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In Babylonia as well as in Assyria as a direct offshoot of Babylonian culture (or as we might also term it "Euphratean" culture), astrology takes its place in the official cult as one of the two chief means at the disposal of the priests (who were called bare or "inspectors") for ascertaining the will and intention of the gods, the other being through the inspection of the liver of the sacrificial animal (see omen). Ancient Semitic religion spans the Polytheistic religions of the Semitic speaking peoples of the Ancient Near East. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding In the Levantine pantheon the Elohim are the sons of El the ancient of days (olam assembled on the divine holy place Mount Zephon ( Jebel This is a sub-article to Pre-Islamic Arabia Arabian mythology comprises the ancient Pre-Islamic beliefs of the Arabs Prior to the The Yazidi (also Yezidi, Kurdish: ئزیدی or Êzidî, Arabic: يزيدي or ايزدي Assyrian/Syriac: ܓ̰ܠܟܝܐ is a Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian Akkadian Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris In Sumerian mythology and later for Assyrians and Babylonians Anu (also An; (from Sumerian *An = sky heaven was a sky-god Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian Akkadian Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris Ishtar ( D IŠTAR 𒀭𒌋𒁯 is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to The history of Astrology encompasses a great span of human history and many cultures In Babylonian mythology, Tiamat is the sea personified as a Goddess, and a monstrous embodiment of Primordial chaos. In Mesopotamian Mythology, the Tablet of Destinies (not as frequently misquoted in general works the 'Tablets of Destiny' was envisaged as a clay tablet inscribed The Anunna are the fifty great gods of Sumerian mythology. Some of them are associated with specific cities while others bear a strong resemblance to the functions of patron Zecharia Sitchin (born 1922 is an author of books promoting an Ancient astronaut theory of human origins Marduk ( Sumerian spelling in Akkadian: AMARUTU 𒀫 𒌓 "solar calf" perhaps from MERI Babylonian mythology is a set of stories depicting the activities of Babylonian deities, Heroes and Mythological creatures While these stories The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the earliest known works of literary fiction. The story of a Great Flood (also known as the Deluge) sent by a Deity or deities to destroy Civilization as an act of Divine retribution is a The category life-death-rebirth deity also known as a "dying-and-rising" or "Resurrection" Deity is a convenient means of classifying the many divinities Gilgamesh was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II first dynasty of Uruk ruling circa 2600 BC according to the Sumerian king The Cedar Forest is the glorious realm of the gods of Mesopotamian mythology. First Tablet Enkidu is the quintessential savage person in the beginning of the epic The whole of his body was hairy and his (uncut locks were like a woman's or the hair of Therianthropy (from n therianthrope and adj therianthropic, part man and part beast from the Greek theríon, θηρίον meaning "wild Zu, or Anzu in Persian and Sumerian, (from An "heaven" and Zu "far" in the Sumerian language) is a The Sumerian word lama, which is rendered in Akkadian as lamassu, refers to a beneficient protective female deity Kingu, also spelled Qingu meaning unskilled laborer was a god in Babylonian mythology and — after the murder of his father — the consort of the goddess Tiamat A creation myth is a supernatural mytho-[[religion religious]] story or explanation that describes the beginnings of humanity, Earth, life, and Resheph or Reshef (Canaanite/Hebrew sem-Latn ršp he רשף was a Canaanite deity of plague and war. In Mesopotamian mythology Namtar was a hellish Deity, god of death and the messenger of An, Ereshkigal, and Nergal. In Sumerian mythology, a me ( Sumerian, conventionally mɛ or ñe ( or parşu ( Akkadian) is Ma is a Sumerian word meaning "land" that in Sumerian mythology was also used to design the primeval land In Akkadian and Sumerian mythology, Irkalla (also Ir-Kalla, Irkalia) is the Hell -like Underworld from which there In the study of Mythology and Religion, the underworld (gr κάτω κόσμος) is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term Afterlife The Religions of the Ancient Near East were mostly Polytheistic, with some early examples of emerging Henotheism ( Atenism, early The Fertile Crescent is a Crescent -shaped region in the Middle East, originally incorporating the Levant and Ancient Mesopotamia, and often Astrology (from Greek grc ἄστρον astron, "constellation star" and grc -λογία -logia) is a group of Systems The history of Astrology encompasses a great span of human history and many cultures Astronomy is the oldest of the Natural sciences dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious, Mythological, and Astrological Astrology and astronomy are historically one and the same discipline ( Latin: astrologia) and were only gradually recognized as separate in western Persian Astrology has its roots in the Zend-Avesta parts of which are very similar to the Rig Veda The Chinese Zodiac is a 12 year cycle Each year of the 12 year cycle is named after one of the original 12 animals Hellenistic astrology is a tradition of Horoscopic astrology that was developed and practiced in Hellenistic Egypt and the Mediterranean, whose Jyotiṣa ( Sanskrit jyotiṣa, from jyótis- "light heavenly body" also spelled Jyotish and Jyotisha in English Sidereal astrology is the system of Astrology used by some Western and all Jyotish astrologers who base their interpretation around the use of the Western astrology is the system of Astrology most popular in Western countries This is an incomplete list of the different traditions types systems methods applications and branches of Astrology. Horoscopic astrology is a form of Astrology which uses a Horoscope, a visual representation of the heavens for a specific moment in time in order to interpret the Natal astrology, also known as genethliacal astrology, is the system of Astrology based upon the concept that each individual's personality or path in life can Electional astrology is a branch found in most systems of astrology Horary astrology is an ancient branch of Horoscopic astrology by which an astrologer attempts to answer a question by constructing a Horoscope for the exact time Mundane astrology is the application of Astrology to world affairs and world events taking its name from the Latin word Mundus, meaning "the This is an incomplete list of the different traditions types systems methods applications and branches of Astrology. Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Astrology (from Greek grc ἄστρον astron, "constellation star" and grc -λογία -logia) is a group of Systems This article discusses cult in the original and typically ancient sense of "religious practice" (cultus A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities See also List of deities A deity is a Postulated Preternatural or Supernatural Being, who is always The liver is a vital organ in the human body and is present in Vertebrates and some other animals An omen (also called portent or presage) is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the Future, often signifying the advent of change

Contents

History

Babylonian astrology was the first organized system of astrology, arising in the second millennium B. C. [1] By the 16th century B. C. its beginnings as a simple omen-based astrology had begun to take shape in the astrological writings of the time, most important of these being the Enuma Anu Enlil, whose contents consisted of 70 tablets of 7,000 recorded mundane (i. e. , public, common; famine or victory in war, for example) phenomena and whatever celestial occurrences happened to be present at the time of the event. At this time Babylonian astrology was solely mundane, and prior to the 7th century B. Mundane astrology is the application of Astrology to world affairs and world events taking its name from the Latin word Mundus, meaning "the C. the practitioners' understanding of astronomy was very rudimentary. Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study Because of their inability to accurately predict future celestial phenomena and planetary movement very far in advance, interpretations were done as the phenomena occurred or slightly before. By the 4th century, however, their mathematical methods had progressed enough to calculate future planetary positions with reasonable accuracy, at which point extensive ephemerides began to appear. An ephemeris (plural ephemerides; from the Greek word ἐφήμερος ephemeros "daily" is a table of values that gives the positions of [2]

Theory of divine government

Just as the sacrificial method of divination rested on a well-defined theory - to wit, that the liver was the seat of the soul of the animal and that the deity in accepting the sacrifice identified himself with the animal, whose "soul" was thus placed in complete accord with that of the god and therefore reflected the mind and will of the god - so astrology is sometimes purported to be based on a theory of divine government of the world. Divination (from Latin divinare "to be inspired by a god" related to Divine, Diva and Deus) is the attempt of ascertaining The soul, according to many religious and philosophical beliefs is the self-awareness, or Consciousness, unique to a particular living Sacrifice (from a Middle English verb meaning "to make sacred" from Old French, from Latin sacrificium: sacr, "sacred"

Starting with the indisputable fact that man's life and happiness are largely dependent upon phenomena in the heavens, that the fertility of the soil is dependent upon the sun shining in the heavens as well as upon the rains that come from heaven; and that, on the other hand, the mischief and damage done by storms and floods (both of which the Euphratean Valley was almost regularly subject to), were to be traced likewise to the heavens - the conclusion was drawn that all the great gods had their seats in the heavens.

In that early age of culture known as the "nomadic" stage, which under normal conditions precedes the "agricultural" stage, the moon cult is even more prominent than sun worship, and with the moon and sun cults thus furnished by the "popular" faith, it was a natural step for the priests, who correspond to the "scientists" of a later day, to perfect a theory of a complete accord between phenomena observed in the heavens and occurrences on earth. Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture "Sun god" redirects here For the Ramsey Lewis album see Sun Goddess (album.

Planets and gods

Further information: Babylonian calendar

Of the planets five were recognized - Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Mercury and Mars - to name them in the order in which they appear in the older cuneiform literature; in later texts Mercury and Saturn change places. The Babylonian calendar was a Lunisolar calendar with years consisting of 12 Lunar months each beginning when a new crescent moon was first sighted low A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a celestial body Orbiting a Star or stellar remnant that is

These five planets were identified with the gods of the Babylonian pantheon as follows:

The movements of the sun, moon and five planets were regarded as representing the activity of the five gods in question, together with the moon-god Sin and the sun-god Shamash, in preparing the occurrences on earth. The Sun (Sol is the Star at the center of the Solar System. A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a celestial body Orbiting a Star or stellar remnant that is Sin (Akkadian Sîn, Suen; Sumerian Nanna) is a Sumerian God in Mesopotamian mythology. For the Canaanite sun godess see Shemesh Shamash was the common Akkadian name of the Sun-god and god of justice in Babylonia If, therefore, one could correctly read and interpret the activity of these powers, one knew what the gods were aiming to bring about. See also List of deities A deity is a Postulated Preternatural or Supernatural Being, who is always

Babylonian observational records enabled Babylonian scholars to construct planetary theories by which to predict planetary phenomena. Modern scholars have reconstructed Theory A - it successfully calculates the heliacal phases of the Moon and the planets (New Crescent, Last Crescent, Acronychal Rise, Cosmic Setting, Morning First, Morning Last). [3]

The Babylonians were the first to name the Days of the week after the sun, moon and planets. The names of the days of the week in various world languages can be classified as either numerical or planetary; however in either case the names of one or more days Their naming scheme is still widely followed today in many languages, including English, and goes as follows:

Celestial houses

The Babylonians were also the first to set out the twelve houses of the horoscope. Most horoscopic traditions of astrology systems divide the Horoscope into a number (usually twelve of houses whose positions depend on time and location rather [4] The houses were numbered from the east downward under the horizon, and represented areas of life on the following pattern: 1. Life ; 2. Poverty/Riches ; 3. Brothers ; 4. Parents ; 5. Children ; 6. Illness/health ; 7. Wife/husband ; 8. Death ; 9. Religion ; 10. Dignities ; 11. Friendship ; 12. Enmity . These represent the basic outline of the houses as they are still understood today.

System of Interpretation

Detail of the Ishtar Gate in Babylon
Detail of the Ishtar Gate in Babylon

The Babylonian priests accordingly applied themselves to the task of perfecting a system of interpretation of the phenomena to be observed in the heavens, and it was natural that the system was extended from the moon, sun and five planets to the more prominent and recognizable fixed stars. Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities The Sun (Sol is the Star at the center of the Solar System. A planet, as defined by the International Astronomical Union (IAU is a celestial body Orbiting a Star or stellar remnant that is A star is a massive luminous ball of plasma. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the Energy on Earth

The interpretations themselves were based (as in the case of divination through the liver) chiefly on two factors:

Thus, if on a certain occasion, the rise of the new moon in a cloudy sky was followed by victory over an enemy or by abundant rain, the sign in question was thus proved to be a favourable one and its recurrence would thenceforth be regarded as a good omen, though the prognostication would not necessarily be limited to the one or the other of those occurrences, but might be extended to apply to other circumstances. An omen (also called portent or presage) is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the Future, often signifying the advent of change

On the other hand, the appearance of the new moon earlier than was expected was regarded as unfavourable - prognosticating in one case defeat, in another death among cattle, in a third bad crops - not necessarily because these events actually took place after such a phenomenon, but by an application of the general principle resting upon association of ideas whereby anything premature would suggest an unfavourable occurrence.

In this way a mass of traditional interpretation of all kinds of observed phenomena was gathered, and once gathered became a guide to the priests for all times. However, not all of these ideas are still used in astrology as it is usually practiced today.

Limits of early knowledge

Astrology in its earliest stage was marked by three characteristic limitations:

General nature

The first limitation was that the movements and position of the heavenly bodies point to such occurrences as are of public import and affect the general welfare. The individual's interests are not in any way involved, and we must descend many centuries and pass beyond the confines of Babylonia and Assyria before we reach that phase which in medieval and modern astrology is almost exclusively dwelt upon - the individual horoscope. Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture In Astrology, a horoscope is a chart or diagram representing the positions of the Sun Moon planets the Astrological aspects, and sensitive angles

In Babylonia and Assyria the cult centred largely and indeed almost exclusively in the public welfare and the person of the king, because upon his well-being and favour with the gods the fortunes of the country were dependent, in accordance with the ancient conception of kingship. Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture [5]

Astronomical expertise

The second limitation was that the astronomical knowledge presupposed and accompanying early Babylonian astrology was, though essentially of an empirical character, limited and flawed. The theory of the ecliptic as representing the course of the sun through the year, divided among twelve constellations with a measurement of 30° to each division, is of Babylonian origin, as has now been definitely proved; but it does not appear to have been perfected until after the fall of the Babylonian empire in 539 B. The ecliptic is the apparent path that the Sun traces out in the sky during the year The Sun (Sol is the Star at the center of the Solar System. A year (from Old English gēr) is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the Orbit of the Earth around the Sun In common usage a constellation is a group of celestial bodies that are connected together in some arrangement typically stars to form a visible figure or picture C.

Similarly, the other accomplishments of Babylonian astronomers, such as their system or rather systems of moon calculations and the drawing up of planetary tablets, belong to this late period, so that the golden age of Babylonian astronomy belongs not to the remote past, as was until recently supposed, but to the Seleucid period, i. The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ ( 312 - 63 BC) was a Hellenistic empire i e. after the advent of the Greeks in the Euphrates Valley. The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions

From certain expressions used in astrological texts that are earlier than the 7th century B. C. it would appear, indeed, that the beginnings at least of the calculation of sun and moon eclipses belong to the earlier period, but here, too, the chief work accomplished was after 400 B. C. , and the defectiveness of early Babylonian astronomy may be gathered from the fact that as late as the 6th century B. Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study C. an error of almost an entire month was made by the Babylonian astronomers in the attempt to determine through calculation the beginning of a certain year.

In a general way, the reign of law and order in the movements of the heavenly bodies was recognized, and indeed must have exercised an influence at an early period in leading to the rise of a methodical divination that was certainly of a much higher order than the examination of an animal's liver.

However, the importance that was laid upon the endless variations in the form of the phenomena and the equally numerous apparent deviations from what were regarded as normal conditions, prevented for a long time the rise of any serious study of astronomy beyond what was needed for the purely practical purposes that the priests as "inspectors" of the heavens (as they were also the "inspectors" of the sacrificial livers) had in mind. Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities

Constellations

The third limitation was that there is little evidence that the signs of the zodiac that we now recognise, were used in Babylonian astronomy prior to 700 B. Zodiac denotes an annual cycle of twelve stations along the Ecliptic, the apparent path of the sun across the heavens through the Constellations that divide the ecliptic Astronomy (from the Greek words astron (ἄστρον "star" and nomos (νόμος "law" is the scientific study C. . However, probably from as early as the days of Hammurabi, i. Hammurabi ( Akkadian from Amorite ˤAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer" from ˤAmmu, "paternal kinsman" and Rāpi e. c. 2000 B. C. , Babylonian astrologers did develop the idea of constellations by depicting prominent groups of stars with outlines of images derived from their mythology and religion. A star is a massive luminous ball of plasma. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the Energy on Earth

Assurbanipal

Assurbanipal was a king of Assyria who ruled in the seventh century BC from 668BC to 625BC. Ashurbanipal ( Akkadian: Aššur-bāni-apli, " Ashur has made a son" or "Ashur created an heir" (b [6] He was famous for assembling a great library of cuneiform tablets in Nineveh on the subjects of astrology, history, mythology and science. Some of Assurbanipal's astrologers, such as Rammanu-sumausar and Nabu-musisi, became so adept at deducing omens from daily movements of the planets that a system of making periodical reports to the king came into being. Thus, Assurbanipal received swift messengers detailing 'all occurrences in heaven and earth' throughout his kingdom and the results of his astrologer's examinations of them. He then used this information as a political weapon, and for the practical day-to-day running of his kingdom. After his death Nineveh fell to the Medians and the Chaldean Babylonians, and Assurbanipal's library was destroyed or dispersed.

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ Holden, James Herschel (1996). Babylonian astronomy refers to the astronomical theories and methods that were developed in ancient Mesopotamia, the "land between the rivers" Tigris Persian Astrology has its roots in the Zend-Avesta parts of which are very similar to the Rig Veda This is a sub-article of History of science in the Islamic World and Astrology. Classical astrology in Egypt only developed after it was conquered by Alexander the Great. Hebrew astronomy refers to any Astronomy written in Hebrew or by Hebrew speakers or translated into Hebrew In Hebrew astrology was called hokmat ha-nissayon, "the wisdom of prognostication" in distinction to hokmat ha-hizzayon (wisdom of star-seeing or Astronomy Enuma Anu Enlil (EAE (literal translation When the gods Anu and Enlil) (meaningful translation In the days of Anu and Enlil MULAPIN is a general compendium that deals with many diverse aspects of Babylonian astrology. A History of Horoscopic Astrology. AFA, 1. ISBN 978-0866904636.  
  2. ^ A History of Horoscopic Astrology, 9.  
  3. ^ Rumen K. Kolev, "BABYLONIAN ASTROLOGY, BABYLONIA 1. 3", [1]
  4. ^ Derek and Julia Parker, "The New Compleat Astrologer", p12, Crescent Books, New York, 1990
  5. ^ J. G. Frazer, The Early History of Kingship
  6. ^ Derek and Julia Parker, Ibid, p198, 1990
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