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→Medieval Developments
Astronomy helped to form both lunar and solar based calendars, where ancient societies even understood that the solar year was slightly more than 365 days. Navigation of ship-borne trade before 1000 BCE was mostly confined to areas along the coast or regions that can more easily observe land. However, astronomy made it possible to navigate in open waters and during the night. Whereas early navigation depended on land features, understanding the position of stars allowed the Phoenicians and Greeks to colonize wide areas of the Mediterranean Sea in the 1st millennium BCE, spreading their cultures in wide areas.
==Medieval and Renaissance Developments==In the Middle East and Asia, astronomy had developed and retained knowledge from ancient periods to allow the development of accurate calendars and to make accurate predictions of the movement of celestial bodies.
==Modern Astronomy==
