Monuments of Time: Structures Aligned with the Solstices

 Monuments of Time: Structures Aligned with the Solstices  

Throughout history, civilisations have built extraordinary monuments that align perfectly with the Sun’s solstice paths, marking the longest and shortest days of the year. This week’s blog will explore the most famous structures on our planet that align with these specific monuments around the globe. We will first dive into what the solstice is and its significance. Moving onto looking at the most famous structures on our planet that are solstice aligned. From these structures, it is key to look at the engineering feats and precision within these structures. To end this blog, we will look at the cultural and spiritual meaning of these constructions. 

 

The solstice marks the key moments in the Earth’s relationship with the Sun and has influenced human civilisation throughout time. The two solstice dates are the 21st of June and 21st of December, marking the longest and shortest day. As observed during these events, the longest day refers to the day with the most sunlight and vice versa with the shortest day. This occurs as a result of the Earth’s tilt and the way in which it orbits the Sun. The summer solstice marks the point where the North Pole is tilted closest to the Sun giving the most sunlight and the winter solstice where the North Pole is tilted furthest away from the Sun.

The ecological and agricultural importance of the solstice cannot be understated. An example being in Ancient Egypt. The summer solstice coincided with the annual flooding of the Nile River, which made the land fertile to plant on. Therefore, the solstice was used as a marker for the farmers to start planting crops. 

Another use for the solstice in ancient history is that it was used to track time most importantly. This could be in regard to calenders, and even interpreting the seasons in many regions.

 

From the solstice there have been multiple structures that align themselves with the sun on these specific days. 


 

The most famous structure that falls into this category would have to be Stonehenge in the United Kingdom. On the summer solstice the Sun rises in perfect alignment with the Heel Stone and the central Altar Stone, creating a direct path of light through the monument. Thousands of people gather every year to watch this event. 

 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/winter-solstice-december-year-shortest-day-explained-science

 

The link above is to the National Geographic website which shows this immaculate structure. The Karnak Temple (Egypt) is a structure aligned with the winter solstice sunrise. On the winter solstice the Sun rises directly between the pylons of temple shining a path throughout the temple. The Egyptian Sun god Ra plays a role in their mythology and this structure shows their sophisticated knowledge of the Sun and astronomy. 

 

One of the most important aspects of the many structures aligned with the solstice is the observation and predicting the movement of the Sun in order to get to the point where the structure is perfectly aligned. This would take many years in order to get right and would prove challenging to any ancient civilisation[LH1] . As we discussed on our last blog about the durability of the Pyramids of Giza, the same applies here. The creators of these structures understood that construction needed to be done in a certain way in order to withstand the test of time. 

 

Finally, the solstice also has a cultural and spiritual meaning in many regions around the world. For many ancient cultures, the solstice represents a cycle of renewal. The winter solstice, marking the longest night symbolising “death” of the Sun and then the movement from long nights to long days moving closer to the summer solstice. The summer solstice representing fulfilment and flourishment of the Sun’s power. This is shown at Newgrange in Ireland, the winter solstice can be seen as a metaphor for the return of life after death. As mentioned above, the Egyptian Sun god Ra played a role in the solstice, and this is shown in Ancient Egyptian culture as the Sun was revered as a god that governs the cycles of life.

 

To conclude, the summer and winter solstice has been around since the dawn of time and the creation of the magnificent structures around the world shows its significance to cultures throughout time. 



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