Page 232 - Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock – FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS

A great secret of the past

It will not hurt to remind ourselves of some of the fundamental data
concerning the movements of the earth and its orientation in space:
• It tilts at about 23.5° to the vertical, an angle from which it can vary by
as much as 1.5° on either side over periods of 41,000 years.
• It completes a full precessional cycle once every 25,776 years.
19
• It spins on its own axis once every twenty-four hours.
• It orbits the sun once every 365 days (actually 365.2422 days).
• The most important influence on its seasons is the angle at which the
rays of the sun strike it at various points on its orbital path.

Equinoxes and solstices.
Let us also note that there are four crucial astronomical moments in the
year, marking the official beginning of each of the four seasons. These
moments (or cardinal points), which were of immense importance to the
ancients, are the winter and the summer solstices and the spring and
autumn equinoxes. In the northern hemisphere the winter solstice, the
shortest day, falls on 21 December, and the summer solstice, the longest
day, on 21 June. In the southern hemisphere, on the other hand,

19 Precise figure from The Death of Gods in Ancient Egypt, p. 205.

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