The book "Games and Sanctuaries in Ancient Greece" attempts to give prominence to the close connection between ancient games, gods, heroes and their sanctuaries. The pages of this publication present four major panhellenic festivals, the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian festivals, and one great local celebration, the Panathenaia, along with the sanctuaries at which the games were held: Olympia, Delphi, Nemea, Isthmia and Athens respectively.
[img_assist|nid=190|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=270|height=325]The buildings and general plans of the ancient sanctuaries, the achievements of the gods and heroes, the primeval myths and the history of the games are all set forth in clear, academically documented texts. Views of the sites, plans, a variety of finds from the excavations - sculptures and pottery, metalworks, coins and inscriptions - illustrate the texts and give a clear picture of both the sanctuaries and games and also the ancient myths.
Among the many celestial phenomena observed in ancient Mesopotamia, eclipses, particularly eclipses of the Moon, were considered to be among the astrologically most significant events. In Babylon, by at least the middle of the seventh century BC, and probably as early as the middle of the eighth century BC, astronomical observations were being systematically conducted and recorded in a group of texts which we have come to call Astronomical Diaries. These Diaries contain many observations and predictions of eclipses. The predictions generally include the expected time of the eclipse, apparently calculated quite precisely. By the last three centuries BC, the Babylonian astronomers had developed highly advanced mathematical theories of the Moon and planets. This paper outlines the various methods which appear to have been formulated by the Mesopotamian astronomers to predict eclipses of the Sun and the Moon. It also considers the question of which of these methods were actually used in compiling the Astronomical Diaries, and speculates why these particular methods were used.
A lump of bronze found in a shipwreck a century ago is a fragment of a complex device of gears and scales around 2000 years old. Its markings suggest it was used for astronomical and calendrical calculations. But uncertainty remains over its purpose: was it astronomical, astrological or educational? Here we summarize what is known about the Antikythera Mechanism and reconstruct its workings. We also examine its context in the Greek world of the first century BC and suggest that its purpose might be astrological more than astronomical. The existence of the Mechanism shows the sophistication of thought and manufacture available at this time. We speculate on the purpose of the device and demonstrate mechanisms that could enable such a device to give planetary positions, useful for astrology. It could also function as an accurate calendar, perhaps for civil holidays, or as an orrery.