Starship Asterisk*

owlice wrote:Someone works very quickly!

BDanielMayfield wrote:
The oldest record of our Moon in a written form is found at Genesis 1:16 where this object is referred to as "the lesser luminary for dominating the night". I'm grateful that our lesser luminary exists and that its orbit is such that eclipses are so wonderfully varried.

• The oldest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon#In_culture wrote:
<<The Moon's regular phases make it a very convenient timepiece, and the periods of its waxing and waning form the basis of many of the oldest calendars. Tally sticks, notched bones dating as far back as 20–30,000 years ago, are believed by some to mark the phases of the Moon. The ~30-day month is an approximation of the lunar cycle. The English noun month and its cognates in other Germanic languages stem from Proto-Germanic *mǣnṓth-, which is connected to the above mentioned Proto-Germanic *mǣnōn, indicating the usage of a lunar calendar among the Germanic peoples (Germanic calendar) prior to the adoption of a solar calendar. The same Indo-European root as moon led, via Latin, to measure and menstrual, words which echo the Moon's importance to many ancient cultures in measuring time (see Latin mensis and Ancient Greek μήνας (mēnas), meaning "month").

The Moon has been the subject of many works of art and literature and the inspiration for countless others. It is a motif in the visual arts, the performing arts, poetry, prose and music. A 5,000-year-old rock carving at Knowth, Ireland, may represent the Moon, which would be the earliest depiction discovered. The contrast between the brighter highlands and the darker maria creates the patterns seen by different cultures as the Man in the Moon, the rabbit and the buffalo, among others. In many prehistoric and ancient cultures, the Moon was personified as a deity or other supernatural phenomenon, and astrological views of the Moon continue to be propagated today.

Lucian's Icaromenippus and True History, written in the 2nd century AD, deal with imaginary voyages to the moon such as on a fountain after going past the Pillars of Hercules. The theme did not become popular until the 17th century, however, when the invention of the telescope hastened the popular acceptance of the concept of "a world in the Moon", that is, that the Moon was an inhabitable planet, which might be reached via some sort of aërial carriage. The concept of another world, close to our own and capable of looking down at it from a distance, provided ample scope for satirical comments on the manners of the Earthly world.>>

John A. wrote:
Can anyone tell me the difference in the light reflected from the moon
between the maximum and minimum apparent sizes of the moon when it is full?

geckzilla wrote:
I find it difficult to believe that the Bible contains the first written record of anything other than its own mythology.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khonsu wrote:

[c]Khonsu is typically depicted as a mummy with the symbol of childhood,
a sidelock of hair, as well as the menat necklace with crook and flail.
He has close links to other divine children such as Horus and Shu.
He is sometimes shown wearing a falcon's head like Horus,
with whom he is associated as a protector and healer,
adorned with the sun disk and crescent moon.[/c]

<<Khonsu (alternately Chonsu, Khensu, Khons, Chons or Khonshu) is an Ancient Egyptian god whose main role was associated with the moon. His name means "traveller" and this may relate to the nightly travel of the moon across the sky. Along with Thoth he marked the passage of time. Khonsu was instrumental in the creation of new life in all living creatures. At Thebes he formed part of a family triad with Mut as his mother and Amun his father.

Khonsu is mentioned in the Pyramid Texts (2686 BC – 2181 BC) and Coffin Texts (ca. 2181-2055 BC), in which he is depicted in a fierce aspect, but he does not rise to prominence until the New Kingdom (ca. 1550–1070 B.C.), when he is described as the "Greatest God of the Great Gods". Locations of Khonsu's cult were Memphis, Hibis and Edfu. Most of the construction of the temple complex at Karnak (c. 1550–c. 1292 BC) was centered on Khonsu during the Ramesside Period. His temple at Karnak is in a relatively good state of preservation, and on one of the walls is depicted a cosmogeny in which Khonsu is described as the great snake who fertilizes the Cosmic Egg in the creation of the world.

As the god of light in the night, Khonsu was invoked to protect against wild animals, increase male virility, and to aid with healing. It was said that when Khonsu caused the crescent moon to shine, women conceived, cattle became fertile, and all nostrils and every throat was filled with fresh air. Khonsu can also be understood to mean king's placenta, and consequently in early times, he was considered to slay the king's (i.e. the pharaoh's) enemies, and extract their innards for the king's use, metaphorically creating something resembling a placenta for the king. This bloodthirsty aspect leads him to be referred to, in such as the Pyramid texts, as the (one who) lives on hearts.

Khonsu is typically depicted as a mummy with the symbol of childhood, a sidelock of hair, as well as the menat necklace with crook and flail. He has close links to other divine children such as Horus and Shu. He is sometimes shown wearing a falcon's head like Horus, with whom he is associated as a protector and healer, adorned with the sun disk and crescent moon. In art, Khonsu was depicted as a man with the head of a hawk, wearing the crescent of the new moon subtending the disc of the full moon. He was sometimes pictured on the back of a goose, ram, or two crocodiles. His sacred animal was the baboon, considered a lunar animal by the ancient Egyptians.>>

geckzilla wrote:I find it difficult to believe that the Bible contains the first written record of anything other than its own mythology.

Chris Peterson wrote:

geckzilla wrote:
I find it difficult to believe that the Bible contains the first written record of anything other than its own mythology.

Yeah, Genesis isn't even close to the earliest written reference to the Moon. Genesis only dates to a few hundred years BCE.
There are Babylonian cuneiform tablets with astronomical data for the Moon that considerably predate that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin_%28mythology%29 wrote:

[b][color=#FF00FF]Impression of the cylinder seal of Ḫašḫamer, ensi (high priest) of Sin at Iškun-Sin ca. 2100 BC. The seated figure is probably king Ur-Nammu, bestowing the governorship on Ḫašḫamer, who is led before him by a lamma (protective goddess). Sin/Nanna himself is present in the form of a crescent.[/color][/b]

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<<Sin (Akkadian: Su'en, Sîn) or Nanna (Sumerian: DŠEŠ.KI, DNANNA) was the god of the moon in the Mesopotamian mythology of Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia. Nanna is a Sumerian deity, the son of Enlil and Ninlil, and became identified with Semitic Sin. The two chief seats of Nanna's/Sin's worship were Ur in the south of Mesopotamia and Harran in the north.

He is commonly designated as En-zu, which means "lord of wisdom". During the period (c.2600-2400 BCE) that Ur exercised a large measure of supremacy over the Euphrates valley, Sin was naturally regarded as the head of the pantheon. It is to this period that we must trace such designations of Sin as "father of the gods", "chief of the gods", "creator of all things", and the like. The "wisdom" personified by the moon-god is likewise an expression of the science of astronomy or the practice of astrology, in which the observation of the moon's phases is an important factor.

An important Sumerian text ("Enlil and Ninlil") tells of the descent of Enlil and Ninlil, pregnant with Nanna/Sin, into the underworld. There, three "substitutions" are given to allow the ascent of Nanna/Sin. Sin's wife was Ningal ("Great Lady"), who bore him Utu/Shamash ("Sun") and Inanna/Ishtar (the goddess of the planet Venus). The tendency to centralize the powers of the universe leads to the establishment of the doctrine of a triad consisting of Sin/Nanna and his children.

Sin had a beard made of lapis lazuli and rode on a winged bull. The bull was one of his symbols, through his father, Enlil, "Bull of Heaven", along with the crescent and the tripod (which may be a lamp-stand). On cylinder seals, he is represented as an old man with a flowing beard and the crescent symbol. In the astral-theological system he is represented by the number 30 and the moon. This number probably refers to the average number of days (correctly around 29.53) in a lunar month, as measured between successive new moons.

Nanna's chief sanctuary at Ur was named E-gish-shir-gal ("house of the great light"). It was at Ur that the role of the En Priestess developed. This was an extremely powerful role held by a princess, most notably Enheduanna, daughter of King Sargon of Akkad, and was the primary cult role associated with the cult of Nanna/Sin.

Sin also had a sanctuary at the Assyrian city of Harran, named E-khul-khul ("house of joys"). The cult of the moon-god spread to other centers, so that temples to him are found in all the large cities of Babylonia and Assyria. A sanctuary for Sin with Syriac inscriptions invoking his name dating to the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE was found at Sumatar Harabesi in the Tektek mountains, not far from Harran and Edessa.>>

John A. wrote:Can anyone tell me the difference in the light reflected from the moon between the maximum and minimum apparent sizes of the moon when it is full?

BDanielMayfield wrote:One of the oldest written records of our Moon in a written form is found at Genesis 1:16 where this object is referred to as "the lesser luminary for dominating the night". I'm grateful that our lesser luminary exists and that its orbit is such that eclipses are so wonderfully varried.

Bruce

geckzilla wrote:I find it difficult to believe that the Bible contains the first written record of anything other than its own mythology.

Tszabeau wrote:The Moon's wobble is, also, made apparent in these two photos by plotting and comparing landmark craters.

Tszabeau wrote:The Moon's wobble is, also, made apparent in these two photos by plotting and comparing landmark craters.

BDanielMayfield wrote:

BDanielMayfield wrote:One of the oldest written records of our Moon in a written form is found at Genesis 1:16 where this object is referred to as "the lesser luminary for dominating the night". I'm grateful that our lesser luminary exists and that its orbit is such that eclipses are so wonderfully varried.

Bruce

Please note correction.