As a celebration of the mighty '40'!
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An interesting fact about '40' is it's prevalence in ancient times was due to astronomic observations. Hesiod, in Works And Days (about 700 BC), said:
Quote:
When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising, begin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set. Forty nights and days they are hidden and appear again as the year moves round, when first you sharpen your sickle.
Those '40' days of invisibility are why the number became the one for the god of the ocean/earth (and 'ocean' was associated with the imaginary 'ocean' upon which our ancestors thought the world floated):
Wikipedia's '40' page says:
Enki ( /ˈɛŋki/) or Enkil (Sumerian: dEN.KI(G)𒂗𒆠) is a god in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian mythology. He was originally patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and to the Canaanites, Hittites and Hurrians. He was the deity of crafts (gašam); mischief; water, seawater, lake water (a, aba, ab), intelligence (gestú, literally "ear") and creation (Nudimmud: nu, likeness, dim mud, make bear). He was associated with the southern band of constellations called stars of Ea, but also with the constellation AŠ-IKU, the Field (Square of Pegasus). Beginning around the second millennium BCE, he was sometimes referred to in writing by the numeric ideogram for "40," occasionally referred to as his "sacred number."
Because of that, '40' was associated with death/rebirth cycles, and used throughout the Bible (and probably myths from other cultures as well) for such symbology. Happy '40' everyone!
The Science of King David's Court | Object Oriented Programming with C++
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An interesting fact about '40' is it's prevalence in ancient times was due to astronomic observations. Hesiod, in Works And Days (about 700 BC), said:
Quote:
When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising, begin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set. Forty nights and days they are hidden and appear again as the year moves round, when first you sharpen your sickle.
Those '40' days of invisibility are why the number became the one for the god of the ocean/earth (and 'ocean' was associated with the imaginary 'ocean' upon which our ancestors thought the world floated):
Wikipedia's '40' page says:
Enki ( /ˈɛŋki/) or Enkil (Sumerian: dEN.KI(G)𒂗𒆠) is a god in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian mythology. He was originally patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and to the Canaanites, Hittites and Hurrians. He was the deity of crafts (gašam); mischief; water, seawater, lake water (a, aba, ab), intelligence (gestú, literally "ear") and creation (Nudimmud: nu, likeness, dim mud, make bear). He was associated with the southern band of constellations called stars of Ea, but also with the constellation AŠ-IKU, the Field (Square of Pegasus). Beginning around the second millennium BCE, he was sometimes referred to in writing by the numeric ideogram for "40," occasionally referred to as his "sacred number."
Because of that, '40' was associated with death/rebirth cycles, and used throughout the Bible (and probably myths from other cultures as well) for such symbology. Happy '40' everyone!
The Science of King David's Court | Object Oriented Programming with C++
40 points awarded for using Enki in an example. When you hit 50, be sure to reference his brother Enlil.
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40 points awarded for using Enki in an example. When you hit 50, be sure to reference his brother Enlil.
Unfortunately, I have not yet found the astronomy behind that number. Maybe I will have by then. I do know the astronomy behind '60' for Anu, so the chances of it being an astronomic cycle are exceedingly high. Hesiod said Cerberus had '50' heads, and Cerberus seems to be associated with the constellation of Hercules, so maybe it is connected to that group of stars somehow.
The Science of King David's Court | Object Oriented Programming with C++
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Unfortunately, I have not yet found the astronomy behind that number. Maybe I will have by then. I do know the astronomy behind '60' for Anu, so the chances of it being an astronomic cycle are exceedingly high. Hesiod said Cerberus had '50' heads, and Cerberus seems to be associated with the constellation of Hercules, so maybe it is connected to that group of stars somehow.
The Science of King David's Court | Object Oriented Programming with C++
the ancient Sumerian text associate's Enlil's number as 50, astronomy or not. Enlil - Wikipedia[^]
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the ancient Sumerian text associate's Enlil's number as 50, astronomy or not. Enlil - Wikipedia[^]
I know. As Anu and Ea's numerical values were derived from astronomy, Enlil's probably also derives from astronomy.
The Science of King David's Court | Object Oriented Programming with C++
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An interesting fact about '40' is it's prevalence in ancient times was due to astronomic observations. Hesiod, in Works And Days (about 700 BC), said:
Quote:
When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising, begin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set. Forty nights and days they are hidden and appear again as the year moves round, when first you sharpen your sickle.
Those '40' days of invisibility are why the number became the one for the god of the ocean/earth (and 'ocean' was associated with the imaginary 'ocean' upon which our ancestors thought the world floated):
Wikipedia's '40' page says:
Enki ( /ˈɛŋki/) or Enkil (Sumerian: dEN.KI(G)𒂗𒆠) is a god in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Akkadian and Babylonian mythology. He was originally patron god of the city of Eridu, but later the influence of his cult spread throughout Mesopotamia and to the Canaanites, Hittites and Hurrians. He was the deity of crafts (gašam); mischief; water, seawater, lake water (a, aba, ab), intelligence (gestú, literally "ear") and creation (Nudimmud: nu, likeness, dim mud, make bear). He was associated with the southern band of constellations called stars of Ea, but also with the constellation AŠ-IKU, the Field (Square of Pegasus). Beginning around the second millennium BCE, he was sometimes referred to in writing by the numeric ideogram for "40," occasionally referred to as his "sacred number."
Because of that, '40' was associated with death/rebirth cycles, and used throughout the Bible (and probably myths from other cultures as well) for such symbology. Happy '40' everyone!
The Science of King David's Court | Object Oriented Programming with C++
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:-O Okay, I'll own up. My immediate response to the title was a mental image of the Ford GT40... I need to get out more! Covid, covid Go AWAY! Don't come back no other day...
