Celestial pole and stellar navigation
Uso del polo celeste y las estrellas para la orientación
- Date
- c. 2500 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Giza, Egypt
- Credited to
- Architects of the Old Kingdom of Egypt; Phoenician navigators
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
The pyramids of Giza were aligned with the cardinal points using circumpolar stars (Thuban was then the pole star). The Phoenicians would later use the Little Bear to navigate at night.
The exact Egyptian method (simultaneous transit of two stars) is a hypothesis by Kate Spence (2000).
What it led to
- Astronomical navigation
- North-oriented cartography
- Later discovery of precession
Built on
Made possible
- Precession of the equinoxesc. 130 BCE
- Kamal (star altitude board)c. 1000 (uso posterior atestiguado)
- Night-time open-sea navigation
- Meridian line