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There is an intense debate in cultural astronomy on the importance of lunar standstills in prehistory or antiquity, and even on whether this elusive and difficult-to-understand phenomenon actually was then recognised. In the present paper, we seek to address those who advocate no longer using the terms "lunar standstill" or the related "lunistice". We begin by clarifying what the concept actually involves, before highlighting some case studies where proposed orientations to lunar standstills have explanatory value and a strong likelihood, connected to the lunar nature of the deities worshipped at particular sites. Finally, we present some relevant ancient texts that indicate awareness of lunar extremes.

[EN] America's first urban centers may have been located in the Supe Valley, Peru. After investigating the location and the orientation of the main built structures, we show that it is not only the presence of the Supe River that determines their orientation but also that astronomical relationships within the orientation of the buildings dictate their setting within the valley. The southernmost position of moonrise on the horizon seems to be the most important astronomical target. There is the possibility of a trend toward attributing greater importance to the June solstice sunrise and the rising of certain stars or asterisms. These orientations could relate to specific moments throughout the year, in particular to seasonal rains, subsequent river flooding, and agricultural cycles. This is one of the earliest examples of the interaction of land- and skyscapes in human cultures and indeed the first in the Americas., [ES] El valle del río Supe en Perú posiblemente alberga una de las primeras manifestaciones de urbanismo en América. Los resultados de la investigación sobre la localización y orientación de los edificios principales muestran que no es sólo la presencia del río Supe la que determina la orientación de estos edificios, pero la localización dentro del valle también viene dictada por posibles relaciones astronómicas. Se muestra que la orientación más importante de estas estructuras concuerdan con la salida más meridional de la luna. Existe la posibilidad de una tendencia de atribuir una importancia creciente del solsticio de junio y la salida de ciertas estrellas y asterismos. Estas orientaciones se pueden relacionar con momentos concretos a lo largo del ciclo anual, en particular con las estaciones de lluvia las crecidas subsequentes del río y los ciclos terrenal agrícolas. De esta manera, los monumentos del valle del Supe aparecen como una de las primeras muestras de interacción del paisaje y el celaje en culturas humanas de América., This work was partially supported by the projects P/310793 “Arqueoastronomía” of the IAC, AYA2015-66787P “Orientatio ad Sidera IV” of the Spanish MINECO, and the AECID grant “Astronomía en la Cultura del Valle del Supe, Perú” from the Spanish MAEC. This research was carried out within the framework of the Archaeological Research Program, “Caral Civilization in the Valleys of Supe and Huaura during the Initial Formative and Early Formative” of the Caral Archaeological Zone, Executing Unit No. 003 of the Ministry of Culture of Peru, which since 2014 has been studying mainly the orientation of the buildings of the Caral archaeological site. We acknowledge support of the open access publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).

Archaeoastronomy and cultural astronomy are often considered synonyms, but they actually express different concepts, the former being a sub-discipline of the latter. Cultural astronomy is a fascinating but controversial discipline, which serves as an auxiliary subject to social sciences such as history, archaeology, anthropology, and ethnography, among others. The tools and methodology of astronomy play a relevant role in the discipline, but it should be inserted within social sciences epistemology.

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.

In earlier works, we had shown the actual possibility that the Nabataeans had used the Equinox, or an astronomical event equivalent to this, as an important milestone to control the calendar, stablish festivals and perform pilgrimages to important sacred sites. In this paper we present evidence that this was indeed the case. In a research carried out in Petra in March 2018, equinoctial phenomena were observed and tested at the Urn Tomb, the Obelisks at Jabal Madbah and the sacred area of Al Madras, showing that the actual astronomical Equinox could be observed together with other related phenomena such as the midday between the solstices. Besides, this campaign was used to obtain data in various isolated places in Petra seldom visited by the general public such as the Obodas Chapel, Sidd al Ma’jin, Parcak’s Platform, or the sacred areas on top of Umm al Biyara. These little known monumental sites have also provided interesting results that are described and discussed in this paper., This work is partially financed under the framework of the projects P310793 “Arqueoastronomía” of the IAC, and AYA2015-66787-P “Orientatio ad Sidera IV” of the Spanish MINECO/MICIU.

There is an intense debate in cultural astronomy on the importance of lunar standstills in prehistory or antiquity, and even on whether this elusive and difficult-to-understand phenomenon actually was then recognised. In the present paper, we seek to address those who advocate no longer using the terms "lunar standstill" or the related "lunistice". We begin by clarifying what the concept actually involves, before highlighting some case studies where proposed orientations to lunar standstills have explanatory value and a strong likelihood, connected to the lunar nature of the deities worshipped at particular sites. Finally, we present some relevant ancient texts that indicate awareness of lunar extremes.

The city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna in the Canary Island of Tenerife (Spain) is of exceptional value as the first unfortified colonial city to follow regular plan - a grid, outlined by straight streets that form squares - in the overseas European expansion. It constitutes a historical example of the so-called "Town of Peace", the archetype of a city-republic in a new land that employed its own natural boundaries to delimit and defend itself. Founded in 1496, the historical centre of the old city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. We analyse the exact spatial orientation of 21 historic Christian churches currently existing in the old part of La Laguna, which we take as a good indicator of the original layout of the urban lattice. We find a clear orientation pattern that, if correlated with the rising or setting Sun, singles out an absolute-value astronomical declination slightly below 20°, which, within the margin of error of our study, might be associated with the 25th July feast day of San Cristóbal de Licia, the saint to whom the town was originally dedicated. We also discuss at some length some recent proposals which invoke somewhat far-fetched hypotheses for the planimetry of the old city and conclude with some comments on one of its outstanding features, namely its Latin-cross structure, which is apparent in the combined layout of some of its most emblematic churches.

The work presented in this article is part of a wide-ranging and ambitious project, started few years ago, to study the role of astronomy in Roman urban layout. In particular, the main aim is to check whether Roman cities present astronomical patterns in their orientations. The project emerged from ideas on how to properly orientate the main streets of a Roman town, as attested in a number of ancient texts and later discussions led by contemporary scholars. We present here the final conclusions of a particular study developed in the Iberian Peninsula (Roman Hispania), where the urbanism that we tend to characterize as properly Roman flourished during both the Republic and the Empire. The sample analysed includes 81 measurements of Roman urban entities spread throughout the Iberian Peninsula and is the largest dataset obtained in a specific region so far. Our results present suggestive orientation patterns that seem to point towards an astronomical intentionality.

[ES] 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., [EN] This paper examines whether the Romanesque churches of the Way of Saint James or Camino de Santiago follow a common orientation pattern from the perspective of Cultural Astronomy. In order to do so, the orientation of 191 Romanesque churches in the former kingdoms of Leon and Castile has been obtained and a comparative study has been carried out. Both kingdoms share the orientation toward the sunrise on Easter Sunday, probably obtained by direct observation of the Sun over the horizon. However, Leon shows a strong preference for the ecclesiastical equinox of March 21, which does not appear in Castile. Churches belonging to the Way and a contrast sample at each kingdom have been also compared, providing relevant information about some churches built at specific places such as Santiago de Compostela, Ribeira Sacra, Sahagún or the Montaña Palentina.

Digital tools are increasingly used in cultural astronomy, so that it is now more important than ever to assess their precision and reliability, and to identify what uncertainties they may introduce. The present work aims to address these issues by comparing a dataset of orientations of Roman cities in the Iberian Peninsula measured in situ with measurements of the same structures obtained through different digital tools. By this, it is possible to estimate the errors that using these techniques introduce and to establish precision limits to data in future work. The results of this preliminary study are then implemented in an archaeoastronomical research project in North Africa, where some on-site measurements had been made in previous fieldwork campaigns by members of the group prior to the current political unrest that now prevents work at some sites in the region. In these instances, Google Earth Pro (2017) and HeyWhatsThat (Kosowsky 2012) have been key tools that have allowed us to complete a survey stretching from present-day Morocco to Libya, as well as to extract a preliminary outline of orientation trends in Roman Africa.

[ES] En el presente artículo se aborda la tan debatida cuestión de las orientaciones de ciudades romanas combinando dos procedimientos: un análisis estadístico de las orientaciones de una muestra significativa de ciudades romanas en la península ibérica, y los resultados de una investigación basada en la experimentación y reconstrucción de instrumental de agrimensura romana. En concreto, se busca reforzar, o rechazar, la hipótesis del empleo de la varatio para la orientación en el terreno, y su posible modo de ejecución: método basado en la aplicación de triángulos rectángulos con catetos en proporción de números naturales. Se postula además la línea meridiana como la generadora de cada nuevo proyecto, incluyéndose un posible procedimiento para su obtención a partir de los preceptos de Vitruvio (De Architectura VI, I). Los resultados del análisis estadístico devuelven una distribución de las orientaciones no aleatoria y que, en muchos casos, está en buen acuerdo con los valores predichos de la aplicación de la técnica de la varatio en sus diferentes variantes. Con esto se pretende determinar si sería factible el empleo de una técnica estandarizada para trazar los patrones de orientación obtenidos., [EN] This paper deals with the long-lasting debate about the orientation of Roman cities by combining two procedures: An analysis of a statistically significant sample of orientations of Roman settlements in the Iberian Peninsula and the results of the experimentation and re-construction of Roman surveying instruments. Specifically, the study seeks to reinforce, or reject, the hypothesis of the use of the varatio, and its possible mode of execution: A method based on the application of right-angled triangles with legs in proportion of integer numbers. The meridian line is also postulated as the generating line for each new project, including a possible procedure for obtaining it from the indications given by Vitruvius (De Architectura VI, I). The results derived from the statistical analysis show that orientations seem not to be randomly distributed but they tend to cluster around particular directions that agree with the expected values in case this geometrical technique was commonly applied.

If astronomy can be understood as the contemplation of the sky for any given purpose, we must realize that possibly all societies throughout time and in all regions have watched the sky. The why, who, how and when of such investigation is the pursuit of cultural astronomy. When the research is done with the archaeological remains of a given society, the part of cultural astronomy that deals with them is archaeoastronomy. This interdisciplinary field employs non-invasive techniques that mix methodologies of the natural sciences with the epistemology of humanities. Those techniques are reviewed here, providing an excellent example of sustainable research. In particular, we include novel research on the Bohí Valley Romanesque churches. The results provided go beyond the data. This is because they add new value to existing heritage or discovers new heritage due to the possible relationship to the spatial and temporal organization of past societies. For the case of the Bohí churches the results point to a number of peculiarities of these churches in a valley in the Pyrenees. This links these aspects to the ritual, practical and power sphere of past societies. A wonderful example of such links is the high mountain sanctuaries in Gran Canaria, where archaeoastronomy helps promoting a World Heritage candidacy., This work was partially supported by the projects P/310793 ‘Arqueoastronomía’ of the IAC, and AYA2015-66787 ‘Orientatio ad Sidera IV’ of the Spanish MICIU, We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI)

Petra, the ancient Nabataean capital, has been one of our main research objectives since the first field campaign on site in 1996. 1 In December 2015 a new visit to the city was made to coincide with the winter solstice. Historical, ethnographic, epigraphic and archaeological records are compared in order to gain an insight on the Nabataean calendar. From this multi-source analysis two main points arise: the importance of both equinoxes and winter solstice within the lunisolar calendar and the relevance of some processions and pilgrimages. These combined with illumination effects observed and broadcasted at the principal monuments of Petra, and new important hierophanies, predicted in previous campaigns,2 indicate the relevance of these dates at the time of the Nabataeans. Winter solstice was an important event in the Nabataean cultic calendar when a festival of the main deities of the city, the God Dushara and his partner the goddess Al-Uzza, was commemorated. This probably took the form of a pilgrimage, and related cultic activities, such as ascending from the temples at the centre of the city (presumably from Qsar el Bint and the Temple of the Winged Lions), to the Monastery (Ad-Deir) through an elaborated stone-carved processional way. The relevance of the spring and autumn equinox within the cultic calendar will also be emphasized in relationship to other sacred sites in Petra, such as the Zibb Atuff obelisks, and additional Nabataean sites.

In this paper, we report on three areas of the Iberian Peninsula that were occupied at least during the Iron Age and the early stages of Romanisation, where observations of astronomical phenomena in the landscape, rock carvings, and Latin inscriptions point to a particular method of time reckoning. All of these sites have previously been connected with the Celtic culture. The knowledge of the natural world that Classical sources assigned to these peoples need not have been reflected in a monolithic calendrical system used by all Celtic communities on the Continent. In fact, such a ‘Celtic calendar’ may have had different expressions in different areas, expressed in different ways, although sharing some common characteristics such as the particual use of the lunar and solar cycles.

espanolDurante campanas realizadas la decada pasada en el marco de la Mision Arqueoastronomica del Egipto antiguo se estudiaron los templos de Deir el-Bahari, en particular el de Mentuhotep II y el de Hatshepsut. Aunque grosso modo parecian pertenecer a la familia de los templos orientados a la salida del sol en el solsticio de invierno, dicha orientacion no era tan precisa como cabria esperar para construcciones de esta importancia. Por ello, tras retomar el trabajo en Egipto se ha decidido plantear otras hipotesis que pudieran explicar las desviaciones respectivas de estos dos templos hacia el sur y el norte de la linea solsticial, pues no cabe pensar que fuesen simples errores de diseno. En diciembre de 2017 se llevo a cabo de nuevo trabajo de campo en Tebas, en particular en Deir el-Bahari, y se realizaron observaciones y medidas in situ durante el propio solsticio de invierno, documentando el fenomeno. Las verificaciones llevadas a cabo parecen confirmar algunos planteamientos. Por un lado, el templo funerario de Mentuhotep II podria estar desviado ex profeso unos 2o al sur para que se produjese un efecto de iluminacion durante el solsticio de invierno en la capilla que cerraba el complejo en la base del acantilado, evento astronomico que equivalia a Wepet Renpet (Ano Nuevo) en esa epoca (XI Dinastia). Por otro lado, la Mansion de Millones de Anos de Hatshepsut podria estar orientada a la salida del sol en otras fechas singulares del ano civil durante el reinado de esta soberana. En consecuencia, las orientaciones astronomicas en el lugar podrian tener relacion con fechas claves del calendario civil en la epoca en que los templos fueron construidos. EnglishThe temples of Deir el-Bahari were studied in earlier campaigns carried out during the last decade within the framework of the Archaeoastronomy Mission of Ancient Egypt; in particular those of Mentuhotep II and Hatshepsut. Although they seem to belong to the family of temples oriented to the rising sun at the winter solstice, this orientation was not as precise as would be expected for temples of such importance. Therefore, after resuming work in Egypt, it was decided to propose alternative hypotheses that could explain the deviations of these two temples to the south and north of the solsticial line, respectively. It is difficult to imagine that they were mere design errors. In December 2017, further fieldwork was carried out in Thebes, in particular at Deir el-Bahari, and observations and measures were made on site during the winter solstice itself, documenting this phenomenon. The verifications carried out seem to confirm some new approaches. On the one hand, the memorial temple of Mentuhotep II could be diverted c. 2o to the south so that there would be a lighting effect during the winter solstice in the chapel closing the complex at the base of the cliff. This would be an astronomical event that could be related to the Wepet Renpet (New Year) at that period (11th Dynasty). On the other hand, the Temple of Millions of Years of Hatshepsut could be oriented towards sunrise on another unique date of the civil calendar during the reign of this sovereign. All in all, astronomical orientations at the site could relate to key dates in the civil calendar at the time when the temples were built.

Several works have tried either to demonstrate or reject the notion that the orientation of the main axis of a Roman city was deliberate since its choice might add an extra sacred dimension to the entire urban space [González-García et al. (Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 14(3):107–119, 2014; Magli (Oxford Journal of Archaeology 21(6):63–71, 2008)]. There exist ancient texts that support the hypothesis of the existence of astronomical orientations, such as those of Frontinus (De Agrimmensura, 27) or Hyginus Gromaticus (Constitutio, I). In the case that these precepts were fulfilled: how to achieve it? Besides the astronomical hypothesis, some scholars have pointed to the use of a geometrical technique: the uaratio (Orfila et al. La orientación de las estructuras ortogonales de nueva planta en época romana. De la varatio y sus variaciones. 2014). By this, the short sides of a regular triangle that are in ratios of integer numbers (for example 1:2, 2:3) are laid along the cardinal axes. In this work we present a comparison of the orientation of 81 Roman towns in the Iberian Peninsula, measured in situ, with uaratio angles with aspect ratios up to 12:12. By this exercise we want to discern whether the orientations were astronomical, purely geometrical, or if geometry could have fostered astronomical aims by using selected and well-known angles to trace lines that fitted the desired astronomical purposes. It is then, an attempt to shed more light to the issue of the orientation of Roman towns by combining two hypotheses that, in contrast to what it might seem, could be complementary but not contrary., This work has been financed under the framework of the projects P/310793 ‘Arqueoastronomía’ of the IAC, and AYA2015-66787 ‘Orientatio ad Sidera IV’ and HAR2013-41635-P, of the Spanish MINECO.

One of the most fascinating and enigmatic pieces of evidence of Nabataean ingenuity is the so-called Zodiac of Khirbet et-Tannur (Jordan), found in a temple built at the mountain summit close to Djebel Tannur in the first half of the second century CE, possibly when the ancient Nabataean Kingdom was already under Roman rule. However, Nabataean traditions and cults persisted during the Roman period and even survived well into Byzantine times. But one important change was the imposition of a Julian-like calendar, of Egyptian inspiration, instead of the original lunisolar calendar of the Nabataeans—earlier inherited and adapted from the Babylonian one—whose month names were however preserved under a solar perspective and a new time framework entitled Era Provincia Arabia. An analysis of the dates reported in the foundation inscriptions of the first century CE rock-carved tombs at the southern Nabataean city of Hegra, and other dated inscriptions of the Nabataean Kingdom period, has given some clues for us to look at the Tannur Zodiac with a different perspective. This new way of thinking has allowed a completely different approach to this masterpiece of art which is substantially different to most previous interpretations (see e.g. McKenzie et al., ARAM Periodical 24:379–420, 2012). According to our hypothesis, we consider that it should be formally named the ‘almanac’ or ‘parapegma’ of Khirbet et-Tannur hereafter., This work has been financed under the framework of the projects P/310793 ‘Arqueoastronomía’ of the IAC, and AYA2015-66787 ‘Orientatio ad Sidera IV’ of the Spanish MINECO.

Pernigotti: Contribution to the study of the orientation of Etruscan temples -- Bagnasco, Pernigotti: Materials for the study of an Etruscan cosmology: the case of the Tumulus of the Broomsat Cerveteri -- DeSantis: Orientation and planning of Roman Albingaunum (Albenga) -- Hatz: How Roman is the layout of the colonial town of Augusta Raurica? -- Gonzalez-Garcia, Rodriguez-Anton, Espinosa, Quintela, Belmonte: Establishing a New Order: Current Status on the Orientation of the Roman Towns Founded under Augustus -- Rodriguez-Anton, Gonzalez-Garcia, Belmonte: The varatio and its possible use in the Roman urban planning to obtain astronomical orientations -- Rosada: Ut ad orientem spectet -- Polcaro, Scuderi, Burgio: The socalled Neo-Pythagorean Basilica of Porta Maggiore in Rome: the most mysterious Roman monument -- Magli: The temple of Jupiter at Baalbek: astronomical and architectural analysis -- Belmonte, Gonzalez-Garcia, Rodriguez-Anton: Arabia Adquisita: the Romanization of the Nabataean cultic calendar and the Tannur "Zodiac" paradigm -- DeFranceschini, Veneziano: The symbolic use of light in hadrianic architecture and the "kiss of the sun" -- Rossi, Magli: Wind, Sand and Water: the Orientation of the Late Roman Forts in the Kharga Oasis (Egyptian Western Desert) -- Carnevale, Monaco: The Mausoleum of Santa Costanza in Rome: a survey of the light phenomenathrough the centuries -- Incerti, Lavorati, Iurilli: relief, geometry, archaeoastronomy of the "Mausoleo di Teodorico" (Ravenna) -- Spinazze: Baptistery and font: an interpretation of the medieval baptistery's orientation in Friuli (Northeast Italy) -- Frischer: Simpiricism comes to archaeoastronomy. The use of interactive 3d interfaces for exploratory research of astronomical of ancient Roman buildings -- Hannah: The choreography of time in ancient and medieval buildings -- Papamarinopoulos, Preka-Papadema, Gazeas, Nastos, Kiriakopoulos: Red droplets and Red clouds described in Iliad -- Zotti, Schaukowitsch, Wimmer: Virtual Archaeoastronomy: The State of Stellarium for Research and Outreach.

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.

International Astronomical Union was formed after the First World War although it became truly international only after the Second World War. Its Commission 41 on History of Astronomy (C41) was set up in 1948 and in a few years established itself as an active and influential unit. It has the distinction of being a joint Commission, the other partner being International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IUHPS). Since IAU is an internationally respected body of professional astronomers, its support for history of astronomy enhances the credibility of the discipline in the eyes of scientists as well as science establishments of individual countries. C41 is committed to advancing objective and rigorous world history of astronomy taking into account all its aspects.

Some cities were built with the idea of establishing cosmic order. The sky used to be a very important component of the landscape that has been lost completely in our modern, overcrowded, and excessively illuminated, cities. However, this was not the case in the past. Astronomy actually played a most relevant role in urban planning, particularly in the organization of sacred spaces which were later surrounded by extensive civil urban areas. Today, archaeoastronomy approaches the minds of our ancestors by studying the skyscape and how it is printed in the terrain by the visualization and the orientation of sacred buildings. The Sun was indeed the most conspicuous component of that skyscape and was the primary focus within a large set of very unique cultures of great historical significance. In particular, in this review paper, we will study and compare the case of four ‘solstitial’ cities: Thebes, Hattusha, Carthago Nova, and Petra, capitals of Egypt in the Middle and New Kingdoms, the Hittite Empire, the Carthaginian dominions in the Iberian Peninsula and the Nabataean Kingdom, respectively. We will briefly analyse solar aspects of the religions of these cultures and will scrutinize their capital cities, showing how their strategic geographical position and orography were of key importance. We will also look at how solar benchmarks, and related hierophanies, played a most relevant role in the orientation and/or location of some of their most significant monuments. We will finally incorporate a frame of analysis for these data in order to come to our conclusion that different Mediterranean societies where solar cults or symbolism are strongly substantiated display common characteristics in the orientation and location of these cities connecting them with solstitial orientations.

The two pyramids built during the Old Kingdom by the Fourth Dynasty King Sneferu at Dahshur are usually considered as two consecutive projects, the second – that of the Red Pyramid – being generated by a presumably failure of the first, the Bent Pyramid. In the present paper, we show that the archaeological proofs of such a scenario are far from obvious and that, on the contrary, a series of architectural, topographical, epigraphic, and astronomical hints point to a unitary project probably conceived from the very beginning in terms of the two pyramids and their annexes. Altogether the two pyramids are thus shown to form a conceptual, sacred landscape associated with the power of the Pharaoh and his afterlife.

The orientation of Christian churches is a distinctive feature of its architecture, repeating patterns from early Christian times that show a general tendency to orientate their apses in the solar range, with a predilection for orientations near the astronomical equinox. We measured the orientation of a total of 167 churches built prior to A.D. 1086. A comprehensive statistical analysis of the sample indicates a decisive orientation pattern, with a clear tendency to orientate according to the standard tradition, albeit with certain particularities. Three sub-samples are examined to find the tendencies at each different historical time. This exercise indicates that the main group of orientations seem to relate to the Canonical equinox on 25 March, while popular ‘expected’ orientations, such as that of the rising sun on the day of the patron saint of the church, are completely absent. Other groups of orientations are specific to each period, such as that towards sunrise on Saint James’s day, important only after the discovery of the saint’s tomb in the ninth century., This work is partially financed under the framework of the projects AYA2011-26759 “Orientatio ad Sidera III” of the Spanish MINECO, and P310793 “Arqueoastronomía” of the IAC. ACGG is a Ramon y Cajal Fellow of the Spanish MINECO.

In this short report we examine the ideal status of the seven-stone antas (a type of very ancient megalithic monument in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula) as an excellent candidate for a serial nomination within the Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative. This case will be compared with an extraordinary set of dolmens at the other side of the Mediterranean, within the Transjordan Plateau, worthy of being protected under the umbrella of the same initiative but which are in serious danger of ‘extinction’.

13 pages, 8 figures., A statistical analysis of the orientation of Nabatean sacred monuments demonstrates that astronomical orientations were often part of an elaborated plan and possibly a trace of the astral nature of the Nabataean religion. Petra and other monuments in the ancient Nabataean kingdom have proven to be marvellous laboratories for the interaction between landscape features and astronomical events, showing impressive hierophanies on particular monuments related to cultic times and worships. Among other findings, the famous Ad Deir has shown a fascinating ensemble of light and shadow effects, perhaps connected with the bulk of Nabataean mythology, while from the impressive Urn Tomb, a series of suggestive solstitial and equinoctial alignments emanate which might have lately helped its selection as the cathedral of the city. This paper demonstrates that the sky was a substantial element in Nabataean religion and reveals new evidence for cultic worship centred on the celestial sphere.

We present a new eclipsing post-common-envelope binary, identified inside the Kepler field prior to the launch of the spacecraft. Multifilter photometry and radial velocity data are analysed with an eclipsing-binary modelling code to determine the physical parameters of the binary. Spectra of the system within the primary eclipse and uneclipsed allow us to identify the spectral characteristics of the primary and secondary components. The primary component of the binary is a DA white dwarf, with M? 0.61 M?, log g? 7.95 and Teff? 20 500 K. The detection of two flares and the emission signatures displayed in the spectra show that the secondary component of the system is chromospherically active and is classified as an active M4 main- sequence star. Its mass, radius and temperature are estimated as M similar or equal to 0.39M(circle dot), R similar or equal to 0.37 R-circle dot and T-eff similar or equal to 3200 K. The ephemeris of the system is HJD = 245 3590.436 126( 10) + 0.350 468 722(6) x E. This binary is a newpost-common-envelope binary (PCEB), with physical parameters within the range found in other systems of this small group of evolved binaries.

It is of note that no special direction of the compass seems to have been preferred either for the orientation of the temples or for that of the cult chamber themselves.Jurgen SeeherAs a natural sequel to studies of temple orientation in the Mediterranean basin, and especially of the temples of ancient Egypt,1 the Hittite monuments of the Bronze Age offer an excellent laboratory to extend further the analysis of possible astronomical or topographical orientations, or both. This would be relevant not only for comparison with other neighbouring and contemporary cultures, but also to provide insights into such an important region of the Middle East as the Anatolian Peninsula.Contemporaneous with the Egyptian New Kingdom, the inhabitants of the Hittite Empire and their masters, the Kings of the Land of Hatti, produced a most sophisticated society, heir to a long Anatolian cultural tradition lasting several millennia.2 However, to our knowledge, cultural astronomy studies in this area and particular period have been practically nil.3 Preliminary analysis of some Hittite monuments and of the written sources had shown certain clues to a possible interest in the sky, but the judgement of Jurgen Seeher,4 the director of the team currently excavating at Hattusha, the Hittite capital, was so categorically negative regarding the question that apparently there was no hope of obtaining a positive result.However, it is the intention of this article to show that the analysis of a statistically significant sample of Hittite temples - and a handful of monumental gates - demonstrates that ancient Hittite monuments were not randomly orientated. On the contrary, there were well-defined patterns of orientation that could be interpreted within the context of Hittite culture and religion. The Hittite sample will be complemented with a preliminary set of data for Phrygian religious monuments. This will serve to analyse the transition of orientation customs from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age. This sample from ancient Phrygia will be compared with data in the excellent work of Susanne Bernt-Ersoz.5The paper deals with different topics. In Section 1, we analyse the geographical, historical and anthropological context. Special care is devoted to analysing ancient Hittite religion within its Anatolian context, notably the solar cults and the festival calendar. Section 2 presents our data on the Hittite monuments and tries to offer clues to their interpretation. The Phrygian data are presented and analysed in Section 3, offering a basis for future research. Finally, Section 4 presents the conclusions, both definitive and preliminary, of our work.1. STATE OF THE QUESTION: INTRODUCTIONThe Hittite Empire was a multi-lingual, multi-cultural political entity that controlled the life of Anatolia and the Levant for more than three centuries. From their homeland in the Land of Hatti (see Figure 1), the Hittite kings dominated a vast territory of varying frontiers which at its maximum extent in the late thirteenth century b.c. included, thanks to a network of vassal states, most of Anatolia and the north of Syria. The nucleus of the kingdom was formed by the Land of Hatti proper, the Upper and Lower Lands, and the neighbouring territories of Kizuwatna and Tarhuntassa. This area was populated not only by Hittites, speaking "Nesili", the language of Nesha, but also by Luwians and Palaians, speaking parentage languages of Indo-European lineage, Hurrians (notably in Kizuwatna) and, to an extent difficult to discern, ancient Hattians, the original inhabitants of the region. It has been argued that the latter group language, Hattic, was a dead language used only in religious rituals during most of Hittite history and that, at the end of the kingdom (c. 1200 b.c.), even Nesili was used only for state politics and religious purposes, while Luwian was the language spoken by the vast majority of the population.6As a consequence of this population mix, Hittite religion and social customs were a complicated blend of different traditions. …

In this essay we present a tentative archaeoastronomical analysis of the Moxos' Lagoons, a controversial and huge geographical network in the landscape of the Bolivian Amazon. In the late 1990s, a preliminary analysis of the orientation of a comprehensive and statistically significant number of lagoons showed that only human action could explain the peculiarities of their geometry, and especially their orientation according to a main axis aligned to an azimuth of 50° and its complementary angle. Since then, there has been an open debate on how these orientations could have been determined in practice. The absence of distinctive geographical features on the horizon strongly suggests that this peculiar pattern must have an astronomical justification. This short report presents a first approximation to the problem, suggesting that the lagoons could have been deliberately orientated in accordance with certain stellar positions which may have marked selected moments in the local climatic or economic cycle, a fact that could be corroborated by ethnohistoric references. The implications for new ethnographical research in the region are self-evident.

THE ARCHAEOTOPOGRAPHY OF EGYPT Architecture, Astronomy and Sacred Landscape in Ancient Egypt. Giulio Magli (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2013). Pp. xii + 272. £60. ISBN 9781-10703-208-8.This is not another book on fantastic Egyptian archaeology and astronomy. The reader will not find the typical lunatic fringe theories claiming that monuments of ancient Egypt hold secrets of arcane long-forgotten civilizations. The title is explicit: this book deals with architecture, reflected in the impressive pyramids and the not less suggestive temples; astronomy, expressed in alignments to relevant celestial vault configurations; and sacred landscape, where different elements combine to create what, in the words of the author, would be a dynastic landscape. Here 'dynastic' must be read in the strict sense of the word: how familiar ties were reflected in the architecture and connected with local topography and the sky, creating a symbolic world that, in the mind of the author, must have been obvious to its constructors.The volume analyses the relationship between astronomy and dynastic power in the course of Egyptian history from the proto-dynastic to the New Kingdom. It focuses on the crucial role of astronomy in the creation of the monumental temple and burial complexes, including the pyramids. Magli, an astronomer himself but working in a Faculty of Architecture where he lectures on Egyptian heritage, interprets the term Archaeoastronomy in a very wide sense which might perhaps be more properly termed Archaeotopography, following Michael Hoskin's suggestion.In consecutive chapters, the author travels through the history of ancient Egypt and describes a long series of extremely suggestive interactions. This short review cannot easily go into the details. However several of Magli's key ideas should be stressed. He proposes Akhet Khufu, the burial complex of Cheops, as a single master project integrating most of the monuments of the Giza Plateau, including his and Khefren's pyramids. Cheops would have been following his father Snefru who, according to Magli's theory, also followed a master plan (nothing to do with a trial and error process) in the design and construction of the several pyramids he built. A third highlight of the volume is the idea of several elaborated dynastic landscapes, including the most suggestive topographic and astronomical alignments, and what he has termed 'symbolic invisibility'. One advantage of these hypotheses is that they include a prediction. The author forecasts where some 'lost' pyramids of the Old Kingdom, notably Userkare's, should be located. If he were right, such a find would be a tremendous confirmation of his ideas, which I have found well grounded, if hypothetical.On the other hand, I believe that Magli fails in his interpretation of inter-cardinal directions in Upper Egypt, notably in proto-Dynastic Abydos and New Kingdom Thebes. He claims that the idea that the Egyptian temples were mainly orientated towards the Nile tends to be overplayed in Egyptological literature, an hypothesis (as defended by our research group) which is a workaround to reconcile Nile orientation (notably inter-cardinal) with the astronomical one, an explanation which, according to Magli, would be too far from what we know about the Egyptian architect's way of thinking. …

We present a preliminary spectroscopic analysis of the binary system V577Oph, observed during the summer of 2007 on the 2.6m NOT telescope on La Palma. We have obtained time series spectroscopic observations, which show clear binary motion as well as radial velocity variations due to pulsation in the primary star. By modelling the radial velocities we determine a full orbital solution of the system, which yields M_A sin^3 i = 1.562 +/- 0.012 M_solar and M_B sin^3 i = 1.461 +/- 0.020 M_solar. An estimate of inclination from photometry yields a primary mass of 1.6 M_solar. Using this derived mass, and the known pulsation frequency we can impose a lower limit of 1 Gyr on the age of the system, and constrain the parameters of the oscillation mode. We show that with further analysis of the spectra (extracting the atmospheric parameters), tighter constraints could be imposed on the age, metallicity and the mode parameters. This work emphasizes the power that a single pulsation frequency can have for constraining stellar parameters in an eclipsing binary system., Accepted by AN

The world heritage site of the hierothesion of Antiochos I, King of Commagene, at Mount Nemrud (Turkey) certainly constitutes one of the most fascinating historical enigmas in human culture. The monument includes the famous lion “horoscope” which has often been used in various attempts to interpret and date the ruins, with controversial results. After performing on-site observations, during the summer solstice of 2009, we propose that Antiochos’s monument reflects the situation of the skies at special moments of the year 49 b.c., when possibly construction of the monument would have been begun. This alternative, more substantiated than the traditional explanation, is formulated in the present paper by considering not only the lion slab but also the orientation of the eastern and western terraces of the hierothesion, and the inscriptions on the monument. The small Kingdom of Commagene nestled between the upper course of the river Euphrates and the mountains of Anti-Taurus in the south-east of Anatolia. Despite its tiny size, Commagene played a significant role in the history of the Middle East during the late Hellenistic and early Roman periods, as a buffer state between the powerful Seleucid (later Roman) and Parthian Empires. The dynasty of Commagene was founded by King Ptolemaios (c. 163 b.c.), a member of the Orontid family of Armenian satraps and kings with Persian roots, and ended when Antiochos IV Epiphanes was deposed by Emperor Vespasian in 72 a.d. Antiochos I Theos (c. 69–36 b.c.) was arguably the most important of its kings, ruling for more than 30 years in one of the most challenging periods in the history of the region. He was contemporaneous with Triganes the Great of Armenia, Mithradates II and Orodes II of Parthia, the last petty Seleucid kings, Herod the Great, and Lucullus, Pompey, Crassus, Caesar and Antonius from the Roman side. Antiochos was the son of Mithradates I Kallinikos, an Orontid, and of Laodice Thea Philadelphos, daughter of the last Seleucid king of any importance, Antiochos VIII Grypus. Consequently, Antiochos was able to claim both an Iranian and a Hellenistic ancestry, which was reflected in his political behaviour, always balanced between East and West, and, most importantly, in the new cult he was going to establish in his kingdom. The most outstanding example of this new cult was Antiochos’s burial monument on the summit of the highest peak of Commagene, Nemrud Dag (see Figure 1) at a height of 2150 m. Earlier local inscriptions in Luwian speak about Kings Suppiluliuma and Hattusili (c. 800 b.c.), lords of Kummaha (Assyrian Kummuh, undoubtedly the original name of Commagene), who rendered worship to a sacred mountain named Hurtula, possibly Nemrud Dag. Mountain cult was very frequent JHA, xli (2010)

For various reasons, Archaeoastronomy has not been one of the favourite disciplines of the Egyptologists in the past. Probably because of that, important questions such as the orientation of Egyptian temples and the relevance of astronomy in this respect had never been afforded with the necessary seriousness and deepness. The Egyptian–Spanish Mission for the Archaeoastronomy of ancient Egypt has, among its various priorities, the solution of this problem. In order to achieve that, we have measured the orientation of some 330 temples in the Valley, the Delta, the Oases and the Sinai so far. The aim is to find a correct and almost definitive answer to the question of whether the ancient Egyptian sacred constructions were astronomically aligned or not. Our data seem to answer this question in the affirmative sense. Besides, they offer a very interesting new perspective in the field of landscape archaeology, a new discipline hardly worked in Egypt so far, in which terrestrial landscape, dominated by the Nile, and celestial landscape, dominated by the sun and the stars, would combine in order to permit the establishment of Ma’at, the Cosmic Order, on Earth.

30 pages., [EN]The article examines the orientation with respect to the sky of ancient temples in Middle Egypt and Sudan. A previous paper compiled facts concerning the location of temples, and from these facts postulated a theory that connected temple siting to celestial phenomena. The current paper describes two separate efforts based on temples in Middle Egypt and Sudan to either refute or confirm this theory. The authors' presentation presents strong evidence of the impact sky-watching had on ancient culture, religion, and architecture., This work is partially financed in the framework of the projects P310793 "Arqueoastronomía" of the Instituto -de Astrofísica de Canarias, and AYA200 "Orientaio ad Sidera II" of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation