A drawing of how ancient people imagined the universe. How ancient people imagined the Universe, presentation for a geography lesson (grade 5) on the topic

The ideas of the ancients about the Earth were based primarily on mythological ideas.

Consequently, these whales were in their eyes the main foundations, the foundation of the whole world.

Increase geographical information associated primarily with travel and navigation, as well as with the development of simple astronomical observations.

The ancient Greeks imagined the Earth to be flat. This opinion was held, for example, by the ancient Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus, who lived in the 6th century BC. He considered the Earth to be a flat disk surrounded by a sea inaccessible to humans, from which the stars emerge every evening and into which they set every morning. From eastern sea The sun god Helios (later identified with Apollo) rose every morning in a golden chariot and made his way across the sky.

The world in the minds of the ancient Egyptians: below is the Earth, above it is the goddess of the sky; to the left and to the right is the ship of the Sun god, showing the path of the Sun across the sky from sunrise to sunset.

The inhabitants of Babylon imagined the Earth as a mountain, on the western slope of which Babylonia was located. They knew that to the south of Babylon there was a sea, and to the east there were mountains that they did not dare cross. That’s why it seemed to them that Babylonia was located on the western slope of the “world” mountain. This mountain is surrounded by the sea, and on the sea, like an overturned bowl, rests the solid sky - the heavenly world, where, like on Earth, there is land, water and air. The celestial land is the belt of the 12 constellations of the Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces.

The Sun appears in each constellation for about a month each year. The Sun, Moon and five planets move along this belt of land. Under the Earth there is an abyss - hell, where the souls of the dead descend. At night the Sun passes through this dungeon from western edge Earth to the east, so that in the morning they will again begin their daily journey across the sky. Watching the Sun set over the sea horizon, people thought that it went into the sea and also rose from the sea. Thus, the ancient Babylonians’ ideas about the Earth were based on observations of natural phenomena, but limited knowledge did not allow them to be correctly explained.

When people began to travel far, evidence gradually began to accumulate that the Earth was not flat, but convex.

The great ancient Greek scientist Pythagoras of Samos (in the 6th century BC) first suggested that the Earth was spherical. Pythagoras was right. But to prove the Pythagorean hypothesis, and even more so to determine the radius globe succeeded much later. It is believed that Pythagoras borrowed this idea from the Egyptian priests. When the Egyptian priests knew about this, one can only guess, since, unlike the Greeks, they hid their knowledge from the general public.

Pythagoras himself may have also relied on the testimony of a simple sailor Skilacus of Karian, who in 515 BC. made a description of his voyages in the Mediterranean.

The famous ancient Greek scientist Aristotle (IV century BC) was the first to use observations of the Earth to prove the sphericity of the Earth. lunar eclipses. Here are three facts:

1. Shadow from the Earth falling on full moon, always round. During eclipses the Earth is turned towards the Moon different sides. But only the ball always casts a round shadow.
2. Ships, moving away from the observer into the sea, are not gradually lost from sight due to the long distance, but almost instantly seem to “sink”, disappearing beyond the horizon.
3. Some stars can only be seen from certain parts Earth, but they are never visible to other observers.

Claudius Ptolemy (2nd century AD) - ancient Greek astronomer, mathematician, optician, music theorist and geographer. In the period from 127 to 151 he lived in Alexandria, where he conducted astronomical observations.

He continued Aristotle's teaching regarding the sphericity of the Earth.

He created his own geocentric system the universe and taught that all celestial bodies move around the Earth in empty cosmic space.

Subsequently, the Ptolemaic system was recognized by the Christian Church.

Aristarchus of Samos

Finally, an outstanding astronomer ancient world Aristarchus of Samos (end of the 4th - first half of the 3rd century BC) expressed the idea that it is not the Sun together with the planets that moves around the Earth, but the Earth and all the planets revolve around the Sun. However, he had very little evidence at his disposal.

And about 1,700 years passed before the Polish scientist Copernicus managed to prove this.

The correct idea of the Earth and its shape was formed by different nations not immediately and not at the same time. However, where exactly, when, and among which people it was most correct is difficult to establish. Very few reliable ancient documents and material monuments have been preserved about this.

For the most part, all the ideas of the ancients were based on the geocentric system of the world. According to legend, the ancient Indians imagined the Earth as a plane lying on the backs of elephants. Valuable ones have reached us historical information about how the ancient peoples who lived in the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in the Nile delta and along the banks imagined the Earth Mediterranean Sea- in Asia Minor and Southern Europe. For example, written documents from ancient Babylonia dating back about 6 thousand years have been preserved. The inhabitants of Babylon, who inherited their culture from even more ancient peoples, imagined the Earth in the form of a mountain, on the western slope of which Babylonia is located. They knew that to the south of Babylon there was a sea, and to the east there were mountains that they did not dare cross. That’s why it seemed to them that Babylonia was located on the western slope of the “world” mountain. This mountain is surrounded by the sea, and on the sea, like an overturned bowl, rests the solid sky - the heavenly world, where, like on Earth, there is land, water and air. The celestial land is the belt of the 12 constellations of the Zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, Pisces. The Sun appears in each constellation for about a month each year. The Sun, Moon and five planets move along this belt of land. Under the Earth there is an abyss - hell, where the souls of the dead descend. At night, the Sun passes through this underground from the western edge of the Earth to the eastern, so that in the morning it will again begin its daily journey across the sky. Watching the Sun set over the sea horizon, people thought that it went into the sea and also rose from the sea. Thus, the ancient Babylonians’ ideas about the Earth were based on observations of natural phenomena, but limited knowledge did not allow them to be correctly explained.

The ancient Jews imagined the Earth differently. They lived on a plain, and the Earth seemed to them to be a plain, with mountains rising here and there. Special place in the universe, the Jews assigned to the winds, which bring with them either rain or drought. The abode of the winds, in their opinion, was located in the lower zone of the sky and separated the Earth from the celestial waters: snow, rain and hail. Under the Earth there are waters, from which canals run up, feeding seas and rivers. The ancient Jews apparently had no idea about the shape of the entire Earth.

Geography owes a lot to the ancient Greeks, or Hellenes. This small people, who lived in the south of the Balkan and Apennine peninsulas of Europe, created a high culture. We find information about the most ancient Greek ideas about the Earth known to us in Homer’s poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey”. They speak of the Earth as a slightly convex disk, reminiscent of a warrior's shield. The land is washed on all sides by the Ocean River. A copper firmament stretches above the Earth, along which the Sun moves, rising daily from the waters of the Ocean in the east and plunging into them in the west.

The peoples who lived in Palestine imagined the Earth differently than the Babylonians. they lived on a plain, and the Earth seemed to them to be a plain, with mountains rising here and there. They assigned a special place in the universe to the winds, which bring with them either rain or drought. The abode of the winds, in their opinion, is located in the lower zone of the sky and separates the Earth from the celestial waters: snow, rain and hail.

17th century image of the earth, note that the navel of the earth is in Palestine.

In the ancient Indian book called "Rigveda", which means "Book of Hymns", you can find a description - one of the very first in the history of mankind - of the entire Universe as a single whole. According to the Rig Veda, it is not very complicated. It contains, first of all, the Earth.

It appears as a limitless flat surface - “vast space.” This surface is covered on top by the sky. And the sky is a blue vault dotted with stars. Between the sky and the Earth is “luminous air.”

IN Ancient China there was an idea according to which the Earth has the shape of a flat rectangle, above which a round convex sky is supported on pillars. The enraged dragon seemed to bend the central pillar, as a result of which the Earth tilted to the east. Therefore, all rivers in China flow to the east. The sky tilted to the west, so all the heavenly bodies move from east to west.

The ideas of the pagan Slavs about the earthly structure were very complex and confusing.

Slavic scholars write that it seemed to them like a large egg; in the mythology of some neighboring and related peoples, this egg was laid by a “cosmic bird.” The Slavs have preserved echoes of the legends about the Great Mother - the parent of Earth and Sky, the foremother of Gods and people. Her name was Zhiva, or Zhivana. But not much is known about her, because, according to legend, she retired after the birth of Earth and Heaven. In the middle of the Slavic Universe, like a yolk, is the Earth itself. Top part“Yolk” is our living world, the world of people. The lower "underside" side is the Lower World, the World of the Dead, the Night Country. When it's day there, it's night here. To get there, you need to cross the Ocean-Sea that surrounds the Earth. Or dig a well through, and the stone will fall into this well for twelve days and nights. Surprisingly, whether it is an accident or not, the ancient Slavs had an idea about the shape of the Earth and the cycle of day and night. Around the Earth, like egg yolks and the shell, there are nine heavens (nine three times three sacred number among a variety of peoples). That's why we still say not only "heaven" but also "heavens." Each of the nine heavens Slavic mythology has its own purpose: one for the Sun and stars, another for the Moon, another for clouds and winds. Our ancestors considered the seventh to be the “firmament,” the transparent bottom of the celestial Ocean. There are stored reserves of living water, an inexhaustible source of rain. Let us remember how they say about a heavy downpour: “the abysses of heaven opened up.” After all, "abyss" is sea abyss, water space. We still remember a lot, we just don’t know where this memory comes from or what it relates to.

The Slavs believed that you can get to any sky by climbing the World Tree, which connects the Lower World, the Earth and all nine heavens. According to the ancient Slavs, the World Tree looks like a huge spreading oak tree. However, on this oak tree the seeds of all trees and herbs ripen. This tree was a very important element of ancient Slavic mythology - it connected all three levels of the world, extended its branches to the four cardinal directions, and with its “state” symbolized the mood of people and Gods in various rituals: green Tree meant prosperity and a good share, and dried up symbolized despondency and was used in rituals where evil Gods participated. And where the top of the World Tree rises above the seventh heaven, in the “heavenly abyss” there is an island. This island was called "irium" or "virium". Some scientists believe that the current word “paradise”, which is so firmly associated in our life with Christianity, comes from it.

Iriy was also called Buyan Island. This island is known to us from numerous fairy tales. And on that island live the ancestors of all birds and animals: “elder wolf”, “elder deer”, etc. The Slavs believed that they fly to the heavenly island in the fall migratory birds. The souls of animals caught by hunters ascend there and answer to the “elders” - they tell how people treated them. Accordingly, the hunter had to thank the animal for allowing him to take his skin and meat, and in no case mock him. Then the “elders” will soon release the beast back to Earth, allow it to be born again, so that fish and game will not be transferred. If a person is guilty, there will be no trouble... (As we see, the pagans did not at all consider themselves “kings” of nature, who were allowed to plunder it as they pleased. They lived in nature and together with nature and understood that every living creature has no less right to life than that of a person.)

Greek philosopher Thales(VI century BC) represented the Universe in the form of a liquid mass, inside of which there is a large bubble shaped like a hemisphere. The concave surface of this bubble is firmament, and on the lower, flat surface, like a cork, the flat Earth floats. It is not difficult to guess that Thales based the idea of the Earth as a floating island on the fact that Greece is located on islands.

Contemporary of Thales - Anaximander imagined the Earth as a segment of a column or cylinder, on one of the bases of which we live. The middle of the Earth is occupied by land in the form of a large round island of Oikumene (“inhabited Earth”), surrounded by the ocean. Inside the Ecumene there is a sea basin that divides it into two approximately equal parts: Europe and Asia. Greece is located in the center of Europe, and the city of Delphi is in the center of Greece (“the navel of the Earth”). Anaximander believed that the Earth was the center of the Universe. He explained the rise of the Sun and other luminaries on the eastern side of the sky and their sunset on the western side by the movement of the luminaries in a circle: the visible vault of heaven, in his opinion, constitutes half of the ball, the other hemisphere is underfoot.

The world in the minds of the ancient Egyptians: below is the Earth, above it is the goddess of the sky; left and right - ship
the sun god, showing the path of the sun across the sky from sunrise to sunset.

Followers of another Greek scientist - Pythagoras(b. c. 580 - d. 500 BC) - already recognized the Earth as a ball. They also considered other planets to be spherical.

The ancient Indians imagined the Earth as a hemisphere supported by elephants.
The elephants are standing on a huge turtle, and the turtle is on a snake, which,
curled up in a ring, closes near-Earth space.

The ideas of the ancients about the Earth were based primarily on mythological ideas.

Some peoples believed that the Earth was flat and supported by three whales that floated across the vast ocean.

The ancient Greeks imagined the Earth as a flat disk surrounded by a sea inaccessible to humans, from which the stars emerge every evening and into which they set every morning. The sun god Helios rose every morning from the eastern sea in a golden chariot and made his way across the sky.

The ancient Indians imagined the Earth as a hemisphere held by four elephants. The elephants are standing on a huge turtle, and the turtle is on a snake, which, curled up in a ring, closes the near-earth space.

Old Norse Land.

The Old Testament Land in the form of a tabernacle.

Seven celestial spheres according to Muslim ideas.

View of the Earth according to the ideas of Homer and Hesiod.

Plato's Spindle of Ananka - The sphere of light connects earth and sky
like the hull of a ship and permeates heaven and earth through and through in the form
a luminous pillar in the direction of the world axis, the ends of which coincide with the poles.

Universe according to Lajos Ami.

When people began to travel far, evidence gradually began to accumulate that the Earth was not flat, but convex. So, moving south, travelers noticed that in the southern side of the sky the stars rose above the horizon in proportion to the distance traveled and new stars appeared above the Earth that were not visible before. And in the northern side of the sky, on the contrary, the stars descend down to the horizon and then completely disappear behind it. The bulge of the Earth was also confirmed by observations of receding ships. The ship gradually disappears over the horizon. The hull of the ship has already disappeared and only the masts are visible above the surface of the sea. Then they disappear too. On this basis, people began to assume that the Earth was spherical. There is an opinion that before the completion of the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan, whose ships sailed in one direction and unexpectedly arrived with reverse side there, that is, until September 6, 1522, no one suspected the sphericity of the Earth.

There are many answers to the question of how ancient people imagined the Earth, since the views of our distant ancestors differed radically depending on what region of the planet they lived in. For example, according to one of the first cosmological models, it rests on three whales floating in the vast Ocean. Obviously, such ideas about the world could not arise among the inhabitants of the desert, who had never seen the sea. Territorial reference can also be seen in the views of the ancient Indians. They believed that the Earth stood on elephants and was a hemisphere. They, in turn, are located on a giant turtle, and that is on a snake, curled up in a ring and enclosing the near-earth space.

Egyptian views

The life and well-being of representatives of this ancient and one of the most interesting and original civilizations completely depended on the Nile. It is therefore not surprising that he was at the center of their cosmology.

The real Nile River flowed on earth, underground - underground, belonging to the kingdom of the dead, and in heaven - representing the firmament. The sun god Ra spent all his time traveling by boat. During the day he sailed along the celestial Nile, and at night along its underground continuation, flowing through the kingdom of the dead.

How the ancient Greeks imagined the Earth

Representatives of the Hellenic civilization left the greatest cultural heritage. Ancient Greek cosmology is part of it. It is reflected in Homer's poems - "Odyssey" and "Iliad". They describe the Earth as a convex disk resembling a warrior's shield. In its center there is land, washed on all sides by the Ocean. A copper firmament stretches above the Earth. The Sun moves along it, rising daily from the depths of the Ocean in the east and, making its way along a huge arc-shaped trajectory, plunges into the abyss of water in the west.

Later (in the 6th century BC), the ancient Greek philosopher Thales described the Universe as a liquid endless mass. Inside it is a large bubble in the shape of a hemisphere. Its upper surface is concave and represents the vault of heaven, and on the lower, flat surface, like a cork, the Earth floats.

In Ancient Babylon

The ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia also had their own, unique ideas about the world. In particular, cuneiform evidence from ancient Babylonia, which is approximately 6 thousand years old, has been preserved. According to these “documents”, they imagined the Earth in the form of a huge World Mountain. On its western slope was Babylonia itself, and on the eastern slope were all the countries unknown to them. The World Mountain was surrounded by the sea, above which the solid vault of heaven was located in the form of an overturned bowl. It also consisted of water, air and land. The latter was a belt of Zodiac constellations. The Sun spent about 1 month in each of them annually. It moved along this belt along with the Moon and 5 planets.

Under the Earth there was an abyss where the souls of the dead found refuge. At night the Sun passed through the dungeon.

Among the ancient Jews

According to the Jews, the Earth was a plain, on different parts where the mountains rose.

Being farmers, they gave a special place to the winds, bringing with them either drought or rain. Their repository was located in the lower tier of the sky and was a barrier between the Earth and the heavenly waters: rain, snow and hail. Under the Earth there were waters, from which canals went up that fed the seas and rivers.

These ideas have constantly evolved, and the Talmud already indicates that the Earth is round. At the same time, its lower part is immersed in the sea. At the same time, some sages believed that the Earth was flat, and the firmament was a solid, opaque cap covering it. During the day, the Sun passes under it, and at night it moves above the sky and is therefore hidden from human eyes.

Ancient Chinese ideas about the Earth

Judging by archaeological finds, representatives of this civilization considered the tortoise shell to be the prototype of space. Its shields divided the plane of the Earth into squares - countries.

Later performances Chinese sages have changed. In one of the oldest text documents, it is believed that the Earth is covered by the sky, which is an umbrella rotating in a horizontal direction. Over time, astronomical observations have made adjustments to this model. In particular, they began to believe that space, surrounding the Earth, is spherical.

How did the ancient Indians imagine the Earth?

Basically, information has reached us about the cosmological ideas of the ancient inhabitants of Central America, since they had their own writing. In particular, the Mayans, like their closest neighbors, thought that the Universe consisted of three levels - heaven, underworld and earth. The latter seemed to them like a plane floating on the surface of the water. In some more ancient sources, the Earth was a giant crocodile, on whose back there were mountains, plains, forests, etc.

As for the sky, it consisted of 13 levels on which the star-gods were located, and the most important of them was Itzamna, who gave life to all things.

Lower world also consisted of levels. At the lowest (9th) were the possessions of the deity of Death Ah Puch, who was depicted in the form of a human skeleton. The sky, the Earth (flat) and the Lower World were divided into 4 sectors, coinciding with the parts of the world. In addition, the Mayans believed that before them the gods more than once destroyed and created the Universe.

Formation of the first scientific views

The way ancient people imagined the Earth changed over time, primarily due to travel. In particular, the ancient Greeks, who had achieved great success in navigation, soon began to try to create a system of cosmology based on observations.

For example, the hypothesis of Pythagoras of Samos, who already in the 6th century BC, was radically different from how ancient people imagined the Earth. e. suggested that it has a spherical shape.

However, it was possible to prove his hypothesis only much later. At the same time, there is reason to believe that this idea was borrowed by Pythagoras from the Egyptian priests, who used it to explain natural phenomena many centuries before classical philosophy began to form among the Greeks.

200 years later, Aristotle used observations of lunar eclipses to prove the sphericity of our planet. His work was continued by Claudius Ptolemy, who lived in the second century AD, and created a geocentric system of the universe.

Now you know how ancient people imagined the Earth. Over the past millennia, humanity's knowledge of our planet and space has changed significantly. However, it is always interesting to learn about the views of our distant ancestors.

Presentations / History / The idea of the ancient Slavs about the structure of the world - The structure of Slavic mythology

Text of this presentation

REPRESENTATIONS OF THE ANCIENT SLAVS ABOUT THE WORLD
Two feelings are wonderfully close to us. In them the heart finds food: Love for the native ashes, Love for the tombs of our fathers. The independence of man has been based on them since time immemorial, by the will of God Himself, the guarantee of his greatness! A.S. Pushkin

We know the structure of the world quite well according to the ideas of the ancient Slavs. The world was structured in three parts (as in many other cultures). upper world the gods lived. In the Middle World there are people and everything that surrounds them is the earth. In the bowels of the earth, in the lower world, an unquenchable fire (inferno) burns.

The sacred tree is not just a smaller copy of the universe, but also its core, support, without which the world will collapse. In one of the old manuscripts there is a dialogue: “Question: Tell me what holds the earth? Answer: The water is high.” “What holds the earth?” “Four golden whales.” “What holds the golden whales?” - A river of fire. - What holds that fire? - The iron oak, the first planted of all, is rooted in the power of God.”

World Tree. The Slavs believed that you can get to any sky by climbing the World Tree, which connects the Lower World, the Earth and all nine heavens.

The Earth is surrounded by the World Ocean, in the middle of which rests the “navel of the earth” - a sacred stone. It lies at the roots of the sacred World Tree - the oak on Buyan Island, and this is the center of the universe. The ancient Slavs considered the world tree to be a kind of axis holding the world together. The Sun, the Moon and the stars live in its branches, and the Serpent at its roots. The world tree can be a birch, sycamore, oak, pine, rowan, or apple tree.

In Russian medieval folklore - “the father of all stones.” In conspiracies and fairy tales - “white-flammable stone”. In the center of the world in the middle of the sea-ocean, on the island of Buyan, there stands that stone. The world tree grows on it (or the throne of world kingship stands). From under this stone healing rivers spread around the world. It was not for nothing that the combustible Alatyr stone was located in the center of the universe. U Eastern Slavs there was worship of stones, trees, sacred groves.

NEAR LUKOMORYE GREEN OAK...
According to folk fairy tales northern Russian provinces, the border between our world and the distant kingdom, that is, the other world, is marked by the oak tree. And the black cat, or the cat Bayun, is placed as a guard at this border. His task is not to let any loiterers into the distant kingdom, and he does this by lulling the curious with fairy tales and songs.

The Zbruch idol, which can confirm the three-part division of the world of the Slavs, is a tetrahedral pillar 2 m 67 cm high, found back in 1848 near the village of Gusyatin in the Zbruch River (a tributary of the Dniester). The pillar is divided into three tiers, on each of which different images are carved. The lower tier depicts the underground deity from different sides, the middle tier depicts the human world, and the upper tier shows the gods.

SLAVIC GODS

The lower image (underground part) shows the deity holding the earth's plane and compares it with the god Veles (Hair).
Veles is one of the greatest gods of the ancient world, the son of Rod, the brother of Svarog. His main act was that Veles set the world created by Rod and Svarog into motion. Veles could take on any form. Most often he was portrayed as a wise old man, a protector of plants and animals. Totem animals of Veles are a bear, a wolf, a sacred cow. Peoples living in a natural tribal system considered animals equal to people. For example, in Rus' they love bears very much and consider them brothers. And the bear is Veles. The Russians learned a lot from animals, imitated them with their voice, movements, methods of attack and defense. Veles is an inexhaustible source of knowledge, each animal in his forest is unique. Master of Navi, ruler of the unknown. Lord of Ways, patron of travelers.

When a hunter killed a bird or animal, his soul went to Iriy (Slavic analogue of “paradise”, the island of the blessed was called Iriy or Vyriy.

It lay in the south, where birds winter and Spring lives. The ancestors of all birds and animals lived there.) and told the “elder” how they had treated him. That is why it was impossible to torture an animal or bird; one should thank him for allowing him to take his meat and skin. Otherwise, the “elders” will not allow him to be born again, and people will be left without food.

Upper tier. Gods On the main front face of the upper part, facing north, towards the entrance to the temple, the goddess of fertility is depicted with a turkish cornucopia in her hand. This is Makosh (Mokosh) - “mother of the harvest”. Patroness feminine, fertility, marriage, childbirth, hearth, spinning.

Goddess of all Fate. Goddess of magic and enchantment, wife of Veles and Mistress of the crossroads of the universe between worlds. Protector and patroness of housewives. In the lower hypostasis she is the famous Yaga, in this case we can say that she is the mother of the winds, that life and death are equally subject to her. Mistress of Living Nature.

By right hand from Mokosh, Lada is depicted with a wedding ring in her hand.
Lada is a deity in Slavic mythology; goddess of spring, spring plowing and sowing, patroness of marriage and love. The fact of the existence of Lada in the beliefs of the Slavs is disputed by a number of scientists. Oslad is considered Lada's faithful companion because... marriage and love are always close to feasts and pleasures.

By left hand from Mokosh - Perun with a horse and sword.
The Slavic thunderer was Perun - a formidable deity. He dwells in heaven. When angry, the god throws stones or stone arrows onto the ground. Thursday was dedicated to Perun from the days of the week, from animals - the horse, from trees - the oak. Perun, in Slavic mythology, the most famous of the Svarozhich brothers. He is the god of storm clouds, thunder and lightning. A very expressive portrait of the Thunderer was given by Konstantin Balmont: Perun’s thoughts are quick, Whatever he wants is now. Showers sparks, throws sparks From the pupils of sparkling eyes. People believed that he commanded the winds and storms that accompany thunderstorms and rush from all four sides Sveta. He is the ruler of rain clouds and earthly water sources, including springs that break through the earth after a lightning strike. Perun's appearance and weapons were identified with natural phenomena: lightning is his sword and arrows, a rainbow is his bow, a cloud is his clothes, or beard, or curls on his head, winds and storms are his breath, rain is the fertilizing seed, the roar of thunder is his voice. People believed that the sparkling gaze of Perun sent death and fires. According to some legends, Perun’s lightning was different: lilac-blue, “dead” - struck to death, golden, “living” - awakened earthly fertility

On the back side - Dazhbog with sun sign; his face looks, as befits a solar deity, to the south.
The daytime illumination of the world space was attributed by Russian people of the 12th century not only to the sun, but also to some special immaterial light, which in later times was called “white light.” Sun deity sunny day(maybe the white light) was Dazhbog, whose name gradually turned into the “giver of blessings.”

It is likely that the supreme deity was Rod - the creator of the universe, the entire visible and invisible world; impersonal deity, "father and mother of all gods."
The genus is the progenitor of all living things. The genus gave birth to everything that we see around. He separated the visible and obvious world - Reality - from the invisible, spiritual world.

GOD SVAROG Supreme Heavenly God, governing the flow of Life and the entire world order of the Universe in the Explicit World. Svarog is considered the god of fire, he gave people pincers and taught them how to forge iron. The Great God Svarog is the Father for many ancient Light Gods and Goddesses. God Svarog as loving Father, cares not only about his heavenly children and grandchildren, but also about people from all Clans of the Great Race, who are descendants of the Ancient Svarozhichi.

The entire earthly world, according to the ideas of the Slavs, was inhabited by spirits, mysterious forces: in the forest - goblins, in lakes and rivers - insidious watermen and mermaids, in swamps - terrible kikimoras, in huts - brownies.

Goblin
Leshy is one of the most important spirits of nature. He is the only one of all representatives evil spirits capable of growing on par with the most tall trees, then becomes so small that it hides under a strawberry leaf

MERMAIDS
Female water spirits - waterworts, mermaids swim to the surface only in the evening, and sleep during the day. They lure travelers with beautiful songs, and then drag them into the pool. Big celebration for mermaids - Kupala.

WATER
The water grandfather is the master of the waters. Mermen graze their herds of catfish, carp, bream and other fish at the bottom of rivers and lakes. Commands mermaids, undines and other aquatic inhabitants. In general, he is kind, but sometimes the merman likes to play around and drag some unwary person to the bottom so that he entertains him.

BOWNIE
The brownie is the patron of the house. Appears in the form of an old man, a shaggy man, a cat or another small animal, but it is not possible to see him. He is the guardian not only of the entire house, but mainly of everyone living in it.

BEREGINI
Beregini live along the banks of rivers, they protect people from evil spirits, predict the future, and also save small children left unattended and fallen into the water. Beregini-wanderers often pointed out to travelers where the ford was located.

However, now we need to be wary of these good spirits, for many of them became evil lobasts when people forgot about Rusalia and stopped monitoring the purity of the waters

Thus…
Gods and sanctuaries. The Slavs were pagans. Their main god was Perun, the god of thunder and lightning. The god of the sun was called Dazhbog, the god of the wind - Stribog, the god of fire - Svarog. There were gods who, as the Slavs thought, controlled the house and economy of man. For example: Veles (Volos) was the god of cattle and cattle breeding. The picture shows a sanctuary in which the Slavs make a sacrifice to appease the gods. It could be food, poultry, livestock, exceptional cases even people.

Questions and tasks Draw the World Tree. Place on its branches known to you Slavic gods and spirits.

How our ancestors imagined the world

Scientific attempts to describe the Universe

Some peoples have advanced knowledge of the world deeper than a convenient legend from old wives' tales. The most advanced in this area were:

Greeks. Officially, they were the first to suggest that The earth is round. But their theory was geocentric– it was believed that the Sun and planets revolve around the Earth. Atomists assumed that our system was not the only one, and imagined the Universe as a collection of systems, which they were not far from the truth.
Hindus. In the Vedas and Puranas it was described in an allegorical form solar system model like planets moving around the sun, and the Sun itself - around the Earth. As the priestly level degraded, the servants themselves began to perceive projection drawings as flat objects, from which the version of flat earth.
Romans. Like the Greeks, they claimed geocentric Universe, while quite accurately calculating time length of orbits planets and their distance from Earth.

Today

The fact that today much is known about our solar system, our and nearby galaxies, does not give confidence in the correctness of our ideas about the universe. Most of them are just guesses. It is quite possible that our ideas will also find their way into someone’s discussions in 300 years.

Technological map of the lesson.

Item: Geography

Class: 5

Basic textbook: Geography 5th grade I.I. Barinova, A.A. Pleshakov, N.I. Sonin. (M.: Drofa, 2012);

Lesson topic : How ancient people imagined the Universe.

The purpose of the lesson:

Lesson objectives:

a) educational : - give an idea of what the Universe is;

introduce ancient peoples to the ideas about the Universe;

Ancient Greek scientists.

b) developing

Continue developing the ability to highlight the main points when working with geography textbooks and additional literature;

Improve self-control skills;

Stimulate curiosity.

c) educational

develop skills: - work in pairs, groups;

The ability to listen to the interlocutor;

Lesson type : learning new material

Equipment: textbook, atlas on geography 5th grade, electronic application, handouts.

Stage

Teacher activities

Student activities

Universal learning activities

1. Motivation to educational activities. Organizing time

Getting into the business rhythm. Oral communication teachers.

Hello guys! I'm glad to see you in our lesson.

Listen carefully to the poem, answer the question: what is the poem about?

Space is painted black,
Because there is no atmosphere
There is no night, no day.
There is no earthly blue here,
The views here are strange and wonderful:
And the stars are all visible at once,
Both the Sun and the Moon.

Greetings from teachers

The student reads the poem.

Personal: self-determination; "me and other people"

regulatory: goal setting;

communicative: planning educational collaboration with teacher and peers

2. Setting a learning task, lesson goals

That's right, guys. Everything that is in space: stars, comets, planets, the Sun, the Earth, all this is called in one word - the Universe.

Guys, what do you think the topic of our lesson will be?

What is the goal of the lesson?

What questions should we answer in order to achieve the goal of the lesson?

Guys, find the definition of “universe” in the textbook p.41.

Children's answers. Space.

Children's answers "Earth in the Universe"

Children's answers: The goal of our lesson is, study of the first ideas about the structure of the Universe.

Student answers:

What is the Universe.

A student reads a definition in a textbook

Regulatory: goal setting;

communicative: asking questions;

educational: general education - independent selection - formulation cognitive purpose lesson, lesson topic.

3.Discovery of new knowledge

The increase in geographical information is associated primarily with travel and navigation, as well as with the development of simple astronomical observations.

We will work in pairs and groups. Each pair will represent some ancient people, and study the question of how the people represented the Universe.

Ancient Greeks

Ancient Egyptians

Ancient Indians.

Residents of Babylon.

Perform the work from the information additional material(Appendix 1) and text in the textbook p. 41-42, also take information from the atlas. Prepare an answer to the task as a whole group and choose who will answer.

Work on handouts in groups

Cognitive:

Analyze information, highlight the main thing, classify information

Communicative:

be able to look at the situation from the position of the respondent.

Communicative: interact in pairs, take the positions of the other.

Personal:

Give reasons and evaluate their own and others’ actions

4.Primary consolidation.

Physical education minute.

Now let's rest a little.

We have a physical education session again.

Let's bend over, come on, come on.

Straightened up and stretched.

And now they’ve bent over backwards.

My head is tired too.

So let's help her.

Right - left, one and two.

Think, think head

Although the charging time is short.

We rested a little.

Conduct a physical education session

Communicative:

express their opinion

Cognitive:

analyze information

Which scientist was closer to the modern understanding of the Universe?

What celestial bodies were known to the ancient Greeks?

What instruments were used to study the Universe?

Aristarchus of Samos, the Sun is at the center of the Universe. Pythagoras - the shape of a ball.

Planets, Moon, Sun, stars.

Telescope

5. Fastening.

Guys, please remember what tasks we set at the beginning of the lesson?

Tell me, please, have we solved these problems? Was the goal of the lesson achieved?

Student answers:

What is the Universe.

What scientists studied the structure of the Universe.

What are the modern ideas about the structure of the Universe?

Children's voluntary responses

Communicative:

express their opinions and listen to each other’s opinions.

Cognitive:

analyze, summarize.

Regulatory:

evaluate the degree and methods of achieving the goal.

6.Homework.

To choose from:

1. Draw a picture of how ancient people imagined the Universe.

2. Draw a picture of how you imagine the structure of the Universe.

Write down homework in the diary.

Personal:

7. Reflection on learning activities in the lesson.

I remembered…

I found out…

I like it…

My mood…

Over the Earth late at night,

Just extend your hand

You'll grab the stars:

They seem nearby

Offers continue

Personal: conscious choice, analysis of the level of mastery of what has been studied.

Communicative:

express their opinion

Appendix No. 1

Ancient Greeks

The world in view ancient egyptians

Ancient Greeks imagined the Earth to be flat. They considered the earth to be a flat disk surrounded by a sea inaccessible to humans, from which the stars emerge every evening and into which they set every morning. The sun god Helios rose every morning from the eastern sea in a golden chariot and made his way across the sky.

The world in view ancient egyptians: below - the Earth, above it - the goddess of the sky; to the left and to the right is the ship of the Sun god, showing the path of the Sun across the sky from sunrise to sunset.

Ancient Indians

Ancient Indians represented the Earth in the form of a hemisphere held by four elephants. The elephants are standing on a huge turtle, and the turtle is on a snake, which, curled up in a ring, closes the near-earth space.

Residents of Babylon

Residents of Babylon The earth, in their opinion, is a mountain that they did not dare to cross, which is surrounded on all sides by the sea. Above them in the form of an overturned bowl is located starry sky- a heavenly world where, like on Earth, there is land, water and air. Under the Earth there is an abyss - hell, where the souls of the dead descend. At night, the Sun passes through this underground from the western edge of the Earth to the eastern, so that in the morning it will again begin its daily journey across the sky. Watching the Sun set over the sea horizon, people thought that it went into the sea and also rose from the sea.

MUNICIPAL BUDGETARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

"NOVOSELOVSKAYA SECONDARY SCHOOL"

RAZDOLNENSKY DISTRICT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CRIMEA

Prepared by:

teacher primary classes

MBOU "Novoselovskaya School"

Nezboretskaya Olga Vasilievna

village Novoselovskoye – 2016

The ancient peoples' idea of the Earth

Correct information about the Earth and its shape did not appear immediately, not at one time and not in one place. However, it is difficult to find out exactly where, when, and among which people they were most correct. Very few reliable ancient documents and material monuments have been preserved about this.

First prototypes geographical maps known to us in the form of images left by our ancestors on the walls of caves, incisions on stones and animal bones. Researchers find such sketches in different parts of the world.

The way ancient people imagined the Earth largely depended on the nature, topography and climate of the places where they lived. Because the peoples different corners saw the planets in their own way the world, and these views differed significantly.

For the most part, all ancient ideas about the Earth were based primarily on mythological ideas.

Ancient inhabitants of the ocean coast

According to legend, the ancient inhabitants of the ocean coast imagined the Earth as a plane lying on the backs of three whales.

Ancient Indians

According to legend, the ancient Indians imagined the Earth as a plane lying on the backs of elephants.

Probably the most famous legend today, telling how ancient people imagined the Earth, was composed by the ancient Indians. These people believed that the Earth was actually shaped like a hemisphere, which rested on the backs of four elephants. These elephants stood on the back of a giant turtle swimming in an endless sea of milk. All these creatures were wrapped in many rings by the black cobra Sheshu, which had several thousand heads. These heads, according to Indian beliefs, supported the Universe.

Ancient Babylonians

Valuable historical information about the Earth and its shape was preserved by the ancient peoples who lived in the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Nile Delta and along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea (in Asia Minor and Southern Europe). Written documents from ancient Babylonia have reached our time. They date back about 6,000 years.

The Babylonians, in turn, inherited knowledge from even more ancient peoples. The Babylonians imagined the Earth as a mountain, on the western slope of which Babylonia was located. They noticed that to the south of Babylon there was a sea, and to the east there were mountains that they did not dare cross. That's why it seemed to them. This mountain is round, and it is surrounded by the sea, and on the sea, like an overturned bowl, rests the solid sky - the heavenly world, like on Earth, there is land, water and air. The celestial land is the belt of the 12 constellations of the Zodiac. The Sun appears in each constellation for about a month each year. The Sun, Moon and five planets move along this belt of land. Under the Earth there is an abyss - hell, where the souls of the dead descend. At night, the Sun passes through this underground from the western edge of the Earth to the eastern, so that in the morning it will again begin its daily journey across the sky.

Ancient Greeks

Ancient Egyptians

The world in the minds of the ancient Egyptians: below is the Earth, above it is the goddess of the sky; left and right - the ship of the Sun god, showing the path of the Sun across the sky from sunrise to sunset

Ancient Jews

The ancient Jews imagined the Earth differently. They lived on a plain, and the Earth seemed to them to be a plain, with mountains rising here and there. Jews assigned a special place in the universe to the winds, which bring with them either rain or drought. The abode of the winds, in their opinion, was located in the lower zone of the sky and separated the Earth from the celestial waters: snow, rain and hail. Under the Earth there are waters, from which canals run up, feeding seas and rivers. The ancient Jews apparently had no idea about the shape of the entire Earth.

Ancient Muslims

Seven heavenly spheres according to Muslim ideas. The worldview that the universe is like a multi-stage structure. The universe is divided by Muslim theologians into three main parts - heaven, earth and the underworld. All seven heavens have their own purpose, their own color and properties, and are inhabited by angels of the corresponding categories: the 1st heaven in Muslim mythology is considered the source of thunder and rain, the 2nd consists of molten silver, the third - of reddish ruby, the 4th - of pearls , the 5th is made of red gold, the 6th is made of gaping rubies. In the end, the 7th heaven is inhabited by the more glorious and powerful of the angels - the cherubim, who weep and groan before God day and night, begging him to have mercy on lost sinners.

Ancient Slavs

The Slavs' ideas about the earthly structure were very complex and confusing. Some ancient Slavs believed that you can get to any sky by climbing the World Tree, which connects the Lower World, the Earth and all nine heavens. The World Tree looks like a huge spreading oak tree. However, on this oak tree the seeds of all trees and herbs ripen. This tree was a very important element of ancient Slavic mythology - it connected all three levels of the world, extended its branches to the four cardinal directions and with its “condition” symbolized the mood of people and Gods in various rituals: a green tree meant prosperity and a good share, and a dried one symbolized despondency and used in rituals where evil Gods participated. And where the top of the World Tree rises above the seventh heaven, there is an island. This island was called "irium" or "virium". Some scientists believe that the current word “paradise”, which is so firmly associated in our life with Christianity, comes from it.

The Old Testament Land in the form of a tabernacle.

View of the Earth according to the ideas of Homer and Hesiod.

Geographers of the ancient world tried to compile maps of the spaces known to them - the Ecumene and even the Earth as a whole. These maps were imperfect and far from the truth. More accurate maps appeared only in the last two centuries BC. e.

When people began to travel far, evidence gradually began to accumulate that the Earth was not flat, but convex. So, moving south, travelers noticed that in the southern side of the sky the stars rose above the horizon in proportion to the distance traveled and new stars appeared above the Earth that were not visible before. And in the northern side of the sky, on the contrary, the stars descend down to the horizon and then completely disappear behind it. The bulge of the Earth was also confirmed by observations of receding ships. The ship gradually disappears over the horizon. The hull of the ship has already disappeared and only the masts are visible above the surface of the sea. Then they disappear too. On this basis, people began to assume that the Earth was spherical. There is an opinion that before completion, whose ships sailed in one direction and unexpectedly sailed from the other side in the same direction, that is, until September 6, 1522, no one suspected the sphericity of the Earth.