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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firmament | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmament | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T09:33:58.201988+00:00 | kb-cron |
A distinctive collection of ideas about the cosmos were drawn up and recorded in the rabbinic literature, though the conception is rooted deeply in the tradition of near eastern cosmology recorded in Hebrew, Akkadian, and Sumerian sources, combined with some additional influences in the newer Greek ideas about the structure of the cosmos and the heavens in particular. The rabbis viewed the heavens to be a solid object spread over the Earth, which was described with the biblical Hebrew word for the firmament, raki’a. Two images were used to describe it: either as a tent, or as a dome; the former inspired from biblical references, though the latter is without an evident precedent. As for its composition, just as in cuneiform literature the rabbinic texts describe that the firmament was made out of a solid form of water, not just the conventional liquid water known on the Earth. A different tradition makes an analogy between the creation of the firmament and the curdling of milk into cheese. Another tradition is that a combination of fire and water makes up the heavens. This is somewhat similar to a view attributed to Anaximander, whereby the firmament is made of a mixture of hot and cold (or fire and moisture). Yet another dispute concerned how thick the firmament was. A view attributed to R. Joshua b. R. Nehemiah was that it was extremely thin, no thicker than two or three fingers. Some rabbis compared it to a leaf. On the other hand, some rabbis viewed it as immensely thick. Estimates that it was as thick as a 50 year journey or a 500 year journey were made. Debates on the thickness of the firmament also impacted debates on the path of the sun in its journey as it passes through the firmament through passageways called the "doors" or "windows" of heaven. The number of heavens or firmaments was often given as mo than one: sometimes two, but much more commonly, seven. It is unclear whether the notion of the seven heavens is related to earlier near eastern cosmology or the Greek notion of the surrounding of the Earth by seven concentric spheres: one for the sun, one for the moon, and one for each of the five other (known) planets. A range of additional discussions in rabbinic texts surrounding the firmament included those on the upper waters, the movements of the heavenly bodies and the phenomena of precipitation, and more. The firmament also appears in non-rabbinic Jewish literature, such as in the cosmogonic views represented in the apocrypha. A prominent example is in the Book of Enoch composed around 300 BC. In this text, the sun rises from one of six gates from the east. It crosses the sky and sets into a window through the firmament in the west. The sun then travels behind the firmament back to the other end of the Earth, from whence it could rise again. In the Testament of Solomon, the heavens are conceived in a tripartite structure and demons are portrayed as being capable of flying up to and past the firmament in order to eavesdrop on the decisions of God. Another example of Jewish literature describing the firmament can be found in Samaritan poetry.
=== Quranic cosmology ===
The Quran describes a concrete firmament above the Earth, built by God and lifted up: the firmament is maintained not by any pillars but by God directly maintaining it, in a description resembling that of the Syriac theologian Jacob of Serugh in his Hexaemeron. Another commonality between the two is in describing the firmament as being decorated by stars. The heavens are analogized to a roof, structure, and edifice without crack or fissure. It is extremely broad and stretched, but it is also constantly broadening. Though there has been some dispute over the exact shape of the Quranic firmament (primarily over whether it is flat or domed), the most recent study by Tabatabaʾi and Mirsadri favors a flat firmament. In addition, there are seven heavens or firmaments and they were made from smoke during the creation week, resembling the view of Basil of Caesarea.
=== Modern cosmology === The model established by Aristotle became the dominant model in the Classical and Medieval world-view, and even when Copernicus placed the Sun at the center of the system he included an outer sphere that held the stars (and by having the earth rotate daily on its axis it allowed the firmament to be completely stationary). Tycho Brahe's studies of the nova of 1572 and the Comet of 1577 were the first major challenges to the idea that orbs existed as solid, incorruptible, material objects, and in 1584 Giordano Bruno proposed a cosmology without a firmament: an infinite universe in which the stars are actually suns with their own planetary systems. After Galileo began using a telescope to examine the sky it became harder to argue that the heavens were perfect, as Aristotelian philosophy suggested, and by 1630 the concept of solid orbs was no longer dominant.
== See also == Abzu – Primeval sea in Mesopotamian mythology Chinese theology – Chinese theological conception of Heaven Cosmic ocean – Mythological motif Flood geology – Pseudoscientific attempt to reconcile geology with the Genesis flood narrative Heaven in Judaism – Dwelling place of God and other heavenly beings Nu – Ancient Egyptian personification of the primordial watery abyssPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets Primum Mobile – Outermost moving sphere in the geocentric model of the universe Sky deity – Deity associated with the sky Wuji – The primordial in Chinese philosophy
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== External links ==
The Vault of Heaven.