Ancestor veneration for Orion's belt
The human history of our planet seems to be affected by a constant: the particular attention of our ancestors for the constellation of Orion. Tumuli, megalithic temples and pyramids seem to reproduce in their plan the position of the main stars that form the constellation of Orion. But why?
Also known as the Hunter, the constellation Orion lies along the celestial equator and is therefore visible at all latitudes on Earth.
It is one of the most majestic and recognizable constellations in the night sky, even if it has never found a place in the modern zodiac.
The constellation has around 130 visible stars and is identifiable by the alignment of three stars that form Orion's belt, while the hero's silhouette is outlined by nine stars.
Many ancient civilizations recognized the constellation Orion as a whole, although different images were attributed to it. The Sumerians saw a sheep in the stars. The name Betelgeuse literally means "armpit": in the case of the Sumerians it was the sheep's armpit.
In ancient China, Orion was one of the 28 Xiu (宿) zodiacs. Known as Shen (參), meaning "three", it was probably named so because of the three stars in Orion's Belt. The Egyptians considered these stars as a tribute to the god of light, Osiris. Orion's belt and sword are often mentioned in ancient and modern literature, and have even been printed on the insignia of the 27th Division of the United States Army.
Ancient mythology
In ancient depictions, Orion is depicted facing the charge of the snorting Taurus of the neighboring constellation. The constellation, in fact, was recognized by the Sumerians, who saw in it their great hero Gilgamesh fighting against the Bull of Heaven. Orion's Sumerian name was URU AN-NA, meaning light of the sky. The Bull was GUD AN-NA, bull of heaven.
In Greek mythology, Orion was considered the son of Poseidon, god of the seas and earthquakes, and of Euryale, daughter of Minos, king of Crete. Being a divine-human hybrid, Orion is described by Homer in the Odyssey as a gigantic hunter, armed with an indestructible staff of hard bronze.
The traditions regarding Orion's death are numerous and conflicting. Aratus of Soli, Eratosthenes and Hyginus, mythographers and astronomers, agree that he was caused by a scorpion. In one version, it is said that Orion boasted of being the most skilled of hunters. He challenged Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, stating that she could kill any beast on Earth. The goddess then trembled with indignation and released a scorpion from a crack in the ground which stung the presumptuous giant to death.
Even the most ancient Chinese astronomers knew the constellation well by the name of Shen, great hunter or warrior, interpreting it almost exactly in the same way as the European peoples. However, as one of the oldest Chinese constellations, it has gathered many different and conflicting interpretations over the following centuries.
It was certainly the ancient Egyptians who gave the constellation of Orion the greatest importance. They associated the stars of Orion with Osiris, the god who together with Isis civilized humanity by teaching it agriculture. The constellation was considered the home of Osiris after his resurrection.
Monuments representing Orion's belt
In the journal Discussions in Egyptology (DE, Volume 13, 1989), Robert Bauval proposed for the first time the Correlation Theory, according to which the pyramids of Giza would be an architectural representation of the three stars that make up Orion's belt. Although some aspects have been disproved, the cornerstone on which the theory rests is still valid.
The researcher discovered that the position of the three main pyramids of the Giza necropolis corresponds to the astronomical configuration of the constellation visible in the tenth millennium BC. According to the author, this correlation was voluntarily adopted by those who built the pyramids of Giza, which makes the pyramids at least 12 thousand years old.
Even more surprising are the correlations that some scholars have proposed between the pyramids of Giza and those of Teotihuacán, Mexico. There are many similarities between the pyramids of the two sites: both have internal halls and both share the same surveyor and mathematician.
The Great Pyramid of Giza and the Pyramid of the Sun of Teotihuacán apparently have the same square base, almost 230 m2; the perimeter of the base of the Pyramid of the Sun is equal to 4π for its height, in that of Giza it is 2π for its height. Practically, the Pyramid of the Sun is half as tall as that of Giza.
The periment of Teotihuacán was created according to a specific arrangement: the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon and the Temple of the Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl have the same arrangement of the stars that form Orion's belt, in the same way as the three pyramids of the plain of Giza.
As David Childress, author of Technology of the God states, when you have pyramid complexes similar to those of Giza and Teotihuacán, one might think that the same builders are behind these gigantic structures, or that in any case they were conceived by a basic idea shared by both cultures, despite thousands of kilometers of distance. England is also home to numerous examples of similar configurations attributable to Orion's Belt, mostly composed of triple circles, such as Merrivale, Stanton Drew, Avebury, Thornborough and Gray Wethers, just to name a few. Their purpose is not yet understood, but scholars are certain that there is an astronomical association.
The most disconcerting of these is certainly the unusual complex of Thornborough Henges, in North Yorkshire, England, consisting of three aligned stone circles. It is thought that the monument was built between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age (between 3500 and 2500 BC). The complex has been called the Stonehenge of the north and is described by English Heritage as the most important ancient site in the region.
It was Professor Clive Riggles (Ruggles C., Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopaedia of Cosmology and Myth. 2005) who hypothesized that the Thornborough alignments had an astronomical correlation with Orion's belt. This hypothesis was later also supported by Dr. Hering, an eminent professor of archeology at the University of Newcastle.
The work of the two researchers suggests that the constellation of Orion also had a particular meaning for the inhabitants of northern Europe.
Even today, the fascination that the constellation of Orion exerts on those who look up at the sky and contemplate its majesty and beauty is undeniable, almost as if something inside us made us recognize in that astronomical configuration something that has to do with our origins and our future. Who or what lies behind the enigmatic silhouette of Orion the warrior?
