Physics Program and Classical Studies Program Present
The Ancient Egyptian Night Sky
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Olin Humanities, Room 102
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Sarah Symons, Associate Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Science, McMaster University, Ontario
This talk will describe some of the archeological evidence for astronomical knowledge in ancient Egypt and discuss the challenges of understanding (up to) 4,500-year-old texts, objects, and monuments. What did the ancient Egyptians know about astronomy? To what uses did they put this knowledge? And how much can we learn from a fragmentary archeological record?Sarah Symons is an associate professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Science, McMaster University, Ontario. She studies the history of astronomy in ancient Egypt, with particular interests in timekeeping and astronomical maps, and is also director of the William J. McCallion Planetarium in Hamilton, Ontario. She is coeditor (with Bard’s Kassandra Miller) of Down to the Hour, a recently published book on ancient and classical timekeeping.
For more information, call 845-758-7518, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Location: Olin Humanities, Room 102