Exactly where geometry came from we are not sure, but the source has moved a
little East of where people used to think it came from. From Classical Greece,
where it received its most philosophic and poetic applications (and from where
Western cultures inherited it), geometry's origins moved first to Egypt and
Mesopotamia, and then to the Armenian
plateau, where the earliest known cities are located. For without geometry,
you cannot build anything, and its knowledge was key to survival, and believed
to be a key to unlocking the secrets of the universe.
Almost literally, geometry meant contact with the gods. It was considered a
way of imitating the structure where the sun (probably the first god) and the
moon (probably the second god) governed the natural order-- early man believed
if he could "map" the universe, he would be able to predict the
whims of gods, who sent punishing droughts, floods and pestilence on the land
around him.
Geometry was also a fundamental tool for making things by hand. Without it,
you simply can't. You may not be aware of it, but when you shape any object,
you are following the laws of geometry, which is based on an even older
skill--that of measures, or counting. In the ancient world, this knowledge was
considered magic, and as magic, it was kept in the realm of religion, in the
realm of priests, a carefully guarded secret which was passed on only to the
elect. As the image of the structure of the universe, geometry was a symbolic
system for understanding how it worked, including astronomy.
Ancestral Armenians and "StoneHenge"
Ancestral Armenians had a refined knowledge of astronomy and were able to
predict astral events to an accurate degree. The oldest known observatories in
the world are in Armenia. One is called Karahundj. "Kara" means
"of stone" or "stones", and "henge" has no
specific meaning in English, it either is a forerunner of "hung" or
is borrowed from an old Indo-European root. Like Stonehenge, 'Karahundj' is
easily defined in the first part, but the second is up to theory. 'Hundj' may
be an early version of 'pundj', meaning 'bouquet', or it might be related to 'hunchuin',
which means 'voice'.
Other henges--there are many throughout Europe -- have the ending "-nish"
or "-nich", which in Armenian means "sign". Consistent
among all of them is the first sound "Kar" or "Kal", which
means stone.
Possibly erected as early as 4200 BCE, Karahundj and the ca. 2800 BCE
observatory at Metsamor allowed Ancestral Armenians to develop geometry to
such a level they could measure distances, latitudes and longitudes, envision
the world as round, and were predicting solar and lunar eclipses about 1000
years before the Egyptians began doing the same. The fortress cities and
temples that have been excavated in Armenia (some going back as far as 7000
years) show a remarkable awareness of using sacred numbers and geometry in
constructing sacred buildings, using a complex system of squares, rectangles,
circles, polygons with intersecting patterns.
Sacred Numbers
Sacred numbers are numbers that have special symbolic meanings. Their
importance is rooted in mystical belief--if you used these numbers in
measuring, or follow them on certain dates and in combinations, you were
appeasing the gods, and affirming yourself as a member of their metaphysical
family.
This list is by no means complete, but it will give you an idea of what to
look for when you see the monuments in Armenia. By counting out the steps,
sizes, and shapes with these numbers in mind, you will be unlocking the
secrets of Sacred Architecture in Armenia, from its earliest time through the
Middle Ages. Sacred numbers should not be thought of as mere proportional
ratios in creating beautiful buildings. They were rooted in a profound belief
in the will of a god to bring order into the universe. They were not thought
of as human invention, but part of the laws of the universe which humans were
blessed in using.
| 1 | This number represents unity. Since it is part of all numbers it represents the ideal symbol of deity. It is the origin, the elementary. | ||
| 2 | Polarity and rupture. It is the coming apart of unity--yin yang, good and evil, man and woman, the realm of opposites. | ||
| 3 | The holiest of all numbers, it is still a part of our unconscious thinking. The triangle, the habitual use of threes in listing things, even the classic comic technique of repeating something 3 times, with the 3rd repetition altered slightly to make the punch line. In religion, the highest deities are in threes: Babylon had Anu, Bel and Ena;; India had Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva; Greco-Roman Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, and the Christian Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. | ||
| 4 | The number four was associated with basic divisions of matter and space:; the four cardinal points, the four humors of the body, the four horsemen of the Apocalypse, the four rivers of paradise, the four cardinal virtues, the four winds, the four seasons, the four main prophets and the four evangelists. |
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| 5 | The number five consists of two unequal parts, 2 and 3. The diversity brings evil and misfortune. The five symbolizes the individual (one who defies the natural order and is punished), the five fingers on the hand, the pentagram. | ||
| 6 | God created the world in six days. Six is the sum of 3+3 or 1+2+3. Therefore it is perfect. Christ was crucified on the sixth day of the week, and he died in the sixth hour of the day. | ||
| 7 | From earliest times this number was associated with celestial beings and spiritual forces; seven days in a week, the seven known planets (including the sun and the moon); the 7 evil spirits, the seven levels of a ziggurat (astral tower built by the Babylonians--the most famous being the Tower of Babel); according to St. Augustine, seven symbolized the perfection of God--he created the world and rested on the seventh day; Christian life is ordered by seven: seven capital sins, seven virtues, seven sacraments. | ||
| 8 | The first number after seven, the symbol of life, the new life after baptism (both in pagan and Christian times). In Christian belief, the resurrection of Christ happens on the eighth day. The octagon is the favoured form for the baptismal font. | ||
| 9 | The result of 3x3, nine represents an even greater holiness found in three. | ||
| 10 | According to St. Augustine, this number signifies perfection, because it is the sum of 3+7. It is found in the ten commandments, consisting of 3 laws pertaining to the love of God, and seven to the love of one's neighbour. In Hebraic liturgy it can be found in the ten shores of Egypt, the ten ropes of the tent of the tabernacle, the height of the cherubs in the temple and the ten horns of the apocalyptic beast. Ten is the round and perfect number that forms the basis of the decimal system and is the universal number for the Pythagoreans. | ||
| 12 | This number formed the basis of the Sumerian and Babylonian numerical system. It holds the twelve signs of the zodiac, the twelve months of the year, the twelve hours of the day. It was significant in Jewish religion:; the twelve gates of paradise, the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve bronze calves. In Christianity:; the twelve apostles, the twelve stars around the head the apocalyptic woman, etc. |
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