[Astronomical Register: Appendix to No. 85.] THE ASTRONOMY OF, AND DRUIDICAL WORSHIP AT STONEHENGE. BY THE REV. JOHN H. BROOME, VICAR OF HOUGHTON. In the September No. of the ASTRONOMICAL REGISTER, the writer has shown the astronomical knowledge exhibited by the Druids in their temple at Stonehenge, whereby they affixed both the season, and year date of its erection, to be verified by posterity. From two visits made to Stonehenge in October 1868, with a view to discover what relation its temple bore to astronomy, he became aware, that Druidical Astronomy was not limited to the season and year date of its erection, but that they had actually constructed their grand trench, and two outer circles as far as the Trilithons surrounding the altar, marked D in the first plan, to represent the whole compass of the heavens. Within the trench on the frontispiece of the plan in the September No., to which at present we refer, were originally five stones, standing at unequal distances, two of which only are now remaining, though the foundations of all can be traced. The stone which is now fallen flat, marked B on the trench, bore no relation to these five stones, being of the same height and size as the astronomical stone marked A. Should we hazard a conjecture as to the use of this stone, we should say, it might serve to mark the entrance into the grand trench. This great trench appears to have been designed to represent a circular planisphere, with the five planets* of which the ancients had knowledge, viz. Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, placed at irregular distances. The space within the outer circle marked C, to have been the zodiacal course of the sun through the twelve signs. This arrangement corresponds exactly with that observed in the very ancient Egyptian planisphere of Dendera, the five planets there being placed in a circular position, at irregular distances, the twelve signs of the Zodiac succeeding, also circular. Next we see the constellations, and these also appear circling round the heavens. Thus it is, in the plan or planisphere of the September No. The thirty-six stones of the second circle of the planisphere, wholly unhewn, and very irregular in their forms, varying in height above the ground, from 5 to 6 feet, in breadth, from 1 to 4-(by which we may judge of the whole as they originally stood,) represent the In the 1st article, 2 of these stones have been named as marking the summer and winter solstices. The ancient astronomers made use of what these stones represent, as in fact they did of stars themselves, as guides or pointers. varying sizes of the thirty-six constellations, not including those of the twelve signs of the Zodiac. The relative size of each constellation is attended to in the Dendera planisphere, by the varying sizes of living creatures of creation. Forming the third circle in the original plan in the September No., is another and very peculiar circle, being in fact an ellipse of what is called the 7 Trilithons, i.e., three stones, two upright ones, and one placed on the top of each, given more fully in the present illustration. The uprights of the first pair marked A, were probably about 8 feet above the surface of the ground. Those of the second pairs, marked B, sixteen feet. Those of the third, marked C, 17, and those of the central ones, marked D, 22. There appears to have existed among all nations a tradition of six days of creation, the seventh being the day of cessation or rest. Porphery states that the Phoenicians, consecrated the seventh day as holy. That the Druids, deriving from the Phoenicians, and through them from the ancient Egyptians, whose founder was Mizraim, grand-son of Noah, should have known this is nothing extraordinary, nor their wish to perpetuate such a memorial by their erection of these 7 Trilithons, marking the six days of progressive creation, the seventh, the highest, the day of rest. With this view it seems reasonable that the highest Trilithon, now called the altar Trilithon, should be placed where it is, the altar being the exact breadth of this highest Trilithon. The space between the altar and this Trilithon is called even now "the priest's standing place. We now return to the elliptical form in which the 7 Trilithons are placed, as illustrated in the present diagram, this part of the interior of the temple being, in the present illustration, fully given. It is a discovery as we think, of modern science, that the shape of the earth is an imperfect ellipse, but the fact seems to have been noticed by the ancient Druids in the construction of their temple, combining at once a system of astronomy and religious worship. That the ancient astronomers knew more than we now give them credit for, appears from the fact that the Arabic name Wasat,' which means the centre or foundation, as of the Pleiades, was given in the Arabic catalogue of stars, drawn up by Ulugh Beigh, a Tartar prince and astronomer, who flourished about the middle of the 15th century. כון Al-Cyone is the chief star of the Pleiades. Al was the ancient Hebrew, and is now the Arabic article applied to its name. "Kyon," is the Hebrew root for centre or foundation. The meaning of this name Kyon, centre, or foundation, anticipates one of the greatest achievements of modern astronomy, that to this centre gravitates the whole magnificent arrangement of stars, called the Galaxy, to which our sun belongs.* The name Taygeta, another of the stars of the Pleiades, means in its Hebrew root "bound together as a bunch." There may be some connection between the Grecian fable of Atlas supporting the heavens, and the constellation of the Pleiades, † from this discovery that in this group is the centre of gravitation, or mutual attraction, * Mazzaroth, p. 28. By the telescope, as its powers are incrcased, still more and more stars are discernible in this group; two of their names, "Maia," and "Electra," in their Hebrew roots, signify abundance. Those who gave them saw them to be a multitude.-Mazzaroth, p. 28. 3 by which all the heavenly bodies are kept together and supported from falling. This connection seems clearer, when we remember, that the names of the 7 stars of the Pleiades, Maia, Electra, Taygeta, Celene, Merope, Asterope, Al Cyone, were said to be the names of the daughters of Atlas the supporter of the heavens, who, after their death, were placed to form this constellation. That the ancients knew so much of astronomy need not seem so very surprising if we are to credit Josephus, when he says "The family of Seth the son of Adam invented the science of the celestial bodies." He refers for this to ancient authorities Bi, C iii and iv. In the notes to Gill's Commentary on Genesis are the names of ancient writers, Jewish, Persian, and Arabian, by whom these traditions have been transmitted. The extreme term of life of the early patriarchs enabled them to ascertain the return of the heavenly bodies to the same positions in cycles and periods, which in after ages it has required the labour of successive generations to verify. We now refer to the Druidical worship at Stonehenge. It was within the 19 stones placed around the 7 Trilithons in the shape of an ellipse, that their worship was conducted in front of the altar, its length, the breadth of the highest Trilithon; the Druidical high priest, facing the east, offered up his sacrifice on the altar. But his worship was a perverted one, (retaining some knowledge of truth) of the sun, moon, and planets, connecting them with the Phoenician idolatry of Baal, which King Josiah at his reformation put down:"And he put down the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and unto the planets and to all the host of heaven."-II Kings, xxiii, 5. Probably the earliest worship on record in this country, was imported by the Phoenicians. It was in 910 B. C., under king Ahab, that Baal-worship was in its most flourishing state, 67 years later than the date assigned in the previous article to the erection of Stonehenge. In that article we have attempted to show the cause of our chancels being placed to the east, a custom we most probably derived from our ancient Druidical teachers. They placed the grand entrance of their temples to the cast, their altar to the west, as it was in the temple at Jerusalem. Both Roman-Catholics and Protestants appear to have derived the custom of placing their altars and sacramental tables east and west, also the nave of their churches, from the aditum of Stonehenge, that space between the entrance of the temple at Stonehenge, as in the first plan, and the sacred precincts plainly illustrated by the 19 circular stones of the second plan. It will make Stonehenge of greater interest to us, if we can trace both the science of astronomy in some of its bearings, and even the constructive origin of our ecclesiastical buildings, to this ancient temple, connecting us as it does with a nation so highly cultivated in the arts and sciences as the Phoenicians; with whom even King David thought it not beneath him to form an alliance, and Solomon his son found in Hiram ("always a lover of David") a ready helper in the building of his temple. Should there be doubt on the mind of any of the Phoenician character of the temple at Stonehenge, we |