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With the Nebra Sky Disc, the collection of the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Saale) contains an archaeological find of worldwide importance. The more than 3,600-year-old bronze disc with gold applications shows the oldest known depiction of cosmic phenomena. Due to its importance, it was included in the UNESCO ›Memory of the World‹ on June 18, 2013.
The Nebra Sky Disc: 10th Anniversary of Inclusion in the ›Memory of the World‹
With the Nebra Sky Disc, the collection of the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Saale) contains an archaeological find of worldwide importance. The more than 3,600-year-old bronze disc with gold applications shows the oldest known depiction of cosmic phenomena. Due to its importance, it was included in the UNESCO ›Memory of the World‹ on June 18, 2013.
The world-famous Nebra Sky Disc, discovered by looters on the Mittelberg (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany) in July 1999 and illegally excavated, was secured by Swiss police in February 2002 through a spectacular decoy operation with the participation of Saxony-Anhalt state archaeologist Harald Meller. The Sky Disc was buried on the Mittelberg around 1600 BCE together with its accompanying finds - two swords, two axes, two arm spirals and a chisel. It combines astronomical knowledge, probably originating from Babylonia, and materials from different regions of Europe: copper from the Alps, tin and gold from Cornwall. The Sky Disc is thus both testimony and key to a long-gone but surprisingly interconnected epoch. Due to its importance as the oldest representation of cosmic phenomena, the Sky Disc was included in the UNESCO ›Memory of the World‹ register in 2013. She is in best of company, the ›Memory of the World‹ includes the Gutenberg Bible, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the Nibelungenlied, the Golden Bull of 1356 and, since 2023, the Codex Manesse and the Behaim Globe. »The Nebra Sky Disc is not only one of the most important finds and visitor magnets in the State Museum of Prehistory. She is Saxony-Anhalt's Mona Lisa, a find of significant importance to humanity as a whole. The UNESCO has recognized this by including it in the ›Memory of the World‹«, says Harald Meller, state archaeologist of Saxony-Anhalt. The Sky Disc not only underscores the importance of the cosmos for mankind, it has already left the earth itself - at least as a copy. A replica of the Sky Disc flew with the astronaut Matthias Maurer to the International Space Station ISS.
As a result of the confiscation, there were not only police investigations and several lawsuits against the robbers and fences, but also comprehensive scientific investigations, which focused on the Sky Disc itself, but also on the cultural environment in which it was made and used more than 3,600 years ago. Today, the Sky Disc is not only the oldest depiction of cosmic phenomena in the world and one of the best-studied archaeological objects ever. At the same time, it is a key find that initiated fundamental new research into an entire epoch of Central European prehistory, the early Bronze Age (circa 2200 to 1600 BCE), the period of the so-called Únětice culture. The earliest representation of a leap rule is shown in encrypted form on the disc. With this rule, solar and lunar calendars can be approximately reconciled. The oldest calendar systems are based on the sequence of the moon cycles and were lunar calendars. However, the lunar year is slightly shorter than the solar year. In order to prevent, for example, public holidays from wandering through the year, regular adjustments by inserting leap days or leap months are necessary. We now know that a solar year - the orbit of the earth around the sun - lasts approximately 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds. The solar calendar based thereon measures 365 days and is thus 11 days longer than the lunar calendar. If one wanted to keep the calendar dates constant over the course of the seasons, additional months or days had to be inserted. When this was supposed to happen is shown encoded on the Nebra Sky Disc. In the calendar we use today, a whole leap month is no longer inserted, but only an additional day in February every four years. The effort to harmonize the lunar and solar calendar still connects us with the people of the Bronze Age.
The original of the Nebra Sky Disc can be admired in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (Saale). With the construction of a modern visitor center, the Arche Nebra, at the foot of the Mittelberg, the importance of the site was emphasized. On June 21, 2023, the day of the summer solstice, the Arche Nebra visitor center will reopen after nine months of closure and modernization. From 2 p.m. on this day, admission is free, and its doors open to the public again. Interactive presentations, a planetarium show, art on the way to the site and an astronomical lookout tower then invite visitors from near and far to visit the world of the Nebra Sky Disc.
Further information is available from the eMuseum Himmelswege (https://www.emuseum-himmelswege.de/) and the State Museum’s extensive film program on YouTube (www.youtube.com/c/Landesmuseum für VorgeschichteHalle) or on the State Museum’s website (https://www.landesmuseum-vorgeschichte.de/).
Dr. Alfred Reichenberger
State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
Deputy state archaeologist, spokesman and head of public relations
areichenberger@lda.stk.sachsen-anhalt.de
The hoard with the Nebra Sky Disc.
Juraj Lipták
© State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt. photo J. Lipták
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The hoard with the Nebra Sky Disc.
Juraj Lipták
© State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt. photo J. Lipták
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