ABSTRACT
Ancient peoples around the world were fascinated by the motions of the heavens-the sun, moon, and stars. ese were the early astronomers-people who studied the heavens in an eort to understand what was going on well beyond Earth. Along with astronomy, many cultures speculated about the related eld of cosmology, which addresses the origins, history, and future of
the universe. Without telescopes or other modern scientic tools, ancient people often rooted their cosmologies in the religion and philosophy of their own cultures. By doing so they sought to give deeper meaning to their existence.
