"The Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena"
The Second Conference

Vatican Observatory	The OTS Foundation	Steward Observatory

Held 7-14 January 1999, on the Island Republic of Malta, under the
sponsorship of the OTS Foundation and the Steward and the Vatican Observatories;
hosted by the International Office of the University of Malta

The special-to-INSAP II logo; variation on a theme due to "Vincent" by Mr. Ignat Konstantinov

Malta venue for 'astronomical' conference
(The Sunday Times, Malta, 3 January 1999)
- by J.A. Mizzi -

MALTA will be the venue for the second conference on the "Inspiration of astronomical phenomena" (INSAP) to be held between Thursday and January 14. This meeting takes its cue from the island's neolithic temples, one of which, Mnajdra, is perceived as having been constructed with alignments to the movement of the sun. Some 120 astronomers, historians, scientists, and artists from various countries will address the conference "on the many and varied cultural impacts of the perception of the day and night skies." Participants will be able to compare notes and discuss among themselves aspects of the subject that have intrigued mankind from the inception of time and space.
The conference is sponsored by the Vatican Observatory and the OTS Foundation of America. Host is the International Office of the University of Malta. Also involved in this project is the Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona at Tucson, which has commissioned a new composition by Charles Camilleri on the theme of the conference and which will be played during a talk by the composer on "the new dimensions for creative artists." One of the speakers will be Dr. Frank Ventura of the University of Malta who will speak on "Evaluating the evidence for interest in astronomy by the people of Malta - 3600 to 2500 BC."
The conference will be open to the public on January 13 for the talk on "the timeless energy of the sun" by Dr. Mandanjeet Singh. Tickets at Lm2.50 are available at the Foundation for International Studies at the Old University Building in Valletta or at the New Dolmen Hotel, in Qawra, where this lecture will be given. Emeritus Professor Maelee Thomson-Foster of the University of Florida at Gainesville will talk. to the participants on the orientation of the Lower Mnajdra temples as a solar calendar. The year 1999 is dedicated to Malta's prehistoric heritage to bring into focus the importance of the island's temples as world heritage sites.
A project on the temples is to be introduced to schools and a classroom handbook will be distributed to educators, on the initiative of the Department of Museums and the OTS Foundation, and in association with the Ministry of Education. Teachers are being exhorted "to encourage and help children to learn about the importance of their heritage from prehistoric times." The OTS Foundation is sponsoring an inter scholastic competition and the winning project will receive Lm200 to enhance classroom materials. Class projects are being asked to creatively illustrate "what life may have been like in Malta and Gozo during the prehistoric temples times." A gift pin will be presented to each participant in the class project. The handbook lists various possible projects while field trips and research is being encouraged. The awards will be presented in May which is Malta Prehistoric Heritage Month. Projects will be displayed at the Museum of Archaeology during April and May.
On Wednesday a new laboratory of the Department of Archaeology will be inaugurated at the University, with the help of the OTS Foundation. The director of the Foundation, Linda Eneix, said yesterday she set up this non profit organisation three years ago to foster the island's ancient heritage and raise awareness of the temples uniqueness. She has been organising two-week tours for American tourists, most of whom are over 50 and have never heard of Malta, let alone its neolithic heritage and history. She is now extending her services to Canada.

Program Schedule,
as Presented at the INSAP II Conference,
Malta, 7-14 January 1999

THU - 07 JAN 99 - Arrival Day & First Session in Late-afternoon
Airport arrivals and transfers to conference hotel, Hotel Santana, Buggiba/Qawra, all day.
Late-afternoon: "Welcome Address," and distribution of materials; introductory remarks including a brief overview of Maltese history by Mr. Leslie Agius, Director, International Studies, Univ. of Malta.

FRI - 08 JAN - Art Day
Venue: The "Aula Magna" at the Foundation for International Studies (F.I.S.), Old University Bldg., St. Paul St., Valletta
Keynote speaker: Prof. Albert Boime, Van Gogh's "The Starry Night" (introduced by R.M. Sinclair).
Heinrichs, Primal Scenes of Seeing Space; Birmingham, Heavenly Bodies Through Surrealistic Eyes; Hatch, Models of the Universe and Their Role in the Development of Abstract Art; Wells, Bringing the Heavens to Earth: Realist Painters . . . ;Sandback, Artful Science; Rayner, The New Holy Trinity: Science/Technology, Art & Religion; Heck, Astronomy, Sociology,and Paintings; Mooney, Chicago - Vega and Horizon Astronomy; Larson, L'Enfinement Grande.

Posters (venue: Cashmere Bar, Hotel Santana), available through Thursday, 14 Jan:
Bertola, The Iconography of the Milky Way in the Middle Age; Block, Nelson Mandela and Wolfen Island; Campion, Political Cosmology in the Reformation; A. Chapman-Reitschi, Astral Motifs on Ancient Coins and Gems; Gahtan, ; Gurshtein, Archaic Astronomy: the Inspiration for the First Asterisms and Constellations; Oberti, Spheres of Influence; Olowin, Laboratory Exercises Using the Literature of Antiquity; Otiou, When the Stars Go Astray; Peperkamp, The Cultural Impact of Popular Astronomy in 19^th Century Dutch Poetry; Radbo, Celestial Events and the Early Acquisition of Knowledge; Tutino, The Sky as an Educational Research Tool; Woolf, Aristarchus: Pre-cursor of Newtonian Cosmology.

SAT - 09 JAN - Other Cultural
Venue: "Aula Magna," F.I.S. Bldg.
Keynote speaker: Rev. Dr. George V. Coyne, S.J. The Many Worlds and Religion (introduced by F. Ventura).
P. Chapman-Reitschi, The Star of the Christians; Locher, The Annualized Invisibility of Sirius and the Pleiades; Stein, Stars & Stripes; Zeranska-Kominek, Possession and Inspiration: the Musician between Night and Day.

Lunch at Manoel Theater and afternoon tour of Valletta (group photo in front of St. John's co-Cathrdral, the Palace, etc.); the rest of the afternoon at liberty

SUN - 10 JAN - Literature (Day I)
Venue: Paisley Room, Hotel Santana
Keynote speaker: Prof. Chris D. Impey, Reacting to the Size and Shape of the Universe (introduced by F. Ventura).
Gaspar, Chaucerian Ideas on Place and Time; Osborn, Astrolabic Buildings: Chaucer's Amphitheater and the Millennium Clock; Parodi, Death's Cosmic Dimension in English Poetry; Poss, Time and Eternity in the Discourse of Stars; Cheney, Giorgio Vasari's Cosmology; Elbert, Benjamin Franklin's Reconciliation of Popular and Scientific Astrology; Henry, From Galactic Expanses to Earth.

To be read only: Cappi, Cosmology of Edgar Allen Poe; Feinberg, Image and Analog: the Nature of Space.

Evening presentation (Venue: Paisley Room, Hotel Santana) - Dr. Ricard L.Poss, Symbolic Images in Astronomy (introduced by R.E. White).

MON - 11 JAN - Literature (Day II) and Architecture
Venue: Paisley room, Hotel Santana
Keynote speaker: Dr. Ari Belenkiy, Astronomical Fragments of Jewish Medieval Texts (introduced by R.E. White).
Woolf, John's Year of Grace; Mendelsohn, Equinoctial Light in Michaelangelo's "New Sacristy"; Bjorkin, Shooting Stars; Shrimplin, Domed Architecture; Foster, Orientation . . . the Lower Mnajdra Temple as a Solar Calendar; Lachieze-Rey, Faces of the Sky; Bjorkin, Shooting Stars; England,Temples in Time between Remembrance and Desire.

Three keynote speakers in one frame: (l-r) David Pankenier, Ari Belenkiy, and Chris Impey.

TUE - 12 JAN - Mid-Conference Break
Tours to the Mnajdra and Hagar Qim temples, Dingli Cliffs; Mdina and Rabat (Roman Villa, St. Paul's catacombs)

WED - 13 JAN - Cultures (Day I)
Venue: Paisley Room, Santana Hotel
Keynote speaker: Prof. David W. Pankenier, Astrology and Cosmography in the Early Han Dynasty (introduced by R.E. White).
Gerber, The Influence of Astronomy on Late Babylonian Historiography; Gurzadyan, Dating the Fall of Babylon; Wright, A Crisis in the Heavens.

Evening presentations at the New Dolmen Hotel, Qawra
Dr. Mandajeet Singh, The Timeless Energy of the Sun introduced by R.M. Sinclair); followed by:
Maestro Charles Camilleri: Space & Music Inspiration (world premiere of work commissioned especially for this conference: for solo clarinet and "mega-megaphone"; soloist: Godfrey Mifsud).

THU - 14 JAN - Cultures (Day II)
Venue: Mt. St. Joseph's Retreat House, Mosta
Keynote speaker: Prof. Frank Ventura, Evaluating the Evidence for Interest in Astronomy in the Temple Period of Malta (3600-2500 BCE) (introduced by R.E. White).
Frank, Hunting the European Sky Bears: A Diachronic Study of Santa Claus and his Helpers; Belmonte-Aviles, Pre-Islamic Al Maghrib; Sundin, The Sky Seen by the Saami of Scandinavia; Sinclair, Conference Summary; White instructs on preparing papers for review and publication.

FRI - 15 JAN - Departure Day

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This page modified on: 25 March 2007