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The Cambridge Ancient History [CAH], vol. 3 [of 14]: The Assyrian and Babylonian Empires and other States of the Near East, from the Eighth to the Sixth Centuries BC; ed. by Boardman et al.; pt. 2 (edn: 2) ch.: 28b, pp. 276-292 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
In no domain has the influence of ancient Mesopotamia on Western civilization been more profound and decisive than in theoretical astronomy and, principally through it, mathematics. Indeed, in the course of the last few decades it has become increasingly clear that all Western efforts in the exact sciences are descendants in direct line from the work of the Late Babylonian astronomers. The anonymous creators of Babylonian theoretical astronomy – probably of the fourth or fifth century B.C. – drew their essential ingredients from several branches of learning and literature, chief among them mathematics and, for observations, the astronomical diaries, closely linked to the celestial omen texts.
crossRef
boardman1991cah32
timestamp
2015-05-20
bibmas_file
bibmas_src
\cite{walker1993bibliograp} [[\#ERR] \cite{walker1993bibliograp} supposes NGL Hamilton NGL et al. as editors, contradicting the e-book source; the same with \cite{walker2013bibliograp}] #and# \cite{gent2004mesopotami} [Mesopotamian Astronomy \& Astrology (Shorter Studies)]
The Place of Astronomy in the Ancient World: A Joint Symposium of the Royal Society and the British Academy [PTRSL A 276]; ed. by Hodson [=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences [PTRSL A], nr 276 (1257)] pp. 21-42 Oxford: Royal Society
Kendall, D. G. and Piggott, S. and King-Hele, D.G. and Edwards, I.E.S
editoratype
collaborator
booktitle
The Place of Astronomy in the Ancient World
booksubtitle
A Joint Symposium of the Royal Society and the British Academy
shortbooktitle
PTRSL A 276
series
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences
shortseries
PTRSL A
number
276 (1257)
pages
21-42
pagetotal
24
location
Oxford
publisher
Royal Society
year
1974
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/74272
urldate
2014-01-24
language
english
abstract
The character and content of Babylonian scientific or mathematical astronomy, as we know it from texts of the last half millennium B.C., are sketched. This late-Babylonian astronomy is set in contrast to earlier Babylonian astronomy as well as to the kinds of astronomy found in other ancient cultures, and an attempt is made at a very broad classification of such pre-scientific astronomies. The lateness and uniqueness of Babylonian mathematical astronomy is emphasized, and it is shown that its creation depended upon the availability of a peculiar set of ingredients, e.g., a particular type of mathematics, and a tradition of making and recording observations of certain astronomical phenomena. It is finally argued that all subsequent varieties of scientific astronomy, in the Hellenistic world, in India, in Islam, and in the West – if not indeed all subsequent endeavour in the exact sciences – depend upon Babylonian astronomy in decisive and fundamental ways.
A Late-Babylonian Procedure Text for Mars, and Some Remarks on Retrograde Arcs
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 500 (), nr 1 [From Deferent to Equant: A Volume of Studies in the History of Science in the Ancient and Mediaeval Near East in Honor of E. S. Kennedy [Fs Kennedy]] pp. 1-14 New York: Blackwell Publishing
A Computed Cuneiform Text for Mercury from Babylon: B.M. 48147
Πρισματα (Prismata): Naturwissenschaftsgeschichtliche Studien. Festschrift für Willy Hartner; ed. by Maeyama et al. pp. 1-8 Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag
On Columns H and J in Babylonian Lunar Theory of System B
Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East; ed. by Steele et al. [=Alter Orient und Altes Testament: Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments [AOAT], nr 297] pp. 1-4 Münster: Ugarit-Verlag
On Columns H and J in Babylonian Lunar Theory of System B
sorttitle
columns H and J in Babylonian lunar theory of System B, On
editor
Steele, John M. and Imhausen, Annette
booktitle
Under One Sky
booksubtitle
Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East
series
Alter Orient und Altes Testament: Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments
shortseries
AOAT
number
297
pages
1-4
location
Münster
publisher
Ugarit-Verlag
year
2002
contents
ToC: \url{http://d-nb.info/967356229/04}
crossRef
steele2002underonesk
eventtitle
Under One Sky: Astronomy \& Mathematics in the Ancient Near East
eventdate
2001-06-25/2001-06-27
venue
London
organization
British Museum
timestamp
2014-01-24
comment
“The author makes plausible that both columns H and J in system B are zigzag functions, although Neugebauer stated that J cannot be a zigzag function. The reason for the computation of J might have been purely mathematical, as opposed to astronomical, interest.” H. Guggenheimer, Zbl 1066.01008
A New Mathematical Text from the Astronomical Archive in Babylon: BM 36849B
Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination; ed. by Swerdlow [Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology ser.] pp. 179-186 Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press
What Every Young Person Ought to Know About Naked-Eye Astronomy
bookauthor
Aaboe, Asger Hartvig
booktitle
Episodes From the Early History of Astronomy
pages
1-23
location
New York, Berlin, and Heidelberg
publisher
Springer Verlag
year
2001
doi
10.1007/978-1-4613-0109-7_1
urldate
2014-10-10
language
english
abstract
In order to provide a starting point for an understanding of ancient astronomical texts, I shall begin by presenting, in all brevity, the basic elements of naked-eye astronomy. I shall, of course, deal principally, but not entirely, with phenomena of interest to ancient astronomers. Among these are many phenomena, such as the first or last visibility of a planet or the moon, that the modern astronomer shuns since they take place near the horizon and further depend on imperfectly understood criteria. Thus, these phenomena are not commonly discussed in the modern astronomical literature and, more seriously, we lack modern standards with which we may measure the quality of the ancient results.
Ancient Babylonian Astronomy: Review Essay of Three Books by Asger Aaboe
Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of the Center for Archaeoastronomy, vol. 7 () pp. 136-137 College Park, MD: Center for Archaeoastronomy, University of Maryland
Ancient Babylonian Astronomy: Review Essay of Three Books by Asger Aaboe
sorttitle
Astronomical dating of Babylon I and Ur III (1982), Huber P & Sachs A & Stol M et al. / Babylonian Planetary Omens Part 1 (1975), Reiner E & Pingree D / Babylonian Planetary Omens Part 2 (1981), Reiner E & Pingree D [REVIEW]
journal
Archaeoastronomy
journalsubtitle
The Journal of the Center for Archaeoastronomy
volume
7
pages
136-137
location
College Park, MD
publisher
Center for Archaeoastronomy, University of Maryland
The fragments of late-Babylonian cuneiform texts published here extend our evidence of the elegant and consistent manner in which account was made of the influence of lunar and solar anomalies upon the variable time intervals between syzygies of the same kind of sun and moon. Several new functions appear for the first time, most notably two associated with the lengths of six-month intervals. ACT No . 55 is republished as an appendix . It turns out to be a lunar ephemeris in which the 223 months of the Saros are broken up into twenty intervals: eighteen 12-month intervals, one six-month, and one one-month interval.
B.M. 40094 is a computed ephemeris from Babylon giving the moment of conjunction of sun and moon for each month from S.E.-8, XII to S.E.-5, XII (i.e.,-318, Mar. 31f.). It is the earliest lunar text belonging to System A that has come Lo light so far. Though otherwise in strict agreement with the procedures of the later texts of this system, this text is unique in incorporating the function A and three new related functions, Y, C’, and K. These new functions make it possible to solve several problems in the history of Babylonian lunar theory, particularly those concerning relations between mean values of d, G, and A.
The present texts are concerned with a family of functions (Φ, F, G, Λ, X) from Babylonian lunar theory according to System A, all of them but X in evidence in the published corpus of texts, and each having the anomalistic month as its period. Rules for converting values of Φ into corresponding values of the other functions were under control, though they lacked motivation, but only the significance of F and G was known. A text published by NEUGEBAUER in 1957 (the Saros text) and Text E below made it possible to identify all of these functions with reasonable certainty as well as to make astronomical sense of their established relations. Thus, for a given syzygy the associated values of the five functions have the following significance, beginning with the two that have long been identified: daily progress of moon = F° length of preceding month = 29^{d} + G^{H} length of subsequent 223 months = 6585^{d} + Φ^{H} length of preceding 12 months = 354^{d} + Λ^{H} difference between a constant year and preceding 12 months = X^{d.} All of these functions, save perhaps F, are artificial; they are first approximations, reflecting only the variation in lunar velocity, and resting on the preliminary assumption that syzygies are evenly distributed in longitude. G and, as I have discovered since this manuscript went to press, also Λ receive corrections for solar anomaly. It appeared that when the values of Φ were to be used, the zig-zag function representing Φ was truncated at effective extrema (F was treated similarly). Texts A, B, C, D below give evidence of aberrant Φ-G relations. Text F presents several variants of the function F, all truncated at the same values. Finally, a fragment joining the Saros text is published together with the relevant parts of the old text.
International Magazine of the History of Science and Medicine
volume
10
number
4
pages
213-231
pagetotal
19
location
Copenhagen
publisher
Munksgaard International Publishers
year
1965
doi
10.1111/j.1600-0498.1965.tb00624.x
urldate
2017-06-02
keywords
Almagest, Ptolemy, Handy Tables
timestamp
2017-06-02
bibmas_file
note
Nominal publication of periodical in 1964.
comment
\cite{schmidt1967reviewaabo}
bibmas_note
Nominal publication year 1964 because of Centaurus journal rhythmics. But \cite{bernsen1969ontheconst} and \cite{hunger1999astralscie} (HdO 44) cite this item from 1965.
bibmas_src
\cite{walker1993bibliograp,walker2013bibliograp} #and# \cite{gent2004planetarym} [Observations and Theories of Planetary Motion]
On a Greek Qualitative Planetary Model of the Epicyclic Variety
sorttitle
Greek Qualitative Planetary Model of the Epicyclic Variety, On a
journal
Centaurus
journalsubtitle
International Magazine of the History of Science and Medicine
volume
9
number
1
pages
1-10
location
Copenhagen
publisher
Munksgaard International Publishers
year
1963
doi
10.1111/j.1600-0498.1963.tb00428.x
urldate
2013-12-05
keywords
P Mich 149
timestamp
2013-12-05
bibmas_file
bibmas_src
\cite{walker2013bibliograp}: “Appendix (other publications by authors cited above, and various marginally relevant items) [NB. This list does not include all the articles in Astronomy before the Telescope]”
Centaurus: International Magazine of the History of Science and Medicine, vol. 5 (), nr 3-4 pp. 209-277 Copenhagen: Munksgaard International Publishers
The principal part of the present contributions to the study of Babylonian lunar theory is a reconstruction of a scheme for computing the length of time intervals consisting of six consecutive synodic months. The authors give direct textual evidence for this scheme and employ it to bring under control several texts – most of them concerned with eclipses – in which six-month intervals play a role, and which hitherto have defied complete numerical analysis. Further, they take this opportunity to publish some results of their concern with the corpus of lunar texts of System A, most of them edited in ACT: new datings, interpretations, and joins of fragmentary texts.
A Text Concerning Subdivision of the Synodic Motion of Venus from Babylon: BM 37151
Essays on the Ancient Near East in the Memory of Jacob Joel Finkelstein [Fs Finkelstein]; ed. by Ellis [=Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, nr 19] pp. 1-4 Hamden, CT: Archon Books for the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences
A Text Concerning Subdivision of the Synodic Motion of Venus from Babylon
subtitle
BM 37151
sorttitle
Text Concerning Subdivision of the Synodic Motion of Venus from Babylon, A
editor
Ellis, Maria de Jong
booktitle
Essays on the Ancient Near East in the Memory of Jacob Joel Finkelstein
shortbooktitle
Fs Finkelstein
series
Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences
number
19
pages
1-4
location
Hamden, CT
publisher
Archon Books for the Connecticut Academy of Arts {and} Sciences
year
1977
language
english
keywords
BM 37151, BM 37249
timestamp
2014-01-24
bibmas_src
\cite{walker1993bibliograp,walker2013bibliograp} #and# \cite{gent2004planetarym} [Observations and Theories of the Motion of Venus] #and# \url{http://www.jstor.org/stable/545130}
Qualitative Measurements in Antiquity: The Derivation of Accurate Parameters from Crude but Crucial Observations
Mélanges Alexandre Koyré: Publiés à l’occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire, vol. 1 [of 2]: L’aventure de la science [Fs Koyré 1]; ed. by Taton et al. [=Histoire de la pensée, nr 12] pp. 1-20 Paris: Hermann
The Derivation of Accurate Parameters from Crude but Crucial Observations
editor
Taton, René and Cohen, Bernard
editora
Alexandre Koyré
booktitle
L’aventure de la science
shortbooktitle
Fs Koyré 1
maintitle
Mélanges Alexandre Koyré
mainsubtitle
Publiés à l’occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire
series
Histoire de la pensée
volume
1
volumes
2
number
12
pages
1-20
location
Paris
publisher
Hermann
institution
Burndy Library
year
1965
timestamp
2013-12-05
bibmas_src
\cite{walker2013bibliograp}: “Appendix (other publications by authors cited above, and various marginally relevant items) [NB. This list does not include all the articles in Astronomy before the Telescope]” and \cite{gent2004unsorted}
Ascent to the Stars in a Mesopotamian Ritual: Social Metaphor and Religious Experience
Death, Ecstasy, and Other Worldly Journeys: Essays by Men and Women; ed. by Collins et al. [SUNY Series in Religious Studies ser.] pp. 15-39 Albany, NY: State University of New York Press
\cite{walker2013bibliograp} #and# \url{http://www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/abt/IND/publikation/bibritual/nahost.php} and \url{http://www.marquette.edu/maqom/228biblio.pdf}
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
shortjournal
PTRSL
volume
143
pages
179-200
publisher
Royal Society
year
1853
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/108561
language
english
timestamp
2015-06-03
bibmas_file
bibmas_src
\cite{gent2004astronomic} [Secular Acceleration of the Lunar Motion and the Lengthening of the Day deduced from Ancient Reports of Lunar and Solar Eclipses]
L’instrument de mesures sans parallèle connu, mis au jour à Qumrân en 1954, servait à déterminer les points des solstices et des équinoxes et la direction horizontale du soleil grâce à un système de cercles gradués correspondant aux saisons. Il était aussi possible de diviser le jour en sections ou “heures saisonnières”. Le rapport entre les longueurs du jour et de la nuit fonde les observations astronomiques qui conduisent aux calendriers de 364 jours attesté dans les textes de Qumrân.
timestamp
2013-12-05
bibmas_src
\cite{walker2013bibliograp}: “Appendix (other publications by authors cited above, and various marginally relevant items) [NB. This list does not include all the articles in Astronomy before the Telescope]”
Die Größe und Lage der Heiligtümer in Esagil von Babylon: Eine Quelle zur Frage von Kontinuität oder Wandel in Kult und Wirtschaft des achaimenidischen Babylon
Von Sumer bis Homer: Festschrift für Manfred Schretter zum 60. Geburtstag am 25. Februar 2004 [Fs Schretter]; ed. by Rollinger [=Alter Orient und Altes Testament: Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments [AOAT], nr 325] pp. 7-20 Münster: Ugarit-Verlag
Forschungsarbeiten an der Ziqqurrat von Borsippa im Iraq. 1. Die Ausgrabungen in Borsippa (1.1 Die Stadt Borsippa; 1.2 Der Stufenturm von Borsippa; 1.3 Der Brand auf dem Birs Numrud)
[]
Wiener Berichte über Naturwissenschaft in der Kunst: Jahresschrift über Forschung im Grenzgebiet von Naturwissenschaft, Kunst, Archäologie und Ethnologie (), nr 2-3 pp. 308-342 Vienna: Orac-Sachbuchverlag
Forschungsarbeiten an der Ziqqurrat von Borsippa im Iraq
titleaddon
1. Die Ausgrabungen in Borsippa (1.1 Die Stadt Borsippa; 1.2 Der Stufenturm von Borsippa; 1.3 Der Brand auf dem Birs Numrud)
editor
Vendl, A. and Pichler, B. and Weber, J. and Banik, G.
journal
Wiener Berichte über Naturwissenschaft in der Kunst
journalsubtitle
Jahresschrift über Forschung im Grenzgebiet von Naturwissenschaft, Kunst, Archäologie und Ethnologie
number
2-3
pages
308-342
location
Vienna
publisher
Orac-Sachbuchverlag
year
1986
date
1985/1986
language
german
abstract
The goal of the research on the Ziggurat of Borsippa was to attempt to find out with the greatest precision possible the appearance of the graduated tower, the phases of construction, how the construction technology changed in the course of time and which static problems were solved. However, the answer to all these questions is only possible when we attempt to understand better the thought processes of the ancient Babylonians: why was such a huge building constructed and what religious ideas were behind it? It is, therefore, a particular goal for the excavation of the Ziggurat to come a step closer to explaining the function of a graduated tower. The archaeologist’s great dependence on the cooperation of the scientist is illustrated in the contribution.
Enūma Anu Enlil XIV and Other Early Astronomical Tables
sorttitle
Enuma Anu Enlil XIV and Other Early Astronomical Tables
journal
Archiv für Orientforschung
shortjournal
AfO
volume
38/39
pages
52-73
location
Vienna
publisher
Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)/Institut für Orientalistik
year
1991
date
1991/1992
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41670052
urldate
2015-01-23
language
english
abstract
The discovery of important new fragments of Tablet XIV of the great astrological series Enüma Anu Enlil enables the complete restoration of the text, which prompts a new edition and discussion of the astronomical tables handed down by this composition and its commentary tablet, and also of the similar lunar tables preserved on the tablets K 90 and BM 37127.1
keywords
K 6427, K 12658, K 12296, 80-7-19.273, 81-7-27.60, BM 40592 = BM 139426, BM 45821, BM 46093, BM 46215, K 90, BM 37127
Kramer Anniversary Volume: Cuneiform Studies in Honor of Samuel Noah Kramer [Fs Kramer]; ed. by Eichler [=Alter Orient und Altes Testament: Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments [AOAT], nr 25] pp. 13-24 Kevelaer and Neukirchen-Vluyn: Butzon & Bercker and Neukirchener Verlag
Ambühl, Annemarie and Markovska, Donka and Milnor, Kristina
sortkey
Ambuehl.A:1995_PMichInv292AstrologicalTreatises
title
P. Mich. Inv. 29: Two Astrological Treatises
journal
Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik
shortjournal
ZPE
volume
105
pages
229-236
location
Bonn
publisher
Verlag Dr. Rudolf Habelt
year
1995
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20189277
abstract
The provenance of P. Mich. Inv. 29, purchased in Egypt in 1920 along with the astrological fragments of P. Mich. IE 149 by B.P. Grenfell and Francis W. Kelsey, is unknown. The color of the papyrus is medium brown. Both sides contain two columns separated by a margin of 1.5 cm on the front (?>) and 1.8 cm on the back (t). The intercolumnium is in different areas of the pa pyrus on the front and the back, so that the vertical break in the piece intersects the middle of the second column of the front side and the middle of the margin on the back. The different handwrit ing on each side and the different location of the intercolumnia indicate that the piece is a frag ment of a payrus roll, rather than part of a codex and, henceforward, we will use “interior” for the front and “exterior” for the back. The text on the interior side is written with a sharper pen, the letters are more rounded and bilinearity is more closely adhered to. The text on the exterior side has entirely different letter forms, the hand tends to connect letters more, appears to have written more hastily and is clearly more informal (for more on the palaeography see below). Based on the proposed reconstruction of col. i.6 to 9 and col. ii.6 of the interior side, it can be concluded with some certainty that the columns on the interior are rather narrow, each line con taining about 18 to 20 letters (cf. P. Lond. 1.130,1/n A.D. horoscope which has 15-18 letters per line). The columns on the exterior seem to be wider, but their exact size cannot be determined.
Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale [RA], vol. 92 (), nr 2 [Actes de la table ronde, «Les Traditions Amorrites et la Bible» (suite)] pp. 187-188 Paris: Presses Universitaires de France
Actes de la table ronde, «Les Traditions Amorrites et la Bible» (suite)
pages
187-188
location
Paris
publisher
Presses Universitaires de France
year
1998
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23281699
language
english
Reviewof
\cite{gasche1998datingthef}
reviewof
Dating the Fall of Babylon. A Reappraisal of Second Millenium Chronology (A Joint Ghent-Chicago-Harvard Project), Mesopotamian History and Environment. Series II : Memoirs IV (abrév. MHEM IV) by H. Gasche, J. A. Armstrong, S. W. Cole, V.-G. Gurzadyan
Antiquités sémitiques, vol. 3: Proche-Orient ancien: temps vécu, temps pensé: Actes de la Table-Ronde du 15 novembre 1997 organisée par l’URA 1062 “Études Sémitiques”; ed. by Briquel-Chatonnet et al. pp. 29-37 Paris: Librairie d’Amérique et d’Oriente Adrien Maisonneuve, Jean Maisonneuve succ.
The God Ninurta in the Mythology and Royal Ideology of Ancient Mesopotamia
sorttitle
God Ninurta in the Mythology and Royal Ideology of Ancient Mesopotamia, The
series
State Archives of Assyria Studies
shortseries
SAAS
number
14
chapter
3: Ninurta as Star and Arrow
pages
133-139
pagetotal
xvi+242
location
Helsinki
publisher
Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project (NATCP)
year
2002
url
http://www.helsinki.fi/science/saa/saas-14.html
urldate
2017-11-16
language
english
abstract
The current investigation has been divided into three main chapters. In the first two chapters, the primary focus is the relationship between Ninurta and kingship. The first chapter gives a diachronic overview of the cult of Ninurta during all historical periods of ancient Mesopotamia. This chapter shows that the conception of Ninurta’s identity with the king was present in Mesopotamian religion already in the third millennium BC. Ninurta was the god of Nippur, the religious centre of Sumerian cities, and his most important attribute was his sonship to Enlil. While the mortal gods were frequently called the sons of Enlil, the status of the king converged with that of Ninurta at his coronation, through the determination of the royal fate, carried out by the divine council of gods in Nippur. The fate of Ninurta parallels the fate of the king after the investiture. Religious syncretism is studied in the second chapter. The configuration of Nippur cults left a legacy for the religious life of Babylonia and Assyria. The Nippur trinity of the father Enlil, the mother Ninlil, and the son Ninurta had direct descendants in the Babylonian and Assyrian pantheon, realized in Babylonia as Marduk, Zarpanitu, and Nabu, and as Assur, Mullissu, and Ninurta in Assyria. While the names changed, the configuration of the cult survived, even when, from the eighth century BC onwards, Ninurta’s name was to a large extent replaced by that of Nabu. In the third chapter various manifestations or hypostases of Ninurta are discussed. Besides the monster slayer, Ninurta was envisaged as farmer, star and arrow, healer, and tree. All these manifestations confirm the strong ties between the cult of Ninurta and kingship. By slaying Asakku, Ninurta eliminated evil from the world, and accordingly he was considered the god of healing. The healing, helping, and saving of a believer who was in misery was thus a natural result of Ninurta’s victorious battles. The theologoumenon of Ninurta’s mission and return was used as the mythological basis for quite a few royal rituals, and this fact explains the extreme longevity of the Sumerian literary compositions Angim and Lugale, from the third until the first millennium BC. Ninurta also protected legitimate ownership of land and granted protection for refugees in a special temple of the land. The “faithful farmer” is an epithet for both Ninurta and the king. Kingship myths similar to the battles of Ninurta are attested in an area far extending the bounds of the ancient Near East. The conflict myth on which the Ninurta mythology was based is probably of prehistoric origin, and various forms of the kingship myths continued to carry the ideas of usurpation, conflict, and dominion until late Antiquity.
Arhipov, I. S. and Lâpustina, E. V. and Solomatina, E. I. and Stepancov, S. A.
altauthor
Архипов, И. С. and Ляпустина, Е. В. and Соломатина, Е. И. and Степанцов, С. А.
sortkey
Arhipov.I:2013_Ukazatelmaterialovopublikovannykh
title
Ukazatel’ materialov, opublikovannykh v “Vestnike drevney istorii” v 1937-2012 gg
alttitle
Указатель материалов, опубликованных в “Вестнике древней истории” в 1937-2012 гг. [Index of materials published in “Journal of Ancient History in the years” 1937-2012]
Указатель содержит исчерпывающий перечень материалов журнала “Вестник древней истории” с момента основания в 1937 г. по 2012 г. включительно в хронологическом порядке с сохранением структурных разделов каждого номера. Издание снабжено алфавитным указателем авторов.
L’édition ougaritaine de la série astrologique “Eclipses du dieu-Soleil”. The Ugaritic edition of the astrological series The eclipses of the Sun-God
Semitica: Cahiers publiés par l’Institut d’Etudes Sémitiques du Collège de France, avec le concours du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, vol. 45 () pp. 7-18 Paris: Librairie d’Amérique et d’Oriente Adrien Maisonneuve, Jean Maisonneuve succ.
L’édition ougaritaine de la série astrologique “Eclipses du dieu-Soleil”
titleaddon
The Ugaritic edition of the astrological series The eclipses of the Sun-God
sorttitle
edition ougaritaine de la serie astrologique Eclipses du dieu-Soleil, L’
journal
Semitica
journalsubtitle
Cahiers publiés par l’Institut d’Etudes Sémitiques du Collège de France, avec le concours du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
volume
45
pages
7-18
location
Paris
publisher
Librairie d’Amérique et d’Oriente Adrien Maisonneuve, Jean Maisonneuve succ.
year
1996
abstract
Le fragment d’argile RS 23.038, provenant de Ras Shamra (Ougarit) porte les tablette de la première et, peut-être, de la deuxième série précanonique intitulée Eclipses du dieu-Soleil. L’écriture, syrienne, est reconnaissable par les particularités des scribes ougaritains. Ce texte montre cependant de fortes similitudes avec l’édition de Bogazköy (Hattousa). L’auteur propose une transcription, une traduction française et un commentaire de ce texte religieux
timestamp
2014-01-24
bibmas_src
\cite{walker2013bibliograp} #and# \cite{gent2004astrologyo} [Astrology in General] [[\#ERR] typo in title]
fig. 27-36 [fig. 28: Constellations of the Early Babylonian Era; fig. 31: Babylonian Reference Stars after 300 B.C.]
bibmas_src
\cite{walker2013bibliograp}: “Appendix (other publications by authors cited above, and various marginally relevant items) [NB. This list does not include all the articles in Astronomy before the Telescope]”
The Eclipse Dragon on an Arabic Frontispiece-Miniature
subtitle
With A Note on the Babylonian Mythological Explanation of the Lunar Eclipse
sorttitle
Eclipse Dragon on an Arabic Frontispiece-Miniature, The
journal
Journal of the American Oriental Society
shortjournal
JAOS
volume
98
number
4
pages
363-374
location
New Haven, CT
publisher
American Oriental Society
year
1978
date
1978-10/1978-12
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/599748
doi
10.2307/599748
urldate
2013-09-10
language
english
abstract
A lunar emblem framed by a pair of entwined dragons is repeated twice on the double frontispiece-miniatures of the Arabic Pseudo-Galen manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale, MS arabe 2964, in Paris. Bishr Farès who discovered the manuscript argued for a relationship between the subject matter of these frontispiece-miniatures and the content of the text of the manuscript which dealt with the effects and treatment of snakebite. The present paper intends to demonstrate the astrological meaning of the theme of the Paris Pseudo-Galen frontispiece-miniatures which gains significance from the juxtaposition of the entwined dragons and the lunar emblem. The motif of the entwined dragons in these miniatures is here explained as a reference to the pseudoplanetary nodes of the moon’s orbit, the Arabic al-Djawzahr, which were regarded as the Head and Tail of a giant Dragon. The astronomical importance of the jawzahr lay in its role in effecting solar and lunar eclipses which were attributed to the occurrence of a conjunction of the sun or moon in or near the lunar nodes. It is unlikely that the artist of the paris Pseudo-Galen miniatures attempted to establish a connection between the eclipse phenomenon and the content of the manuscript. However, the correspondence between the date of the completion of the manuscript and the occurrence of a solar eclipse on January 28, A. D. 1199, would appear to indicate the astrological significance of the eclipse for the completion of the work.
Das Erscheinen der drei ersten Teile der “Tafeln zur Behandlung chronologischer Probleme” bildet den Teilabschluß eines Vorhabens, das mit der Fertigstellung der “Neuen kurzen Tafeln zur Berechnung der jährlichen Auf -und Untergänge von Gestirnen” seinen Anfang nahm. Ursprünglich bestand die Absicht, lediglich diese aus dem Nachlaß von P.V. Neugebauer unvollständig übernommenen Tafeln zum Abschluß zu bringen und zu veröffentlichen. Da jedoch die grundlegenden chronologischen Tafeln von Neugebauer, vor allem die 1912 erschienenen Sterntafeln, seit langem fehlen, wäre den interessierten Kreisen mit dem Erscheinen der “Neuen kurzen Tafeln” nicht gedient gewesen, da für deren Verwendung Sternephemeriden für Altertum und Mittelalter unentbehrlich sind. Aus dieser Erkenntnis heraus erwuchs der Plan, Ephemeriden von im Altertum und Mittelalter häufig beobachteten Sternen in möglichst gedrängter Form mit den neuesten Werten für die Eigenbewegungen herzustellen, und diese Ephemeridensammlung zusammen mit den “Neuen kurzen Tafeln” herauszugeben. Im Zusammenhang mit der Bearbeitung dieser beiden Tafeln war es unerläßlich, eine Anzahl zusätzlicher Tafeln zu entwerfen, die die Verwendung beider Haupttafeln erst ermöglichen. Ferner erschien die übersichtliche Zusammenstellung eines umfassenden Verzeichnisses von Sternnamen wünschenswert, weil in Berichten über Sternbeobachtungen die alten arabischen Sternnamen auftreten und das Namensverzeichnis zur schnellen Orientierung dienen kann. So wurde das Erscheinen der Veröffentlichung Nr. 3 aus der wohlbegründeten Absicht zurückgestellt, dem Benutzer ein im Rahmen der gestellten Aufgabe geschlossenes Ganzes zu übergeben, und es ist zu hoffen, daß das angestrebte Ziel im gewissen Umfang erreicht ist.
On the Solar Eclipse Which is Said to Have been Predicted by Thales
sorttitle
Solar Eclipse Which is Said to Have been Predicted by Thales
journal
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
shortjournal
PTRSL
volume
101
pages
220-241
location
London
publisher
Royal Society
year
1811
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/107344
urldate
2018-07-03
language
english
timestamp
2015-06-03
bibmas_file
bibmas_src
\cite{gent2004astronomic} [Secular Acceleration of the Lunar Motion and the Lengthening of the Day deduced from Ancient Reports of Lunar and Solar Eclipses]
Publications of the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade
shortjournal
PAOB
volume
80
pages
251-257
location
Belgrade
publisher
Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade
institution
Astronomical Observatory, Belgrade
year
2006
url
http://nkas14.aob.rs/pdf/251.pdf
urldate
2018-07-03
language
eng
abstract
The formation of an absolute chronology for the ancient Near East depends upon identifying the recorded observations of ancient astronomers. The author investigates connection between the Venus observations and nine ancient solar and lunar eclipses. The Middle Chronology for the fall of Babylon 1595 BC is too long; the Ultra-Low chronology (1499 BC) is too short. The new chronology is proposed starting with 1547 BC.
Some Astronomical Dates in Ancient Egypt and Babylon
Publications of the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade [PAOB], vol. 65 () [Proceedings of the XII National Conference of Yugoslav Astronomers and International Workshop on the Development of Astronomical Databases, held 19-21 November, 1999 in Belgrade] pp. 153-158 Belgrade: Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade
Some Astronomical Dates in Ancient Egypt and Babylon
sorttitle
Astronomical Dates in Ancient Egypt and Babylon, Some
editor
Popović, Luka Č. and Dačić, Miodrag
journal
Publications of the Astronomical Observatory of Belgrade
shortjournal
PAOB
volume
65
issuetitle
Proceedings of the XII National Conference of Yugoslav Astronomers and International Workshop on the Development of Astronomical Databases, held 19-21 November, 1999 in Belgrade
One of the longest running debates in the field of ancient archeology concerns dating of the 1st Dynasty of Babylon and Egypt. In 1987, an international conference was held at Gotteborg, Sweden. There was an attempt to solve the problem which chronology is the best,. but with little agreement among the participants. The basic dates are of those Hammurabi’s regin: 1. 1856.1802, 2. 1792-1750, 3. 1728-1686, for High, Middle and Low chronology. These dates comes from “Venus Tablets” of Ammizaduga from the 1st Dynasty of Babylon.
keywords
Venus Tablet
eventtitle
XII National Conference of Yugoslav Astronomers and International Workshop on the Development of Astronomical Databases
eventdate
1999-11-19/1999-11-21
venue
Beograd
timestamp
2015-06-03
bibmas_file
bibmas_src
\cite{gent2004astronomic} [Other Reports and General Discussions]
Ideologies as Intercultural Phenomena: Proceedings of the Third Annual Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project, held in Chicago, USA, October 27-31, 2000; ed. by Panaino et al. [=Melammu Symposia, nr 3] pp. 13-36 Milan: Università di Bologna and Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente
not included at degruyter (2013-10-23) is this appendix (\url{http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/zava.1894.9.issue-1/zava.1894.9.1.0/zava.1894.9.1.0.xml?format=INT})
Eanna’s Contribution to the Construction of the North Palace at Babylon
Veröffentlichungen zur Wirtschaftsgeschichte Babyloniens im 1. Jt. v.Chr., vol. 2: Approaching the Babylonian economy: Proceedings of the START Project symposium held in Vienna, 1-3 July 2004; ed. by Baker et al. [=Alter Orient und Altes Testament: Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments [AOAT], nr 330] pp. 45-73 Münster: Ugarit-Verlag
De l’Esagil au Mouseion: L’organisation de la recherche scientifique au IVe siecle avant J.-C
La transition entre l’empire achéménide et les royaumes hellénistiques (vers 350-300 av. J.-C.): Actes du colloque organisé au Collège de France par la “Chaire d’histoire et civilisation du monde achéménide et de l’empire d’Alexandre” et le “Réseau internationald’études et de recherches achéménides” (GDR 2538 CNRS), 22-23 novembre 2004, sous la direction de Pierre Briant et Francis Joannès; ed. by Briant et al. [=Persika, nr 9] pp. 17-36 Paris: Éditions de Boccard
L’organisation de la recherche scientifique au IVe siecle avant J.-C
sorttitle
Esagil au Mouseion, De l’
editor
Briant, Pierre and Joannès, Francis
booktitle
La transition entre l’empire achéménide et les royaumes hellénistiques (vers 350-300 av. J.-C.)
booksubtitle
Actes du colloque organisé au Collège de France par la “Chaire d’histoire et civilisation du monde achéménide et de l’empire d’Alexandre” et le “Réseau internationald’études et de recherches achéménides” (GDR 2538 CNRS), 22-23 novembre 2004, sous la direction de Pierre Briant et Francis Joannès
series
Persika
number
9
pages
17-36
location
Paris
publisher
Éditions de Boccard
year
2006
url
http://www.achemenet.com/pdf/_colloque/
urldate
2014-10-10
language
french
abstract
P.-A. Beaulieu opens the volume with a paper on “L’organisation de la recherche scientifique au IV siècle av. J.-C.”. Taking as its background the famous opposition in Diodorus between the Chaldaeans, who can dedicate their lives to philosophy, being free from public duties, and who pass this on to their children, and the Greeks who, having to earn a living, move (in an amateurish way) from one subject to another, Beaulieu first locates the place of the astronomer/astrologer (tupsar Enuma Anu Enlil) in fourth-century Mesopotamia. A tablet from Yale shows that the Esagil employed fourteen astronomers already in the IV century BC;2 in the same period, more than fifty lamentation priests, and at least sixty-six exorcists, worked under the protection of the temple. Such was the situation when Alexander arrived in Babylon; and in Babylon this tradition continued. From here, Beaulieu moves to Alexandria and the Mouseion: as he shows, if peripatetic influence played a key role in the founding of the library, its organization is in many ways closer to Mesopotamian and Near Eastern practices than to that of the libraries of Greek city-states. The synthesis of Greek and “Babylonian” tradition in Alexandria represents thus innovation within continuity.
The Astronomers of the Esagil Temple in the Fourth Century BC
If a Man Builds a Joyful House: Assyriological Studies in Honor of Erle Verdun Leichty [Fs Leichty]; ed. by Guinan et al. [=Cuneiform Monographs [CM], nr 31] pp. 5-22 Leiden: Brill
The Astronomers of the Esagil Temple in the Fourth Century BC
sorttitle
astronomers of the Esagil temple in the fourth century BC, The
editor
Guinan, Ann K. and Ellis, Maria de Jong and Ferrara, {A. J.} and Freedman, Sally M. and Rutz, Matthew T. and Sassmannshausen, Leonhard and Tinney, Steve and Waters, M. W.
booktitle
If a Man Builds a Joyful House
booksubtitle
Assyriological Studies in Honor of Erle Verdun Leichty
shortbooktitle
Fs Leichty
series
Cuneiform Monographs
shortseries
CM
number
31
pages
5-22
location
Leiden
publisher
Brill
year
2006
url
http://www.brill.com/if-man-builds-joyful-house
urldate
2014-10-10
crossRef
guinan2006ifamanbuil
timestamp
2014-10-10
bibmas_file
comment
“Paul-Alain Beaulieu in “The Astronomers of the Esagil Temple in the Fourth Century b.c.” publishes a small text from Babylon now in the Yale Babylonian Collection listing amounts of barley allotted to a collegium of astronomers (ṭupšar Enūma Anu Enlil) for an entire year. Discovery of this text shows that the scientific establishment of the Esagil temple documented in late-second-century texts was already in place in the fourth century. That fourteen astronomers were employed by the temple shows its substantial investment in its scientific program.” R. Biggs, \url{http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/658837}:
Assyriologica et Semitica: Festschrift für Joachim Oelsner anläßlich seines 65. Geburtstages am 18. Februar 1997 [Fs Oelsner]; ed. by Marzahn et al. [=Alter Orient und Altes Testament: Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments [AOAT], nr 252] pp. 1-16 Münster: Ugarit-Verlag
New Light on Secret Knowledge in Late Babylonian Culture
journal
Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie
shortjournal
ZA
volume
82
number
1
pages
98-111
location
Berlin
publisher
Walter de Gruyter
year
1992
doi
10.1515/zava.1992.82.1.98
urldate
2014-05-19
abstract
The Neo-Babylonian text from Uruk discussed in the present article will be published äs Y08 19,110. It contains important evidence bearing on the question of the existence of secret knowledge in first millennium B.C. Mesopotamia. The evidence is discussed and the archival context of the document is assessed. There follow some remarks concerning the significance of the text for our understanding of late Babylonian culture.
Wissenschaft und Fortschritt: Zeitschrift für interdisziplinäres Denken. bisher WiFo: Wissenschaft und Fortschritt [WiFo], vol. 42 (), nr 1 pp. 235-237 Berlin: Akademie-Verlag
Just in Time: Proceedings of the International Colloquium on Ancient Near Eastern Chronology (2nd Millennium BC), Ghent 7-9 July 2000; ed. by Armstrong et al. [=Akkadica: Périodique bimestriel de la Fondation Assyriologique Georges Dossin [Akkadica], nr 119-120] pp. 19-32 Brussels: Assyriological Center Georges Dossin
46) Month XII – In The Cultic Calendars of the Ancient Near East (Bethesda, 1993), 120-23, Mark Cohen makes the case for reading the twelfth month of the Nippur calendar as se-kin-ku5 rather than se-gur10 -ku 5 or se-sag 18 -ku 5 . His argumentation finds confirmation in YBC 10547,^1 a record of small cattle^2 dated Rim-Sin year 29, month XII, day 30, where the month name is written: iti se-GIN-ku5. 1. See my Old Babylonian Archival Texts in the Yale Babylonian Collection. Catalogue of the Babylonian Collections at Yale, Vol. 4 (Bethesda, forthcoming). 2. nig-su Silli-ili sipa Buzzunum. YBC 12296 is the case to this tablet. Gary BECKMAN (19-06-00)
keywords
YBC 10547
timestamp
2014-04-16
bibmas_file
bibmas_src
\cite{gent2004calendarsa} [Calendars]
gent_note
[on the reading of the name of the 12th month in the calendar of Nippur.]
Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy III; ed. by Ruggles; pt. XI, Ancient Near East ch.: 166, pp. 1813-1821 New York, Berlin, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, and London: Springer Science
Belmonte, Juan Antonio and González-García, A. César
sortkey
Belmonte.J:2015_PetraandNabataeans
affiliation
Instituto de Astrofısica de Canarias, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain and Instituto de Ciencias del Patrimonio, Incipit, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
title
Petra and the Nabataeans
editor
Ruggles, Clive L. N.
editora
Steele, John M. and McCluskey, Stephen C. and Sun, Xiaochun and Martín López, Alejandro
booktitle
Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy III
part
XI, Ancient Near East
chapter
166
pages
1813-1821
location
New York, Berlin, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, and London
publisher
Springer Science
year
2015
doi
10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_185
language
english
contents
Introduction 1814 A Statistical Analysis of Nabataean Monuments 1814 Light and Shadows over Petra 1817 Cross-References 1821 References 1821
abstract
The Nabataeans built several monuments in Petra and elsewhere displaying decoration with a certain preference for astronomical motifs. A statistical analysis of the orientation of their sacred monuments demonstrates that astronomical orientations were often part of an elaborate plan and possibly reflect traces of the astral nature of Nabataean religion. Petra and other monuments in the ancient Nabataean kingdom demonstrate the interaction between landscape features and astronomical events. Among other things, the famous Ad Deir has revealed a fascinating ensemble of light and shadow effects, perhaps connected with the bulk of Nabataean mythology, while a series of suggestive solstitial and equinoctial alignments emanate from the impressive Urn Tomb, which might have helped bring about its selection as the cathedral of the city.
The Nabateans built several monuments in Petra and elsewhere displaying a decoration with a preference for astronomical motifs, possibly as a reflection of their religion. However, due to the lack of direct written accounts and the scarcity of inscriptions we do not have a clear knowledge on the precise nature of such believes and how these reflected on the calendar or the religious time-keeping system of this ancient society. A statistical analysis of the orientation of their sacred monuments demonstrates that astronomical orientations were often part of an elaborated plan and possibly a trace of the astral nature of Nabataean religion. Petra and other monuments in the ancient Nabataean kingdom have proven to be marvellous laboratories of the interaction between landscape features and astronomical events showing impressive hierophanies on particular monuments related to cultic times and worships. Among other findings, the famous Ad Deir has shown a fascinating ensemble of light and shadow effects, perhaps connected with the bulk of Nabataean mythology, while from the impressive Urn tomb, a series of suggestive solstitial and equinoctial alignments emanate which might have lately helped its selection as the cathedral of the city. This paper demonstrates that the sky was a substantial element on Nabataean religion and reveals new evidence for cultic worship centred on the celestial sphere.
Exegetical Notes on Cosmology in the Parables of Enoch
Enoch and the Messiah Son of Man: Revisiting the Book of Parables; ed. by Boccaccini pp. 143-150 Grand Rapids, MI and Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Qumran und die Archäologie: Texte und Kontexte; ed. by Frey et al. [=Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament, I. Reihe [WUNT I], nr 278] pp. 211-237 Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck
Time and Culture: Mesopotamian Calendars in Jewish Sources from the Bible to the Mishnah
Encounters by the Rivers of Babylon: Scholarly Conversations Between Jews, Iranians and Babylonians in Antiquity; ed. by Gabbay et al. [=Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism, nr 160] pp. 217-254 Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck
Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy 3; ed. by Ruggles; pt. XI, Ancient Near East ch.: 178, pp. 1895-1899 New York, Berlin, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, and London: Springer Science
Department of Bible, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
title
Astronomy and Calendars at Qumran
editor
Ruggles, Clive L.N.
editora
Steele, John M. and McCluskey, Stephen C. and Sun, Xiaochun and Martín López, Alejandro
booktitle
Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy 3
part
XI, Ancient Near East
chapter
178
pages
1895-1899
location
New York, Berlin, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, and London
publisher
Springer Science
year
2015
doi
10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_197
language
english
contents
Introduction 1896 The Sabbath 1896 Lunar Phases and the Three-Year Cycle 1897 The Cycle of Priestly Families 1897 Festivals 1898 Shemitah and Jubilee 1898 Intercalation 1898 Liturgy 1899 Cross-References 1899 References 1899
abstract
A corpus of ca. 20 calendrical texts dated mostly to the first century BCE was found among the Dead Sea scrolls. These documents attest to a year of 364 days, which was adopted from earlier Jewish Pseudepigrapha like the Books of Enoch and Jubilees. The 364-day year was the main time frame used by the sectarian community represented in the scrolls. It is not a solar year, as often stated, but rather a schematic-sabbatical year. Its main characteristic in the DSS is the absorption of many various calendrical frameworks. The 364-day calendar tradition is strongly based on the calculation of full creational weeks and of weeks of years (Shemitah). It incorporates the service cycles of the 24 priestly families in the temple, while in addition, it encompasses an additional cycle of lunar phenomena. This cycle is related to the Mesopotamian concept of “the Lunar Three”. Finally, an awareness of the cycle of the Jubilee (49 years) produced a megacycle of 294 years. It remains unknown how and whether at all the 364-day year was intercalated to fit the tropical year of 365.25 days approximately.
Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy, vol. 3: Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy 3; ed. by Ruggles; pt. XI, Ancient Near East ch.: 177, pp. 1890-1893 New York and Berlin and Heidelberg and Dordrecht and London: Springer Science
Department of Bible, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
title
Astronomy in the Book of Enoch
editor
Ruggles, Clive L.N.
editora
Steele, John M. and McCluskey, Stephen C. and Sun, Xiaochun and Martín López, Alejandro
booktitle
Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy 3
maintitle
Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy
volume
3
part
XI, Ancient Near East
chapter
177
pages
1890-1893
location
New York and Berlin and Heidelberg and Dordrecht and London
publisher
Springer Science
year
2015
doi
10.1007/978-1-4614-6141-8_196
language
english
contents
Introduction 1890 The 364-Day Year 1890 The Sun on the Horizon and the Length of Daylight 1891 Lunar Visibility 1891 The Moon on the Horizon 1892 Stars 1892 Conclusion 1892 Cross-References 1892 References 1893
abstract
A section of the Book of 1 Enoch is called “The Book of Heavenly Luminaries.” This section was written in Aramaic in the second-third centuries BCE, with fragments discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The complete book is preserved in Ethiopic translation. The astronomical treatise reflects the traditional Mesopotamian astronomical models of the mid-first millennium BCE: length of daylight and nighttime, the place of the sun on the horizon (without mention of the ecliptic and the zodiac), and intervals of lunar visibility. Much of these parameters are measured by “Heavenly Gates”, i.e., specific sections on the horizon. The book of luminaries adds to the Mesopotamian models an interest in the place of the moon on the horizon using the same system of gates, as well as a crude geometrical model of the lunar and solar movement. In addition, it features some vague remarks about the role of stars as markers of the seasons.
Astronomy and Calendars at Qumran in their Ancient Context
series
Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah
number
78
pagetotal
xx+332
location
Leiden and Boston
publisher
Brill
year
2008
url
http://www.brill.com/head-all-years
doi
10.1163/ej.9789004170889.ii-332
urldate
2018-07-03
language
eng
abstract
Rather than being an isolated, primitive body of knowledge the Jewish calendar tradition of 364 days constituted an integral part of the astronomical science of the ancient world. This tradition—attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Pseudepigrapha—stands out as a coherent, novel synthesis, representing the Jewish authors’ apocalyptic worldview. The calendar is studied here both “from within”—analyzing its textual manifestations —and “from without”—via a comparison with ancient Mesopotamian astronomy. This analysis reveals that the calendrical realm constituted a significant case of inter-cultural borrowing, pertinent to similar such cases in ancient literature. Special attention is given to the “Book of Astronomy” (1 Enoch 72-82) and a variety of calendrical and liturgical texts from Qumran.
The three calendrical scrolls from Qumran, 4Q320, 4Q321, and 4Q321a, contain diverse calendrical materials, including a system for dating lunar phenomena over a triennial cycle of months. These scrolls, known for some time now, were published in their official editions recently in DJD XXI. Research into the full significance of the scrolls continues. Below we will propose that the lunar data in the three scrolls match that in Late Babylonian astronomical texts.
Ossendrijver’s notes #and# \cite{walker2013bibliograp}: “Appendix (other publications by authors cited above, and various marginally relevant items) [NB. This list does not include all the articles in Astronomy before the Telescope]”
The paper offers a new explanation for the traditions preserved in 1 Enoch 69:2-25 in the framework of a comprehensive discussion of the entire Third Parable (1 Enoch 58-69). A new translation is supplied for vv. 13‐25, alongside detailed textual and exegetical notes, based on the collation of eleven Ge’ez manuscripts of group I, five of which are not previously studied. Much of the discussion proceeds from form-critical marks within chapters 64-9, as well as within chapter 69 itself. The need for small-scale analysis arises from the fact that in the Third Parable many themes are inextricably woven together. The demarcation of Enochic and Noachic passages in the Book of Parables is discussed anew. A central theme of the Third Parable, the instruction of angelic knowledge, appears both in the Noachic passages (chapters 65-8) and in the Enochic chapter 69 and is discussed here in particular. The unit 69:2-14 (except for 2b which is a late duplication of the list of angels from 6:7-8) comprises six angels with extraordinary names, mostly unknown elsewhere, with Kesab’el, the prince of the Divine Name concluding the list. A second tradition in vv. 15-25, focusing on the angel Michael, discusses the role of the Divine Oath in the creation and sustenance of the world. Parts of v. 14 are a late attempt to bridge the gap between the two traditions. Several notorious cruxes in vv. 2-25 are explained on the basis of Ethiopic scribal practices, leaving little place for speculation about their meaning. Finally, several later Jewish sources from the Cairo Genizah reflect knowledge of the chapter in its final form, with the two angelic traditions joined together.
The present article surveys the scholarship on the calendars represented in the Qumran texts and the Pseudepigrapha. The survey commences with the influential articles by VanderKam in the late 1970s, while relating also to Jaubert’s earlier hypothesis. After a presentation and classification of the relevant texts, we proceed to elucidate the prominent calendrical and historical themes: the calendar in Jubilees and the Temple Scroll; the early history of the 364-day year in Judah; the non-Jewish origins of the 364-day calendar tradition; intercalation and the beginning of the day; and the various accounts of lunar phases in writings from Qumran. Broadly speaking, present-day research tends to emphasize the schematic aspect of the 364-day calendar tradition, renouncing the older view of this system as a “solar” calendar. In addition, Jaubert’s hypothesis on the antiquity of the 364-day calendar, although still upheld in significant parts of current scholarship, is seriously challenged when viewed in a broader historical context. Finally, the Jewish astronomical and calendrical lore is increasingly explained on the background of astral sciences in the Hellenistic world—from Mesopotamia to Egypt.
Biblical allusions to eclipses, solar activity cycles, comet apparitions, super-nova explosions, bolide impacts, paroxysmal eruptions and major earthquakes, during 2000-300 BC, are examined in the light of recent historical catalogues. It is shown that spectacular environmental phenomena, that sampled the remote past periodically and semi-periodically, have occurred over the heavens, seas and terrains of the Near East and indeed impacted the minds of prophets, kings and scribes of the lands of the Bible. Thus evidence is produced to show that the prophets Joel, Zachariah, Habakkuk, Isaiah and Amos witnessed certain comets, eclipses and earthquakes. So did King David, Judge Deborah, Joshua and Abraham. The surmised dates of these events assist us in setting bounds for the life-span of biblical celebrities and for some of the acts in which they participated. Epigraphical and archaeological evidence are in accord with our findings. – It is made clear that although the Bible did not favour secular science, it contains echoes of singular environmental events, the dating of which can be harnessed to establish some order in biblical chronology.
keywords
/
timestamp
2015-06-01
bibmas_file
bibmas_src
\cite{gent2004astronomic} [Other Reports and General Discussions]
KUGLER, Franz Xaver, Chemiker, Mathematiker, Astronom, Assyriologe und katholischer Theologe, * am 27. 11. 1862 zu Königsbach in der bayerischen Pfalz, + am 25.1. 1929. – K. studierte Naturwissenschaften in Heidelberg und München. 1885 promovierte er im Fach Chemie. 1886 trat er in das Noviziat der deutschen Ordensprovinz der Societas Jesu in den Niederlanden. Fortan studierte er in Exaten (Niederlande) Philosophie und in Ditton Hall (England) Theologie. 1893 wurde er zum Priester geweiht und wirkte ab 1897 als Professor der Höheren Mathematik an der Studienanstalt des Ordens in Valkenburg (Niederlande). Am 25. 1. 1929 verstarb er im Pflegeheim der Barmherzigen Brüder im Schloß Steinhof zu Luzern. – Größere öffentliche Bedeutung über sein Wirken im Rahmen des Ordens hinaus erlangte K. in dem sogenannten “Babel-Bibel”-Streit und der Auseinandersetzung mit dem “Panbabylonismus”. Durch die historisch falsche, dogmatische Verabsolutierung der Bibel auch zum vorgeblich naturwissenschaftlichen und geschichtlichen Lehrwerk erhielten die Textfunde in der Mitte des 19. Jh.’s aus Babylonien nach ihrer eindeutigeren Entzifferung eine an die religösen Grundfesten rührende Explosivkraft. Die Bibel erschien Assyriologen (Hugo Winckler, Friedrich Delitzsch), gemessen an den heidnischen und profanen babylonischen sowie assyrischen Quellen mit ihren originären Parallelen zur biblischen Darstellung, als ein unredliches religiöses Machwerk. Darüber entspann sich eine erbitterte Auseinandersetzung zwischen der theologischen Orthodoxie und ihren assyriologischen Opponenten, in der schließlich der assyriologisch interessierte und promovierte Kaiser Wilhelm II. zum Schiedsrichter angerufen wurde. Im Zusammenhang dieser Auseinandersetzung ergriff K. dank seiner wissenschaftlichen Voraussetzungen als wortgewandter Naturwissenschaftler und Mathematiker das Wort. Vor allem konnte er die angebliche Astralmythologie, die schon als Inhalt der babylonischen Texte vor deren Entzifferung erfunden (William Henry Fox Talbot) war und dann vermeintlich auch in den biblischen Texten auftauchte, durch seine Beschäftigung mit den astronomischen Texten der Babylonier und Assyrer in die Schranken weisen und zur Beendigung des “Panbabylonismus” beitragen, wie man den exzessiven Spekulations-Ansatz, demzufolge selbst Goethe von der babylonisch-assyrischen Dichtung abhängig erschien, bald nannte. Die letzten Auswirkungen des Panbabylonismus reichen bis in die Gegenwart, wie die Interpretationen des Hohenliedes als Ableger von “babylonischen Tammuz-Liturgien” trotz des anhand altorientalischer Parallelen nachweislich ursprünglich nicht-liturgischen Charakters dieses Bibelbuches über profane Liebe bezeugen. – K. setzte die unterbrochene Arbeit J. Eppings und J. N. Straßmaiers an der babylonischen Astronomie fort, die zunächst mit der Identifizierung der genannten Gestirne und ihrer Beobachtung befaßt war. Besonderes Aufsehen erregte er mit einem Synchronismus, den er in den astronomischen Angaben (K 160, III Rawlinson 63, Z. 8) ermittelte und der eine Datierung Abrahams zu erlauben schien. Die Arbeiten an der babylonischen Chronologie, die mit der biblischen konkurrierte, führten K. auch zur Beschäftigung mit anderen biblischen Texten und Problemen. Insgesamt waren die Ergebnisse nur Durchgangsstationen der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (assyriologische Texte für Nicht-Fachspezialisten erst ab etwa 1950 weniger risikoreich übersetzt) und sind inzwischen weit überholt. Heute wirkt vor allem der Streit um die Astralmythologie müßig, da er weitgehend eine unsachgemäße Voraussetzung hatte, die bereits für die babylonisch-assyrischen Texte ein modernes Wissenschafts-Verständnis postulierte, das zweifelsfrei unhistorisch, anachronistisch ist. Gleichwohl sind die in den Quellen vermittelten astronomischen Daten bedeutungsvoll. Noch 1985 wurde in keilschriftlichen Texten die zweimalige Erwähnung des Halleyschen Kometen (164 und 87 v. Chr. ) neu entdeckt. K. selbst hat im Nachhinein die von ihm stark betriebene persönliche Polemik, die heute vor allem die Domäne der Politiker geblieben ist, bedauert. Werke: Die babylonische Mondrechnung, Freiburg 1900; Sternkunde und Sterndienst in Babel, Münster 1907-1924, fortgesetzt von J. Schaumberger, ebd. 1935; Im Bannkreis Babels, Münster 1910; Von Moses bis Paulus, Münster 1922; Kulturhistorische Bedeutung der babylonischen Astronomie, in: Vereinsschrift der Görres-Gesellschaft 2, 1907 38-50; Auf den Trümmern des Panbabylonismus, in: Anthropos 4 1909, 477-499; Aufsatz in: Stimmen aus Maria Laach 1906, weitere Aufsätze zusammengestellt bei: A. Bezold, Register zur Zeitschrift für Assyriologie Bd. 1-43, in: Beiheft zu derselben Zeitschrift, 1928, 11; (Rez. S. 25); Die heute noch brauchbaren Details der Arbeiten Kuglers mit Berichtigungen und Ergänzungen sind aufgeführt bei: R. Borger, Handbuch der Keilschriftliteratur Bd. 1, Berlin 1967, 255-257, Bd. 2, Berlin-New York 1975, 149 f. Lit.: (St. Langdon -) J. K. Fotheringham, The Venus Tablets of Ammizaduga, Oxford 1928, 38; – St. Langdon, in: Times vom 27. 12. 1929; – Ferner zuvor bei R. Borger und A. Bezold genannte Rezensionen. Nachruf: J. Schaumberger, in: Orientalia NS 2 1933, 97-100; – R. Borger, in: Reallexikon der Assyriologie Bd. 6, Berlin-New York 1980-83, 300b; - H.-J. Kraus, Geschichte der historischen Erforschung des Alten Testaments, Neukirchen 1988^4, 307.
Das Neujahrsfest nach den Königsinschriften des ausgehenden babylonischen Reiches
Actes de la XVIIe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Universit Libre de Bruxelles, 30 juin-4 juillet 1969 [RAI 17 Proceedings]; ed. by Finet [=Publications du Comité Belge de Recherches Historiques, Epigraphiques et Archeologiques en Mesopotamie, nr 1] pp. 155-159 Ham-sur-Heure: Comité Belge de Recherches en Mesopotamie
Imaginäre Astrologie in spätbabylonischer Propaganda
Die Rolle der Astronomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens. Beiträge zum 3. Grazer Morgenländischen Symposion (23.–27. September 1991); ed. by Galter [=Grazer Morgenländische Studien, nr 3] pp. 275-289 Graz: RM Druck-und Verlagsgesellschaft
ToC: 1. Introduction; 2. Arithmetic in the Islamic World; 3. Geometry in the Islamic World; 4. Algebra in the Islamic World; 5. Trigonometry in the Islamic World; 6. Spherical Trigonometry in the Islamic World; Index.
timestamp
2013-12-05
comment
\cite{hogendijk1989reviewberg}
bibmas_src
\cite{walker2013bibliograp}: “Appendix (other publications by authors cited above, and various marginally relevant items) [NB. This list does not include all the articles in Astronomy before the Telescope]”
Die Astronomischen Tagebücher: Eine Quelle zur Frage von Kontinuität oder Wandel in Kult und Wirtschaft des achaimenidischen Babylon
Von Sumer bis Homer: Festschrift für Manfred Schretter zum 60. Geburtstag am 25. Februar 2004 [Fs Schretter]; ed. by Rollinger [=Alter Orient und Altes Testament: Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments [AOAT], nr 325] pp. 105-152 Münster: Ugarit-Verlag
Records of the Past, new series, Vol. 2: Being English Translations of the Ancient Monuments of Egypt and Western Asia; ed. by Birch et al. pp. 190-193 London: Samuel Bagster & Sons
Die Angaben der babylonisch-assyrischen Keilinschriften. Vorgelegt am 1. Juli 1916
Antike Beobachtungen farbiger Sterne; by Boll et al. [=Abhandlungen der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, philosophisch-philologische und historische Klasse [ABAW phil.-hist. Kl.], nr 30,1] pp. 97-155 Munich: Verlag der Königlichen Bayrischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Kommission des G. Franz’schen Verlags (J. Roth)
Astronomie, Himmelsschau und Astrallehre bei den Babyloniern: (Vortrag, gehalten in der Sitzung der Gesamtakademie am 3. Dezember 1910). Eingegangen am 28. März 1911
Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Stiftung Heinrich Lanz, Philosophisch-historische Klasse [SHAW phil.hist. Kl.], vol. 2 () Heidelberg: Carl Winter`s Universitätsbuchandlung
Reflexe astrologischer Keilinschriften bei griechischen Schriftstellern. Eingegangen am 19. Juni 1911
Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Stiftung Heinrich Lanz, Philosophisch-historische Klasse [SHAW phil.hist. Kl.] (), nr 7 Heidelberg: Carl Winter`s Universitätsbuchandlung
Zenit- und Aequatorialgestirne am babylonischen Fixsternhimmel. Eingegangen am 19. August 1913
Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Stiftung Heinrich Lanz, Philosophisch-historische Klasse [SHAW phil.hist. Kl.] (), nr 11 Heidelberg: Carl Winter`s Universitätsbuchandlung
Les ecoles chaldéennes sous Alexandre et les Séleucides
Annuaire de l’Institut de philologie et d’histoire orientales de l’Université libre de Bruxelles, vol. 3 () [Volume offert à Jean Capart [Fs Capart]] pp. 41-89 Brussels: Institut de Philologie et d'Histoire orientales et slaves
Babylonian Prophecies, Astrology, and a New Source for “Prophecy Text B”
Language, Literature, and History: Philological and Historical Studies Presented to Erica Reiner [Fs Reiner]; ed. by Rochberg-Halton [=American Oriental Series [AOS], nr 67] pp. 1-14 New Haven, CT: American Oriental Society
Abstract The article provides a new edition of the twenty-second chapter or tablet of the Sumero-Akkadian bilingual topical word list Ura = ḫubullu, replacing the old reconstruction published in 1974 in MSL 11. New sources are added from recent publications while other sources from the old edition can now be removed because they belong to a secondary recension of this chapter. This new updated version of Ura XXII is part of the ongoing DCCLT project to present a restoration of the ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform lexical tradition that is as complete as possible on the basis of surviving sources.
From Mesopotamia to Greece: On the Origin of Semitic and Greek Star Names
Die Rolle der Astronomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens; ed. by Galter [=Grazer Morgenländische Studien, nr 3] pp. 307-329 Graz: RM Druck-und Verlagsgesellschaft
Nieuwjaarsfeest en koningsdag in Babylon en in Israël: Rede uitgesproken bij de aanvaarding van het Hoogleeraarsambt aan de Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden op 23 November 1927
[no parental ref.] Groningen and Den Haag: J.B. Wolters
Babylonië, 150-125 v.Chr.: Van Seleukidische naar Parthische overheersing
Zij schreven geschiedenis: Historische documenten uit het Oude Nabije Oosten (2500–100 v. Chr.); ed. by Demarée et al. [=Mededelingen en verhandelingen van het vooraziatisch-egyptisch genootschap Ex Oriente Lux, nr 33] pp. 459-469 Leiden and Leuven: Ex Oriente Lux and Peeters Publishers
This study presents the famous city of Babylon in its latest phase of occupation: from the end of the Achaemenid period (second half of the fourth century B.C.), during the reign of Alexander, the Successors, the Seleucid and Arsacid dynasty until the very end of cuneiform literature and other historical sources (around third-fourth century AD). It contains first of all a survey of the available Classical and Oriental sources (chapter 1), a topography of the city (chapter 2), an overview of political events and Babylon’s role in the Empire (chapter 3). Furthermore Babylon’s institutions (chapter 4), its social and economic (chapter 5), religious (chapter 6) and cultural (chapter 7) life are discussed. Finally, Babylon’s legacy and its significance for later cultures appears in chapter 8.
timestamp
2014-03-09
bibmas_src
\cite{gent2004generallit} [General Overviews on Mesopotamian Civilisation]
Dating Problems in Cuneiform Tablets Concerning the Reign of Antigonus Monopthalmus
journal
Journal of the American Oriental Society
shortjournal
JAOS
volume
121)
number
4
pages
645-649
location
New Haven, CT
publisher
American Oriental Society
year
2001
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/606506
doi
10.2307/606506
urldate
2013-10-22
language
english
abstract
In the course of research on cuneiform tablets no fewer than three years have been identified with the first year of Antigonus Monophthalmus (317/16, 316/15, and 315/14 B. C.). Thanks to a better knowledge of the astronomical goal-year texts, a better reading of the Saros Tablet, and the recent publication of a new Saros cycle text, the so-called Solar Saros, the correct equation (1 Antigonus = 317/16 B. C.) is now clear.
Bronze Age Chronology: Paul Åström (ed.): High, Middle or Low? Acts of an International Colloquium on Absolute Chronology held at the University of Gothenburg, 20-22 August 1987. (SIMA Pocketbooks, 56, 57, 80.) 3 Vols
The Classical Review [ClR], ser. newseries, vol. 41 (), nr 2 pp. 426-429
Paul Åström (ed.): High, Middle or Low? Acts of an International Colloquium on Absolute Chronology held at the University of Gothenburg, 20-22 August 1987. (SIMA Pocketbooks, 56, 57, 80.) 3 Vols
sorttitle
High, Middle Or Low? Parts 1-3 (1987/1989), Astrom P [Review]
Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete: Fachzeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft [ZA], vol. 28 () [Jahresband 1914] pp. 340-351 Strasbourg: Verlag Karl J. Trübner
Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete
journalsubtitle
Fachzeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft
shortjournal
ZA
volume
28
issuetitle
Jahresband 1914
pages
340-351
location
Strasbourg
publisher
Verlag Karl J. Trübner
institution
Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft and Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften and Josefine-und-Eduard-von-Portheim-Stiftung für Wissenschaft und Kunst
Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete: Fachzeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft [ZA], vol. 25 (), nr 3-4 pp. 372-376 Strasbourg: Verlag Karl J. Trübner
Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete
journalsubtitle
Fachzeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft
shortjournal
ZA
volume
25
number
3-4
pages
372-376
location
Strasbourg
publisher
Verlag Karl J. Trübner
institution
Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft and Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften and Josefine-und-Eduard-von-Portheim-Stiftung für Wissenschaft und Kunst
Die Erforschung der antiken Astrologie: Vortrag, gehalten auf der 49. Versammlung deutscher Philologen und Schulmänner in Basel
Neue Jahrbücher für das klassische Altertum, Geschichte und deutsche Literatur [Neue Jahrbücher], vol. 11 (), nr 21 [Elfter Jahrgang] pp. 103-126 Leipzig: B. G. Teubner
Antike Beobachtungen farbiger Sterne. Vorgelegt am 1. Juli 1916
Abhandlungen der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-philologische und historische Klasse [ABAW phil.-hist. Kl.], nr 30,1 Munich: Verlag der Königlichen Bayrischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Kommission G. Franz’scher Verlag der Königlichen Bayrischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Kommission des G. Franz’schen Verlags (J. Roth)
Abhandlungen der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-philologische und historische Klasse
shortseries
ABAW phil.-hist. Kl.
number
30,1
pagetotal
164
location
Munich
publisher
Verlag der Königlichen Bayrischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Kommission G. Franz’scher Verlag der Königlichen Bayrischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Kommission des G. Franz’schen Verlags (J. Roth)
Diodorus Siculus (II, 1-34) over Mesopotamië: Een historische Kommentaar
Verhandelingen van de Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schone Kunsten van België, Klasse der Letteren, vol. 49,122 Brussels: Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium
A Sumerian Observation of the Köfels’ Impact Event
sorttitle
Sumerian observation of the Koefels’ impact event, A
location
London
publisher
Alcuin Academics
year
2008
urldate
2014-01-24
language
english
abstract
Around 700 BC an Assyrian scribe in the Royal Place at Nineveh made a copy of one of the most important documents in the royal collection. Two and a half thousand years later it was found by Henry Layard in the remains of the palace library. It ended up in the British Museum’s cuneiform clay tablet collection as catalogue No. K8538 (also called “the Planisphere”), where it has puzzled scholars for over a hundred and fifty years. In this monograph Bond and Hempsell provide the first comprehensive translation of the tablet, showing it to be a contemporary Sumerian observation of an Aten asteroid over a kilometre in diameter that impacted Köfels in Austria in the early morning of 29th June 3123 BC.
keywords
K 8538
timestamp
2014-01-24
bibmas_src
\cite{walker2013bibliograp} [year 2008]
walker_note
[a suggested interpretation of the Neo-Assyrian planisphere K.8538]
Symbolae Biblicae et Mesopotamicae Francisco Mario Theodoro de Liagre Böhl dedicatae [Fs Böhl]; ed. by Beek et al. [=NINO Studia Francisci Scholten Memoriae Dicata, nr 4] pp. 38-55 Leiden: Brill
Supplement zu Band I. Anhang: Zur Kuyunjik-Sammlung
maintitle
Handbuch der Keilschriftliteratur
shortmaintitle
HKL
volume
2
volumes
3
location
Berlin
publisher
Walter de Gruyter
year
1975
url
http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/57157
urldate
2013-12-04
timestamp
2013-12-04
bibmas_src
Bibliography “Cuneiform Mathematical texts” (unknown parent, pp 219-335) #and# \cite{gent2004generallit} [General Overviews on the History, Culture \& Literature of Mesopotamia]
Inhaltliche Ordnung der sumerischen und akkadischen Texte. Anhang: Sekundärliteratur in Auswahl
maintitle
Handbuch der Keilschriftliteratur
shortmaintitle
HKL
volume
3
volumes
3
pagetotal
168
location
Berlin
publisher
Walter de Gruyter
year
1975
url
http://www.degruyter.com/view/product/55582
urldate
2013-12-04
language
german
timestamp
2013-12-04
bibmas_src
Bibliography “Cuneiform Mathematical texts” (unknown parent, pp 219-335) #and# \cite{gent2004generallit} [General Overviews on the History, Culture \& Literature of Mesopotamia]
Das dritte “Haus” der Serie bīt rimki (VR 50-51, Schollmeyer HGŠ NR. 1)
Journal of Cuneiform Studies [JCS], vol. 21 () [Special Volume Honoring Professor Albrecht Goetze [Fs Goetze]] pp. 1-17 Boston: The American Schools of Oriental Research
@article
K 4872 + Rm 110,
K 3138 + K 4816A,
K 3462,
K 3927,
K 4610 + K 4881,
K 4654 + Rm 2 213,
K 4830 + Sm 133 + Sm 139,
K 4922 + K 11953,
K 4986,
K 5069 + K 5250,
K 5135,
K 5248,
K 8934,
Sm 166 + Sm 600 + Sm 845 + Sm 1461 + Sm 1466 + Sm 1567 + Sm 2062,
Das dritte “Haus” der Serie bīt rimki (VR 50-51, Schollmeyer HGŠ NR. 1)
sorttitle
003. Haus der Serie bit rimki (VR 50-51, Schollmeyer HGS NR. 1), Das
journal
Journal of Cuneiform Studies
shortjournal
JCS
volume
21
issuetitle
Special Volume Honoring Professor Albrecht Goetze
shortissuetitle
Fs Goetze
pages
1-17
location
Boston
publisher
The American Schools of Oriental Research
year
1967
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1359353
doi
10.2307/1359353
urldate
2014-05-19
language
english
keywords
K 4872 + Rm 110, K 3138 + K 4816A, K 3462, K 3927, K 4610 + K 4881, K 4654 + Rm 2 213, K 4830 + Sm 133 + Sm 139, K 4922 + K 11953, K 4986, K 5069 + K 5250, K 5135, K 5248, K 8934, Sm 166 + Sm 600 + Sm 845 + Sm 1461 + Sm 1466 + Sm 1567 + Sm 2062, Sm 728, LKA 75, BM 40807 = 81-2-4.353
Bibliography “Cuneiform Mathematical texts” (unknown parent, pp 219-335) #and# \cite{gent2004generallit} [General Overviews on the History, Culture \& Literature of Mesopotamia]
Synchronous History of the Reign of: Tiglath-Pileser and Azariah, Shalmanezer and Jotham, Sargon and Ahaz, Sennacherib and Hezekiah, From B.C. 745 to 688 [Synchronous History of Assyria and Judea]
Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology [Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch.], vol. 3 () pp. 1-82 London: Longmans, Greens, Reader & Dyer
Synchronous History of the Reign of: Tiglath-Pileser and Azariah, Shalmanezer and Jotham, Sargon and Ahaz, Sennacherib and Hezekiah, From B.C. 745 to 688
shorttitle
Synchronous History of Assyria and Judea
journal
Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology
The second portion of the fifth tablet relates to the months of the Babylonian year, and to their arrangement in sets of three to make up the seasons, and in lines 8 to 18 there is given a description of the lunation and the various phases of the moon in its monthly cycle.
In the ACADEMY of July 6 M. Lenormant questions the rendering which I suggested in my article of September 1, 1877, for the group (occurring in the third line of the first Creation Tablet), which is the name given to the male element in the primordial pair, the parents of all things.
The discovery of a series of inscribed cuneiform tablets containing the Babylonian cosmogonic legends is one of the most important results yet obtained from cuneiform decipherment.
THE tablet which forms the subject of my present communication is the fifth in order in the cosmogonic series, and relates to the creation of the sun, moon, and stars, and to the chronometric purposes for which they were ordained. I now give my reading of the document, and then proceed to explain the nature of its contents.
At the present season of the year, when there commences an annual inundation of almanacs and calendars for the coming year, it may be of interest to some of the readers of the ACADEMY to be initiated into the secrets of a calendar of the ancient Babylonian empire.
L’astrologie mésopotamienne: L’astrologie dans son plus vieil état
Les astres. Actes du Colloque International de Montpellier, 1995, vol. 1 [of 2]: Les astres et les mythes: la description du ciel; ed. by Bakhouche et al. pp. 159-182 Montpellier: Publications de la recherch, Université Paul Valéry
\cite{walker2013bibliograp} #and# \cite{gent2004astrologyo} [Astrology in General] and \url{http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital-collections/bibliotheca-astrologica/mesopotamie/}
Our ancestors, the Mesopotamians, invented writing and with it a new way of looking at the world. In this collection of essays, the French scholar Jean Bottero attempts to go back to the moment which marks the very beginning of history. To give the reader some sense of how Mesopotamian civilization has been mediated and interpreted in its transmission through time, Bottero begins with an account of Assyriology, the discipline devoted to the ancient culture. This transmission, compounded with countless discoveries, would not have been possible without the surprising decipherment of the cuneiform writing system. Bottero also focuses on divination in the ancient world, contending that certain modes of worship in Mesopotamia, in their application of causality and proof, prefigure the “scientific mind.”
origdate
1987
origlanguage
french
origlocation
Paris
origpublisher
Editions Gallimard
origsubtitle
l’écriture, la raison et les dieux
origtitle
Mésopotamie
timestamp
2014-03-09
addendum
seealso \cite{bottero1987mesopotami}
bibmas_src
\cite{gent2004generallit} [General Overviews on Mesopotamian Civilisation] #and# \cite{gent2004astrologyo} [The Substitute King Ritual] (concerning translation of \cite{bottero1978lesubstitu})
Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes Études, IVe Section, Sciences historiques et philologiques
number
328
pages
100-112
pagetotal
349
location
Paris
publisher
Librairie Honoré Champion
year
1985
abstract
Cet important ouvrage est entièrement consacré à deux domaines de l’ancienne Mésopotamie : la Mythologie, au sens le plus large du mot, qui se recoupe, en somme, avec l’optique et l’idéologie d’hommes encore incapables de raisonner autrement qu’en images et en histoires ; et les pratiques rituelles de l’Exorcisme, profondément pénétré de pensée mythologique et le plus puissant expédiant qu’eussent jamais trouvé ces gens contre le parasite de l’existence humaine : le Mal. Ces deux domaines ont été assidûment explorés par Jean Bottéro, parce qu’ils lui paraissent encore trop négligés, en Assyriologie, et pourtant à la fois spécifiques de cette civilisation très antique, et porteurs de progrès qui y ont préparé la nôtre.
reprintdate
1996
reprintisbn
2-05-102156-2
reprintlocation
Genève
reprintpublisher
Slatkine reprints
timestamp
2013-09-10
comment
\cite{soden1987reviewbott}
bibmas_note
[contains studies of Enuma elish and minor Akkadian creation stories with translations]
Journal asiatique: ou recueil de mémoires, d’extraits et de notices relatifs à l’histoire, à la philosophie, aux langues et à la littérature des peuples orientaux [JA], ser. 9 (), nr 5 pp. 142-152 Paris: Ernest Leroux
Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of the Center for Archaeoastronomy, vol. 9 (), nr 1-4 pp. 187-194 College Park, MD: Center for Archaeoastronomy, University of Maryland
Meton of Athens and Astronomy in the Late Fifth Century BC
A Scientific Humanist: Studies in Memory of Abraham Sachs [Fs Sachs]; ed. by Leichty et al. [=Occasional publications of the Samuel Noah Kramer Fund, nr 9] pp. 39-81 Philadelphia: The University Museum
The Role of Observations in Ptolemy’s Lunar Theories
Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination; ed. by Swerdlow [Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology ser.] pp. 341-356 Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press
Babylonian astronomy is characteristic for being numerical and for concentrating on special phases – calculating the Moon’s position not as a function of time, but calculating the times and positions at which some special events took place.
Empirie contra Theorie: Zur Entwicklung und Deutung der babylonischen Astronomie
AKAN – Antike Naturwissenschaft und ihre Rezeption, Band VI; ed. by Döhring et al. [=Antike Naturwissenschaft und ihre Rezeption [AKAN], nr 6] pp. 7-16 Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier
Die Rolle der Astronomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens; ed. by Galter [=Grazer Morgenländische Studien, nr 3] pp. 331-358 Graz: RM Druck-und Verlagsgesellschaft
Konsistenz zwischen Kolonne Φ und babylonischen Aufzeichnungen der “Luna Four”
Ad Radices: Festband zum 50jährigen Bestehen des Instituts für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften der J.W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main; ed. by von Gotstedter pp. 45-64 Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag
Methods for Understanding and Reconstructing Babylonian Predicting Rules
Writings of Early Scholars in the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Rome and Greece: Translating Ancient Scientific Texts, : Writings of Early Scholars in the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Rome and Greece; ed. by Imhausen et al. [=Beiträge zur Altertumskunde, nr 286] pp. 277-298 Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter
Otto Neugebauer’s Visits to Copenhagen and His Connection to Denmark
A Mathematician’s Journeys: Otto Neugebauer and Modern Transformations of Ancient Science; ed. by Jones et al. [=Archimedes: New Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, nr 45] pp. 107-126 New York, Berlin, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, and London: Springer Science
History of Science, University of Regensburg, D-93040, Regensburg, Germany
title
Otto Neugebauer’s Visits to Copenhagen and His Connection to Denmark
editor
Jones, Alexander and Proust, Christine and Steele, John M.
booktitle
A Mathematician’s Journeys
booksubtitle
Otto Neugebauer and Modern Transformations of Ancient Science
series
Archimedes: New Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
number
45
pages
107-126
location
New York, Berlin, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, and London
publisher
Springer Science
year
2016
url
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25865-2_3
doi
10.1007/978-3-319-25865-2_3
urldate
2017-06-23
abstract
Otto Neugebauer visited Copenhagen twice, on Harald Bohr’s invitation. The first visit, during the year 1924/1925, resulted in two papers, one of which is the only paper on pure mathematics that Neugebauer ever wrote. Later, as Neugebauer had to leave Germany due to severe problems with the Nazi regime, he obtained a sponsored professorship during the years 1934-1939. This paper covers Neugebauer’s first sojourn in Copenhagen and describes how his situation in Göttingen became unbearable and forced him to leave Germany. It also reports on the Bohr brothers’ assistance for scientists who had to flee from Germany and on Neugebauer’s friendship with Harald Bohr. Finally it focuses on Neugebauer’s activities in Copenhagen during the years 1934-1939: his research and collaboration with Danish Egyptologists, his teaching, and his relationship to his first doctoral student, Olaf Schmidt, who was my teacher.
Ancient and Modern Utilization of the Lunar Data Recorded on the Babylonian Goal-Year Tablets
Actes de la Vème Conférence Anuelle de la SEAC; ed. by Le Beuf et al. [Światowit. Supplement series H, Anthropology, Nr. 2 ser.] pp. 13-39 Warsaw: Institute of Archaeology, Warsaw University
Predictions of Lunar Phenomena in Babylonian Astronomy
Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East; ed. by Steele et al. [=Alter Orient und Altes Testament: Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments [AOAT], nr 297] pp. 5-20 Münster: Ugarit-Verlag
Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination; ed. by Swerdlow [Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology ser.] pp. 149-177 Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press
Astronomische Keilschrifttexte aus dem alten Mesopotamien: Geschichte ihrer Entzifferung und Deutung
Atheistischer und jüdisch-christlicher Glaube: Wie wird Naturwissenschaft geprägt?, vol. 2: Naturwissenschaftliche Aussagen und sozial verantwortbare Entscheidungen. Forschungs-Symposium 2009 an der Universität Regensburg; ed. by Thim-Mabrey et al. pp. 261-300 Norderstedt: Books on Demand
Mitteilungen der mathematischen Gesellschaft in Hamburg [Mitt. Math. Ges. Hamburg], vol. 33 () pp. 47-77 Hamburg: Mathematische Gesellschaft in Hamburg
Prediction of Days and Pattern of the Babylonian Lunar Six
Archiv für Orientforschung: Internationale Zeitschrift für die Wissenschaft vom Vorderen Orient [AfO], vol. 52 () pp. 156-178 Vienna: Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)/Institut für Orientalistik
Dieser Artikel behandelt den babylonischen Kalender – er enthält aber auch Hinweise zur babylonischen Astronomie. Die babylonische Astronomie ist die früheste hoch entwickelte Astronomie der Welt, die durch schriftliche Zeugnisse (Keilschrifttafeln) dokumentiert ist. Dadurch haben wir Einsichten in die verschiedenen Entwicklungsstufen der babylonischen Astronomie bekommen. Die Bibliographie umfasst die wichtigsten neueren Arbeiten darüber.
eventtitle
Maß, Zahl und Geometrie in der Vor- und Frühgeschichte – Anfänge der Mathematik und der Astronomie
eventdate
2008-10-24/2008-10-26
venue
Berlin
organization
Museums für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin and Gesellschaft für Archäoastronomie e.V.
Archiv für Orientforschung: Internationale Zeitschrift für die Wissenschaft vom Vorderen Orient [AfO], vol. 48/49 () pp. 244-247 Vienna: Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)/Institut für Orientalistik
AKAN – Antike Naturwissenschaft und ihre Rezeption, Band X [=Antike Naturwissenschaft und ihre Rezeption [AKAN], nr 10] pp. 7-11 Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier
Babylonische Astronomie: Teilgebiet der Mesopotamischen Weisheit und dennoch exakte Naturwissenschaft
Berichte aus dem IBZ [=Berichte aus dem Internationalen Begegnungszentrum der Wissenschaft – eine Auswahl der Veranstaltungen [Berichte / IBZ], nr 1] Munich: Internationales Begegnungszentrum der Wissenschaft
A Construction of Column Φ from Horizontal Observations
sorttitle
Babylonian Lunar Theory, On the
journal
Centaurus
journalsubtitle
International Magazine of the History of Science and Medicine
volume
33
number
1
pages
39-56
location
Copenhagen
publisher
Munksgaard International Publishers
year
1990
doi
10.1111/j.1600-0498.1990.tb00719.x
urldate
2014-10-10
abstract
We demonstrate that column Φ in System A of the Babylonian moon ephemerides can be derived from such horizontal phenomena as were observed and recorded by the Babylonians. Combining four of the so-called “Lunar Six” in such a way that the effects of the oblique ascension are eliminated, we obtain a curve which oscillates, indeed, with the exact period and the approximate amplitude of Φ. Our curve (which we call S̀) also contains oscillations with the approximate period of the Saros and allows us to find the period relation which is underlying column Φ. Herewith it has been shown for the first time that the length of the anomalistic month can be derived from horizontal observations.
We investigate “shell structure” from Babylonian times: periodicities and beats in computer-simulated lunar data corresponding to those observed by Babylonian scribes some 2500 years ago. We discuss the mathematical similarity between the Babylonians’ recently reconstructed method of determining one of the periods of the moon with modern Fourier analysis and the interpretation of shell structure in finite fermion systems (nuclei, metal clusters, quantum dots) in terms of classical closed or periodic orbits.
On the “Atypical Astronomical Cuneiform Text E”: A mean value scheme for predicting lunar attitude
[]
Archiv für Orientforschung: InternationaleZeitschrift für die Wissenschaft vom VorderenOrientInternationaleZeitschrift für die Wissenschaft vom VorderenOrient [AfO], vol. 51 () pp. 96-107 Vienna: Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)/Institut für Orientalistik
Astronomical Significance of Partial Sums of the Lunar Four
sorttitle
Foundations of the Babylonian Column Phi, On the
journal
Centaurus
journalsubtitle
International Magazine of the History of Science and Medicine
volume
37
number
3
pages
183-209
location
Copenhagen
publisher
Munksgaard International Publishers
year
1994
doi
10.1111/j.1600-0498.1994.tb00008.x
urldate
2014-10-10
abstract
A characteristic feature of the Babylonian mathematical astronomy is the use of periodically varying functions in the form of sequences of numbers (e.g. arithmetic progressions, zig-zag functions, or piecewise constant step functions) to describe periodically occurring astronomical phenomena. One major achievement of the Babylonian astronomers consists in a very precise determination of the periods of the number sequences used in their ephemeris texts. Any reconstruction of the Babylonian calculation schemes must explain how the fundamental periods or period relations can be determined empirically by such astronomical observations as were compiled in the Babylonian Diaries.This paper is concerned with the Babylonian moon ephemerides. The fundamental periods used here are the length P⊙ of the more empirically founded and less theoretically than believed until now.
Babylonian Mathemagics: Two Mathematical Astronomical-Astrological Texts
Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences in Honour of David Pingree [Fs Pingree]; ed. by Burnett et al. [=Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science, Texts and Studies, nr 54] pp. 95-125 Leiden: Brill
Eclipse Prediction and the Length of the Saros in Babylonian Astronomy
journal
Centaurus
journalsubtitle
International Magazine of the History of Science and Medicine
volume
47
number
3
pages
181-206
location
Copenhagen
publisher
Munksgaard International Publishers
year
2005
doi
10.1111/j.1600-0498.2005.470301.x
urldate
2013-10-22
abstract
The Saros cycle of 223 synodic months played an important role in Late Babylonian astronomy. It was used to predict the dates of future eclipse possibilities together with the times of those eclipses and underpinned the development of mathematical lunar theories. The excess length of the Saros over a whole number of days varies due to solar and lunar anomaly between about 6 and 9 h. We here investigate two functions which model the length of the Saros found in Babylonian sources: a simple zigzag function with an 18-year period presented on the tablet BM 45861 and a function which varies with the month of the year constructed from rules found on the important procedure text TU 11. These functions are shown to model nature very well and to be closely related. We further conclude that these functions are the likely source of the Saros lengths used to calculate the times of predicted eclipses and were probably known by at latest the mid-sixth-century BC.
keywords
BM 45861, TU 11
timestamp
2013-10-22
bibmas_file
bibmas_src
\cite{walker2013bibliograp} #and# \cite{gent2004lunarsolar} [Lunar \& Solar Eclipses]
BM 57980: A Wrong Version of the Excellent Predicting Rule R
Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes [WZKM], vol. 97 () [Festschrift für Hermann Hunger zum 65. Geburtstag: gewidmet von seinen Freunden, Kollegen und Schülern [Fs Hunger]] pp. 35-41 Vienna: Verlag des Instituts für Orientalistik
Süßwasserkrabben und das Sternbild Krebs: Kulturgeschichte der Süßwasserkrabben in den mesopotamischen Hochkulturen
Natur und Museum: Bericht der Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung [NuM], vol. 129 (), nr 3 pp. 73-82 Frankfurt/Main: Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung
Die Rolle der Astronomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens; ed. by Galter [=Grazer Morgenländische Studien, nr 3] pp. 367-382 Graz: RM Druck-und Verlagsgesellschaft
The tables and computer programs detailed in Planetary Programs and Tables From -4000 to +2800 allow the computation of the positions of the Sun, and 7 planets with a precision better than 0.01 degree over the period -4000, +2000 for Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn and +1600 to +2800 for Uranus and Neptune. Until now, the astronomical tables covering large historic and prehistoric periods give the geocentric positions of the planets for equidistant dates. As an example, the tables of B. Tuckerman give the positions of the Sun and planets at 5-(Mercury, Venus) or 10-day (Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) intervals over the -600 to +1649. Coordinates are the longitude of the Sun, the geocentric longitudes and the geocentric latitudes of the planets. Such tables, over the entire period from -4000 to +2600 would include over 3,700,000 numbers and would constitute a 3,000 page book. Instead, compact tables and simple computations of the Sun and planets on a small computer are described in this book. Time-dependent expansions of the longitude and radius vector of the Sun as well as the heliocentric coordinates of the planets are provided. These coordinates refer to the mean equinox and ecliptic of date. For the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars each coordinate is represented in Planetary Programs and Tables From -4000 to +2800 by only by one formula provided for the entire period -4000 to +2600. This formula includes between 5 and 60 terms depending on the coordinate and planet. For Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune the coordinates are expressed for time-spans of five years by power series with seven coefficients. The period -4000, +2600 is then constituted by 1320 time-spans of five years. In addition to the tables, formulae for corrections of aberration and nutation which allow you to compute apparent geocentric coordinates are provided.
Berossos and the Mesopotamian Temples as Centre of Knowledge during the Hellenistic Period
Learned Antiquity: Scholarship and Society in the Near East, the Greco-Roman World, and the Early Medieval West; ed. by MacDonald et al. [=Groningen Studies in Cultural Change, nr 5] pp. 13-23 Leuven: Peeters Publishers
Chronologies of the Near East 3500-2000 B.C.: The Sixtieth Anniversary Symposium of the Oriental Institute
The Oriental Institute Annual Report 1979-1980 [Annual Report 1979-80]; ed. by Brinkman et al. [OI Annual Reports] ch.: IV (Scholarship), pp. 55-62 Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago
The purpose of the present study is to investigate the political history of Babylonia from the rise of the Second Dynasty of Isin (c. 1158 B.C.) to the death of Shalmaneser V (722 B.C.). The author’s discussion is limited almost entirely to political history, that is the inquiry into the internal and external activity of the body politic, as exemplified in the workings of the government and especially in the focus of political life in ancient Babylonia, the king.
timestamp
2015-04-22
bibmas_file
bibmas_src
\cite{gent2004astronomic} [Solar Eclipse in the “Religious Chronicle”]
From Ancient Omens to Statistical Mechanics: Essays on the Exact Sciences Presented to Asger Aaboe on His 65. Birthday, 26 April 1987 [Fs Aaboe]; ed. by Berggren et al. [=Acta Historica Scientiarum Naturalium et Medicinalium, nr 39] pp. 23-36 Copenhagen: University Library
An Early Observation Text for Mars: HSM 1899.2.112 (= HSM 1490)
Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences in Honour of David Pingree [Fs Pingree]; ed. by Burnett et al. [=Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science, Texts and Studies, nr 54] pp. 33-55 Leiden and Boston: Brill
Burnett, Charles and Hogendijk, Jan P. and Plofker, K. and Yano, Michio
booktitle
Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences in Honour of David Pingree
shortbooktitle
Fs Pingree
series
Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science, Texts and Studies
number
54
pages
33-55
location
Leiden and Boston
publisher
Brill
year
2004
crossRef
burnett2004fspingree
timestamp
2013-10-22
bibmas_src
\cite{walker2013bibliograp} #and# Ossendrijver’s notes #and# Ossendrijver’s collection #and# \cite{gent2004planetarym} [Observations and Theories of the Motion of Mars]
Die Rolle der Astronomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens; ed. by Galter [=Grazer Morgenländische Studien, nr 3] pp. 61-76 Graz: RM Druck-und Verlagsgesellschaft
Treatments of Annual Phenomena in Cuneiform Sources
Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East [AOAT 297]; ed. by Steele et al. [=Alter Orient und Altes Testament: Veröffentlichungen zur Kultur und Geschichte des Alten Orients und des Alten Testaments [AOAT], nr 297] pp. 21-78 Münster: Ugarit-Verlag
Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination; ed. by Swerdlow [Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology ser.] pp. 187-254 Cambridge, MA and London: MIT Press
Mining the Archives: Festschrift for Christopher Walker on the Occasion of his 60th Birthday [Fs Walker]; ed. by Wunsch [=Babylonische Archive, nr 1] pp. 35-36 Dresden: ISLET-Verlag
This paper is the third of a multi-part examination of the Babylonian mathematical lunar theories known as Systems A and B. Part I (Britton, AHES 61: 83-145, 2007) addressed the development of the empirical elements needed to separate the effects of lunar and solar anomaly on the intervals between syzygies, accomplished in the construction of the System A lunar theory early in the fourth century B.C. Part II (Britton, AHES 63: 357-431, 2009) examines the accomplishment of this separation by the construction of a successful theory depicting the variations due to lunar anomaly in System A and its subsequent adaptation in System B. The present paper examines the introduction of the uniform zodiac, necessary for any theory depicting variations depending on the position of syzygy. It addresses three questions: (1) In light of all available evidence, what is the magnitude of the constant term in the expression Δλ* = C – 1.3828°Y, describing the difference between the Babylonian sidereal longitudes and modern tropical longitudes? (2) What considerations governed the placement of the Babylonian sidereal zodiac relative to the fixed stars? (3) When was the uniform zodiac introduced? To the first question it finds C = 3.20 ° ± 0.1°, scarcely different from Huber’s (Centaurus 5: 192-208,1958) estimate of 3.08°, essentially confirming Huber’s result obtained from much less data. For the second it shows that accommodating the three asterisms comprising Taurus limited the placement of the zodiac to within 3°, while the prominence of half sign multiples among the measured intervals between prominent Normal Stars led irresistibly to the choice adopted. Finally, it finds that the zodiac was introduced between -408 and -397 and probably within a very few years of -400.
This paper is the second of a multi-part examination of the creation of the Babylonian mathematical lunar theories known as Systems A and B. Part I (Britton 2007) addressed the development of the empirical elements needed to separate the effects of lunar and solar anomaly on the intervals between syzygies. This was accomplished in the construction of the System A lunar theory by an unknown author, almost certainly in the city of Babylon and probably early in the 4th century B.C. The present paper focuses mainly on System A and the likely process of its construction. The first three sections are largely descriptive - first of the basic concepts which underlie the theory; then of the component schemes comprising the theory; and finally of two distinctive texts which suggest how the theory was constructed. The crux of the paper is Sect. 4, which describes how the theory seems likely to have been constructed. Here the crucial insight in separating the effects of lunar and solar anomaly appears to have been recognizing that – of all the measurable intervals bounded by eclipses – only 235 months exhibits a variation due solely to lunar anomaly, and that by means of an elegant mathematical model the amplitudes of 223 and 12 months could be deduced from its amplitude. The rest of the section describes the likely details of the derivation of the Φ ~ Λ scheme, and the extension of the methodology to the other components of the theory. It concludes with a demonstration that Φ and its dependent schemes were anchored through the Φ ~ W scheme to the syzygy on -403 Aug 18 (GN 7391) which concluded the shortest 6-month interval in the first 24 saros cycles since -746 (and in fact in the 900 years separating Nabonassar and Ptolemy). The next three sections address a number of largely technical details and amplifications of the theory, beginning with the schemes describing the variation of lunar velocity (column F) in Sect. 5. Section 6 addresses issues concerning the interpretation of Φ and the so-call Saros Text (BM 36705), while Sect. 7 discusses System B’s corresponding treatment of the effects of lunar anomaly, illustrating both its derivative nature and mathematically less rigorous structure. Section 8 examines the accuracy of the two theories, showing that the System A theory was both remarkably accurate and superior to System B. The final section offers some brief remarks on the power and elegance of the mathematical treatment of the problem by the author of System A.
Empirical Elements for Modeling Lunar and Solar Anomalies
journal
Archive for History of Exact Sciences
shortjournal
AHES
volume
61
number
2
pages
83-145
location
New York, Berlin, and Heidelberg
publisher
Springer Science
year
2007
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41134242
doi
10.1007/s00407-006-0121-9
urldate
2014-01-30
language
english
abstract
Perhaps the most remarkable and far reaching achievement of Babylonian astronomy was the creation of a unified and comprehensive lunar theory, which combined competent mathematical models of the effects of lunar and solar anomaly. The invention of the first comprehensive lunar theory, known as System A, appears to have occured in the city of Babylon shortly after the beginning of the 4th century B.C. Roughly a century later an alternative theory known as System B was developed, possibly in Uruk, which addressed the same issues with different mathematical schemes, introduced a few improved parameters, and accomplished at least one substantive improvement in the treatment of solar anomaly. In between there is evidence of transitional developments, and subsequently some evidence of further attempts at refinements, but essentially these two versions of lunar theory were the apex of Babylonian scientific astronomy.
On Corrections for Solar Anomaly in Babylonian Lunar Theories
Centaurus: International Magazine of the History of Science and Medicine, vol. 45 (), nr 1-4 [Festschrift Goldstein [Fs Goldstein]] pp. 46-58 Copenhagen: Munksgaard International Publishers
Ptolemy’s Determination of the Obliquity of the Ecliptic
Centaurus: International Magazine of the History of Science and Medicine, vol. 14 (), nr 1 [Festschrift for Otto Neugebauer [Fs Neugebauer]] pp. 29-41 Copenhagen: Munksgaard International Publishers
On the Quality of Solar and Lunar Observations and Parameters in Ptolemy’s Almagest
sorttitle
quality of solar and lunar observations and parameters in Ptolemy’s Almagest, On the
location
New Haven, CT
institution
Yale University
type
phdthesis
year
1967
language
eng
timestamp
2013-12-05
bibmas_src
\cite{walker2013bibliograp}: “Appendix (other publications by authors cited above, and various marginally relevant items) [NB. This list does not include all the articles in Astronomy before the Telescope]”
Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes [WZKM], vol. 97 () [Festschrift für Hermann Hunger zum 65. Geburtstag: gewidmet von seinen Freunden, Kollegen und Schülern [Fs Hunger]] pp. 213-217 Vienna: Verlag des Instituts für Orientalistik
Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes [WZKM], vol. 97 () [Festschrift für Hermann Hunger zum 65. Geburtstag: gewidmet von seinen Freunden, Kollegen und Schülern [Fs Hunger]] pp. 43-54 Vienna: Verlag des Instituts für Orientalistik
Britton, John Phillips and Walker, Christopher B. F.
sortkey
Britton.J:1991_4thCenturyBabylonian
title
A 4th Century Babylonian Model for Venus
subtitle
B.M. 33552
sorttitle
004th Century Babylonian Model for Venus, A: B.M. 33552
journal
Centaurus
journalsubtitle
International Magazine of the History of Science and Medicine
volume
34
number
2
pages
97-118
location
Copenhagen
publisher
Munksgaard International Publishers
year
1991
doi
10.1111/j.1600-0498.1991.tb00690.x
urldate
2013-08-23
abstract
Despite its prominence astronomically and historically, Venus is poorly represented in the scientific astronomical texts of the late Babylonian period. Among the roughly 330 known scientific astronomical texts only 12 concern Venus, and these include only fragments of 2 procedure texts. As a result our knowledge of late Babylonian models for Venus is still very fragmentary. Thus the discovery of a text describing a new model for Venus is a welcome one. Also rare in the corpus of late Babylonian astronomical texts are pre-Seleucid texts, which may offer some insight into the development of scientific astronomy in Babylon. The text which we publish here dates from the 4th century B.C., in contrast to most of the ACT-type texts for Venus from Babylon, which date to the late 2nd or 1st centuries B.C. At present the only other such text concerning Venus from pre-Seleucid times is BM 36301.
This work reviews the history of the development of the theory of lunar motion over a period of almost three-thousand years, extending from ancient Babylonia to the present time. The exposition is in the form of stories about the scientists who helped to develop this theory. Particular attention is given to how scientists have “taught” computers to derive lunar-motion formulas from specified algorithms; it is noted that the use of computers has made it possible to determine the position of the moon to within several centimeters.
Misinformation on Mesopotamian Exact Sciences: Historiography in the Cuneiform World
Proceedings of the XLVe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale [RAI 45 Proceedings]; ed. by Abusch Tzvi et al.; vol. 1 [of 2] pp. 79-89 Bethesda, MD: CDL Press
At the Dawn of History: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honour ofJ. N. Postgate; ed. by Heffron Yağmur et al.; vol. 1 pp. 55-72 Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns
Highlights of Astronomy, vol. 12 () [As presented at the XXIVth General Assembly of the IAU – 2000 [Manchester, UK, 7 – 18 August 2000]] pp. 313-316 San Francisco, CA: Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Cuneiform tablets from Babylonia record lunar and solar eclipses, the presence and movement of comets, meteors and meteor showers. These have provided historical astronomers with much valuable data, but caution must be exercised when using such records, for accuracy of observation often ceded to astrological intent. In the future, texts from Assyria may also provide useful data for historical astronomers.
keywords
/
eventtitle
XXIVth General Assembly of the IAU – 2000
eventdate
2000-08-07/2000-08-18
venue
Manchester, UK
timestamp
2015-06-03
bibmas_file
bibmas_src
\cite{gent2004astronomic} [Other Reports and General Discussions]
Mining the Archives: Festschrift for Christopher Walker on the occasion of his 60th Birthday [Fs Walker]; ed. by Wunsch [=Babylonische Archive, nr 1] pp. 37-56 Dresden: ISLET-Verlag
Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia (1999), Hunger H & Pingree D [Review]
journal
Bibliotheca Orientalis
shortjournal
BiOr
volume
58
number
1-2
pages
41-59
location
Leuven
publisher
Peeters Publishers
year
2001
doi
10.2143/BIOR.58.1.2015707
urldate
2013-10-21
abstract
When Schumann reviewed Chopin’s Op.28 The Preludes on their first publication in 1839, he remarked: “Philistines must keep away!” The same could be said of Hunger and Pingree’s Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia. Only after some years of immersion in the intricacies of cuneiform language, and of wading through the difficulties of the mathematical methods employed, can some understanding of the Mesopotamian astral material be gained. And if these documents are to be appreciated not only in their own terms, but in terms of their rôle and importance when first written, prolonged exposure to what is known of ancient Mesopotamian culture is all-important. None of this is remarkable for so esoteric a discipline as Assyriology. It is, however, still noteworthy so far as Mesopotamian astronomy, in particular, is concerned, and goes to the heart of the problem lying behind Astral Sciences. Descriptions of cuneiform astronomy and astrology made by scholars who know little of the discipline because they have been unprepared even to go to the effort of reading the better secondary sources, let alone the primary ones, appear in every third rate “history of science” book. There are in effect two Mesopotamian astral sciences - the one that exists in the opening chapters of these general histories, and which relies on regurgitated interpretations of the excellent, but now dated, Science Awakening 2: The Birth of Astronomy (1974) by B.L. van der Waerden, or even O. Neugebauer’s (1957) The Exact Sciences in Antiquity (2nd edition) – and the one guarded by Assyriologists and a very few historians of astronomy.
Reviewof
\cite{hunger1999astralscie}
reviewof
Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia, Hunger H and Pingree D
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London [BSOAS], vol. 64 (), nr 3 pp. 401-402 Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Pliny wrote of Babylon that “here the creator of the science of astronomy was”. Excavations have shown this statement to be true. This book argues that the earliest attempts at the accurate prediction of celestial phenomena are indeed to be found in clay tablets dating to the 8th and 7th centuries BC from both Babylon and from Nineveh. The author carefully situates this astronomy within its cultural context, treating all available material from the relevant period, and also analysing the earlier astrological material and the later well-known ephemerides and related texts. A wholly new approach to cuneiform astral concerns emerges – one in which both celestial divination and the later astronomy are shown to be embedded in a prevailing philosophy dealing with the ideal nature of the early universe, and in which the dynamics of the celestial divination industry that surrounded the last Assyrian monarchs account for no less than the first recorded “scientific revolution”. This work closely adheres to the original textual sources, and argues for the evolution on the basis of the needs of the ancient scholars and the internal logic of the divinatory and predictive systems employed. To this end, it offers, for the first time, a Mesopotamian contribution to the philosophy, and not only the history, of science.
The significance to the modern world of Mesopotamian celestial divination and astronomy cannot be overstated. The names and the “ominous” values assigned to the heavenly bodies by the Mesopotamians underlie Western astrology, and have also influenced Indian astrology. Many of the key features in the astronomy of Hipparchus and Ptolemy, which later passed into the astronomy of the medieval world, were borrowed from the astronomers of Babylon and Uruk. The zodiac, the Metonic cycle, horoscopy, and a variety of astrological techniques are all first attested in Mesopotamia. The same goes for units, notably those divisions of space and time which are now used throughout the world (such as 60 minutes in an hour and 360° in a circle) which can be traced back to cuneiform antecedents.
Brown, David and Fermor, John and Walker, Christopher B. F.
sortkey
Brown.D:1999_WaterClockin
title
The Water Clock in Mesopotamia
sorttitle
Water Clock in Mesopotamia, The
journal
Archiv für Orientforschung
shortjournal
AfO
volume
46/47
pages
130-148
location
Vienna
publisher
Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO)/Institut für Orientalistik
year
1999
date
1999/2000
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/41668444
urldate
2013-10-21
language
english
abstract
This paper discusses the evidence pertaining to water clocks in Mesopotamia, revealing the serious flaws that exist in our current understanding of the devices and attempting to remedy this, while recognising the limitations inherent in the exercise. We possess no recognised examples, however fragmentary, from ancient Mesopotamia of outflowing water clocks. Any reconstruction of them relies on textual evidence and what is known to be both physically possible and impossible. J. Fermor undertook the experimental work. This paper also presents BM 29371, which was edited by C. B. F. Walker and published in a photograph in Astronomy before the Telescope (1996, ed. C. B. F. Walker) p. 47. BM 29371 describes weights, times and the lengths of shadows on various days through the year and was inscribed during the Late Babylonian period.
Brown, David R. and Linssen, Marc Johannes Hendrikus
sortkey
Brown.D:1997_BM134701196510
title
BM 134701=1965-10-14,1 and the Hellenistic Period Eclipse Ritual from Uruk
journal
Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale
shortjournal
RA
volume
91
number
2
pages
147-166
location
Paris
publisher
Presses Universitaires de France
year
1997
url
http://www.jstor.org/stable/23281910
urldate
2013-10-21
language
english
abstract
In this article, BM 134701, a Hellenistic period text from Uruk, is copied, translated and compared with other texts that describe a ritual enacted during that period and in that city in anticipation of and during an eclipse. In particular BM 134701 duplicates the end of MLC 1872, published by A. T. Clay in BRM IV (no. 6), and was probably the second of a two-tablet version of the eclipse ritual. It is perhaps from the same archive as MLC 1872. Its edition has revealed more clearly than before the magnitude of the ritual, the paraphernalia and songs used, the roles played by the temple personnel, and the king, and the recitation during it of certain texts-especially of utukkū lemnūti. All these aspects are discussed. Also, the structure of the two-tablet version can now be seen to be one in which the first section summarises the entire ritual and the following sections add more detail to the specific parts. This has permitted us to speculate on the possible development of the ritual. Dans cet article, BM 134701, un texte d’Uruk d’époque hellénistique, est publié en copie, transcription et traduction et comparé à d’autres textes qui décrivent un rituel exécuté à cette époque et dans cette ville avant et pendant une éclipse. BM 134701 duplique en particulier la fin de MLC 1872, publié par A. T. Clay dans BRM IV 6, et formait probablement le deuxième élément d’une version en deux tablettes du rituel de l’éclipse. Il provient peut-être de la même archive que MLC 1872. Son édition révèle plus clairement que précédemment l’ampleur du rituel, les paraphernalia et les chants qu’on y utilisait, les rôles joués par le personnel du temple et le roi, et la récitation qu’on y faisait de certains textes, en particulier utukkū lemnūti. Tous ces aspects sont commentés. En outre, on peut maintenant constater que la structure de la version en deux tablettes comportait une première section résumant le rituel dans son ensemble, les sections suivantes ajoutant des détails à chacune des parties. Cela nous a permis de faire des hypothèses sur le développement possible du rituel.
\cite{walker2013bibliograp}: “Appendix (other publications by authors cited above, and various marginally relevant items) [NB. This list does not include all the articles in Astronomy before the Telescope]”
Textes mathématiques de Suse: Mission de Susiane sous la direction de MM. G. Contenau et R. de Mecquenem [TMS]
Mémoires de la Mission Archéologique de Perse [=Mémoires de la Délégation en Perse, Mémoires de la Délégation Archéologique en Iran] [MDP/MMAI/MMAP], nr 34 Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner
orion: Zeitschrift für Amateur-Astronomie. Zeitschrift der Schweizerischen Astronomischen Gesellschaft / Bulletin de la Société astronomique de Suisse, vol. 37 (), nr 171 pp. 42-45 Schaffhausen: Schweizerische Astronomische Gesellschaft