The possibility of an armillary sphere and the cosmology of Anaximander

Kuzmin Andrei Valentinovich PhD in Physics and Mathematics Scientific Associate, Sergey Vavilov Institute for the History of Natural Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences 103012, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Staropanskii Pereulok, 1/5, of. - akuzmin.acrux@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Anaximander Model

Based on the information from doxographic sources, we can state with sufficient confidence that Anaximander of Miletus (c. 611 – 546 BC) is the author of one of the first cosmological models, ideas about the origin of the Cosmos and its future fate. It is very likely that he was the first to set out a system of views on the structure of the entire surrounding space in a specially created text.

Hippolytus of Rome in the book “Refutations of All Heresies” reports that “Anaximander becomes the listener [disciple] of Thales. Anaximander, son of Praxis, Milesian. This one said that the beginning of things is a certain nature of the infinite (J to? ape?rou), from which the firmaments and the cosmos in them are born. He calls [the nature of the infinite] “eternal and ageless” and [says] that it “embraces all the cosmoses.” Time, according to him, * * * in the sense that the birth, existence and death of [the firmament worlds] are predetermined” ^{[10, p. 118]}. The phrase: “The firmaments and the cosmos in them”, in our opinion, should be understood as: “worlds where human civilizations are born.”

So it turns out that in Homeric times, some ontological principles of the existence of heaven were similar to those existing today. For example, the theory of a “chaotically emerging Universe”, which predicts the existence of a huge set (according to accepted limiting estimates – about 100,000) of worlds “similar and unsuitable to ours, which are born, reach certain sizes, then die again and this process will not have an end, and possibly had no beginning” ^{[12, p. 94-95]}.

And, further: “He claimed that the beginning and the element of beings are infinite, having first introduced this name of the beginning, and that, in addition, there is an eternal movement in which the birth of the firmaments takes place. The earth is a floating body, nothing holds it, but it remains in place due to the equal distance from all [points of the periphery of the cosmos]. Its shape is rounded, {rounded}, similar to the drum of a stone column: from [two] flat surfaces, we walk on one, and the other is opposite to it. The luminaries arise in the form of a circle of fire, separated from the fire [scattered] in space, and covered by the air [fog], the vents [in the shell] are some tube-shaped passages through which the luminaries are visible, therefore, when the vents are closed, eclipses occur. The moon is seen either full or defective due to the closure or opening of passages. The circle of the Sun is twenty–seven times the diameter of the Earth, and the circle of the Moon is eighteen times; the Sun is above everything, the circles of fixed stars are below everything” ^{[10, pp. 118-119]}.

The space of Anaximander is extremely (rather) vast (conditionally – “infinite", “immeasurable") and exists “always”. There are many cosmoses (firmaments, orders), and they are predestined to be born and die inside this eternal (non–aging) infinite space. The world of a cylindrical Earth with a certain “top” (where people are) and “bottom” (the opposite surface) is one of the products of this infinity. The body of the cylindrical Earth is surrounded by spheres, the highest of which is the sphere of the Sun, shielding the Earth from the infinite space filled with cosmic fire. The sun is the “vent” (or “porthole”) in this sphere-shell.

Thus, it is created:

1) an abstract model explaining the root cause of the light of the luminaries (Sun and Moon) and the phenomena in their nature (causes of solar and lunar eclipses and changes in lunar phases);

2) an abstract model describing the position of the Earth in space is created;

3) an abstract model of “circles of fixed stars” is being created as the “lowest”, that is, the stars in the Anaximander model are below the Moon (belong to the sublunar world, the reason for their light is not disclosed). We see the same in Zoroastrian mythology ^[7].

I.D. Rozhansky also draws attention to the presence of such a connection: “The sequence of the arrangement of the heavenly bodies of Anaximander, which has no analogues in Greece – first the fixed stars, then the Moon and the Sun furthest away – is a distinctive feature of ancient Iranian (but not Babylonian!) cosmological concepts” ^{[14, p. 52]}.

And further: “The image of rotating fiery hoops or rings, into which the fiery sphere that originally surrounded the universe disintegrates, is also a unique feature of Anaximander cosmology – unexpectedly finds its counterpart in the biblical vision of Ezekiel (Ezek., 1, 5 – 24, 3, 13, 10, 8 – 22). It is possible that both Anaximander and Ezekiel had some common source, which we do not know about now” ^{[14, p. 52]}.

From our point of view, this source is rather technographic, because the description, in part, coincides with the alleged (reconstructed) device of the metal-smelting workshop (if we proceed from purely earthly realities). The fact that in this device (furnace), ancient philosophers saw an analogue of the device of the Sky-Cosmos, say the determinants, in the form of four animals-persons representing nothing more than the symbols of the main zodiac four constellations of the Bronze Age, symbolizing the Cosmos ^[8]. That is, these symbols can literally replace the phrase: the device of the Cosmos is like the device of a metal melting furnace (workshop), or rather the opposite: the device of a metal-melting furnace is similar to the device of the Cosmos. Moreover, it is from this material (initially copper or bronze, and later iron) that it is possible to make an armillary sphere (all kinds of hoops for chariot wheels, mass–produced, could initially play the role of already embodied parts of the “analogy” that arose – the prototype of the armillary sphere, and fasteners of horse harness, possibly modified, could be transformed into parts and assemblies to connect these hoops).

Explanation. The basis of the modern armillary sphere is a construction of graduated hoops (usually metal), of various conformable shapes and diameters, interconnected, as if placed on the surface of an imaginary sphere, modeling mainly the celestial equator, the ecliptic, the tropics, the zero celestial meridian, the horizon. The whole structure is placed on a stand or suspension, oriented to the sides of the horizon and adjusted according to a given geographical latitude.

The structure, with the exception of the horizon, is centered relative to the axis of the world. The angle between the horizon plane and the axis of the world is set according to the position at a certain latitude of the Earth's surface ^{[2, pp. 25-27]}.

The modern name of such a model is the armillary sphere, or, as it was called earlier in the XVIII century, simply – armilla, comes from the Latin noun armilla – hoop, ring, bracelet. In ancient Greek literature, a different term was used for the device that we call the armillary sphere: Claudius Ptolemy, describing the armillary sphere in detail in the section “About the astrolabe device” Books V of the Almagest, calls it o, – “an instrument for taking stars" ^{[13, p. 527]}.

The art of creating armillary spheres reaches its peak in the second half of the XVI century, in the workshop of Tycho Brahe, where all kinds of specialized armills were created both for direct observations and for the transformation of various coordinate systems. The positions of the stars fixed in equatorial coordinates, using the same armilla, could easily be transformed into ecliptic coordinates, which was necessary for a more rational determination of precessional corrections. Thus, the armillary sphere was not only a device for direct observation of the positions of celestial objects, but also an analog computer ^[3].

In modern historiography, it is considered that the armillary sphere was known to Hipparchus (II century BC), and perhaps its inventor was Eratosthenes (III century – the beginning of the II century BC).

The possibility of the appearance of elements of the proto–armillary sphere among the peoples of the Eastern Mediterranean - Central Asia region later than the turn of the Copper Age

The ontological possibility of the existence of an armillary sphere, as a device known to us, was determined by three main reasons:

1. The totality of the features of the existence of the Cosmos, determined by the features of the movement of the Earth in space.

2. The possibility of abstract thinking and the will to create a model of observed celestial movements (movements of celestial bodies) reflecting the features of being determined mainly by the movement of the Earth in space.

3. The availability of the material and technical possibility of constructing (embodying) an armillary sphere or its fragments (parts, nodes) that have independent value.

Let's consider each of the prerequisites.

(I). The first reason (the first premise) is determined by nature.

(II). The answer to the question about the time and circumstances of the emergence of the second prerequisite that determines the appearance of the armillary sphere, that is, the definition of the period when the possibility of abstract thinking allowed us to create such, in our opinion, a defining astrometric device – a system of celestial coordinates, let's start with a few preliminary remarks.

The armillary sphere, as well as instructions for its use, are described exhaustively in the work of Claudius Ptolemy ^{[13, pp. 135-136]}.

Based on the fact that Ptolemy in his work relied on the star catalog compiled by Hipparchus, it is generally assumed that the armillary sphere was also known to Hipparchus at least in the II century BC.

In addition, it is generally believed, although there is no direct evidence for this, that its inventor was Eratosthenes. The latter statement is based on the fact that Eratosthenes (the greatest encyclopedic scientist of his time) was also the author of a star catalog, which requires knowledge of celestial coordinates and an instrument that makes it possible to measure them. No earlier star catalogues are known.

In addition, there are numerous indirect observations, from which it follows that the armillary sphere, very likely, or at least some kind of its prototype, was known to Thales of Miletus, and possibly was invented by him.

One of such testimonies is given by Leonty the Mechanic in the book: “On the manufacture of the Aratov Globe". Leontius the Mechanic, retelling the story of Archimedes' globe known to him, in particular, reports that such a “sphere”, in the form of a “solid ball”, was invented for the first time by Thales of Miletus, who made its first “model” ^{[11, p. 174]} and that only “then Eudoxus of Cnidus, a disciple of Plato, depicted on the surface of the “sphere” various constellations approved in the firmament" ^{[11, p. 174]}. From this fragment it can follow that on the Thales sphere, there was only a coordinate system, without constellations, which, in this case, would be a rather complex invariant of the armillary sphere.

In addition, there is direct evidence of Servius, in the "Commentaries to the Aeneid", where the author explicitly states that the knowledge of the main circles of the armillary sphere goes back to Thales: "Thales, Pythagoras and his followers believe that the celestial sphere is divided into five circles, which they call belts: one of them is called the Arctic and always visible, another is the summer tropic, the third is the [celestial] equator, the fourth is the winter tropic, the fifth is the Antarctic and invisible. The so-called zodiac is obliquely superimposed on the three middle circles, touching all three. All of them are crossed at right angles – from north to south – by the meridian” ^{[10, p. 100]}.

Now let's answer the question: how did the appearance of the armillary sphere become possible?

1) The armillary sphere has become possible as a model of the world (Cosmos).

2) The armillary sphere became possible as a device for instrumental determination of the coordinates of celestial objects.

3) The armillary sphere became possible as a device for mathematical operations with the coordinates of celestial objects, including for predicting the movements (movements) of these objects.

4) The armillary sphere (as an oral-protomathematic phenomenon) became possible as an integral part of the “constellation map”, already in its earliest, oral, poetic form.

The first three sentences of the answer are self-evident. The latter needs not only an explanation, but also a justification already outlined by our predecessors, about which we wrote in detail ^[18].

Of course, in this case, we can rather talk about the proto-armillary sphere, which could exist without having a material embodiment, as a figurative and poetic development of methods for interpreting the space of horizontal astronomy ^[21]. To substantiate this position, it is necessary to refer to Aratus' poem “Phenomena”, as well as to the well-known research results of this unique literary work of the Hellenistic era ^[21].

The text of the “Phenomena” containing a detailed description of the starry sky, constellations and their positions relative to the “circles of the proto-armillary sphere” is so detailed that it allows us to make several independent definitions of the epoch of the sky described in it. All the implemented methods statistically confirmed the same result: in the educational text of Arata (“Phenomena” represent precisely the educational, didactic text, which made it so replicated), written around 275 BC, the mutual position of the stars and the celestial coordinate system (or, what is the same, the positions of the stars in the the “system” of the armillary sphere) corresponding to the turn of the third and second millennia BC (with a certain margin of error). That is, the prototype of the text of the poem, written, by the way, not by an astronomer at the beginning of the third century BC, on the basis of the later lost descriptions of the sky of Eudoxus, was a source formed no less than fifteen hundred years before ^{[19, 20, 21]}.

How are “heavenly circles” possible in the found chronological period?

“Celestial circles” became possible as a consequence of observations of horizontal astronomy ^{[9, 8]}. The era of the appearance of the original source, which became the basis of Arat's work, is known in archaeology as the period of the spread of archaeoastronomical monuments like the English Stonehenge, widely known thanks to many publications, or the domestic Savin. In archaeology, there are a large number of such observatories that record the sunrise and sunset points on the horizon during the equinoxes and solstices.

These points on the horizon are directly connected with the celestial equator and the tropics: observing the sunrises and sunsets of any objects at these points (primarily stars), you can literally “draw”, “draw” the corresponding “celestial circles”, called today the celestial equator, the tropic of Cancer, and the tropic of Capricorn. Thus, self-sufficient analog elements of the proto-armillary sphere arise, subsequently fixed by Arat.

For example, we will limit ourselves to describing the tropic of Cancer (the first [northern – A.K.] of the smaller ones), compiled by Arat:

“The first of the smaller ones lies not far from the sources of Boreas.

Both heads of the Twins are rushing around this circle;

The Charioteer presses both knees tightly to him;

The left shin on it and the shoulder of Perseus was established;

Next to him is this circle of Andromeda the right hand above the elbow

Crosses, with the palm remaining above the circle,

Closer to Boreas, and her elbow leans towards the Note.

Also the hooves of a Horse, the back of a Bird's head, the top

The bird's head, finally, the Serpent's beautiful shoulders

Together , in this circle , they continuously perform conversion,

Without touching it, it is attracted a little to the south

Virgo, but it is impossible for Leo and Cancer to avoid it:

Both are permeated with it in a row – one dissects

He is from the chest all the way to the very shame,

And after that, he runs through the Cancer, splitting his shell,

And Cancer is cut in half with such perfection,

That his eyes remain on different sides of the circle.

If it is divided into eight parts, then in the light

There are five days above the Earth, and three days in the Ocean.

In summer, touching it, the Sun turns back.

In the kingdom of Boreas, this circle is approved and passes through Cancer” ^[1].

It reflects both the position of the tropic relative to the constellations (that is, the stars), and the conditions of its visibility (the lobes above and below the horizon) and its purpose to be a summer “limiter” (summer border) of the solar path towards the north.

The details contained in the text correspond to a certain epoch and latitude of the place of observation, which opens up the possibility of determining the time and place of origin of its original source ^{[21; 19; 20; 18]}.

(III). To analyze the possibility of, in fact, the material embodiment of the armillary sphere (the third prerequisite) at the turn of the early philosophical stage, let's move on to the next section.

The possibility of material embodiment of the armillary sphere and the cosmology of Anaximander

Let's return to the hypothesis outlined above about the possibility of borrowing mechanical elements of the armillary sphere design from the design of horse harness, chariot and consider some elements of the processes of production and use of copper, bronze, and later iron, directly related to the emergence of these artifacts.  As will be shown below, this hypothesis is connected with the discovered analogy in the description of the Anaximander model of the world and in the descriptions of the reconstructed ancient technological processes for the production of copper, bronze, iron.

As a hypothesis, we can consider an analogy between the description of the cosmological model of Anaximander and the early methods of production of metals – copper, bronze, iron. We understand the problematic nature of such an approach, the result of which cannot be a rigorous proof.

Nevertheless, similar signs (moreover, similar mythological principles) are implemented as in the model (mythology) In the model (mythology) associated with the smelting and processing of metals: copper, bronze, silver, gold, iron – blacksmithing and blacksmithing and jewelry craft - the technological leader of the time of the emergence of cosmological models of the Milesian school, one of the most famous representatives of which was Anaximander.

From the interpretation of archaeological reconstructions, it is known that the ritual of “creating new things with fire” is associated with the production of metals. Fire was associated with the Sun, and the horse was one of the main solar symbols. In addition, the “riding horse” appears much later than the “chariot". The appearance of the “riding horse” is associated with the Scythian time, while the appearance of the “chariot" is almost synchronous with the era of domestication of the horse.

In turn, the discovery of the copper production process (which, in particular, occurs in nature in a native state) is chronologically connected with the “discovery” of the chariot (the turn of the IV – III millennium BC). The discovery of the (more complex) iron production process – with the appearance of a “riding horse”. It was at this time – the VI-V centuries BC – that the earliest cosmological models of the Milesian school belong. Let's pay attention to such a non-trivial detail as “opening nozzles”, which are present both in the reconstruction of the Anaximander model and in the reconstruction of the furnace designed for melting iron.

Moreover, this was a time of very lively trade between the Greeks and the Scythians, the main items of which were iron (on the part of the Scythians), and grape wines (on the part of the Greeks). Many iron products obtained as a result of trade transactions by the Greeks – items having, among other things, ritual significance, were supplied (more precisely, completed) by Greek craftsmen with ritual (decorative) gold additions, the plots of which were created on the basis of Greek mythological plots. The Greeks produced copper, copper and gold alloys independently at that time. An iron shield (of course, not one of the mass products), for example, with an inlaid image of the Sun, endowed its owner (most likely the leader) with “cosmic power on earth.” The reconstruction (1716) by S. Gribelen: “The Shield of Achilles forged by the god Hephaestus”, despite its certain controversy, can serve as a good symbolic example here.

According to Gribelen's reconstruction, in the center of the ancient shield, along the perimeter of which battle scenes are depicted, the following are symbolically represented: the sky (clouds), the Earth, the Moon, stars, the figure of the constellation Major (or Minor) The bears, the figure of the constellation Perseus. The whole composition is framed by a circle of constellations  Zodiac ^{[15, p. 118]}.

So, in the furnace with the help of fire, the theory of creation was being objectified(implemented by a blacksmith) in real forms and objects. It is obvious: the creation with the help of fire by the “master”-“blacksmith” (which is associated with the “demiurge”) of the form – metal from the earth (ore). Note especially: extracting this form is not “out of nothing”, but, namely, “out of nothingness”. Subsequently, a similar idea will be present in Plato, in whose cosmology, the Demiurge generates the Cosmos from non-existence.

Such a theory of creation (forms from the earth with the help of fire) could be borrowed and implemented from the technical field, into the cosmological theory of creation. It is this that can explain the presence in the Anaximander cosmological model of clearly technical elements, which we have mentioned above.

In addition, the material and technical possibility of constructing (embodying) an armillary sphere or its fragments (parts, nodes) with independent value, indicated by us above, opens here.

Repeating this dilemma outlined above, we, first of all, assert that synchronously with the emergence of the cosmological ideas described above, as a result of the discovery of the possibility of economic use of horses and metal products, all kinds of hoops were at the disposal of people, the mass production of which was organized in connection with the mass production of chariots, the peak of which is by the middle of the second millennium BC, the same applies to other fasteners of chariots and, subsequently, also fasteners of harness of riding horses. With the help of these fasteners, these hoops could be connected accordingly.

Let's clarify once again: the ideal horse is a mythological symbol of the Cosmos, the ideal the chariot (the ideal of the chariot) is the quadriga of Apollo (the solar god who has four special positions in the sky). At the same time, the metal parts of the chariot and harness are complementary to the parts that make up the armilli, that is, technically, they can also represent the parts necessary to create the main model of the sky – the armillary sphere, the appearance of which has become possible in the analog version. (Armilla becomes a complete precise mathematical device much later).

Taking into account the fact that the original, the earliest known blacksmiths-mediplavilschiki were carriers of the Avestan religious tradition, then, naturally, in the early cosmological models, along with the elements and symbols of the mediplavilny process, elements of the mythological world description of the Zoroastrians also come.

It seems very likely that just as “modern humanity” is trying to “see” in the accelerator of elementary particles the elements of the process of the birth of the Universe (according to the modern cosmological model), similarly, “bronze Age humanity” sought to “see” the elements of the process of creation of the Cosmos in a metal melting furnace. The “superconditions” created by a modern accelerator, in our modern view, can, at least in part, simulate the conditions of the birth of the Universe. For a man of the Bronze Age, such a simulator was a furnace that turned ore into metal. Metal, necessary, first of all, for the creation of vehicles and cold weapons. The conditions of such transformation – the presence of fire, air, water and the actual shape – the shape of the transforming (Earth), could be transferred to the model of creation of the entire Cosmos. (It is interesting to note that in the XX century, the creation of a computer gave rise to the idea of the Universe as a “program”, and of its creator as a “programmer").

From the symbols extracted from the process of melting metals (fire, air, water, earth, boiling, transformation, creation), the first, no longer mythological, but analytical cosmological model could be built, proceeding from earthly realities, striving to find an explanation (or at least to give a description) of the observed physical processes and create a generalizing a comprehensive model based on the possibility of global implementation of these processes, explaining the origin of the whole world – Earth and Space.

Such a hypothesis, in my opinion, can explain the presence in the reconstruction of the Anaximander model of such strange attributes as “fire hoops”, “holes”, “dampers” ^{[16, p. 167]}.

Space Structure

The idea of the existence of the Earth, freely and motionlessly “hanging” in the center of the world, which was mentioned above (see the section “Anaximander Model”), is also present in the Bible: “He spread the north over the void, hung the earth on nothing” (Job, 26, 7) ^{[14, p. 53; 4, p. 525]}.

The main result is formulated in the work of M. Eliade: “Anaximander knows that everything originates in the apeiron (apeiron) – in the infinite and returns to it” ^{[17, pp. 113-114]}, (also see the section "Anaximander model"). In the above edition ^[17], an important comment by N.Y. Daragan is given: “In “The structure of the cosmos correlated with the divine hierarchy is represented by four spheres – the orbit of the stars corresponding to good thoughts, the more distant orbit of the moon corresponding to good words, the sun – good deeds. The highest sphere – the region of infinite light – belongs to Ahura Mazda. The Greek philosopher Anaximander adopted this scheme at the beginning of the VI century BC” ^{[17, p. 283]}. In addition, the sphere of stars is not one, but is divided into several spheres (probably differing in brightness (“stellar magnitudes”), stars located “on them". The covering of stars by the Moon, most likely, was not observed (or misinterpreted without fixing it in any way).

In the position of the “sphere of fixed stars” “below” all other spheres (including the sphere of the Moon), we see the greatest contradiction, since the phenomenon of the covering of stars by the Moon, obviously, would have to refute the existence of such a sequence. It turns out that the mythological argument of the proximity of the “world fire" was more weighty in the pre-philosophical (mythological) worldview that existed at that time.

In addition, there is also a point of view according to which: “Such a strange arrangement – the stars are below the Moon and the Sun – is probably dictated by theoretical considerations: the hottest (Sun) should be above everything, and the coldest (stars) should be below everything, because fire always tends upwards” ^{[5, p. 118]}.

The mismatch of various elements in Anaximander's model of the world shows that it is, as it were, assembled from various parts of different models, the co-existence of which is contradictory.

In the abstract model created by Anaximander, the “circle of the sun” (the distance from the Earth to the Sun) is equal to twenty-seven diameters of the Earth. The sun, thus, defines a kind of “horizon of visibility” or “the final contour of the local world order – the cosmos in infinite space.”

So, in the picture of the Cosmos unfolded by Anaximander, we see a cylindrical Earth in a free state in space, which is surrounded (shielded) by a sphere along the extreme contour, behind which the universal fire is (“raging”). The sun is a kind of “porthole” into this world of cosmic fire. This sphere is located at a distance of 27 times the diameter of the earth's cylinder.

At a distance exceeding the diameter of the earth's cylinder by 18 times, there is a sphere of the Moon. Below is one (radius 9 diameters of the earth's cylinder), or several spheres of fixed stars. Eclipses of the Sun, the Moon and the change of lunar phases are explained by the presence of special mechanisms for closing “portholes-windows". The stars, therefore, belong to the sublunary world. The thickness of the spheres: stars, Moon and Sun, is equal to the size of the diameter of the earth's cylinder ^{[6, pp. 99-95]}.

Such a reconstruction of the Anaximander model leads to the assumption that there is some fundamentally important step in the future, when Greek analytical philosophy begins to define the sphere of stars not as the lowest, but as the highest, overcoming, most likely borrowed from Zoroastrian (Avestan) mythology, the postulate about the sphere of stars as the lowest, located below the sphere of the Moon (related to the sublunary world). The continental Greeks no longer used analogies as actively as Anaximander could do (for example, in the case of the metal-melting furnace discussed above), but built abstract models based on general principles of reason, not observation, that is, not from what is given by feeling. The consequence of this was the resolution of the contradictions mentioned above, in particular, the “movement” of the sphere of stars into the “outer contour” Space.

In addition, if Anaximander's cosmological model seems to be sufficiently developed, then his ideas about the geocentric Cosmos itself are very contradictory in many ways. The most important achievements of Anaximander are the ideas:

1. The sun-window a, as an observable part of the world fire;

2. The idea that the solar sphere itself, in this case, represents the boundary of our geocentric Cosmos;

3. The idea of the existence of the Earth as an apparently unrelated body freely residing in space.

If we continue to analyze the reconstruction of this model based on the knowledge of our days, then a certain logic can be seen in the lowest position of the sphere of stars, since if we assume the Earth to be stationary, then the speed of movement of the stellar sphere will be the fastest compared to the Sun and Moon, which will be constantly lagging in comparison with it ^{[16, p. 166]}. In this case, the “lag” Moon, will seriously exceed the “lag” The sun. The guess that during eclipses the Moon covers the Sun, and, consequently, the Sun is further away, while it is obviously brighter, and therefore closer to the world fire, could also take place. But these are rather assumptions based on later experience, and here, most likely, there is a direct borrowing of the idea of ancient Iranian mythology, according to which the sky of the stars is the lowest.

This position of the sphere of stars could also be justified not by the speed of movement, but by the amount of light emitted, according to the distance from the world fire – from brighter to less bright.

Also, the “lag” The moons can be directly observed in the sky and, in this case, the discovery (fixation, description) of the phenomenon of the covering of stars by the Moon (and not vice versa) should inevitably follow, and this, apparently, did not happen. The authority of the mythological heritage could not yet be overcome by observations.

The argument that it is impossible to observe the movement of the Sun among the stars seems to be unfounded, because according to Eusebius: “He [Anaximander – A.K.] was the first to build gnomons for recognizing solstices, time, seasons, and equinoxes” ^{[10, p. 116]}.  Information about the possession of such knowledge suggests that the movement of the Sun among the stars was adequately modeled and the speed of this movement was also well known as the speed of the Moon.

It is also confirmed by the message of Pliny: “It is reported that the inclination of the zodiac was first comprehended by Anaximander of Miletus in the fifty-eighth Olympiad [548-545 BC], thereby opening the doors [to knowledge] of things” ^{[10, p. 116]}.

All existing reconstructions of the Anaximander world system leave many questions. Based on fragmentary descriptions, it is impossible to fully substantiate the possibility of Anaximander's knowledge of the movement of the Sun among the stars, the “device” the “source” of sunlight, the nature of “wandering” stars. Meanwhile, there is a fairly complete cosmological picture explaining the origin of the world as a whole, partly anticipating the cosmological ideas of our days. Cosmology, as a scientific discipline, was ahead of astronomy in its early stages, at least in the interpretation of the movements of celestial bodies, although their analog models were also possible.

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