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, 27 October 2023→Ancient beliefs around stars and meteors pre-Islam
(→Ancient beliefs around stars and meteors pre-Islam: References updates - thanks for your help Lightyears. Will do final check tomorrow.) |
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And because of it these went up in fire. | And because of it these went up in fire. | ||
This happened utterly...}} | This happened utterly...}} | ||
A discussion linking this event to being a meteorite can be found [https://hcommons.org/deposits/objects/hc:27978/datastreams/CONTENT/content?download=true here](''“Then a Star Fell:” Folk-Memory of a Celestial Impact Event in the Ancient Egyptian Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor? Dr Lloyd D. Graham. 2022)''.<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/35137388 Then a Star Fell:” Folk-Memory of a Celestial Impact Event in the Ancient Egyptian Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor?] Dr Lloyd D. Graham. 2022).</ref> And for a further discussion of a theoretically catastrophic impact in ancient Egypt, see ''Aly Barakat, ‘Did the Kamil Meteorite Fall Contribute to the Downfall of the Old Kingdom?’, The Ostracon: Journal of the Egyptian Study Society, XXIV (Fall 2013), pp. 12–21.''<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_T0MWfFWfo Egypt's Impact Catastrophe Found (!?) & Old Kingdom's End. cf-apps7865. 2019.] ''- YouTube video covering Aly Barakat, ‘Did the Kamil Meteorite Fall Contribute to the Downfall of the Old Kingdom?’''</ref> | A discussion linking this event to being a meteorite can be found [https://hcommons.org/deposits/objects/hc:27978/datastreams/CONTENT/content?download=true here](''“Then a Star Fell:” Folk-Memory of a Celestial Impact Event in the Ancient Egyptian Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor? Dr Lloyd D. Graham. 2022)''.<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/35137388 Then a Star Fell:” Folk-Memory of a Celestial Impact Event in the Ancient Egyptian Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor?] Dr Lloyd D. Graham. 2022).</ref> And for a further discussion of a theoretically catastrophic impact in ancient Egypt, see ''Aly Barakat, ‘Did the Kamil Meteorite Fall Contribute to the Downfall of the Old Kingdom?’, The Ostracon: Journal of the Egyptian Study Society, XXIV (Fall 2013), pp. 12–21.''<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_T0MWfFWfo Egypt's Impact Catastrophe Found (!?) & Old Kingdom's End. cf-apps7865. 2019.] ''- YouTube video covering Aly Barakat, ‘Did the Kamil Meteorite Fall Contribute to the Downfall of the Old Kingdom?’, The Ostracon: Journal of the Egyptian Study Society, XXIV (Fall 2013), pp. 12–21.''</ref> | ||
'''Biblical motifs''' | '''Biblical motifs''' | ||
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==Islamic literature== | ==Islamic literature== | ||
=== | ===The Qur'an=== | ||
The Qur'an states that stars (kawakib ٱلْكَوَاكِبِ), lamps (masabih مَصَٰبِيحَ) and/or great stars/constellations (burūj بُرُوجًا) adorn the heavens and guard against devils (shayāṭīn شياطين). | The Qur'an states that stars (kawakib ٱلْكَوَاكِبِ), lamps (masabih مَصَٰبِيحَ) and/or great stars/constellations (burūj بُرُوجًا) adorn the heavens and guard against devils (shayāṭīn شياطين). | ||
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And [https://quran.com/21?startingVerse=32 Quran 21:32], which many classical commentators have associated with protection against devils: | And [https://quran.com/21?startingVerse=32 Quran 21:32], which many classical commentators have associated with protection against devils: | ||
{{Quote|{{Quran|21|32}}|And We made the sky a protected ceiling, but they, from its signs, are turning away.}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|21|32}}|And We made the sky a protected ceiling, but they, from its signs, are turning away.}} | ||
=== | === The Hadith === | ||
A hadith in Sahih Muslim confirms that the 'pursuant flames / missiles' in the two verses refer to meteors which they saw shooting across the sky. | A hadith in Sahih Muslim confirms that the 'pursuant flames / missiles' in the two verses refer to meteors which they saw shooting across the sky. | ||
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As mentioned in the introduction, while stars are giant balls of gas thousands of times larger than the earth, meteors are now known to be distinct from the distant stars, being small rocky masses or grains of debris which burn up after entering the earth's atmosphere. This debris is not even 'star-like', but just rocks, metal and dust with no light source, and therefore cannot accurately be said to match the description of 'lamps'. | As mentioned in the introduction, while stars are giant balls of gas thousands of times larger than the earth, meteors are now known to be distinct from the distant stars, being small rocky masses or grains of debris which burn up after entering the earth's atmosphere. This debris is not even 'star-like', but just rocks, metal and dust with no light source, and therefore cannot accurately be said to match the description of 'lamps'. | ||
They are often not much larger than grains of sand and only become visible for a second when they burn up, generating light in the Earth's atmosphere. Many ancient people confused the two, as meteors look like stars that are streaking across the sky; this is why they were often called shooting stars or falling stars <u>(</u>''see: [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-of-shooting-stars/ The Scientific American. The Science of Shooting Stars. 2023. Phil Plait.] for a further explanation of the science | They are often not much larger than grains of sand and only become visible for a second when they burn up, generating light in the Earth's atmosphere. Many ancient people confused the two, as meteors look like stars that are streaking across the sky; this is why they were often called shooting stars or falling stars <u>(</u>''see: [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-science-of-shooting-stars/ The Scientific American. The Science of Shooting Stars. 2023. Phil Plait.] for a further explanation of the science for the casual reader''). | ||
Large increases in meteors occur on a predictable schedule each year as the Earth's orbit passes through the stream of particles and debris left in the wake of a number of comets (or in a few cases, of asteroids). They only burn in Earths atmosphere due to friction from travelling extremely fast in a vacuum which takes no energy, to being compressed by air in the atmosphere, rising the temperature and setting fire where there is oxygen.<ref name=":0">Science. How stuff works. ''[https://science.howstuffworks.com/question308.htm Meteors burn up when they hit the Earth's atmosphere. Why doesn't the space shuttle?]''</ref><ref>NASA Science. Spaceplace. ''[https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/mesosphere/en/ Explore Earth and Space. Mesosphere.]''</ref> The most visible is usually the annual [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseids Perseid meteor shower] in August, which easily look like stars with flames being used a weapon in the sky. Meteor showers look like stars 'pelting' from every side. | Large increases in meteors occur on a predictable schedule each year as the Earth's orbit passes through the stream of particles and debris left in the wake of a number of comets (or in a few cases, of asteroids). They only burn in Earths atmosphere due to friction from travelling extremely fast in a vacuum which takes no energy, to being compressed by air in the atmosphere, rising the temperature and setting fire where there is oxygen.<ref name=":0">Science. How stuff works. ''[https://science.howstuffworks.com/question308.htm Meteors burn up when they hit the Earth's atmosphere. Why doesn't the space shuttle?]''</ref><ref>NASA Science. Spaceplace. ''[https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/mesosphere/en/ Explore Earth and Space. Mesosphere.]''</ref> The most visible is usually the annual [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perseids Perseid meteor shower] in August, which easily look like stars with flames being used a weapon in the sky. Meteor showers look like stars 'pelting' from every side. | ||