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| KIMAL (Big Picture) |
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The Arabs called similar devices "Al Kemal." The Norse may have called their device simply a "Ki mal.,” meaning “Big Picture.”
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The Kimal was more precise and versatile than the Al-Kemal, which could only determine one preset latitude. (Slaughter, 1957)
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The height of the North Star above the horizon varies with the latitude of the viewer. To measure the North Star’s height the viewer held a Kimal tethered to his head by two necklaces, which established a set distance from his eyeball. The angle seen from the eye to the Kimal is the same angle from the eye to the distant horizon and the North Star.
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The viewer rapidly scanned along the
horizon until he saw the North Star in the
slit. Then he lowered the Kimal until the
North Star peeped through the hole. He
moved a slender needle onto the notches until the needle looked as if it was on the horizon, which could be seen behind the Kimal. Then he clamped the needle with his thumb.
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While holding the needle in place, he could move to a lamp to make an accurate count of the notches.
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One necklace was secured to the top of the Kimal. During the day, the Kimal hung around the viewer’s neck like a pendant.
The second necklace just hung loose around the
neck.
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When the Kimal was being used, the second necklace was slipped up around the center prong of the three pronged base.
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The two necklaces were tied together at a point determined
by stretching the necklaces away from the Kimal.
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This Kimal was calibrated by adjusting the necklaces so that the distance from the star hole to the bottom of the solid crosspiece was the same as the distance as from the Kimal to the eyeball.
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Known measurements on the ship's deck and main spar created an equal sided triangle to verify that the Kimal was in calibration for 45 degrees latitude.
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The exact latitude, in degrees, was not always needed. The correct Kimal notch required to row a boat at a given latitude was easier to remember and simpler to determine.
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The Kimal illustrated to the left indicates that the ship is south of 45 degrees latitude. The Captain will adjust course to the north.
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By taking repeated measurements with the Kimal, the boat will eventually arrive within 15 miles, north or south, of Nova Scotia.
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The ancient, real, Kimal is now in the British Museum and is shown in the Beothuk chapter of the Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 15, p. 104, fig. 5, left.
(If .edu professors would admit that the Americans were speaking Norse, then they could look up "Beothuk" in Reider T. Sherwin's eight volumes of the VIKING and the RED MAN, "the Norse origin of the Algonquin Language." Then they may conclude, as I have, that "Beothuk," means "row directly."
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Makes sense to me. A captain with a Kimal could direct his crew to row directly to modern Nova Scoctia.
If you ".edu" professors continue to teach that "no artifacts were left in America by people from the east side of the Atlantic, before Columbus," well--then you are robbing your students of the knowledge that men in crew-rowed boats could--and did-- row across the Atlantic and arrive within +/- 15 miles of the aiming spot on Beotnuk land.
.
When the Kimal was being used, the second necklace was slipped up around the center prong of the three pronged base.
.
The two necklaces were tied together at a point determined
by stretching the necklaces away from the Kimal.
.
This Kimal was calibrated by adjusting the necklaces so that the distance from the star hole to the bottom of the solid crosspiece was the same as the distance as from the Kimal to the eyeball.
.
Known measurements on the ship's deck and main spar created an equal sided triangle to verify that the Kimal was in calibration for 45 degrees latitude.
.
The exact latitude, in degrees, was not always needed. The correct Kimal notch required to row a boat at a given latitude was easier to remember and simpler to determine.
.
The Kimal illustrated to the left indicates that the ship is south of 45 degrees latitude. The Captain will adjust course to the north.
.
By taking repeated measurements with the Kimal, the boat will eventually arrive within 15 miles, north or south, of Nova Scotia.
.
The ancient, real, Kimal is now in the British Museum and is shown in the Beothuk chapter of the Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 15, p. 104, fig. 5, left.
(If .edu professors would admit that the Americans were speaking Norse, then they could look up "Beothuk" in Reider T. Sherwin's eight volumes of the VIKING and the RED MAN, "the Norse origin of the Algonquin Language." Then they may conclude, as I have, that "Beothuk," means "row directly."
.
Makes sense to me. A captain with a Kimal could direct his crew to row directly to modern Nova Scoctia.
If you ".edu" professors continue to teach that "no artifacts were left in America by people from the east side of the Atlantic, before Columbus," well--then you are robbing your students of the knowledge that men in crew-rowed boats could--and did-- row across the Atlantic and arrive within +/- 15 miles of the aiming spot on Beotnuk land.
GUT CHECK
Do you REALLY believe crew rowed boats of the SEA PEOPLE DID NOT row to Beothuk land?
