8 Day Week

If the planet Uranus is discovered before the year 1 AD, then it could gain widespread acceptance among the ancient Israelites and other peoples of the Near East. If Christianity still rises (not a given, considering the POD before 1 AD), then the Roman/Etruscan 8 day week will be compatible with the Christian calendar. Rome only switched to a 7 day week with Constantine, though the 7 day week was in widespread use in 100 AD.

In short, have Uranus discovered, and the 8 day week become the most prominent among the Near Easterners who the Romans would come in contact with later. It was the contact with the Near Eastern conquered people that, according to Wikipedia, led to the rise of the 7 day week.
 

Nikephoros

Banned
A good analysis of discovering Jupiter.

Jared,

The meteor showers I can buy, but Uranus? And without telescopes? You'll have to convince me there.

Uranus was spotted prior to Herschel's "discovery" of it, but those glimpses were determined after the fact. Among others, IIRC, Steedman(?) one of the Royal Astronomers mistook it for a comet on a few occasions, but everyone involved had telescopes.

Across the millennia astronomers New World and Old did remarkable things with the good old Eyeball Mk 1, but spotting Uranus? And plotting it's orbit enough to spot it again?

You'll need to convince me of that I'm sorry.


Regards,
Bill
 
And even from there, you have to then go on to deciding that discovery of a new planet is worth completely changing the cycle of your lives. This is a pretty major change, and in many cases was governed by religious doctrine. I would be willing to bet that the only reason the Romans switched over to the 7-day week in the end was because of the rise of Christianity. Wasn't it Constantine who finally established it?

I'd think that a sixth planet would have to be discovered far earlier than the 1st century, before the religions had made use of it, to get what you need.

Or, get rid of Christianity in Rome.
 
Galileo actually did sight Uranus during his study of the moons of Jupiter. He kept meticulous notes and diagramed the movement of the moons orbits relative to "fixed stars" in the vicinity of Jupiter. One such star he showed in different locations over months of observations, until finally it moved out of his field of view. Possibly he did not notice the moving "star", or simply assumed that earlier observations were in error. modern orbital analysis confirmed that he quite accidentally was the first human to spot the planet. Question: Was Alexandrian Greek glass-making good enough to make lenses? Surely the Romans would have loved the abilbity to see enemy armies approaching etc.
 
Rather than go the way of discovering another planet, what if the idea of the 8th day as being "Earth's day"?
That is rather than the 8th day being ruled by a planet in the sky it's ruled by itself.
This could then be considered the day of rest.
 
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