Let's hear from Schiaparelli's words, in one of his many writings on ancient astronomy.
" In the early periods of history and science the arts were taught to men by the desire to meet the needs or conveniences of life, and from this source we must also recognize the origins of Astronomy. Even in the state of the grossest barbarism prehistoric man had to bring his attention to the celestial phenomena, and first on those, which in whole or in part depended on the periodic renewal of their needs and order of his occupations. The rapid alternation of days and nights, the story slower but no less important to him, the seasons, the return of lunar phases at regular intervals, and the variety of lighting at night which is derived from them, have been in every time and everywhere be the subject of attention and practical reflection of the hunter, the shepherd and the coltivator of the earth. These concepts should therefore be considered as the first partinomio common human generations, even those who in the course of time they could not rise above the savage state. "
Credits: GV Schiaparelli, The origins of astronomy from the Babylonians, 1908
Library of the Observatory
Image Credits: The Ishtar Gate at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin - from wikipedia
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