Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings: Astronomy and the Archaeology of Power (Wiley popular science) (Paperback)

by E. C. Krupp (Author) "I have been to the center of the world dozens of times, and each time it was a different place..." (more)
Key Phrases: observatory drawing, rayed disk, cyclic renewal, Genghis Khan, Great Pyramid, Angkor Wat (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
An astronomer with a Jungian streak, Krupp (Echoes of the Ancient Sky), the director of the Griffith Observatory in L.A., synthesizes the study of the heavens with archeology in an intriguing attempt to understand the cultural power of shamans and kings in ancient civilizations. In the tradition of Frazer, Eliade and Campbell, the author seeks commonality in the use of sky myths by shamans from cultures as diverse as the Mayan, Egyptian, Tibetan, Mongolian, Chinese, Turkic, African and Inuit, as well as those of the indigenous peoples of the American plains, Northwest and Southwest. Carefully analyzing sacred petroglyphs, pictographs and statuary, he traces the evolution of culture from hunting bands to the establishment of complex civilizations. The journey includes study of the natural high places of the earth, which direct human awe heavenward toward the sky gods. Alternately, the chthonic depths of caves and grottoes are examined for insight into the traditions of nurturing mother goddesses and fertility cults. Throughout, reference to ancient awareness of the movement of the planets and constellations, especially in regard to the solstices and equinoxes, is highlighted. With an anecdotal style and with reference to myriad illustrations, Krupp enngagingly explores the historic derivation of political control descending from the skies, to rulers. The harmonics of order implicit in the structure of the cosmos, he forcefully contends, are endangered by contemporary reactionary, earthbound cultures, engendering conflicts that are expressed in rising social intolerance and religious fundamentalism.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Is there a connection between political power and the knowledge of astronomy? Krupp (The Moon and You, S. & S., 1993), an astronomer and director of the Griffith Observatory, maintains that throughout history, knowledge of cosmic principles has allowed individuals to attain great political standing. The establishment of dynasties frequently involved the ultimate deification of a monarch or lineage in relationship to celestial myths and was evidenced in cosmic rituals. Krupp describes numerous creation myths from around the world, coupled with sky worship rituals as practiced by shamans and rulers. Common mythic elements are examined, along with the political power that resulted from the mastery of astronomy over the masses. Numerous photographs, drawings, and illustrations provide visual details for the many societies covered here. Krupp also explains how the separation of church and state in this country has taken the use of miracles and sacred power out of the political arena. Krupp's argument would have achieved greater impact with a longer chapter along this vein. This book will appeal to lay readers as well as scholars.?Gloria Maxwell, Kansas City P.L., Kan.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (March 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471329754
• ISBN-13: 978-0471329756
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #350,102 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Full of details about ancient societies and the sky, August 20, 1999

By	William Stetson "madasahatter" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings: Astronomy and the Archaeology of Power (Wiley Popular Science,) (Hardcover)

I was expecting more of a philosophical and historical treatise, building on the idea that shamans (priests, etc. . .) used the sky to enhance their influence on ordinary people. While that idea is stated, it is not really proven. It is, however, supported by amazing anecdotal descriptions of ancient societies and their relationship to the sky.

There is no great reasoning or logic here, but there is a great collection of related observations.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Astronomy and the archaeology of power, July 6, 2003

By	FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings: Astronomy and the Archaeology of Power (Wiley Popular Science,) (Hardcover)

The title of my review is the subtitle to E.C. Krupp's book, 'Skywatchers, Shamans, and Kings'. This serves to illustrate the point that in many civilisations, the roles of priests, scholars, scientist/researcher, astronomer/astrologer, and healer were often mixed, and generally closely related to the centre of power.

Even today, the fact that the Queen of England appoints bishops who (many of them) also sit in the legislative body, is demonstrative of the hold-over that this kind of power has been through history.

Drawing from the archaeological, historical and literary records of many old civilisations, Krupp's text goes from China (where early dynasties invested heavily in astronomical observation) to the Mayan Empire (where likewise whole towns were devoted to the maintenance of a priesthood that in turn maintained a calendar). These in addition to the Hopi and other Native Americans, African tribes, Pacific islanders and other cultures have found astronomical observation necessary for the proper interpretation of signs, too, and thus the astronomers become shamans and wield power.

Krupp discusses the sociology and politics of power alongside the scientific and archaeological data he presents. In his chapter 'Plugging Into Power', for instance, he goes into a linguistic analysis of the word `power' and talks about the pitfalls of those who exercise power and authority while also discussing the ceremonial rites and attributes of artifacts of particular cultures.

'No less an authority than the Smithsonian Institution asserts...that the most powerful person in each village of the Yupik Eskimos of southwest Alaska was the shaman. Like all shamans, he moved between this world and the spirit world to cure illness and influence the weather. He persuaded the sea mammals, the fish, and the game birds to return in their proper seasons, and he mobilised the ceremonial life of the community. Yupik communities were small. They relied almost exclusively on hunting, and most of the time each family operated independently. The shaman was their contact with the spirits and the one most familiar with the requirements. To deal with spirits, he had to go to their neighbourhoods, and that meant knowing how the universe was organised.'

Of course, in more developed societies, the shaman becomes the priest, who begins to take on prerogatives of power, particularly when there is a leader who can be easily influenced by religious ideas.

'Power to modify the behaviour of the king, no matter how well it may be contained, retains the risk of exploitation,' Krupp writes in the chapter entitled Enlightened Self-Interest and Ulterior Motives. However, often as not, shamans and priests were agents of renewal, rebirth, managers of the life cycles of the communities, and healing powers (particularly important in times without mechanical clocks, calendars, or modern medicine).

This book is a very interesting discussion of world cultures from a perspective often overlooked by historians generally, and Western historians particularly. It has a great bibliography for those inclined to further research.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Next Horizon, November 24, 2003

By	"webosaur" (Los Angeles, CA USA Santa Monica, CA United States) - See all my reviews

"Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings: Astronomy and the Archaeology of Power" - A cross-cultural comparative analysis of the evolving relationship between cosmovision and state power from the ancient world until the present.

A cross-cultural comparative analysis assembled out of archaeological sites the author has visited, "Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings" uses an entertaining anecdotal writing style to teach a few basics of astronomy without being didactic. Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings have shaped civilization from the very beginning, and their story paints a provocative portrait of humanity. The sky our ancient ancestors saw has influenced the establishment and alignment of monuments and whole cities, authorized wars, sanctified empires, and solidified society. Ancient astronomers were responsible for knowledge so valuable their services have been commissioned by Emperors & Kings in every epoch of history and on every continent of the earth.

"Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings'" focus is primarily on the world of the ancients however, parallels between ancient and contemporary cultures are emphasized throughout. Modern society is in mourning over the loss of wholeness that "The Center of the World" had once given us, 'what "cosmovisions" can guide us across this wilderness of contemporary affairs?' Secularization was meant to temper influence and limit power yet, news headlines tell us of theocratic agendas still accountable for political unrest the world over. Even thousands of years later, increased globalization and current events demonstrate that we continue to confront issues raised by power from the skies.

Skywatchers - Ideological reactions to the sky are from perceptions made through a physiological and earth-bound frame of reference.

Shamans - Human cultures evolve ideological explanations of the physical universe to create social cohesion.

& Kings - Power from the sky authorizes social control. Contemporary people are haunted as deeply by their myth-bound minds as the ideologies of the ancients were haunted by their earth-bound view of the sky.

"Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings" investigates the cultural evolution of societies from the end of the last Ice Age, through the end of the Second World War, ultimately arriving at the global conflicts of today. Edwin Krupp's intimate knowledge of more than 1,700 ancient sites worldwide, guides a journey of discovery leading from our most ancient ancestors to our future selves. An eclectic romp through history with all its ideological forces laid bare, "Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings" is history shown through the lens of archaeoastronomy, but it may as well be a biography of humanity's confrontation with consciousness where, the sky plays the recurring main character. From the Venus warfare of the ancient Maya, to the fate of modern political states, "Skywatchers, Shamans & Kings" is a thorough and rational interdisciplinary analysis, with an optimistic message for our future.