On the orientation of pre-islamic temples of north Africa: a re-appraisal (new data in Africa proconsularis)

Abstract

Since the late 1990s, our research group has embarked on a systematic archaeoastronomical study of archaeological sites in the Maghreb. Earlier campaigns were devoted to Tunisia, Morocco and Libya (see e.g. Belmonte et al. 1998, 1999 and 2002). In this short report, we will present part of the data obtained in a field campaign carried out in winter 2002, analysing the results yielded on nearly 50 ancient sacred structures (temples, churches, earlier mosques and mausoleums) of an extended area in Northern Tunisia (ancient Africa Proconsularis). These data were not discussed in previous reports on similar structures (e.g. Esteban et al. 2001), although, in a previous paper (Belmonte et al. 2003), we reported our results on the contemporary measured megalithic monuments. This paper will present the data of more than 30 temples and mausoleums of Roman era, 10 pre-Islamic Christian churches and a few earlier mosques. These new data will be discussed together with those obtained in previous campaigns in an attempt to shed some light on the possibility of astronomical alignments within this extended set of monuments(more than a hundred). Our results show that some astronomical patterns could be identified. Several structures were oriented towards declinations close to the equinoctial and could be interpreted as solar ones. Interestingly, this solar tendency was continued by Christian churches until the arrival of Islam. This is a common feature to other regions of early Christianity (see e.g. Romano, 1992). Other curious patterns, including the planning of important cities, could presumably be associated to the brightest stars of the sky, Sirius and Canopus. Finally, we will analyse how this astronomical tendencies managed to survive within the first Islamic orienting traditions.