Historical milestones associated with the winter solstice

Weather of Arabia - Many ancient peoples considered the day of the winter solstice as a symbol of renewal, and the day of the birth of a new solar year, and he made them feel that spring was not far away, and that every day in the season that follows this day will be longer than the one before it, as it meant for them the beginning of a time cycle New, and reset to the great celestial starry clock that they relied on in the calendar, so in ancient times people built a number of memorials associated with the day of the winter solstice, and in this article some examples of them.

El Castillo Temple in Mexico

The ancient Maya civilization ruled vast areas of Mexico and Central America, and honored the winter solstice through several rituals, and Maya archaeological sites are popular areas where people gather to watch amazing events, such as the Temple of the Castle or El Castillo in the ancient city of Chichen Itza in Mexico. The sun appears as if it is climbing the temple while it ascends to the sky on the day of the solstice, and during the same day a point appears where the north and east sides of the temple are completely dark, while the sunlight illuminates the southern and western sides, in simulation of the solar patterns that occur at the poles.

The ancient city of Tulum in the Mexican Yukata Peninsula also includes a memorial dating back to the Mayan civilization, which tourists visit to celebrate the day of the winter solstice, when the sun rises on the day of the solstice, its rays shine through a small hole in the top of one of the stone buildings, creating a wonderful effect of solar radiation.

Newgrange temple in Ireland

The Newgrange temple is located in the Irish countryside in County Meath. It is a huge stone cemetery in the form of a circular mound, built in the Stone Age before about 3200 BC, and the cemetery consists of inner rooms surrounded by a retaining wall, between which a stone corridor extends To the main room, which is believed to be the room in which the dead were placed, the corridor faces sunrise through a small window that floods the room with sunlight at the time of the solstice for 17 minutes.

Geoglyph inscriptions in Peru

Scientists have found in Peru geoglyphs dating back to the Paracas civilization before about 800 to 100 BC, and geoglyphic inscriptions are large designs or a pattern of inscriptions found on a large area of the earth, which were found to connect certain points to the place where the sun sets on the day of the solstice Winter on the horizon, as well as the famous Nazca inscriptions, which consist of hundreds of geometric shapes and animals carved into the ground, as scientists believe that they may have been excavated for astronomical purposes, as some lines are distinguished by their alignment with the sun on the day of the winter solstice.

Karnak temple in Egypt

The sprawling Karnak Temple in ancient Egypt was built in line with the winter solstice in Luxor more than 4000 years ago, when the sun rises on the day of the winter solstice on the main axis of the Karnak temples, and thus the sun disk can be seen in the middle of the eastern gate located on the main axis, then The sun rises to spread inside the other holy sites of Karnak at midday.

Similar alignments to the sun on the day of the winter solstice can be seen at the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and the city of Machu Picchu in Peru.

Stonehenge monument in England

The monument of stone the famous Stonehenge (Stonehenge) in England, specifically in Wiltshire , which lies approximately half of London, linked to the stones of Stonehenge the day of the winter solstice, what created by the line of sight with the sunset on that day, and is believed to archaeologists that the monument of Stonehenge had a relationship In calculating the calendar, it may have served several purposes over the years, including religious rituals relating to life and death.