)

He was the first to suggest that the Earth is not flat, but has the shape of a ball.

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The correctness of this assumption was proved by another great Greek - Aristotle (384 - 322 BC)

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Aristotle's Model of the Universe

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.

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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 in the center of the Universe, that is, every ancient people, one way or another, 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 represented the earth as a hemisphere, leaning on the backs of four huge elephants, standing, in turn, on a turtle, and the black snake Sheshu closed the entire near-earth space.

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 the eastern 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, bending, stood the goddess Nut (starry sky), and the air god Shu, who was between them, did not allow her to fall to the 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. The 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 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.

You have probably heard the word "universe" more than once. What it is? The universe is usually understood as space and everything that fills it: cosmic or celestial bodies, gas, dust. In other words, it's the whole world. Our planet is part of the vast universe, one of the countless celestial bodies.

Representations of ancient peoples about the Universe

For thousands of years people have admired starry sky, observed the movement of the sun, moon and planets. And they always asked themselves an exciting question: how does the Universe work?

Modern ideas about the structure of the universe evolved gradually. In ancient times, they were not at all what they are now. For a long time, the Earth was considered the center of the universe. The ancient Indians believed that the Earth was flat and rested on the backs of giant elephants, which, in turn, rest on a turtle. A huge turtle stands on a snake, which personifies the sky and, as it were, closes the earthly space.

The Universe was seen differently by the peoples living on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The earth, in their opinion, is a mountain, which is surrounded on all sides by the sea and which rests on twelve columns.

The ideas of ancient Greek scientists about the universe

Ancient Greek scientists did a lot for the development of views on the structure of the Universe. One of them - the great mathematician Pythagoras (c. 580-500 BC) - was the first to suggest that the Earth is not flat at all, but has the shape of a ball.

The correctness of this assumption was proved by another great Greek - Aristotle (384-322 BC).

Aristotle proposed his model of the structure of the Universe, or the system of the world. In the center of the Universe, according to the scientist, there is a motionless Earth, around which eight celestial spheres, solid and transparent, revolve (translated from the Greek "sphere" - a ball). Celestial bodies are motionlessly fixed on them: planets, the Moon, the Sun, stars. The ninth sphere ensures the movement of all other spheres, it is the engine of the Universe.

Aristotle's views were firmly established in science, although even some of his contemporaries did not agree with him. The ancient Greek scientist Aristarchus of Samos (320-250 BC) believed that the center of the universe is not the Earth, but the Sun; The earth and other planets move around it. Unfortunately, these brilliant guesses were rejected and forgotten at that time.

Ptolemy's system of the world

The ideas of Aristotle and many other scientists were developed by the greatest ancient Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (c. 90-160 AD). He developed his own system of the world, in the center of which, like Aristotle, he placed the Earth. Around the motionless spherical Earth, according to Ptolemy, the Moon, the Sun, five (known at that time) planets, as well as the "sphere of fixed stars" move. This sphere limits the space of the Universe. Ptolemy outlined his views in detail in the grandiose work "The Great mathematical construction astronomy" in 13 books.

The Ptolemaic system explained well the apparent movement of celestial bodies. It made it possible to determine and predict their location at one time or another. This system dominated science for thirteen centuries, and Ptolemy's book was the desktop for many generations of astronomers.

Two great Greeks

Aristotle- great scientist Ancient Greece, originally from the city of Stagira. He devoted his whole life to collecting and comprehending information known to scientists of his time. He was interested in everything: the behavior and structure of animals, the laws of motion of bodies, the structure of the universe, poetry, politics. He was the teacher of the outstanding commander Alexander the Great, who, having achieved fame, did not forget the great scientist. From his military campaigns, he sent him samples of plants and animals unknown to the Greeks. After himself, Aristotle left numerous works, for example, "Physics" in 8 books, "On Parts of Animals" in 10 books. The authority of Aristotle for many centuries was indisputable in science.

Claudius Ptolemy was born in Egypt, in the town of Pto le Mai-dy, and then studied and worked in Alexandria, the capital of the Egyptian kingdom. In his libraries were collected scientific works from the countries of the East and Greece. More than 700 thousand manuscripts were kept in the famous museum of Alexandria alone. Ptolemy was comprehensive an educated person: he studied astronomy, geography, mathematics. Summarizing the work of ancient Greek astronomers, he created his own system of the world.

1. What is the Universe?
2. How did the ancient peoples imagine the universe?
3. What is interesting about the views of Aristarchus of Samos?

The Universe is outer space and everything that fills it: celestial bodies, gas, dust. Modern ideas about the structure of the universe evolved gradually. For a long time, the Earth was considered its center. It was this point of view that the ancient Greek scientists Aristotle and Ptolemy adhered to.

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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, she 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, the ideas of the Chinese sages 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 the 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 a giant crocodile, on the back of which mountains, plains, forests, etc. were located.

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.

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 the classical philosophy began to take shape 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.