The Light of the Gods

One of the most fascinating areas of archaeoastronomy has less to do with measurements and the appreciation of genius in ancient man, but is rather the way that common man related to the stars. In almost all ancient cultures, the symbolism ascribed to the stars equated them with gods, in often startlingly different ways.

While one culture may elevate the sun to be the representative of their supreme deity^* (such as the Egyptians under Akhenaten), another may not ascribe the sun so much importance, and instead look to the stars to provide them with a playground of the gods. In this way, the night sky is useful – if you do not wish to make a single deity so powerful and significant, you place them among their peers, where the brightness of their presence indicates their relative positions.

In terms of importance, then, it is worth noting the modern names of our planets, in particular those that were known to the ancient astronomers: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These, being the visible planets in our solar system were selected especially in order to take the names of gods. This is due to their seemingly remarkable ability to move across the sky relative to the stars – all other stars remain relatively stable, moving only gradually, and certainly not in a manner notable over the course of a lifetime. Their special ability to move, then, granted them the significance of gods.

While it is obvious that there are other symbols man could have chosen for their gods (and often did) – such as volcanoes, great trees, mountains – stars have a single feature that gives them divine credence: they are eternal. Any symbol found upon the earth can disappear from view, but a star can always be seen on a clear night.

^*Even Christianity co-opts the power of this symbol, by aligning God with light itself – beautifully illustrated in medieval art, in which the halo is not merely a golden circle indicative of the sun, but may also include rays of light.