AFAIK there are earlier textual references from Sumer, with Inana as Venus ( c.3500 BC ?)

The strange thing is that I wanted to check this before posting, and Wikipedia says of the Sumerians "They were among the first formal astronomers, and their view was of a heliocentric solar system composed of 5 planets. (only 5 planets could be seen with the naked eye)" (because I'm redecorating the house I can't get at my copy of Alan Chapmans Gods of the Sky, however IIRC this is correct.) And yet if you click on the "heliocentric" link on the Wikipedia page for Sumer, it says "The idea of heliocentrism, with the Sun being at the centre of the solar system, was first suggested sometime between 1500 BC and 500 BC in the Vedic literature of ancient India, particularly the Vedas, which often referred to the Sun as the "centre of spheres" Which is of course well after the Sumerians were around.

Nonetheless, these are advanced concepts and nothing to do with the first mention of stars. If the question is really about the first textual reference, then it should be described as the earliest surviving text discovered and understood.

In reality though all we are talking about here is the development of writing. Else "the first written record of a star" would involve discussions of things like [www.infis.org] and [www.infis.org] etc




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2006 04:55PM by Simon.