German Museum of Prehistory Confirms Possible
Connection between Moses, Pleiades, Nebra Sky Disk
Is there more to Yahuwah's calendar of scripture than has yet been revealed? A Work in Progress
In March of 2010, I "accidentally" stumbled onto what appears to be a connection between Yah's calendar of scripture, the star cluster known as the Pleiades and the Nebra Sky Disk. The Nebra Sky Disk was found near Nebra, Germany in 1999 and may be the oldest archaeological find in history. The artifact has been tested for authenticity, and is estimated to be about 3600 years old. This dates the relic to prior to the time of Moses and the Israelites in Egypt. The Pleiades is mentioned directly three times in scripture, in the book of Job and Amos. (Job 9:9 and 38:31, and Amos 5:8) The difficulty of connecting the Nebra Sky Disk with the Biblical Calendar, is that the disk was found in Germany, and has been authenticated to have been made in and near the area it was found. The odd thing is that the art work on the disk appears to be similar to Mesopotamia art, which would have come from somewhere in the general area where Moses was given the instructions for the biblical calendar.
In March 2010, I wrote a paper describing what I had found. You can find the first article here:
http://yahwehstruelunarsabbathcalendar.blogspot.com/2010/03/moses-pleiades-and-nebra-sky-disk-what.html
During my exploration of this new idea, I located and corresponded with Rahlf Hansen, one of the primary astronomers working on the Nebra Sky Disk project. He is with the Planetarium of Hamburg, in Hamburg, Germany. Rahlf provided a short thesis of his conclusions about the Nebra Sky Disk, and the contents of that paper can be read here:
http://yahwehstruelunarsabbathcalendar.blogspot.com/2010/07/german-astronomer-confirms-possible_4400.html
Eventually, some astronomical questions about the Pleiades surfaced. The astronomical odds of the Pleiades coinciding with the biblical calendar seemed rather remarkable. After verifying some of the facts involved, I put these ideas in a paper about the distances and astronomical facts involved. That paper can be found here:
http://yahwehstruelunarsabbathcalendar.blogspot.com/2010/10/pleiades-what-are-odds.html
Nebra Sky Disk
Nebra Connections to the Creator's Biblical Calendar?
As I continued the study of the Nebra Disk and it's possible relation to the Creator's Biblical Calendar, the artwork depicted on the disk began to make more sense when compared to the Biblical Calendar. Some rather interesting "coincidences" presented themselves. I formulated those thoughts and ideas in an email to the folks working on the project in Germany.
Here's the summation of my conclusions that I presented to Rahlf Hansen, Planetarium of Hamburg, and Ralf Bockmann, State Museum of Prehistory, Halle/Saale, Germany:
I'd like to suggest that the large round object on the disk, the one most are calling the sun, may in fact be the moon. Looking at the moon and the Pleiades this month (October 2010) has firmed up this conviction. Here's my reasoning. In the published material, it is indicated that some kind of mixture, which included eggs, was applied to the disk, which made it appear dark and/or purplish, as if it were nighttime. I think this is the first clue.
The other indicators on the disk that suggest it is meant to be viewed at night, are the crescent in conjunction with the Pleiades, which would only be seen after sunset, or theoretically, dark. The second indicator are the three planets, mars, mercury, venues, also suggesting nighttime as one would not be able to see them unless it was dark. The third indicator is what you folks have labeled the "sun boat," at the bottom of the disk. My understanding is that this idea existed in cultures that thought that the sun went "in" at night, and came out again in the morning. Again, this suggests that it would be nighttime when the "sun boat" went in. And if the sun boat is portrayed, why would the sun need to also be portrayed as a full round object?
Now, from another perspective, let's look at the biblical lunisolar calendar. I checked the data for the past 10 years and the next 10 years and the crescent in conjunction or very near the Pleiades in the spring appears to point to the first biblical month of the year, which is usually April-May. There are those that begin the biblical year in March-April but my belief is that this is too early, particularly if the sun has not passed the equinoctial line. The first biblical month can begin in March-April, but as I believe, only when the sun has passed the turning point from winter to spring and the new moon occurs after that.
Note: In looking at the data for the period mentioned above, it also appears that the Pleiades does in fact indicate when a 13th month needs to be inserted, which means that it automatically signals the Metonic cycle to adjust the lunar to the solar year.
So far, from what I can tell in researching the data, the Pleiades in conjunction, or very near the moon, signals the same thing as if to begin the biblical year with the first new moon after the vernal equinox; not before, and not nearest; but after. The data on the Pleiades and the moon seem to confirm that.
Here's the point that really sells me on the idea of the large object on the Nebra disk being the moon. It is the relationship of the full moon and the Pleiades after the turn from summer to fall, after the autumnal equinox. This point is 6 months from the time that the Pleiades and the crescent appear in the spring. It is also the 7th biblical month, if the 1st month was started at the right time. I see this appearance of the full moon with the Pleiades as both a sign that the 1st biblical month was begun correctly, and also a confirmation of when the first biblical month will begin in the following spring.
Also, I found some information regarding German history and the moon festivals. Here's a clip of text; "The old non-agricultural Germans observed the new moon and the full moon as religious festivals (Tacitus Germania II). This sounds to me like it might have some connection to the Nebra Sky disk art, and possibly support the idea that the full round object on the disk is the moon and not the sun.
Thank you for your willingness to offer a review of my questions/conclusions. I look forward to hearing from you.
State Museum of Prehistory in Germany Responds
Dear Paul,
sorry for letting you wait a while. I think you are generally right with what you have been writing to us, and it does not generally contradict with what Rahlf Hansen and others have been saying. In fact, also in our publications the round object on the disc is interpreted as the full moon, not the sun, at least for the early stages.
The position of the crescent moon on the disc in relation to the Pleiades corresponds with their disappearance in March as it could be seen in central Germany around 1600 BC. The appearance of the full moon with the Pleiades on the other hand could be seen in October.
Both occurrences are indeed important for the agricultural year and have been used as markers of season basically long into the modern period in Europe, as Wolfhard Schlosser has been pointing out. Rahlf Hansen's reconstruction of the function of the first stage disc as a tool to memorize how to combine the lunar and solar calendars according to similar rules known from the ancient middle and near east has taken the whole interpretation of the original sky disc further.
Only in later stages, the horizon arcs were added indicating the use of the disc to observe the sun, and even later the symbol interpreted as "sun barque" in analogy to finds from the Bronze Age of Northern Europe has been added, indicating a change in the underlying philosophy and probably also in function of the disc. Altogether, it must have been used for several hundreds of years, and it does indeed depict knowledge that can be traced back to the early Neolithic.
I do not find it surprising to learn from you about the similarities with the biblical calendar, because the knowledge of using the night sky to measure time is attested in the region where the bible originates at very early times already and is of a very basic nature.
There is one important point though: We have to take into consideration that the Nebra Sky Disc has been produced in Europe about 3600 years ago and was surely made to work in exactly that environment. That is why Mr. Schlosser has reconstructed the night sky of that time, which corresponds with the months that I have mentioned above. But, in general, your idea is the same.
So, I think your thoughts on the round object being the moon in the original composition of the sky disc, and its importance in relation to the Pleiades, are quite right and correspond with what Wolfhard Schlosser and Rahlf Hansen have published.
Thank you very much for writing to us,
best wishes,
Ralf
Ralf Bockmann
State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
State Museum of Prehistory
Richard-Wagner-Strasse 9
06114 Halle/Saale
Germany
Summary~Conclusions
Does the Pleiades play a role in the Creator's Biblical Calendar? There are certainly some coincidences that should not be overlooked. Since we do not have clear evidence from scripture pinpointing the Pleiades within the framework of the Biblical Calendar, no assumptions should be made. There is still a need to verify the connections to see if they prove out over a period of time, and more importantly, historically. One of the difficulties in pursuing this issue is that there seems to be a lack of historical references to the Pleiades as it may relate to the Biblical Calendar. The fact does remain though, that there are three direct references to the Pleiades in scripture, and we should not just casually ignore their presence. We just need to determine Yah's reason for their mention.
Please email me with any questions or suggestions regarding this project; solitarytraveler1@gmail.com
