Uriel's machine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Uriel (disambiguation).

The theory of Uriel's Machine is postulated in a book of the same name by Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas.^[1]

The book supposes that ancient (pre-historic) European (and by extension British) astronomers developed a stellar calendar. The author then suggests that the Book of Enoch records that an archangel by the name of Uriel warned Enoch about the impending flood and gave him instructions for building a form of calendar so that crops could be re-planted. This is then compared with the early roots of religion and archaeoastronomy in Britain and suggests that Uriel was in fact a mortal 'astronomer priest' from Britain who sought to spread his knowledge.

1 Evidence for the theory from the book
2 What is Uriel's Machine?
3 Comments
4 See also
5 References
6 Sources
7 External links

[edit] Evidence for the theory from the book

In masonic mythology there are many references to seven, which could refer to seven cometary fragments, although it is not clear why masons should have any relevance to supposed events in prehistory, apart from the fact the Freemasonry claims a mythical history which began before the Biblical Flood. These seven cometary fragements are described in the book as hitting the earth in prehistory causing tsunamis. Evidence for these impacts is derived from the work of Edith and Alexander Tollmann^[2] (Geologists at the University of Vienna). They found tektites embedded in ancient wood allowing them to theorise an impact circa 7640 BC by Radio-carbon dating, also discovered seven deep-impact points in the ocean-beds lending credence to idea that a main impactor broke up into seven parts. They then compared with the Nitric acid peaks in ice samples which confirmed the dating.^[3]

The book demonstrates that stellar observatories (such as the first wooden Stonehenge) in Britain show sufficient knowledge to be able to predict such cometary impacts. Large extra-planetary objects can be seen by the naked eye (such as Halley's comet), and as such, telescopes were not necessarily needed. Stonehenge appears to be a stellar and perhaps lunar predicting observatory, not a device for detecting one-off events but was capable of doing both functions. If rituals at Stonehenge involved stargazing (plausible but unproved) there is then the opportunity for an anomalous object to be spotted far more quickly.

The authors then quote textual evidence from the book of Enoch. There are also other coincidences made between Enoch and astronomy; for example, it is said he lived 365 years, which could be a reference to a year (365.25 days). It is also said that he knew what sacrifices to make during different times of the year, which is at odds with the Jewish lunar calendar.

It is suggested that chambers found in Britain might have been attempts to build shelters to be sealed against Tsunami that would have been caused by a cometary impact in the sea - there is also the possibility that existing souterains could have been used. It is also supposed that the Enochian flood could have been a tsunami that followed an impact, such as the recent breakup and impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter.

Archaeologists have been extremely sceptical about this theory, but astronomers such as Prof Archie Roy take the suggestions more seriously. At the 2000 Orkney International Science, Prof Roy and Dr Robert Lomas gave a joint talk about technological possibilities in Megalithic society.

Artifacts like the Nebra skydisk show that there was indeed sufficient knowledge to build a solar calendar, if that is what it is. It is an acknowledged fact that the technology needed to detect meteors prior to Earth impact is difficult even for modern humans, but with highly luminous objects, such as comets, the problem is much more tractable.

[edit] What is Uriel's Machine?

It is supposed that Uriel's machine is a solar calendar, or solar declinometer, which would allow a user to learn the current day of the year. This is essential for agriculture where seeds must be planted at the right time of the year. This must be achieved with particular accuracy if growing conditions are unfavourable - such as the land conditions after a tsunami (which could have been caused by comet impact).

[edit] Comments

As this is a theory from a newly emerging discipline there has been a mixed response as to its plausibility.

"A plausible explanation of how prehistoric societies could have developed astronomical observatories such as Stonehenge for practical reasons." ~ Sunday Times

"the insights that it [the theory] opens in a series of varied fields, tying them in logically to each other, is very lucid." ~ Howie Firth, Director of the Orkney Science Festival

"I believe that the astronomical basis of this book is sufficiently flawed as to render any conclusions that the authors draw from it to be highly suspect." ~ Stephen Tonkin^[4]

"At a recent talk delivered to the 2005 Orkney International Science Festival, Dr Lomas gave a practical demonstration of how to create a unit of length, called the Megalithic Yard to an accuracy of two or three millimetres, using a pendulum and stellar observation. There was lively discussion on the derivation of use of the megalithic yard, and the amount of labour required to create the stone circles of Brodgar, Stenness and Bookan, which Dr Lomas calculated using modern quantity surveying techniques. - [Orkney Today]