Welcome to
Earth Sky stories
ANCIENT MYTHS
CELESTIAL THEATRE
EPIC SHOWS
'Gilgamesh, King on Earth and in the Sky'
Our first Earth Sky Story is The Epic of Gilgamesh, the 5000 year old epic now retold and presented in a thougth-provoking book and an immersive planetarium show
The Epic is not only a dramatic story about love, friendship, battle, glory, hubris, death, mourning, and the quest for eternal life, but it also shows that:
• Most of our current constellations are presented in this one myth and, as such, the myth can be read as a true star map.
• The zodiac, as we know it, emerged in these ancient times, and the movement of the skies over long periods of time — what we now call “axial precession” and the “precession of the equinoxes” — was mythologized as monsters being fought and slain.
• The history of the Sumerian people from ca. 3,100 BCE to ca. 1,800 BCE is recorded, using astronomical observations as historical markers.
• Humanity’s need to rule the world and subdue nature put pressure on rainfall and rivers, which contributed to the civilization’s demise. What happened 5,000 years ago on a local scale now seems to be happening on a global scale.
Introductory slide show
Book
The story unfolds simultaneously on Earth and in the sky. In this ancient poem, astronomy, history, mathematics, and mythology blend seamlessly together. By adding an entirely new dimension, the night sky offers a fuller, richer understanding of the Sumerians and the constellations we recognize today.
Show
Immersed in Uruk and beneath the night sky of a planetarium — a dome designed to reveal the planets, the stars, and all their wonders.
Galleries
Galleries of images: 'On Earth', 'In the Sky', Archeology and Astronomy
Uruk, the first city of the world, the king and his friend.
