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Astrology and Astronomy (Biblical Studies)

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  1. Introduction
  2.  
  3. The interconnected sciences of astronomy and astrology were widely practiced across the ancient cultures of the Near East and the Mediterranean. Astronomy—the observation, analysis, and production of theoretical models for the prediction of future astronomical phenomena—had many applications, including providing the data for making astrological interpretations and for determining the calendar, as well as being of intellectual interest. Historians of ancient astronomy often divide the field into two parts: mathematical astronomy, which refers to theoretical models that allow the calculation of astronomical phenomena using mathematical methods; and non-mathematical astronomy, which refers to observational astronomy and empirical predictions of future astronomical events, using observed cycles of repeating phenomena.
  4.  
  5. General Overviews
  6.  
  7. Most general overviews of the history of astronomy are weak on ancient astronomy outside of Greek mathematical astronomy. More balanced introductions to ancient astronomy may be found in Aaboe 2001, Evans 1998, Neugebauer 1969, Steele 2008, and Walker 1996, although only the last two works place equal emphasis on non-mathematical (i.e., observational and predictive) and mathematical (i.e., theoretical) astronomy. Neugebauer 1975 is an extremely detailed analysis of Babylonian and Greco-Roman mathematical astronomy.
  8.  
  9. Aaboe, Asger. Episodes from the Early History of Astronomy. New York: Springer, 2001.
  10. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4613-0109-7Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  11. An accessible introduction to important topics in the history of Babylonian and Greek mathematical astronomy. The introductory “Chapter 0” provides a clear exposition of naked-eye astronomy and the astronomical phenomena of interest to ancient astronomers.
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  13. Evans, James. The History and Practice of Ancient Astronomy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
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  15. Thorough textbook for a course in ancient western astronomy, complete with student exercises. Rather than treating ancient astronomy as a purely historical subject, the book also teaches students how to observe and calculate astronomical phenomena using ancient Greek and Babylonian methods.
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  17. Neugebauer, O. The Exact Sciences in Antiquity. New York: Dover, 1969.
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  19. The classic, and in many respects still the best, introduction to astronomy and mathematics in Egypt, Babylonia, and Greece. The exposition of Greek and Babylonian mathematical astronomy is clear and mostly still accurate today. Note, however, that Neugebauer does not discuss observational astronomy.
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  21. Neugebauer, O. A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy. New York: Springer, 1975.
  22. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-61910-6Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  23. A detailed and highly technical study of Babylonian and Greek mathematical astronomy intended for advanced researchers.
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  25. Steele, John M. A Brief Introduction to Astronomy in the Middle East. London: Saqi, 2008.
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  27. A short, accessible introduction to astronomy in Mesopotamia, Greece, and the Islamic World, covering astronomical observation, theory, instruments, and astrology. Intended for undergraduate students and general readers.
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  29. Walker, Christopher, ed. Astronomy Before the Telescope. London: British Museum, 1996.
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  31. A collection of essays by leading scholars on astronomy from all parts of the ancient and medieval world. Many of the essays serve as good introductions to the topic.
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  33. Bibliographies
  34.  
  35. There are few bibliographies that cover the history of ancient astronomy and astrology. Walker 1993 is very thorough for Babylonian astronomy and astrology up to the early 1990s. The Bibliography for Ancient Jewish Sciences provides a useful starting point for works on ancient Jewish astronomy, but is not intended to be complete. Neither of these bibliographies are annotated. No bibliography exists for Greco-Roman astronomy.
  36.  
  37. “A Bibliography for Ancient Jewish Sciences.” In Ancient Jewish Sciences and the History of Knowledge in Second Temple Literature. Edited by Jonathan Ben-Dov and Seth Sanders, 255–270. New York: New York University Press and Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2014.
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  39. Concise but fairly representative bibliography of publications relevant to the study of ancient Jewish science.
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  41. Walker, C. B. F. “Bibliography of Babylonian Astronomy and Astrology.” In Die Rolle der Astrononomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens. Edited by Hannes D. Galter, 407–449. Graz: Kult, 1993.
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  43. An extensive bibliography of publications on Mesopotamian astronomy and astrology published before 1993. The bibliography is arranged by author rather than topic and so can be difficult to navigate for newcomers to the field. The bibliography also gives references to cuneiform tablets published in the articles and books cited.
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  45. Journals
  46.  
  47. Papers dealing with ancient astronomy and astrology appear in a wide variety of Assyriology, Biblical studies, Classics, Egyptology, history of science, and even astronomy journals, as well as an ever proliferating number of festschrift and edited volumes. The Journal for the History of Astronomy regularly includes papers on ancient astronomy; less often such papers appear in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. Papers dealing with ancient and medieval astrology often appear in Culture and Cosmos.
  48.  
  49. Culture and Cosmos.
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  51. A journal focusing on the history of astronomy and cultural astronomy. Many volumes are themed issues, often containing the proceedings of conferences.
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  53. Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage.
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  55. History of astronomy journal with an emphasis on heritage as well as straightforward history. Published three times per year. In 2012, the journal converted into an open access online journal. All issues of the journal are freely available for download from the journal’s webpage.
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  57. Journal for the History of Astronomy.
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  59. The premier journal for the history of astronomy. Published four times per year, the journal contains papers on all aspects of the history of astronomy from antiquity to recent times.
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  61. Astronomy and Astrology
  62.  
  63. The history of astrology is often treated separated from the history of astronomy, a tendency followed by Barton 1994, Campion 2008, and Cramer 1954. Beck 2007 and Pingree 1973 are better at integrating the two subjects.
  64.  
  65. Barton, Tamsyn. Ancient Astrology. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 1994.
  66. DOI: 10.4324/9780203410714Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  67. Overview of the history of ancient (primarily Greek) astrology; pays particular attention to the place of astrology within society.
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  69. Beck, Roger. A Brief History of Ancient Astrology. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007.
  70. DOI: 10.1002/9780470773772Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  71. A short, accessible introduction to ancient (primarily Greek) astrology. The author takes a very practical approach, focusing on how an ancient horoscope was constructed and interpreted. Suitable for use in an undergraduate course.
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  73. Campion, Nicholas. The Dawn of Astrology: A Cultural History of Western Astrology. 2 vols. London: Continuum, 2008.
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  75. Introductory survey of the history of astrology in the ancient and medieval worlds. Suitable for use in an undergraduate course.
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  77. Cramer, Frederick H. Astrology in Roman Law and Politics. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1954.
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  79. Discusses the role of astrology in Roman politics. Very thorough in its use of relevant historical sources, although Cramer’s use of these sources is often highly uncritical.
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  81. Pingree, David. “Astrology.” In Dictionary for the History of Ideas. Edited by Phillip P. Weiner, 118–126. New York: Scribner’s, 1973.
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  83. Classic introduction to ancient astrology by a leading expert in the field. Short but densely packed with information.
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  85. Astronomy and the Calendar
  86.  
  87. One of the main applications of astronomy in the ancient world was the calendar. Many ancient societies used lunar calendars. In a lunar calendar, the beginning of the month is determined by the cycle of the moon, and the month can therefore last 29 or 30 days. Twelve lunar months are about 11 days short of the solar year and so many lunar calendars use intercalation (the act of adding a thirteenth month in certain years) in order to keep the calendar in line with the seasons. Stern 2012 surveys ancient calendars from the Near East and the Mediterranean and discusses the political significance of calendar diversity and calendar reform. Hannah 2009 is more focused on Greco-Roman calendars and on the uses and meaning of time. Lehoux 2007 deals with weather calendars across the ancient world. The papers collected in Ben-Dov, et al. 2012 explore some of the effects of the inherent uncertainty in observational lunar calendars on various aspects of life in the ancient world.
  88.  
  89. Ben-Dov, Jonathan, Wayne Horowitz, and John M. Steele, eds. Living the Lunar Calendar. Oxford: Oxbow, 2012.
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  91. A collection of papers dealing with lunar calendars in cultures across the ancient and medieval world. Several of the papers focus of the relationship between lunar calendars and everyday life. Jewish and Mesopotamian calendars are particularly well represented in the volume.
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  93. Hannah, Robert. Time in Antiquity. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2009.
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  95. A survey of the role of time in the ancient world, with a particular focus on the Greco-Roman world. Each chapter investigates a different aspect of “time”: calendars, timekeeping, the uses of time, etc. Well suited for use in an undergraduate class.
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  97. Lehoux, Daryn. Astronomy, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World: Parapegmata and Related Texts in Classical and Near-Eastern Societies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
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  99. Analysis of ancient weather calendars, including editions and translations of all known parapegmata. Although primarily a research book, Lehoux writes in such a way that the book is accessible to a wide audience.
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  101. Stern, Sacha. Calendars in Antiquity: Empires, States, and Societies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
  102. DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199589449.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  103. Detailed study of the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Jewish calendars, with particular emphasis on the political background to calendar reforms. Fairly technical in parts, but on the whole accessible to graduate students and scholars across a wide variety of disciplines including history, Biblical studies, classics, and the history of science.
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  105. Mesopotamian Astronomy and Astrology
  106.  
  107. Mesopotamian (Assyrian and Babylonian) astronomy and astrology has a long history, stretching from the early 2nd to the end of the 1st millennium BC. Astronomy in the 2nd and early 1st millennia BC seems to have been largely focused on celestial divination, the calendar, and the application of simple mathematical models to astronomical problems. From about 750 BC onwards, Babylonian astronomy developed into an advanced scientific astronomy that included systematic astronomical observation and record-keeping, the development of a complex mathematical astronomy, and the creation of new forms of astrology, many of which were based upon the Babylonian invention of the zodiac in about 400 BC.
  108.  
  109. Sources
  110.  
  111. The publication of editions and translations of important works of Mesopotamian astronomy and astrology has increased dramatically over the past few years. Early works of astronomy and astrology include Hunger and Pingree 1989, Reiner and Pingree 1975–2005, and Rochberg-Halton 1988. The astronomical correspondence sent by scholars to the Assyrian kings of the 7th century BC, which provides a unique insight into the everyday practice of celestial divination, is published in Hunger 1992 and Parpola 1993. Much of the corpus of late Babylonian astronomical and astrological texts is published in Sachs and Hunger 1988–, Ossendrijver 2012, and Rochberg 1998.
  112.  
  113. Hunger, Hermann. Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1992.
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  115. Edition and translation of more than 500 reports of observations of ominous celestial phenomena sent by scholars to the kings of the Assyrian empire in the 7th century BC.
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  117. Hunger, Hermann, and David Pingree. MUL.APIN: An Astronomical Compendium in Cuneiform. Horn, Austria: Berger & Söhne, 1989.
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  119. Edition, translation, and (brief) commentary of the most important work of early Babylonian astronomy. MUL.APIN contains stars lists, schemes for the variation in the length of daylight and the duration of visibility of the moon throughout the year, intercalation schemes, information on the synodic cycles of the planets, and a small collection of celestial omens. Many other works of Babylonian astronomy draw on the material in MUL.APIN.
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  121. Ossendrijver, Mathieu. Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts. New York: Springer, 2012.
  122. DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4614-3782-6Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  123. Edition, translation, and detailed analysis of all known “Procedure Texts” of Babylonian mathematical astronomy. The Procedure Texts contain instructions for calculating lunar and planetary tables using arithmetical theories. Ossendrijver’s book also serves as the most up-to-date and thorough analysis of these theories. Intended for advanced researchers.
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  125. Parpola, Simo. Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1993.
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  127. Edition and translation of several hundred letters sent by scholars to the Assyrian kings during the 7th century BC. Many of the letters contain discussions of observations of astronomical phenomena and their astrological interpretation.
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  129. Reiner, Erica, and David Pingree. Babylonian Planetary Omens. Malibu: Undena, 1975–2005.
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  131. Edition and translation of some of the planetary omen tablets from Enūma Anu Enlil. Only a very brief commentary accompanies the text editions. Part 1 (1975) and Part 2 (1981) published by Undena and Part 3 (1998) and Part 4 (2005) published by Brill.
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  133. Rochberg-Halton, Francesca. Aspects of Babylonian Celestial Divination: The Lunar Eclipse Tablets of Enūma Anu Enlil. Horn, Austria: Berger & Söhne, 1988.
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  135. Edition and translation of the tablets containing lunar eclipse omens from Enūma Anu Enlil, the main series of Babylonian celestial divination. The book also contains a detailed discussion of Babylonian celestial divination in general, which serves as a good introduction to the topic.
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  137. Rochberg, Francesca. Babylonian Horoscopes. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1998.
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  139. Edition and translation of the preserved Babylonian horoscopes with extensive introduction and commentary. The horoscopes, which all date to the last five centuries BC, contain astronomical data for the time of birth of an individual.
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  141. Sachs, Abraham J., and Hermann Hunger. Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia. 6 vols. to date. Vienna: Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1988–.
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  143. Multi-volume work containing editions and translations of all known texts of Babylonian observational and related texts. Volumes 1–3 contain all of the dated Diaries; Volume 5 contains lunar and planetary tablets (mostly compilations of data abstracted from the Diaries); Volume 6 contains the Goal-Year Texts; Volume 7, the Almanacs and Normal Star Almanacs; the undated Diary fragments will appear in Volume 4.
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  145. Studies
  146.  
  147. Recent decades have seen a significant growth in understanding of Mesopotamian astronomy, particularly in areas beyond mathematical astronomy. Koch-Westenholz 1995 gives a general introduction to Mesopotamian astrology. Sachs 1974 provides the basic introduction to Babylonian observational astronomy and the observational texts. Brack-Bernsen 1999, Steele 2000, and Steele 2011 reconstruct Babylonian methods of predicting astronomical phenomena using cycles and records of past observations. The most thorough treatments of Babylonian mathematical astronomy are to be found in Ossendrijver 2012 (cited under Mesopotamian Astronomy and Astrology: Sources) and in Book 2 of Neugebauer 1975 (cited under General Overviews). A further recent development in the history of Mesopotamian astronomy has been attempts to place the astronomical and astrological material within wider scholarly and cultural contexts. Rochberg 2004 situates Babylonian astrology within the broader tradition of Mesopotamian divination and emphasizes the close relationships between the astronomical and astrological material. Brown 2000 investigates the role of the relationship between the king and his scholars in the development of Mesopotamian astronomy. Hunger and Pingree 1999 is a detailed summary of research on the history of Mesopotamian astronomy up to the end of the 20th century.
  148.  
  149. Brack-Bernsen, Lis. “Goal-Year Tablets: Lunar Data and Predictions.” In Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination. Edited by N. M. Swerdlow, 149–177. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1999.
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  151. A breakthrough paper in the study of Babylonian methods of predicting lunar visibilities and the length of the month, which opened up a whole new area of Babylonian astronomy for study. Clearly written, but requires some knowledge of astronomy and mathematics.
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  153. Brown, David. Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology. Groningen, The Netherlands: Styx, 2000.
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  155. An ambitious attempt to write a big-picture history of Mesopotamian astronomy and astrology; argues for a Kuhnian revolution in knowledge during the Neo-Assyrian period due to the need to provide divinatory advice to the kings in a competitive environment. Several of Brown’s claims have been rejected by other scholars, and the book must therefore be read in conjunction with other literature on Mesopotamian astronomy.
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  157. Hunger, Hermann, and David Pingree. Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1999.
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  159. A review of modern scholarship on Mesopotamian astronomy (and astrology, to a lesser extent) up to 1999. The book serves as a reference guide for researchers in the field rather than an introduction for non-specialists.
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  161. Koch-Westenholz, Ulla. Mesopotamian Astrology: An Introduction to Babylonian and Assyrian Celestial Divination. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum, 1995.
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  163. Clearly written, if now somewhat outdated, introduction to astrology in Mesopotamia. In addition to surveying the astrological sources, the book also discusses how celestial omens were interpreted by the Mesopotamian scholars: an analysis of the competing interpretations made by different scholars of the same astronomical event is particular interesting. Suitable for use in an advanced undergraduate or graduate level course.
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  165. Rochberg, Francesca. The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
  166. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511617409Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  167. Important work based upon many years of research into the development of Babylonian astrology, from celestial omens to individual horoscopes, and its relationship with Babylonian astronomy. The book also contains significant insights into the logic of Babylonian astrology and its meaning within Babylonian understanding of the world. Suitable for use in an advanced undergraduate or graduate level course.
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  169. Sachs, A. J. “Babylonian Observational Astronomy.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A 276 (1974): 43–50.
  170. DOI: 10.1098/rsta.1974.0008Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  171. A clear introduction to Babylonian astronomical observations and the various genres of observational texts. Suitable for use in an advanced undergraduate or graduate level course.
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  173. Steele, John M. “Eclipse Prediction in Mesopotamia.” Archive for History of Exact Sciences 54 (2000): 103–135.
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  175. Reconstructs Babylonian methods of predicting lunar and solar eclipses based upon analysis of a wide variety of texts.
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  177. Steele, John M. “Goal-Year Periods and Their Use in Predicting Planetary Phenomena.” In The Empirical Dimension of Ancient Near Eastern Studies: Die empirische Dimension altorientalischer Forschungen. Edited by Gebhard Selz and Klaus Wagensonner, 101–110. Vienna: LIT Verlag, 2011.
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  179. This paper provides an introduction to Babylonian methods of predicting astronomical phenomena using planetary and lunar periods. Suitable for use in an advanced undergraduate or graduate level course.
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  181. Egyptian Astronomy and Astrology
  182.  
  183. Few sources are preserved for studying Egyptian astronomy; therefore, the range of astronomical activity undertaken by the ancient Egyptians may have been much greater than we know about. Of primary interest within Egyptian astronomy was the calendar, in particular the civil calendar of 365 days, comprising twelve 30-day months plus five extra days at the end of the year. This calendar is about one quarter of a day shorter than the length of the solar year, and so the civil calendar wanders with respect to the seasons; in Egypt this crucially corresponds to a wandering with respect to the time of the flooding of the Nile, which is itself correlated to the heliacal rising of the star Sirius. Several so-called “Star Clocks” are preserved; these present, in tabular form, a scheme linking thirty-six stars or star groups (referred to as “decans”) to each 10-day period of the year. It remains a matter of debate whether these “Star Clocks” were intended to determine the time during the night or if they served another purpose. Astronomical and cosmological imagery is frequently found in Egyptian literature and artwork, especially within tombs and temples. A small number of papyri, mainly written in Demotic and dating to the 1st millennium BC, relate to astronomical and cosmological topics.
  184.  
  185. Sources
  186.  
  187. Sources for studying ancient Egyptian astronomy include texts written on the walls of temples and tombs, texts and drawings on coffin lids, and a relatively small number of papyri. The definitive edition of the majority of these texts remains Neugebauer and Parker 1960–1969. Many of the same texts are re-translated in the second volume of Clagett 1989–1999, but this offers few improvements over Neugebauer and Parker’s work. Lieven 2007, however, presents a much-improved edition and translation of one important text called the “Fundamentals of the Course of the Stars.”
  188.  
  189. Clagett, Marshall. Ancient Egyptian Science: A Source Book. 3 vols. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1989–1999.
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  191. Survey of ancient Egyptian scientific texts with translations of the documents. Volume 2 deals with astronomy and the calendar. A useful resource, although somewhat limited in its understanding of the linguistic details of the texts.
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  193. Lieven, Alexandra von. Grundriß des Laufes der Sterne: Das sogenannte Nutbuch. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum, 2007.
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  195. Edition, translation, and study of the “Fundamentals of the Course of the Stars,” an important text of Egyptian astronomy. Lieven’s identification of new fragments results in important improvements over earlier editions.
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  197. Neugebauer, O., and R. A. Parker. Egyptian Astronomical Texts. 3 vols. Providence: Brown University Press, 1960–1969.
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  199. Important, though in parts now outdated, publication of all then-known astronomical texts from Egypt, with accompanying analysis and commentary.
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  201. Studies
  202.  
  203. The study of Egyptian astronomy and astrology has developed rapidly over the past couple of decades, although there is still considerable disagreement between scholars over many key points of interpretation, particularly with respect to the so-called “Star Clocks,” which some authors see as being used for time measurement, while others reject the supposition that they were intended for this purpose. Unfortunately, no introductory summaries of Egyptian astronomy have been published since the publication of key works such as Leitz 1995 and Symons 2007 on “Star Clocks,” Krauss 1997 on the astronomical interpretation of parts of the pyramid texts, Lieven 2000 on the role of astronomy and cosmology in Egyptian religion, and Nell and Ruggles 2014 on the orientation of the pyramids of Giza. Thus, despite being outdated in many details, Parker 1971–1980 remains the best introduction to Egyptian astronomy, astrology, and the calendar.
  204.  
  205. Krauss, Rolf. Astronomische Konzepte und Jenseitsvorstellungen in den Pyramidentexren. Weisbaden: Harrassowitz, 1997.
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  207. An important if not entirely convincing work which claims that the mythological Kha canal which appears in the Old Kingdom pyramid texts represents the band of the ecliptic and that the ferrymen who cross this canal refers to the moon and the planets.
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  209. Leitz, Christian. Altägyptische Sternuhren. Leuven, Belgium: Peeters, 1995.
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  211. Thorough investigation of Egyptian diagonal and Ramesside “star clocks” and the decanal hours.
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  213. Lieven, Alexandra von. Der Himmel über Esna: Eine Fallstudie zer Religiösen Astronomie in Ägypten am Beispiel der kosmologischen Decken- und Architravinschriften im Tempel von Esna. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2000.
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  215. An examination of Egyptian cosmology and astronomy and their role in Egyptian religion through the study of the texts and artwork found in the temple of Esna. Includes German translations of all the relevant texts.
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  217. Nell, Erin, and Clive Ruggles. “The Orientation of the Giza Pyramids and Associated Structures.” Journal for the History of Astronomy 45 (2014): 304–360.
  218. DOI: 10.1177/0021828614533065Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  219. Detailed report of new and precise orientation measurements of the pyramids of Giza. Important for studies of the cardinal alignment of the pyramids.
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  221. Parker, Richard A. “Egyptian Astronomy, Astrology, and Calendrical Reckoning.” In Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 16. Edited by Charles C. Gillispie, 706–727. New York: Scribners, 1971–1980.
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  223. A useful introduction to Egyptian astronomy, suitable for an upper level undergraduate or graduate course. Somewhat outdated in its discussion of many of the key texts, however.
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  225. Symons, Sarah. “A Star’s Year: The Annual Cycle in the Egyptian Sky.” In Calendars and Years: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient Near East. Edited by John M. Steele, 1–33. Oxford: Oxbow, 2007.
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  227. A systematic overview and classification of ancient Egyptian diagonal “star clocks.”
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  229. Jewish Astronomy and Astrology
  230.  
  231. Early Jewish astronomy is primarily concerned with calendrical matters, and, by extension, with the cycle of the moon’s visibility. The main Jewish calendar was a luni-solar calendar which began each month with the sighting of the new moon crescent. In later times, this calendar was replaced by a computed luni-solar calendar in which the days of the beginning of each month were determined by calculation of the moment of conjunction of the sun and moon. In addition, a 364-day calendar is attested in documents found at Qumran and in 1 Enoch. The relationship between the 364-day calendar and the main Jewish calendar is subject to considerable debate.
  232.  
  233. Sources
  234.  
  235. Sources for early Jewish astronomy and astrology are scarce and fall into two main categories: works such as Nickelsburg and VanderKam 2012 and Danby 1933, which are known from the textual tradition; and material from the Dead Sea scrolls from the Qumran caves. Most of the astronomical and calendrical scrolls are edited and discussed in Talmon, et al. 2001 and Drawnel 2011. Two important astrological scrolls are edited and discussed in Greenfield and Sokoloff 2000 and Popović 2011.
  236.  
  237. Danby, Herbert. “Rosh ha-Shanah (‘Feast of the New Year’). In The Mishnah: Translated from the Hebrew with Introduction and Brief Explanatory Notes. By Herbert Danby, 188–193. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933.
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  239. The tractate Rosh ha-Shanah contains a discussion of the judicial procedure for the determination of the beginning of the month, which is of central importance for understanding ancient Jewish calendrical practice.
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  241. Drawnel, Henryk. The Aramaic Astronomical Book (4Q208–4Q211) from Qumran: Text, Translation, and Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
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  243. Reconstruction from four Qumran manuscripts of a (hypothetical) Aramaic treatise on astronomy related to the so-called Astronomical Book of Enoch.
  244. Find this resource:
  245. Greenfield, J. C., and M. Sokoloff. “318. 4QZodiology and Brontologion ar.” In Qumran Cave 4. 26: Cryptic Texts and Miscellanea Part I. Edited by P. S. Alexander, et al., 259–274. Oxford: Clarendon, 2000.
  246. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  247. Edition of a Qumran scroll containing a text on divination relating to the motion of the moon through the zodiac and thunder.
  248. Find this resource:
  249. Nickelsburg, George W. E., and James C. VanderKam, trans. 1 Enoch. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012.
  250. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  251. Chapters 72–82 of 1 Enoch contain astronomical material, primarily relating to the sun, the moon, and a 364-day calendar. This so-called “Astronomical Book of Enoch” has connections with calendrical and astronomical scrolls from Qumran and appears to be based in part upon early Mesopotamian astronomy.
  252. Find this resource:
  253. Popović, Mladen. “4Q186. 4QZodiacal Physiognomy. A Full Edition.” In The Mermaid and the Partridge: Essays from the Copenhagen Conference on Revisiting Texts from Cave Four. Edited by G. J. Brooke and J. Høgenhaven, 221–258. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2011.
  254. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  255. Edition and detailed study of an important astrological scroll from Qumran that links a native’s physiognomy with signs of the zodiac.
  256. Find this resource:
  257. Talmon, Shemaryahu, Ben-Dov, Jonathan, and Glessmer, Uwe. Qumran Cave 4 XVI: Calendrical Texts. Discoveries in the Judaean Desert 21. Oxford: Clarendon, 2001.
  258. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  259. Edition with translation and commentary of a range of calendrical texts found at Qumran.
  260. Find this resource:
  261. Studies
  262.  
  263. The important role of the calendar in Jewish society and in Jewish astronomy is reflected in a large number of publications on the topic: VanderKam 1998 and Ben-Dov 2011 are important discussions to the calendar at Qumran and the 364-day calendar tradition, while Stern 2001 and Stern 2012 are detailed studies of the luni-solar calendar, paying particular attention to its social context. Nickelsburg and VanderKam 2012 includes a detailed commentary of the astronomical chapters of 1 Enoch. Ben-Dov 2008 explores the background to astronomy and the calendar at Qumran, noting connections with early Mesopotamian astronomy and with 1 Enoch. There are few studies on early Jewish astrology; a notable exception is Popović 2007, which studies a zodiacal physiognomy from Qumran. There has been a long history of attempting to reconstruct very early Jewish knowledge of astronomy from the Old Testament and other works of literature; Cooley 2013 is a recent attempt to do this.
  264.  
  265. Ben-Dov, Jonathan. Head of All Years: Astronomy and Calendars at Qumran in their Ancient Context. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2008.
  266. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004170889.ii-332Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  267. Survey and analysis of the astronomical and calendrical texts from Qumran which pays particular attention to their relationship with Babylonian astronomy.
  268. Find this resource:
  269. Ben-Dov, Jonathan. “The 364-Day Year in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Jewish Pseudepigrapha.” In Calendars and Years II: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient and Medieval World. Edited by John M. Steele, 69–105. Oxford: Oxbow, 2011.
  270. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  271. Survey of the evidence from Qumran and elsewhere for Jewish use of a 364-day calendar.
  272. Find this resource:
  273. Cooley, Jeffrey L. Poetic Astronomy in the Ancient Near East: The Reflexes of Celestial Science in Ancient Mesopotamian, Ugaritic, and Israelite Narrative. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2013.
  274. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  275. Attempt to reconstruct the astronomical basis for literary narratives across the ancient Near East.
  276. Find this resource:
  277. Nickelsburg, George W. E., and James C. VanderKam. 1 Enoch 2: A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch Chapters 37–82. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2012.
  278. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  279. Commentary to the second part of 1 Enoch, including a detailed discussion of the astronomical chapters.
  280. Find this resource:
  281. Popović, Mladen. Reading the Human Body: Physiognomics and Astrology in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Hellenistic-Early Roman Period Judaism. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2007.
  282. DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004157170.i-346Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  283. Detailed study of 4Q186 and a related text from Qumran dealing with physiognomics and the zodiac. Close attention is paid to similar material in Babylonian and Greco-Roman sources.
  284. Find this resource:
  285. Stern, Sacha. Calendar and Community: A History of the Jewish Calendar 2nd Century BCE – 10th Century CE. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.
  286. DOI: 10.1093/0198270348.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  287. Detailed analysis of the evidence for early Jewish calendars. Stern argues for considerable local diversity in calendrical practice long after the development of the Rabbinic calendar and places this in the context of the self-identity of different Jewish communities across the ancient world.
  288. Find this resource:
  289. Stern, Sacha. “The Rabbinic New Moon Procedure: Context and Significance.” In Living the Lunar Calendar. Edited by Jonathan Ben-Dov, Wayne Horowitz, and John M. Steele, 211–230. Oxford: Oxbow, 2012.
  290. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  291. A clear exposition of the astronomical and legal procedure for declaring the start of a new month in the Rabbinic calendar.
  292. Find this resource:
  293. VanderKam, James C. Calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Measuring Time. London: Routledge, 1998.
  294. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  295. Overview and discussion of the evidence for calendars and time-reckoning at Qumran. The author argues that a dispute over the calendar was one of the reasons why the Qumran community separated itself from wider Jewish society. Suitable for use in an advanced undergraduate or graduate level course.
  296. Find this resource:
  297. Greco-Roman Astronomy and Astrology
  298.  
  299. The history of astronomy and astrology in the Greco-Roman world is dominated by the figure of Claudius Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer of the 2nd century CE who wrote important and influential books on both subjects. These books are generally known today as the Almagest and the Tertrabiblos. Greek astronomy is primarily concerned with the development of geometrical models to account for the motion of the sun, moon, and planets. From these models, astronomers produced astronomical tables that allowed planetary positions to be easily calculated. One of the main uses of these calculated positions was in constructing horoscopes.
  300.  
  301. Sources
  302.  
  303. Such was the importance of Ptolemy 1998 and Ptolemy 1940 that very few earlier works on astronomy and astrology survive. From the 3rd century BCE we have Aratus 1997, which describes the constellations. Later, in the 1st century BCE, Geminos Introduction to the Phenomena is an introduction to general astronomical knowledge; Evans and Berggren 2006 is a translation of this work, in English and with a detailed commentary. A somewhat later work, along the same lines but at a much more basic level, is Cleomedes’s Heavens, which is translated with commentary in Bowen and Todd 2004. A small number of Greek and Latin treatises on astrology are preserved in addition to that of Ptolemy. Of these, Manilius 1977, Dorotheus of Sidon 1976, and Vettius Valens 1986 are perhaps the most important. The centerpiece of Greek astrology was the horoscope; many examples of horoscopes are collected in Neugebauer and van Hoesen 1959. The study of Greco-Roman astronomy and astrology has been significantly revitalized in recent years by the discovery of a significant number of Greek papyri fragments containing astronomical texts. The largest number of such papyri are edited in Jones 1999.
  304.  
  305. Aratus. Phanemonea. Edited by Douglas Kidd. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
  306. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  307. Third century BCE poem containing a description of the constellations and other astronomical and meteorological lore. The poem circulated very widely in the Greco-Roman world and was the subject of many later commentaries, including one by the second century BCE Greek astronomer Hipparchus. Includes introduction, translation, and commentary by Kidd.
  308. Find this resource:
  309. Bowen, Alan C., and Robert B. Todd. Cleomedes’ Lectures on Astronomy: A Translation of The Heavens with an Introduction and Commentary. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004.
  310. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  311. Cleomedes’ introductory work on astronomy provides evidence for what was considered important when learning astronomy.
  312. Find this resource:
  313. Dorotheus of Sidon. Carmen Astrologicum. Edited and translated by D. Pingree. Leipzig: Teubner, 1976.
  314. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  315. First century CE work of astrology. Preserved mainly in a medieval Arabic translation.
  316. Find this resource:
  317. Evans, James, and Berggren, J. Lennart. Geminos’s Introduction to the Phenomena: A Translation and Study of a Hellenistic Survey of Astronomy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006.
  318. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  319. First century BCE Greek work on astronomy that includes parts based upon Babylonian mathematical astronomy. Evans and Berggren’s translation is accompanied by a long introduction and detailed commentary.
  320. Find this resource:
  321. Jones, Alexander. Astronomical Papyri from Oxyrhynchus. 2 vols. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1999.
  322. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  323. Editions and translations of a large number of astronomical papyri from the city of Oxyrhynchus in Roman Egypt. The papyri date to the early 1st millennium CE and include astronomical tables, a small number of prose works of astronomy, and many horoscopes. The papyri demonstrate that both Greek and Babylonian mathematical astronomy were used by the astrologers of the city.
  324. Find this resource:
  325. Manilius. Astronomica. Edited and translated by G. P. Goold. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1977.
  326. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  327. Roman treatise on astrology written in Latin verse.
  328. Find this resource:
  329. Neugebauer, O., and H. B. van Hoesen. Greek Horoscopes. Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1959.
  330. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  331. Editions and translations of a large body of Greek horoscopes with detailed introduction.
  332. Find this resource:
  333. Ptolemy. Tetrabiblos. Edited and translated by F. E. Robbins. Cambridge. MA: Harvard University Press, 1940.
  334. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  335. Ptolemy’s treatise on astrology, complementing his Almagest on astronomy. A fundamental work of Greek astrology.
  336. Find this resource:
  337. Ptolemy. Almagest. Translated and annotated by G. J. Toomer. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998.
  338. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  339. The most important and influential book of Greek astronomy. Ptolemy gives a thorough treatment of the derivation of his solar, lunar, and planetary models from observations. Toomer’s translation is clear and accurate. An essential work for anyone studying ancient astronomy.
  340. Find this resource:
  341. Vettius Valens. Anthologies. Edited by D. Pingree. Leipzig: Teubner, 1986.
  342. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  343. Extensive treatise on astrology written in Greek during the 2nd century CE. Includes more than 100 sample horoscopes.
  344. Find this resource:
  345. Studies
  346.  
  347. The dominance of Ptolemy within Greco-Roman astronomy has inevitably led to many publications focusing on his astronomical work. The Almagest is the subject of book-length studies in Pedersen 2011, Book 1 of Neugebauer 1975 (cited under General Overviews), and Newton 1977. This latter book revives an idea that has been around since the Renaissance, that Ptolemy faked or altered some or all of his observations, casting the discussion as a polemic against Ptolemy. Swerdlow 1979 is a rebuttal of Newton’s polemic. More reasoned studies of Ptolemy’s observations may be found in Britton 1992 and Jones 2006. Although somewhat outdated, Bouché-Leclercq 1899 remains the most complete and detailed presentation of Greek astrology. In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to surviving artifacts of astronomy and astrology from the Greco-Roman world. Evans 1999 is a detailed survey of surviving instruments, etc., while Jones 1994 surveys the surviving papyri in order to understand the role of astronomy and astrology in Greco-Roman society and what type of astronomy was being done on an everyday basis by practicing astrologers. The most remarkable surviving artifact of ancient astronomy is the Antikythera Mechanism, a geared astronomical calculator. Research on the Mechanism has been revitalized over the past decade through the findings of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project; their initial findings are reported in Freeth, et al. 2006.
  348.  
  349. Bouché-Leclercq, A. L’Astrologie Grecque. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1899.
  350. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  351. The classic presentation of Greek astrology. Despite its age, the book provides the most thorough treatment of Greek astrological doctrines and techniques.
  352. Find this resource:
  353. Britton, John Phillips. Models and Precision: The Quality of Ptolemy’s Observations and Parameters. New York: Garland, 1992.
  354. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  355. A detailed analysis of the lunar and solar observations reported in Ptolemy’s Almagest and their role in Ptolemy’s derivation of his astronomical theories.
  356. Find this resource:
  357. Evans, James. “The Material Culture of Greek Astronomy.” Journal for the History of Astronomy 30 (1999): 237–307.
  358. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  359. Detailed survey of the archaeological evidence for Greek astronomy and astrology, including sundials, celestial globes, and astrologer’s boards. Suitable for use in an advanced undergraduate or graduate level course.
  360. Find this resource:
  361. Freeth, Tony, Y. Bitsakis, X. Moussas, et al. “Decoding the Ancient Greek Astronomical Calculator Known as the Antikythera Mechanism.” Nature 444 (2006): 587–591.
  362. DOI: 10.1038/nature05357Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  363. The first paper published by the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, which has revitalized the study of this ancient device through the use of scientific imaging techniques.
  364. Find this resource:
  365. Jones, Alexander. “The Place of Astronomy in Roman Egypt.” Apeiron 27.4 (1994): 25–51.
  366. DOI: 10.1515/APEIRON.1994.27.4.25Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  367. Survey of the evidence from Greek papyri for the practice of astronomy in Roman Egypt. Suitable for use in an advanced undergraduate or graduate level course.
  368. Find this resource:
  369. Jones, Alexander. “Ptolemy’s Ancient Planetary Observations.” Annals of Science 63 (2006): 255–290.
  370. DOI: 10.1080/00033790600625427Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  371. A detailed analysis of Ptolemy’s reports of planetary observations and how he interpreted and used them.
  372. Find this resource:
  373. Newton, Robert R. The Crime of Claudius Ptolemy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1977.
  374. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  375. Newton’s polemical attack on Ptolemy argues that all of the observations in the Almagest were faked and that Ptolemy took most of his astronomy from Hipparchus. The book is important more for its effect on subsequent scholarship rather than for its content. The book should be read in conjunction with Swerdlow 1979, Britton 1992, and Jones 2006, which provide more reasoned analyses of the material.
  376. Find this resource:
  377. Pedersen, Olaf. A Survey of the Almagest. With annotation and new commentary by Alexander Jones. New York: Springer, 2011.
  378. DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-84826-6Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  379. Pedersen’s classic introduction to and analysis of Ptolemy’s Almagest, best read in conjunction with Neugebauer 1975 (cited under General Overviews), which provides a more mathematically focused analysis. This updated edition contains a new commentary by Alexander Jones that summarizes research on the Almagest, which has appeared since the book’s original publication in 1975.
  380. Find this resource:
  381. Swerdlow, N. M. “Ptolemy on Trial.” American Scholar 48 (1979): 523–531.
  382. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  383. Detailed rebuttal of the attack on Ptolemy in Newton 1977.
  384. Find this resource:
  385. The Transmission of Astronomical and Astrological Knowledge Between Cultures
  386.  
  387. Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Jewish World, and the Greco-Roman World did not exist in isolation from one another. Trade, diplomacy, and conquest resulted in the movements of people and ideas between cultures, including the transmission of astronomy and astrology. The appearance of identical and precise numerical parameters in astronomical theories in different cultures acts as a reliable marker of the transmission of astronomy. Neugebauer 1989 follows the path of transmission of one particular parameter, the mean length of the synodic month, from ancient Mesopotamia to medieval Europe to demonstrate the transmission of astronomical knowledge between cultures. Taking a more broad approach, Jones 1991 shows how Greek astronomers incorporated aspects of Babylonian mathematical astronomy into their own astronomical theories, Rochberg 1987 investigates the transmission of Babylonian astrology to the Greek world, and Pingree 1998 summarizes the legacy of Mesopotamian astronomy and astrology in Greece, India, and the Near East. The possible routes and methods of transmission across the ancient world are explored in Popović 2014. One often claimed avenue for the transmission of Babylonian astronomy and astrology to the Greeks was through the work of Berossos, a Babylonian priest who wrote a history of Babylonian in Greek. De Breucker 2010 and Steele 2013 offer contrasting interpretations of the evidence for Berossos’s knowledge of Babylonian astronomy.
  388.  
  389. De Breucker, Geert. “Berossos (680).” Brill’s New Jacoby Online (2010).
  390. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  391. Updated edition and translation with commentary of the fragments of Berossos. De Breucker follows Jacoby and other earlier scholars in arguing that the so-called “astronomical” fragments are not genuine to Berossos. Available online.
  392. Find this resource:
  393. Jones, Alexander. “The Adaptation of Babylonian Methods in Greek Numerical Astronomy.” Isis 82 (1991): 440–453.
  394. DOI: 10.1086/355836Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  395. Describes the way in which Babylonian mathematical astronomy was incorporated into Greek astronomy.
  396. Find this resource:
  397. Neugebauer, O. “From Assyriology to Renaissance Art.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 133 (1989): 391–403.
  398. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  399. The 20th century’s leading scholar of ancient astronomy’s final paper surveys the transmission of one parameter (the mean length of the synodic month) from Babylon to the Greco-Roman, the Jewish, and the medieval worlds. Suitable for use in an advanced undergraduate or graduate level course.
  400. Find this resource:
  401. Pingree, David. “Legacies in Astronomy and Celestial Omens.” In The Legacy of Mesopotamia. Edited by Stephanie Dalley, 125–137. Oxford: Clarendon, 1998.
  402. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  403. Detailed survey of the legacy of Babylonian astronomy and astrology in Greece, India, and other cultures. Suitable for use in a graduate level course.
  404. Find this resource:
  405. Popović, Mladen. “Networks of Scholars: The Transmission of Astronomical and Astrological Learning between Babylonians, Greeks and Jews.” In Ancient Jewish Sciences and the History of Knowledge in Second Temple Literature. Edited by Jonathan Ben-Dov and Seth Sanders, 153–193. New York: New York University Press and Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2014.
  406. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  407. This article focuses on scholarly communities and the possible routes for the transmission of knowledge, providing a good complement to the other studies listed here, which concentrate on the material transmitted.
  408. Find this resource:
  409. Rochberg, Francesca. “Elements of the Babylonian Contribution to Hellenistic Astrology.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 108 (1987): 51–62.
  410. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  411. Survey of the transmission of Babylonian astrology to the Greek world. Suitable for use in an advanced undergraduate or graduate level course.
  412. Find this resource:
  413. Steele, John M. “The ‘Astronomical Fragments’ of Berossos in Context.” In The World of Berossos. Edited by Johannes Haubold, Giovanni B. Lanfranchi, Robert Rollinger, and John M. Steele, 99–113. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2013.
  414. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  415. A recent reanalysis of the so-called “astronomical” fragments of Berossos; argues that the fragments should not be treated as containing strictly astronomical material, and questions the common assumption that the fragments are a later interpolation.
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