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Two different models of the process of creation existed in ancient Israel. [15] In the "logos" (speech) model, God speaks and shapes unresisting dormant matter into effective existence and order (Psalm 33: "By the word of YHWH the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their hosts; he gathers up the waters like a mound, stores the Deep in vaults"); in the second, or "agon ...
The model established by Aristotle became the dominant model in the Classical and Medieval world-view, and even when Copernicus placed the Sun at the center of the system he included an outer sphere that held the stars (and by having the earth rotate daily on its axis it allowed the firmament to be completely stationary).
The outward acceleration caused by Earth's rotation is greater at the equator than at the poles (where is it zero), so the sphere gets deformed into an ellipsoid, which represents the shape having the lowest potential energy for a rotating, fluid body. This ellipsoid is slightly fatter around the equator than a perfect sphere would be.
The shadow of Earth on the Moon during a lunar eclipse is always a dark circle that moves from one side of the Moon to the other (partially grazing it during a partial eclipse). The only shape that casts a round shadow no matter which direction it is pointed is a sphere, and the ancient Greeks deduced that this must mean Earth is spherical. [8]
The Hebrew Bible depicts a three-part world, with the heavens above, Earth (eres) in the middle, and the underworld (sheol) below. [37] The Old Testament teaches the view that was current at the time and place of its writing: that the earth is a disk, with stars on a firmament above it, and beyond the stars is the cosmic sea. [38]
Although mainstream Chinese science until the 17th century held the view that Earth was flat, square, and enveloped by the celestial sphere, this idea was criticized by the Jin-dynasty scholar Yu Xi (fl. 307–345), who suggested that Earth could be either square or round, in accordance with the shape of the heavens. [98]
The world (heavens) is spherical, as is the Earth, and the land and water make a single globe. The celestial bodies, including the Earth, have regular circular and everlasting movements. The Earth rotates on its axis and around the Sun. [5] Answers to why the ancients thought the Earth was central. The order of the planets around the Sun and ...
The concept of a seven-tiered was likely In the Sumerian language, the words for heavens (or sky) and Earth are An and Ki. [5] The ancient Mesopotamians regarded the sky as a series of domes, usually three, but sometimes seven, covering the flat Earth. [6]: 180 Each dome was made of a different kind of precious stone.