Egyptian parts
Sharyn
and was thinking about the Arabic (which he says came from the
Eqyptians) parts. Does anyone know which ones the Eqyptians used,
specifically? I think the Arabs were the ones who added everything but
the kitchen sink to the parts, but I'd like to know which ones the
Eqyptians actually used/relied on, or what the Arabs started with, if
that is known.
I ask also because I did an horary the other day and the part of
peril/danger was in partile conjunction with the asc (me! lol), and
though I've learned not to get freaked out by such things right away, I
still wondered if that was a part anyone had had any experience with.
That led to wondering where the line might be drawn on these things.
I know the POF is a sensitive point by virtue of being calculated by the
SU, MO and ASC (and I know from experience, too, that this part is a
valid one at least in horary). Do you think it's likely that the
effectiveness or relevance of the parts reduces related to the
prominence of the points/planets used in calculation?
Thanks,
--
~Sharyn
Connie Junction
There is a long list at
<http://www.astrologicinsights.com/Calculating_Arabic_Parts.html>
Disregard the outer planets and most of the rest can be contributed to
al-Biruni; he listed 97 in his manuscript.
A lot of al-Biruni's parts use rulerships and dispositors.
AFAIC, Alfred Witte solved the mystery of the Parts, and their usage: Planetary
Pictures.
cj
"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
news:3EAFECCF...@adelphia.not...
Larry Swain
"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
news:3EAFECCF...@adelphia.not...
Are you referring to the Greek or Hermetic "Lots"? IIRC, Rob Hand had a
list of them in "Night and Day". Unfortunately, I lent my copy to Carol
Willis and forgot I had, so I can't go look it up. But I'm pretty sure the
Part of Peril was included, as I recall noticing that Hand's list and the
resident Arabic Parts file in Solar Fire were almost exactly the same, and
the PoP is in that file.
The Lot of Peril's formula was Asc + Ruler of 8th - Saturn, whereas Al
Biruni's modification, which he called the Part of Danger and Violence,
was Asc + Mercury - Saturn.
As far as your last question, I don't have enough experience with the
Parts or Lots to really know, or even make an educated guess..
Larry
Sharyn
No, Rob said that the Arabs got the parts or lots from the Eqyptians.
An exxcerpt from what I was reading (I'm sure you've seen this):
http://www.zodiacal.com/articles/hand/history.htm
"[...]And if you were to examine the texts included in the volume on the
Sages, you would discover something that is not all obvious from history
texts that deal with astrology. The ancients clearly knew that astrology
had something to do with Babylon (after all they did call astrologers
Chaldeans) but the principle credit was given to the Egyptians. It is
customary among academics to pass this off as something that was merely
a fashion among ancient writers with no real historical basis. And in
fact the ancient writers did often attribute astrology to persons dating
back to the pharaohs such as Nechepso and Petosiris. Nevertheless, there
is no reason to assume that the ancients were not correct as to Egypt's
being the primary source of horoscopic astrology; it was just somewhat
later than they supposed.
Part III
What did the Egyptians add to Babylonian astrology? We cannot say for
certain, but internal evidence indicates the following. The use of a
rising degree may or may not have been found in pre-Hellenistic
Babylonian astrology. But the Hellenistic writers attributed the use of
houses, or signs used as houses to Hermes. For Hermes we should
understand a reference to Hellenistic Egyptian sources. It is probable
that aspects are also Egyptian but we cannot say for certain. The lots
are almost certainly Egyptian as well as most of the systems of
rulership. Only the exaltations have a clearly Mesopotamian origin.[...]"
Unfortunately, I lent my copy to Carol
> Willis and forgot I had, so I can't go look it up. But I'm pretty sure the
> Part of Peril was included, as I recall noticing that Hand's list and the
> resident Arabic Parts file in Solar Fire were almost exactly the same, and
> the PoP is in that file.
in SF, it lists the "part of peril/danger." I'm too lazy to do the math
and figure out what was used to calculate. ;)
>
> The Lot of Peril's formula was Asc + Ruler of 8th - Saturn, whereas Al
> Biruni's modification, which he called the Part of Danger and Violence,
> was Asc + Mercury - Saturn.
>
> As far as your last question, I don't have enough experience with the
> Parts or Lots to really know, or even make an educated guess..
>
Thanks. I think maybe no one really knows the answer to my question.
Hand says that the lots are "almost certainly of Egyptian origin," but
if he had anything more concrete I guess he would have said so.
--
~Sharyn
Connie Junction
"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> Larry Swain wrote:
> > "Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> > news:3EAFECCF...@adelphia.not...
> >
>
> >
> > The Lot of Peril's formula was Asc + Ruler of 8th - Saturn, whereas Al
> > Biruni's modification, which he called the Part of Danger and Violence,
> > was Asc + Mercury - Saturn.
> >
> > As far as your last question, I don't have enough experience with the
> > Parts or Lots to really know, or even make an educated guess..
> >
>
Instead of "Asc + Ruler of 8th - Saturn",
why not go thru the ENTIRE series?
Then you cover the whole gamut of dispositors...
(Arab Part keywords are in CAPs.)
SU+AS-SA: Hindrances thru others. Separations from acquaintances.
Funerals. FATHER.
AS+MO-SA: Separations from female acquaintances and difficulties
thru them. MAGISTERY.
AS+ME-SA: Farewell visits to depart. To be denied, refused.
APTNESS.
AS+VE-SA: The object of desertion; to be deserted. Disturbances
and interruptions in love-affairs. MEN'S MARRIAGE.
AS+MA-SA: Thru actions of others to be separated from something.
To suffer losses. To participate in funeral rites.
SICKNESS.
AS+JU-SA: To experience refusal. Not being accepted. Separations
from friends. FAMILY.
.... and you can add the modern -SA sensitive points too!!!
AS+UR-SA: To separate suddenly from others. EXILE.
AS+NE-SA: To be defrauded by others. Damages or obstacles thru
the refusal of others. OBSTRUCTION.
AS+PL-SA: Separation from the environment. Changes of the place
with difficulties. Isolation. SELF-REFOCALIZATION.
AR+AS-SA: To be alone. Lonely. To take leave of many people.
Fields. Villages.
MC+AS-SA: Professional difficulties. To separate from others.
AS+NO-SA: No contact with the closer environment.
Separating such contacts.
AS+AS-SA: Separations from the place or acquaintances.
That's how Witte solved the dispositor/rulership problem -- do them all.
cj
Sharyn
> AFAIK, al-Biruni is the authority.
> There is a long list at
> <http://www.astrologicinsights.com/Calculating_Arabic_Parts.html>
Thanks, good reference.
>
> Disregard the outer planets and most of the rest can be contributed to
> al-Biruni; he listed 97 in his manuscript.
> A lot of al-Biruni's parts use rulerships and dispositors.
Yeah, but where did HE get them? He wasn't born until 973 A.D.
>
> AFAIC, Alfred Witte solved the mystery of the Parts, and their usage: Planetary
> Pictures.
Well, maybe so, but there are some things about Witte that bother me.
One is, I would like to know what classical methods he used at the
Russian front. One bio of his says that he found classical methods
"insufficient" to predict moments of artillary bombardment" and began to
search for his own methods to obtain practical results. What was he
doing before this that yielded such dismal results? I haven't found much
regarding the astrology theory he was working with before he developed
his own. Who/what did he read, study with, experiment with?
And two, there's those trans Neptunians. This is from an online bio:
http://www.astrologer.ru/Witte/biography_eng.html
"[...]Witte's was concerned with the fact that at the moment of
marriage, the directed MC or Moon (meaning the direction of the solar
arc, approximately 1° per year) must aspect another planet. And when
there was no such planet, Witte made a supposition that this person must
have a yet undiscovered planet at this place. While comparing many
horoscopes with the known date of first marriage, it was found, that for
people of similar age all these "missing" points were situated very
close to each other. In this way, the first version of Cupido
ephemerides was created.[...]"
That bugs me. A lot. I would not just assume undiscovered planets, given
these results, to the exclusion of any number of other possible reasons
for his problem, the first of which comes to mind is the possibly faulty
base assumption that at the time of a marriage, the directed Moon or MC
*must* be aspected. You know what I'm saying?
I know there is validity to the harmonic theory and the pictures, they
are said to often be "eerily accurate," and harmonic theory is embedded
in all of creation; but I have to wonder about the complete soundness of
theories built up on such questionable underpinnings.
--
~Sharyn
<snip>
Connie Junction
of his students. But his methods are brillant -- inventing the 360º dial for
calculating measurements and harmonics, figuring out the correlation between
midpoints and Arab Parts, modernizing the interpretations. These great
astrological advances should not be dismissed because a genius also had a wacky
TNP side.
Some clues as to his classical methods can be found in the intro of RPP. He has
the dyads, octaves, triads, tetrads and elements, and other metaphysical
commentary based on classic premises.
He noted the six personal points within the chart: AR, MC, SU, AS, MO, and NO,
One method that Witte used was the Solar Arc progression, as opposed to
Secondaries. The Solar Arc method is very much like Primary Directions, in that
the entire chart is rotated on a timely basis. The brilliance of the SA method
is that it is much easier to calculate than Primaries and the slight difference
is minimal; Primaries are calculated en mundo, while SA is ecliptic.
Another is his use of AR (or CN) as the node of the Earth.
By using the AR or CN point, This puts the antiscia into the Uranian chart, The
formula for an antiscia is AR+AR-X; the 'reflection' of a planet projected from
CN. That's another classical method that Witte embraced.
Using AR, also puts the differences -- aspects -- into a chart; AR+X-Y is an
aspect. Another classic method that Witte embraced.
I am sure that if you thought, and studied, you would note many CLASSIC methods
in the modern Uranian technique.
Charles Jayne, among other prominent astrologers, also proposed different TNPs.
I believe that Einstein also had a wacky side, that belied the brilliance of
relativity.
As far as al-Biruni goes, his source is lost to the ages.
But be thankful that he DID catalog what he did.
cj
"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
news:3EB337AA...@adelphia.not...
Larry Swain
"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> An excerpt from what I was reading (I'm sure you've seen this):
>
> http://www.zodiacal.com/articles/hand/history.htm
>
> "[...]And if you were to examine the texts included in the volume on the
> Sages, you would discover something that is not all obvious from history
> texts that deal with astrology. The ancients clearly knew that astrology
> had something to do with Babylon (after all they did call astrologers
> Chaldeans) but the principle credit was given to the Egyptians. It is
> customary among academics to pass this off as something that was merely
> a fashion among ancient writers with no real historical basis. And in
> fact the ancient writers did often attribute astrology to persons dating
> back to the pharaohs such as Nechepso and Petosiris. Nevertheless, there
> is no reason to assume that the ancients were not correct as to Egypt's
> being the primary source of horoscopic astrology; it was just somewhat
> later than they supposed.
>
> Part III
>
> What did the Egyptians add to Babylonian astrology? We cannot say for
> certain, but internal evidence indicates the following. The use of a
> rising degree may or may not have been found in pre-Hellenistic
> Babylonian astrology. But the Hellenistic writers attributed the use of
> houses, or signs used as houses to Hermes. For Hermes we should
> understand a reference to Hellenistic Egyptian sources. It is probable
> that aspects are also Egyptian but we cannot say for certain. The lots
> are almost certainly Egyptian as well as most of the systems of
> rulership. Only the exaltations have a clearly Mesopotamian
origin.[...]"
That seems awfully vague to me, as if Hand isn't 100% certain himself.
Perhaps this is one of the areas in which he and Robert Schmidt disagree,
because Scmidt cites the Hermetic Lots as if they were the earliest
(perhaps meaning the earliest he's certain of?). Of course, one thing we
have to remember is that not all of the Hellenistic astrologers were
Greeks, but some Egyptian as well, as "Hellenistic" refers to a period and
not a locale (Ptolemy was an Egyptian of the latter Hellenistic era, after
all!).
> Unfortunately, I lent my copy to Carol
> > Willis and forgot I had, so I can't go look it up. But I'm pretty sure
the
> > Part of Peril was included, as I recall noticing that Hand's list and
the
> > resident Arabic Parts file in Solar Fire were almost exactly the same,
and
> > the PoP is in that file.
>
> in SF, it lists the "part of peril/danger." I'm too lazy to do the math
> and figure out what was used to calculate. ;)
>
> >
> > The Lot of Peril's formula was Asc + Ruler of 8th - Saturn, whereas Al
> > Biruni's modification, which he called the Part of Danger and
Violence,
> > was Asc + Mercury - Saturn.
> >
> > As far as your last question, I don't have enough experience with the
> > Parts or Lots to really know, or even make an educated guess..
> >
>
> Thanks. I think maybe no one really knows the answer to my question.
> Hand says that the lots are "almost certainly of Egyptian origin," but
> if he had anything more concrete I guess he would have said so.
Yup, I'd think so. And is he referring to the pre-Hellenistic Egyptians,
or Egyptians of the Hellenistic era?
Well, like they say, it's all Greek to me! <smirk>
> ~Sharyn
Larry
Ray Murphy
----------
In article <3EB337AA...@adelphia.not>, Sharyn
<Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote:
RM: It might appear like a faulty base assumpton, but don't forget
that 99.9% of people who produce theses for universities do the same
thing. They dream up a hypothesis based on very little and then
proceed to try and prove it, but rarely do.
In the case of Witte, it didn't matter if there ~were~ any
undiscovered planets if it worked; at least he was basing his theory
on somehing real, which is a lot better than some of the more recent
add-ons to astrology -- naming an asteroid or point after some
mythological character and then trying to attach that mythology to the
"meaning" of it.
I don't use Witte's Hypothetical planets these days, but I must say
that they ~appeared~ to supply the most astonishing "fine tuning" of
transit readings sometimes.
>
[....]
>--
>~Sharyn
Ray
Connie Junction
At leat Witte and Siegrun, observed many chart points that was active for
marriages when contacted by sa-MC or sa-MO.
Asteroid searches, in the 19th century, were conducted in the same manner; find
an aberration and look there.
IMO, Cupido is probably the most important TNP; it was the first one
discovered/invented; obviously more work went into it. Is 2000KL4 Cupido?
http://www.expreso.co.cr/centaurs/essays/uranians.html
The use of imaginary points (BML or Vulcan), or orbiting pebbles (asteroids)
seems to be as ludicrous to me as TNPs are to others.
cj
"Ray Murphy" <ray...@chariot.net.au> wrote in message
news:2003050307571...@mail.chariot.net.au...
> [Posted by email to: a...@stump.algebra.com]
> ----------
> In article <3EB337AA...@adelphia.not>, Sharyn
> <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote:
>
[...]
Sharyn
> Witte did not write much; he lectures, and what we have are the compiled notes
> of his students. But his methods are brillant -- inventing the 360º dial for
> calculating measurements and harmonics, figuring out the correlation between
> midpoints and Arab Parts, modernizing the interpretations. These great
> astrological advances should not be dismissed because a genius also had a wacky
> TNP side.
I'm not dismissing them, truly I'm not. When other people use a system
in a practical way and tell me it works, I take that seriously and
respect the opinion, even if (and especially when) I have no personal
experience in the matter. I guess I'm just airing my concerns regarding
Witte and the TNP thing.
>
> Some clues as to his classical methods can be found in the intro of RPP. He has
> the dyads, octaves, triads, tetrads and elements, and other metaphysical
> commentary based on classic premises.
>
> He noted the six personal points within the chart: AR, MC, SU, AS, MO, and NO,
>
> One method that Witte used was the Solar Arc progression, as opposed to
> Secondaries. The Solar Arc method is very much like Primary Directions, in that
> the entire chart is rotated on a timely basis. The brilliance of the SA method
> is that it is much easier to calculate than Primaries and the slight difference
> is minimal; Primaries are calculated en mundo, while SA is ecliptic.
>
> Another is his use of AR (or CN) as the node of the Earth.
> By using the AR or CN point, This puts the antiscia into the Uranian chart, The
> formula for an antiscia is AR+AR-X; the 'reflection' of a planet projected from
> CN. That's another classical method that Witte embraced.
>
> Using AR, also puts the differences -- aspects -- into a chart; AR+X-Y is an
> aspect. Another classic method that Witte embraced.
>
> I am sure that if you thought, and studied, you would note many CLASSIC methods
> in the modern Uranian technique.
Perhaps so. I'm just not convinced yet that I should spend my very
limited time and energy learning Uranian technique when the TNP seem to
be such a big part of that school of thought. And for some reason, I
seem to have a kind of mental block to understanding the dial technique.
Maybe it's the feebleness (or perhaps laziness) of my own intellect, a
lack of understanding of harmonic theory (which I *AM* working on while
practicing and learning the guitar and violin), or maybe my mind can't
yet accept something so radically different from the way I understand
astrology.
Related to planetary pictures (and I realize that only the very simplest
of them are midpoints, right?), I have always had a problem with the
thought that it is unimportant whether a planet transiting a midpoint is
opposed, conjunct or square the midpoint. I realize that all of those
positions activate the sensitive midpoint, but the actual "where" of the
transiting planet seems very crucial to the meaning, and I can't shake
that idea. With the 360' dial, it's sort of the same thing, isn't it? A
conjunction and an opposition are equal...lol, I think!
Anyway, I struggle with it, but then, I struggled with Einstein's
theory, too. At times, the understanding of his work has slipped right
out of my head and I've had to go back and re-read, re-absorb the whole
thing all over again.
And also, I guess I am a visual learner. I absorb information much
quicker if I have a graphic representation of the material rather than
an audio or text representaton. I have to "see" things, and I even have
a hard time with conventional transit lists, because I prefer to look at
a graphic representation of planetary symbols moving around a wheel
chart. I understand the premise of conventional aspects and angular
relationships as they appear from our geocentric vantage point; but I
don't understand the use of the Uranian 360 degree dial and, more
importantly, the underlying principles of why it should work.
Maybe you can help me with some of this, and I promise I'll not give up
trying to understand and learning to work with it, ok? :)
>
>
>
> Charles Jayne, among other prominent astrologers, also proposed different TNPs.
>
> I believe that Einstein also had a wacky side, that belied the brilliance of
> relativity.
lol! Yes, genius sems to go hand in hand with kookiness (though the
reverse is not necessarily true).
>
> As far as al-Biruni goes, his source is lost to the ages.
> But be thankful that he DID catalog what he did.
Oh, I am. :) I am thankful for all of them, particularly Vettius Valens.
Much that we have now would have been lost forever if not for them.
<snip>
--
~Sharyn
Libralove
ray...@chariot.net.au wrote on 5/3/03 9:30 AM:
> In the case of Witte, it didn't matter if there ~were~ any
> undiscovered planets if it worked; at least he was basing his theory
> on somehing real, which is a lot better than some of the more recent
> add-ons to astrology -- naming an asteroid or point after some
> mythological character and then trying to attach that mythology to the
> "meaning" of it.
Gee, how do you figure that. It seems to me that that is the nature of
astrology through and through. The ancients found something, then named it
something and guess what that name had to do with it action and meaning. :)
Amazing!
The asteroids are named because they are what they are -- for example,
Apollo, is hotter than a pepper pod. Trust me!
It doesn't matter that the name came after the asteroid, planet, or whatever
was discovered to be out there for millions of years. Nor does it matter
that Uranus and Neptune and Pluto were out there for millions of years
before an astronomer named them and guess what?!! The names fit. ;)
Sharyn
:/ I know it.
> Perhaps this is one of the areas in which he and Robert Schmidt disagree,
> because Scmidt cites the Hermetic Lots as if they were the earliest
> (perhaps meaning the earliest he's certain of?).
I'll keep searching the subject, maybe there's more info to be found on it.
Of course, one thing we
> have to remember is that not all of the Hellenistic astrologers were
> Greeks, but some Egyptian as well, as "Hellenistic" refers to a period and
> not a locale (Ptolemy was an Egyptian of the latter Hellenistic era, after
> all!).
Right.
>
>
<snip>
>>>
>>>As far as your last question, I don't have enough experience with the
>>>Parts or Lots to really know, or even make an educated guess..
>>>
>>
>>Thanks. I think maybe no one really knows the answer to my question.
>>Hand says that the lots are "almost certainly of Egyptian origin," but
>>if he had anything more concrete I guess he would have said so.
>
>
> Yup, I'd think so. And is he referring to the pre-Hellenistic Egyptians,
> or Egyptians of the Hellenistic era?
Um, let's see, he talks about what the Egyptians added to Babylonian
astrology in the excerpt above, and that was pre-Hellenist, correct?
> Well, like they say, it's all Greek to me! <smirk>
<g> I wish I read both ancient Greek and Arabic.
--
~Sharyn
Sharyn
> in article 2003050307571...@mail.chariot.net.au, Ray Murphy at
> ray...@chariot.net.au wrote on 5/3/03 9:30 AM:
>
>
>>In the case of Witte, it didn't matter if there ~were~ any
>>undiscovered planets if it worked; at least he was basing his theory
>>on somehing real, which is a lot better than some of the more recent
>>add-ons to astrology -- naming an asteroid or point after some
>>mythological character and then trying to attach that mythology to the
>>"meaning" of it.
>
>
> Gee, how do you figure that. It seems to me that that is the nature of
> astrology through and through. The ancients found something, then named it
> something and guess what that name had to do with it action and meaning. :)
> Amazing!
>
> The asteroids are named because they are what they are -- for example,
> Apollo, is hotter than a pepper pod. Trust me!
No, they aren't. They're mostly named by astronomers after their dogs
and kids and ex-wives and who knows what all. I'm not saying there isn't
a kind of strange synchronicity in the names and where they later turn
up in charts (see an article I wrote at StarIQ about the eruption of Mt.
St. Helens, as well as Jabob Shartz at asteroids.com if you haven't
already) but they are named by a pretty mundane process.
<snip>
--
~Sharyn
Connie Junction
"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> Connie Junction wrote:
> > Witte did not write much; he lectures, and what we have are the compiled
notes
> > of his students. But his methods are brillant -- inventing the 360º dial
for
> > calculating measurements and harmonics, figuring out the correlation
between
> > midpoints and Arab Parts, modernizing the interpretations. These great
> > astrological advances should not be dismissed because a genius also had a
wacky
> > TNP side.
>
> I'm not dismissing them, truly I'm not. When other people use a system
> in a practical way and tell me it works, I take that seriously and
> respect the opinion, even if (and especially when) I have no personal
> experience in the matter. I guess I'm just airing my concerns regarding
> Witte and the TNP thing.
>
It appears that many make the assumption that if TNPs are wacky, then his other
ideas. PPix included, are also wacky.
Well, you asked what classical systems Witte embraced, and you are not
convinced?
You don't have the time or energy to research the technique, yet you are
interested in the Arab Parts from which it is derived. Is it because the Arab
Parts are shrouded in the mystic language of past ages?
>
> Related to planetary pictures (and I realize that only the very simplest
> of them are midpoints, right?), I have always had a problem with the
> thought that it is unimportant whether a planet transiting a midpoint is
> opposed, conjunct or square the midpoint. I realize that all of those
> positions activate the sensitive midpoint, but the actual "where" of the
> transiting planet seems very crucial to the meaning, and I can't shake
> that idea. With the 360' dial, it's sort of the same thing, isn't it? A
> conjunction and an opposition are equal...lol, I think!
The reason why a midpoint/PPix is activated by a transit squ/cnj/opp is
harmonics -- the 4th in this instance.
Yes, cnj=opp=squ -- 4th harmonic.
Best to learn with a 90º dial; it's sort of like a magnifying glass -- makes
things much easier to visualize.
[...]
cj
Ray Murphy
<Libr...@austin.rr.com> wrote:
>in article 2003050307571...@mail.chariot.net.au, Ray Murphy at
>ray...@chariot.net.au wrote on 5/3/03 9:30 AM:
>
>> In the case of Witte, it didn't matter if there ~were~ any
>> undiscovered planets if it worked; at least he was basing his theory
>> on somehing real, which is a lot better than some of the more recent
>> add-ons to astrology -- naming an asteroid or point after some
>> mythological character and then trying to attach that mythology to the
>> "meaning" of it.
>
>Gee, how do you figure that. It seems to me that that is the nature of
>astrology through and through. The ancients found something, then named it
>something and guess what that name had to do with it action and meaning. :)
>Amazing!
RM: I know this will fall on deaf ears in most of the astrological
community, but astrology works in the reverse of that. What we are
doing in reality is using mythology for planets and houses and
*making* selected parts of the mythology fit.
Astrologers throughout the centuries have merely invented myths so we
would all have a language with which to interact.
Take Aries for example - we could just as easily have called that Sign
The Elephant and ~made~ it fit.
We really need to ask ourselves if "Nature" invented all those neat
little boxes which cover all the main facets of life, plus put the
Triplicities in a neat triangle etc etc. No they are all fabrications
BUT they work if we know the rules and use them well.
Take Pluto transits for example, we ~know~ how compulsive they are,
but we could just as easily attach that sort of importance to some
other symbol besides the phoenix, an eagle, a snake or an atomic bomb.
I'm sure there's plenty of animals around which would suit.
>
>The asteroids are named because they are what they are -- for example,
>Apollo, is hotter than a pepper pod. Trust me!
RM: And if Apollo was "The Elephant" I'm sure your imagination would
work just as well.
>
>It doesn't matter that the name came after the asteroid, planet, or whatever
>was discovered to be out there for millions of years. Nor does it matter
>that Uranus and Neptune and Pluto were out there for millions of years
>before an astronomer named them and guess what?!! The names fit. ;)
RM: In a way I agree with you, but not for the same reasons. You think
that "Nature" made them fit, but it is *astrologers* who make them
fit, but that has only been demonstrated convincingly with the
planets, Sun and Moon so far.
Ray
Libralove
wrote on 5/3/03 12:50 PM:
Yes, I know Sharyn. I am the one who posted the information about how
asteroids are named a couple of months back and got some guff about how
stupid it was...
But somehow they end up matching to the names and pets and events and
hobbies and whatevers that they are named after. :) Okay?
Sharyn
> "Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> news:3EB3DF73...@adelphia.not...
>
>>Connie Junction wrote:
>>
>>>Witte did not write much; he lectures, and what we have are the compiled
>>
> notes
>
>>>of his students. But his methods are brillant -- inventing the 360º dial
>>
> for
>
>>>calculating measurements and harmonics, figuring out the correlation
>>
> between
>
>>>midpoints and Arab Parts, modernizing the interpretations. These great
>>>astrological advances should not be dismissed because a genius also had a
>>
> wacky
>
>>>TNP side.
>>
>>I'm not dismissing them, truly I'm not. When other people use a system
>>in a practical way and tell me it works, I take that seriously and
>>respect the opinion, even if (and especially when) I have no personal
>>experience in the matter. I guess I'm just airing my concerns regarding
>>Witte and the TNP thing.
>>
>
>
> It appears that many make the assumption that if TNPs are wacky, then his other
> ideas. PPix included, are also wacky.
Well, that's a forgivable assumption to make, don't you think? Pretty
common reaction, though not necessarily accurate.
I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you are saying. Yes, I asked; and no, I'm
not convinced it's worth the time it will take to completely understand
it, but I am willing to give it a shot.
>
> You don't have the time or energy to research the technique, yet you are
> interested in the Arab Parts from which it is derived. Is it because the Arab
> Parts are shrouded in the mystic language of past ages?
No. That would be kind of silly, wouldn't it? Just the fact that
something is ancient, or in "mystic" language, or has some occult,
esoteric tradition attached to it carries no weight with me...in fact,
it irritates me because I find that sort of thing just gets in the way
of understanding. I want things direct, simple and to the point. I'm
simply trying to establish, in my own mind, who first used the parts,
how they arrived at the technique, and which ones the Arabs started with
as opposed to which ones they themselves made up.
>
>
>
>>Related to planetary pictures (and I realize that only the very simplest
>>of them are midpoints, right?), I have always had a problem with the
>>thought that it is unimportant whether a planet transiting a midpoint is
>>opposed, conjunct or square the midpoint. I realize that all of those
>>positions activate the sensitive midpoint, but the actual "where" of the
>>transiting planet seems very crucial to the meaning, and I can't shake
>>that idea. With the 360' dial, it's sort of the same thing, isn't it? A
>>conjunction and an opposition are equal...lol, I think!
>
>
> The reason why a midpoint/PPix is activated by a transit squ/cnj/opp is
> harmonics -- the 4th in this instance.
Yes, I understand that. But doesn't the direction, or the place the
actual planet is activating from...oh! How do I say this...doesn't it
matter *where* the planet is that is doing the activating? In angular
aspects, the meaning is derived from the placement. An opposition is one
thing, a conjunction is another, and a square is completely different.
They are all divisions of the circle from 90, to 180 to 360/0, but they
MEAN different things. Are you saying that no matter where the
transiting planet is to a midpoint/PPix, it's all the same? iow, The Pix
has it's particular meaning, and any activation brings it into
manifestation in the same way?
>
> Yes, cnj=opp=squ -- 4th harmonic.
> Best to learn with a 90º dial; it's sort of like a magnifying glass -- makes
> things much easier to visualize.
Ok. :) Where can I find one?
--
~Sharyn
Connie Junction
"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> Connie Junction wrote:
> > "Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> > news:3EB3DF73...@adelphia.not...
> >
> >>Connie Junction wrote:
> >>
> Yes, I understand that. But doesn't the direction, or the place the
> actual planet is activating from...oh! How do I say this...doesn't it
> matter *where* the planet is that is doing the activating? In angular
> aspects, the meaning is derived from the placement. An opposition is one
> thing, a conjunction is another, and a square is completely different.
> They are all divisions of the circle from 90, to 180 to 360/0, but they
> MEAN different things. Are you saying that no matter where the
> transiting planet is to a midpoint/PPix, it's all the same? iow, The Pix
> has it's particular meaning, and any activation brings it into
> manifestation in the same way?
>
Yes, I am saying that squares and opps will have similar manifestaions; the
strengths will definitely differ according to degree; that's an astrologer's
judgment call. Applying, separating, stationed, etc. and time of duration.
> >
> > Yes, cnj=opp=squ -- 4th harmonic.
> > Best to learn with a 90º dial; it's sort of like a magnifying glass --
makes
> > things much easier to visualize.
>
> Ok. :) Where can I find one?
LOL. I think a antique store might have them.
Seriously, you might find a good graphic thru a search
<http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=90+dial+uranian&btnG=Go
ogle+Search>
http://www.uranianastrologer.com/Products.html
http://www.uranianastrologer.com/90degdial.htm
http://www.arlenekramer.com/dial.asp
sell them.
cj
Ray Murphy
<Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote:
[....]
>>
>>>Perhaps so. I'm just not convinced yet that I should spend my very
>>>limited time and energy learning Uranian technique when the TNP seem to
>>>be such a big part of that school of thought.
RM: It would be much easier to start with the simple direct Midpoints
and use Witte's or Ebertins books for guidance in your interpretations
and then, if you're interested in Planetary Pictures move on, ~after~
grasping the concept of using the 4th and 8th harmonics (adding 90
degrees or 45 or multiples).
Regarding the TNP's - you can just ignore them altogether if you want
because you can't get reported for not using them :-))
>>>And for some reason, I
>>>seem to have a kind of mental block to understanding the dial technique.
>>>Maybe it's the feebleness (or perhaps laziness) of my own intellect, a
>>>lack of understanding of harmonic theory (which I *AM* working on while
>>>practicing and learning the guitar and violin), or maybe my mind can't
>>>yet accept something so radically different from the way I understand
>>>astrology.
RM: Just change your own chart in Solar Fire to display the 180 degree
wheel and then the 90 degree wheel and you will see what is happening.
>>
>>
>> Well, you asked what classical systems Witte embraced, and you are not
>> convinced?
>
>I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you are saying. Yes, I asked; and no, I'm
>not convinced it's worth the time it will take to completely understand
>it, but I am willing to give it a shot.
RM: I'm not sure where you're up to here, but let me say this - Any
astrologer who is not using Midpoints to some extent in this day and
age is severely handicapped.
>
>>
>> You don't have the time or energy to research the technique, yet you are
>> interested in the Arab Parts from which it is derived. Is it because the
>Arab
>> Parts are shrouded in the mystic language of past ages?
>
>No. That would be kind of silly, wouldn't it? Just the fact that
>something is ancient, or in "mystic" language, or has some occult,
>esoteric tradition attached to it carries no weight with me...in fact,
>it irritates me because I find that sort of thing just gets in the way
>of understanding. I want things direct, simple and to the point. I'm
>simply trying to establish, in my own mind, who first used the parts,
>how they arrived at the technique, and which ones the Arabs started with
>as opposed to which ones they themselves made up.
RM: It may well be that you have an interest in astrological history
as well as reading charts, but if you are aiming to improve your
astrological readings, you will succeed about 10 times faster with
Midpoints or ~some~ Planetary Pictures than with ancient and obsolete
astrology.
>
>>
>>
>>
>>>Related to planetary pictures (and I realize that only the very simplest
>>>of them are midpoints, right?), I have always had a problem with the
>>>thought that it is unimportant whether a planet transiting a midpoint is
>>>opposed, conjunct or square the midpoint. I realize that all of those
>>>positions activate the sensitive midpoint, but the actual "where" of the
>>>transiting planet seems very crucial to the meaning, and I can't shake
>>>that idea. With the 360' dial, it's sort of the same thing, isn't it? A
>>>conjunction and an opposition are equal...lol, I think!
>>
>>
>> The reason why a midpoint/PPix is activated by a transit squ/cnj/opp is
>> harmonics -- the 4th in this instance.
>
>Yes, I understand that. But doesn't the direction, or the place the
>actual planet is activating from...oh! How do I say this...doesn't it
>matter *where* the planet is that is doing the activating? In angular
>aspects, the meaning is derived from the placement. An opposition is one
>thing, a conjunction is another, and a square is completely different.
>They are all divisions of the circle from 90, to 180 to 360/0, but they
>MEAN different things. Are you saying that no matter where the
>transiting planet is to a midpoint/PPix, it's all the same? iow, The Pix
>has it's particular meaning, and any activation brings it into
>manifestation in the same way?
RM: The need for all that paraphernalia regarding positive and
negative energies goes out the window to some extent when we use
Midpoints especially. Who are we to judge what is positive or
negative. Sure we ~find~ negative or positive stuff if we know that's
what we're ~supposed~ to find, but what's the point when we ~know~
that any factor can work either way or in between?
>
>>
>> Yes, cnj=opp=squ -- 4th harmonic.
>> Best to learn with a 90º dial; it's sort of like a magnifying glass --
>>makes things much easier to visualize.
>
>Ok. :) Where can I find one?
RM: Go to Solar Fire and open your chart and click on "wheel style"
then select 180 dial and afterwards play around with the settings
until you make your own 90 degree dial or whatever (and save it on the
same panel).
Ray
Libralove
ray...@chariot.net.au wrote on 5/3/03 2:55 PM:
>> The asteroids are named because they are what they are -- for example,
>> Apollo, is hotter than a pepper pod. Trust me!
>
> RM: And if Apollo was "The Elephant" I'm sure your imagination would
> work just as well.
Not. Since Apollo is NOT an elephant. He has great power and intensity and
has the radiant qualities of the sun.
>>
>> It doesn't matter that the name came after the asteroid, planet, or whatever
>> was discovered to be out there for millions of years. Nor does it matter
>> that Uranus and Neptune and Pluto were out there for millions of years
>> before an astronomer named them and guess what?!! The names fit. ;)
>
> RM: In a way I agree with you, but not for the same reasons. You think
> that "Nature" made them fit, but it is *astrologers* who make them
> fit, but that has only been demonstrated convincingly with the
> planets, Sun and Moon so far.
Nope, Ray. I have not found any elephants siting on me in Austin, Texas.
I have been cooked to death by the heat of Apollo. Like a bat, I only go out
after dark. I have Apollo conjunct Jupiter conjunct Mars in Leo.
So I am here to raise my son, which is what Apollo is about. He is the Greek
god of light, healing, prophecy, music, poetry, dance, fine arts, philosophy
and science.
So I have my BFA and MFA in fine arts from UT Austin, I have spent most of
my last years here doing science graphics and animation and raising my son.
All of that applies to Apollo and I have not seen one single elephant!
Best -- LL
Sharyn
How stupid what was? The naming process?
>
> But somehow they end up matching to the names and pets and events and
> hobbies and whatevers that they are named after. :) Okay?
>
:) Sure, ok.
--
~Sharyn
Sharyn
> "Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> news:3EB40AA8...@adelphia.not...
>
>>Connie Junction wrote:
>>
>>>"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
>>>news:3EB3DF73...@adelphia.not...
>>>
>>>
>>>>Connie Junction wrote:
>>>>
>>>
> [...]
>
>>Yes, I understand that. But doesn't the direction, or the place the
>>actual planet is activating from...oh! How do I say this...doesn't it
>>matter *where* the planet is that is doing the activating? In angular
>>aspects, the meaning is derived from the placement. An opposition is one
>>thing, a conjunction is another, and a square is completely different.
>>They are all divisions of the circle from 90, to 180 to 360/0, but they
>>MEAN different things. Are you saying that no matter where the
>>transiting planet is to a midpoint/PPix, it's all the same? iow, The Pix
>>has it's particular meaning, and any activation brings it into
>>manifestation in the same way?
>>
>
>
>
> Yes, I am saying that squares and opps will have similar manifestaions; the
> strengths will definitely differ according to degree; that's an astrologer's
> judgment call. Applying, separating, stationed, etc. and time of duration.
>
Ok. Thanks. :)
>
>
>
>>>Yes, cnj=opp=squ -- 4th harmonic.
>>>Best to learn with a 90º dial; it's sort of like a magnifying glass --
>>
> makes
>
>>>things much easier to visualize.
>>
>>Ok. :) Where can I find one?
>
>
> LOL. I think a antique store might have them.
> Seriously, you might find a good graphic thru a search
> <http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=90+dial+uranian&btnG=Go
> ogle+Search>
>
>
> http://www.uranianastrologer.com/Products.html
> http://www.uranianastrologer.com/90degdial.htm
> http://www.arlenekramer.com/dial.asp
>
> sell them.
>
Thank you. I realized after a post of Ray's that I could do dials in SF.
I'm looking up the stuff on the web and absorbing the basic ideas.
Could you do me a favor? Could you explain to me how you use the lists
of pix you post here? What are some of your thoughts on the pix you
posted in the past as related to events occuring at that time? Are
pix/interpretation you give supposed to correspond to events/situations
during the times they occur? (I am supposing they are.) Obviously, the
stuff they mention can't happen to everyone, so is it about general
trends, but getting specific to anyone with corresponding or matching
natal positions? When you give them for a natal chart, am I to
incorporate them into the natal reading? And when you write "Bush" or
"Saddam," are all the pix following that related to them? Do you
calculate those pix specifically for their natal charts?
--
~Sharyn
(Have many questions)
Sharyn
> [Posted by email to: a...@stump.algebra.com]
> ----------
> In article <3EB40AA8...@adelphia.not>, Sharyn
> <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote:
>
>
> [....]
>
>>>>Perhaps so. I'm just not convinced yet that I should spend my very
>>>>limited time and energy learning Uranian technique when the TNP seem to
>>>>be such a big part of that school of thought.
>>>
>
> RM: It would be much easier to start with the simple direct Midpoints
> and use Witte's or Ebertins books for guidance in your interpretations
> and then, if you're interested in Planetary Pictures move on, ~after~
> grasping the concept of using the 4th and 8th harmonics (adding 90
> degrees or 45 or multiples).
> Regarding the TNP's - you can just ignore them altogether if you want
> because you can't get reported for not using them :-))
:)
>
>
>>>>And for some reason, I
>>>>seem to have a kind of mental block to understanding the dial technique.
>>>>Maybe it's the feebleness (or perhaps laziness) of my own intellect, a
>>>>lack of understanding of harmonic theory (which I *AM* working on while
>>>>practicing and learning the guitar and violin), or maybe my mind can't
>>>>yet accept something so radically different from the way I understand
>>>>astrology.
>>>
>
> RM: Just change your own chart in Solar Fire to display the 180 degree
> wheel and then the 90 degree wheel and you will see what is happening.
I did, thanks. It made very little sense to me at this point, but I'll
learn.
>
>>>
>>>Well, you asked what classical systems Witte embraced, and you are not
>>>convinced?
>>
>>I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you are saying. Yes, I asked; and no, I'm
>>not convinced it's worth the time it will take to completely understand
>>it, but I am willing to give it a shot.
>
>
> RM: I'm not sure where you're up to here, but let me say this - Any
> astrologer who is not using Midpoints to some extent in this day and
> age is severely handicapped.
:) I'm not up to anything, and I do use midpoints to a certain extent.
>
>>>You don't have the time or energy to research the technique, yet you are
>>>interested in the Arab Parts from which it is derived. Is it because the
>>
>>Arab
>>
>>>Parts are shrouded in the mystic language of past ages?
>>
>>No. That would be kind of silly, wouldn't it? Just the fact that
>>something is ancient, or in "mystic" language, or has some occult,
>>esoteric tradition attached to it carries no weight with me...in fact,
>>it irritates me because I find that sort of thing just gets in the way
>>of understanding. I want things direct, simple and to the point. I'm
>>simply trying to establish, in my own mind, who first used the parts,
>>how they arrived at the technique, and which ones the Arabs started with
>>as opposed to which ones they themselves made up.
>
>
> RM: It may well be that you have an interest in astrological history
> as well as reading charts, but if you are aiming to improve your
> astrological readings, you will succeed about 10 times faster with
> Midpoints or ~some~ Planetary Pictures than with ancient and obsolete
> astrology.
I'm not looking to improve astrological readings (like, with people's
natal charts, ort transits, or whatever), and I do not believe ancient
astrology is obsolete. Quite the contrary.
I am looking to improve my horary and electional skills, and to gain
more understanding about the origins of astrology and ancient and
medieval techniques and thinking. Many of them fell into disuse because
the calculation was just too difficult. In the computer age, that is not
a problem, and so I am trying out techniques and lookng into the history
and all the different schools of thought prior to modern astrology.
I'm not judging positive or negative. I know that any transit can have
either outcome, depending on many factors. But a 90 degree aspect is one
of energy and action, of friction. And that is not a value judgement; by
using the word "friction," I mean whatever might produce action.
>
>>>Yes, cnj=opp=squ -- 4th harmonic.
>>>Best to learn with a 90º dial; it's sort of like a magnifying glass --
>>>makes things much easier to visualize.
>>
>>Ok. :) Where can I find one?
>
>
> RM: Go to Solar Fire and open your chart and click on "wheel style"
> then select 180 dial and afterwards play around with the settings
> until you make your own 90 degree dial or whatever (and save it on the
> same panel).
I did, thanks.
--
~Sharyn
Sharyn
> Sharyn writes:
>
>>Connie Junction wrote:
>
>
>>>The reason why a midpoint/PPix is activated by a transit squ/cnj/opp is
>>>harmonics -- the 4th in this instance.
>>
>>Yes, I understand that. But doesn't the direction, or the place the
>>actual planet is activating from...oh! How do I say this...doesn't it
>>matter *where* the planet is that is doing the activating? In angular
>>aspects, the meaning is derived from the placement. An opposition is one
>>thing, a conjunction is another, and a square is completely different.
>>They are all divisions of the circle from 90, to 180 to 360/0, but they
>>MEAN different things. Are you saying that no matter where the
>>transiting planet is to a midpoint/PPix, it's all the same? iow, The Pix
>>has it's particular meaning, and any activation brings it into
>>manifestation in the same way?
>
>
> the same/similar meaning. And it works.
>
>
>>>Yes, cnj=opp=squ -- 4th harmonic.
>>>Best to learn with a 90º dial; it's sort of like a magnifying glass -- makes
>>>things much easier to visualize.
>>
>>Ok. :) Where can I find one?
>
>
> 'nother system of combining symbols and quite a study. And if Witte
> offers more than Ebertin in meaning/whatever, it's probably worth
> investigating.
Do you know if Witte does that? I mean, man, these concepts do not feel
natural and easy in my mind and in spite of myself, when reading the web
site explanation in cj's link, I could not help feeling pretty skeptical
about the whole thing. I agree that if the accuracy in interpreting
transits and natals is so great, it could be worth the hassle, but I
wish I had some real life examples of this system being so accurate and
working to give me some incentive.
>
> btw, you can make a dial. Once you grasp the concept, software can do
> the many calculations.
Yeah, I realized this today while in Solar Fire.
Back in the summer of ought-six, when I was
> learning this stuff, I did it all by hand...
lol! ought-six. Ok, Gramps. ;D
--
~Sharyn
Larry Swain
"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
Not necessarily, that paragraph is written in such a vague and roundabout
way I don't think we can say for sure, or at least I don't feel I can. He
makes referrence to rising degrees as possibly "pre-Hellenistic
Babylonian", but then turns right around and refers to the use of houses
as Hermetic in origin, for which, he says, "For Hermes we should
understand a reference to Hellenistic Egyptian sources", which to me is as
clear as a mud bog!
Hermes Tresmegistes is probably a fictional character; a composite of
earlier thought with no documented author or authors, labeled collectively
"Hermetic Tradition". As Hand himself said (The Lot or Part of Fortune,
Part 4), "He is no doubt a legendary figure with no historical basis, but
anything attributed to him before the Middle Ages can be safely ascribed
to Hellenistic Egyptian sources *or earlier* <my emphasis>." So when he
says, "For Hermes we should understand a reference to Hellenistic Egyptian
sources" does he mean of Hellenistic *origin*, or earlier?
In the next paragraph, he says of horoscopic astrology (which of
course is necessary for the Lots to work!), "At any rate it is quite
likely that the entire apparatus of horoscopic astology was in place by 1
C.E., *quite possibly several centuries earlier* <again, my emphasis>." He
also states (in The Lot or Part of Fortune) that the Lot of Fortune, " was
attributed to the also legendary Nechepso and Petosiris, a legendary
pharoah and his priest." Yet in the article we're discussing (History of
Astrology -- Another View), he refutes Fagan's theory that horoscopic
astrology was developed in the time of the pharoahs, pointing out that
horoscopic astrology was a composite of Egyptian metaphysical thought and
Babylonian (Chaldean) astronomy that was unlikely to have occured until
after Alexander the Great's conquest of both regions in 332 B.C.E.. So to
me there appears to be some nebulous chronology here.
Taken overall, it appears most likely that the Lots came into use during
the Hellenistic era of a developing horoscopic astrology, but "most
likely" isn't irrefutable fact, and Hand himself points to some form of
Lot (Nechepso and Petosiris) coming from the age of the Pharoahs. What
*is* certain, at least in my mind, is that the Egyptian forms weren't
written down, but were transmitted in mostly verbal form to Hellenistic
Greeks like Vettius Valens who traveled to Egypt, learned the traditions
from the Egyptian astrologers, and wrote them down as a compilation. Ergo,
their being known as "Greek" Lots or, more appropriately, "Hermetic" Lots.
But how faithful the Greeks were in transmitting that purely verbal
Egyptian astrological doctrine is an open question.
I also noticed in studying Hand's The Lot or Part of Fortune
http://www.accessnewage.com/articles/astroinx.htm
that it appears that the original Lots may have been developed from the PF
using the PF itself and each planet in turn as a part of each Part's
formula (i.e., Asc + PF - planet by day and Asc + planet - PF by night).
The other more complex lots may have been developed from these using
multiple planets and even house cusps, as I noticed that the Lot of
Nemesis was Asc + PF - SA, which bears a striking resemblance to the the
Lot of Danger's Asc + cusp of 8th - SA. But that's pure speculation on my
Part (yuk, yuk), so you should go to the site, read the whole thing, and
make your own.
Personally, I think it's Lots of Trouble, as I haven't even figured out
how to use the PF in a way that produces consistently effective results.
Larry
Connie Junction
The PPix use Witte's interpretations.
Bush, Blair, Saddam planets are added for investigative purposes during this
eventful time.
So far, I have found that the *NATAL* planetary pictures appear to be more
illustrative when the transits and Solar arcs to events are included.
See the Jessica Lynch PPix post.
Also see below.
I have found that the transit pix (the ones that I post) are less descriptive,
but still useful, when the natal planets are added.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For instance on the 1st day of the war. 3/20/03
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
These are the transits of that day with Bush's planets --
13:43 = NO+NE-AR: Dissolutions & separations in general. Secret
organizations.
13:47 = SU Bush ***
13:52 = UR+NE-SU: Days of change between tension & relaxation. The
man who changes between tension & relaxation, who works
energetically or not at all, who is thrown back & forth by
impulses. To be a medium. Apparent death, trance or dead.
============
16:41 = NO+NE-ME: Vivid imagination. Fantastic connections of
thought. To think about dissolved connections. Erroneous
train of thoughts. A secret society held together by
fruitless ideas.
16:42 = MO Bush ***
===========
18:09 = JU Bush ***
18:09 = AR+UR-NE: From here to the beyond. To make connection with
the dead.
==========
24:11 = NE+NE-UR: Sudden disagreeable events. To cause sudden
confusion & deception of a revolutionary kind.
24:12 = MC Bush ***
============
37:07 = AS Bush ***
37:09 = SU+MA-NO: Acquaintance with male persons, meeting the
husband or soldiers thru work.
============
51:29 = UR+PL-SU: Physical development which commences suddenly. The
man who suddenly faces a changed manner of nutrition, who
suddenly changes his intake of food or his meals. Days
during which mealtimes are on a changed schedule.
51:30 = VE Bush ***
=============
69:18 = MA Bush ***
69:18 = VE+PL-NO: Development of harmonious connections.
============
80:35 = NO Bush ***
80:35 = SU+NE-VE: Shyness. The chaste lover.
=============================
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The following are GW Bush's Natal Planetary Pix with the transits at the time
of war
22:26 = MO transit ***
22:26 = AR+PL-JU: Fortunate development & change. Changes in monetary matters.
=================
38:25 = JU transit ***
38:25 = SU+SU-UR: Condition of nerves. The tonus or tension of the body.
Accidents.
================
42:21 = NE transit ***
42:21 = MC+JU-AR: Blissful feeling. The state of mind effects the general
world. General contentment.
==================
50:51 = VE transit ***
50:51 = MC+NE-MA: Not sure of one's attitude. Irresolute in decision. Work
which is unsatisfactory & is never finished. Occupation
with the unknown. Swindler. Arrant knave.
===========
73:55 = VE+PL-JU: Joy & happiness over the beginning of a new development.
73:56 = AS transit ***
73:59 = ME/JU : Intelligent, constructive, healthy intellect grounded in
common sense. Righteous, sincere, introverted, conscious. A
wealth of ideas, the gift of speech.
==================
79:56 = AS+MA-SA: Thru actions of others to be separated from something. To
suffer losses. To participate in funeral rites. SICKNESS.
79:57 = PL transit ***
80:04 = MO+MA-NE: To be asleep or awake regardless of day or night. Woman
infected with venereal diseases. Irregular working time.
Forced to renunciation.
===============
80:13 = AR+MO-SA: A separated woman, A forsaken woman, an old woman. A widow.
Old & dying out populace (nation).
80:14 = VE+MA-PL: To awake the sexual urge. Development of an intimate
relation.
80:15 = MC transit ***
====================
60:30 = UR transit ***
60:31 = AR+ME-MA: General excitement. Quarrel in public. Masses in action.
===================
89:04 = SU transit ***
89:04 = ME+ME-NO: Connection of thoughts. To make new connections.
=========================
cj
"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
news:3EB4A1F8...@adelphia.not...
Ray Murphy
<Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote:
>Ray Murphy wrote:
RM: It's not you. I did the same thing after writing the above reply
and saw that planets in the natal chart which had previously been
square to each other were suddenly conjunct.
Basically what new users of the system need is a simple set of rules
to grasp what is going on. The basics are not really complicated, but
I've never tried to put them in a nutshell before, but here goes:
* When you look at your natal chart using the 360 deg wheel you
obviously see your real chart without the Houses.
* When you use the 180 deg wheel, oppositions in the chart become
conjunctions.
* When you use the 90 deg wheel, squares become conjunctions.
* When you use the 45 deg wheel, semi-squares and sesqi-quadrates
become conjunctions.
* The various wheels are using Harmonics 1, 2, 4 and 8. The other
harmonics are not generally used, but can be of course.
* The meanings of the aspects for harmonics 1, 2, 4, 8 are all the
same. (This is not saying anyything is positive or negative, but
simply that the planetary influences are present).
Ok, you've looked at your chart with a few of the wheels and you say
"So what!"
Well that's what you're supposed to say because it's no big deal -
after all you're only looking at a bastardized chart which tells you
nothing unless you know what the real aspects are. But hey, you knew
that before anyway - simply by looking at your real chart and counting
the signs with similar degrees ie: 8 CP to 10 AR = a square aspect.
One minor advantage of looking at the 45 degree wheel (8th harmonic)
is that you can see aspects immediately which were not immediately
obvious in your real chart. You still don't know ~what~ the aspects
are, but at least it prompts you to have a look to see if they are
con, opp, square, semi-square or sesqui-quadrates.
So basically when you look at your natal chart with the various wheels
you're not much better off than you were before you heard about Witte
or Ebertin - in fact you could easily be worse off (totally confused).
Now the *real* benefit of using the various wheels is for looking at
transits -- whether you are using a mechanical wheel or a computer
wheel. What happens if you have the transitting planets AND the natal
planets on the same wheel, you can see immediately if aspects are
occurring or about to occur. You don't know ~what~ aspects are
occurring, but at least you know something is happening and you can
follow up to see what it is.
Personally I don't use the 8th harmonic (45 degree wheel) very often
because I don't have the confidence in those aspects that I have with
the H1, H2 and H4, but that's just me. The 8th harmonic aspects create
an inordinate amount of data to process mentally when using midpoints,
and it borders on being just plain ridiculous at times. Still, when
I'm earnestly working on a chart where I'm trying to squeeze
everything out of the transits, I'll have a look at the 8th harmonic.
If by chance it reveals "more of the same" - which is already showing
in the chart, then I'll give more weight to the probability of that
theme manifesting in the transits. If not I ignore H8 entirely.
One good way to get an appreciation of transits to midpoints is to
look at them all in numeric fashion, but you can easily be discouraged
if you are working with a program which does not suit your mental
processes. Personally I find Martin Lewicki's program far more user
friendly than any commercial program I've seen. It runs in Dos and is
a bit less user friendly when entering and retrieving birth data but
is extremely good for getting a handle on midpoints.
I'll have another look at Halloran's program and Solar Fire and see
what they do because I've forgotten.
>>>>
>>>>Well, you asked what classical systems Witte embraced, and you are not
>>>>convinced?
>>>
>>>I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you are saying. Yes, I asked; and no, I'm
>>>not convinced it's worth the time it will take to completely understand
>>>it, but I am willing to give it a shot.
>>
>>
>> RM: I'm not sure where you're up to here, but let me say this - Any
>> astrologer who is not using Midpoints to some extent in this day and
>> age is severely handicapped.
>
>:) I'm not up to anything, and I do use midpoints to a certain extent.
RM: I meant I'm not sure how far into midpoints you were.
>
>>
>>>>You don't have the time or energy to research the technique, yet you are
>>>>interested in the Arab Parts from which it is derived. Is it because the
>>>
>>>Arab
>>>
>>>>Parts are shrouded in the mystic language of past ages?
>>>
>>>No. That would be kind of silly, wouldn't it? Just the fact that
>>>something is ancient, or in "mystic" language, or has some occult,
>>>esoteric tradition attached to it carries no weight with me...in fact,
>>>it irritates me because I find that sort of thing just gets in the way
>>>of understanding. I want things direct, simple and to the point. I'm
>>>simply trying to establish, in my own mind, who first used the parts,
>>>how they arrived at the technique, and which ones the Arabs started with
>>>as opposed to which ones they themselves made up.
>>
>>
>> RM: It may well be that you have an interest in astrological history
>> as well as reading charts, but if you are aiming to improve your
>> astrological readings, you will succeed about 10 times faster with
>> Midpoints or ~some~ Planetary Pictures than with ancient and obsolete
>> astrology.
>
>I'm not looking to improve astrological readings (like, with people's
>natal charts, ort transits, or whatever), and I do not believe ancient
>astrology is obsolete. Quite the contrary.
RM: Some has merely fallen into disuse, but if it's any good it's
gotta work!
Let's face it ~anything~ in astrology will work some of the time
because the law of averages guarantees that for us.
For instance I could say that teapots are connected to Saturn, and
astrologers would say "Hey yes you're right, and proceed to tell a
story about it".
>
>I am looking to improve my horary and electional skills, and to gain
>more understanding about the origins of astrology and ancient and
>medieval techniques and thinking. Many of them fell into disuse because
>the calculation was just too difficult. In the computer age, that is not
>a problem, and so I am trying out techniques and lookng into the history
>and all the different schools of thought prior to modern astrology.
RM: Well if you are on that path it's not a good idea to get *too
involved* with Midpoints or Planetary Pictures because they are a
different art. Both systems produce good results, but they are
incompatible to some extent unless you develop your own mix'n'match
system --- use the best of everything to suit your own way of mental
processing.
The use of Midpoints and Planetary Pictures too much could easily
erode one's skill with horary astrology. It is akin to trying to
computerize horary!
I suppose the real advantage in using Midpoints and Planetary Pictures
is for getting more accurate natal chart readings and transit readings
BUT only if one learns that way of doing astrology. Both systems
require mental gymnastics but the old way is much more colourful and
probably far more acceptable to clients - especially if they are
interested in the 'social worker' approach which many astrologers use.
>
>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Related to planetary pictures (and I realize that only the very simplest
>>>>>of them are midpoints, right?), I have always had a problem with the
>>>>>thought that it is unimportant whether a planet transiting a midpoint is
>>>>>opposed, conjunct or square the midpoint. I realize that all of those
>>>>>positions activate the sensitive midpoint, but the actual "where" of the
>>>>>transiting planet seems very crucial to the meaning, and I can't shake
>>>>>that idea. With the 360' dial, it's sort of the same thing, isn't it? A
>>>>>conjunction and an opposition are equal...lol, I think!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>The reason why a midpoint/PPix is activated by a transit squ/cnj/opp is
>>>>harmonics -- the 4th in this instance.
>>>
>>>Yes, I understand that. But doesn't the direction, or the place the
>>>actual planet is activating from...oh! How do I say this...doesn't it
>>>matter *where* the planet is that is doing the activating? In angular
>>>aspects, the meaning is derived from the placement. An opposition is one
>>>thing, a conjunction is another, and a square is completely different.
>>>They are all divisions of the circle from 90, to 180 to 360/0, but they
>>>MEAN different things. Are you saying that no matter where the
>>>transiting planet is to a midpoint/PPix, it's all the same? iow, The Pix
>>>has it's particular meaning, and any activation brings it into
>>>manifestation in the same way?
>>
>>
>> RM: The need for all that paraphernalia regarding positive and
>> negative energies goes out the window to some extent when we use
>> Midpoints especially. Who are we to judge what is positive or
>> negative. Sure we ~find~ negative or positive stuff if we know that's
>> what we're ~supposed~ to find, but what's the point when we ~know~
>> that any factor can work either way or in between?
>
>I'm not judging positive or negative. I know that any transit can have
>either outcome, depending on many factors. But a 90 degree aspect is one
>of energy and action, of friction. And that is not a value judgement; by
>using the word "friction," I mean whatever might produce action.
RM: This is where the incompatibility of the two systems arises.
>
[.....]
>--
>~Sharyn
Ray
Libralove
wrote on 5/4/03 12:45 AM:
>>>> The asteroids are named because they are what they are -- for example,
>>>> Apollo, is hotter than a pepper pod. Trust me!
>>>
>>> No, they aren't. They're mostly named by astronomers after their dogs
>>> and kids and ex-wives and who knows what all. I'm not saying there isn't
>>> a kind of strange synchronicity in the names and where they later turn
>>> up in charts (see an article I wrote at StarIQ about the eruption of Mt.
>>> St. Helens, as well as Jabob Shartz at asteroids.com if you haven't
>>> already) but they are named by a pretty mundane process.
>>>
>>> <snip>
>>> --
>>> ~Sharyn
>>
>>
>> Yes, I know Sharyn. I am the one who posted the information about how
>> asteroids are named a couple of months back and got some guff about how
>> stupid it was...
>
> How stupid what was? The naming process?
>
>>
>> But somehow they end up matching to the names and pets and events and
>> hobbies and whatevers that they are named after. :) Okay?
>>
>
> :) Sure, ok.
> --
> ~Sharyn
Sorry. It was over on a.a.mod in February not here that the question was
asked why all the stupid names for asteroids and I answered much as you did
here.
Sharyn
lol! I know it, jeez. Can't an astrologer get a damned answer to this
stuff?! ;)
> Hermes Tresmegistes is probably a fictional character; a composite of
> earlier thought with no documented author or authors, labeled
> collectively "Hermetic Tradition". As Hand himself said (The Lot or
> Part of Fortune, Part 4), "He is no doubt a legendary figure with no
> historical basis, but anything attributed to him before the Middle
> Ages can be safely ascribed to Hellenistic Egyptian sources *or
> earlier* <my emphasis>." So when he says, "For Hermes we should
> understand a reference to Hellenistic Egyptian sources" does he mean
> of Hellenistic *origin*, or earlier? In the next paragraph, he says
> of horoscopic astrology (which of course is necessary for the Lots to
> work!), "At any rate it is quite likely that the entire apparatus of
> horoscopic astology was in place by 1 C.E., *quite possibly several
> centuries earlier* <again, my emphasis>." He also states (in The Lot
> or Part of Fortune) that the Lot of Fortune, " was attributed to the
> also legendary Nechepso and Petosiris, a legendary pharoah and his
> priest." Yet in the article we're discussing (History of Astrology --
> Another View), he refutes Fagan's theory that horoscopic astrology
> was developed in the time of the pharoahs, pointing out that
> horoscopic astrology was a composite of Egyptian metaphysical thought
> and Babylonian (Chaldean) astronomy that was unlikely to have occured
> until after Alexander the Great's conquest of both regions in 332
> B.C.E.. So to me there appears to be some nebulous chronology here.
Yeah, there sure does.
>
> Taken overall, it appears most likely that the Lots came into use
> during the Hellenistic era of a developing horoscopic astrology, but
> "most likely" isn't irrefutable fact, and Hand himself points to some
> form of Lot (Nechepso and Petosiris) coming from the age of the
> Pharoahs. What *is* certain, at least in my mind, is that the
> Egyptian forms weren't written down, but were transmitted in mostly
> verbal form to Hellenistic Greeks like Vettius Valens who traveled to
> Egypt, learned the traditions from the Egyptian astrologers, and
> wrote them down as a compilation.
Thankg goodness for that.
Ergo,
> their being known as "Greek" Lots or, more appropriately, "Hermetic"
> Lots. But how faithful the Greeks were in transmitting that purely
> verbal Egyptian astrological doctrine is an open question.
I need a time machine, so I can go see for myself. Can you imagine? I
bet the reality of astrology back then is different than any of us thinks.
>
> I also noticed in studying Hand's The Lot or Part of Fortune
> http://www.accessnewage.com/articles/astroinx.htm that it appears
> that the original Lots may have been developed from the PF using the
> PF itself and each planet in turn as a part of each Part's formula
> (i.e., Asc + PF - planet by day and Asc + planet - PF by night). The
> other more complex lots may have been developed from these using
> multiple planets and even house cusps, as I noticed that the Lot of
> Nemesis was Asc + PF - SA, which bears a striking resemblance to the
> the Lot of Danger's Asc + cusp of 8th - SA. But that's pure
> speculation on my Part (yuk, yuk), so you should go to the site, read
> the whole thing, and make your own.
I will.
>
> Personally, I think it's Lots of Trouble, as I haven't even figured
> out how to use the PF in a way that produces consistently effective
> results.
>
I mostly use it in horary, and it really does act as "a point of
increase, similar to Jupiter" so can affect the outcome of a question.
As far a natal astrology goes, I'm not convinced about it either way,
but still keeping an open mind on it.
Thanks for sharing what you know on the subject, Larry
--
~Sharyn
Sharyn
Thanks so much for all this information, Ray. I was hoping someone could
just lay it out like that for me. I'm saving the post so I can refer
back to it later.
>
>
>
>>>>>Well, you asked what classical systems Witte embraced, and you are not
>>>>>convinced?
>>>>
>>>>I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you are saying. Yes, I asked; and no, I'm
>>>>not convinced it's worth the time it will take to completely understand
>>>>it, but I am willing to give it a shot.
>>>
>>>
>>>RM: I'm not sure where you're up to here, but let me say this - Any
>>>astrologer who is not using Midpoints to some extent in this day and
>>>age is severely handicapped.
>>
>>:) I'm not up to anything, and I do use midpoints to a certain extent.
>
>
> RM: I meant I'm not sure how far into midpoints you were.
Oh! lol ;) Not very, but enough to see them work as sensitive points in
synastry and in transits.
>
>>>>>You don't have the time or energy to research the technique, yet you are
>>>>>interested in the Arab Parts from which it is derived. Is it because the
>>>>
>>>>Arab
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>Parts are shrouded in the mystic language of past ages?
>>>>
>>>>No. That would be kind of silly, wouldn't it? Just the fact that
>>>>something is ancient, or in "mystic" language, or has some occult,
>>>>esoteric tradition attached to it carries no weight with me...in fact,
>>>>it irritates me because I find that sort of thing just gets in the way
>>>>of understanding. I want things direct, simple and to the point. I'm
>>>>simply trying to establish, in my own mind, who first used the parts,
>>>>how they arrived at the technique, and which ones the Arabs started with
>>>>as opposed to which ones they themselves made up.
>>>
>>>
>>>RM: It may well be that you have an interest in astrological history
>>>as well as reading charts, but if you are aiming to improve your
>>>astrological readings, you will succeed about 10 times faster with
>>>Midpoints or ~some~ Planetary Pictures than with ancient and obsolete
>>>astrology.
>>
>>I'm not looking to improve astrological readings (like, with people's
>>natal charts, ort transits, or whatever), and I do not believe ancient
>>astrology is obsolete. Quite the contrary.
>
>
> RM: Some has merely fallen into disuse, but if it's any good it's
> gotta work!
Amen!
> Let's face it ~anything~ in astrology will work some of the time
> because the law of averages guarantees that for us.
> For instance I could say that teapots are connected to Saturn, and
> astrologers would say "Hey yes you're right, and proceed to tell a
> story about it".
Maybe so.
>
>>I am looking to improve my horary and electional skills, and to gain
>>more understanding about the origins of astrology and ancient and
>>medieval techniques and thinking. Many of them fell into disuse because
>>the calculation was just too difficult. In the computer age, that is not
>>a problem, and so I am trying out techniques and lookng into the history
>>and all the different schools of thought prior to modern astrology.
>
>
> RM: Well if you are on that path it's not a good idea to get *too
> involved* with Midpoints or Planetary Pictures because they are a
> different art. Both systems produce good results, but they are
> incompatible to some extent unless you develop your own mix'n'match
> system --- use the best of everything to suit your own way of mental
> processing.
> The use of Midpoints and Planetary Pictures too much could easily
> erode one's skill with horary astrology. It is akin to trying to
> computerize horary!
Well, I don't want to do that. Maybe, as long as I understand the
system, that's enough. It really does seem a completely different way of
looking at things, and I don't know if it's for me.
So it seems. :) But you know, sometimes, things that seem mutually
exclusive can both be true.
Thanks again, Ray. I appreciate the time you spent helping me with this.
--
~sharyn
Sharyn
> His stuff occupies as much space in my approach as does Rob Hand, for
> instance. Or Sakoian.
>
> The last two books I gave up before just doing readings from my own
> experience were Combination of Stellar Influences and Planets in
> Transit.
I have PIT, but not COSI.
>
>
>>I mean, man, these concepts do not feel
>>natural and easy in my mind and in spite of myself, when reading the web
>>site explanation in cj's link, I could not help feeling pretty skeptical
>>about the whole thing. I agree that if the accuracy in interpreting
>>transits and natals is so great, it could be worth the hassle, but I
>>wish I had some real life examples of this system being so accurate and
>>working to give me some incentive.
>
>
> Do you use Ebertin? CoSI and the graphic ephemeris, primarily, are
> probably the quickest return on investment. Those might be 'easy'
> steps into Witte.
I need to get a copy, I will as soon as I'm able.
>
> But I agree, there's something really detached-feeling about both E &
> W. Until I really looked at Ebertin's interpretations... It's very
> thorough, including his medical stuff.
>
> And, you know, this approach may never resonate for you. It's not like
> there's a problem finding ways to interpret a chart...
Yeah, that's very true.
>
>
>>>btw, you can make a dial. Once you grasp the concept, software can do
>>>the many calculations.
>>
>>Yeah, I realized this today while in Solar Fire.
>>
>> Back in the summer of ought-six, when I was
>>
>>>learning this stuff, I did it all by hand...
>>
>>lol! ought-six. Ok, Gramps. ;D
>
>
> ;-)
>
> Ken
;)
--
~Sharyn
Sharyn
> Just add your planets into the mix.
> The PPix use Witte's interpretations.
> Bush, Blair, Saddam planets are added for investigative purposes during this
> eventful time.
>
> So far, I have found that the *NATAL* planetary pictures appear to be more
> illustrative when the transits and Solar arcs to events are included.
>
> See the Jessica Lynch PPix post.
> Also see below.
>
>
> I have found that the transit pix (the ones that I post) are less descriptive,
> but still useful, when the natal planets are added.
Ok, thanks much, I understand a little better what you're doing now.
--
~Sharyn
Sharyn
OIC. No problem. I just misunderstood what you were saying, then. :) I
wish I had time to read all the posts in the astro groups, but life gets
in the way.
--
~Sharyn
Libralove
Junction at conniej...@nospamyahoo.com wrote on 5/3/03 1:05 PM:
>
> "Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> news:3EB3DF73...@adelphia.not...
>> Connie Junction wrote:
>>> Witte did not write much; he lectures, and what we have are the compiled
> notes
>>> of his students. But his methods are brillant -- inventing the 360º dial
> for
>>> calculating measurements and harmonics, figuring out the correlation
> between
>>> midpoints and Arab Parts, modernizing the interpretations. These great
>>> astrological advances should not be dismissed because a genius also had a
> wacky
>>> TNP side.
>>
>> I'm not dismissing them, truly I'm not. When other people use a system
>> in a practical way and tell me it works, I take that seriously and
>> respect the opinion, even if (and especially when) I have no personal
>> experience in the matter. I guess I'm just airing my concerns regarding
>> Witte and the TNP thing.
>>
>
> It appears that many make the assumption that if TNPs are wacky, then his
> other
> ideas. PPix included, are also wacky.
When people say things that lots of other astrologers are using and using
very well are "wacky", it is an alert to me that they probably do not know
how to use them and have never used them.
I was taught by a Uranian up in the Bronx, Diana Rosenberg. I had given up
on learning Uranian by myself, so I bought a private lesson or two from her
in the late 70's. I took the subway up the westside. She was and is very
good. She also knows Fixed Stars.
She had an amazing copy of Han Niggemann's midpoint dictionary which
included every combination possible between planetary midpoints, MC, ASC,
Aries Point, Nodes and all the Transneptunians. It was about a foot thick
and a photocopy only -- never published. I was in awe...
For many years it was held in limbo by Hans' ill health and subsequent death
and problems around publishing it and who would receive the copyright,
money, etc. I heard at one point that Gary Christian up in Mass. has the
original manuscript now. One day maybe, it will be published for all to use.
Yeah, it pays to find someone and get a private lesson. In an hour or so
they can get you rolling pretty fast. It is not to your advantage to try to
learn it by yourself as an autodidactic.
>
> Well, you asked what classical systems Witte embraced, and you are not
> convinced?
>
> You don't have the time or energy to research the technique, yet you are
> interested in the Arab Parts from which it is derived. Is it because the Arab
> Parts are shrouded in the mystic language of past ages?
>
>
>>
>> Related to planetary pictures (and I realize that only the very simplest
>> of them are midpoints, right?), I have always had a problem with the
>> thought that it is unimportant whether a planet transiting a midpoint is
>> opposed, conjunct or square the midpoint. I realize that all of those
>> positions activate the sensitive midpoint, but the actual "where" of the
>> transiting planet seems very crucial to the meaning, and I can't shake
>> that idea. With the 360' dial, it's sort of the same thing, isn't it? A
>> conjunction and an opposition are equal...lol, I think!
>
> The reason why a midpoint/PPix is activated by a transit squ/cnj/opp is
> harmonics -- the 4th in this instance.
>
> Yes, cnj=opp=squ -- 4th harmonic.
> Best to learn with a 90º dial; it's sort of like a magnifying glass -- makes
> things much easier to visualize.
Because of lack of time because I have to make a living outside of
astrology, I use only the 45 deg. wheel and the printout of 45 deg. graphic
ephemeris of transits. They will show all "action events" when they gang up
and converge on a person's planetary line.
However, IMHO, you cannot divorce the reading from the person's tropical
natal pie chart with Sec. Progs. and transits. You need a big desktop and
spread all the charts and multitask mentally around the different charts and
read-outs.
I really think that AD/HDers have an advantage in doing astrology like this.
The symptoms of the disorder are an inability to zero in on one thing and
stay focused on that one thing. Well, that is practically impossible for me
except in brief spurts. I bounce all over from chart to transit list to 45
degree dial and back.
For the normal brain, this can be very difficult. On the other hand, I am
not so good with SAT tests and GRE's etc. which require focused attention
and application over several hours in a linear way from question to
question. Step one, step two, etc. is harder for me than the other mode of
mental processing called multitasking. This is what air traffic controllers
do, watch all those airplanes at once. The AD/HD people are awesome at air
traffic control. :)
Best to All -- LL
>
> [...]
>
> cj
>
======================================= MODERATOR'S COMMENT:
Do you think attention span is lesser in air signs, LL?
Connie Junction
"Libralove" <Libr...@austin.rr.com> wrote in message
news:BADF3CAC.4980%Libr...@austin.rr.com...
> in article BsTsa.52463$ey1.4...@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net, Connie
> Junction at conniej...@nospamyahoo.com wrote on 5/3/03 1:05 PM:
>
> >
> > "Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> > news:3EB3DF73...@adelphia.not...
> >> Connie Junction wrote:
>
> I was taught by a Uranian up in the Bronx, Diana Rosenberg. I had given up
> on learning Uranian by myself, so I bought a private lesson or two from her
> in the late 70's. I took the subway up the westside. She was and is very
> good. She also knows Fixed Stars.
>
I got my lessons from Chas Emerson, Diana, and Wayne Booher.
Maybe we met :)
cj
Libralove
Junction at conniej...@nospamyahoo.com wrote on 5/8/03 1:00 AM:
Well CJ, I suspect we may have, but since you operate under a disguise as I
do and I do not know the name you use in the "real world", I dunno.
However, you learned from the absolute best. -- LL
Sharyn
<snip>
>
>
> When people say things that lots of other astrologers are using and using
> very well are "wacky", it is an alert to me that they probably do not
know
> how to use them and have never used them.
Maybe so. But the tnp's are hypothetical (in a field of study that is
itself very hypothetical!), and I maintain that there must be other
possible explanations for the findings that gave rise to them. I have
never heard anyone talk about other possibilities that might have been
considered at the time they were conceived of. I don't think it's out of
line for a person to think that imaginary planets are
a little "wacky."
>
> I was taught by a Uranian up in the Bronx, Diana Rosenberg. I had
given up
> on learning Uranian by myself, so I bought a private lesson or two
from her
> in the late 70's. I took the subway up the westside. She was and is very
> good. She also knows Fixed Stars.
>
> She had an amazing copy of Han Niggemann's midpoint dictionary which
> included every combination possible between planetary midpoints, MC, ASC,
> Aries Point, Nodes and all the Transneptunians. It was about a foot thick
> and a photocopy only -- never published. I was in awe...
>
> For many years it was held in limbo by Hans' ill health and
subsequent death
> and problems around publishing it and who would receive the copyright,
> money, etc. I heard at one point that Gary Christian up in Mass. has the
> original manuscript now. One day maybe, it will be published for all
to use.
>
>
<snip>
>>>
>>
>>>Perhaps so. I'm just not convinced yet that I should spend my very
>>>limited time and energy learning Uranian technique when the TNP seem to
>>>be such a big part of that school of thought. And for some reason, I
>>>seem to have a kind of mental block to understanding the dial technique.
>>>Maybe it's the feebleness (or perhaps laziness) of my own intellect, a
>>>lack of understanding of harmonic theory (which I *AM* working on while
>>>practicing and learning the guitar and violin), or maybe my mind can't
>>>yet accept something so radically different from the way I understand
>>>astrology.
>>
>
> Yeah, it pays to find someone and get a private lesson. In an hour or so
> they can get you rolling pretty fast. It is not to your advantage to
try to
> learn it by yourself as an autodidactic.
heh, nice five dollar word there. ;) But it seems that's how I learn
pretty much everything. Still, if there was someone close by, I would
probably do as you suggest.
That seems a good approach.
>
> I really think that AD/HDers have an advantage in doing astrology
like this.
> The symptoms of the disorder are an inability to zero in on one thing and
> stay focused on that one thing. Well, that is practically impossible
for me
> except in brief spurts. I bounce all over from chart to transit list
to 45
> degree dial and back.
>
> For the normal brain, this can be very difficult. On the other hand, I am
> not so good with SAT tests and GRE's etc. which require focused attention
> and application over several hours in a linear way from question to
> question. Step one, step two, etc. is harder for me than the other
mode of
> mental processing called multitasking. This is what air traffic
controllers
> do, watch all those airplanes at once. The AD/HD people are awesome
at air
> traffic control. :)
:) Interesting. There seems to be a bright side to most situations if
you look for it.
--
~Sharyn
Libralove
wrote on 5/10/03 9:40 PM:
> Libralove wrote:
> <snip>
>>
>>
>> When people say things that lots of other astrologers are using and using
>> very well are "wacky", it is an alert to me that they probably do not
> know
>> how to use them and have never used them.
>
> Maybe so. But the tnp's are hypothetical (in a field of study that is
> itself very hypothetical!), and I maintain that there must be other
> possible explanations for the findings that gave rise to them. I have
> never heard anyone talk about other possibilities that might have been
> considered at the time they were conceived of. I don't think it's out of
> line for a person to think that imaginary planets are
> a little "wacky."
~Sharyn,
They are NOT known as "imaginary planets". They are more commonly called
"hypothetical points" and any "point" not consisting of a rock or planet
could be misconstrued to be "imaginary" as is the nodes, the asc, the mc,
ic, all midpoints, etc. The are not "imaginary". They are simply
"hypothetical". No one has proved their true existence except for
astrologers that have used them and find them to contain some energy and be
amazing accurate and descriptive.
"Wacky" means unbelievable or .... ?
But IMO, there is nothing "imaginary" about them. Just because they do not
have physical bodies does not mean they do not have a lot of energy at that
point in time and space.
Much the same as transiting planetary pix that CJ puts up. They do work.
The autodidact thing is wonderful and for most things is a valid way to
learn, but a couple of hours with a Uranian astrologer and their dial on
your next trip to a larger city will quickly open up that whole new world
for you with much less effort and time on your part.
Best -- LL
Sharyn
> in article 3EBDA827...@adelphia.net, Sharyn at Shar...@adelphia.net
> wrote on 5/10/03 9:40 PM:
>
>
>>Libralove wrote:
>><snip>
>>
>>>
>>>When people say things that lots of other astrologers are using and using
>>>very well are "wacky", it is an alert to me that they probably do not
>>
>>know
>>
>>>how to use them and have never used them.
>>
>>Maybe so. But the tnp's are hypothetical (in a field of study that is
>>itself very hypothetical!), and I maintain that there must be other
>>possible explanations for the findings that gave rise to them. I have
>>never heard anyone talk about other possibilities that might have been
>>considered at the time they were conceived of. I don't think it's out of
>>line for a person to think that imaginary planets are
>>a little "wacky."
>
>
> ~Sharyn,
>
> They are NOT known as "imaginary planets". They are more commonly called
> "hypothetical points" and any "point" not consisting of a rock or planet
> could be misconstrued to be "imaginary" as is the nodes, the asc, the mc,
> ic, all midpoints, etc. The are not "imaginary". They are simply
> "hypothetical".
But all those points are based on geographics or the positions of the
Sun and Moon or other actual planets.
The tnps are points based on the fact that during certain times (ie,
marriage) transits tended to be grouped around the same place. So it was
decided there *MUST* be something there at that place. That's a whole
different thing, in my book. I'm not saying there is nothing to this,
just that actual planets seem rather far-fetched, given the fact that
with things like the Hubble, etc, we have seen no sign of them.
No one has proved their true existence except for
> astrologers that have used them and find them to contain some energy and be
> amazing accurate and descriptive.
>
> "Wacky" means unbelievable or .... ?
>
> But IMO, there is nothing "imaginary" about them. Just because they do not
> have physical bodies does not mean they do not have a lot of energy at that
> point in time and space.
>
> Much the same as transiting planetary pix that CJ puts up. They do work.
> The autodidact thing is wonderful and for most things is a valid way to
> learn, but a couple of hours with a Uranian astrologer and their dial on
> your next trip to a larger city will quickly open up that whole new world
> for you with much less effort and time on your part.
Ok, I'll keep that in mind. I don't often get out of the swamp (too many
obligations here with family, etc, to be able to go where I would like
to go) but next time I do, maybe I'll try to set something up. ;)
--
~Sharyn
Ashurbanipal
<<MD2ta.137583$ja4.6...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>>, Larry Swain
<l.c....@worldnet.att.net> spleniated...
>"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
>news:3EB3E21A...@adelphia.not...
>> Larry Swain wrote:
>> > "Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
>> > news:3EB317C9...@adelphia.not...
>> >>Larry Swain wrote:
>> <snip>
>> >>>As far as your last question, I don't have enough experience with the
>> >>>Parts or Lots to really know, or even make an educated guess..
>> >>Thanks. I think maybe no one really knows the answer to my question.
>> >>Hand says that the lots are "almost certainly of Egyptian origin," but
>> >>if he had anything more concrete I guess he would have said so.
Wow. I read that article almost 8 years ago when he posted it. My.
>> > Yup, I'd think so. And is he referring to the pre-Hellenistic
>> > Egyptians, or Egyptians of the Hellenistic era?
>> Um, let's see, he talks about what the Egyptians added to Babylonian
>> astrology in the excerpt above, and that was pre-Hellenist, correct?
>Not necessarily, that paragraph is written in such a vague and roundabout
>way I don't think we can say for sure, or at least I don't feel I can. He
>makes referrence to rising degrees as possibly "pre-Hellenistic
>Babylonian",
It's important to clarify that that by 'Egyptian' he means Iron Age
Egypt and by Babylonian he means Iron Age Mesopotamia (the _Neo_-Babylonians).
>but then turns right around and refers to the use of houses
>as Hermetic in origin, for which, he says, "For Hermes we should
>understand a reference to Hellenistic Egyptian sources", which to me is as
>clear as a mud bog!
Hellenistic Egyptian sources means Ptolemaic Egypt, which means
Greeks, basically, not Egyptians at all.
> Hermes Tresmegistes is probably a fictional character; a composite of
>earlier thought with no documented author or authors, labeled collectively
>"Hermetic Tradition". As Hand himself said (The Lot or Part of Fortune,
>Part 4), "He is no doubt a legendary figure with no historical basis, but
>anything attributed to him before the Middle Ages can be safely ascribed
>to Hellenistic Egyptian sources *or earlier* <my emphasis>." So when he
>says, "For Hermes we should understand a reference to Hellenistic Egyptian
>sources" does he mean of Hellenistic *origin*, or earlier?
He means Greek sources of the period 332-31 BCE. And that
identification is a little fishy. In any event earlier doesn't enter into it.
> In the next paragraph, he says of horoscopic astrology (which of
>course is necessary for the Lots to work!), "At any rate it is quite
>likely that the entire apparatus of horoscopic astology was in place by 1
>C.E., *quite possibly several centuries earlier* <again, my emphasis>."
Depends on what he means by horoscopic astrology.
I guess I need to post that guy's dissertation...
>He
>also states (in The Lot or Part of Fortune) that the Lot of Fortune, " was
>attributed to the also legendary Nechepso and Petosiris, a legendary
>pharoah and his priest." Yet in the article we're discussing (History of
>Astrology -- Another View), he refutes Fagan's theory that horoscopic
>astrology was developed in the time of the pharoahs, pointing out that
>horoscopic astrology was a composite of Egyptian metaphysical thought
Egyptian metaphysical thought? WTF?
>and
>Babylonian (Chaldean) astronomy that was unlikely to have occured until
>after Alexander the Great's conquest of both regions in 332 B.C.E.. So to
>me there appears to be some nebulous chronology here.
The chronology isn't clear.
>Taken overall, it appears most likely that the Lots came into use during
>the Hellenistic era of a developing horoscopic astrology, but "most
>likely" isn't irrefutable fact, and Hand himself points to some form of
>Lot (Nechepso and Petosiris) coming from the age of the Pharoahs.
No evidence whatsoever.
>What
>*is* certain, at least in my mind, is that the Egyptian forms weren't
>written down,
Assuming they existed.
>but were transmitted in mostly verbal form to Hellenistic
>Greeks like Vettius Valens who traveled to Egypt, learned the traditions
>from the Egyptian astrologers,
Learned from the Greek astrologers that lived in Egypt. The
Pyramid-building Egyptians of yore had been gone for almost a thousand years
by that point.
>and wrote them down as a compilation. Ergo,
>their being known as "Greek" Lots or, more appropriately, "Hermetic" Lots.
>But how faithful the Greeks were in transmitting that purely verbal
>Egyptian astrological doctrine is an open question.
Seriously. The elder Egyptian civilization went into a irreversable
decline at the start of the Iron age and was conquered by the Persians in the
early part of that 'Late Era', and much was lost. Saying lots come from
'Hellenistic Egypt' and taking it to mean actual Egyptians is like saying
Cadillacs come from Protestant North America, and taking it to mean they were
manufactured by Cherokees.
ash
['It wouldn't be very sensible.']
--
"We oughta tell 'em th' whole Army don't look like us, Joe."
_________________________________________________________________
Give me Liberty or give me a nice house in France from whence I
can hunt some Liberty down. Or you can eat lead. Get off my wave.
Two|Riven against a Black Sun|six|...that which we are we are|One
Sharyn
"Ashurbanipal" <hur...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:MhOdnb4Jxpx...@giganews.com...
> On 4 May 2003 06:50:04 GMT, in message
> <<MD2ta.137583$ja4.6...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>>, Larry
Swain
> <l.c....@worldnet.att.net> spleniated...
> >"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> >news:3EB3E21A...@adelphia.not...
> >> Larry Swain wrote:
> >> > "Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> >> > news:3EB317C9...@adelphia.not...
> >> >>Larry Swain wrote:
> >> <snip>
> >> >>>As far as your last question, I don't have enough experience with
the
> >> >>>Parts or Lots to really know, or even make an educated guess..
> >> >>Thanks. I think maybe no one really knows the answer to my question.
> >> >>Hand says that the lots are "almost certainly of Egyptian origin,"
but
> >> >>if he had anything more concrete I guess he would have said so.
>
> Wow. I read that article almost 8 years ago when he posted it. My.
I had a feeling youi were probably around back then.
>
> >> > Yup, I'd think so. And is he referring to the pre-Hellenistic
> >> > Egyptians, or Egyptians of the Hellenistic era?
> >> Um, let's see, he talks about what the Egyptians added to Babylonian
> >> astrology in the excerpt above, and that was pre-Hellenist, correct?
> >Not necessarily, that paragraph is written in such a vague and roundabout
> >way I don't think we can say for sure, or at least I don't feel I can. He
> >makes referrence to rising degrees as possibly "pre-Hellenistic
> >Babylonian",
>
> It's important to clarify that that by 'Egyptian' he means Iron Age
> Egypt and by Babylonian he means Iron Age Mesopotamia (the
_Neo_-Babylonians).
>
> >but then turns right around and refers to the use of houses
> >as Hermetic in origin, for which, he says, "For Hermes we should
> >understand a reference to Hellenistic Egyptian sources", which to me is
as
> >clear as a mud bog!
>
> Hellenistic Egyptian sources means Ptolemaic Egypt, which means
> Greeks, basically, not Egyptians at all.
But why do they talk about Vettius Valens going into Egypt itself to collect
information on Egyptian astrology?
>
> > Hermes Tresmegistes is probably a fictional character; a composite of
> >earlier thought with no documented author or authors, labeled
collectively
> >"Hermetic Tradition". As Hand himself said (The Lot or Part of Fortune,
> >Part 4), "He is no doubt a legendary figure with no historical basis, but
> >anything attributed to him before the Middle Ages can be safely ascribed
> >to Hellenistic Egyptian sources *or earlier* <my emphasis>." So when he
> >says, "For Hermes we should understand a reference to Hellenistic
Egyptian
> >sources" does he mean of Hellenistic *origin*, or earlier?
>
> He means Greek sources of the period 332-31 BCE. And that
> identification is a little fishy. In any event earlier doesn't enter into
it.
>
> > In the next paragraph, he says of horoscopic astrology (which of
> >course is necessary for the Lots to work!), "At any rate it is quite
> >likely that the entire apparatus of horoscopic astology was in place by 1
> >C.E., *quite possibly several centuries earlier* <again, my emphasis>."
>
> Depends on what he means by horoscopic astrology.
> I guess I need to post that guy's dissertation...
Yes, please do.
>
> >He
> >also states (in The Lot or Part of Fortune) that the Lot of Fortune, "
was
> >attributed to the also legendary Nechepso and Petosiris, a legendary
> >pharoah and his priest." Yet in the article we're discussing (History of
> >Astrology -- Another View), he refutes Fagan's theory that horoscopic
> >astrology was developed in the time of the pharoahs, pointing out that
> >horoscopic astrology was a composite of Egyptian metaphysical thought
>
> Egyptian metaphysical thought? WTF?
lol! They didn't have such thoughts?
>
> >and
> >Babylonian (Chaldean) astronomy that was unlikely to have occured until
> >after Alexander the Great's conquest of both regions in 332 B.C.E.. So to
> >me there appears to be some nebulous chronology here.
>
> The chronology isn't clear.
>
> >Taken overall, it appears most likely that the Lots came into use during
> >the Hellenistic era of a developing horoscopic astrology, but "most
> >likely" isn't irrefutable fact, and Hand himself points to some form of
> >Lot (Nechepso and Petosiris) coming from the age of the Pharoahs.
>
> No evidence whatsoever.
>
> >What
> >*is* certain, at least in my mind, is that the Egyptian forms weren't
> >written down,
>
> Assuming they existed.
>
> >but were transmitted in mostly verbal form to Hellenistic
> >Greeks like Vettius Valens who traveled to Egypt, learned the traditions
> >from the Egyptian astrologers,
>
> Learned from the Greek astrologers that lived in Egypt. The
> Pyramid-building Egyptians of yore had been gone for almost a thousand
years
> by that point.
Ah. I see.
>
> >and wrote them down as a compilation. Ergo,
> >their being known as "Greek" Lots or, more appropriately, "Hermetic"
Lots.
> >But how faithful the Greeks were in transmitting that purely verbal
> >Egyptian astrological doctrine is an open question.
>
> Seriously. The elder Egyptian civilization went into a irreversable
> decline at the start of the Iron age and was conquered by the Persians in
the
> early part of that 'Late Era', and much was lost. Saying lots come from
> 'Hellenistic Egypt' and taking it to mean actual Egyptians is like saying
> Cadillacs come from Protestant North America, and taking it to mean they
were
> manufactured by Cherokees.
pretty
lol! Thank you, ash, that makes things a bit more clear in such murky
waters.
>
> ash
> ['It wouldn't be very sensible.']
>
--
~Sharyn
Larry Swain
> <<MD2ta.137583$ja4.6...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>>, Larry
Swain
> <l.c....@worldnet.att.net> spleniated...
> >"Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> >news:3EB3E21A...@adelphia.not...
> >> Larry Swain wrote:
> >> > "Sharyn" <Sha...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
> >> > news:3EB317C9...@adelphia.not...
> >> >>Larry Swain wrote:
> >> <snip>
> >> >>>As far as your last question, I don't have enough experience with
the
> >> >>>Parts or Lots to really know, or even make an educated guess..
> >> >>Thanks. I think maybe no one really knows the answer to my
question.
> >> >>Hand says that the lots are "almost certainly of Egyptian origin,"
but
> >> >>if he had anything more concrete I guess he would have said so.
> Wow. I read that article almost 8 years ago when he posted it. My.
So did I, or close to it, anyway. Contrary to earlier opinions, I actually
started looking at ancient astrology after UAC '96 where I attended a Rob
Hand seminar, met him, and had a talk after. It just didn't set well
enough to shift my modern paradigms until a certain, er..., ah, incident
smacked me top side the head hard enough for it to settle to an "elemental
level". :)
Why not?
> > In the next paragraph, he says of horoscopic astrology (which of
> >course is necessary for the Lots to work!), "At any rate it is quite
> >likely that the entire apparatus of horoscopic astology was in place by
1
> >C.E., *quite possibly several centuries earlier* <again, my emphasis>."
> Depends on what he means by horoscopic astrology.
> I guess I need to post that guy's dissertation...
My understanding of his meaning, based on how he used the terms repeatedly
at the '96 UAC conference, was a distinction between earlier stellar
astrology and the use of planets, signs, and houses on a zodiacal wheel.
>From the Greek *horoskopos*. But yes, I know: it ain't quite that
simple...
> >He
> >also states (in The Lot or Part of Fortune) that the Lot of Fortune, "
was
> >attributed to the also legendary Nechepso and Petosiris, a legendary
> >pharoah and his priest." Yet in the article we're discussing (History
of
> >Astrology -- Another View), he refutes Fagan's theory that horoscopic
> >astrology was developed in the time of the pharoahs, pointing out that
> >horoscopic astrology was a composite of Egyptian metaphysical thought
> Egyptian metaphysical thought? WTF?
In the sense of symbolic meaning aligned with both human nature and
principles on which the universe was believed to operate, yes.
Metaphysical
as being the combination of ontology and cosmology -- Alexandria was THE
center of thought in that age, after all!
> >and
> >Babylonian (Chaldean) astronomy that was unlikely to have occured until
> >after Alexander the Great's conquest of both regions in 332 B.C.E.. So
> >to me there appears to be some nebulous chronology here.
> The chronology isn't clear.
You can say that, again! Oh; you just did... :)
> >Taken overall, it appears most likely that the Lots came into use
during
> >the Hellenistic era of a developing horoscopic astrology, but "most
> >likely" isn't irrefutable fact, and Hand himself points to some form of
> >Lot (Nechepso and Petosiris) coming from the age of the Pharoahs.
> No evidence whatsoever.
Not sure how you mean that, Ash.
> >What
> >*is* certain, at least in my mind, is that the Egyptian forms weren't
> >written down,
> Assuming they existed.
It appears to me that Hand did when he wrote this, or he would have just
said "Hellenistic" or "Greek" sources, no?
> >but were transmitted in mostly verbal form to Hellenistic
> >Greeks like Vettius Valens who traveled to Egypt, learned the
traditions
> >from the Egyptian astrologers,
> Learned from the Greek astrologers that lived in Egypt. The
> Pyramid-building Egyptians of yore had been gone for almost a thousand
years
> by that point.
I don't think anybody was talking about the pyramid-builders, Ash, except
Hand's reference to the Pharoahs -- which *wasn't* horoscopic astrology as
far as I've ever heard, and is what confuses me about Hand's referring to
"some form of Lot" coming from Nechepso and Petosiris. How can you have a
Lot when you have no chart to place it in? In any event, there is much
that remains mysterious and speculative, for reasons stated below.
> >and wrote them down as a compilation. Ergo,
> >their being known as "Greek" Lots or, more appropriately, "Hermetic"
Lots.
> >But how faithful the Greeks were in transmitting that purely verbal
> >Egyptian astrological doctrine is an open question.
> Seriously. The elder Egyptian civilization went into a irreversable
> decline at the start of the Iron age and was conquered by the Persians
in the
> early part of that 'Late Era', and much was lost. Saying lots come from
> 'Hellenistic Egypt' and taking it to mean actual Egyptians is like
saying
> Cadillacs come from Protestant North America, and taking it to mean they
were
> manufactured by Cherokees.
How about the Great Library at Alexandria? It was destroyed by fire in
approx. 48 BCE, and most of the great works up until that time were
lost -- the single biggest reason we don't know everything that happened
up until that time! And now that I think about it, it may be what Hand was
so sketchily referring to: the loss of the Library (which ostensibly held
*all* recorded thought up until then, incl. Mesopotamian and Greek) and
thank-God-some-wandering-Hellenistic-Greeks-wrote-it-down-and-took-
-it-home! Seems reasonable to me.
> ash
Larry
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
<<%uKya.5744$hy4.1...@news2.news.adelphia.net>>, Sharyn
<shar...@adelphia.not> spleniated...
>> Hellenistic Egyptian sources means Ptolemaic Egypt, which means
>> Greeks, basically, not Egyptians at all.
>But why do they talk about Vettius Valens going into Egypt itself to collect
>information on Egyptian astrology?
Good question. I expect it's rather like Solon going to Egypt and
hearing about the immense, unknown battle twixt the Greeks and the Atlanteans.
The one guys idea is that the Egyptians were just reporting a garbled version
of the Trojan War.
In any event, Valens was 300ish AD, was he not? So the Greeks took
over Egypt 600 years earlier. Lots of time for Greek/Neo-Babylonian astrology
to become 'Egyptian'.
That isn't to say the (elder, Bronze age) Egyptians didn't have
astrology, or that they may not have made some contribution but all the
evidence in that period is Greek and Roman and whatnot, and there's little
evidence from the preceding period, so it would be hard to establish.
Lastly, one has to take the ancient writers with a small saltlick.
>> > In the next paragraph, he says of horoscopic astrology (which of
>> >course is necessary for the Lots to work!), "At any rate it is quite
>> >likely that the entire apparatus of horoscopic astology was in place by 1
>> >C.E., *quite possibly several centuries earlier* <again, my emphasis>."
>> Depends on what he means by horoscopic astrology.
>> I guess I need to post that guy's dissertation...
>Yes, please do.
Meant to, didn't, will do. In a minute or something.
>> >horoscopic astrology was a composite of Egyptian metaphysical thought
>> Egyptian metaphysical thought? WTF?
>lol! They didn't have such thoughts?
Egyptian religion was dirt simple. You died and if you were good you
went to an afterlife (in the West) that was just like life. This is why they
went to so much trouble to preserve bodies and add dandy grave goods. So you
wouldn't be screwed in Life, part deux.
Of course, you could say other religions are just as simple, and the
Egyptians certainly had rituals, syncretization and so on, but there is no
elaborate kabala, mystic theories, arcane permutations of the history of the
future, etc. No real 'occult knowledge' like we think of it. You lived, you
died, maybe you got a nice grave.
ash
['Yes?']
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
<<%uKya.5744$hy4.1...@news2.news.adelphia.net>>, Sharyn
<shar...@adelphia.not> spleniated...
>> I guess I need to post that guy's dissertation...
>Yes, please do.
ASTROLOGY AND JUDAISM IN LATE ANTIQUITY
A DISSERTATION
Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History
by Lester J. Ness Miami University Oxford, Ohio 1990
Lester J. Ness 1990
Copyright (C) 1993 by Lester J. Ness.
All rights reserved. This dissertation may be archived for public use in
electronic or other media, as long as it is maintained in its entirety and no
fee is charged to the user; any exception to this restriction requires the
written consent of the author. The author reserves all rights surrounding the
distribution of this text in print.
__________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
ASTROLOGY AND JUDAISM IN LATE ANTIQUITY
by Lester J. Ness
The goal of this dissertation will be to explain how it was that the Jews of
the Hellenized world adopted and adapted astrology. There will be a focus on
the zodiac mosaics found in the synagogues of Byzantine period Israel. The
dissertation will begin with a chapter on the origins of astrology in
Mesopotamia. There we will see how astrology grew from the beliefs that the
planets manifested the gods, and that one could predict the gods' wills by
predicting, mathematically, the planets' motions. The result was the first
horoscopes.
The second chapter will tell how the Hellenistic world adopted the
Mesopotamian practice and blended it with Greek science to produce the
mathematical "scientific" astrology familiar to most twentieth century
readers. The following third chapter will show how astrology's religious side
fared in the Hellenized Near East. The planets were important gods,
astrological art was used to praise the gods, and to portray their power and
ability to care for the world and their worshippers. Horoscopes and
astrological magic allowed one to communicate with the gods and persuade them
to help one through life.
Chapter four will deal with Jewish astrology, both "scientific" and
"religious." We will examine a variety of Jewish writings from the Hellenized
Near East to demonstrate that Jews did indeed practice astrology. We will
conclude that Jews adapted the polytheistic assumptions of astrology to their
own monotheistic world-view by interpreting the planet gods as planet angels,
beings superior to humans, but subordinate to the one genuine god, YHWH.
The fifth and final chapter will discuss the various zodiac mosaics, both as
archaeological sites and as works of art, and the various theories which try
to explain what they meant. Finally, we will conclude that, since the planets
are the subordinates of YHWH, administering His will in the world as part of
His creation, the zodiac mosaics are best explained as indirect portrayals of
God. The sun and the zodiac signs were His creatures. They carried out His
commands. They were the satraps of His cosmos. Thus, they were appropriate
visual substitutes for the God whom even Moses might not see.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I owe debts of gratitude to many people throughout my life, and especially
during the last few years, in which I learned to be a scholar. My late mother,
Margaret, taught me the alphabet. My father, Harold, and grandfather, Adolph,
raised me to respect learning and the study of history. My brothers and
sisters provided irreplaceable support, both financial and emotional, as did
my friends, especially Louis Nanassy, Joan Moynagh and Bob Howard.
My advisor and mentor, Dr. Edwin M. Yamauchi encouraged me by allowing me to
study a not quite respectable topic, by giving many bibliographical hints, and
with a great deal of patience. My other committee members also performed above
and beyond the call of duty. But I owe much to informal advice, too. Jerry
Colthorp and Dr. Timothy Rogers taught me word processing. Dr. Scott Carroll
brought the _Letter of Rehoboam_ to my attention, urged me to study Syriac,
and took part in many stimulating conversations.
I want, also, to thank the staff of Miami University's Interlibrary Loan
Department, especially Sarah Barr and Scott Van Dam, who brought to me many of
the sources used in this dissertation.
To all of you, named and unnamed, who helped me thorough these years, many
thanks!
_________________________________________________
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS v
LIST OF MAPS ix
Chapter
INTRODUCTION 1
1. ASTROLOGY IN MESOPOTAMIA 3
2. HELLENISTIC SCIENTIFIC ASTROLOGY 68
3. ASTRAL RELIGION 110
4. JEWISH ASTROLOGY 160
5. ASTROLOGY IN SYNAGOGUE ART 215
BIBLIOGRAPHY 281
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figures
1. Diameter Aspect. Bouche'-Leclercq, p. 166, figure 18.
2. Trine Aspect. Bouche'-Leclercq, p. 169, figure 19.
3. Quartile Aspect. Bouche'-Leclercq, p. 171, figure 20.
4. Sextile Aspect. Bouche'-Leclercq, p. 172, figure 21.
5. Zodiac Ring. van der Waerden, _Dawn_, Plate 26.
6. Signs of the Zodiac, _Academic American Encyclopedia_, s.v., "Astrology."
7. Ptolemy's Planetary Domiciles. Bouche'- Leclercq, p. 188, figure 24.
8. Exaltations and Depressions. Bouche'-Leclercq, p. 195.
9. Zodiacal Dodecatemoria. Goold, lii, figure 10.
10. Planetary Dodecatemoria. Goold, liv, figure 11.
11. Decans. Goold, lxxxvi, figure 23.
12. Planetary Decans. Bouche'-Leclercq, p. 288, figure 28.
13. Mundane Houses. Bouche'-Leclercq, p. 280, figure 31.
14. Lot of Fortune, after Manilius and Ptolemy. Bouche'-Leclercq, p. 290,
figure 35.
15. Lot of Daimon, after Paul of Alexandria. Bouche'-Leclercq, p. 295, figure
37.
16. The Circle of the Athla. Goold, p. lxiii, figure 14.
17. Zodiacal Melothesia. H. G. Gundel, frontispiece.
18. Nut with Constellations Above, Decans Below. Decans on Boats. van der
Waerden, _Dawn_, p. 30, figure 3.
19. Horoscope of Antiochus I of Commagene. van der Waerden, _Dawn_, p. 149,
Plate 18.
20. Chart of Papyrus Horoscope. Neugebauer and Van Hoesen, Plate 1, no. -1.
21. Plan of the Bel sanctuary. Colledge, _Palmyra_, p. 27, figure 6.
22. Bel temple "Battle" relief. Colledge, _Palmyra_, p. 37, figure 15.
23. Bel temple north thalamos relief. Colledge, _Palmyra_, p. 39, figure 18.
24. Bel temple north thalamos ceiling. Colledge, _Palmyra_, Plate 21.
25. Soffit relief of the Bel temple north thalamos lintel. Colledge,
_Palmyra_, p. 38, figure 17.
26. First-century relief of a divine triad, `Aglibol, Ba`alshamin, and
Malakbel, Plate 35.
27. Selection of tesserae. College, _Palmyra_, p. 56, figure 32.
28. Selection of tesserae. Colledge, _Palmyra_, Plate 56.
29. Graffito of god(s) from Khirbet Ab Dhr, north-west of Palmyra, Colledge,
_Palmyra_, p. 50, figure 30.
30. Fragment of ceiling with Zodiac. Michalowsky, _Fouilles_ II, p. 114,
figure 129.
31. Reconstruction of ceiling with Zodiac. Michalowsky, _Fouilles_ II, p. 115,
figure 130.
32. 232--face. Hajjar, _Triade_, Plate LXXXVIII.
33. 232--reverse. Hajjar, _Triade_, Plate LXXXIX.
34. 233--face. Hajjar, _Triade_, Plate XC.
35. 233--reverse. Hajjar, _Triade_, Plate XCI.
36. 186. Hajjar, _Triade_, Plate LXX.
37. Nabataean Temple, Khirbet Tannur. Glueck, _Dolphins_, Plan A, p. 621.
38. Nabataean Temple, Section, Period III. Glueck, _Dolphins_, p. 623.
39. Stone horns and eagle finial over Vegetation Goddess. Glueck, _Dolphins_,
Plate 32.
40. Cronos-Saturn. Glueck, _Dolphins_, Plate 153.
41. Hermes-Mercury with lyre. Glueck, _Dolphins_, Plate 146a.
42. Helios relief with torches. Glueck, _Dolphins_, Plate 136.
43. Enthroned Zeus-Hadad. Glueck, _Dolphins_, Plate 42.
44. Nik -supported Zodiac Tych . Glueck, _Dolphins_, Plate 48.
45. Mampsis. An impression of the seal of Rabbathmoba, indicating the month of
Maraxon (Marheshvan) and depicting Scorpio. Negev, _Nabataean Archaeology_, p.
96, figure 57.
46. Mampsis. An impression of a seal of Characmoba indicating the month of
Xisleu (Chislew) and depicting Sagittarius. Negev, _Nabataean Archaeology_, p.
97, figure 58.
47. Restored plan, Naaran. Vincent, "Sanctuaire," Plate 5.
48. Mosaic pavement, Naaran. Vincent, "Sanctuaire," Plate 7.
49. Naaran zodiac. Vincent, "Sanctuaire," Plate 19.
50. Sun god and chariot, Naaran. Vincent, "Sanctuaire," Plate 21.
51. General plan of Beth Alpha. Hachlili, _Art_, p. 147, no. 4.5.
52. Prayer-hall mosaic, Beth Alpha. Hachlili, _Art_, p. 357, no. 10.
53. Zodiac panel, Beth Alpha. Hachlili, _Art_, Pl. 73.
54. Plan, Husifa. Hachlili, _Art_, p. 146, no. 9.
55. Floor mosaics, Husifa. Hachlili, _Art_, p. 332, no. 5.
56. Zodiac panel, Husifa. Avi-Yonah and Makhouly, "Isfiya," Plate 44, figure
3.
57. Mosaic panels, synagogue IIb, Hammath- Tiberias. Hachlili, _Art_, p. 340,
no. 1.
58. Nave mosaic, synagogue IIb, Hammath-Tiberias. Hachlili, _Art_, p. 338, no.
9.
59. Plan, Susiya synagogue. Hachlili, _Art_, p. 157, no. 6.
60. Susiya mosaic. Shanks, _Judaism_, p. 102. Note that Shank's illustration
is mislabelled "Eshtamoa."
61. Yafia, a: plan, b: mosaic floor. Hachlili, _Art_, p. 290, no. 35.
62. En Gedi, inscription. Levine, "En Gedi Inscription," in Levine, _Ancient
Synagogues_, p. 141.
63. Plan, En Gedi synagogue. Barag, Porat, and Netzer, "`En Gedi," in Levine,
_Ancient Synagogues_, p. 117.
64. Decorated Jewish Tomb, Via Nomentana, Rome. Leon, _Rome_, figure 43.
65. Reconstruction, circular Mesopotamian astrolabe. van der Waerden, _Dawn_,
p. 66, figure 6.
66. Ecliptic. Dicks, _Astronomy_, p. 18, figure. 4.
_MAPS_
Map 1. Geographical Syria and Mesopotamia. Glueck, _Dolphins_, p. 633,
Nabataean and Related Sites.
Map 2. Edessa and Harran Region. Segal, _Edessa_, Map.
Map 3. Synagogues in Ancient Israel. Hachlili, _Art_, p. 142, map 2.
__________________________________________________
_Introduction_
Astrology is one of the most remarkable practices to come to us from the
ancient world. Born in ancient Mesopotamia, reared in the Hellenistic world,
it was at once a science and a religion. It quickly spread throughout the
known world, from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, and is with us still. Its
appeal was and is varied. An important factor is the awe-inspiring beauty of
the heavens. The developed system also had an intellectual beauty, which many
still find appealing. Another factor was the belief that the planets were
manifestations of important gods. If one could predict the gods' plans from
the planets' movements, one could make plans for the future. Likewise, one
could appeal to the planet gods to smile on one's goals. Thus, astrology was
at once beautiful and practical.
Astrology was adopted by most of the peoples of the ancient world, who
proceeded to adapt its principals to their peculiar needs and society. Perhaps
the most interesting example of this phenomenon was the adoption of astrology
by the Jews. Their religion differed from those of other ethnic groups within
Hellenistic society in its allegiance to only one god, YHWH. Astrology was
polytheistic; yet there is no doubt that more than a few Jews practiced it.
Rabbinic literature often refers to it. There survive a number of astrological
manuals written by Jews. The most dramatic and surprising evidence of a Jewish
adaptation of astrology is on the floors of the synagogues of Byzantine period
Israel. Jews were notorious in the ancient world for eschewing religious
images as well as polytheism. Yet numerous examples of mosaics of the zodiac
and the sun god may be seen today. This dissertation will describe the history
of astrology broadly before concentrating on how Jews adopted and adapted
astrology. It will demonstrate that astrology was seen as the power of YHWH
managing the universe and caring for His people Israel, and that the zodiac
mosaics symbolized His power and concern.
________________________________________________
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
This divides my dissertation into separate files for the individual chapters,
to make it easier for interested people to download. I've added some simple
HTML codes to separate the paragraphs. I have also re-formatted quotations,
marking them with quotation marks on the left margin. The ends of lines in
poetry and the horoscopes are marked with | marks.
Lester Ness Guesthouse Northeast Normal University Changchun, 130024 Jilin
Province People's Republic of China 5685085 (listen for recorded voice, then
dial) ext. 96615
Contact Lester Ness directly
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE : ASTROLOGY IN MESOPOTAMIA
CHAPTER TWO : HELLENISTIC SCIENTIFIC ASTROLOGY
CHAPTER THREE : ASTRAL RELIGION
CHAPTER FOUR : JEWISH ASTROLOGY
CHAPTER FIVE : ASTROLOGY IN SYNAGOGUE ART
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
_HOROSCOPY_
We have already dealt with the first two stages in the development of astrology, astral religion and astral omens. The third stage is _horoscopy_--what most modern people think of as astrology. This is the version of astrology which spread throughout the known world during the Hellenistic period, taking astral religion with it. The connection between horoscopy and the worship of the planet- gods, in turn, is what raises questions about mosaics of the zodiac in Jewish contexts. As with the observation of astral omens, horoscopy uses the movements of the heavenly bodies to divine the gods' wills. But it differs in that it uses calculation instead of observation. Instead of waiting for an omen to happen, the positions of the planets are calculated for any moment desired. The positions are given precisely, relative to a celestial "yardstick," the zodiac. A horoscope gave the _baru_ an omen of an omen, as it were. The omen and its meaning could be predicted in advance, and the pr!
oper rituals would be ready when needed. The increase in safety for the _baru_ and his master is obvious.
But all this depended on the ability to calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies with the required degree of precision, in other words, on mathematical astronomy. This developed fairly late in Mesopotamian civilization. The oldest known examples (ca. 1100 BCE) of simple mathematical astronomy are the so-called _astrolabes_,/197/ called "three stars each" by the Mesopotamians./198/ These are charts which correlate the heliacal risings of selected stars with dates on the calendar, three stars for each month./199/ Each month is split into thirds, with an appropriate star from one of the three "Ways" assigned to each third./200/ This told the Mesopotamians when the lunar months were shifting out of synchronization with the seasons.
An excerpt from astrolabe B illustrates the description given above.
[the table below is supposed to be in parallel columns. LJN] "" _Month_ _Ea-Stars_ _Anu-Stars_ _Enlil-stars_| "I Nisannu IKU DIL.BAT APIN| "II Aiaru MUL.MULS HU.GI a-nu-ni-tum| "III SIMANU "SIBA.ZI.AN.NA UR.GU.LA MUSH|/201/
Most astrolabes have a circular format rather than a rectangular one. In that case, the Ea column is the outer circle, the Anu column the middle circle, and the Enlil column is the innermost circle. Radial lines divide the months./202/
The risings and calendar dates were both further linked with values for the changing length of daylight through the year. The values for the changes in the length of daylight are in the form of an arithmetic progression. For the Ea stars they are: 2 2;20 2;40 . . . 4 3;80 3;60 . . . 2./203/ This is the first example of a "zig-zag function," a method of calculation much used in later astronomy./204/ These values are derived from the amount of water needed in a water clock to measure the length of a "watch" at different times of the year./205/ (The daytime and nighttime were each divided into three "watches.") The Anu and Enlil columns give the lengths of half watches and quarter watches, respectively./206/
The MUL.APIN texts, dating ca. 700 BCE, are a further development of the astrolabes. They contain the same sorts of information, if often more detailed and more accurate./207/ For example, both give figures for the length of daylight at different seasons. In the astrolabes, the ratio of the longest day to the shortest is 2:1, while MUL.APIN has 3:2. MUL.APIN's figures are closer to reality for Babylon./208/
MUL.APIN also has a great deal of information not found in the astrolabes. The astrolabes deal with three things: calendar date, heliacal risings, and length of daylight. MUL.APIN, by comparison, has eighteen topical sections in the two tablets published. (A third tablet is unpublished.)/209/
Some of the new information supplements the old. For example, the list of heliacal risings in MUL.APIN is the same as in the astrolabes. But it is supplemented by a list of _ziqpu_-stars, stars which culminate (cross the meridian) at the same moment as the other stars rise heliacally. Thus, if a certain heliacal rising cannot be observed because of clouds or dust on the horizon, its _ziqpu_ can be observed instead./210/
Other new information includes the periods of the planets, the astronomical seasons, gnomon tables,/211/ intercalation, and the constellations which hold the paths of the sun, moon, and planets./212/
These eighteen constellations are particularly interesting for astrology, for they are the predecessors of the zodiac. Some of them gave their names to the signs of the zodiac./213/ The zodiac itself, an artificial division of the sun's annual path (the ecliptic) into twelve equal sections, may be a development of MUL.APIN's section on the astronomical seasons.
This section uses the boundaries of the three "Ways" of Ea, Anu, and Enlil to divide the ecliptic into four parts, and assigns each portion to one of the seasons. It also gives the calendar date when the sun, for example, leaves Ea and summer to enter Anu and fall. This is clearly a schematic calendar, based solely on the sun, and not the ordinary lunar calendar, since a date in the lunar calendar would vary quite a lot from year to year. The tables of heliacal risings in the astrolabes and MUL.APIN would also fit with such a calendar. If the ecliptic were divided into twelve sections, corresponding to the months in the schematic calendar, the zodiac would be the result./214/
The astrolabes and the MUL.APIN texts are both comparatively secular, in the sense that both describe what happens in the heavens without trying to say what it all means./215/ But they have only the simplest kind of mathematical analysis. By the Hellenistic period, we find the ephemerides and the procedure texts, which contain quite sophisticated mathematical analyses of the heavenly bodies' motions./216/ But for the centuries in between, the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods, we have almost no documents on astronomy. There is, however, a certain amount of indirect evidence. We know, for example, that a new system of intercalation for the calendar was introduced between 480 and 380 BCE./217/
As noted earlier, the Mesopotamian month lasted from new moon to new moon. Unfortunately, twelve lunar months add up to 354 days, while the solar year, which rules the seasons and agriculture, is 365 days long./218/ The difference adds up quickly, and if nothing is done, the months will shift through all the seasons in about thirty years. Such a calendar is not very useful for any sort of long-range planning, and the obvious solution is to add an extra, _intercalary_, month every few years, to keep the months and the seasons in rough alignment. In the earlier periods of Mesopotamian history intercalary months were decreed whenever needed, not according to any system./219/ The lists of heliacal risings mentioned above may have been used to tell when it was time to add a month./220/ But about 380 BCE,/221/ a new system of seven intercalations spread evenly over a cycle of nineteen years/222/ was in use.
This intercalation cycle is based on the knowledge that 235 lunar months equal 19 solar years almost exactly. Such relationships between periods are very important in Hellenistic Mesopotamian astronomy./223/ To calculate them takes not only records of what the planets do, but a sophisticated mathematics to analyze regularities in the records.
Probably the zodiac was also invented during the fourth or fifth century BCE./224/ While people had noticed very early that the sun, moon, and planets all had paths through the same constellations, the idea of a celestial yardstick was new. The zodiac was a great circle of the sky, divided into twelve sections, each 30 degrees long./225/ Providing a uniform system of reference for positions,/226/ the zodiac was a convenient tool for calculators./227/ But observers continued to use the older system. Positions were given relative to well-known fixed stars, called "Normal Stars" by modern scholars./228/
About 300 whole and fragmentary tablets of mathematical astronomy survive from Hellenistic Mesopotamia./229/ Most date from the third through the first century BCE. The latest is the last known cuneiform text, dating to 75 CE./230/ Approximately 100 of the tablets come from the Re temple of Anu in Uruk, the rest from some unknown site in Babylon./231/
The colophons of the Uruk tablets give us some information about the people who made and used the tablets./232/ All the tablets belonged to members of two well-known scribal families./233/ It is particularly interesting to discover that the scribes often signed themselves as "scribes of _Enuma Anu Enlil_."/234/ Copies of _Enuma Anu Enlil_ were common in Hellenistic Uruk, and often the same people owned both astronomical works and _Enuma Anu Enlil_./235/ The ritual text, offering sacrifices to the planets, quoted above also comes from Hellenistic period Uruk. Astral religion, astral omens, and mathematical astronomy all lived together quite happily. The result, as we shall see, was the true horoscope.
Mathematical astronomy texts fall into two categories, ephemerides, and procedure texts./236/ Procedure texts tell how to compose ephemerides./237/ A modern ephemeris is a "tabular statement of the assigned places of a celestial body"/238/ The Mesopotamian ones told when important astronomical events would take. For example, a Mesopotamian ephemeris might give the dates predicted for each new moon in a particular year, or for each time Jupiter rose with the sun during one circuit of the zodiac./239/
Given the importance of the moon for the calendar (not to mention religion and divination) it is not surprising to find that nearly half of the surviving ephemerides are for the moon./240/ The lunar ephemerides give rather more precise data than do planetary ephemerides. These include information on a variety of lunar and solar events. Since lunar and solar phenomena are closely intertwined, they must be considered together. The phenomena found in lunar ephemerides include first visibility of the new moon, last visibility of the old moon, opposition and conjunction of the sun and moon, lunar and solar eclipses, and solstices and equinoxes./241/
Some explanations are in order at this point. A _conjunction_ is when the sun and moon come their closest to each other. How close a conjunction is varies, but in the very closest ones, the moon completely covers the sun, causing a solar eclipse./242/ The sun and moon come into conjunction once each month, during the two to three days between last and first visibility. An _opposition_ is when the sun and moon are their farthest apart, at opposite ends of the sky. When sun and moon are exactly 180 degrees apart, with the earth on the line between them, a lunar eclipse occurs. Opposition also takes place once a month, at the full moon./243/
The _solstices_ are the longest and shortest days of the year. On the solstice the places where the sun rises and sets changes direction. At the winter solstice, the sunrise begins to shift north, and the days begin to lengthen. On the summer solstice, the sunrise starts shifting south again and the days begin to get shorter.
The _equinoxes_ are the two midpoints between the two solstices, when day and night are the same length. Together, the solstices and the equinoxes mark the astronomical seasons. In MUL.APIN, they were the dates the sun passes from one "Way" to another. The solstices are both days in the calendar and points on the ecliptic./244/
_First Visibility_ was the most important lunar event, and the other phenomena were calculated from it. There are three major factors: the distance between the sun and moon, which depends on their daily motions; the angle between the zodiac, which can vary quite a lot over the course of the year; and the moon's latitude, or position above or below the ecliptic./245/
A typical lunar ephemeris would have fourteen columns of figures, on such things as the moon's latitude, its longitude (i.e., its position in the zodiac east-west), how far and how fast it moved each day, to calculate the appropriate phenomena./246/
There are also ephemerides for the five lesser planets. Of 81 which survive, 41 are for the planet Jupiter./247/ As with the lunar ephemerides, the goal is to calculate when and where certain "characteristic phenomena" will take place. This in contrast to Greek astronomy, where the goal is to give the celestial latitude and longitude of any heavenly body at any moment desired./248/ The "characteristic phenomena" of the lesser planets are heliacal rising, heliacal setting, oppositions, stations, phases, and retrogradations.
_Heliacal rising_ has been mentioned frequently above. _Heliacal setting_ means that the planet or star is setting on the western horizon at the moment the sun rises./249/ A planet is in _opposition_ when it is 180 degrees from the sun in the zodiac. _Stations_ and _retrogradations_ are peculiar to the lesser planets. Planets all move west to east in the zodiac, just as the sun and moon do. But every so often, the lesser planets each stop, move backwards (east to west) for a time, stop again, then begin to move forward again. The _stations_ are the points where the planet stops, while the period it moves backwards is its _retrogradation_. _Phases_ are times when a planet becomes invisible, or when it becomes visible again. These take place when a planet, such as Venus or Mercury, moves from the evening to the morning sky./250/
The methods of calculation are the same as for the lunar ephemerides, but the results are less precise. For example, only the changes in longitude are given, not the changes in latitude./251/
Most ephemerides do not give the planets motions for each day, although there was a complicated interpolation procedure, if the planet's position were needed for some date between the "characteristic phenomena."/252/ One surviving ephemeris does give Mercury's position day by day./253/ Thus we can see that the information needed to cast a horoscope was available to Mesopotamian diviners. Some horoscope themselves also survive.
It is important to note that "scientific" astronomy did not conflict with astral omens or horoscopy. We have seen that the same people kept works on all three disciplines. It is probably significant that the phenomena thought important in the ephemerides were also important in _Enuma Anu Enlil_. Also, since the ephemerides give the shifts in latitude only for the moon, the movements of the other planets were not completely predictable. This would have reinforced the assumption that the planets were living beings, who might have habits, but who could change them if asked, rather than mere points of light, obeying inexorable laws. The same is true for eclipse predictions. The Mesopotamian astronomers could predict when an eclipse was possible, but they could not predict if it would be seen in Mesopotamia./254/ Apotropaic rituals were performed whenever an eclipse was expected, and when an eclipse did not happen, the _aipu_ would congratulate themselves that their rituals worke!
d.
By the Persian and Hellenistic periods, the elements needed to invent the true horoscope were available. The Mesopotamians believed that the gods were incarnate in the planets. They believed the movements of the planets revealed the gods' wills, not only for the state, but also for the individual. Finally, they knew how to calculate where the planets were at any time./255/ Evidence for the early days of horoscopy is rare. Most of the ancient horoscopes which survive are in compilations made during the Roman Empire. At one time, scholars debated whether the horoscope was invented in Mesopotamia, in Egypt, or by Hellenistic Greeks./256/ The late compilers were ambiguous about their predecessors. Some do credit horoscopy to the "Chaldaeans," others, the Egyptians, yet others, divine revelation. Likewise, Hellenistic Greek horoscopes include many practices and ideas based on Greek physics and astronomy which were quite alien to Mesopotamia./257/ The debate has finally been settl!
ed by the publication of a series of cuneiform horoscopes, including one dating to 410 BCE--far too early for any Greek or Egyptian influence. The great days of Greek astronomy did not begin until the time of Alexander, a century later, while the earliest Greek and Demotic horoscopes date to first century BCE./258/
How the horoscope was invented is unknown. The key change was to relate the planets' positions to an individual's "fate." Possibly this began with noting what planets were visible and invisible when a person was born./259/ This is not much different from what the Assyrian _baru_ did for their king. One report survives which relates the usual astral omens to one of Aurbanipal's sons./260/ He was not exactly a private individual, but he was not the king, either. When the Persian kings abolished the Mesopotamian monarchy, the _baru_ may have turned to private customers. Other omen series (E.g., _shumma alu_) had always been used by private persons./261/
Speculation aside, one cuneiform document survives which does predict people's fates from the planets visible when they were born, tablet AO 6483./262/ A representative quotation reads:
""Obverse
" 27) If a child is born when the moon has come forth, (his "life? will be) bright, excellent, regular and long.| 28) If a "child is born when the sun has come forth, (then) <......>| 29) "If a child is born when Jupiter has come forth, (then his life? "will be) regular, well; he will become rich, he will grow old, "(his) day(s) will be long.| 30) If a child is born when Venus "has come forth, (the his life? will be) exceptionally (?) calm; "wherever he may go, it will be favorable; (his) days will be "long.| 31) If a child is born when Mercury has come forth, (then "his life? will be) brave, lordly ............| 32) If a child is "born when Mars has come forth, (then) ......, hot (?) temper "(?).| 33) If a child is born when Saturn has come forth, (then "his life? will be) dark, obscure, sick, and constrained./263/ . ". .|
""Reverse
" 7) If a child is born when Jupiter comes forth and Venus "(had?) set, it will go exceptionally well with that man; his "wife will leave and <......>. (Variant:) wife will reach (?).| "8) If a child is born when Jupiter had come forth and Mercury "(had?) set, it will go excellently with that man; his oldest son "will die.| 9) If a child is born when Jupiter has come forth "and Saturn (had?) set, it will go excellently with that man; his "personal enemy will die./264/ . . .|
" 29) [If? a? child? is? born? when #[_a_] _bootis_ comes "forth, he will .........] . . When n [_e_] _bootis_ comes "forth, he will not [have?] a son.| 30) [When [_b_] _coronae "borealis_ comes forth, he will ..........] When [_B_] _herculis_ "comes forth, he will, death (caused) by a crane (?).| 31) [_z_] "_herculis_ comes forth, he will ..........] When f [_m_] "_herculis_ comes forth, he will be poor.|/265/
These lengthy excerpts from a long document are reminiscent of _Enuma Anu Enlil_. They are in the same protasis--apodosis format, correlating event and meaning. They differ in that they are applied to private individuals. The stars in the last portion of the quotation, lines 29-31, are _ziqpu_-stars, stars whose culminations are important in the MUL.APIN texts./266/
This portion of AO 6483 cannot be dated. The order of the planets in obverse line 27 to reverse line 6 is neither the one standard in Hellenistic texts, nor the one used in earlier times. Reverse lines 7 through 38 use the Seleucid order, which may give the general period when the tablet was inscribed, if not when the original was composed./267/
Note that there neither the "Normal Stars" nor the zodiac are mentioned. Only the visibility of the planets and stars is important.
Of the six horoscope tablets published by Sachs, the oldest, AB 251, dates to the fifth century BCE, four to the third century BCE, and one to the second century BCE./268/ The oldest horoscope was cast for 29 April 410 BCE and reads:
""(Perhaps one line is missing.)| 1) Month (?) Nisan (?) of (?) "the (?) 14th (?), .........| 2) Son of Shuma-usur, son of "Shuma-iddina, descendant of Deke, was born.| 3) At that time "the moon was below the "Horn" of the Scorpion,| 4) Jupiter in "Pisces, Venus| 5) in Taurus, Saturn in Cancer,| 6) Mars in "Gemini. Mercury, which had set (for the last time), was (still) "in[visible].| 7) (Month) Nisan, the 1st (day which followed the "30th day of the preceding month), (the new moon having been "visible for) 28 (US), [the duration of visibility of the moon "after sunrise on] the 14(?)th was 4,40 (?) (US);| 8) The 27th "was the-day-when-the-moon- appeared-for-the-last-time.| 9) "(Things?) will (?) be good for you.| 10) Month Du'uz, year 12,| "11) [ye]ar (?) 8 ........| 12) [..................]| (Rest . . ". , probably not more than one line, destroyed.)|/269/
The date of the tablet was not given. Instead, Sachs deduced it from the positions given for the planets. Although the date 410 BCE was "startlingly early" no other date was possible./270/ Likewise, the tablet does not say where it was cast, but the family name of the subject, Dk is found in Babylon./271/ Unfortunately, the subject's own name is destroyed.
The "Horn" of the Scorpion mentioned in lines 3 is not one of the "Normal Stars," but a Mesopotamian name for Libra. A scorpion's claws were its "horns" to the Mesopotamians, and "the claws of the Scorpion" is an alternative name for Libra in Greek astrology, too./272/
Lines 7-8 give the dates for the moon's first and last visibility, which are important in both the ephemerides and __Enuma Anu Enlil__. The dates given are "normal" and thus would be good omens. Presumably the prediction in lines 9 is only a summary of a more detailed oral explanation of what the horoscope meant. Such summaries were common in omen reports from earlier periods./273/
Finally, it is interesting to note that in the cuneiform text, Venus is written with the "dingir" sign, signifying a god, "[dingir] _dili-pat_," or "the goddess Venus."/274/ The other planets' name are written without the "dingir."
The next surviving horoscope, MLC 1870, is date to year 48 of the Seleucid Era, or 263 BCE, probably for April 4. It reads:
""1) Year 48 (of the Seleucid Era, month) Adar, night of the "[23rd (?)],| 2) the child was born.| 3) That day the sun was "in 13;30 [degrees] Aries.| 4) The moon was in 10 [degrees] "Aquarius,| 5) Jupiter at the beginning of Leo,| 6) Venus with "the sun,| 7) Mercury with the sun|, 8) Saturn in Cancer,| 9) "Mars at the end of Cancer.| 10) [Ge]mini (?), Aries, and "Aquarius: the house (?) of his ......| 11) [Months II (?)], V, "VIII, and VII (?): the house (?) of his ......| 12) [......]... "was born ................| 13-6) "[......].........................| 17) [......]...... love (?) "..............| 18) ......]................................... "........ .....| 19) [...].................. they made.| 20) He "will be lacking in wealth, ...........| 21) ".......................................| 22) His food (?) will "not [suffice (?)] for his hunger (?).| 24) The 36th year (or: "36 years) he will have wealth.| 25) (His) days will be long (in "number).| 26-| 27) His wife, w!
hom people will seduce (?) in his "presence, will ......... (Or: His wife, in whose presence "people will overpower him--she will bring (it) about (?).| 28) "He will have .....s and women. He will see profit.|/275/
One notable feature of this text is that it gives a precise position, in degrees, for the sun and moon, while the planets are only said to be present in a certain sign. This parallels the practice of the Hellenistic period ephemerides. The statement that Venus and Mercury are "with the sun" is also found in the procedure texts and means that they are too close to the sun to be visible./276/ Just what the "houses" in lines 11-12 are is unclear, but it would be rash to assume they are the "houses" of Greek astrology.
The predictions are rather obscure. Lines 12-21, in particular, contain much that Sachs was not able to translate (hence the many dots)./277/ The portions which can be understood, lines 12-21 are still interesting, and parallel, somewhat, the apodoses quoted above from AO 6483.
Tablet BM 33667, cast for 15 September, 258 BCE, is the third surviving horoscope and reads:
""1) Year 53 (of the Seleucid Era) intercalated (month Adar, "on) the night of the 1st, the moon| 2) [passed] below the star "[_b_] _arietis_ 2 1/2 cubits (away).| 3) The 12th day: "(vernal) equinox.| 4) The 1st day: the moon ..... Pisces.| 5) "Year 54 (of the Seleucid Era, month) Kislim, the 1st (day which "followed the 30th of the preceding month, on) the night of the "8th,| 6) in the beginning of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 "cubits below the star ( [_n_] ?) _piscium_,| 7) the moon "(having already) passed 1/2 cubit to the east.| 8) the 20th "day: (winter) solstice.| 9) The 13th day: the _na_ of the moon "was 11 (US).| 10) At that time, Jupiter was in Capricorn, Venus "in Scorpius,| 11) --on the 9th (day), Mercury disappeared (for "the last time) in the east in Sagittarius--| 12) Saturn and "Mars in Libra.|/278/
The most notable feature about this horoscope is that it uses both the date of conception (lines 1) and the date of birth (lines 5-7). The astrologer assumes 273 days between conception and birth, an assumption also used by those Greek astrologers who used the conception date./279/ The positions of the sun and the moon are given as so many "cubits" from one the "Normal Stars," and not as degrees in the zodiac./280/ This is the practice in the non-mathematical astronomical texts of later Mesopotamia, such as the "diaries."/281/ A "cubit" in astronomy was either 2degrees or 2 1/2 degrees./282/ "I do not see what relation existing between the moon and Pisces can be referred to here" in lines 4./283/ A "na" (line 9) is how long the moon can be seen between sunrise and moonset. 11 US equals 44 minutes./284/
The fourth surviving horoscope, MLC 2190, was calculated for 4 p.m., 3 June 253 BCE. It reads:
""1) Year 77 (of the Seleucid Era, month) Siman, (from?) the "4th (day until? some? time?) in the last part of the night (of?) "the 5th (day),| 2) Aristokrates was born.| 3) That day: Moon "in Leo. Sun in 12:30 in Gemini.| 4) The moon will set its face "from the middle toward the top;| 5) (the relevant omen reads:) ""If, from the middle toward the top, it (i.e., the moon) set its "face,| 6) (there will ensue) destruction." Jupiter ..... in 18 "[degrees] Sagittarius.| 7) The place of Jupiter (means) (His "life? will be) regular, well; he will become rich, he will grow "old,| 8) (his) days will be numerous (literally) long. Venus "in 4 [degrees] Taurus.| 9) The place of Venus (means): "Wherever he may go, it will be favorable (for him);| 10) he "will have sons and daughters. Mercury in Gemini,| 11) with the "sun. The place of Mercury (means): The brave one| 12) will be "first in rank,| 13) he will be more important than his "brothers,............| 14) Saturn: 6 [degrees] Cance!
r. Mars: 24 "[degrees] .....| 15) the 22nd and 23rd of each month "........|/285/
This horoscope is particularly interesting for several reasons. First, it was cast for a Greek. It dates to just the period, some two or three generations after Alexander, when horoscopy was becoming well-known throughout the Mediterranean. Another interesting feature is that all the planets are placed at specific degrees of the zodiac, rather than just present in a sign. The moon is the only exception. This means that there must have been ephemerides for the daily motion of all the planets, not only for Mercury (see above).
Finally, the predictions are not grouped at the end, after the positions, as in the other horoscopes. Instead, the position of each planet is paired with its meaning in the traditional protasis-apodosis format. We have apodoses for the positions of Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury, but not for the sun, Saturn, and probably not for Mars. There is no apodosis for the position of the moon, but there is one for the setting of the moon.
There are no known omen series which link planetary positions and interpretations in this fashion, but clearly one must have existed. The quotation from AO 6483, above, is not such a text, but nevertheless, it may be significant that the prediction for Jupiter (lines 7-8) is identical to the one for Jupiter in AO 6483, obverse lines 29 (see above)./286/
The fifth horoscope is too fragmentary to indicate more than that it was cast for a Greek, one Nicanor, for 3 July 230 BCE./287/ The sixth and most recent of the known horoscopes on clay was for 1 March 142 BCE.
""1) [Year 1]69 (of the Seleucid Era), Demetrius being king,| "2) month Adar, (the 1st day of which coincided with what would "have been the) 30th (of the previous month), the night of the "6th, at the beginning of the night, the moon| 3) was 1 cubit "in advance (i.e., west) of [_b_] _tauri_--| 4) the 6th, in the "morning the child was born.| 5) At that time, the moon was at "the beginning of Gemini,| 6) the sun in Pisces, Jupiter in "Libra, Venus| 7) and Mars in Capricorn, Saturn in Leo.| 8) "That month (the moon was) visible (for the first time in the "morning after sunrise on the) 14th;| 9) last visibility of the "moon (on the) 27th.| 10) Year 170 (of the Seleucid Era,| 11) "month), Nisan, 4th day: (vernal) equinox. 12-| 12) The child "was born in the brilliant house of Jupiter.|/288/
This horoscope is not very different from the others. It gives all the planetary positions as simple signs, not as precise degrees within a sign. There are no interpretations. Presumably the client was given one orally. The formula in lines 2 is the usual way of saying that the last month was only 29 days long./289/ First and last visibility of the moon were important in the ephemerides as well as in _Enuma Anu Enlil_ It is impossible to say what "the brilliant house of Jupiter" is, but to assume it is one of the "houses" of Greek astrology would, again, be going too far./290/
Only two of the six horoscopes were calculated from ephemerides, those for 263 BCE and 235 BCE, because only they use degrees for the planets' positions. The rest were probably based on the "diaries," which list astronomical and other events by date and give planetary positions relative to the "Normal Stars."/291/
There seems little reason to doubt that the basic horoscope was invented in Mesopotamia, and only later adopted and elaborated by Hellenistic Greeks, creating the sort of astrology which has come down to us. But there is also evidence that a number of refinements on the basic horoscope also have their roots in Mesopotamia.
In Greek astrology, angular relationships between planets (aspects) and between various signs of the zodiac (triplicities, quadruplicities, etc.) are important in interpreting a horoscope./292/ Francesca Rochberg-Halton believes that she has found the prototype of this practice in a tablet of the fourth century BCE, BM 36476./293/ This gives twelve lunar eclipse omens, in the traditional format./294/ The protases follow a common pattern:
"if a lunar eclipse occurs in a zodiac and the night watch comes to an end and the wind (north, south, east, west) blows, Jupiter (or Venus) is (or: is not) and Saturn and Mars stand in zodiac sign[2] and zodiac sign[3] (respectively) [then...]./295/
The apodoses are assigned to the four regions of the world, Akkad, Elam, Amurru, and Subartu, (in that order), much as in _Enuma Anu Enlil_/296/ The zodiac signs for the moon, Saturn, and Mars fall into four groups, three signs in each group. If the zodiac is drawn as a circle and the signs in each group are connected with lines, the result is four equilateral triangles, one for each of the four sign-groups./297/ This is just the definition one finds of the "triplicities" in, for example, Manilius' _Astronomica_ 2.270-286. "Triplicities" of months are also found in _Enuma Anu Enlil_./298/ Very similar angular relationships used for interpretation are to be found in the introduction to astronomy of Geminos,/299/ writing in the mid-first century CE./300/
Another refinement is what the Greco-Roman astrologers called the "dodekatemoria"/301/ and which modern Assyriologists call "microzodiacs." This is the practice of subdividing each of the twelve signs into twelve parts. Each sign thus contained its own "microzodiac," with the same names. Tablet AO 6483, quoted above, also has a section on how to calculate a microzodiac, in lines 6-20./302/ Of the two methods used by Greco-Roman astrologers,"A" and "B," AO 6483 uses "B,"/303/ while "A" has also been traced to Mesopotamia./304/ When the "microzodiac" was invented in unknown, but it can be no earlier than the regular zodiac./305/
E. F. Weidner believes he has found reference to the doctrine of _hypsomata_, or "exaltations," in a microzodiac text, VAT 7851./306/ Supplementing the text, the tablet has a series of line drawings of animals, humans, and stars, labelled with the names of constellations and planets. The planets are drawn next to the constellations in which they were strongest, or "exalted," in Greek astrology./307/
Besides strictly astrological practices, a number of medicinal and magical practices involving the planets and stars, known from Greek and even medieval Arabic sources, can be traced to ancient Mesopotamia. The various "microsigns" in the microzodiac tablets are each assigned a plant, a tree, a stone and a temple or city. In earlier periods, these things are found in lists of materials used by magicians. Apparently, a variety of traditional magical and medical beliefs were being given astrological explanations at this time./308/
In this chapter I have demonstrated that the Mesopotamians saw their gods as incarnate in the planets, that they believed that the planet-gods communicated with them by means of the planets' motions, and finally, that they used mathematics to analyze the planet's movements and thus to better communicate with their gods. We likewise have seen that none of these practices replaced each other. The planet-gods were supplicated with offerings of food and incense at the same time that horoscopes were being cast to discover the gods' plans for the individual. Traditional astral omens were used as well. In the following chapters, I will demonstrate that as horoscopy spread through the Hellenistic world, it took its religious presuppositions with it. _________________________________________
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
/1/ Jean Bott ro, _La religion babylonienne_ [_Religion_] (pr face par Edouard Dhorme, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1952), p. 33.
/2/ There are two exceptions, Kingu in the _Enuma Elish_, whose blood is used to make the human race, and Weila, killed in the _Atrahasis_ epic for no clear reason.
/3/ Edouard Dhorme, _Les religions de Babylonie et Assyrie_ [_Religions_] (Paris: Presses Univer- sitaires de France, 1949), p. 14.
/4/ A. Leo Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_; _Portrait of a Dead Civilization_ [_Ancient Mesopotamia_] (Revised Edition, completed by Erica Reiner, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1977), pp. 187-89; Thorkild Jacobsen, _The Treasures of Darkness_; _A History of Mesopotamian Religion_ [_Treasures_] (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1976), pp. 15-16.
/5/ H. W. F. Saggs, _The Greatness that was Babylon_; _A Sketch of the Ancient Civilization of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley_ [_Greatness_] (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1962; reprinted New York and Scarborough, Ontario: New American Library, Mentor Books, 1968), pp. 166-7; Alexander Heidel, _The Babylonian Genesis_; _The Story of Creation_ [_Genesis_] (2nd ed.; Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1951; Phoenix Books, 1963), p. 47.
/6/ Jacobsen, _Treasures_, pp. 86-87, 234.
/7/ Each noun in the cuneiform writing system was prefixed with a sign called a determinative, which was not pronounced, but which served to classify the noun. Thus, the name of a god was always preceded by the sign "dingir," which told the reader that this is the name of a god. In transliteration, a determinative is written as a superscript.
/8/ Dhorme, _Religions_, p. 12; Jacobsen, Treasures, p. 233.
/9/ Omens were warnings from the gods of what might happen, not of inevitable things to come.
/10/ Jacobsen, _Treasures_, pp. 121-2; Bruno Meissner, _Babylonien und Assyrien_ [_Babylonien_] (Heidelberg: Carl Winters Universittsbuch- handlung, 1925), II, p. 19.
/11/ Bott ro, _Religion_, p. 38; Dhorme, _Religions_, p. 59; Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 19.
/12/ Ammianus Marcellinus, _Res Gestae_ [_Histories_], 23.3.1-2, 3 Vols., trans. John C. Rolfe (Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1935-39; revised edition, 1950-52), III, 318-19, tells us that Julian worshipped the moon at Harran according to the local rite. Daniel Chwolson, in _Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus_ (St. Petersburg, 1859; repr., Amsterdam: Oriental Press, 1965), describes the Harranian planet- worshippers in the Islamic period.
/13/ Jacobsen, _Treasures_, p. 134; See Wolfgang Heimpel, "The Sun at Night and the Doors of Heaven in Babylonian Texts," ["Sun"] _JCS_ 38 (1986): pp. 127-51, for a detailed account of Shamash's daily routine.
/14/ Dhorme, _Religions_, p. 65; Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, p. 195; Georges Contenau, _La divination chez les Assyriens et les Babyloniens_ [_Divination_] (Paris: Payot, 1940), pp. 28-29.
/15/ R. Campbell Thompson, _The Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon_ [_Reports_] (London: Luzac, 1903; repr., New York: AMS, 1976), p. lv, report 112. All translations in this chapter are by the authors given in the notes.
/16/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 26; Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, pp. 139, 197; P. Gssmann, O. E. S. P., _Planetarium babylonicum, oder die sumerisch-babylonischen Sternnamen_ [_Sternnamen_] (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute Press, 1950), p. 35, s.v. "DIL.BAD."
/17/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 26; Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, pp. 199, 205.
/18/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 26.
/19/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 15; Saggs, _Greatness_, p. 324.
/20/ W. G. Lambert, "Studies in Marduk," _BSAOS_ 47 (1984): p. 1; Heidel, _Genesis_, tablet 7, ll. 123ff; Gssmann, _Sternnamen_, p. 125, s.v. "SAG.ME.GAR."
/21/ Jacobsen, _Treasures_, pp. 127, 129.
/22/ Dhorme, _Religions_, p. 104; Meissner, _Babylonien_, pp. 9, 31.
/23/ Dhorme, _Religions_, p. 89; Gssmann, _Sternnamen_, p. 124, s.v. "SAG.US"; P. Hilaire de Wynghene, _Les pr sages astrologiques_ [_Pr sages_] (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute Press, 1932), p. 52.
/24/ Gssmann, _Sternnamen_, p. 114, s.v. "_nakaru_;" Saggs, _Greatness_, pp. 322-23.
/25/ Dhorme, _Religions_, p. 39; Meissner, _Babylonien_, pp. 36-7; Saggs, _Greatness_, pp. 322-23.
/26/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 51; Gssmann, _Sternnamen_, p. 25, s.v. "mulGU.UD."
/27/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, 1925, p. 17; Bott ro, _Religion_, p. 42.
/28/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, pp. 45-46; Saggs, _Greatness_, p. 327.
/29/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 17.
/30/ B. L. van der Waerden, _Science Awakening_ II, _The Birth of Astronomy_ [_Birth_], with contributions by Peter Huber (Leyden: Noordhoof International Publishing, 1974; New York: Oxford University Press, 1974), p. 74.
/31/ Thorkild Jacobsen, "Mesopotamia," in Henri Frankfort and others, _Before Philosophy_; _The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man_ ["Mesopotamia"] (New York: Penguin Books, 1974), p. 156.
/32/ Ibid., pp. 159-61.
/33/ Dhorme, _Religions_, p. 79; Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 6; E. Douglas Van Buren, _The Symbols of the Gods in Mesopotamian Art_ (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1945), p. 74; E. Douglas Van Buren, "The Seven Dots in Mesopotamian Art and their Meaning," _Altorientalische Forschungen_ 13 (1939-1941): p. 277; Gssmann, _Sternnamen_, p. 109, s.v. "MUL.MUL."
/34/ R. Campbell Thompson, _The Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia_ [_Devils_], 2 Vols. (London: Luzac, 1903; repr., New York: AMS, 1976), pp. 93, 95, 99, Tablet 16, ll. 70-80, 135-47.
/35/ Bott ro, _Religion_, pp. 130-31; Meissner, _Babylonien_, pp. 155, 210-11; Silvestro Fiore, _Voice from the Clay_; _The Development of Assyro- Babylonian Literature_ [_Voice_] (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1965), pp. 85-86.
/36/ I owe this insight to Dr. Zvi Abusch of Brandeis University.
/37/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, pp. 160, 163, 171; Erica Reiner, "The Uses of Astrology," ["Uses"] _JAOS_ 105 (1985): pp. 590, 595.
/38/ Heidel, _Genesis_, p. 11; Jacobsen, _Treasures_, p. 183; Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 174.
/39/ Jacobsen, "Mesopotamia," pp. 183-84.
/40/ Heidel, _Genesis_, p. 12; Jacobsen, "Mesopotamia," pp. 183-84. On the role of _Enuma Elish_ in the New Year Festival, see Svend Aage Pallis, _The Babylonian Akitu Festival_ (Copenhagen: Bianco Lunos Bogtrykkeri, 1926), pp. 247, 257-306, passim.
/41/ Heidel, _Genesis_, pp. 18-20.
/42/ Ibid., pp. 23-25.
/43/ Ibid., pp. 25-36.
/44/ Ibid., pp. 36-38.
/45/ Ibid., pp. 39-41.
/46/ The translation "signs of the zodiac" is anachronistic; the zodiac per se was not invented until the fourth or fifth century BCE. The author refers to the _constellations_ in the zodiacal belt, for which the later signs were named.
/47/ On the use of thirty-six constellations to measure the passage of the months, see B. L. van der Waerden, "Babylonian Astronomy II. The 36 Stars," ["36 Stars"] _JNES_ 8 (1949): pp. 6-26; van der Waerden, _Birth_, pp. 64-67.
/48/ _Nbiru_ is usually one of the names of the planet Jupiter (Gssmann, _Sternnamen_, pp. 118-9, s.v. "mulNibiru"). Here, though, it parallels the "stations" of Anu and Ea as a group of stars. Perhaps it is the "path of Enlil" under a new name. Marduk is thought to have replaced Enlil as the hero of the epic over-all (Heidel, _Genesis_, 12), and certainly Enlil is very conspicuously absent throughout the work as we have it. Jacobsen, "Mesopotamia," pp. 183-4.
/49/ Cf. Heimpel, "Sun," pp. 127-151.
/50/ In later astronomy, the "way of the sun" is the ecliptic, the sun's annual path through the zodiacal constellations. The moon does indeed draw near to the ecliptic when invisible. When the invisible moon covers the sun at this time, a solar eclipse is the result, hence the name "ecliptic."
/51/ Heidel, _Genesis_, pp. 42-45.
/52/ Ibid., p. 49.
/53/ Ibid., p. 59.
/54/ Heidel, _Genesis_, pp. 78-81; Stanley M. Burstein, _The Babyloniaca of Berossus_ (Malibu: Undena Publications, 1978), pp. 8-10, 14-5.
/55/ Heidel, _Genesis_, p. 81.
/56/ A. Leo Oppenheim, "A New Prayer to the `Gods of the Night'," ["Prayer"] _Analecta Biblica_ 12 (1959): pp. 287-88.
/57/ Ibid., pp. 288-89.
/58/ Ibid., p. 282.
/59/ Georges Dossin, "Pri nuit' (AO 6769)," ["Pri 184; Gerhard Meier, _Die assyrische Beschwrungssammlung Maql_ (Osnabr ck: Biblio Verlag, 1967), p. 7.
/60/ Saggs, _Greatness_, p. 296; Morris Jastrow, _The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria_ [_Religion_] (Boston: Ginn and Co., 1898), p. 284.
/61/ Dr. Zvi Abusch of Brandeis University tells me that dates proposed by different scholars vary by as much as one thousand years.
/62/ Dossin, "Pri
/63/ See Dossin, "Pri cuneiform text, transliteration, and French translation. Oppenheim, "Prayer," pp. 294-95, offers a new translation into English.
/64/ Oppenheim, "Prayer," p. 292, and references there.
/65/ Oppenheim, "Prayer," p. 296; Cf. Reiner, "Uses," p. 591.
/66/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 229; Saggs, _Greatness_, p. 296; Jastrow, _Religion_, pp. 290- 93.
/67/ Fiore, _Voice_, p. 91; A. Ungnad, "Besprechungskunst und Astrologie in Babylonien," ["Besprechungskunst"] _AfO_ 14 (1941-1944): pp. 251-52.
/68/ Erica Reiner, _Surpu__, a Collection of Sumerian and Akkadian Incantations_ [_Surpu_] (Graz, 1958; repr. Osnabr ck: Biblio Verlag, 1970), p. 13.
/69/ 7Sibzianna is Orion; See Gssmann, _Sternnamen_, p. 149, s.v. "mulSIBA.ZI.AN.NA;" Reiner, _Surpu_, p. 222, l. 111.
/70/ Gssmann, _Sternnamen_, p. 82, s.v. "Kaimanu;" p. 124, s.v., "mulSAG.US;" p. 128, s.v., "SAK.KUD."
/71/ Meissner, _Genesis_, pp. 237-38; R. I. Caplice, _The Akkadian Namburbi Texts_: _An Introduction_ [_Namburbi_] (Los Angeles: Undena Publications, 1974), pp. 7-9.
/72/ Caplice, _Namburbi_, p. 7.
/73/ Ibid.
/74/ Ibid., pp. 8-9, 21-22.
/75/ Asalluhi is Marduk. See Jacobsen, _Treasures_, p. 182.
/76/ Caplice, _Namburbi_, p. 14.
/77/ Ibid., p. 9.
/78/ Caplice, _Namburbi_, pp. 10-11; Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, pp. 188-89.
/79/ Ungnad, "Besprechungskunst," p. 254.
/80/ Erich Ebeling, _Die Akkadische Gebetsserie "Handerhebung"_, [_Handerhebung_] (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1953), p. 3.
/81/ Bott ro, _Religion_, p. 120.
/82/ Ebeling, _Handerhebung_, p. 9, #2, ll. 1-2. Zalbatanu = Mars, Gssmann, _Sternnamen_, p. 180, s.v. "mulSalbatanu."
/83/ Ebeling, _Handerhebung_, p. 145.
/84/ Ibid., p. 59; Scorpio = Ishara, Gssmann, _Sternnamen_, pp. 30-31, s.v. "mulGIR2.TAB."
/85/ Ebeling, _Handerhebung_, pp. 147-51. There are five hymns to Orion.
/86/ Ibid., p. 65, ll. 10-15.
/87/ _Langenscheidt's German-English, English- German Dictionary_, new, revised and enlarged edition (New York: Pocketbooks, 1976), "Patrouille" and "Posten."
/88/ Ebeling, _Handerhebung_, pp. 23, n.2; See pp. 23 and 102 for further examples.
/89/ Ibid., p. 99. Other, similar prayers on pp. 6, 49, 57, 147.
/90/ Day and night were each divided into three "watches." The first watch would be in the evening and early night, when the planets are most easily seen. See van der Waerden, _Birth_, pp. 71, 89.
/91/ The Res temple in Uruk was the temple of Anu, whose cult underwent a great revival in the Hellenistic period. See Adam Falkenstein, _Topographie von Uruk_ I: _Uruk von Seleukidenzeit_ [_Uruk_] (Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz, 1941), pp. 2, 4; Gilbert J. McEwan, _Priest and Temple in Hellenistic Babylonia_ [_Hellenistic Babylonia_] (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1981), p. 187.
/92/ "Washing the Mouth" was one of the rituals used in consecrating a cult statue. See Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, pp. 185-86.
/93/ Falkenstein, _Uruk_, p. 29.
/94/ McEwan, _Hellenistic Babylonia_, p. 66.
/95/ Ibid., p. 182.
/96/ Falkenstein, _Uruk_, p. 29; McEwan, _Hellenistic Babylonia_, pp. 151, 158, 183, 186, 189-90.
/97/ Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, p. 16; Ivan Starr, _The Rituals of the Diviner_ [_Rituals_] (Malibu: Undena Publications, 1983), p. 1.
/98/ Fiero, _Voice_, pp. 99, 101.
/99/ Contenau, _Divination_, pp. 26-27; Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, p. 212.
/100/ Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, pp. 226-7.
/101/ Bott ro, _Religion_, p. 191.
/102/ Contenau, _Divination_, p. 23; de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 58.
/103/ Starr, _Rituals_, p. 4.
/104/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 30.
/105/ A. Sachs, "Babylonian Horoscopes," ["Horoscopes"] _JCS_ 6 (1952): p. 51.
/106/ Saggs, _Greatness_, p. 308.
/107/ Ernst Weidner, "Ein astrologischer Sammeltext aus der Sargonidenzeit," ["Sammeltext"] _AfO_ 19 (1959-1960): p. 105; See John Michael Lawrence, _Hepatoscopy and Extispicy in Graeco- Roman and Early Christian Texts_ (Oxford, OH: Miami University, Ph.D dissertation, 1979) for a very full account of extispicy.
/108/ Starr, _Rituals_, p. 9.
/109/ Contenau, _Divination_, pp. 94-95; Sachs, "Horoscopes," p. 52.
/110/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 70; Contenau, _Divination_, p. 63-64.
/111/ Contenau, _Divination_, pp. 65, 109; W. G. Lambert, "Enmeduranki and Related Matters," _JCS_ 21 (1967): p. 127.
/112/ Contenau, _Divination_, p. 69.
/113/ Dhorme, _Religions_, p. 282; Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, p. 101.
/114/ Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, p. 225; Erica Reiner and David Pingree, _Enma Anu Enlil_. _Tablet 63_: _The Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa_ [_Venus Tablet_] (Malibu: Undena Publications, 1975), p. 3; de Wynghene, p. 31.
/115/ Simo Parpola, _Letters from Assyrian Scholars to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal_ [_Letters_] (Kevelaer: Butzon and Bercker, 1970), I, p. 11.
/116/ David Pingree, "Mesopotamian Astronomy and Astral Omens in Other Civilizations," ["Astral Omens"] in _Mesopotamien und seine Nachbarn_, Hans-Jrd Nissen and Johannes Renger, eds. (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1982), p. 613.
/117/ Ernst F. Weidner, "Die astrologische Serie _Enma Anu Enlil_," [I] ["EAE" [I]] _AfO_ 14 (1941-1944): p. 174.
/118/ Pingree, "Astral Omens," p. 613.
/119/ Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, p. 224.
/120/ G. Dossin, "Lettre du divin Asqudun au roi Zimrilim au sujet d'une clipse de lune," _Compte- rendu de la seconde rencontre assyriologique internationale_ par le Group Francoise Thureau- Dangin (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1951), pp. 46-48.
/121/ Ernst F. Weidner, "Astrologische Texte aus Boghazki; Ihre sprachliche und kulturhistorische Bedeutung," _AfO_ (1923): pp. 1-8.
/122/ Charles Virolleaud, "The Syrian Town of Qatna and the Kingdom of Mittani," _Antiquity_ 3 (1929): pp. 312-17.
/123/ V. Scheil, "Un fragment susien du livre Enuma Anu (ilu) Enlil," _RA_ 14 (1917): pp. 139- 42.
/124/ Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, p. 225
/125/ Weidner, "EAE" [I], p. 175; Contenau, p. 315; H. Hunger, ed., _Sptbabylonische Texte aus Uruk_ [_Texte_] (Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1976), pp. 93-100.
/126/ Weidner, "Sammeltext," p. 105.
/127/ Weidner, "EAE" [I], p. 182; Otto Neugebauer, _The Exact Sciences in Antiquity_ [_Sciences_] (2nd ed.; Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1957), p. 101.
/128/ Pingree, "Astral Omens,"613; Sachs, "Babylonian Horoscopes," p. 51.
/129/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 32. Weidner put the tablets into order and translated some of the text in a series of articles, all entitled "Die astrologische Serie _Enma Anu Enlil_," in _AfO_ 14 (1941-1944): pp. 172-195; _AfO_ 14 (1941-1944): pp. 308-318; _AfO_ 17 (1954-1956): pp. 71-89; _AfO_ 22 (1968-1969): pp. 65-75.
/130/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 32.
/131/ Ernst F. Weidner, "Die astrologische Serie _Enma Anu Enlil_," [III] ["EAE" [III]] _AfO_ 17 (1954-1956): pp. 82-83.
/132/ Weidner, "EAE" [III], pp. 82-3; _surinnu_ usually means "emblem," but here probably means "disk." See p. 82, n. 46.
/133/ Reiner and Pingree, _Venus Tablet_, p. 3.
/134/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 249.
/135/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 19; Thompson, _Devils_, pp. 93, 95, 99.
/136/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 106; de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 46.
/137/ Contenau, _Divination_, p. 322.
/138/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 18.
/139/ Contenau, _Divination_, p. 322; de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, pp. 45-46.
/140/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, pp. 105-10; D. R. Dicks, _Early Greek Astronomy to Aristotle_ [_Astronomy_] (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1970), pp. 24-25.
/141/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 252; de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 49.
/142/ Contenau, _Divination_, p. 323.
/143/ Parpola, _Letters_, II, pp. xxii-xxiii.
/144/ Contenau, _Divination_, pp. 324-25; de Wynghene, p. 56.
/145/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 51; Reiner and Pingree, _Venus Tablet_, pp. 18-19.
/146/ Reiner and Pingree, _Venus Tablet_, pp. 18- 19.
/147/ Contenau, _Divination_, p. 323.
/148/ Ibid.
/149/ _Heliacal rising_ means that the planet (or star) can be seen rising, on the eastern horizon, at the same time as the sun. A star's heliacal rising occurs once a year, on the same date each year, which means it can be used for a calendar. Dicks, _Astronomy_, p. 13.
/150/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 52; Contenau, _Divination_, p. 324.
/151/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 52; Contenau, _Divination_, p. 323.
/152/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 53.
/153/ Contenau, _Divination_, p. 324; de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 53.
/154/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 51.
/155/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 255.
/156/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 255; de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 55.
/157/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 55.
/158/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, pp. 54-5; Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 255; Contenau, _Divination_, p. 324.
/159/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 52.
/160/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 255.
/161/ Contenau, _Divination_, p. 324.
/162/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 47.
/163/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 55; Meissner, _Babylonien_, pp. 255-6; Reiner and Pingree, pp. 18-19.
/164/ Reiner and Pingree, _Venus Tablet_, pp. 19- 20.
/165/ Ibid.
/166/ Erica Reiner and David Pingree, _Babylonian Planetary Omens_, Part 2: _Enuma Anu Enlil_ (Malibu: Undena Publications, 1981), p. 1. The oldest copy of "Astrolabe B" was written c. 1000 BCE, the oldest copy of MUL.APIN, 686 BCE.
/167/ Ibid.
/168/ Ren Labat, _Un calendrier babylonien des travaux des signes et des moins (S ries Iqqur Ippu _) [_Iqqur Ippush_] (Paris: Honor Champion, 1965), p. 8; Contenau, _Divination_, p. 329.
/169/ Ibid., pp. 19-20.
/170/ Ibid., p. 16.
/171/ Ibid., p. 9.
/172/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 147; Labat, _Iqqur Ippush_, p. 147.
/173/ Labat, _Iqqur Ippush_, p. 9.
/174/ Ibid., p. 9.
/175/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 147; Labat, _Iqqur Ippush_, p. 147.
/176/ Labat, _Iqqur Ippush_, p. 9.
/177/ Ibid., p. 141-97, passim.
/178/ Ibid., p. 147. Note that the months are the same as in the present Jewish calendar. This is because the Jews adopted the Mesopotamian calendar during the Babylonian Exile. See Jastrow, _Religion_, 464, n. 1; Frank Parise, _The Book of Calendars_ (New York: Facts on File, Inc., 1982), pp. 12-13; Roger T. Beckwith, "Cautionary Notes on the Use of Calendars and Astronomy to Determine the Chronology of the Passion," in Jerry Vardaman and Edwin M. Yamauchi, eds., _Chronos, Kairos, and Christos_; _Nativity and Chronological Problems Presented to Jack Finegan_ (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1989), pp. 183-89; and Ephraim Jehudah Weisenberg, "Calendar," in Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder, eds. _Encyclopedia Judaica_ (Jerusalem: Keter, 1971), V, pp. 43-50.
/179/ Hunger, _Texte_, pp. 95-99, for the entire document.
/180/ Ibid., p. 97, Text 94.
/181/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 37; A. Leo Oppenheim,"Divination and Celestial Omens in the Last Assyrian Empire," ["Divination"] _Centaurus_ 14 (1969): p. 114. This last article contains an excellent account of how the network of observers was organized, as well as plausible suggestions on its origins and its later influence.
/182/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 250; Oppenheim, "Divination," p. 114.
/183/ Parpola, _Letters_, II, pp. xii, xiv.
/184/ Oppenheim, "Divination," p. 98.
/185/ Oppenheim, "Divination," pp. 121-22; Parpola, _Letters_, p. xii.
/186/ Oppenheim, "Divination," pp. 99, 122.
/187/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 37.
/188/ Parpola, _Letters_, I, p. 3, #3.
/189/ Ibid.
/190/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 37; Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, p. 225; Meissner, _Babylonien_, pp. 250, 253.
/191/ Thompson, _Reports_, p. lii, report #94.
/192/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, p. 38; Oppenheim, "Divination," p. 98; Parpola, _Letters_, II, p. xxiii.
/193/ de Wynghene, _Pr sages_, pp. 38, 48; Oppenheim, "Divination," p. 98.
/194/ Caplice, _Namburbi_, pp. 8-9. See #13, pp. 21-3, for a "general" namburbi.
/195/ Thompson, _Reports_, p. liii, report #96.
/196/ Parpola, _Letters_, II, pp. xxii-xxiii.
/197/ van der Waerden, _Birth_, p. 64; Pingree, "Astral Omens," p. 613. The Mesopotamian astrolabes have no connection with the medieval astronomical instrument. Presumably the name was derived from the circular format of many copies. See figure 65.
/198/ van der Waerden, "36 Stars," p. 10.
/199/ van der Waerden, _Birth_, p. 64.
/200/ Presumably these are the constellations Marduk assigned to the months in Enuma Elish V:3- 4; see above, p. 11.
/201/ van der Waerden, _Birth_, pp. 64-65.
/202/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 100; van der Waerden, _Dawn_, p. 65.
/203/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 100; van der Waerden, "36 Stars," p. 17.
/204/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 100. "Zig-zag functions" are named for how they look when graphed. The name is modern, not ancient.
/205/ Otto Neugebauer, "Studies in Ancient Astronomy VIII. The Water Clock in Babylonian Astronomy," _Isis_ 37 (1947): p. 40; van der Waerden, "36 Stars," p. 18.
/206/ van der Waerden, "36 Stars," p. 18; van der Waerden, _Birth_, pp. 48, 69.
/207/ van der Waerden, _Birth_, p. 71; Pingree, "Astral Omens," p. 615.
/208/ van der Waerden, _Birth_, p. 86; Neugebauer, _Sciences_, pp. 158-59, 183-84.
/209/ van der Waerden, _Birth_, pp. 70-71; Pingree, "Astral Omens," p. 613.
/210/ van der Waerden, _Birth_, pp. 77-79.
/211/ That is, tables giving the changes in the lengths of shadows over a year. This is equivalent to changes in daylight.
/212/ van der Waerden, _B__irth_, pp. 70-71; Pingree, "Astral Omens," p. 613.
/213/ van der Waerden, _Birth_, pp. 79-80; Ernst F. Weidner, "Ein babylonisches Kompendium der Himmelskunde," _AJSL_ 40 (1924): pp. 192-94. It is interesting and significant that MUL.APIN calls these constellations gods. Science did not conflict with religion in Mesopotamia.
/214/ B. L. van der Waerden, "The History of the Zodiac," _AfO_ 16 (1952-3): pp. 216-30.
/215/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 101.
/216/ Otto Neugebauer, _Astronomical Cuneiform Texts_ [_ACT_] (London: Lund Humphries, 1955), pp. 1, 4; van der Waerden, _Birth_, p. 206.
/217/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 102.
/218/ James Cornell, _The First Stargazers_; _An Introduction to the Origins of Astronomy_ [_Stargazers_] (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1981), p. 30; E. C. Krupp, _In Search of Ancient Astronomies_ [_Search_] (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co, 1977), p. 21.
/219/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 102.
/220/ Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 397.
/221/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 140.
/222/ The intercalary years were: 0, 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 17. See Meissner, _Babylonien_, p. 397. The intercalary system of the present Jewish calendar is similar. See Ephraim Jehudah Weisenberg, "Calendar," in Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder, editors-in-chief, _Encyclopedia Judaica_, V, (Jerusalem: Keter, 1971), pp. 43-53.
/223/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 140.
/224/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, pp. 102; Sachs, "Horoscopes," p. 52.
/225/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 102.
/226/ Even today, celestial latitude and longitude are measured along the zodiac. Latitude is in degrees above or below the ecliptic, the center of the zodiac. Longitude is in degrees within one of the twelve signs, moving east from the vernal point, the starting point of the zodiac. See Jean-Louis Brau, Helen Weaver, and Allan Edmans, "Celestial Latitude," in Helen Weaver, ed., _Larousse Encyclopedia of Astrology_ (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1977), pp. 40-41 and Ibid., "Celestial Longitude," id., pp. 41-42. Note that these are not the same as terrestrial latitude and longitude, which are measured relative to the equator, not the ecliptic. See figure 66.
/227/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 102; Otto Neugebauer, _History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy_ [_HAMA_], 3 Vols., III (New York: Springer Verlag, 1975), pp. 1078-1079.
/228/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 102; van der Waerden, "Zodiac," p. 216.
/229/ Neugebauer, _ACT_, p. 4.
/230/ Neugebauer, _ACT_, p. 4; Neugebauer, _HAMA_, I, p. 347; Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 139.
/231/ Neugebauer, _ACT_, p. 4; Neugebauer, _HAMA_, I, p. 347; Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 136.
/232/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 136.
/233/ Neugebauer, _ACT_, p. 13.
/234/ Reiner and Pingree, _Venus Tablet_, p. 3; Neugebauer, _ACT_, pp. 13-14.
/235/ McEwan, _Hellenistic Babylonia_, p. 16; Neugebauer, _HAMA_, I, p. 412.
/236/ Neugebauer, _HAMA_, I, p. 347.
/237/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 105; van der Waerden, _Birth_, p. 206.
/238/ "Ephemeris," _Webster's Seventh Collegiate Dictionary_ (Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Company, 1971), p. 278.
/239/ Neugebauer, _HAMA_, I, p. 351; Neugebauer, _ACT_, p. 1.
/240/ Neugebauer, _ACT_, pp. 351, 474.
/241/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, pp. 106-07; Neugebauer, _ACT_, p. 1; Neugebauer, _HAMA_, I, p. 357.
/242/ Krupp, _Search_, pp. 18-19.
/243/ Krupp, _Search_, pp. 18-19; Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 109.
/244/ Cornell, _Stargazers_, pp. 18-20.
/245/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, pp. 107-08.
/246/ van der Waerden, _Birth_, pp. 210-11.
/247/ Neugebauer, _ACT_, p. 279; Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 126.
/248/ Neugebauer, _HAMA_, III, p. 1089; Neugebauer, _ACT_, p. 279.
/249/ van der Waerden, _Birth_, p. 7; Dicks, _Astronomy_, p. 13.
/250/ van der Waerden, _Birth_, p. 6; Dicks, _Astronomy_, p. 13.
/251/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, p. 128; Neugebauer, _ACT_, p. 280; Neugebauer, _HAMA_, III, pp. 1098, 1090.
/252/ Neugebauer, _ACT_, p. 279. Neugebauer emphasizes the difficulty of using the ephemerides to cast horoscopes. But, as we shall see, horoscopes were indeed cast in Mesopotamia, and Mesopotamian methods were widely used by astrologers elsewhere.
/253/ Ibid., p. 299.
/254/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, pp. 109, 119.
/255/ Sachs, "Horoscopes," p. 51; Francesca Rochberg-Halton, "New Evidence for the History of Astrology," ["New Evidence"] _JNES_ 43 (1984): p. 117.
/256/ Sachs, "Horoscopes," p. 51.
/257/ Sachs, "Horoscope," p. 50; Pingree, "Astral Omens," p. 621.
/258/ Sachs, "Horoscopes," pp. 54-55, 64.
/259/ Sachs, "Horoscopes," pp. 54-55; Saggs, _Greatness_, p. 460.
/260/ C. J. Gadd, "Omens Expressed in Numbers," _JCS_ 21 (1967): pp. 52-63.
/261/ Sachs, "Horoscopes," p. 51.
/262/ Sachs, "Horoscopes," p. 65. AO 6483 is clearly a composite, with diverse astrological materials from various dates.
/263/ Ibid., p. 68, obverse, ll. 27-33.
/264/ Ibid., p. 69, rev. ll. 7-9.
/265/ Ibid., p. 70, rev. ll. 29-31.
/266/ Ibid., p. 74.
/267/ Ibid., pp. 73-74.
/268/ Ibid., p. 64.
/269/ Ibid., p. 64.
/270/ Ibid., p. 54. Sachs gives the details of how he arrived at this conclusion on pages 55 through 57.
/271/ Ibid., p. 57.
/272/ Ibid., p. 56.
/273/ Oppenheim, _Ancient Mesopotamia_, pp. 214- 15.
/274/ Sachs, "Horoscopes," p. 54.
/275/ Ibid., pp. 57-58.
/276/ Ibid., p. 58.
/277/ Ibid.
/278/ Ibid., p. 59.
/279/ Ibid.
/280/ Ibid., p. 64.
/281/ For a full account of the diaries, see A. Sachs, "Babylonian Observational Astronomy," _Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society_ 276 (1974): pp. 43-50. For non-mathematical astronomical texts in general, see A. Sachs, "A Classification of Babylonian Astronomical Tablets of the Seleucid Period," _JCS_ 2 (1950): pp. 271- 90.
/282/ Sachs, "Horoscopes," p. 59.
/283/ Ibid.
/284/ Ibid., p. 60.
/285/ Ibid., pp. 60-61.
/286/ Ibid., pp. 60-61.
/287/ Ibid., pp. 61-62.
/288/ Ibid., p. 63.
/289/ Ibid.
/290/ Ibid.
/291/ Ibid., p. 65.
/292/ See, for example, Manilius, _Astronomica_, 2.270-294, trans. G. P. Goold (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1977), pp. 104-05.
/293/ Rochberg-Halton,"New Evidence," p. 118.
/294/ Ibid., p. 120.
/295/ Ibid., p. 121.
/296/ Ibid.
/297/ Ibid.
/298/ Ibid., pp. 128-29.
/299/ Geminus, _Gemini Elementa Astronomiae_ ad codicum fidem recensuit Germanica interpretatione et commentariis instruxit Carolus Manitius (Stu- ttgart: Teubner, 1924), 2.1-12.
/300/ Rochberg-Halton,"New Evidence," p. 118.
/301/ See, e.g., Manilius, _Astronomica_, 2.693-95 = Goold, pp. 136-37.
/302/ Sachs, "Horoscopes," pp. 67-68.
/303/ Ibid., p. 73.
/304/ A. Sachs and Otto Neugebauer, "The `Dodekatemoria' in Babylonian Astronomy," _AfO_ 16 (1952): pp. 65-66.
/305/ Sachs, "Horoscopes," p. 73.
/306/ In Greek astrology, a planet's "exaltation" was that sign or degree at which its influences were strongest. See Otto Neugebauer and H. B. Van Hoesen, "Exaltations," _Greek Horoscopes_ (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1959), p. 7.
/307/ E. F. Weidner, "Gestirn-Darstellungen auf babylonischen Tontafeln," _Oesterreichischen Akademie des Wissenschaft_, _Philosophische- Historische Klasse_, _Sitzungsberichte_ 254, Bd. 2, _Abhandlungen_ (Vienna: 1967), pp. 8-10.
/308/ Weidner, "Gestirn-Darstellungen," pp. 29-31; Reiner, "Uses," p. 593.
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
_CHAPTER THREE_
_ASTRAL RELIGION_
There was more to Hellenistic astrology than the "wheels within wheels" of
horoscopy. There was also an astral religion. By this term we do not
necessarily mean anything as formal as the Christian religion, with theologies
and liturgies, although astral theologies and liturgies did exist. Rather, we
mean that when people looked into the sky, they thought they saw living
creatures, who looked back at them, who planned their lives, and who
communicated with them. The "laws" of astrology were the habits of the gods
from this point of view. Astral religion was based on the sort of awe we see
in Ptolemy's epigram or the opening passage of Julian's _Hymn to Helios_.
"". . . from my childhood an extraordinary longing for the rays "of the god
penetrated deep into my soul; and from my earliest "years my mind was so
completely swayed by the light that "illumines the heavens that not only did I
desire to gaze "intently at the sun, but whenever I walked abroad in the night
"season, when the firmament was clear and cloudless, I abandoned "all else
without exception and gave myself up to the beauties of "the heavens; nor did
I understand what anyone might say to me, "nor heed what I was doing myself. I
was considered to be "over-curious about these matters and to pay too much
attention "to them, and people went so far as to regard me as an
"astrologer./1/
This belief in a living sky, a sort of empire of the heavens, was part of the
"common coin" of thought in the Hellenistic world, found in the civic cults of
the Fertile Crescent, in mystery religions such as Mithraism,/2/ in magical
texts,/3/ and in philosophies as diverse as Hermetism,/4/ Stoicism,
Gnosticism,/5/ and Middle and Neo Platonism./6/ It was shared, with
qualifications, by Jews and Christians as well, and, indeed, remained an
important part of the medieval world-view, among Jews, Christians, and Muslims
alike./7/
Since it is not practical to discuss astral religion in all regions of the
Greco-Roman world,/8/ we will concentrate on the geographical region of Syria.
We will concern ourselves specifically with the civic cults, since they
represent the beliefs of the public. The views of the philosophers, the
devotees of the mystery religions, the magicians and the patrons of the
synagogue mosaics were probably derived from the public cultus of the planets
and the heavens, not vice versa.
Our evidence is of several sorts. Little survives of whatever pagan Syrians
may have written about their religion. Lucian's _On the Syrian Goddess_ is the
major exception, but it says little about astral religion. Christian writers,
especially those in northern Syria, do refer to pagan religion frequently,
although they are usually polemical and rarely give many details about the
actual cultus. Islamic writers, too, preserve interesting accounts which
pertain to our period. Elsewhere we must rely on archaeological evidence,
especially art. The composite result is a picture of Syrian polytheism which
involves astral religion and which uses astrological symbolism to emphasize
the power and majesty of the gods.
Geographical Syria is the region south of the Taurus mountains, and north of
Egypt. It is bounded on the west by the Mediterranean Sea, while the Syrian
Desert separates Syria from Mesopotamia, almost like a second ocean. At the
northeast, it merges into Mesopotamia to form the Fertile Crescent./9/ Its
southern part, Palestine, included Judaea and Galilee (the sites of the
synagogue mosaics) among its regions. A series of mountain ranges parallels
the coast, effectively separating it from the interior. This, in turn, is
further divided by the Rift Valley, also running north- south. The Rift is
deepest in Palestine, where it contains the Jordan River, the Sea of Galilee,
and the Dead Sea./10/
But while the coastal mountains and the Rift Valley divided coastal and
central Syria, they allowed north-south travel without too much trouble.
Indeed, the major land routes between Egypt, on one hand, and Anatolia and
Mesopotamia, on the other, pass through Syria. Likewise, the Rift Valley and
the coastal mountains can be crossed in places, connecting the Mediterranean
ports with the caravan cities of the interior. This has been both a blessing
and a curse, depending on whether the roads were used by invading armies or
travelling businessmen./11/
Syria was subject to Mesopotamian influences from long before our period.
Akkadian cuneiform was the diplomatic language of Bronze Age Syria, even
within the Egyptian Empire. Mesopotamian divination was well known, including
the sorts of omens that were collected into _Enuma Anu Enlil_. The connection
became even closer during the Iron Age, when Syria was incorporated into the
Assyrian and Neo- Babylonian empires. Indeed, Aramaic, the chief language of
Iron Age Syria, eventually replaced Akkadian as the vernacular of Mesopotamia.
Even during the following Hellenistic period, the Aramaic language continued
to unite Persian-controlled Mesopotamia and Roman Syria./12/
After Alexander's conquests, Syria became a major center of Hellenism as well.
Under the Romans, it was one of the richest and the most important parts of
the empire. The cities of Syria produced many important Greek intellectuals
and artists. Its temples, which are among the most famous examples of
Classical architecture, are often decorated with astrological art. Arabs were
also influential in Syria during the Hellenistic period, especially outside
the major cities./13/
Clear examples of astral religion and astrological symbolism may be seen in
the temples of hellenized Syria. We will give particular attention to Harran
and Edessa in the north, to Palmyra in the Syrian Desert, to Heliopolis in the
Beqaa Valley of modern Lebanon and to Khirbet Tannur in the Nabataean kingdom
on the southern and eastern fringes of Palestine. They will allow us to put
the synagogue zodiac mosaics into their Syrian context.
Syrian astral religion was connected with two other religious trends. One was
the increasing importance of the sun-god, which may be connected with the
increasing importance of the Arabs./14/ Already in the first century CE,
Vespasian's soldiers at the Battle of Cremona saluted the rising sun "after
the Syrian custom."/15/ By the third century CE the emperor Aurelian had made
the Syrian sun-god, as Sol Invictus, the official protector of the Roman
Empire./16/ Even Constantine promoted Sol Invictus early in his career. His
nephew Julian, the last pagan emperor, was a Mithraist, who wrote a famous
hymn to the sun./17/
The other trend was a certain tendency towards what we may call "monotheism,"
for want of a better word./18/ In the Bronze Age, Syrian pantheons had been
communities of equals, like the pantheons of Mesopotamia and of Classical
Greece. They resembled the ruling class of a city-state. But by the
Hellenistic period, the pantheons had come to resemble the rulers of the
Persian Empire. The chief god was no longer the first among equals; rather, he
was seen as all-powerful, with the other gods viewed as servants merely
carrying out his orders, much like the civil servants of a Great King or a
Caesar. An astral version of this picture identified the chief god with the
sky and his subordinates with the planets./19/ Throughout much of hellenized
Syria the chief god was Baal Shamin, the Lord of Heaven, sometimes identified
with, sometimes separate from, Hadad, the rain- god./20/ Both were identified
with Zeus by Greek-speakers. Astrological art was used to represent this
conception./21/
There was a comparable development in some varieties of Judaism, which, after
all, was also a Syrian religion. YHWH is called "the God of Heaven" seventeen
times in Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah./22/ The epithet and the conception are
both similar to the title "Baal Shamin." Extra-biblical sources also show the
same conception. For example, the Jewish colony at Achaemenian Elephantine
called its god, Yahu, , _mr' smy'_, "Lord of Heaven" in Aramaic./23/
The period also saw a great expansion of angelology. The "Sons of God" are
present, but not prominent, in the Hebrew Bible. In later writings, however,
they are extremely numerous, powerful, and important. They do the actual work
of running the universe for YHWH./24/ To polytheists such as Celsus there
might seem to be little or no difference between YHWH and His angels, and Baal
Shamin and his divine subordinates./25/
Another development which is relevant, if not directly related, was the rise
of Christianity during the period. Christianity was another of the religions
of Syria; the very name "Christian" was coined in Antioch, the capitol of
Syria. The Christian church was small and persecuted during the first three
centuries CE, but became strong and persecuted the pagans from the fourth
century onward. Constantine granted toleration to the Christians in 323 CE;
seventy years later, the Christian emperor Theodosius outlawed pagan worship.
In practice, however, Christianity replaced paganism very slowly during the
following centuries. Worshippers of the old gods, including the planets, were
found throughout the Byzantine Near East into the seventh century and
later./26/ We shall give particular attention to the period after the triumph
of Christianity, because this is also the period of the synagogue zodiacs, and
a formative one in the history of Judaism in general.
_EDESSA AND HARRAN_
Edessa and Harran were in the region where Anatolia, geographical Syria and
northern Mesopotamia merge./27/ The region combined Mesopotamian and West
Semitic cultures in many ways, and particularly in religion. Edessa is an
inhabited city today, while Harran has been abandoned since the thirteenth
century CE. Edessa has never been excavated, while Harran was excavated during
the 1950s./28/ An extensive literature in Syriac and Arabic provides most of
our evidence.
Harran had a distinguished history long before the Hellenistic era./29/ The
date of the first settlement is unknown. A probe 10 meters deep in the eastern
slope of the tell failed to reach virgin soil./30/ The lowest stratum reached
dated to the Early Dynastic II-III periods, in the third millenium BCE. The
oldest potsherd found on the site was Samarra ware, dating ca. 6000 BCE./31/
The first written reference to the city and its famous shrine of the Moon was
in a letter from Zimri-Lim, the king of Mari, ca. 1850 BCE./32/ The Bible
tells us that Abraham lived in Harran before moving on to the land of
promise./33/ He buried his father Terah in Harran, according to Genesis. His
brother's family stayed in Harran when Abraham moved on to Canaan, and both
Isaac and Jacob returned to Harran to find wives among their relatives./34/
Harran also played an important role in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. It had a
special tax exemption and its governor was _ex_ _officio_ the senior commander
of the Assyrian army./35/ Sin's temple, E-HUL-HUL, was restored by both
Shalmaneser and Assurbanipal, and both Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal went to
Harran for coronation at the hands of Sin of Harran. Indeed, when the Assyrian
Empire finally collapsed, Harran was the last city to be held by the army and
the king./36/ Nabonidus, the last Neo-Babylonian king, was a native of Harran
and his zeal for Sin of Harran played a significant role in his downfall./37/
Much of what is known of his reign comes from four stelae he and his mother
erected in Harran./38/
Harran was rather less important in Achaemenian and Hellenistic times.
Alexander did found a colony of veterans there,/39/ and, under the name of
Carrhae, it was the scene of Crassus' famous defeat at the hands of the
Parthians./40/ Septimius Severus and Caracalla also settled veterans at
Carrhae, and in 217 CE the emperor Caracalla was assassinated after visiting a
moon-temple there./41/ Coins minted in Harran during the Hellenistic and Roman
empires show the continuation of the cult of Sin./42/
With the advent of official Christianity and the outlawing of polytheism,
Harran became famous as a pagan stronghold. In fact, it had a notable pagan
community well into the Muslim period. The city was finally destroyed by the
Mongols in the thirteenth century./43/
Edessa's history is somewhat different. It is a much younger city, founded in
302 BCE by Seleucus Nikator, as one of ten colonies in the region./44/ When
the Seleucid kingdom collapsed in the second and first centuries BCE, it
became the capital of a small successor kingdom, Osrhoene,/45/ under a dynasty
of Nabataean origin./46/ Harran was also part of Osrhoene./47/ The whole
region was the scene of much conflict between the competing Roman and Persian
Empires, and in the early second century, the kingdom was formally annexed by
Rome, perhaps in conjunction with Trajan's planned conquest of
Mesopotamia./48/ Osrhoene also was an important trade center, particularly
during the days of the Sasanian Persians,/49/ because of its geographical
position where Anatolia, Syria and Mesopotamia met./50/
Despite the Greek colonies, the city and the region remained largely
Aramaic-speaking. This did not keep Osrhoene from sharing the same
intellectual culture as the rest of the hellenized Near East, however. Edessa
even became an academic center, and its dialect of Aramaic, called Syriac,
became a major literary vehicle for Near Eastern intellectuals. The Persian
school of the fifth and sixth centuries CE was particularly well-known./51/
Edessa produced at least one important thinker, Bardaisan, who attempted to
reconcile Christianity, astrology, and Platonic philosophy at the end of the
second, and the beginning of the third, centuries CE./52/ Harran also had an
astral theology.
The polytheistic religion of Osrhoene was a mixture of Greek, Syrian, and
Mesopotamian influences, including astral religion. Bel-Marduk and Nebo were
the chief gods of Edessa. In Drijvers' words, Bel was:
the kosmokrator, lord of the planets and stars, who guided the world and gave
it fertility. He symbolized order in the cosmos and society, because he gave
and guaranteed the laws. In his cult astrological practice kept an organic
place, because astrology made known the divine creator of order . . . ./53/
Nebo mediated between humanity and his father, and was also the divine patron
of Edessa's academics./54/ Melito of Sardis, writing in the third century CE,
identified him with Orpheus, the subject of a well-known mosaic at Edessa,
while others linked him with Hermes Trismegistos and Hermetic philosophy./55/
Atargatis, the famed Syrian Goddess, the equivalent of Aphrodite, was also
worshipped in Osrhoene. Her most famous shrine, at Hierapolis or Mabbog, was
not far away./56/ Pools filled with sacred fish were, and still are, to be
found in both Edessa and Hierapolis. Her Edessan temple probably stood
somewhere near the pool./57/
A temple to the sun stood somewhere near the Beth Shemesh Gate; the name means
temple of the sun. Likewise stars and crescent moons were often on Edessa's
coins. Julian, in his _Hymn to Helios_, 150 D, says that the Edessans had
worshipped the sun "from time immemorial." He associates the sun-cult of
Edessa with Azizos and Monimos, whom he says are Hermes and Ares./58/ Monimos
and Azizos were Arab gods. Their names mean "the gracious" and "the strong,"
respectively. While they were worshipped widely, Monimos usually was not a
planet-god. Azizos, by contrast, represented the war-like aspects of the
planet Venus. More often, however, these aspects were personified as a
goddess, al-Uzza, one of the major deities of pre-Islamic Arabia. Her name
means the same thing as Azizos, but in the feminine gender./59/ The best known
shrine of the moon was at Harran, of course./60/
Edessa took a different road from Harran early in the Christian Era. By the
year 200 CE, Edessa had a prominent Christian community, which included
important people such as Bardaisan. A century later, Edessa had become
officially Christian./61/
The traditional story is found in _The Teaching of Addai_, usually dated ca.
400 CE. The story tells how king Abgar corresponded with Jesus. After Jesus'
ascension, Addai (the Thaddeus of Matthew 10: 3 and Mark 3: 18), one of Jesus'
disciples, was sent to preach the Gospel to Abgar and the Edessans./62/ For
our purposes the most interesting section is a sermon which describes Edessa's
religion while denouncing it:
""I see that this city is filled with paganism which is "contrary "to God. Who
is this [man-]made idol Nebo which you worship, and "Bel which you honor?
Behold there are those among you who "worship Bath Nical, like the inhabitants
of Haran [sic], your "neighbors, and Taratha, like the inhabitants of Mabbog,
and the "Eagle, like the Arabs, and the sun and the moon, like the rest "of
the inhabitants of Haran who are like you. Do not be led "captive by dazzling
lights or the brilliance because everyone "who worships created things is
cursed before God./63/
Some explanations are necessary. Bel is probably Marduk, the chief god of
Babylon, although Sin was called "Bel Harran," Lord of Harran. Taratha is
Atargatis. Bath Nical means "daughter of Nikkal." Nikkal, in turn, is NIN.GAL,
the wife of Sin. Her daughter may have been Atargatis again. The Eagle may be
the constellation Lyra, as among the Arabs, or the sun, as at Hatra, or it may
symbolize the sky-god./64/
According to the _Doctrine_, Abgar and Addai forced no one to become
Christian, and even the priest of Bel and Nebo admired the priests ordained by
Addai./65/ Addai told his new Christians to avoid pagan people and pagan
practices, such as magic, divination in general and astrology in particular.
". . . beware of the pagans who worship the sun and the moon, Bel and Nebo,
and the rest of those they call gods . . . ."/66/
One should note that Edessa's cult is explicitly said to be like its
neighbors', particularly Mabbog and Harran. _The Teachings of Addai_ also lets
slip the information that not all of Edessa's citizens became Christians.
Other sources confirm this. When Egeria visited Edessa in the late fourth
century or early fifth century/67/ she found the temple of Atargatis open for
business. Bishop Rabbula demolished several temples in the fifth century./68/
By his day, of course, such vandalism had the support of the Imperial
government. In the fifth century, Jacob of Sarug, a neighboring city, in his
_The Downfall of the Idols_, described the local paganism in much the same
terms as Addai: " Nebo, Bil, et beaucoup d'autres dieux."/69/ Even when the
Muslims conquered the area in 639 CE, there were a few polytheists left in
Edessa; the people of Harran asked their advice before surrendering./70/
Nonetheless, it is clear that Edessa became a largely Christian city early,
while Harran remained the local pagan stronghold. Much of Edessa's "paganism"
was probably _ethnophronia_ or "pagan-mindedness."/71/ In other words, many
Edessans went to church, but also practiced magic, divination, and astrology.
Ephrem Syrus denounced astrology in the context of heresy, along with
Marcionites, Manichees and followers of Bardaisan./72/ Some of the alleged
"paganism" was also the observation of traditional pre- Christian festivals.
One example is the New Year's Festival, probably originally the local version
of the Babylonian _Akitu_./73/
If the traditional cults had been stronger at Edessa, Julian would not have
snubbed the Edessans when he passed through the region on his invasion of
Persia. Instead, he stopped to worship in Harran./74/ The genuine pagans of
Edessa were not strong enough to keep Rabbula from destroying their temples.
By contrast, the pagans of Heliopolis threw him down a staircase when, earlier
in his career, he tried to vandalize the idols there./75/ The people of Harran
still had a pagan temple as late as the eleventh century./76/
As we have stressed, Harran was a notorious stronghold of polytheism all
through the Byzantine period and into the Islamic period. Indeed, the most
detailed accounts of Greco- Syrian astral religion come from Islamic period
Harran. And unlike Edessa, Harran partially excavated in the 1950s. Almost
nothing remains to be seen of the pre-Islamic period, save architectural
fragments re-used. The most prominent remains now visible are the Ummayad
mosque (where three stelae of Nabonidus were doorsteps), the Christian
basilica, and the citadel. From Islamic period sources, we know that these
were believed to be built atop ancient temples./77/ The citadel appears to
have been built and re-built four times. The original structure is largely
covered by later additions, but may be the moon temple of the early Islamic
period./78/
Harran had no bishop until one was appointed by the emperor Constantius in 361
CE./79/ He cannot have had much success, for Julian still found the people of
Harran congenial a few years later. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, writing ca. 450
CE,/80/ says Harran was full of pagans in the reign of Valens./81/ When Egeria
visited the city, she reported that "except for a few clergy and holy monks
who live there, I found no Christians, for they are all pagans."/82/ In the
Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, 449 CE, the bishop of Harran, Daniel was
listed as "bishop of a pagan city."/83/ Daniel himself was a scapegrace who
owed his office solely to his important uncle, bishop Huna of Edessa./84/
Procopius of Caesarea, writing in the sixth century CE, says that Harran was
still a pagan city in his day. This led to one unexpected circumstance. In 549
CE, the Persian king Khusrau I invaded Syria, and extorted ransom from many
cities. But he refused to take a ransom from Harran, not out of friendliness,
but because he did not wish to touch the money of polytheists./85/
Harranian paganism outlasted Christian rule in Syria. In fact, the most
detailed accounts of their cultus and philosophy are by writers of the Islamic
period./86/ The "Sabians," as they called themselves to gain toleration,/87/
played an important role in the development of Arabic science and philosophy
and were very interesting to Muslim scholars. Al-Nadim, the tenth century
bibliographer, gives the most information, including a complete cultic
calendar, listing many sacrifices to the seven planets./8 8/ Other authors
describe temples that once existed, with a different shape for each of the
planet- gods,/89/ and magical rituals to gain this or that god's help with
some enterprise./90/
Even if we discount much as exaggeration, the accounts make it clear that
astrology and astral religion was an important part of the native religion of
Harran. Moreover, very similar magical rituals are found in the _Nabataean
Agriculture_ of the ninth century CE agronomist, Ibn Wahsiyya. If this work is
based on Mesopotamian sources of the fifth and sixth centuries CE, as now
seems likely, Sabian religion may represent astral religion throughout
Sasanian Mesopotamia as well as Byzantine Syria./91/
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
>From northern Syria we now move to Palmyra. Palmyra is a large oasis in the Syrian Desert, roughly halfway between the Mediterranean coast and the Euphrates, and about 120 miles northeast of Damascus./92/ This position made it an ideal shortcut between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean when times were peaceful./93/ Thus it is appropriate that the oldest known reference to Palmyra is to a merchant, "Puzur-Ishtar the Tadmorean" in the Old Assyrian tablets from K ltepe, ca. 2000 BCE./94/ (Tadmor is still Palmyra's Arabic name; the Greek name, "Palmyra," is probably derived from the Semitic name, which means "date palm.")/95/ Texts from Mari, contemporary with Hammurabi, also speak of merchants from Tadmor./96/ When law and order did not reign, however, both trade and oasis were vulnerable to attackers from the desert, as we see in an inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I (1115-1100 BCE), who fought the Ahlammu Aramaean nomads at _Tadmur sha Amurru_, "Tadmor of the western country.!
"/97/
Palmyra may also be the "Tadmor in the wilderness" built by Solomon, according to I Kings 9: 18 and II Chronicles 8: 4./98/ Although there is no general agreement among scholars, the passage in question is about central Syria, and control of the oasis would fit with Solomon's general policy of controlling trade in Syria./99/
Palmyra presumably shared in the same social and political developments as the rest of the Fertile Crescent. It is likely that Palmyra was subject in turn to the Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenian empires. Presumably the Palmyrenes went through the same cultural changes as their neighbors. West Semitic languages have always predominated, and Aramaic was the vernacular during the Roman period./100/ It would not be surprising if a Mesopotamian colony were planted there by the Neo-Assyrian or the Neo-Babylonian dynasties in accord of their general policy of mixing ethnic groups. It would certainly be a neat explanation of how Bel-Marduk became Palmyra's patron deity. Likewise, no one would be surprised if a copy of a Mesopotamian divination text were to be found at Palmyra. They have been found at enough other places in greater Syria. But all this is speculation. No one has found any evidence of Neo-Babylonian or Neo-Assyrian occupation, perhaps because no one has looked.!
While Western scholars have studied the site of Palmyra since the early eighteenth century, almost all of the research has been concentrated on the spectacular remains of the Roman period.
The first reference to Palmyra in Classical literature is in Appian's _Civil War_, 5.9. The passage tells how Marc Antony sent troops to plunder the city, without success. Pliny the Elder mentions Palmyra briefly in the geographical section of _Natural History_:
""Palmyra is a city famous for its situation, for the richness "of its soil, and for its agreeable springs; its fields are "surrounded on every side by a vast circuit of sand, and it is "as it were isolated by Nature from the world, having a destiny "of its own between the two mighty empires of Rome and Parthia, "and at the first moment of a quarrel between them always "attracting the attention of both sides. It is 337 miles distant "from Parthian Seleucia, generally known as Seleucia on the "Tigris, 203 miles from the nearest part of the Syrian coast, "and 27 miles less from Damascus."/101/
Despite Pliny's statement, Palmyra was firmly in the Roman orbit by his day. During the period of the "Soldier Emperors," in the later third century CE, Palmyra, led by Odenathus and Zenobia, even tried to take over the eastern part of the empire./102/ The attempt was crushed, and the city destroyed, by Aurelian. The city never recovered; trade routes were already shifting north, to the region of Edessa. In later times both Diocletian and Justinian used the oasis as a frontier outpost against the Sasanian Persians, but it had no other importance.
No Greek or Roman writer ever wrote the history of Palmyra. The survey of its history just given is the result of a great number of incidental references in works on other topics. Pliny's paragraph is one of the longest of them. This points up the difference in researching Edessa and researching Palmyra. Edessa left a sizeable Christian literature, which often discusses the traditional cults of its region. But, in the words of Robert Wood, who published the first scholarly book on Palmyra and Baalbek:
It seems very remarkable that Palmyra and Balbeck [sic], perhaps the two most surprising remains of ancient magnificence which now are left, should be so neglected in history, that, except what we can learn from the inscriptions, all our information about them would scarce amount to more than probable conjecture./103/
Archaeology is not much more helpful. Little remains of the pre-Roman period. A few flint tools and potsherds remain from the Neolithic and Bronze ages. The temple of Bel is on the site of the ancient tell, making it nearly inaccessible to archaeologists./104/ Judging by the material remains, Palmyra first became an important commercial center in the mid-first century BCE./105/ Fragments of an earlier temple of the late Hellenistic period were found in a probe trench in the present Bel temple. Most of the major building activity took place during the first and second centuries CE.
The most important building was the Temple of Bel. It is one of the largest and most elaborate temples of the Roman empire, so much so that it may have been a gift from the emperor Tiberius. Its sculptures provide some of the most interesting evidence of astral religion at Palmyra. The temple is a combination of classical and Near Eastern elements. Externally, it appears to be quite classical, with its Corinthian columns and its rectangular ground plan. One unexpected feature is the elaborately decorated portal in the midst of the columns on the western long side (figure 21). Both Greek and Roman temples usually have the entrance in one of the short sides, inside the columns. Internally, the temple is quite unclassical. Inside, one finds a rectangular naos, with a small room, or _thalamos_ at each end. Three staircases led to the roof, where there may have been an observatory.
Bel-Marduk, the chief god of Babylon, was also the chief god of Palmyra./106/ In Greek inscriptions he was called Zeus./107/ Probably he was originally Bol, the local pronunciation of Baal. "Bol" and "Bel" were used interchangeably in theophoric names, for example./108/ At what time the local _theos patroos_ (ancestral deity) was identified with the Babylonian king of the gods is unknown, but the Neo-Babylonian period is a reasonable assumption.
Whatever and whenever the circumstances of the identification, it was thorough./109/ An inscription on the temple of Bel tells us that it was dedicated on 6 Nisan 32 CE. This is called "the good day" in Palmyrene inscriptions/110/ and is the date on which _Enuma Elish_ was read during the Babylonian _Akitu_ festival./111/ The Akitu festival throughout Mesopotamia re-enacted the victory of cosmic order over primeval chaos and Babylon's version portrayed Marduk as victor over the monster Tiamat. One of the reliefs on the Bel temple of Palmyra shows a snake- footed monster fighting two deities while other gods watch (figure 22)./112/ This is probably a local version of Bel's combat with Tiamat, celebrated on the day the temple was dedicated./113/
In Palmyra as in Babylonia and in Osrhoene, Bel also maintained the status quo in the universe by means of astrology. "Bel is the supporter of law and order par excellence and guides everything that happens."/114/ His divine subordinates were the planets. This is clearly portrayed in the relief (figures 23, 24) within the north _thalamos_ the temple, where the cult statue probably stood./115/ The ceiling is a square monolith. In the corners are four eagles, the birds of Zeus and of the Syrian sky god. They uphold a zodiac ring. The zodiac animals are the usual ones in Greek astrology./116/ Scorpio's claws hold the scale as a reminder that Libra was also called the Claws of the Scorpion. Within the zodiac is a dome carved into the monolith. The dome is divided into seven hexagons, one at the center surrounded by six others. In each hexagon is a human bust, identified by its attribute as one of the Greek planet gods./117/ Aphrodite is veiled, as everywhere in Syria. The Moon i!
s not male, as usual in Palmyra, but female, implying the sculptors came from elsewhere, perhaps Hierapolis./118/ Bel as Jupiter stands in the central hexagon, surrounded by his subordinates, the divine planets./119/ The message of the sculpture is clear: "Les bas-reliefs qui ornent la loge de son idole le represent comme un maitre des plan zodiaque, et par la du destin qui conduit le monde."/120/ Bel is the supreme ruler of the universe and all other deities are his subordinates. The laws of nature, such as astrology, are his laws.
The lintel of the thalamos is also sculpted with a comparable relief (figure 25). On it is an enormous eagle, wings outspread, holding a snake in its claws. The left side is largely destroyed, but beneath the right wing are stars, and a human figure with a halo of rays, probably the sun- god. Seven of the stars are noticeably more elaborate than the others, and one is placed on top of a disk. These are probably the seven planets, the disk-star being the sun. The eagle represents the god of the sky, Bel, and the snake is the sun's annual path through the sky, the ecliptic./121/ Presumably something similar stood under the left wing, with the moon god in the place of the sun. Once again, Bel, the lord of Palmyra, is shown as lord of the universe, sheltering the stars under his wings./122/ A simpler version of this last motif is very common in Palmyrene art. This is the triad of Bel, three human figures, showing Bel flanked by Yarhibol and Aglibol, sun and moon gods, respective!
ly. Statues of all three gods may have stood in the north thalamos./123/
Baal Shamin, the West Semitic sky god, was also worshipped at Palmyra, although his temple was smaller and less important than Bel's. Like Bel, he was called Zeus in bilingual inscriptions./124/ Functionally, both were sky gods. Elsewhere in Syria Baal Shamin was a god of agriculture because he provided the winter rains. In Palmyra, irrigation provided water for most purposes, but rain for pasturage was still important to the Arab herding population./125/ Thus, perhaps they were seen as the same god, worshipped under different names by different ethnic groups./126/ Baal Shamin was also portrayed in a triad similar to Bel's (sun-sky-moon) (figure 26). But in his triad Aglibol was the sun and Malakbel was the moon./127/ The message was the same, even though the gods involved did not have the same names: the god of the sky ruled the universe with the sun and moon as his chief helpers./128/
The reliefs at the temple of Bel and of the two triads are the major pieces of evidence of an astral aspect to Palmyra's religion, but not the only ones. Tesserae were clay tokens admitting their bearers to cultic banquets (figures 27, 28). Those for cosmic deities such as Bel often have stars or a sphere for the world on them./129/
Another example is a graffito (figure 29), dated 149 CE, from Khirbet Ab Dhr, in the northwest part of the oasis. It shows a human figure seated in front of a pedimented temple. The pediment has an eagle with wings out-spread, usually a symbol of a sky god,/130/ in each corner. Between them is a head with rays, probably a sun god. The seated figure holds, in his right hand, a ball with a cross on it./131/ The ball is probably the spherical cosmos of Hellenistic astronomy, with the equator and the ecliptic forming the cross, as at, e.g., Dura-Europus./132/ The figure is almost certainly a sky god, either Bel or Baal Shamin. Again, the sky god, under whatever name, holds the whole world in his hand. The fact that this is a piece of popular art, from the rural areas of the oasis, not one of the urban temples, is evidence that astral religion was a popular belief, not restricted to an educated priesthood.
A fragment of a second zodiac relief was found re-used in a building from Diocletian's reign (figures 30, 31)./133/ Originally it was probably the ceiling of a tomb tower, dating to perhaps 100 CE. Only about one quarter of the original circle survives. In the center is a feline figure, perhaps Dionysus' panther. Of the zodiacal signs, Gemini and Taurus are complete, while only the last half of Aries and the first half of Cancer are extant. The planets are shown as symbols in the signs. A crescent moon stands over the Bull's back, while a small star (Venus?) is over its head. Larger stars are behind Aries and in front of Cancer. The positions of the planets are such that the relief may be an actual horoscope, like Antiochus' tomb at Nimrud Dagh./134/
_BAALBEK_
>From Palmyra, midway between Rome and Parthia, deep in the desert, we move to Heliopolis, the modern Baalbek. Baalbek is in the center of the Beqaa valley,/135/ one of the leading agricultural regions of geographical Syria. A part of the Rift Valley, between the Lebanon and Antilebanon mountain ranges, and close to the Mediterranean, it is the Biblical Aram-Zobah (Psalm 60: 1; II Samuel 10: 6-8) and the classical Coelesyria/136/ Both the Litani and the Orontes, two of Syria's most important rivers, have their sources near Baalbek./137/ It was a stopping point on a major north-south route between Damascus and Hama,/138/ but Baalbek was most famous and important for the temple of Jupiter Heliopolitanus. This was one of the most important shrines of one of the most important gods in Syria. The temple itself is one of the largest of Classical Antiquity. As we shall see, Jupiter Heliopolitanus was portrayed as a cosmocrator in the same way as Bel of Palmyra and as the gods of Ede!
ssa and Harran.
Almost nothing is known of Baalbek's history before the Roman period. A German expedition studied the site of the temple 1900-1904, and found that the Roman period temple does stand on top of a tell. The Germans were largely interested in restoring the Roman remains, but they did find potsherds from the Early Bronze and Middle Bronze periods./139/ Likewise, there have been a variety of unsuccessful attempts to identify Baalbek with sites mentioned in Ancient Near Eastern writings. For example, it may, or may not, be the Tunip of the Amarna Tablets, or the Biq`at Aven of Amos 1: 5./140/ The modern name "Baalbek" is probably also the original name./141/ Its exact etymology is uncertain, but the first syllable, "Baal," means "Lord," and probably refers to the local god later identified with Zeus and Jupiter./142/ The Greek name of the city, Heliopolis, is first mentioned in accounts of Pompey's conquest of Syria, although it was probably bestowed earlier. The region had been qu!
ite important to the rival Seleucid and Ptolemaic empires./143/ Heliopolis means "City of the Sun," but exactly why the name was given is quite unknown. There is no evidence that Syrians identified the chief god of Baalbek with the sun, and inscriptions usually call him Zeus, not Helios. Perhaps the usual iconography of the god, with a whip raised, reminded Greek settlers of Helios,/144/ who was often shown as a charioteer./145/
Pompey added Heliopolis to the Roman empire, along with the rest of Syria, in 63 BCE. It was probably during the time of Augustus that Heliopolis became one the first Roman colonies in Syria, as _Iulia Augusta Felix_./146/ From that time the god was identified with Jupiter as well as with Zeus, and his priests were all Roman citizens, many of them legionary veterans./147/ The region was already quite hellenized, with the result that all the dedications to the Heliopolitan gods are in Greek or Latin./148/
The temple complex was built over a long period of time, probably with Imperial funds. The podium of the main temple was begun before Pompey, and some ornamental carvings were left unfinished centuries later when Constantine stopped the work./149/ Construction was busiest under Antoninus Pius, which may explain why John Malalas credits the whole complex to him. It was still largely finished under Caracalla./150/
Constantine not only stopped construction, but he also forbade cultic prostitution in honor of Venus Heliopolitanus, Jupiter's partner./151/ Theodosius closed the temples to worshippers throughout the empire, and also built a sizeable church (dedicated to the Virgin) at Heliopolis in the main courtyard of the temple complex. Nevertheless, Heliopolis remained a stronghold of polytheism under the Christian emperors, much like Harran. Rabbula of tried to vandalize the cult statues at Heliopolis early in his career as a fanatic, but was beaten and thrown down the main staircase for his trouble./152/ As late as 579 CE John of Ephesus says that Christians were few and poor in Heliopolis, while the local pagan aristocrats felt secure enough to mock Christianity openly. Anti-Christian rioting in that year brought about a purge of upper class pagans throughout the empire, beginning at Heliopolis./153/ There are no references to these pagans when the Arab conquerors arrived sixty year!
s later./154/
Many pilgrims visited Heliopolis, perhaps because it was famous for oracles. The emperor Trajan saw fit to consult Jupiter Heliopolitanus at the beginning of his Parthian campaign./155/ The cult of the Heliopolitan gods was carried throughout the empire by Syrian soldiers and businessmen. Dedications to Jupiter, Venus and Mercury of Heliopolis have been found from Britain to Palmyra./156/ They were particularly popular throughout geographical Syria./157/ It is interesting to discover that the gods of Heliopolis were worshipped in many of the pagan cities in Judaic Palestine./158/ One of the best known examples is a votive foot from Mt. Carmel, dedicated to # g# # f , _Dii Heliopolitanei Karmeli_./159/ This is probably the same deity whom Elijah fought in I Kg 18, and whom Vespasian consulted when considering becoming emperor. The god of Carmel was worshipped also in Akko/Ptolemais, near Mt. Carmel, and the foot itself was dedicated by someone from Caesarea./160/ It is curiou!
s that when Tacitus discusses Vespasian and the god of Carmel, he emphasizes that the god was worshipped without a temple or cultic images. Perhaps Tacitus thought the god of Carmel was the God of the Jews./161/
Three gods were worshipped at Baalbek/Heliopolis, called Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury, or Zeus, Aphrodite and Hermes. It is almost certain that they were the major Syrian gods, Hadad or Baal, Atargatis, and a young god similar to Adonis, whose native name is unknown./162/ No inscriptions label them with their native names, although Macrobius does say that "the god whom they revere as highest and greatest they have given the name of Adad . . . ." He also says Atargatis was Adad's partner./163/ The first two had dominated Syrian religion for millennia, making the equation quite likely./164/ Mercury's Semitic equivalent has not been identified with certainty, but such family groups of father, mother and son were common throughout geographical Syria./165/ Jupiter was much the most important of the Heliopolitan triad./166/ Throughout Syria, in every historical period, Baal-Hadad was the god of fresh water, especially of the winter storms, but also of fresh water springs. By extens!
ion, he was the patron of agriculture, which was impossible without fresh water, and ruler of the sky, whence the rains came./167/ In the Hellenistic period Hadad filled many of the same roles as Baal Shamin and Bel did at Palmyra and in northern Syria. Greeks and Romans correctly saw all of them as equivalents of their own Zeus and Jupiter./168/ Also, like all his counterparts, Jupiter Heliopolitanus was cosmocrator, or ruler of the entire universe, including the other gods./169/ A Latin inscription from Beirut calls him: "Regi deo[r(um)] I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo) H(eliopolitano) . . . . ," "to the king of the gods, Jupiter the Best and Greatest, of Heliopolis."/170/ Another, from Heliopolis itself, says: "I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo) H(eliopolitano) Regulo," "Jupiter the Best and Greatest of Heliopolis, ruler." _Regulo_ here is derived from the verb _rego_, to rule./171/ Astrological art was especially used to emphasize his role as cosmic emperor.
There are no astrological reliefs to be seen in the temples of Heliopolis. Instead there is a large number of dedicatory reliefs and votive statuettes. These are found throughout the Roman Empire, particularly in Syria, but as widely scattered as Palmyra and Britain. Much the most common is what Hajjar calls the "Oriental" type./172/ This resembles an atlantid, a man-shaped column, more than it does an ordinary Greek statue. It is tempting to assume that these votive statuettes copy the cult statue, the _balanion_,/173/ in the main temple, but there is no certain proof of this./174/ The god is portrayed standing at attention, right hand raised and holding a whip, left hand at the waist, holding a thunderbolt or a sheaf of grain. Often a bushel basket is on his head as he stands on a socle./175/ The socle often has an image of Tyche on it./176/ He usually wears a gown with a variety of astral symbols on it. Sometimes these are merely disks or rosettes, but often they are bust!
s of Helios and Selene or of all seven planet-gods, identified by their usual attributes (figures 32, 33)./177/ In two examples, twelve busts for the twelve signs of the zodiac occur (figs 34, 35)./178/ In another example, a statue of Jupiter Heliopolitanus from Sohne, near Palmyra, has the Bel triad on its chest (figure 36)./179/ Many examples have an eagle with wings outspread on the back./180/ The image of the god wearing the planets means the same thing as the cupola relief and the eagle relief at Bel's temple in Palmyra: the chief god, the god of the sky, is supreme over the universe and the other gods, ruling the world by means of the planets and astrology./181/ The image of Tyche on a socle says the same thing. Tyche here is a personification of _heimarmene_, the power of the planets to compel. And, as elsewhere, the eagle was used to symbolize the sky-god, spread out over the earth./182/ The fact that this iconography is found on dedications and ex votos implies tha!
t the ideas that it symbolized were common, well-known to worshi!
ppers.
_KHIRBET TANNUR_
Our last example of astral religion comes from Khirbet Tannur, a Nabataean site. The Nabataeans were an Arab people who became important in the southern and western parts of geographical Syria in the centuries after Alexander. The most important part of the Nabataean realm was the region south of the Wadi el-Hesa, the biblical land of Edom. Their capital was in this region, at Petra,/183/ although the kingdom, at its height, stretched from Eilath, on the Red Sea, to Auranitis, northwest of the Sea of Galilee./184/ The Nabataeans were best known to Greek and Roman writers as merchants, although modern scholars are equally impressed by their skill at desert agriculture./185/ In particular, the Nabataeans controlled the caravans which brought south Arabian spices and Far Eastern goods from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean./186/ (Given these connections with Mesopotamia and Alexandria, it would be surprising if the Nabataeans did not know about astrology!) The Nabataean car!
avan traffic was at its height before the Roman conquest of the eastern Mediterranean and declined sharply in the first century CE, for a variety of reasons: competition with sea transport to Alexandria, with river transport to Palmyra, and political instability in Judaea were perhaps the most important. Finally, early in the second century CE, the Nabataean realm was made into the Roman province of Arabia./187/ Nabataean Arabia remained, however, a prosperous agricultural region until the Ummayad period.
Neighboring countries, Nabataea and Judaea had close commercial and cultural relations. Nabataean caravans sold their goods at Gaza, in the southeastern part of the Judaean kingdom. Herod the Great married his son, Antipas, to the daughter of the Nabataean king, Aretas IV./188/ One of Herod's goals in building his artificial harbor at Caesarea Maritima was probably to replace Gaza as the Mediterranean end of the Nabataean caravan trade. The region of Auranitis passed back and forth between the Nabataean and Herodian dynasties until both finally were abolished by the Romans. The largest of all Nabataean shrines, the temple of Baal Shamin at Sia, was probably built by Herod the Great, king of the Jews. It certainly contained a statue in his honor./189/ Later on, six of the thirty-five documents found in the so-called "Cave of Horrors," near En-Gedi, were in Nabataean. They belonged to a second century Jewish woman, Babatha, and illustrate commercial relations between Jews and !
Nabataeans at the grass-roots level./190/ Cultural contacts are illustrated by the fact that both peoples used versions of the Babylonian calendar, as well as the use of the zodiac in religious art./191/
Nabataean religion was much like that in the rest of Syria. The most important deities were those who controlled agricultural prosperity./192/ Astrology and astrological symbolism were used to discover the gods' wills and to praise their power. Many Nabataean temples and holy places are known, but astral religion is most easily seen at Khirbet Tannur.
Khirbet Tannur is much less well-known than the other sites we have discussed. It is a small temple atop Jebel Tannur (Mt. Oven), a solitary mountain, formed by the junction of the Wadi el-Hesa (the biblical brook Zered) and the Wadi el- Aban./193/
In antiquity a major trade-route, the King's Highway, came within a mile of the site, and the temple would have been clearly visible to travellers. Although no branch road connects Jebel Tannur and the highway, a path to the top was carved into the mountain./194/ Just who used the temple is something of a mystery, since there was no village nearby. Triclinia are part of the complex, showing that worshippers did eat cultic meals there. Once destroyed, the site was never rebuilt./195/
Khirbet Tannur's ancient name is unknown; the current one probably comes from Jebel Tannur. No ancient writer mentions the site. All we know of it comes exclusively from the physical remains. It was excavated in 1937 by Nelson Glueck for the American School of Oriental Research. He found almost no stratigraphy on the site. His research consisted largely of photographing and measuring the visible remains.
He found a series of enclosed courtyards, 11.5 X 12.5 meters overall (figure 317). At the center was a square altar, the shrine proper. The main entrance to the complex was at the eastern end. There were three major phases of construction at Khirbet Tannur, each with elaborate decorations. In each phase the new construction merely encased the previous work, meaning that Glueck essentially found three shrines within each, like three cardboard boxes nestled inside one another (see plan A)./196/ Overall, it resembles many temples throughout Syria, but particularly the two older temples at Sia./197/
Dating the phases is not easy. Only one dated inscription survives, saying that the shrine was built during the second year of the reign of Aretas IV, or 7 BCE. To which phase it belongs is unclear, unfortunately. Glueck believed that the temple was founded ca. 25 BCE and was destroyed ca. 125 CE. More recently, scholars would lower the _terminus ad quem_ and date the first two phases and most of the sculptures to Aretas' time./198/ A moderate number of sculptures provide the evidence of astral religion at Khirbet Tannur. A large bust of Atargatis, with leaves and fruits growing from her face and hair, and a frieze of busts of the planet-gods probably decorated the facade (figure 38, nos. 33, 34). (Few of the sculptures were found in situ.) An eagle with out stretched wings stood over the goddess' head, perhaps symbolizing the sky-god, as elsewhere (figure 39)./199/ Of the seven planets, only Mars was missing, and that may be due to the accidents of preservation (figures 40-!
42)./200/ A full length relief of a male figure holding a thunderbolt and flanked by bulls, and thus resembling Zeus-Haddad, may have been the cult statue (figure 43)./201/ Glueck believes that this statue and the bust of Atargatis imply that the temple was dedicated to Zeus-Haddad and Atargatis, although no inscriptions say so./202/ In fact, the only dedication found is to the Edomite god, Qos. But "comme la plupart des divinit s suprmes, il tait assimil au grande dieu syrien de la foudre, aussi appele Be`el-shemn . . . ."/203/ Whatever they were called, the gods who lived at Khirbet Tannur filled the same roles as Zeus-Hadad and Atargatis-Aphrodite and visitors would have equated them./204/
But the most interesting astral sculpture is a zodiac wheel held aloft by Victory (figure 44)./205/ In the center of the zodiac is a goddess. The mural crown she wears identifies her with Tyche or Fortune. Tyche was a major deity throughout the Hellenistic period. She was sometimes a protective goddess, and most cities had their own "Fortune."/206/ Often she was also the power of the planets personified. But the "Fortune of Khirbet Tannur" also has a crescent above her right shoulder, identifying her with the moon goddess, Selene. Over her left is an unknown symbol resembling a distaff. Glueck believes the goddess is also Atargatis, who was indeed identified with Tyche elsewhere in the hellenized Near East./207/
The Zodiac circle itself is somewhat unusual. Instead of the signs proceeding in an unbroken ring from Aries to Pisces, the Khirbet Tannur zodiac divides the signs into two halves. The signs Aries through Virgo run counter clockwise from the top of the circle, while the signs Libra through Pisces run counterclockwise from the top./208/ In effect, both equinoctes are placed at the top of the ring. Perhaps this is best explained by postulating that the Nabataean calendar, like the Jewish one, had two New Years, one civil, at the spring equinox, the other religious, at the autumnal equinox./209/ The signs follow the usual Hellenistic, iconography save for Aries (an Athena figure), Sagittarius (a young man with an arrow rather than a centaur) and Capricorn (a young woman instead of a goat-fish)./210/
The sculpture praises the power and glory of Atargatis by identifying her with the personified power of astrology. Likewise, the facade of planet-gods praises Qos and Atargatis in the same way that the circle of planet-gods praises Bel in Palmyra. They rule the world and grant their worshippers requests by means of the rules of astrology./211/
There is other, more general, evidence of astral religion among the Nabataeans, as well. Strabo/212/ tells us that the sun received daily offerings of incense at Petra, and a defaced bust of Helios may be seen at Qasr Rabbah, north of Khirbet Tannur./213/ Avraham Negev's excavations at Mampsis found seal impressions with signs of the zodiac as well as the month (figures 45, 46). The seals themselves are the official seals of Petra, Characmoba and Rabbathmoba. One copied from a coin dates them to ca. 130 CE. The signs (Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Aquarius, and perhaps Capricorn) all belong to the winter. Negev thinks this confirms Glueck's theory that the Nabataeans had two New Years./214/
In this chapter we have looked at three sites, Harran, Palmyra, and Khirbet Tannur, as examples of astral religion. The examples could easily be multiplied. Apamea also had a cult of Bel, called "Fortunae rector," the ruler of Fortune, in one inscription. The art of Dura-Europus, on the Euphrates, has its share of astrological symbolism. Parallels to both Khirbet Tannur and Palmyra are to be found in Auranitis, particularly at Sia and Soueida./215/ But our point has been made, that the planet-gods of astrology were worshipped throughout geographical Syria, and that astrological symbolism was used to emphasize the power and glory of the chief deity of a pantheon. In the next chapter we will look at astrology and astrological symbolism among the Jews.
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
In this chapter, we will discuss astrology and the Jews. We will examine a
variety of astrological documents from the centuries between Alexander and the
Arabs, the Second Temple and the Rabbinic periods in Jewish history. Our goal
is to show that ancient Jews used astrology in much the same way as their
neighbors in Palmyra or Nabataea. The Jewish variety of astrology, in turn,
will help explain the famous zodiac mosaics. A zodiac in a synagogue meant the
same thing as it meant in a temple: it was a symbol of the Supreme Deity, Who
ran the universe by the laws of astrology. It is important to emphasize this,
for some major scholars of ancient synagogues deny that the ancient Jews did
anything as irrational as practice astrology./1/ In earlier chapters we
demonstrated that astrology was not irrational in Hellenistic society, but a
routine part of science and art. In this chapter and the following one, we
will show that ancient Jews used astrology in the same ways as their fellow
Syrians.
_ASTROLOGY IN THE BIBLE_
Let us begin with a discussion of Mesopotamian astrology and the biblical
tradition. The problem for the Jews was with assimilation to non-Jewish
culture, which included astrology. The Israelites and their descendants, the
Jews, inhabited the southern part of geographical Syria, and they were
certainly aware of the religious ideas and practices of their neighbors. But
according to the biblical tradition, the Israelites were forbidden to join in
these practices. Instead, Israelites were commanded to worship only their own
god, YHWH. The classic statement of Israelite monotheism/2/ is the first
commandment "You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20: 3; Deuteronomy
5: 7)." Another revealing passage is Deuteronomy 17: 2-7:
""If there is found among you . . . a man who or woman who "does what is evil
in the sight of the LORD your God . . . and "has gone and served other gods
and worshipped them, or the sun "or the moon or any of the host of heaven,
which I have forbidden ". . . . Then you shall bring forth to your gates that
man or "woman and stone them to death with stones.
This attitude was not a common one in the ancient world and, of course, not
all Israelites were as obedient and as monotheistic as the biblical writers
thought they should be. The authors of the historical and prophetic books of
the Hebrew Bible often condemn their fellow Israelites for worshipping alien
gods. And, as the passage just quoted tells us, the alien gods included the
heavenly bodies./3/ When Josiah reformed Judah's religion in the sixth century
BCE, he found the sun, moon, and stars worshipped along with Baal and Asherah
in YHWH's temple in Jerusalem. The sun even had horses and a chariot for his
use in Solomon's temple./4/ Likewise, as we saw in the last chapter, Baal and
Asherah could also be astral deities. Ezekiel (8: 16) also speaks of
sun-worship in the Jerusalem temple. In a famous passage, a group of Judaeans
tell Jeremiah why they worship "the Queen of Heaven":
""But we will do everything that we have vowed, burn incense to "the Queen of
Heaven and pour out libations to her, as we did, . ". . for then we had plenty
of food, and prospered, and saw no "evil./5/
The passage does not give the personal name of this "Queen of Heaven." The
title was used by Ishtar in Mesopotamia, and by a variety of similar goddesses
throughout the Ancient Near East, including Anath in Bronze Age Ugarit./6/
Anath and Astarte merged during the Iron Age to become Atargatis, whose major
myth was set at Ashkelon in the Philistine plain./7/ It is probably a safe
assumption that Jeremiah's "Queen of Heaven" is Atargatis or one of her
ancestors./8/ The apparent success of Mesopotamian civilization may have made
her a more attractive goddess than otherwise./9/
The author of Jeremiah and the other biblical writers, of course, believed
that both Israelite monarchies were destroyed by YHWH in punishment for
worshipping the stars, among many other alien gods. But the Bible also has
positive things to say about the heavenly bodies. The Genesis 1 creation story
says:
""And God said, 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the "'heavens to
separate the day from the night; and let them be for "'signs and for seasons
and for days and nights, let them be "'lights in the firmament of the heavens
to give light upon the "'earth.' And it was so. And God made the two great
lights, the "greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the
"night; he made the stars also.
YHWH is clearly portrayed as the Creator and the master of the heavenly
bodies./10/ Marduk, too, was portrayed as master of the heavenly bodies in
_Enuma Elish_. But there is one large difference in _Enuma Elish_, as in pagan
myth in general, the universe produced the gods, who then put it into the
present shape. But in Genesis, it is YHWH who produced the universe./11/ Some
scholars believe that the Genesis 1 creation story may have been a deliberate
reaction to _Enuma Elish_ and similar creation myths./12/
It is interesting that the author avoided using the normal names for the sun,
Shemesh, and the moon, Yareah. Perhaps the author wanted to avoid connotations
from Canaanite mythology, where Sun and Moon are definitely gods./13/
(Rabbinic writings also prefer religiously neutral names for the sun, moon,
and other planets.)/14/ The passage as it stands certainly emphasizes the
Creator rather than the creature./16/ The statement that the sun and moon are
"for signs and for seasons" is slightly ambiguous. The phrase probably refers
to the calendar. Certainly this was how it was understood in Talmudic
times./16/ The Bible does not describe the Israelite calendar in detail, but,
like most ancient calendars, it definitely used astronomy to schedule
religious festivals and farm chores for the correct seasons./17/ "Signs" may
refer to the different constellations which precede seasonal changes,/18/ but
it may also refer to astral omens. Probably it does not; there is little other
evidence that the Israelites observed the skies for omens before they met the
Babylonians./19/ But, as with many references to the stars in the Hebrew
Bible, the passage can be re-interpreted astrologically by people who already
believed in astrology. There are many examples of such astrological
re-interpretations in later Jewish literature. See, for example, the creation
account in _Pesikta Rabbati_, 20: 2 and 53: 2.
The idea that the heavenly bodies are the creatures of YHWH, carrying out His
will, appears often in the Hebrew Bible. Psalm 74, while asking God to rescue
the author, lists the events of creation, including the creation of the sun
and moon. Psalm 104 emphasizes that YHWH rules the natural world, including
the sky and the seasons./20/
At the same time, the heavenly bodies are often personified. Psalm 19 says the
heavens praise YHWH, and compares the sun to a bridegroom eager to perform his
husbandly duties. Job 38: 4-7 clearly draws a parallel between the stars and
the angels "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world? . . .
when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
Similar examples might be listed at great length. The general view found in
the Hebrew Bible is that the sun, moon, and stars were living creatures with
definite roles to play in the universe, but who were always subordinate to
YHWH, their Creator./21/ The emphasis is always on the Creator.
As we have seen, astral religion was a continual temptation to the Israelites.
But while divination of various sorts was part of Israelite tradition,/22/
watching the skies for omens was not. The practice is mentioned and condemned
several times, but usually as a foreign practice. Jeremiah 10: 2 probably
refers to Mesopotamian astral omens "Learn not the customs of the nations,
fear not the signs of heaven, even though the nations stand in fear of
them."/23/ Isaiah 47: 12-14, in an attack on Mesopotamian religion, makes an
explicit reference to the art of the baru:
""Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with "which you
have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able "to succeed, perhaps you
may inspire terror. You are wearied with "your many counsels; let them stand
forth and save you, those who "divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who
at the new moons "predict what shall befall you. Behold, they are like
stubble, "the fire consumes them.
The author correctly links Mesopotamian religion, omen watching, and
magic./24/ Daniel also has a number of references to astrologers in the story
of Nebuchadnezzar's dream./25/ The (_gzryn_) in Daniel 2 are probably
astrologers, as are the (_ksdym_) and (_ksdy'_)./26/ These last two names both
mean "Chaldaean" in Hebrew and Aramaic, respectively. The point of the story
is that the gods and the learning of the Babylonians were inferior to YHWH
speaking through Daniel, His servant./27/
_SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD_
Astrology came to the Jews as a Hellenistic practice, and there was as wide a
range of attitudes towards it as towards any aspect of Hellenistic culture. At
one extreme works such as I Enoch/28/ and Jubilees/29/ condemn astrology as
demonic. Humans learned astrology from the Watchers,/30/ angels who rebelled
against God, and who also begot the demons. Abraham rejected astrology when he
became a monotheist./31/ The Sibylline Oracles (3: 20-24, 219-27)/32/ say that
God created the sun, moon, and stars, and compliments the Jews as "a race of
most righteous men . . . for they do not worry about the cyclic course of the
sun or the moon . . . . Neither do they practice the astrological predictions
of the Chaldeans."/33/
At the other extreme are authors such as Artapanus, an Egyptian Jew (late
third or early second century BCE) who claimed that Abraham taught astrology
to the Egyptian priests of Heliopolis. He also believed that Hermes
Trismegistus was really Moses and that he had invented all the features of
Egyptian culture including polytheism, and the worship of animals./34/
Similarly, Eupolemus (late third or early second century BCE)/35/ claimed that
Enoch had learned astrology from the angels, and that Abraham later taught the
technique to the Phoenicians and the Egyptians./36/
Most Jewish writers avoided either extreme. For example, in the _Wisdom of
Solomon_ 13, written in the late second century or the early first century
BCE,/37/ polytheists are ridiculed, but star- worshippers are said to be the
most tolerable of the lot
""For all men who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature; . ". . but they
supposed that either fire or wind or swift air or "the _circle of the stars_,
or turbulent water, or the "_luminaries of heaven_ [my emphasis] were the gods
that rule the "world. . . . Yet these men are little to be blamed, for
"perhaps they go astray while seeking God and desiring to find "him./38/
Josephus and Philo both reject "scientific" astrology, but nevertheless, they
do not hesitate to identify the twelve signs with the twelve loaves of bread
offered each day in the temple or the seven planets with the seven branches of
the menorah./39/ The Jewish astrological writers whom we will discuss would
probably agree with one modern colleague ". . . our ancestors considered
Astrology to be the hand of God written across the heavens."/40/
Artapanus and Eupolemus were both contemporary with the first major works of
Hellenistic astrology, such as "Nechepso and Petosiris." However, they were
not concerned with astrology per se, but wanted, rather, to improve the image
of the Jews by showing that they were an ancient people who had made important
contributions to "modern" culture./41/ Artapanus and Eupolemus took a
"scientific" practice which they believed true and tried to make it look
Jewish by associating it with Jewish heroes. This was the approach of most of
the Jewish astrological writers, just as it was for the Egyptian astrologers
mentioned in chapter two. As we shall see, a great variety of astrological
treatises ascribed to angels or biblical heroes survive in Greek and in
Aramaic or Hebrew./42/ One ascribed to Abraham is known to have existed in the
third century BCE, making it one of the oldest works of Hellenistic astrology,
and Vettius Valens does list Abraham along with Hermes and Nechepso as among
the earliest astrologers./43/ Jews used all the astrological practices that
their neighbors did. Only the interpretive filter was different.
_QUMRAN_
The first Jewish astrological document which we shall consider comes from
Khirbet Qumran, one of the most famous and important of all archaeological
sites. Situated in the Judaean Wilderness next to the Dead Sea, it was the
home of a Jewish sectarian community for several centuries during the Second
Temple Period. The group that lived there probably belonged to the
Essenes,/44/ one of the four broad categories into which Josephus grouped
Jewish thinkers./45/ The most important artifacts found at the site were the
extensive remains of the community's library, hidden in caves in the
neighborhood, shortly before the community was destroyed by Vespasian's troops
in 67 CE. These documents are among the very few primary documents to survive
from antiquity. They give us a unique look at the beliefs of a group of Jews
living at the end of the Second Temple Period, just the time and the milieu
which gave birth to both Rabbinic Judaism and to Christianity. The inhabitants
of Qumran were exceedingly zealous for Jewish traditions as they understood
them, and were rather unfriendly to the Gentile world. Thus modern scholars
were quite startled when fragments of astrological documents were found in
1952 at cave 4./46/
The best known document is in two fragments, collectively labelled 4Q Cryptic
(earlier 4Q186). The document was written in a simple code, using a mixture of
Greek, paleo-Hebrew, and square Hebrew letters. The sentences read left to
right,/47/ rather than the right to left direction usual in Hebrew and
Aramaic. The reason for the code is unclear. Perhaps the scribes simply
thought that an esoteric document should _look_ esoteric./48/
The fragments are short enough to quote in full:
""4Q186(1) II . . . and his thighs are long ans lean, and his "toes are thin
and long. He is of the second Column./49/ His "spirit consists of six (parts)
in the House of Light and three "in the PIt of Darkness. And this is his
birthday on which he (is "to be/was?) born: in the foot of the Bull./51/ He
will be meek. "And his animal is the bull.|
""4Q186(1) III . . . and his head . . . [and his cheeks are] fat. "His teeth
are of uneven length (?). His fingers are thick, and "his thighs are thick and
very hairy, each one. His toes are "thick and short. His spirit consists of
eight (parts) in the "House of Darkness and one from the House of Light . . .
""4Q186(2) I . . . order. His eyes are black and glowing. His "beard is . . .
and it is . . . His voice is gentle. His teeth "are fine and well aligned. He
is neither tall nor short. And he ". . . And his fingers are thin and long.
And his thighs are "smooth. And the soles of his feet . . . [and his toes] are
well "aligned. His spirit consists of eight (parts) [in the House of "Light,
of] the second Column, and one in the House of Darkness. "And this is] his
birthday on which he (is to be/was) born: . . . "And his animal is . . ./51/
It is not possible to say when 4Q Cryptic was written, save that it must have
been before 67 CE. It is clearly not a collection of horoscopes,/52/ but
rather a work of _physiognomy_, the practice of judging someone's personality
from their physical appearance. Only 4Q186(1) II, is intact enough to preserve
definite references to astrology. Such works are well known in general
Hellenistic astrology. They are simple examples of "scientific" astrology,
based on the principle that the human body is a miniature copy of the
universe, or microcosm. If one's appearance is the result of one's nativity,
it should be possible to use one's appearance to extrapolate backwards, and
reconstruct the birthchart./53/ The sect of Qumran took the practice one step
farther, and used astrology and physiognomy to judge a person's spiritual
character./54/ Each person's spirit was divided into nine parts, some from the
House of Light and the rest from the House of Darkness. The proportions of
Light and Darkness and the person's physical appearance were both determined
by the person's sign./55/ Thus appearance allowed the Qumran leaders to judge
people in general and would-be members in particular./56/
A related document is 4Q Mess Ar, in handwriting which probably dates to the
beginning of the Common Era./57/ It is very fragmentary, but seems to describe
the appearance at birth of a remarkable child: ". . . of his hand: two . . . a
birthmark. And the hair will be red. And there will be lentils on . . . and
small birthmarks on his thigh."/58/
There are no references to astrology in what survives, but the physical
description does clearly resemble those in 4Q Cryptic./59/ The text has been
the subject of much discussion because a later passage refers to an "Elect of
God" ( , _bhyr 'lh'_)./60/ Some good manuscripts of the Gospel of John 1: 34
also call Jesus the "Elect of God" ( n n g g n , _ho eklektos tou theou_)./61/
I Enoch 37-71, too, uses the phrase for a superhuman being./62/ Some scholars
have concluded that 4Q Mess Ar is the horoscope of a messianic figure./63/ But
others are not persuaded. "Elect" is a variant in John 1: 34, and other
equally good texts say "Son of God" ( g n , _huios tou theou_)./64/ Nor does
4Q Mess Ar say that it is about a messiah,/65/ and, in any case, the Qumran
concept of the messiah was somewhat different from the Christian one. The main
alternative explanation is that 4Q Mess Ar is part of a legend about the birth
of Noah, who was indeed a superhuman character in some of the pseudepigrapha,
notably the Genesis Apocryphon found at Qumran./66/
There are also other, unpublished, astrological documents found at Qumran,
notably fragments in Aramaic of a _brontologion_, a work using thunderclaps
and astrology to predict the future. Brontologia were among the oldest and
most popular varieties of lay astrology. They had the advantage of combining
traditional methods of divination with the new. Indeed, some of the surviving
brontologia seem to be related to _Enuma Anu Enlil_, the famous Mesopotamian
astrological work./67/ A representative quote from the Qumran brontologion
reads "On the 13th and 14th (of the month of Tebet), Cancer . . . . If it
thunders in the sign of the Twins, terror and distress caused by foreigners .
.. . ."/68/ The formula "If in the sign X it thunders . . ." [ , 'm b- yr`m],
introduces each segment and clearly resembles the typical if . . . then . . .
format of Mesopotamian omen texts./69/ Astrology was not the hobby of a few
isolated eccentrics at Qumran. Indeed, it may have been used to screen
applicants./70/ This may seem odd, since I Enoch, which condemns astrology,
was one of the most popular books in the Qumran library. But even I Enoch does
not condemn astrology completely. Astrology was one of many technological
skills which the Watchers revealed to an unready humanity. Writing was another
such skill, but this did not keep the Qumran community from having a library
and scriptorium. Astrology was just one more dubious activity that could not
be avoided in a fallen and imperfect world.
Moreover, 4Q Cryptic has parallels with key documents of Qumran literature.
For example, the practice of dividing a person's character into nine parts,
some from the House of Light, others from the House of Darkness, is unlike
anything in Greek astrology, but reminds one of the Qumran doctrine of the Two
Spirits./71/ This doctrine is most clearly seen in the so-called _Manual of
Discipline_. According this work, both the universe and each human soul is a
battleground for two spirits
""He [i.e., God] has created men to govern the world, and has "appointed for
him two spirits in which to walk until the time of "His visitiation: the
spirits of truth and falsehood. Those born "of truth spring from a fountain of
light, but those born of "falsehood spring from a source of darkness. All the
children of "righteousness are ruled by a Prince of Light and walk in the
"ways of light, but all the children of falsehood are ruled by "the Angel of
Darkness and walk in the ways of darkness. . . . "For it is He who created the
spirits of Light and Darkness and "founded every action upon themand
established every deed [upon] "their [ways]./72/
This document illustrates very well the dualism and determinism characteristic
of the Qumran sect./73/ The phrases "Fountain of Light" and "Wellspring of
Darkness" are obviously similar to the Vaults of Light and Darkness mentioned
in 4Q Cryptic. Indeed, some scholars think that Qumran determinism is derived
from astrology./74/ Probably, in Qumran thought, the signs and planets are
angels under the authority of the two spirits, apportioning Light and Darkness
to individuals as God commands./75/ Moreover, all these documents from Qumran
also fit nicely with what Josephus says about the Essenes/76/ "The sect of the
Essenes, however, declares that Fate is the mistress of all things, and that
nothing befalls men unless it be done in accordance with her decree."/77/ And
it is likely that the more hellenized Judaeans were even more open to
astrology in all its varieties than were the sect of Qumran./78/
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
_HAMMATH-TIBERIAS_
The most recent zodiac to be discovered is at Hammath-Tiberias. It is probably the best preserved and the best known example, after Beth Alpha. "Hammath" means "hot springs"/118/ and the site is indeed a group of hot springs along the western shore of the Sea of Galilee./119/ The rabbis identified them with the Hammath-Naphtali of Joshua 19: 35./120/ The place first became important when Herod Antipas founded the city of Tiberias near the springs in 18/19 BCE. Named for the Roman emperor, it was meant to be the capital of the Tetrarchy of Galilee, Antipas' share of his father's kingdom. It remained one of the major cities in the region well into the Arab period./121/ Tiberias was a Hellenistic city, but it also became an important Rabbinic center from the third century CE until 429 CE, when the Patriarchate was abolished./122/ The Jewish Patriarchs, whom the Romans allowed to function as hereditary supreme judges of Jewish law,/123/ had their headquarters in Tiberias, from t!
he time of Judah the Prince, in the mid third century. It was here that the Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in the early fifth century CE./124/
The synagogue with the zodiac/125/ is about one mile south of the modern city of Tiberias. It is close to the lake shore, and to the hot springs. The city wall of the Byzantine city is just south./126/ Ruins in the area have long been known, but the synagogue in question was discovered in 1947, while expanding the bath house at the hot springs. A trial excavation in 1948 was stopped by the Israeli War of Independence, and work did not resume until the 1960s. The site was excavated by Moshe Dothan, for the Israeli Department of Antiquities, in 1961-63./127/
The synagogue is on one of several natural terraces which run SE--NW, parallel to the lake shore. Dothan excavated an area of about 1200 square meters, and found four major periods of occupation, labelled I-IV, top to bottom./128/ Period II is the "Synagogue of Severus,"/129/ containing the zodiac wheel. It was left largely intact, which means that the greater part of lower levels were left buried. Period IV apparently held a settlement of some sort dating to the Hellenistic and Hasmonaean periods./130/ A somewhat larger area of period III was uncovered. It held a public building of some sort, perhaps a synagogue, perhaps a gymnasium, and dates to the first or early second centuries CE./131/
The site was apparently abandoned for some time between periods III and II./132/ Period II holds the zodiac wheel, and received the greatest attention from the excavator. The building which he found is definitely a synagogue, and went through two phases of construction, IIb, the older, and IIa, the younger./133/
The level II synagogue is a somewhat strange looking building (figure 57). Due to the terrace on which it was built, it has an odd orientation./134/ The corners are closer to the cardinal directions than are the walls./135/ The prayer-hall has an odd shape. It is almost rectangular, but none of the corners are truly square, and none of the sides have the same length./136/ The northern corner has a 1.2 meter "nook"/137/ which makes the plan look more like a boot than a basilica. Nine columns are arranged in three rows of three. The aisles between have unequal dimensions. The second from the west wall is the widest and functioned as a nave./138/ It held the major mosaic panels (figure 59). There are two small rooms stuck onto the main structure. This is common, in itself. But these rooms do not seem related to the overall plan in the way extra rooms do at, for example, Beth Alpha.
The long narrow room (11.3 X 3 meters; figure 11) on the southeast side of the synagogue apparently functioned as a narthex in synagogue IIb. Worshippers entered by a door in its northwest face, and turned 90o right to enter the prayer-hall. This second door was in one of the long walls, making the prayer-hall a "broadhouse." Once inside, worshippers had to turn 180o to face Jerusalem./139/ The other small room on the northwest, 5.0 X 2.7 meters, may have been a staircase./141/
Little remains of whatever art phase IIb had. Only a few bits of the IIb mosaic are visible beneath the panels which replaced it; what is visible is geometric and multicolored. A few fragments of painted plaster were found in the foundation of phase IIb's mosaics, implying that IIa may have had painted walls./141/ Potsherds and coins found throughout IIa date the layer generally to the third century CE. Dothan estimates that the synagogue phase IIa dated from ca. 230-306 CE. There was a large earthquake in the Tiberias region in 306, and it is reasonable to assume that earthquake damage made remodelling necessary./142/
There was no gap in occupation between phases IIb and IIa. The building was not replaced, or even modified greatly. The major change was the entrance, which shifted to the northeast wall (figure 58). The lintels no longer survive, but pilasters which probably framed the new doors do remain. The former narthex was subdivided into three small rooms. The external "nook" where the old entrance had been was walled off to form a fourth room. The room which may have been a staircase in phase IIb was destroyed, probably to make room for the new entrance./143/
Inside the remodelled synagogue, we find the same plan. One of the rooms in the former narthex (figure 59) became an aediculum for the ark. The old columns were still in use, but their bases are buried by about 15 centimeters of fill and mortar which separate the old and new mosaic floors./144/
Almost all the IIa mosaics, more than 100 square meters, survive. The only damage is from the walls of the succeeding phase, I. The two easternmost aisles and the westernmost one are paved with geometric panels, somewhat like carpets. The nave contains the only figural mosaics (figure 58). Entering from the north, one first came to a panel of two lions on either side of an inscription, in Greek, listing donors./145/ Beyond the lions, is the zodiac panel, followed by a panel, 3.46 X 2.17 meters, of menorahs, a Torah ark, and other Jewish symbols next to the cubical for the aron./146/ The entrance inscriptions are interesting from several points of view. They contain the first epigraphic reference to the Jewish Patriarch./147/ They also allow one to deduce the general date of the synagogue. The inscription is in the form of one large square divided into nine small squares. Seven give the name of one donor, while the most important benefactor gets two squares. His inscription s!
ays:
""#n [ ] i n#g g #f# g#g ##g # n# en . # " # g . fn .
""_Seu[ros] threpts ton lamprotaton patriarxon epoisen_. _Eulogia "auti_. _Amen_."
""Severos, disciple of the most illustrious patriarchs fulfilled "it. Blessing upon him. Amen."/148/
A second inscription in the eastern aisle also remembers Severos in nearly the same words, along with Iullus, another donor in the entrance inscription./149/
"Threptos," literally someone raised in the same family, probably means a member of the Patriarch's household here./150/ But it is the phrase "most illustrious Patriarchs" which is the key to dating the inscription, and by implication, the zodiac mosaic and phase IIb. "Lamprotatos," or "most illustrious," is not mere flattery, but an official title, the Greek equivalent of the Latin _vir clarissimus_. This is the official designation of the lowest of the three senatorial grades./151/ The Patriarchs were not members of the Roman senate, but the Theodosian Code, 16.8.17, issued 392 CE, tells us that the Jewish Patriarch held the legal status of a senator, or a Praetorian Prefect./152/ Probably this status dates to the time of Diocletian or Constantine. Giving legal standing to such titles and statuses was part of their reorganization of the Roman Empire. Since the office of Patriarch was abolished in 429 CE, the inscription can date no later than the early fifth century CE./15!
3/ Dothan dates the synagogue to the late third or early fourth century CE./154/ In short, the Hammath-Tiberias synagogue and its mosaics dates to the same Early Byzantine period as our other synagogues and zodiac mosaics.
Thematically, the zodiac panel closely resembles the others which we have seen, although it is in a strikingly different style. The panel is nearly square (3.3 X 3.26 meters). The square holds two concentric circles, 3.20 and 1.40 meters in diameter, respectively. The corners of the square contain female busts of the seasons, the space between the circles is divided into wedges for the signs, and the inner circle holds Sol Invictus driving his quadriga./155/ Both signs and seasons run clockwise, and, unlike the other zodiacs, the seasons are aligned with the correct signs. Both signs and seasons are labelled in Hebrew. Aquarius is spelled backwards: dly, _yld_ instead of yld, _dly_. The seasons have appropriate attributes as well as labels./156/ A wall of the succeeding phase I synagogue runs through the center of the panel, destroying most of the horses and chariot, the signs Virgo and Cancer, and parts of Gemini and Scorpio./157/
The most striking aspect of the zodiac mosaic at Hammath-Tiberias is its Classical style, forming quite a contrast with the "Oriental" style of the other zodiacs./158/ The iconography is completely in line with the typical Greek portrayals, to the point of including nude, uncircumcised, male figures for Libra and Aquarius./159/ None of the other zodiac mosaics discussed had nude figures. Some scholars have thought that the nudity implies that the artists were non-Jews. The misspelling of Aquarius is cited as further evidence./160/ But one need not be a Gentile to be less than skilled in Hebrew. Moreover, whatever the ethnic origins of the artists, they worked for Jewish employers, and would not have made something their patrons could not tolerate.
The image of Sol is particularly interesting. It closely resembles the classical iconography of the cosmocrator. He is shown dressed in Imperial garb, a scarlet _paludamentum_, with his right hand raised in benediction. His left hand holds a whip, and a globe with two circles crossing. This is probably the spherical universe, with the celestial equator and the ecliptic, symbolizing universal rule./161/ He looks right, and has both rays and a halo around his head. A crescent moon is shown beneath his right arm, and a seven-pointed star beneath his left./162/ Dothan believes that the iconography dates the mosaic to the late third or early fourth century CE. Certainly the era of Constantine saw a great deal of solar symbolism in art and imperial symbolism./163/ But without more objective archaeological data,/164/ artistic comparisons give only imprecise, subjective dates. For our purposes, the Early Byzantine date given by the entrance inscription is close enough.
Level II was destroyed at some time in the fourth or fifth centuries CE. The exact date is not known, nor is the exact cause, although both earthquake and human rioting are plausible./165/ In any case, the site was abandoned for a considerable period, judging by the amount of silt separating levels II and I. Level I was also a synagogue, but built according to a completely different plan. Indeed, its walls destroyed part of the mosaics in level II. Synagogue I also went through two phases, and was in use until it was abandoned in the Abbassid period./167/
The synagogues discussed up to this point are the most certain examples of the zodiac. But there are a number of other works of art which are sometimes cited as examples of the zodiac from Jewish contexts. Some are more likely than others. We will discuss several of them here.
_SUSIYA_
The works of art discussed up to this point are definitely zodiacs. But there is a group of similar works of art which some, but not all, scholars have thought were zodiacs. We will discuss them here in descending order of plausibility. The first example is in a synagogue at Khirbet Susiya, in Idumaea, near Hebron. The ruined village was surveyed by Conder and Kitchener in the nineteenth century. In 1969 S. Gutman did a trial excavation at the site for the Israeli Department of Antiquities. A full scale expedition, led jointly by S. Gutman, Z. Yeivin, and E. Netzer, excavated and restored the synagogue in 1971-72./167/
The synagogue was on a hillside on the west side of the village. It is in four parts: an atrium, a narthex and the prayer-hall, on a single east-west axis, and two small rooms on the beyond the south wall of the prayer-hall (figure 59). The atrium is 1.5 meters lower than the floor of the narthex and prayer-hall. A staircase of five steps connect them. Three portals lead from the narthex to the prayer-hall proper./168/
The prayer-hall has a broad-house plan, meaning that the long, rather than the short, walls were oriented to Jerusalem. The worshippers entered in the eastern short wall, then turned 90o left. The northern long wall faced Jerusalem, with two _bemas_ and a niche. There were no internal columns, and benches lined three walls. The prayer-hall measured 9 X 15 meters, and was perhaps 8-9 meters high./169/ Four dedicatory inscriptions in mosaic are found in the atrium, the narthex, and the entrance of the prayer hall./170/
The synagogue was in use from the fifth to the eight or ninth centuries CE./171/ It had a complex history, with several remodellings. This is particularly noticeable in the mosaics, with relics of several phases remaining. The first mosaic was merely white tesserae, at least in the surviving portions./172/ The succeeding phase is the one that most interests us. It filled most of the floor with three panels, east to west. (A small panel of a Torah Ark and Jewish symbols is found in front of the eastern _bema_.)/173/ The western panel was subdivided into three scenes. Of these three, one is largely destroyed, and one shows Daniel in the lion's den. The last scene shows a hunt. The eastern panel, next to the entrance, has two large octagons, surrounded by smaller polygons which held birds, now destroyed./174/ The original center panel has since been replaced by a geometric pattern. But the edge of the original panel remains. It shows the edge of a wheel, a divider, and what app!
ears to be a wing (figure 59)./175/ It is clearly quite similar to the zodiac panels which we have discussed earlier. It is not certain that the wheel was a zodiac; wheels of the months are known from non- Jewish contexts, notably at Beth Shan./176/ But since zodiac circles are reasonably common in synagogues, while circles of the months are otherwise unknown, it is certainly tempting, and probably reasonable, to list Susiya among the synagogue zodiacs./177/ Perhaps it should also be classed with Naaran as the target of iconoclasts.
_YAFIA_
Another synagogue mosaic sometimes identified as a zodiac is at Yafia,/178/ a village in Galilee, about one mile southwest of Nazareth./179/ The village is an old one. It may be the _IAPU_ of the Amarna Tablets and is probably the Yafia of Zebulon mentioned in Joshua 19:12./180/ It was Josephus' headquarters for a time while he commanded the Jewish forces in Galilee, and was destroyed by the Roman army as a result./181/ Later excavation has shown that Yafia was a sizeable Jewish settlement during the Byzantine period as well./182/
The synagogue of Yafia was first discovered in 1921, when Vincent published several sculptured fragments from the lintel./183/ After a mosaic floor was reported, the site was excavated by E. L. Sukenik and N. Avigad in July and August of 1951./184/ As at Susiya, the site is occupied by a modern village, and only a restricted area, within a garden, could be excavated./185/
The ancient synagogue was badly damaged by later building, but enough survives to tell us that the building was a basilica, with a double colonnade./186/ The nave was 6.9 meters wide, and was flanked by two aisles, each 2.9 meters, for a total width of 15 meters. Only one of the building's short ends survives, but the nave was at least 16.5 meters long, and perhaps as much as 19 meters. The long axis runs east-west, with the facade at the east end./187/ The synagogue was eventually destroyed by violence, but when or by what is unknown. Sukenik speculates that a Christian mob was responsible./188/ Certainly such behavior was not rare in the early Byzantine Empire but the theory lacks positive evidence.
The floor of the synagogue was paved with an elaborate mosaic, now largely destroyed (figure 60)./189/ The mosaics were skillfully made, with tesserae in thirteen different colors, in a style which is neither particularly classical nor especially "Oriental." On the basis of this style the excavator dated the Yafia synagogue to the late third or early fourth centuries CE./190/ The figures which survive in the nave are the most interesting. There were a series of panels at the west end, only one of which survives. The surviving panel contains an eagle atop two volutes, forming a chalice-like object. Surimposed upon the "chalice" is a human head. While the head has been variously identified as Helios or Medusa,/191/ it lacks identifying attributes and could just as easily be one of the masks commonly found in Hellenistic art.
Next to the eagle mosaic is the remains of a double circle inscribed on a square, superficially like the zodiac circles which we have discussed above. Indeed, when first discovered, this, too, was thought to be a zodiac./192/ The square is 4.2 meters on a side. The inner circle is 1.9 meters, the outer 3.8 meters, in diameter./193/ However, the space between the two concentric circles is not divided up into "pie slices," as in the other zodiac mosaics. Instead, the space is filled with smaller circles, each about 50 centimeter in diameter./194/ They might be compared to "ball bearings," rather than "pie slices." The corners of the square are filled with animals and plant designs. A tiger may be seen in the one intact corner. The triangles between the small circles hold dolphins./195/ The small circles between the two larger circles also held animals. Two circles survive, one largely intact. The nearly intact circle holds a bull, facing right. The circle to the right is large!
ly destroyed, but the head and hoof of a horned animal remain./196/ More important, part of a label also remains. Three Hebrew letters and part of a fourth may be seen: , _rym_, -rim. These are almost certainly the end of the name, , _'prym_, Ephraim, one of the twelve sons of Israel./197/
This gives the key to the whole panel. It is a circle, not of the zodiac, but of the twelve tribes, the first example of the motif discovered./198/ The horned animal of Ephraim is a wild ox, _bos primigenius_, and the nearly intact animal on its left is a domestic bull, symbol of Ephraim's brother, Manasseh./199/ In rabbinic tradition, each of the twelve patriarchs was identified with an animal, based on characterizations given in Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33. _Numbers Rabbah_ 82 gives the symbols of all the tribes. Probably the intact mosaic held symbols of all twelve tribes./200/ It is possible that the circle of the tribes has a zodiacal aspect./201/ The twelve signs were certainly identified with the twelve tribes at some point. This is how zodiacs sometimes found in modern synagogues are interpreted./202/ Likewise, the biblical characterizations were used in interpreting horoscopes. But we do not know when signs and tribes were identified, or when the biblical attribut!
es of the tribes were given to the signs./203/ At best, we can only say "not proven."
_EN GEDI_
The mosaic zodiac inscription of En Gedi is not, strictly speaking, a _picture_ of the zodiac. But it is closely enough related to the artistic motif that it cannot be ignored.
En Gedi is a famous oasis in the Judaean desert. It was inhabited in every period since at least the Chalcolithic period. Eusebius' _Onomasticon_ tells us that there was still a large Jewish settlement in the region in the early Byzantine Empire./204/ In 1966, farmers discovered an ancient synagogue northeast of the oasis. The site was excavated by D. Barag, Y. Porat, and E. Netzer for Hebrew University and the Israeli Department of Antiquities in three seasons, 1970-1972./205/
The synagogue had an irregular plan, but was roughly square, approximately 12 X 15 meters (figure 63)./206/ One entered via a narthex four meters wide along the western wall. It forms a corridor with two entrances, one at the north, one at the south end. The floor was paved with plain white tesserae. One corner held a sink for ritual ablution before entering the prayer-hall, the first such installation to be found. Three portals lead from the narthex into the prayer-hall proper./207/ Inside, there is a nave, facing northwest to Jerusalem, surrounded by a U-shaped aisle. Thus the worshipper had to make two 900 turns. The western aisle holds five mosaic inscriptions. "Bleachers" line the southern wall./208/ The center of the nave contains a mosaic of intersecting squares. The squares, in turn, are decorated with geometric and floral motifs and birds. A panel of three menorahs is north of the squares. Beyond is a panel for a _bema_, 2 X 4 meters. The north wall contains a niche!
for an ark./209/
Overall, excavators found three phases to the synagogue,/210/ although only the uppermost phase, containing the inscriptions, was fully uncovered. Fragments of a mosaic belonging to the first phase probably date to the third century CE./211/
Probably because of its isolated location, the site was unusually well preserved, with no evidence of looting. As a result, an unusual number of artifacts were found in situ./212/ In the niche, excavators found fragments of glass lamps, several whole ceramic lamps, traces of a wooden aediculum and curtain, and a charred lump which may be the remains of a Torah scroll. Nearby, they found a bronze menorah, a goblet-shaped container, also of bronze, and a hoard of several thousand bronze coins./213/ The coins provide the major dating information. They date to the reigns of the emperors Anastasius I, Justin I, and the early years of Justinian I. The excavators conclude that the synagogue was destroyed by fire, perhaps about 530 CE./214/
For our purposes, the most interesting find at En Gedi was the inscription in the western aisle (figure 62). It has no date formula, but probably dates to the latest phase of the synagogue./215/ It is one of the longest synagogue inscriptions known, and includes a unique list of the signs of the zodiac. Actually, it is five inscriptions together, 2 in Hebrew, 3 in Aramaic. (It may be significant that none are in Greek.)/216/ The 18 lines are short enough to quote in full:
""1. Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared,| "2. Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japhet| "3. Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo,| "4. Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius, "Pisces.| "5. Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, Elul,| "6. Tishrei, Marheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat| "7. And Adar. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Peace.| "8. Hananiah, Mishael, and `Azariah. Peace unto Israel.| "9. May they be remembered for good: Yose and `Ezron "and Hizziqiyu the sons of Hilfi.| "10. Anyone causing a controversy between a man and his friend, "or whoever| "11. slanders his friend before the Gentiles, or whoever steals| "12. the property of his friend, or whoever reveals the secret "of the town| "13. to the Gentiles--He Whose eyes range through the whole "earth| "14. and Who sees hidden things, He will set his [sic] face on "that| "15. man and on his seed and will uproot him from under the "heavens.| "16. And all the people said: Amen and Amen Selah.| "1!
7. Rabbi Yose the son of Hilfi, Hiziqiyu [sic] the son of "Hilfi, may they be remembered for good,| "18. for they did a great deal in the name of the Merciful, "Peace.|/217/
This inscription is rather a mystery and has attracted quite a bit of scholarly attention./218/ While _images_ of the zodiac are fairly common, no other _inscriptions_ of it are known./219/ Moreover, the list of the twelve signs is only part of a larger complex. The first two lines are a list of the first generations of humanity, taken from I Chronicles 1:1-4./220/ The signs are followed by a list of the twelve Jewish months, also rare in synagogue inscriptions. Then follow the first three Patriarchs, the word "Peace," Daniel's three companions in Babylon, and the phrase "Peace upon Israel."/221/ After these eight lines, a new segment begins, separated by a double line. The language changes, from Hebrew to Aramaic, and so does the subject matter./222/ Instead of lists, we find a dedication, a lengthy but obscure curse formula, and another dedication, this time for repairs./223/
The biggest mystery is, what do the different parts of the inscription have to do with each other?/224/ The midrash _Pesikta Rabbati_ correlates signs and months./225/ Likewise, they are paired in _piyyutim_, or liturgical poems, such as those of Eleazer ha- Kallir in the sixth century CE./226/ The peculiar word order , _gdy wdly dgym_, "Capricorn, and Aquarius, Pisces," instead of "Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces" is also sometimes found in piyyutim./227/ But that does not explain the connection; it merely pushes it back one step. What is the connection between the lists of the months and signs, on one hand, and the three other lists, each of persons, on the other? The zodiac is by no means as central in the En Gedi inscription as it is in, for example, the artistic program of Hammath-Tiberias./228/ Likewise, the connection between the Hebrew and Aramaic portions of the inscription is unexplained. Some scholars see a chronological progression, from fully accepted classical a!
rt at Hammath-Tiberias, in the fourth century, to iconoclasm at Naaran and a zodiac in words, without pictures, at En Gedi, in the sixth century./229/ But, in my opinion, the dates of the various synagogues are too imprecise for such a typology.
No zodiacs are known from Diaspora synagogues, but one related example does occur in the Jewish catacombs along the Via Nomentana in Rome (figure 64). This is a panel of Jewish symbols similar to the one at Beth Alpha and elsewhere. It shows a Holy Ark as a pedimented cabinet. The doors are open, showing six scrolls inside. The Ark is flanked by the familiar menorahs, palm-branches, shofars, and so on. But above the ark we see the sun, a star, and the moon./230/ Is the whole composition a short-hand version of the zodiac and symbol panels so often found in Israeli synagogues? Probably it has a similar meaning. Rome had one of the largest Jewish communities in the empire, and probably it had close communications with the Holy Land.
Another object sometimes cited as a Jewish zodiac is the relief which Sukenik excavated in a synagogue at Baram, near Lake Huleh, in 1928./231/ The relief is of a meander pattern with figures of animals and plants interspersed. Sukenik thought the relief was a zodiac, an earlier parallel to the Beth Alpha zodiac. Since he dated the Baram synagogue to the third century CE, this would be the oldest Jewish example known./232/ A number of other scholars, most notably E. R. Goodenough, agreed with him./233/ However, the relief is very battered, and the version one usually sees is heavily restored. The figures have been re-evaluated by Ruth Amiran and probably are not zodiacal./234/
Other proposed zodiacs include a circular chandelier, perhaps from Galilee,/235/ a vandalized relief of a menorah from Naveh in the ancient Batanea,/236/ and isolated pictures of capricorns or fish at sites such as er-Rafid and Dura-Europus./237/ These should be discounted, however. Not every picture of a fish is Pisces, nor do twelve lamps in a circle around a thirteenth necessarily represent the sun in the zodiac.
_THEORIES_
After describing the synagogue zodiacs themselves, it is appropriate to describe the various attempts to explain them. There are many (some think too many) theories trying to do so. They do fall into several broad categories, and rather than discuss every minute variation, we will here discuss the most important examples.
One of the most widely accepted theories is that the synagogue zodiacs represent the Jewish calendar. This explanation was invented and most ably presented by the distinguished Israeli scholar, Michael Avi-Yonah, and it is his version which we will discuss here./238/
Avi-Yonah thought that the rabbis did not object to images per se because paganism was in "utter decay" in the Byzantine period. Likewise, the rabbinic remark "There is no star for Israel" ruled out any explicit connection between the zodiac mosaics and the practice of astrology, whether "scientific" or "religious."/239/ Instead, he proposes that the zodiac was paired with inscriptions of the twenty- four priestly courses to represent the Jewish calendar.
Judaean priests had long been divided into 24 groups, each serving in the Temple for one week two times a year./240/ When the Temple was finally destroyed and the Jews expelled from Judaea after the Second Revolt, members of the various courses settled in towns in Galilee./241/ Inscriptions listing each course and its town were sometimes placed in synagogues, and have been found both in Israel and abroad./242/ Congregations prayed weekly that the Temple and the appropriate course might be restored, a hope not completely dashed until after the time of the emperor Julian./243/
Avi-Yonah and his disciples believe that the inscriptions of the courses and the mosaics of the zodiac functioned together as a more convenient method of calculating when to celebrate the feast than the official Jewish calendar. Nearly all Jewish festivals take place at the full or new moon, which must be _seen_ before the celebration can begin./244/ As we have seen in earlier chapters, it was not at all easy to calculate in advance when a new moon or a full moon will come. It would have been much easier to count days and weeks than to struggle with mathematical formulas in Hebrew numerals./245/ Modern day Orthodox Jews use the weekly lectionary cycle in this way. (Cf. the column "Torah Today" in the _Jerusalem Post_.) But in antiquity Jews used several competing lectionary cycles./256/ To use the list of courses would have been more convenient. The Qumran sect used the courses in just this way, although they modified the list to fit with their idiosyncratic version of the c!
alendar./247/ According to Avi-Yonah's theory, the list of courses designated the weeks, while the signs of the zodiac represented the months in the Jewish calendar. "Each sign of the zodiac represents one of the twelve months of the year; the list of priestly courses divides the year into weeks; together they form a complete set of chronological indications."/248/ They reminded worshippers that the cycle of the seasons was mirrored in the liturgical year of the Temple and the synagogue./249/ This may be seen in the liturgical poetry or _piyyutim_ composed to supplement the liturgy./250/ Eleazer ha- Kallir's poem, "Remember how we are humbled," correlates course, town, sign and month in each stanza./251/
Avi-Yonah's theory is certainly an elegant one, at once explaining the zodiacs and the inscriptions of the courses. But one may make several objections. The strongest is that zodiac results in a solar calendar, while the Jewish calendar is lunar. Zodiacal calendars existed in the ancient world. Ptolemy refers to a "Dionysiac" calendar which had its New Year on summer solstice, when the sun entered Libra./252/ Likewise, parapegmata, such as Geminus', used the signs as months./253/ But they never replaced to official calendars of the Greco-Roman world, and there is no other evidence that they were used by Jews, either. It is true that the midrash _Pesikta Rabbati_, in chapters 20 and 53,/254/ equates the Jewish months with the signs of the zodiac. But _Pesikta Rabbati_, in chapter 15, also emphasizes very strongly that Jews use a lunar calendar. ". . . God's intention from the beginning having been that the nations of the earth reckon by the sun, and Israel by the moon. . . ."!
/255/ Moreover, the phases of Israelite history are prefigured by the phases of the moon. Just as the moon waxes and wanes over thirty days, so Israel grew more powerful, then less so over thirty generations. At the end of the cycle Israel will grow powerful again, just as the moon waxes again./256/
Because lunar months shift relative to the sun, a month in the Jewish calendar can never be identical with a zodiacal sign. But since the intercalation system adds one extra month roughly every third year, the Jewish months are in a rough correspondence with the signs. Nisan is always in the spring, near the vernal equinox, when the sun enters Aries. But 1 Nisan is not the first degree of Aries each year, as 21 March is. This explains _Pesikta Rabbati_'s equation of the months with the signs.
If the signs of the zodiac at Beth Alpha are identical with the months, why not simply put in the names and pictures of the months? Circles of the months are common in mosaic art, as we have seen. Some of them, such as the one found at Antioch portray lunar months./257/ The seasons at Beth Alpha and elsewhere are named for the proper Jewish months. The best conclusion is that the zodiacs do not equal the Jewish calendar.
Another theory is that the zodiacs, and art in the synagogue generally, were without any particular meaning. E. E. Urbach is perhaps the leading proponent of this point of view, partly in reaction to the views of E. R. Goodenough./258/ Urbach notes that there was a change in attitude toward images after the Second Temple period. Earlier, Jews had been rather hostile to images because they were equated with the worship of foreign deities./259/ After the failure of the First and Second Revolts, Jews lived in different circumstances. A Jewish state no longer existed and Jews generally lived in closer contact with non-Jews than before./260/ This meant that they came into close contact with pagan images, as well, as they bought and sold artifacts or rented farmland./261/ Jewish religious leaders knew that their own people felt little temptation to pray to statues. The rabbis did not usually share the opinion of the early Christians that demons lived in idols./262/ They next made !
a distinction between possession of an image and idolatry. In general, "That which is treated as a god is forbidden, but that which is not treated as a god is permitted."/263/ Too, the rabbis believed that few of the images one met in any Greek or Roman city were genuine objects of worship./264/ To be certain that an image was not worshipped, one might "annul" it by damaging it in some way, or persuading a non-Jew to do so./265/ Thus, a Jew could make a lamp with a mythological image for sale to a Gentile clientele without feeling a traitor. The Babylonian Talmud even mentions Jews making cultic images for Gentiles to worship. This was a dubious case, but at least some intellectuals thought it was tolerable if the craftsman did not pray to the statue himself. Likewise, if a Jew did not worship an image, he could use it for decorative purposes without a qualm./266/ This explains zodiacs along with the other Jewish art of the era. They were not worshipped, and thus were mere !
ornaments, not idols. The rabbinic catacombs at Beth Shearim are!
a prime example. Inscriptions there call the buried rabbis "Holy Ones," a title applied in rabbinic literature to sages who scrupulously avoided idolatry, such as Nahum bar Simai. The implication is that the many carvings at Beth Shearim, where pious Jews came to be buried from around the world, did not damage anyone's reputation for holiness./267/
The major problem with Urbach's theory is that the zodiacs are major works of art, in prominent places in the synagogues. They are not graffitti scratched out during dull sermons. Likewise, there was very little art in the ancient world which had no meaning. It strains belief too far to say that a panel of menoroth and other Jewish symbols is meaningful, while a panel of the zodiac standing beside it, and equal in size, is meaningless. It is surely more reasonable to postulate a Jewish interpretation of the zodiac.
The third group of theories may be called astrological or, more broadly, cosmological. They usually explain the synagogue zodiacs as representing God and the universe in some way. At the same time, they usually discount any connection with "scientific" astrology./268/ The most famous example is the theory of E. R. Goodenough./269/ Goodenough's explanation of the synagogue zodiacs is distinctive because it is only a part of a comprehensive explanation of synagogue art generally. Goodenough believed that many Jews during the Greco- roman period saw Judaism as a mystery religion. By this he did not mean a cultus such as the mysteries of Isis or of Demeter at Eleusis. Instead, many Jews interpreted their ancestral cult in light of Platonic philosophy in the much same way that pagans such as Plutarch did with Isis./270/ His major source for this Judaic mystery religion was the writings of Philo of Alexandria, but Goodenough believed that Philo was merely the best known representa!
tive of a wide-spread point of view./271/
". . . the mystic Jew saw the supreme revelation of saving truth "in his Torah, when properly understood by allegory, and for that "because he had unique access to and revelation of the immaterial "world, he had it also in the sense that he and he alone, had the "divine [_orgia_], the right celebration of which meant coming "into the fellowship and joy of God Himself. However we may now "want to these the term, the mystic Jew himself gloried in the "fact that his was not only a "real" mystery, but the only "real "one."/272/
In simpler terms, Philo and others believed that what Isis promised, YHWH delivered./273/
This attitude extended to art, as well. The symbolism found in the synagogues came from an artistic lingua franca, used throughout the hellenized world. Jewish artists borrowed the symbols because they said things which seemed to fit with Jewish religion./274/ Thus, a cupid reminded people of salvation through God's love, while ". . . the dove . . . represented Israel the beloved of God, or the individual Israelite."/275/ The rabbis might be hostile to Jews using art, but the rabbinic movement had little power over ordinary Jews, Goodenough thought, until the early Middle Ages. The average Jew in the Roman Empire was Hellenized, and separated from the rabbis by an ideological Grand Canyon./276/
Goodenough's understanding of the synagogue zodiacs follows from his beliefs about Jewish mysticism and Jewish art generally. First, he discounted any connection with "scientific" or magical astrology. The fact that the seasons were not correlated with the correct signs showed that the congregations either did not know, or did not care, about the details of astrology./277/ Those who did practice astrology kept it in a separate mental compartment from their religion./278/ The astrological references in Kallir's piyyutim did not disprove this, because Goodenough dated them to the Middle Ages, and, anyway, they are mystical too./279/ The overall meaning was more important. The zodiac meant the same thing at Beth Alpha as it did in Palmyra. It told the viewers that God ruled the world and it also held out hope of immortality.
". . . the [mystical] experience could be depicted in terms of "the zodiac, the planets, the cosmos, with which man unites "himself as he becomes the macrocosmus [sic], or as he is carried "by the solar eagle to the top of the universe, if not outside it "altogether to that Sun and Ideal World of which the material sun "and universe are only imperfect copies."/280/
One distinctive part of Goodenough's explanation of the zodiac is that he believed that the motif the Seasons, when found in Jewish art, were a shortened version of the zodiac. Likewise, domed rooms in the Jewish catacombs of Rome were symbolic of the heavens, and thus of astral immortality. In this way he found allusions to Jewish astral mysticism in the western parts of the Roman Empire, where no one else had seen them./281/
Goodenough's _Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period_ has been the subject of high praise and great criticism, often from the same people./282/ The book is a monumental collection of evidence,/283/ useful to anyone interested in the period. But almost no one else believes in the Jewish mystery religion which supposedly sponsored the art.
"His pandemic sacramental paganism was a fantasy; so was the "interpretation of pagan symbols based on it, and so was the "empire-wide antirabbinic, mystical Judaism, based on the "interpretation of these symbols."/284/
One scholar compares Goodenough's work to that of Columbus. Like Columbus, Goodenough failed to reach his goal, but in the process, he opened up a new world to the rest of us./285/
Goodenough's Judaic mystery religion almost certainly did not exist. But this does not wholly destroy his interpretation of the synagogue zodiacs. Jews could still borrow symbols and re-interpret them, and this is probably what happened with the sun and the zodiac. The imagery of astrology does speak of God taking care of the universe via the planets. Goodenough's problem, in my opinion, is that he often goes too far. Philo certainly used the rhetoric of contemporary philosophy and mysticism, but it is not possible to know how many other Jews did the same./286/ Also, it is quite unlikely that the personified seasons when found alone are a short hand version of the seasons-zodiac-sun motif found at Beth Alpha and elsewhere. Without some type of explicit astral symbolism, the seasons are just the seasons.
_CONCLUSIONS_
My own explanation of the synagogue zodiacs is also astrological. It is that the zodiacs symbolize God, His care for His universe, and especially for His people, the Jews.
Astrology began as an aspect of Mesopotamian religion. The planets manifested the great gods in the same way that everything else in the universe did. Likewise, the gods signaled their plans for humanity via the planets, just as anything out of the ordinary might be a message from the gods. Looking into the sky for guidance was especially popular in the Assyrian Empire. When mathematical astronomy developed and it was possible to predict the planets' motions against the backdrop of the stars, this, too, was used to divine the gods' will. "Scientific" astrology was the result. But the religious assumptions were still present. The motion of a planet might signal a god's intentions, but the appropriate ritual might still be used to change his mind. What we call natural laws, a Mesopotamian might call divine habits.
Astrology, in both "scientific" and religious aspects, spread. The idea that the planets were divine was well-known in Bronze Age and Iron Age Syria and Palestine. Mesopotamian systems of interpretation were known as well. The Greeks, too, learned of Mesopotamian astrology and, especially in the centuries after Alexander, modified it heavily. A new and even more elaborate system of interpretation, based on Hellenistic science, was developed. Hellenistic astrology, in turn, spread throughout the known world. Other societies adopted it and reinterpreted it to fit their own needs and beliefs. The basic principles and the rules of interpretation became common knowledge through the hellenized world.
Hellenistic astrology kept both "scientific" and religious or magical aspects. In geographical Syria, in particular, astrological symbolism was used to praise the gods. The most expensive temples and the cheapest ex votos alike emphasized that the rules of astrology were the same thing as the powers of the gods. The supreme god, especially, was portrayed as the master of the planets and astrology, making the events of the universe and the life of the individual take place via the "laws" of astrology.
Ancient Jews were part of the larger society, although with some distinctive customs, notably the worship of a single god, YHWH, and a disdain for the use of religious images. During the Hellenistic period, Jews adopted the practice of astrology enthusiastically, but they gave the principles of astrology their own Judaic interpretation. Thus, the planets were still imagined as personal beings, who might answer requests. But the beings were seen as subordinates of the single God, angels of YHWH, not independent deities. The power of astrology came from YHWH, and was administered by the angels. In the same way, Jews adopted the use of astrological art for religious symbolism. But, as with astrological practice, the art was given a distinctive Judaic interpretation. Thus, it was not possible to portray YHWH directly in a synagogue. But it was possible to portray Him indirectly, by portraying His satraps, the planets. In the examples which survive, Sol Invictus in the center of !
the zodiac represents the whole planetary system, _pars pro toto_. The seasons may indeed be a reference to the Jewish calendar. At the same time, they may have reminded worshippers that
""I will never curse the ground again because of man . . . "neither will I ever again destroy the every living creature . . ". . While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and "heat, and summer and winter, shall not cease (Genesis 2: "21-22).
The entire composition not only praised God's power, but also reminded worshippers of God's love and care for Israel. It is no accident that the zodiac is coupled, at Beth Alpha, with the sacrifice of Isaac or, at Naaran, with Daniel in the lion's den. These two panels reminded viewers of how God rescued Isaac and Daniel when they needed Him. Moreover, all the zodiacs are found in connection with panels of symbols from Jewish cult. Just as God is faithful to care for the universe, including the Jews, so the pious Jew will be faithful to worship the Almighty God, who so often, in the Bible, declares His love for Israel.
The virtues of this theory are that it explains the zodiac mosaics by taking astrology and its role in Jewish society seriously. We do not require Jews to be either totally isolated from the rest of the human race, or apostates from Jewish tradition. Jews used the same horoscopes, spells, and symbols as their neighbors, but they used them in a Judaic way for Judaic purposes. Like their modern descendants, they were both part of the larger surrounding society, and at the same time faithful to the Israelite tradition.
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
_TREATISE OF SHEM_
Our next example of Jewish astrology is the _Treatise of Shem_. This is a _calendologion_, a book which makes predictions from the astrological situation at the beginning of the year. Like physiognomies and brontologia, such works were a common variety of lay astrology./79/ This example survives in one Syriac manuscript, dating to the fifteenth century. The manuscript has many minor corruptions and several lacunae,/80/ but there is no real problem understanding it. The text and a translation were first published early in this century by Mingana along with a number of other Syriac works./81/ More recently Charlesworth has republished the text with a new translation./82/ The two translations show many small differences, but no major ones.
The _Treatise of Shem_ is the oldest datable, reasonably complete, example of Jewish astrology./83/ It is quite short; the translation in _The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha_ takes up nine pages, and half of them are notes on the text. The opening segment gives a good idea of the nature of the work:
""_The Treatise Composed by Shem, the Son of Noah, Concerning the "Beginning of the Year and Whatever Occurs in it._ 1 _If the year "begins in Aries_/84/ The year will be lean. Even its "four-footed (animals) will die; and many clouds will neither be "visible nor appear. And grain will not reach (the necessary) "height, but its rye will (reach good height) and will ripen. And "the Nile will overflow at a good rate. And the king of the "Romans will not remain in one place. And the first grain will "die, but the last grain will be harvested. And from Passover/85/ "[until the New Year]/86/ produce will have a blight. And the "year will be bad, for a great war and misery will be on earth, "and especially in the land of Egypt. And many ships will be "wrecked when the sea billows. And oil will be valued in Africa; "but wheat will be reduced in value in Damascus and Hauran; but "in Palestine it will be valued. And (in that region there will "be) various diseases, and sicknesses, ev!
en fighting will occur "in it. But it will be allowed to escape from it and be "delivered./87/
The _Treatise of Shem_ claims to predict events, especially the next year's crops,/88/ from the sign in which the New Year begins. The treatise goes clockwise through the zodiac, Aries to Pisces./89/ In general, the predictions become more favorable as the New Year progresses through the zodiac./90/ Probably it is the ascendant which progresses through the zodiac at the first moment of the new year. An alternative explanation is that it is the moon which is in the sign on New Year's Day; the moon traverses the entire zodiac in a month. It is not clear what calendar the author used, but there was no calendar used in the ancient world which allowed its first day to shift through the zodiac in this way. The _Treatise_ gives a rather deterministic impression, overall, not unlike 4Q Cryptic./91/
As a work of "scientific" astrology, the _Treatise_ does not make many religious references. There are no references to procedures to counter unlucky stars, and few to prayer. It lacks any pagan or Christian references./92/ The religious references which do occur are probably Jewish. The title attributes the work to Shem, the son of Noah, although this could have been added later. Chapter one uses Passover as a date. There are three references to prayers to God (8: 3, 11: 17, 12: 9), not the gods. Verse 8: 3 uses the biblical phrase "the living God." This might seem to conflict with the rather deterministic over-all tone to the work, but the author could argue that it is God who does the determining, and that He can certainly change His mind if He wishes./93/ Verse 8: 3 does say that God grants prayers. On the other hand, there is no mention of such common features of Second Temple Judaism as resurrection, angels, or the seven heavens./94/ Nevertheless, the author was almost!
certainly a Jew./95/
Shem was an important person in the midrashic tradition. Jubilees says that Noah passed on the secrets of herbal medicine which could counter the demons to Shem (Jub. 10: 12; 21: 10-11)./96/ The rabbis believed that Shem had founded a Beth Din (a rabbinic court) and a school of Torah./97/ Curiously, Jubilees condemns exactly the sort of astrology represented by the _Treatise of Shem_. Jubilees 12: 16-18 tells how Abraham sat up one New Year's night to predict the rainfall from the stars./98/ But while watching them, "a word came to his heart, saying `all the signs of the stars and the signs of the moon are in the hand of the Lord. Why am I seeking?' " As soon as Abraham reached this conclusion, he received the command to go to Palestine and the promise of a son./99/
The _Treatise_ makes no explicit statements of when or where it was composed. Almost certainly it was composed either in Egypt or Palestine, for readers concerned with one or both countries. Damascus and Auranitis are the regions in Palestine most frequently mentioned. No biblical towns are mentioned, but there are several references to Galilee./100/ The only Egyptian city mentioned is Alexandria, but each section predicts the Nile floods. There are references to Egyptian crops, as well. Line 11: 11 speaks of bandits coming from Palestine, so perhaps it is somewhat more likely that the _Treatise_ was composed in Egypt rather than Palestine./101/ If that is the case, then Alexandria is probably the home of the _Treatise of Shem_. Alexandria was the most important center for every sort of astrological research and writing./102/ It was also the home of one of the most important Jewish communities outside Palestine. Conceivably, the _Treatise_ was composed by an immigrant from G!
alilee or the Golan living in Egypt. The work does mention the prospects of immigration./103/
The original language was either Hebrew or Aramaic. The text is too corrupt to tell which it was, but if the _Treatise_ was composed in Alexandria, then Aramaic is somewhat more likely./104/ The date of the _Treatise_ also follows from the provenance. Mingana and Charlesworth both note the many references to the "kings of the Romans" and to warfare and banditry. Mingana believes the _Treatise_ has no clear provenance and no datable references. Therefore, he concludes that the most likely date for the _Treatise of Shem_ is in the era of the two revolts against Roman rule./105/ This would make the _Treatise_ roughly contemporary with 4Q Cryptic.
Charlesworth believes that the _Treatise_ was written in Egypt. This provenance makes the vague political references more specific. He dates the work to the late first century BCE, shortly after the battle of Actium./106/ According to this point of view, verses 3: 5f ("And the Romans [and the Parthian]s will make severe wars with each other.") refers to Antony's invasion of Parthia, while verses 1: 5-9 (in the quotation above) refers to the Battle of Actium, on this reading, as does 2: 10. Verse 12: 4 ("Egypt will rule over Palestine") best fits 34 BCE, when Antony gave much of Syria to Cleopatra. The many references to bandits also fit in well with the chaotic conditions in Egypt during the last days of the Ptolemaic dynasty, before Augustus pacified the country./107/ Given that Egypt is most likely to be the home of the _Treatise of Shem_, Charlesworth's date, the 20's BCE, also seems the most likely. The _Treatise_ and the astrological documents from Qumran together demon!
strate that many Jews, hellenized and unhellenized alike, had adapted scientific astrology to their own tastes by the first century CE.
Josephus says that the Essenes were expert in herbal magic as well as in predicting the future./108/ This remark and the statement in the book of Jubilees, that the angels revealed herbal medicines to Noah to cure the diseases caused by the demons, links us to the next work which we shall consider, the _Letter of Rehoboam_./109/ This is a work of magic and medicine in which astral religion and the powers of the planet-gods play an important role. It will show that astral religion was "judaized" as well.
_LETTER OF REHOBOAM_
One might think that the connection between the planets and the pagan gods in Hellenistic astrology would give Jews pause. But in fact ". . . the Jewish astrological documents show the religious character of astrology stronger than any other similar texts."/110/ The planets were still personified, but as angels, that is, divine messengers,/111/ rather than independent deities. This approach is not unique to books on astrology. There was a general tendency in Jewish thought during our period to believe that God had isolated Himself from his world and had turned over day-to-day management to his subordinates, the angels./112/ This is as true of works hostile to astrology, such as 1 Enoch,/113/ as it is of strongly astrological works, such as the _Letter of Rehoboam_.
In theory, angels and gods were quite different beings. In pagan thought, gods were rough equals, beings of the same sort, while in Judaic tradition, angels were definitely beings of another, lower, order than YHWH. But when one looks at the actual texts, especially magical texts, these differences are not so clear. As we shall see, the angels, in theory utterly dependent on the Almighty,/114/ were offered prayers and sacrifices not greatly different from those of pagan magicians./115/ For that matter, pagan magical texts often contain Jewish elements, usually names and titles of YHWH, but sometimes references to Jewish angels, too./116/
The difference between the astrological magic of an ancient Jew and his pagan colleague was not in what they did, which was often much the same, but in the way they interpreted those actions./117/ Even documents which look quite polytheistic, such as the _Letter of Rehoboam_ or the _Sepher Ha-Razim_ (the Book of Secrets), have sections praising or invoking the aid of YHWH in ways not found in truly pagan works. The authors believed that invocations of angels, planets, or demons implicitly recognized the supremacy of YHWH, while magic which assumed innate, impersonal, powers was idolatrous./118/
While the _Letter of Rehoboam_ has received a number of short discussions over the years,/119/ only recently have scholars paid much attention to the _Letter_ for its own sake./120/ For our purposes, it is important as an example of Jewish interest in both "scientific" astrology and astral religion. It contains prayers to angels and planets, but it is also a work on favorable hours as well as a work of astrological medicine, or _iatromathematics_. The _Letter_ is particularly closely related to a work ascribed, probably correctly, to a well-known physician of the first century CE, Thessalus of Tralles./121/ But its literary frame also links it to the legends of Solomon as great magician and master of the demons. This tradition first appears in the _Wisdom of Solomon_ 7: 17-22, where "Solomon" says that God taught him wisdom of all sorts, including astrology, "the powers of spirits" and "the varieties of plants and the virtues of herbs." This passage could be a pr cis of the !
_Letter of Rehoboam_! Another, canonical, source connecting Solomon, chronology and astrology is Ecclesiastes 3: 1-9 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven a time to be born and a time to die . . . ." Those so inclined may take the "times" and "seasons" as astrological ones. For this reason the verse is a favorite with modern astrologers. Josephus, too, speaks of Solomon as a great magician./122/
There are five known manuscripts of _Letter of Rehoboam_, dating to the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries CE./123/ These, in turn, may be grouped into three textual traditions, A, B, and C. At present, it is not possible to tell which textual tradition is closer to the original. Tradition C at least has the virtue of being reasonably complete, and it is the one discussed here./124/
In all likelihood, the author of the _Letter_ was a Jew. While a pagan magician might have known of Solomon, it is unlikely such a person would know about Rehoboam. Also, some of the technical terms are Judaic. For example, Friday is called the "Day of Preparation," and Saturday is the Sabbath throughout. The angel- names are typical Hebrew angel-names. The names include those of biblical persons, such as Ezekiel, Joel, Samson, and Samuel./125/ Sunday is called the "Lord's Day," but this is perhaps best explained as a Byzantine scribe's gloss. Otherwise, the _Letter_ lacks the Christian references which one would expect to find if the author were a Christian. By contrast, the _Testament of Solomon_, another well-known magical work ascribed to Solomon, has many Christian references./126/
_Letter of Rehoboam_ does not have the references to time and place which we found in the _Treatise of Shem_. However, date and provenance may be deduced. The _Letter_ is written in a Koin Greek which closely resembles the New Testament, both in grammar and vocabulary. This implies that both belong to the same general time and milieu. But the lack of Christian references, explicit or implicit, means that the _Letter_ was probably written before Christians were numerous and well-known. Later magicians, Jewish or pagan, did not hesitate to invoke Jesus' name./127/ Thus the most likely date is during the first century CE or the early second century.
One may speculate that Alexandria is the most likely home of the _Letter of Rehoboam_. Several Egyptian gods, such as Sarapidie, Apios, Osthridie (i.e., Osiridie), are listed among the demons, but no deities from other lands./128/ Alexandria was the greatest center for research in both astrology and medicine. Thessalus, whose astrological herbal closely resembles the _Letter_, supposedly studied medicine and astrology in Alexandria./129/ Likewise, Alexandria had the largest and most creative Jewish community outside of Judaea. This conjunction of opportunities would make it relatively easy for a Jew interested in astrology to adapt pagan books on favorable hours and _iatromathematics_ to his own purposes./130/ But while interesting, such speculation proves nothing. In truth, the _Letter_ contains nothing not common to the whole of the Eastern Mediterranean. For example, Isis and her associated deities were worshipped in many of the Hellenized coastal cities of Palestine and !
Phoenicia./131/ Like 4Q Cryptic and the _Treatise of Shem_, the _Letter of Rehoboam_ represents the sort of astrology Jews would have encountered anywhere in the Hellenized world.
The _Letter_ may be divided into seven sections. The first section sets the framework. It supposedly is from Solomon to his son and heir Rehoboam, telling him that the work will allow him to exploit the powers of the planets. "The complete method, benefit, and power of this pursuit lies in the use of plants, prayers, and stones, but above all you must know the positions of the seven planetary gods."/132/ The remainder of the _Letter_ consists of instructions on using the planets for a wide variety of purposes. Each succeeding portion also has a short introduction.
Section 2 tells which hour is the best to begin various activities, depending on the planet which rules each hour and each day. _Letter of Rehoboam_ lists the hours and their activities for each day of the astrological week. The planet who rules the first hour of the day has a general supervision over the entire day. Section three lists the angels and demons associated with each hour of the week./133/ Sections 4 and 5 are the most interesting for our purposes, since they give prayers for each of the planets (section 4) and offerings to accompany the prayers (section 5). To make the prayers more Judaic, and thus more acceptable, each prayer begins with an invocation of a supreme god to make the planet obedient. The following is a typical example:
"IV.2 THE PRAYER FOR SATURN
""First, utter the appropriate prayer to obtain the services of "the planetary god who rules that hour. Then adjure the angel and "the attendant . . . demon. The prayer for Saturn is as follows . ". . Eternal God, resistless in power, the One who regulates all "things which pertain to our salvation, grant us favor that I "might make a certain planetary god [# # g , plantn] subject "to me for the accomplishing of my will.
""I adjure you planet Saturn [ # # g# n, planta Krone], by "your orbit, your position in the sky, your inheritance, your "heaven, your brilliance and energy, and also by your other "names-- Gasial, Agounsael, Atassar, Beltoliel, Mentzatzia--that "you grant me favor and energy and power during the hour you "rule./134/
"V.2 THE MAGICAL SYMBOLS FOR SATURN
""Make the magical symbols for Saturn with ink made from the "dross of lead mixed with vinegar. Write the symbols on a sheet "of he- goat skin and burn them along with tiaphe as "incense./135/
Section four ends with a general prayer to the "certain angel who rules this hour . . . ." Here, too, the angel is invoked by the authority of "God, the One who appointed you to keep watch during this hour . . . ." This prayer tells us that the demon listed earlier is under the angel's control./136/ In conception, if not in the verbal details, this prayer resembles the Sabian prayers found in the _Picatrix_. But note that each prayer begins with an invocation of a supreme deity, asking that the planet be obedient. Moreover, the first prayer is put in terms appropriate to the powers of the planet in question. Only then is the planet addressed. The prayer was made at the correct hour, of course, and with it own special drawings and incense offerings. The implication is that while the planets are relatively autonomous, they must obey the person who has the ear of their Creator. The planets, in effect, are God's deputies,/137/ much as the governor of a Roman Imperial province wa!
s the deputy of Caesar.
Sections 6 and 7 list the plants sympathetic with the signs and the planets, respectively, along with instructions for gathering them and using them. These sections are the ones related to the work of Thessalos and ultimately, to "Nechepso and Petosiris." A typical account of a plant reads thus:
"" VII.4 The plant associated with Saturn is the heliotrope. This "plant appears in the very hour that Saturn rules. For it to be "effective, you must recite the appropriate prayer and invoke the "ruling angels. The plant holds for you the following powers. If "you secretly feed the flower to an enemy, he will be overcome "with fits of heat and cold. If you give him a double-dose of "flowers, his misery will be doubled, and if a triple-dose, then "his misery will be tripled . . . and so forth. If you secretly "put the leaves on someone's pillow, he will not wake up, unless "you remove them. If you feed the leaves to an enemy, he will "become deathly sick for the rest of his life; he will not arise "from his sick bed until you feed him some of Jupiter's plant. "Also you should wear the upper portion of the root on yourself "like a phylactery./138/
When one considers the materials that went into the _Letter_, it seems a bizarre mixture of religion, medicine and science from Greece, Egypt, and Judaea. But when one looks at the work over- all, it is coherent and well- organized. It is clearly the product of a single, rather orderly, mind, and was probably as useful as any medical work of its day. The general impression is of a sort of "monotheism" similar to that described earlier. The author clearly believes in a supreme god, but one served by many subordinates. In the _Letter of Rehoboam_, God is at the head of a hierarchy. Beneath the Almighty one finds the personified planets and signs, then angels, next demons, and finally the plants. It is somewhat similar to the earthly governments of the Hellenized world, as well as the outlook of the pagan _iatromathematicians_. If one wants to use a plant to do something, one first petitions the King of Heaven and Earth to order his subordinates to help you. Celsus might consid!
er the author a fellow-traveller. The difference would not be what the author thought or did, but his commitment to the Jewish tradition and the Jewish people.
_TALMUDIC PERIOD_
The works which we have discussed up to this point date to the Second Temple period. But the Second Temple period ended in two very destructive wars, the First and Second Jewish Revolts. Losing the two revolts brought about great changes in Judaean society. The Judaean state ceased to exist until modern times. The Temple in Jerusalem, previously the center of Jewish religion, was destroyed permanently in 70 CE. After the Bar Kokhba revolt (132-35 CE) Jerusalem became a pagan city, Aelia Capitolina, and Jews were forbidden to live anywhere in Judaea. Galilee and Idumaea became the major centers of Jewish population in Palestine. New institutions, the rabbinic movement and the synagogue, replace the state and the temple. Both had existed before, but now had no competitors for leadership in society.
Intellectual life changed, too, and not only in Palestine. The Diaspora revolts of 115-17 CE were just as destructive and futile./139/ During the Second Temple period there had been a great variety of sectarian opinion, seen in the diverse literature from those centuries. But after the first century CE only the Pharisees and the Christians remained, and the Christians more and more defined themselves as a non-Jewish movement. Many of the pseudepigraphal works which we have cited survive in Christian copies, but not in Jewish ones. The rabbinic movement became the dominant intellectual force among Jews. Greek was still used for secular affairs, but there were no more attempts to take part in Hellenistic intellectual life. There were no more Judaeo-Greek philosophers like Philo or Judaeo-Greek historians like Josephus in the rabbinic era./140/ The rabbis produced a voluminous literature, notably the famous legal commentaries on the Law of Moses, the Mishna and the two Talmuds.!
But they did not conduct a dialogue with Greek intellectual tradition.
However, despite the many changes in Jewish thought and life after the end of the Second Temple period, ideas about the invisible world in general and astrology in particular did not change much at all. The rabbis were experts on Jewish law, concerned to define the details of the godly way of life. They could not ignore astrology, whether in its "scientific" or religious forms. But we find the same ambivalent attitudes towards astrology which we saw during the Second Temple period./141/ In the midrash _Pesikta Rabbati_, we are told that the planets and signs of the zodiac were among God's first creations./142/ The same work tells us that the Law was revealed to Moses in the month of Sivan because Sivan is equivalent to Gemini, the first human sign, and it was more appropriate that the law be praised by a human than a ram or a bull./143/ This passage is particularly relevant to our study, because the zodiac mosaics are sometimes explained as representations of the calendar. A!
nother midrash, _Leviticus Rabbah_, tells us that the sun and moon dislike travelling across the sky each day, because then "People burn incense to us, worship us." Each day God must order them to "go forth and shine against their will." Eclipses are punishment for malingering./144/ Humans stupid enough to worship the planets rather than their Creator will have to answer for it at the Judgement./145/ As in the Second Temple period, the assumption is that the sun and moon are angels, with relatively free wills, but ultimately subject to YHWH./146/
One of the most important passages on "scientific" astrology is in the Babylonian Talmud, tractate Shabbat./147/ Two pages contain a number of related stories illustrating the varied attitudes toward "scientific" astrology. In the first story Rabbi Judah the Prince claims that it is the day of the week which determines one's personality, while in the following one, R. Hanina Bar Hama says "Not the constellation/148/ of the day but that of the hour is the determining influence." He follows with a list of the personality traits associated with the planets. These reflect the qualities usually attributed to the planets in Hellenistic astrology. But note that Mercury is said to be the scribe of the sun. This may be from Mesopotamian rather than Greek tradition. These two stories assume that Judah and Hanina used documents similar to the _Letter of Rehoboam_ and the _Treatise of Shem_. A number of similar works on favorable hours and days do survive from the Talmudic era and milie!
u./149/ Also, it is interesting that both Judah and Hanina were natives of Palestine, not Babylonia, which makes their belief in astrology relevant to the zodiac mosaics found in Palestine's synagogues.
The third story is more ambivalent. In it, R. Hanina Bar Hama, from Palestine, and R. Johanan Bar Nappaha, from Mesopotamia, debate whether astrology affected the Jews. Hanina said "the stars make us wise, the stars make us rich, and there is a star for Israel." Johanan replied "there is no star for Israel."/150/ Both agreed, tacitly, that astrology works for humanity in general. Also, it is interesting to note that while the story is found in a Babylonian document, the text itself is in the Palestinian dialect of Aramaic. This may imply that the story was first told in Palestine. Jews in both halves of the Fertile Crescent shared similar beliefs about astrology./151/
The fourth story, again attributed to R. Judah the Prince, tells how God changed Abraham's horoscope so that he might beget Isaac. God said to Abraham ". . . [cease] thy planet [gazing], for Israel is free from planetary influence. What is thy calculation? Because _Zedek_ [Jupiter]/152/ stands in the West? I will turn it back to and place it in the East."/153/ This story implies that God runs the universe via astrology, but He may easily make an exception for Abraham, or for anyone else. The three stories remaining repeat the theme "Israel is immune from planetary influences." [ , _mzl_] In each we are told an anecdote to the effect that someone astrologically fated to die is allowed to live because "charity delivereth from death."/154/
We also have evidence, from a non-jewish source, that astrology was practiced by the rabbinic community in Palestine. Epiphanius, in his _Panarion_, 1.1.16, "Kata Pharisain," tells us that "both Fate and astrology are practised zealously among them."/155/ Epiphanius was born in Eleutheropolis, near Gaza, in 315 CE, and was bishop of Constantia in Cyprus from 367 until his death in 403./156/ _Panarion_ is a major work on Christian heresies. Epiphanius was one of the most learned men of his day, and could read five languages, including Hebrew and Aramaic. He was not always particularly critical of his sources, but on astrology among the Jews, he was well- informed and accurate. He may have been born a Jew himself./157/
Not only does he tell us that the Jews practised astrology, but gives some information found nowhere else. His lists of the Hebrew names of the planets gives two sets of names. One list contains the names well-known from rabbinic literature./158/ These are descriptive and religously neutral. But Epiphanius also gives another, less neutral, set of names. The sun is Shemesh and the moon, Yareah. Jupiter, called _Zedek_, "Justice," by the rabbis, is also _Chocheb Baal_, the star of Baal, according to Epiphanius. These are probably the older Canaanite names, although their ultimate origin is unknown./159/
The debate between R. Hanina and R. Johanan sums up the ambivalent attitude of the rabbis toward astrology. The majority opinion in the Babylonian Talmud agrees with Johanan Bar Nappaha, but the opposing point of view was not suppressed./160/ As long as outright worship of foreign gods was avoided, astrology was not seen as an active danger./161/ A righteous life could annul the decrees of the planets more easily than any _namburbi_ or spell.
_SEPHER HA-RAZIM_
Astral magic and astral religion were not forgotten, either. Perhaps the most famous example of rabbinic astral magic is the _Sepher Ha-Razim_, or the Book of Secrets. The _Sepher ha-Razim_ was re-discovered in the 1960s by Mordecai Margalioth among fragments from the famous Cairo Genizah. He recognized that they were similar to other magical fragments, and theorized that they came from a single magical treatise./162/ While he did not find a single complete Hebrew manuscript of the work, he did manage to reconstruct the text from Hebrew fragments, translations into Arabic and Latin, and later magical works which had used _Sepher ha-Razim_ as a source./163/ Although the present text is a reconstruction, there seems to be no real doubt that Margalioth had discovered a genuine work./164/
"The fifteen year cycle of the reckoning of the Greek kings" (1.29)/165/ gives us the earliest possible date for the work's composition, since it probably refers to the Late Roman indiction cycle. Taxes were reassessed every fifteen years in the later Roman Empire. This periodic reassessment was called the "indiction" and remained the most common way of dating events throughout Byzantine history. Since the cycle was introduced in Egypt in 279 CE and extended to the entire empire in 312 CE, _Sepher ha- Razim_ cannot have been written earlier, although its contents may be quite a bit older./166/ Most scholars follow Margalioth in dating _Sepher ha-Razim_ to c. 350-400 CE, when it had become common to use the indiction for a calendar./167/ The language and the contents of _Sepher ha-Razim_ also fit an early Byzantine date. It is written in the Mishnaic Hebrew of the period, and is clearly related to contemporary mystical doctrines and writings, as well as to the Greek magic pap!
yri and Mesopotamian incantation bowls./168/ We have few clues on the provenance of _Sepher ha-Razim_. Of course, using a Roman dating system implies that the work was written within the Roman Empire. Likewise, the fact that the first two firmaments bear names like those in the "so-called Palestinian list of heavens" may imply the author lived in Palestine, or at least used Palestinian materials./169/ Similarities with the Greek magic papyri known from Egypt or the Mesopotamian incantation bowls might suggest an Egyptian or Mesopotamian origin. But, as with the documents discussed earlier, the materials in _Sepher ha-Razim_ are the sort of thing any magician in the Hellenized Fertile Crescent might have known./170/
Like the _Letter of Rehoboam_, _Sepher ha-Razim_ gives the impression that it was written by a single person, not a committee. The author appears to have been a learned man; an uneducated person is unlikely to have written in Hebrew, let alone know the details of mysticism./171/ Otherwise we can deduce little about the author. The usual rabbinic view was that a sage should understand the principles of magic, but should not practice it./172/ But, as with astrology, there was no uniformity. Certainly the author went to some trouble to avoid the usual Hebrew word for magic, _keshafim_. He applies it solely to other people's spells./173/ Probably, as with our other authors, he thought that astral magic was acceptable if placed in a properly Jewish garb.
The text of _Sepher ha-Razim_ is even more highly organized and homogeneous than the _Letter of Rehoboam_. There is an introduction, which says that the _Sepher_ was revealed to Noah by the angel Raziel. Noah not only learned the usual occult arts, such as astrology and making the angels obey, but also how to build the Ark. Later, _Sepher ha-Razim_ was handed down, father to son, until it reached Solomon,/174/ when it became the most important of all Solomon's magical books./175/
The body of the _Sepher_ is divided into seven sections, one for each of the seven heavens of rabbinic cosmology./176/ Each heaven or firmament has a number of subsections, each subsection with one or more angel commanders of angel armies. The first firmament is named _shemayim_, the usual Hebrew word for "sky" or "heaven." It has seven "camps" each with an enthroned commander over an army of angels. It is tempting to identify these camps with the planets, but they are not called planets, and later we find the sun in the fourth heaven. Again, the thirty-six angels in the third camp may be the thirty-six decans, but they are not labelled decans. They do perform similar functions./177/
The second firmament, _shemei-shemayim_, or "heaven of heavens,"/178/ has twelve "steps," which may or may not be the signs of the zodiac. Each "step" has nine to twenty angel armies./179/ The third heaven has three groups of angels./180/ The fourth firmament holds the sun, who is led across the sky in a chariot drawn by thirty-one angel- armies in the daytime, and another thirty-one angel-armies by night./181/ The fifth heaven contains the "princes of glory"/182/ over the twelve months of the Jewish calendar. "They make known month by month what will be in each and every year."/183/ Again it is tempting to compare these angels to the signs of the zodiac in, for example, the _Treatise of Shem_. They do similar things, but the _Sepher_ does not make the comparison. The sixth heaven is divided between two warlords, the eastern one over 28 armies, the western over 31. The seventh firmament is the home of God, and contains no spells. Instead it is a lengthy hymn of praise to the!
Almighty./184/
The subsections are usually arranged thus:
I. Firmament
A. description of subdivision and its uses
1. angel-names 2. descriptions of angels and functions 3. actions angels will do 4. preparations for invocation 5. invocation (sometimes missing) 6. variations on invocation, to vary results (sometimes missing)/185/
_Sepher_ contains two sorts of materials, the spells, which have close parallels with many other magical texts, and the framework describing the heavens, which is related to the mystical _Hekhalot_ texts./186/ They form a notable contrast. The framework strongly emphasizes ritual purity. An idea repeated many times in one form or another is "And so, (as in) every operation, act in purity and you will succeed."/187/ But the spells call, for example, for biscuits made from blood; blood is never pure./188/ The framework emphasizes that God is in ultimate control "I adjure you O angels of strength and might, . . . by the God revealed at Mount Sinai, . . . by the Lord who saved Israel, . . . to aid me at this time in every place that I will go."/189/ In this it resembles the works we have discussed earlier in this chapter. But the spells invoke, by name, Greek gods such as Aphrodite, Hermes, or Helios./190/ There are even differences in language. The framework uses a more complic!
ated style, with biblical allusions, and without loan words. The spells use a simpler style, with loan words from Greek and Aramaic./191/ They have clear parallels with other magical traditions. For example, most of the spells in _Sepher ha-Razim_ begin "If you wish to do such and such, take such and such . . . ." [. . . . infinitive , 'm bqqshth l infinitive, q . . . . ], while many spells in the Greek magic papyri also start "if you wish" [ # n , ean thels]./192/ The cosmology takes a syncretistic magical cookbook and makes the recipes kosher./193/ Still, the differences between the cosmology and the practices of _Sepher ha- Razim_ should not be over- emphasized. The spells also have parallels to the Aramaic incantation bowls of Mesopotamian Late Antiquity, and many of these were certainly made by and for Jews./194/ The importance of the angels and their names in the _Sepher_'s spells are a distinctively Jewish feature,/195/ although it must be noted that the work has rat!
her unusual angel- names. They take the place of the magical gib!
berish-words so important in the Greek magic papyri./196/ Likewise, as we have noted before, there was no sharp distinction between Jewish and Gentile magic./197/ _Sepher ha-Razim_ links the religious specialists of Byzantine Jewry with the beliefs and practices of more ordinary people./198/
For our purposes, the most important spells in _Sepher ha-Razim_ are the astrological ones. There are few or no examples of "scientific" astrology in the work, but it does have a strong dose of astral religion. Some spells involve exposing the ingredients of a potion to the stars, (e.g., 1.54-55; p. 26, Morgan) reminiscent of some Mesopotamian spells. Others invoke the heavenly bodies. A lengthy spell in 1.107-51 invokes "the brilliant star, the name of which is that of Aphrodite . . . and (the name of the) angel HASDY'L . . . ." to "win the heart of a great or wealthy woman." The Greek name "Aphrodite" is transliterated into Hebrew letters./199/ There is a variety of such spells, in which the planets are invoked in the same way as the angels. Indeed, a later passage (2.147)/200/ even calls the sun an angel. We may safely conclude that all the other planets were angels, too.
The most important astral spell is an elaborate invocation of the sun which takes up the whole of the fourth firmament. The section begins with a description and list of the angel groups which lead the sun's chariot by day and by night. The invocation allows one to see the sun and to "ask him (to foretell questions) of life and death, of good and evil."/201/ Since the sun sees the entire earth each day, he is obviously well-informed. There are separate procedures for day and night. The procedure to interview the sun during the daytime begins with an invocation of the angels who draw the sun's chariot:
""I adjure you angels that lead the sun in the power of your "strength . . . by the One whose voice shakes the earth, . . . by "His great . . . name . . . . I repeat (your names) . . . and "adjure you that you will do my will and desire at this time and "season, and will remove the radiance of the sun so that I may "see him face to face as he is in his bridal chamber./202/
When finished, one releases the sun with "I adjure you that you return the radiance of the sun to its place as in the beginning." Note that the angels are invoked in each case, not the sun. It is unclear if this means that they are the sun's superiors in the heavenly hierarchy, or if, as on earth, one had to bribe the doorkeepers before seeing the emperor. Also, as in the prayers to the planets in _Letter of Rehoboam_, the angels are invoked in the name of the supreme god. We find the same "monotheism." Perhaps YHWH is more prominent in _Sepher_ as a whole than in _Letter_. We do have an elaborate doxology in the seventh heaven, after all. But the difference is one of degree, not of kind.
The procedure to view the sun at night is rather more complicated. First the angels who draw the solar chariot by night are invoked. Note that one line of the invocation (4.50) calls God "the Ruler of the planets." Unlike the day procedure, the magician next invokes the sun personally:
""Holy Helios [ , Swylyh, hylyws] who rises in the east, "good mariner, trustworthy leader of the sun's rays, reliable "(witness), who of old didst establish the mighty wheel (of the "heavens), holy orderer, ruler of the axis (of the heaven), Lord, "Brilliant Leader, King, Soldier. I, N son of N, present my "supplication before you, that you will appear to me without "(causing me) fear, and you will be revealed to me without "causing me terror, and you will conceal nothing from me and will "tell me truthfully all that I desire./204/
After this the magician should bow, and may ask his questions. Finally the sun is dismissed, again directly. The dismissal calls him "Orpiel" [ , _'wrpy'l_], a typical angel-name meaning something like "Marvelous light of God."/205/ The implication is that Helios is an angel of YHWH. This is somewhat surprising./206/ The cult of the sun god was one of the strongest in late paganism. Julian was writing his _Hymn to the Sun_ at approximately the same time that _Sepher ha-Razim_ was being composed. The author portrays even the supreme god of the Roman state as a subordinate of the God of Israel./207/
All the spells involving the planets are important. Like prayers to the planets in _Letter of Rehoboam_, they show that Jews in the Talmudic period saw the heavenly bodies as living beings, angels, whom one might ask for help in a great variety of activities without ceasing to be a good Jew. Technical treatises such as 4Q Cryptic and the _Treatise of Shem_ lead to the same conclusion. The prayers in _Sepher ha-Razim_ are particularly relevant to our study of the zodiac mosaics, since they date to the same period. In Morgan's words "Jews who could place a mosaic of Helios on their synagogue floors certainly would not have found it strange to offer invocations to that same god."/208/ We may reverse his thought and say that the fact that pious Jews could invoke the aid of the heavenly bodies helps explain the zodiac mosaics. The heavenly bodies, like the angels in general, are God's managers. This is the assumption behind all the astrological works which we have discussed in th!
is chapter. The God of Israel is the Creator of all, including the angels. The angels carry out God's orders, and to that extent substitute for His direct action. Portraying them visually is a way of showing God at work, maintaining the world He created. In a sense, they are a substitute for portraying the God Whom even Moses might not see.
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
I seem to have misplaced it.
Sorry.
ash
['Was that long enough for ya'll?']
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
/1/ Bernard M. Goldman, _The Sacred Portal_: _A Primary __Symbol in Ancient Judaic Art_ [_Portal_] (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1966; repr. Brown Classics in Judaica, University Press of America, 1986), pp. 31-32, 38; Lee I. Levine, "The Second Temple Synagogue: The Formative Years," ["Formative"] in Lee I. Levine, ed., _The Synagogue in Late Antiquity_ (Philadelphia: ASOR, 1987), p. 7; Lee I. Levine, "Ancient Synagogues-A Historical Introduction," ["Introduction"] in Lee I. Levine, ed., _Ancient Synagogues Revealed_ (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society; Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1982), p. 1; Rachel Hachlili, _Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology in the Land of Israel_ [_Art_] (Leiden: Brill, 1988), p. 135.
/2/ For a discussion of offices in the Greco-Roman synagogue, see Harry Joseph Leon, _The Jews of Ancient Rome_ [_Rome_] (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1960/5721), pp. 171-94, passim, and Goldman, _Portal_, p. 39.
/3/ For a survey of the various theories of the origin of the synagogue, see Levine, "Formative," pp. 7-33, and the sources cited there.
/4/ Goldman, _Portal_, p. 35; Levine, "Introduction," p. 1; Momigliano, "Josephus," p. 112.
/5/ The inscriptions may be found in Alexander Fuks and Avigdor Tcherikover, _Corpus Papyrorum Judaicarum_, III (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, for the Magnes Press, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1957-1964), pp. 138-44. For a discussion of them, see Martin Hengel, "Proseuche und Synagoge; J dische Gemeinde, Gottehaus und Gottesdients in der Diaspora und Palstina," ["Proseuche und Synagoge"] in Gert Jeremias, Heinz- Wolfgang Kuhn, and Hartmut Stegemann, eds., _Tradition und Glaube_: _Das fr he Christentum in seiner Umwelt_; _Festgabe f r Karl Georg Kuhn zum 65. Geburtstag_ (Gttingen: Van Den Hoeck and Rupprecht, 1971), pp. 157-184.
/6/ Levine, "Introduction," p. 1.
/7/ Levine, "Formative," p. 24, n.1. See also Flavius Josephus, _Jewish War_, 2.14.4-5, in Flavius Josephus, _Complete Works_, 9 Vols., trans. by H. St. John Thackeray, II (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1926-63), pp. 328-29, and the rioting which sparked the First Revolt against Roman rule.
/8/ Levine, "Formative," p. 8.
/9/ Ibid., pp. 9-10.
/10/ See Michael L. White, "The Delos Synagogue Revisited: Recent Fieldwork in the Graeco-Roman Diaspora," _HThR_ 80 (1987): pp. 133-60 for the most recent discussion.
/11/ Michael Avi-Yonah, "Synagogues," in Michael Avi-Yonah and Menahem Stern, eds., _Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land_ [_EAEHL_], 4 Vols., IV (Englewood-Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1975), p. 1129.
/12/ Hachlili, _Art_, p. 137; Levine, "Formative," p. 10; Goldman, _Portal_, p. 39; Hengel, "Proseuche und Synagoge," p. 180. See J. B. Frey, ed., _Corpus Inscriptionum Judaecorum_; _Receuil des inscriptions juives qui vont du IIIe si VIIe si Christian Archaeology, 1936), no. 1404 for the inscription.
/13/ Hachlili, _Art_, p. 84.
/14/ Levine, "Formative," pp. 10-11; Hachlili, _Art_, p. 84; Avi- Yonah, "Synagogues," IV, pp. 1129.
/15/ Avi-Yonah, "Synagogues," IV, pp. 1132-33.
/16/ E. L. Sukenik, _Ancient Synagogues in Palestine and Greece_ [_Palestine_] (London: British Academy, 1934; repr. 1980), pp. 3-5; Avi-Yonah, "Synagogues," IV, pp. 1131-32.
/17/ H. Kohl, and C. Watzinger, _Antike Synagogen in Galila_ (Leipzig: J.C. Heinrichs, 1916).
/18/ Bibliographical works on ancient synagogues include: Frowald H ttenmeister and Gottfried Reeg, _Die Antike Synagogen im Israel_ (Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1977); A. T. Kraabel, "The Diaspora Synagogue: Archaeological and Epigraphic Evidence Since Sukenik," ed. W. Haase and Temporini, _ANRW_ II.19.1 (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1979), pp. 477-510; S. J. Saller, _Second Revised Catalogue of the Ancient Synagogues of the Holy Land_ (Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press, 1972); Eleanor K. Vogel, _Bibliography of Holy Land Sites, Part I_ (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 1982); and Eleanor K. Vogel, and Brooks Holtzclaw, _Bibliography of Holy Land Sites, Part II_ (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 1982); Eleanor K. Vogel, _Bibliography of Holy Land Sites, Part III_ (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 1988).
/19/ Amos Kloner, "Ancient Synagogues in Israel: An Archaeological Survey," ["Survey"] in Lee I. Levine, _Ancient Synagogues Revealed_ (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society; Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1982), p. 18.
/20/ Levine, "Introduction," p. 6.
/21/ Kloner, "Survey," p. 18; Avi-Yonah, "Synagogues," IV, p. 1132.
/22/ Kloner, "Survey," p. 18; Avi-Yonah, "Synagogues," IV, p. 1130.
/23/ Kloner, "Survey," p. 18; Levine, "Introduction," pp. 6-7.
/24/ See, e.g., Avi-Yonah, "Synagogues," IV, pp. 1129-38 or E. L. Sukenik, _The Ancient Synagogue of Beth Alpha_ [_Beth Alpha_] (Jerusalem: The Hebrew University; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1932), p. 51.
/25/ Kloner, "Survey," p. 18; Hachlili, _Art_, pp. 141-43; Goldman, _Portal_, p. 41.
/26/ See Hachlili, _Art_, pp. 305, 308-09 for an opposite opinion.
/27/ Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 5:8.
/28/ Isaiah 44: 9-20; 46: 1-8.
/29/ I Kings 6: 26-35, passim; 7: 25-44, passim; Goldman, _Portal_, p. 34; Sukenik, _Palestine_, p. 63.
/30/ I Kings 11: 4-8; Flavius Josephus, _Antiquities of the Jews_, 8.7.5, in Flavius Josephus, _Complete Works_, 9 Vols. trans. by H. St. John Thackeray, V (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1926-63), pp. 676-77.
/31/ Exceptions include fifth century CE Judaean imitations of Athenian coins, including Athena's owl and a table top decorated with a fish from first century CE Jerusalem. Donald J. Wiseman and Edwin Yamauchi, _Archaeology and the Bible_; _An Introductory Study_ (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1979), pp. 82-83; Carl H. Kraeling, et al., _The Synagogue_ [_Synagogue_] (Augmented ed.; New Haven, CT: Dura-Europus Publications, 1956; repr. NY: Ktav Publishing House, Inc., 1979), p. 345; Hachlili, _Art_, p. 81.
/32/ Kraeling, _Synagogue_, p. 343; Hachlili, _Art_, pp. 65, 235.
/33/ Josephus, _Antiquities_, 17.6.2; 18.3.1 = Thackeray, VIII, pp. 438-443, IX, pp. 42-47; _War_, 1.33.2-3 = Thackeray, II, pp. 18-20.
/34/ Levine, "Introduction," p. 7; E. R. Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period_ [_Symbols_], 13 Vols., VII.2 (NY: Pantheon; Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1953-68), pp. 123-24.
/35/ Sukenik, _Palestine_, pp. 63-64; Levine, "Introduction," p. 7; Standard reference works which do not mention synagogue art include Kaufmann Kohler and J. D. E. Eisenstein, "Art, Attitude of Judaism Toward," in Cyrus Adler, et al., _The Jewish Encyclopedia_, II (London & New York: 1901-06), pp. 141-43; Emil Sch rer, _A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ_ (2nd rev. ed.; NY: Scribner, 1897-98); and Heinrich Graetz, _History of the Jews_ (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1891-98).
/36/ The modern Ain Duk, in a variety of spellings.
/37/ Sukenik, _Palestine_, p. 28; Michael Avi-Yonah, "Na`aran," ["Naaran] in Michael Avi-Yonah, and Ephraim Stern, eds., _EAEHL_, III, p. 894; L.-H. Vincent, "Le sanctuaire juif d'Ain Doug," _RB_ 28 (1919): pp. 442-43.
/38/ L.-H. Vincent, "Une sanctuaire dans la region de Jericho, la synagogue de Na`aran," ["Sanctuaire"] _RB_ 65 (1961): pp. 163-64.
/39/ Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 891; Vincent, "Sanctuaire," p. 163; G. Foerster, and Gabriella Bacchi, "Jericho," in Avi-Yonah, _EAEHL_, II, p. 550.
/40/ Joshua 16: 7 and I Chronicles 7: 28; Josephus, _Antiquities_, 13.8.1 = Thackeray, VII, pp. 342-47; _Lamentations Rabbah_, 1.17.52, trans. Dr. A. Cohen, in _Midrash Rabbah_, 10 Vols., ed. Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman and Maurice Simon (London: Soncino Press, 1939, reprint, 1961), VII, pp. 142; Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 891.
/41/ Eusebius, _Das Onomastikon der biblischen Ortsnamen_ [_Onomasticon_], ed. Erich Klostermann (Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1904; repr. Hildesheim: Georg Olms verlagsbuchhandlung, 1966), p. 136, line 24, N## # #, _Naaratha_; Palladius, _Lausiac History_, 48, trans. and annot. Robert T. Meyer (NY & Ramsey, NJ: Newman Press, 1964), pp. 130-31; "Ducas" = Ain Duk; Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 891.
/42/ Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 891; L.-H. Vincent, and A. Carri sanctuaire juif d'`Ain Douq," _RB_ 30 (1921): pp. 442.
/43/ Vincent, "Sanctuaire," pp. 164-65; Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," pp. 891-92.
/44/ Hachlili, _Art_, p. 351.
/45/ Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 891; Vincent, "Sanctuaire," pp. 164-65.
/46/ Vincent, "Sanctuaire," p. 167 and Pl. VII.
/47/ Vincent, "Ain Doug," p. 443; G nter Stemberger, "Die Bedeutung des Tierkreises auf Mosaikfussbden sptantiker Synagogen," ["Tierkreis"] _Kairos_ NF 17 (1975): p. 23.
/48/ The menorah was the most important Jewish symbol in the Hellenistic world; when Titus wanted to emphasize his victory in the First Revolt, he showed the Menorah on his triumphal arch. Goldman, _Portal_, p. 111.
/49/ Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 891; Vincent, "Sanctuaire," pp. 167-68, Pls. 8 and 9; Joseph Naveh, _On Mosaic and Stone_. _Aramaic and Hebrew Inscriptions from Ancient Synagogues_ [_Stone_] [Hebrew] (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society and Carta, 1978), no. 59, p. 95. All Naaran's inscriptions are published and discusses in Naveh, _Stone_, no. 58-67, pp. 93-103.
/50/ Vincent, "Sanctuaire," p. 168.
/51/ Ibid., Pl. 7.
/52/ Vincent, "Sanctuaire," p. 168; Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 892.
/53/ See Naveh, _Stone_, no. 67, p. 102, for the zodiac inscriptions.
/54/ Vincent, "Sanctuaire," p. 169; Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," pp. 893-4; Sukenik, _Palestine_, p. 30.
/55/ Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," pp. 893-94; Vincent, "Sanctuaire," p. 169; Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, pp. 25-26.
/56/ This panel is perhaps the most common motif in ancient Jewish art. For a discussion of its meaning in Jewish art generally, see Goldman, _Portal_.
/57/ Vincent, "Sanctuaire," p. 168; Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 893; Goodenough, _Symbols_, VIII.2, p. 168; Sukenik, _Palestine_, p. 29- 30.
/58/ Vincent, "Ain Doug," p. 443; Vincent, "Sanctuaire," p. 168; Avi- Yonah, "Naaran," p. 893; Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 40; Naveh, _Stone_, no. 67, p. 102.
/59/ Vincent, "Sanctuaire," p. 168.
/60/ Pierre Benoit, "Note additionelle," ["Note"] _RB_ 65 (1961): p. 176; Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 38.
/61/ Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 893.
/62/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 36; Vincent, "Sanctuaire," Pl. 20, b.
/63/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 35; Vincent, "Sanctuaire," p. 168.
/64/ For the typical iconography of the Sun see Karl Lehmann, "The Dome of Heaven," _Art Bulletin_ 22 (1945): pp. 1-17 and W. Roscher "Helios," in W. Roscher, ed., _Ausf hrliches Lexikon der griechischen und rmischen Mythologie_, 6 Vols. in 9 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1884-86; 1923-24), I.2, cols. 1993-2026; A. Alfldi, _Die Kontorniaten_ (Budapest: 1943) contains perhaps the best collection of examples from the later Roman Empire.
/65/ For an authoritative account of the "Oriental" style in popular art of the Hellenized Near East, see the essays in Michael Avi-Yonah, _Art in Ancient Palestine_; _Selected Studies_, Collected and Prepared for Republication by Hannah Katzenstein and Yoram Tsafrir (Jerusalem: The Hebrew University, The Magnes Press, 1981).
/66/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 35; Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 893.
/67/ Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 23; Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 894.
/68/ Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 894; Benoit, "Note," pp. 175-76; Hachlili, _Art_, p. 398.
/69/ Vincent, "Ain Doug," p. 442; Vincent, "Sanctuaire," pp. 170-71.
/70/ Vincent, "Sanctuaire," p. 170.
/71/ Vincent, "Sanctuaire," pp. 171-72.
/72/ Benoit, "Note," p. 175; Avi-Yonah, "Naaran," p. 894; Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 23.
/73/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 5; Sukenik, _Palestine_, p. 6.
/74/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, pp. 5, 8-9.
/75/ Goldman, _Portal_, p. 24; Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 10-11.
/76/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 15; Nahman Avigad, "Beth Alpha," in Michael Avi-Yonah, ed., EAEHL, I, p. 187.
/77/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, pp. 11-12; Goldman, _Portal_, pp. 24-25.
/78/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, pp. 11, 13, 15.
/79/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, pp. 12-14; Goldman, _Portal_, p. 26.
/80/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, pp. 12-13, 57; Goldman, _Portal_, p. 25; Avigad, "Beth Alpha," I, p. 188. See Naveh, _Stone_, no. 43-45, pp. 72-76 for all the Beth Alpha inscriptions.
/81/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, pp. 13, 58.
/82/ Ibid., pp. 21-22.
/83/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, pp. 43-48, passim, 57-58; Goldman, _Portal_, pp. 26-27; Naveh, _Stone_, no. 43, p. 72.
/84/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 47.
/85/ Avigad, "Beth Alpha," I, p. 190; B. Lifschitz, _Donateurs et fondateurs dans les synagogues juives_ [_Donateurs_] (Paris: 1967), p. 69; Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 47; Goldman, _Portal_, pp. 27-28. Ordinarily, it was unusual for mosaicists to sign their work. To do so was a sign of pride in a particular work of art. Doro Levi, _Antioch Mosaic Pavements_ [_Antioch_], 2 Vols., I (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1947), p. 8.
/86/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 22; Goldman, _Portal_, pp. 53-54.
/87/ Hans-Peter Sthlin, _Antike Synagogenkunst_ (Stuttgart: Calwer Verlag, 1988), p. 63; Goldman, _Portal_, p. 29.
/88/ In the Bible, the ram was not brought along, but appeared by coincidence. Such re-writing of biblical stories is common in rabbinic literature. See Goldman, _Portal_, p. 55.
/89/ Avigad, "Beth Alpha," I, p. 188; Goldman, _Portal_, p. 29.
/90/ Naveh, _Stone_, no. 44, p. 75.
/91/ Sukenik, _Palestine_, p. 34.
/92/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 35.
/93/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 38; Avigad, "Beth Alpha," I, p. 188.
/94/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, pp. 38-39; Rachel Wischnitzer, "The Beth Alpha Mosaic. A New Interpretation," ["Beth Alpha"] _Jewish Social Studies_ 17 (1955): pp. 142-43.
/95/ Wischnitzer, "Beth Alpha," p. 142. George M. A. Hanfmann, _The Seasons Sarcophagus in Dumbarton Oaks_, 2 Vols. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1951) discusses the Seasons in Classical art, especially the late Roman Empire.
/96/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 36.
/97/ Ibid., p. 37.
/98/ Ibid., p. 37.
/99/ Ibid., pp. 37-38.
/100/ Ibid., pp. 35-37.
/101/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, pp. 36-38; Naveh, _Stone_, no. 45, p. 75. See A. Mirsky, "Aquarius and Capricornus in the `En Gedi Inscription," ["Inscription"] _Tarbiz_ 40 (1971): pp. 376-84, Hebrew with an English summary, p.vii, for a discussion of the extra "and."
/102/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 35.
/103/ Avigad, "Beth Alpha," I, p. 188; Wischnitzer, "Beth Alpha," pp. 133-36, 138-42; Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, pp. 22-23, 26-28, 32-34; Goldman, _Portal_, pp. 59, 65-69, 110-12. Wischnitzer, "Beth Alpha," pp. 133-144 is largely devoted to an explanation of this panel.
/104/ See, e.g., Goldman, _Portal_, p. 143-44, 154-57 and Avigad, "Beth Alpha," I, p. 190.
/105/ Michael Avi-Yonah, and N. Makhouly, "A Sixth-Century Synagogue at `Isfiy," ["Isfiya"] _QDAP_ 3 (1933): pp. 118-31, passim; Michael Avi-Yonah, "Husifa," in Michael Avi-Yonah, ed., _EAEHL_, II, p. 524.
/106/ Makhouly and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," p. 118; Avi-Yonah, "Husifa," p. 524.
/107/ Makhouly and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," p. 130.
/108/ Makhouly and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," p. 118; Avi-Yonah, "Husifa," p. 524.
/109/ Makhouly and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," pp. 119-20, 131; Avi-Yonah, "Husifa," p. 526.
/110/ Makhouly and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," p. 120; Avi-Yonah, "Husifa," p. 524.
/111/ Makhouly and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," pp. 120-30, passim; Avi- Yonah, "Husifa," pp. 524-25; Naveh, _Stone_, no. 38 and no. 39, p. 65-68.
/112/ Makhouly and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," pp. 123-24, 129-30.
/113/ Makhouly and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," p. 124; Sukenik, _Palestine_, pp. 85-6; Avi-Yonah, "Husifa," p. 525.
/114/ Makhouly and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," pp. 124-26; Avi-Yonah, "Husifa," p. 525; Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, p. 168.
/115/ Makhouly, and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," pp. 125, 127; Avi-Yonah, "Husifa," p. 525.
/116/ Makhouly and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," p. 125, 127; Avi-Yonah, "Husifa," p. 525.
/117/ Makhouly and Avi-Yonah, "Isfiya," p. 131; Avi-Yonah, "Husifa," pp. 514, 526; Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 24.
/118/ Moshe Dothan, "The Representation of Helios in the Mosaic of Hammath-Tiberias," ["Representation"] in _Atti del Convegno internazionale sul tema_: _Tardo antico e alto medioevo, Roma 4-7 aprile 1967_ (Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Quaderno no. 105) (Rome: 1968), p. 99.
/119/ Moshe Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_: _Early Synagogues and the Hellenistic and Roman Remains_, _Final Excavation Report_ [_Hammath-Tiberias_]: I (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, University of Haifa, Department of Antiquities, 1983), p. 5, figure 1.
/120/ Moshe Dothan, "The Synagogue at Hammath-Tiberias," ["Synagogue"] in Lee I. Levine, ed., _Ancient Synagogues Revealed_ (Detroit: Wayne State University Press; Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society), p. 63; Moshe Dothan, "Tiberias, Hammath," in Michael Avi-Yonah and Ephraim Stern, eds., _EAEHL_, IV, p. 1178.
/121/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 3-5; Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 63; Josephus, _Antiquities_, 18.2.3 = Thackeray, IX, pp. 30-31.
/122/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 4; Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 63; Dothan, "Tiberias," p. 1178; Dothan,"Representation," p. 99.
/123/ For discussions of the office of the Jewish Patriarch in the Roman Empire, see Lee I. Levine, "The Jewish Patriarch (Nasi) in Third Century Palestine," in W. Haase and H. Temporini, eds., _ANRW_ II.19.2 (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1979), pp. 649-88; Gedaliah Alon, _The Jews in their Land in the Talmudic Age_, trans. and ed. by Gershon Levi (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1980, 1984); and Shaye J. D. Cohen, _From the Maccabees to the Mishnah_ (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1987).
/124/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 4.
/125/ This synagogue, excavated by M. Dothan, is sometimes confused with another, about 50 meters away, which was excavated in the 1920s by N. Slouschz. Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 5; N. Slouschz, "Excavations of the Society at Hammath-Tiberias," _BJPES_ 1 (1921): pp. 5-37 and pp. 49-52.
/126/ Dothan,"Representation," pp. 99-100; Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 63; Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 7.
/127/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 5; Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 63.
/128/ Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 63; Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 1, 13-14.
/129/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 27.
/130/ Ibid., p. 14.
/131/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 15-18, passim; Dothan, "Synagogue," pp. 63-64.
/132/ Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 64.
/133/ Dothan, "Synagogue," pp. 64-65; Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 20, 22, 28.
/134/ Dothan,"Representation," p. 100.
/135/ See Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, Plans C and D.
/136/ It is approximately 12 X 15 meters, but the north side is 12.55 meters long, while the south is 13.10 meters. Dothan, _Hammath- Tiberias_, p. 21.
/137/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 21.
/138/ Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 64; Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 21.
/139/ Dothan, "Synagogue," pp. 64-65; Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 21.
/140/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 21.
/141/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 22; Dothan, "Synagogue," pp. 63-64.
/142/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 26, 66-67; Dothan, "Synagogue," pp. 64-65.
/143/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 22, 27-28, 30, 67; Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 65.
/144/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 27, 30-32.
/145/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 30, 55; Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 66-67; Naveh, _Stone_, no. 26-27, pp. 47-50.
/146/ See Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 33-38, for a discussion of Hammath-Tiberias's panel of Jewish symbols.
/147/ Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 69.
/148/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 54-57; Baruch Lifschitz, "L'ancienne synagogue de Tiberiade; sa mosaique et ses inscriptions," ["Tiberiade"] _Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period_ 4 (1973): p. 52; Lifschitz, _Donateurs_, p. 63, no. 67.
/149/ Lifschitz, "Tiberiade," p. 52; For discussion of the other inscriptions, both Greek and Aramaic, see Dothan, _Hammath- Tiberias_, pp. 53-62.
/150/ Lifschitz, "Tiberiade," pp. 50-52; Dothan, _Hammath- Tiberias_, p. 57.
/151/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 58, 67, 85, n. 405.
/152/ Ibid., pp. 58, 85, n. 405.
/153/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 58-59, 67. On titles and reorganization of the Roman Empire, see A. H. M. Jones, _The Later Roman Empire, 284-602_, 3 Vols. (Oxford: Blackwell, 1964).
/154/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 42.
/155/ Ibid., pp. 39, 43.
/156/ Lifschitz, _Donateurs_, pp. 61-63; Dothan, _Hammath- Tiberias_, pp. 43-45; Naveh, _Stone_, no. 26, pp. 49-50; Lifschitz, "Tiberiade," p. 45.
/157/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 40, 45.
/158/ Ibid., p. 40.
/159/ Libra may be Minos or Rhadamanthus, the judges of the dead in Greek mythology, while Virgo may be Persephone, goddess of the underworld. Michael Avi-Yonah, "Le symbolisme du zodiaque dans l'art Jud o-Byzantin," in Michael Avi-Yonah, _Art in Ancient Palestine_; _Selected Studies_, Collected and Prepared for Republication by Hannah Katzenstein and Yoram Tsafrir (Jerusalem: The Hebrew University, The Magnes Press, 1981), p. 396.
/160/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 47, 53.
/161/ Cf. the ostracon from Khirbet Ab Dhr, near Palmyra, chapter 3, n. 132, and the sources there.
/162/ Dothan,"Representation," p. 100; Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 41-42; See H. P. L'Orange, _Studies in the Iconography of Cosmic Kingship in the Ancient World_ (Oslo: 1953) for a thorough discussion of the iconography of the cosmocrator, and particularly the raised right hand as a gesture of benediction.
/163/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, pp. 40-42, 80, n. 193; Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 66; Dothan, "Representation," p. 100. On the cult of Sol Invictus in the age of Constantine generally, see Gaston H. Halsberghe, _The Cult of Sol Invictus_ (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972).
/164/ Eric M. Meyers, "Review of Moshe Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_: _Early Synagogues and the Hellenistic and Roman Remains_," _JAOS_ 104 (1984): pp. 577-78, for a critique of Dothan's excavation methodology and the resulting imprecision of his dates.
/165/ Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_, p. 67; Dothan, "Synagogue," p. 68.
/166/ Dothan, "Hammath-Tiberias.," pp. 66, 68-69; Dothan, _Hammath- Tiberias_, p. 30.
/167/ S. Gutman, E. Netzer, Z. Yeivin, "Susiya, Khirbet," ["Susiya"] in Michael Avi-Yonah and Ephraim Stern, eds., _EAEHL_, IV, p. 1124; S. Gutman, E. Netzer, Z. Yeivin, "Excavations in the Synagogue at Horvat Susiya," ["Excavation"] in Lee I. Levine, _Ancient__ Synagogues Revealed_, p. 123; Hachlili, _Art_, p. 305.
/168/ Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Susiya," IV, pp. 1124-25; Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Excavation," pp. 123-25.
/169/ Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Susiya," IV, p. 1125; Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Excavation," p. 126.
/170/ Gutman, Yeivin, and Netzer, "Excavations," pp. 126-28; Naveh, _Stone_, no. 75-86, pp. 114-25.
/171/ Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Susiya," IV, p. 1128; Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Excavation," p. 128.
/172/ Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Susiya," IV, p. 1125; Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Excavation," pp. 124-26.
/173/ Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Susiya," IV, p. 1125; Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Excavation," p. 126.
/174/ Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Susiya," IV, p. 1125; Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Excavation," p. 126.
/175/ Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Susiya," IV, p. 1125; Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Excavation," p. 126; Hachlili, _Art_, p. 305.
/176/ G. M. Fitzgerald, _Beth Shan Excavations_, IV, _A Sixth Century Monastery at Beth Shan_ (Philadelphia: University Museum, Pennsylvania, Palestine Section, 1939); See also M. J. Chiat, "Synagogues and Churches in Byzantine Beth She'an," _Journal of Jewish Art_ 7 (1980): pp. 6-17; Nehemiah Zori, "Beth-Shean," in Michael Avi-Yonah, ed., _EAEHL_, I, pp. 207-29. For an example from Antioch, see Levi, _Antioch_, I, pp. 36-40. On the months as an artistic motif, see Sophie Korsunska, "Zu den rmischen Monatsbildern," _Deutsches Archologisches Institut Mitteilungen_. _Rmische Abteilung_ (1933): pp. 277-83, and Michael Avi-Yonah, "The Mosaic Pavement at el-Hammam, Beisan," _QDAP_ 5 (1935-36): pp. 11-30. This last discusses a second calendar mosaic from Beth Shan, arranged in a square rather than a wheel.
/177/ Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Susiya," IV, pp. 1125, 1128; Gutman, Netzer, Yeivin, "Excavation," p. 126; Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 25.
/178/ Also Yafa, Japhia, and Iaphia.
/179/ D. Barag, "Japhia," in Michael Avi-Yonah, ed., _EAEHL_, p. 541; E. L. Sukenik, "The Ancient Synagogue at Yafa near Nazareth, Preliminary Report," ["Yafa"] _Bulletin of the Louis M. Rabinowitz Fund for the Exploration of Ancient Synagogues_ 2 (1951): p. 6; See figure 3 in Sukenik, "Yafa," p. 10 for a sketch map of the area.
/180/ Sukenik, "Yafa," p. 8; Barag, "Japhia," p. 541; J. A. Knudtzon, ed., _Die El-Amarna Tafeln_, mit Einleitung und Register bearbeitet von Otto Weber und Erich Ebeling, 2 Vols. (Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1915; Aalen: Otto Zeller Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1964), I, pp. 579-87, tablet 138, lines 6 and 85 and I, pp. 884-87, tablet 294, lines 20 and 35.
/181/ Josephus, _War_, 2.20.6, 3 = Thackeray, II, pp. 542-43, 658-63; Josephus, _Life_ 45, 52 = Thackeray, I, pp. 84-85, and note "b"; Sukenik, "Yafa," pp. 9-11; Barag, "Japhia," p. 541.
/182/ Sukenik, "Yafa," pp. 11, 13.
/183/ L.-H. Vincent, "Vestiges d'une synagogue antique Yafa de Galilee," _RB_ 30 (1921): pp. 434-38; Sukenik, "Yafa," p. 7.
/184/ Barag, "Japhia," p. 541; Sukenik, "Yafa," p. 7.
/185/ Sukenik, "Yafa," p. 13. See figure 4, p. 12 for map of the village.
/186/ Sukenik, "Yafa," pp. 13-15, Barag, "Japhia," pp. 541, 543.
/187/ Sukenik, "Yafa," pp. 14-15, 23; Barag, "Japhia," pp. 541, 543.
/188/ Sukenik, "Yafa," p. 18.
/189/ Sukenik, "Yafa," pp. 14, 16-17; Barag, "Japhia," pp. 541, 543.
/190/ Barag, "Japhia," p. 543; Sukenik, "Yafa," pp. 14, 18. Sukenik does not report any datable artifacts found in conjunction with the building or the mosaic floor.
/191/ Sukenik "Yafa," pp. 16-17; Barag, "Japhia," p. 543.
/192/ Sukenik, "Yafa," p. 23; Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 24; Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, p. 168; James H. Charlesworth, "Jewish Interest in Astrology during the Hellenistic and Roman Periods," in W. Haase and H. Temporini, eds., _ANRW_, II.20.2 (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1987), p. 942.
/193/ Sukenik, "Yafa," pp. 15, 17; Barag, "Japhia," p. 543.
/194/ Sukenik, "Yafa," p. 17; Barag, "Japhia," p. 543; Hachlili, _Art_, p. 295; Andr Grabar, "Recherches sur les sources juives de l'art pal ochr tien: II, Les mosaiques de pavement," ["Recherche II"] _Cahiers arch ologiques_ 12 (1962): p. 117.
/195/ Sukenik, "Yafa," pp. 17-18.
/196/ Hachlili, _Art_, p. 295; Sukenik, "Yafa," p. 17; Barag, "Japhia," p. 543.
/197/ Hachlili, _art_, p. 295; Sukenik, "Yafa," p. 17; Naveh, _Stone_, no. 41, p. 69.
/198/ Sukenik, "Yafa," pp. 18, 20, 23.
/199/ Hachlili, _Art_, pp. 295-97; Sukenik, "Yafa," pp. 17, 23; Barag, "Japhia," p. 543.
/200/ Sukenik, "Yafa," p. 18. Grabar, "Recherche II," p. 117.
/201/ H. G. Gundel, "Zodiakos. Der Tierkreis in der Antike," _RE_, X.A, (Munich: J. B. Metzler, 1972), cols. 650-51, no. 134, 1.
/202/ Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, pp. 170-71.
/203/ See Wolfgang H bner, _Zodiacus Christianus_; _J disch- christliche Adaptionen des Tierkreises von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart_ (Knigstein: Hain, 1983), especially pp. 16-29, "Tierkreiszeichen und Jacosshne (Patriarchen)," and Nicolas Sed, _La mystique cosmologique juive_ (Paris: Editions de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 1981), pp. 293-317.
/204/ Eusebius, _Onomasticon_, pp. 86-87; D. Barag, Y. Porat, and E. Netzer, "The Synagogue at En-Gedi," ["Synagogue"] in Lee I. Levine, _Ancient Synagogues Revealed_, 1982, p. 119.
/205/ D. Barag, Y. Porat, and E. Netzer, "En-Gedi," in Michael Avi- Yonah, ed., _EAEHL_, IV, p. 378; Barag, Porat, and Netzer, "Synagogue," pp. 116, 118.
/206/ Barag, Porat, and Netzer, "Synagogue," pp. 116-17.
/207/ Ibid., pp. 116-17.
/208/ Ibid., p. 116-17.
/209/ Ibid., p. 117.
/210/ See Herschel Shanks, _Judaism in Stone_: _The Archaeology of Ancient Synagogues_, preface by Yigael Yadin (NY: Harper & Row; Washington, D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1979), p. 138 for the successive plans.
/211/ Barag, Porat, Netzer, "Synagogue," p. 119; Barag, Porat, Netzer, "En-Gedi," IV, p. 378.
/212/ Barag, Porat, Netzer, "Synagogue," pp. 116-17.
/213/ Ibid., pp. 117-18.
/214/ Barag, Porat, Netzer, "En-gedi," IV, p. 378; Barag, Porat, Netzer, "Synagogue," pp. 117, 119.
/215/ Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 24.
/216/ Barag, Porat, Netzer, "En-gedi," IV, p. 379; Barag, Porat, Netzer, "Synagogue," p. 118; Lee I. Levine, "The Inscription in the `En Gedi Synagogue," ["Inscription"] in Lee I. Levine, ed., _Ancient Synagogues Revealed_ (Detroit: Wayne State University Press; Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1982), pp. 140, 142.
/217/ Levine, "Inscription," p. 140 for this translation and a Hebrew text. See also Naveh, _Stone_, pp. 105-09, particularly the photograph on p. 106 and the transcription on p. 107, no. 70.
/218/ Levine, "Inscription," pp. 140-45 and the sources there.
/219/ Levine, "Inscription," p. 142; Lee I. Levine, "Introduction," p. 6.
/220/ Barag, Porat, Netzer, "Synagogue," in Lee I. Levine, _Ancient Synagogues Revealed_, p. 118; Levine, "Inscription," p. 140; Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 24.
/221/ Levine, "Inscription," pp. 140-42.
/222/ Levine, "Inscription," pp. 142-43; Hachlili, _Art_, p. 225.
/223/ Barag, Porat, Netzer, "Synagogue," p. 118.
/224/ Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 54; Levine, "Inscription," p. 142.
/225/ _Pesikta Rabbati_, 20 = Braude, I, pp. 388-99.
/226/ Levine, "Inscription," p. 142; David Feuchtwang, "Der Tierkreis im der Tradition und im Synagogenritus," _Monatschrift f r Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums_ 51 (1915): pp. 252, 257, 265. Feuchtwang offers a German translation of the two piyyutim, "On Dew," pp. 259-263 and "On Rain," on pp. 263-65. See Editors, "Kallir, Eleazer," in Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder, eds., _Encyclopedia Judaica_, X (New York: Macmillan; Jerusalem: Keter, 1971), Cols. 713-15; Y. Yahalom, "Traces of Greek Culture in the Ancient Hebrew Piyyut," _Proceedings of the Sixth World Congress of Jewish Studies_ III (Jerusalem: 1977), pp. 202-13 [Hebrew]; and Ezra Fleischer, "Piyyut," in Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder, eds., _Encyclopedia Judaica_, XIII (New York: Macmillan; Jerusalem: Keter, 1976), Cols. 547-602.
/227/ Levine, "Inscription," p. 142. See also Mirsky, "Inscription," pp. 376-84, p. viii.
/228/ Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 54.
/229/ Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 54; Levine, "Inscription," p. 142.
/230/ Leon, _Rome_, pp. 207, 209, and fig. 43; E. R. Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VII.2, p. 175.
/231/ Sukenik, _Palestine_, pp. 24-26; Ruth Amiran, "A Fragment of an Ornamental Relief from Kfar Bar`am," ["Relief"] _IEJ_ 6 (1956): pp. 239, 242, fig. 1; Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 57, fig. 50, and Plate 7b.
/232/ Sukenik, _Beth Alpha_, p. 57; Amiran, "Relief," p. 239; Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 25.
/233/ Cf. Stemberger, "Tierkreis," p. 25; Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 942; Goldman, _Portal_, p. 60; Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, p. 169.
/234/ Amiran, "Relief," pp. 240-41.
/235/ Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, p. 168, figs. 149 and 158; Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 943; Naveh, _Stone_, pp. 34-36, no. 16.
/236/ Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, pp. 169-70; Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 943.
/237/ Goldman, _Portal_, p. 61; Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, p 169; Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 943; Grabar, "Recherche II," p. 140; Kraeling, _Synagogue_, Pl. IX, p. 42.
/238/ It is accepted, for example, by the excavator of Hammath- Tiberias, Moshe Dothan, _Hammath-Tiberias_ and by Rachel Hachlili, _Art_; Ibid., "The Zodiac in Synagogue Mosaic Pavements in Israel," _Ariel_ 47 (1978): pp. 58-70; and Ibid., "The Zodiac in Ancient Jewish Art; Representation and Significance," _BASOR_ 228 (1977): pp. 61-77. This last article has perhaps the best single collection of illustrations of the synagogue mosaics and related art. A somewhat different calendaric theory is that of A. G. Sternberg, _The Zodiac of Tiberias_ [Hebrew] (Tiberias, Israel: Tanberg, 1972). The various theories of the zodiac are well surveyed by Stemberger, "Tierkreises" and Charlesworth, "Interest."
/239/ Michael Avi-Yonah, "The Caesarea Inscription of the Twenty-four Priestly Courses," in E. J. Vardaman, and James Leo Garrett, eds., and J. B. Adair, assoc. ed., _The Teacher's Yoke_: _Studies in Memory of Henry Trantham_ (Waco, TX 1964), pp. pp. 56-57; Avi-Yonah, "Symbolisme," p. 397.
/240/ I Chronicles 24, Nehemiah 12:1-21, and Luke 1:5, 9-11. Avi- Yonah, "Courses," p. 47; Yigael Yadin, _The Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness_ [_War_] (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962), pp. 204-05.
/241/ Avi-Yonah, "Courses," p. 48. See E. Jerry Vardaman, "Introduction to the Caesarea Inscription of the Twenty-four Priestly Courses," in E. Jerry Vardaman, and James Leo Garrett, eds., and J. B. Adair, assoc. ed., _The Teacher's Yoke_: _Studies in Memory of Henry Trantham_ (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 1964), p. 45, for a map showing the towns.
/242/ Avi-Yonah, "Courses," pp. 48-49, 53; Hachlili, _Art_, p. 225; Joseph Naveh, "Ancient Synagogue Inscriptions," in Lee I. Levine, ed., _Ancient Synagogues Revealed_ (Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society; Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1982), p. 136.
/243/ Avi-Yonah, "Courses," pp. 50-51; Ammianus Marcellinus, _Res Gestae_ [_Histories_], 23.1, 3 Vols., trans. John C. Rolfe, III (Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1935-39; revised edition, 1950-52), pp. 310-11.
/244/ Avi-Yonah, "Course," p. 54. Roger T. Beckwith, "Cautionary Notes on the Use of Calendars and Astronomy to Determine the Chronology of the Passion," ["Cautionary Notes"] in Jerry Vardaman and Edwin M. Yamauchi, eds., _Chronos, Kairos, Christos_; _Nativity and Chronological Studies Presented to Jack Finegan_ (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1989), p. 187.
/245/ Beckwith, "Cautionary Notes," p. 187.
/246/ Avi-Yonah, "Courses," p. 54; Charles Perrot, "The Reading of the Bible in the Ancient Synagogue," in Martin Jan Mulder, ed., and Harry Sysling, exec. ed., _Mikra_; _Text, Translation, Reading and Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity_, Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum, II.1, ed. Aschkenazy, et al. (Assen/Maastricht: Van Gorcum; Philadelphia: Fortress Pr., 1988), pp. 138-43.
/247/ Avi-Yonah, "Symbolisme," p. 397; Avi-Yonah, "Courses," pp. 54-55; Yadin, _War_, pp. 205-06.
/248/ Avi-Yonah, "Courses," p. 56.
/249/ Avi-Yonah, "Courses," p. 57; Avi-Yonah, "Symbolisme," p. 397.
/250/ Avi-Yonah, "Courses,"pp. 50-51, 55.
/251/ Avi-Yonah, "Courses," pp. 53, 55; Avi-Yonah, "Symbolisme," p. 397. See Israel Davidson, , _'Osar ha-Sirah ve-ha- Piyyut_ [_Thesaurus of Medieval Hebrew Poetry_], II (NY: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1929), no. 108, p. 211, for an example.
/252/ Otto Neugebauer, _A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy_, 3 Vols, I (NY: Springer Verlag, 1975), pp. 1066-67; Claudius Ptolemy, _Ptolemy's Almagest_, trans. and annot. G. J. Toomer (New York: Springer-Verlag, 1984), pp. 14-15, 450-52, 464, 502, 522.
/253/ Geminus, _Gemini Elementa Astronomiae_ ad codicum fidem recensuit Germanica interpretatione et commentarius instruxit Carolus Manitius (Stuttgart: Teubner, 1924), chapter 18.
/254/ _Pesikta Rabbati_ = Braude I, pp. 388-99 and II, pp. 886-89.
/255/ _Pesikta Rabbati_, 15.1 = Braude, I, p. 304.
/256/ _Pesikta Rabbati_, 15, preface = Braude, I, pp. 301-02.
/257/ Levi, _Mosaic_, I, p. 36, II, Pls. Vb, VI, VIIa, CXLIX, CLXXXIIa. See Beckwith, "Cautionary Notes," pp. 183-89 and Frank Parise, ed., _The Book of Calendars_ (NY: Facts on File, Inc., 1982), pp. 12-13 and 44-54, for general information of the Jewish and Macedonian calendars.
/258/ E. E. Urbach, "The Rabbinical Laws of Idolatry in the Second and Third Centuries in the Light of Archaeological and Historical Facts," ["Laws I"] _Israel Exploration Journal_ 9.3 (1953): pp. 150-51; Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 944.
/259/ Urbach, "Laws I," p. 155.
/260/ Ibid., pp. 157-62, passim.
/261/ Ibid., pp. 156-58, 229.
/262/ Urbach, "Laws I," pp. 154-55. See Tertullian, _de Idolatria_, Opera Montanistica. Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, II (Turnholti: Typographi Brepols Editores Pontifici, 1954, pp. 1101- 1124), for an example of the usual early Christian attitude toward images. Tertullian lived during roughly the same years that saw the composition of the Mishnah.
/263/ _Tosefta_ "Abodah Zarah," 5.3, quoted in Urbach, "Laws," p. 230. See also _Mishnah_, "Abodah Zarah," 4.4, in _The Mishnah_, trans. Herbert Danby (London: Oxford University Press, 1964), p. 442.
/264/ Urbach, "Laws I," p. 164, and "Laws II," p. 231; Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 944.
/265/ Urbach, "Laws II," pp. 230-33.
/266/ Urbach, "Laws I," pp. 158-59.
/267/ Urbach, "Laws I," pp. 152-53; Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 944. For Nahum bar Simai, see _Ecclesiastes Rabbah_, 10.10, in _Midrash Rabbah_, 10 Vols., Translated into English with notes under the editorship of Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman and Maurice Simon, VIII (London: Soncino Press, 1939, reprint, 1961), pp. 273-74.
/268/ The major exception is I. Sonne, "The Zodiac Theme in Ancient Synagogues and in Hebrew Printed Books," _Studies in Bibliography and Booklore_ 1 (1953): pp. 3-13, who believes that the zodiac at Beth Alpha is a subtle anti-Roman message in astrological symbolism.
/269/ Other astrological or cosmological theorists include: Bezalel Narkiss, "Pagan, Christian and Jewish Elements in the Art of the Ancient Synagogue," in Lee I. Levine, _The Synagogue in Late Antiquity_ (Philadelphia: ASOR, 1987), pp. 183-88; E. Romagnolo, "Bet Alfa. Sinagoga eritica?," _Terra Sancta_ (1975): pp. 44-50; E. Romagnolo, "Beth Alfa. Alcune ipotesi sulla raffigurazione dello Zodiaco nella sua antica sinagoga," _Terra Sancta_ (1978): pp. 169- 75; Sthlin, _Antike Synagogenkunst_, pp. 61-63; J. Wilkinson, "The Beit Alpha Synagogue Mosaic: Towards an Interpretation," _Journal of Jewish Art_ 5 (1978): pp. 16-28; Rachel Wischnitzer, "The Meaning of the Beth Alpha," [Hebrew] _Bulletin of the Israel Exploration Society_ 18 (1954): pp. 190-97; Ibid., "The Beth Alpha Mosaic. A New Interpretation," _Jewish Social Studies_ 17 (1955): pp. 133-144.
/270/ E. R. Goodenough, "Literal Mystery in Hellenistic Judaism," ["Literal Mystery"] in Ernest S. Frerichs and Jacob Neusner, _Goodenough on the History of Religion and on Judaism_ (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Pr., 1986), pp. 56-57; E. R. Goodenough, _By Light, Light_; _The Mystic Gospel of Hellenistic Judaism_ [_Light_] (Amsterdam: Philo Press, 1969), p. 7. For Plutarch and Isis, see Plutarch, _de Iside et Osiride_, ed. with an introduction, translation, and commentary by J. Gwyn Griffiths (Cardiff: University of Wales, 1970).
/271/ Goodenough, _Light_, p. 8. The entire work should be consulted for his detailed account of Philo and the Jewish Mysteries.
/272/ Goodenough, "Literal Mystery," p. 61.
/273/ Ibid., p. 101.
/274/ E. R. Goodenough, "Jewish Symbolism," in Ernest S. Frerichs and Jacob Neusner, _Goodenough on the History of Religion and on Judaism_ (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Pr., 1986), pp. 101-02; E. R. Goodenough, "Evaluation of Symbols Recurrent in Time, as Illustrated in Judaism," ["Evaluation"] in Ernest S. Frerichs and Jacob Neusner, _Goodenough on the History of Religion and on Judaism_ (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Pr., 1986), p. 115; Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VII.2, p. 219; The theoretical portion is now conveniently available in Jacob Neusner, ed. with a foreword, _Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period_, abridged ed. (Princeton University Press, 1988), pp. 36-80.
/275/ Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, 8.2, pp. 21, 46.
/276/ Goodenough, "Jewish Symbolism," pp. 102-04; Goodenough, "Evaluation," pp. 108-10, 141; Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, p. 202.
/277/ Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, pp. 167-69, 178. Goodenough's discussion of astrological symbolism is now conveniently to be found in Neusner, ed., _Jewish Symbols_, abridged ed., pp. 116-176.
/278/ Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, p. 197.
/279/ Ibid., p. 199, n. 183.
/280/ Goodenough, "Evaluation," p. 130; Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, pp. 184-85.
/281/ Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols_, VIII.2, pp. 185-86, 217; Goodenough, "Evaluation," p. 130.
/282/ E. J. Bickermann, "Symbolism of the Dura Europus Synagogue: A Review Article," _HThR_ 58 (1965): p. 127; Morton Smith, "Goodenough's Jewish Symbols in Retrospect," ["Retrospect"] _JBL_ 86 (1967): pp. 55-57, 65. See Gary Lease, "Jewish Mystery Cults Since Goodenough," in W. Haase and H. Temporini, eds., _ANRW_ II. 20.2 (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1987): pp. 858-80, for a full account of the reactions to Goodenough's theories.
/283/ E. J. Bickermann, "Sur la th ologie de l'art figuratif propos de l'ouvrage de E. R. Goodenough," _Syria_ 44 (1967): p. 131.
/284/ Smith, "Retrospect," p. 65.
/285/ Ibid., p. 66.
/286/ For Philo's position in Greek philosophy, see John Dillon, _The Middle Platonists_: _80 BC TO AD 220_ (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1977), pp. pp. 139-83.
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
/1/ Leading scholars who deny that astrology was important to the ancient Jews, or that it explains synagogue zodiacs include Rachel Hachlili, _Ancient Jewish Art and Archaeology in the Land of Israel_ (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1988); Rachel Hachlili, "The Zodiac in Ancient Jewish Art," _BASOR_ 228 (1977): pp. 72, 74; Rachel Hachlili, "The Zodiac in Synagogue Mosaic Pavements in Israel," _Ariel_ 47 (1978): pp. 69-70; Michael Avi-Yonah, "The Caesarea Inscription of the Twenty-four Priestly Courses," in E. J. Vardaman, et al., eds. _The Teacher's Yoke_: _Studies in Memory of Henry Trantham_ (Waco, TX: Baylor University, 1964), pp. 56-57; Michael Avi-Yonah, "Le symbolisme du zodiac dans l'art Jud o- Byzantin," in Hannah Katzenstein and Yoram Tsafrir, eds., _Art in Ancient Palestine_; _Selected Essays_ (Jerusalem: Hebrew University, Magnes Press, 1981), pp. 396-97; M. B. Lehmann, "New Light on Astrology in Qumran and the Talmud," _RQ_ 8 (1975): pp. 599-602.
/2/ By "monotheism" I mean belief that single deity is in ultimate control, although He may have many less divine subordinates. Pious Israelites knew that there was only one god for Israel. Whether other nations had other gods was not clear to them. For a discussion of different views of "monotheism" in Biblical times, see Edwin M. Yamauchi, "Akhenaton, Moses and Monotheism," in B. Beitzel and G. Young, _Tell el-Amarna, 1887-1987_ (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, forthcoming).
/3/ James H. Charlesworth, "Jewish Interest in Astrology during the Hellenistic and Roman Periods," ["Interest"] in W. Haase and H. Temporini, eds., _ANRW_ II.20.2 (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1987), pp. 947-48.
/4/ II Kings 23: 4-26; G nter Stemberger, "Die Bedeutung des Tierkreises auf Mosaikfussbden sptantiker Synagogen," ["Tierkreises"] _Kairos_ NF 17 (1975): p. 26; Ludwig Wchter, "Astrologie und Schicksalsglaube im rabbinischen Judentum," ["Astrologie"] _Kairos_ NF 11 (1969): pp. 181-82. Kathleen Kenyon reported finding horses among many animal figurines in her 1960s excavations of the City of David, the site of Iron Age Jerusalem. See Kathleen M. Kenyon, _Jerusalem_; _Excavating 3000 Years of History_ (New York McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1967), p. 101 and fig. 8.
/5/ Jeremiah 44: 15-20. See also Robert P. Carroll, _Jeremiah_; _A Commentary_ (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986), pp. 733-38.
/6/ John McKay, _Religion in Judah Under the Assyrians, 732-609 BC_ [_Religion_] (Naperville, IL: Alec R. Allenson, 1973), p. 46.
/7/ McKay, _Religion_, p. 51; Diodorus Siculus, _Histories_, 2.4.2-3, 10 Vols., trans. C. H. Oldfather, I (Loeb Classical Library; London: William Heinemann, 1933, 1946), pp. 358-59. Cf. "Abodah Zarah," trans. A. Mishcon and A. Cohen, p. 11b, in I. Epstein, ed., _The Hebrew-English Edition of the Babylonian Talmud_ (London: Soncino Press, 1988).
/8/ On continuity between Bronze Age and Hellenistic Era religion, see Robert A. Oden, "The Persistence of Canaanite Religion," _BA_ 39.1 (1976): pp. 31-36.
/9/ McKay, _Religion_, pp. 70-71. Amos 5: 26 appears to name the Mesopotamian Saturn, as "Sakkuth" and "Kaiwan." But this passage has so many difficulties and corruptions that it is not hard evidence of anything. A short discussion of the passage may be found in G. V. Smith, "Sakkuth," in Geoffrey W. Bromiley, et al., eds., _International Standard Bible Dictionary_ VI, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1988), p. 283; John N. Oswalt, " ," in R. Laird Harris, et al., eds., _Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament_ (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), p. 438; John N. Oswalt, " ," in R. Laird Harris, et al., eds., _Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament_ (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), p. 623. Longer discussions may be found in Erling Hammershaimb, _The Book of Amos_; _A Commentary_, trans. John Sturdy (New York: Schocken Books, 1970), pp. 92-94; John Luther Mays, _Amos_; _A Commentary_ (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969), pp. 112-13; Hans M. Barstad, _The Religious Polemics of Amos_!
; _Studies in the Preaching of Amos 2, 7B-8; 4, 1-13; 5, 1-27; 6, 4-7; 8, 14_ (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1984), pp. 119-26; and Hans Walter Wolff, _Joel and Amos_, trans. Waldemar Janzen, S. Dean McBride, Jr., and Charles Muenchow, ed. by S. Dean McBride, Jr. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1977), pp. 265-68.
/10/ U. Cassuto, _A Commentary on the Book of Genesis_ [_Genesis_], trans. Israel Abrahams, I (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1961), p. 7; Gerard F. Hasel, "The Significance of the Cosmology in Genesis I in Relation to Ancient Near Eastern Parallels," ["Significance"] _Andrews University Seminary Studies_ 10 (1972): pp. 12-15; Gerard F. Hasel, "The Polemic Nature of the Genesis Cosmology," ["Polemic"] _Evangelical Quarterly_ 46 (1974): pp. 88-89; Nahum M. Sarna, _The JPS Torah Commentary_: _Genesis_ (Philadelphia, New York, Jerusalem: The Jewish Publication Society, 5749/1989), p. 9.
/11/ Hasel, "Polemic," p. 89; Hasel, "Significance," pp. 1-20, passim; Walter Brueggemann, _Genesis_; _A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching_ (Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1982), p. 13; Alexander Heidel, _The Babylonian Genesis_ (Phoenix Books, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1963), pp. 89-92, 96-97; Cassuto, _Genesis_, I, pp. 7-8.
/12/ Hasel, "Significance," pp. 19-20; Gordon J. Wenham, _Genesis 1-15_; _Word Biblical Commentary_ (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987), pp. xlvi-l.
/13/ Gerhard von Rad, _Genesis_; _A Commentary_, trans. John Marks (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1961), pp. 33-34; Claus Westermann, _Genesis_ (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag des Erziehungsvereins, GmBH, 1974), pp. 175-86.
/14/ Robert R. Stieglitz, "The Hebrew Names of the Seven Planets," ["Names"] _JNES_ 40 (1981): pp. 136-7.
/15/ Cassuto, _Genesis_, I, pp. 43, 45.
/16/ _Genesis Rabbah_ 6: 1, in _Midrash Rabbah_, Translated into English with notes under the editorship of H. Freedman and Maurice Simon, I (London: Soncino Press, 1939), pp. 41-42. _Genesis Rabbah_ reached its final form about 400 CE. H. Freedman, "Introduction," _Midrash Rabbah_, I, xxviia-xxix. See also _Pesikta Rabbati_, _Discourses for Feast, Fasts, and Special Sabbaths_, 15.1, trans. William G. Braude, I (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1968), p. 305. _Pesikta Rabbati_ was probably written in Palestine during the sixth or seventh centuries CE, i.e., roughly the same era as the zodiac mosaics, but the materials in it date largely to the third and fourth centuries of the Common Era. W. Braude, "Introduction," I, pp. 3, 26.
/17/ See J. Van Goudoever, _Biblical Calendars_ (2nd revised edition; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1961), pp. 4-5. The entire book should be consulted. For the Jewish calendar in later times, see Roger T. Beckwith, "Cautionary Notes on the Use of Calendars and Astronomy to Determine the Chronology of the Passion," in Jerry Vardaman and Edwin M. Yamauchi, eds., _Chronos, Kairos, Christos_; _Nativity and Chronological Studies Presented to Jack Finegan_ (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1989), pp. 183-98, and Frank Parise, ed., _The Book of Calendars_ (NY: Facts on File, Inc., 1982), pp. 44-54.
/18/ J. S. Wright, "Astronomy," in Geoffrey W. Bromiley, ed., _International Standard Bible Dictionary_ (Grand Rapids, MI: W. B. Eerdmans, 1979), pp. 341-44.
/19/ McKay, _Religion_, p. 52.
/20/ Artur Weisser, _The Psalms_; _A Commentary_ (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1962), pp. 516-20, 667.
/21/ McKay, _Religion_, p. 52.
/22/ On divination among the Israelites, see A. Caquot, "La divination dans l'ancien Israel," in A. Caquot and M. Leibovici, eds., _La Divination_ (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1968), pp. 83-113; Otto Eissfeldt, "Wahrsagung im Alten Testament," in J. Nougayrol, et al., eds., _La divination en Mesopotamie ancienne et dans les r gions voisines_ (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1966), pp. 141-46; and J. R. Porter, "Ancient Israel," in Michael Loewe and Carmen Blacker, eds., _Divination and Oracles_ (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1981), pp. 191-214.
/23/ This was how the verse was understood in Talmudic times. See _Genesis Rabbah_ 44: 12 = Freedman, p. 368.
/24/ John L. MacKenzie, S.J., introduction, translation, and notes, _Second Isaiah_ (Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Co., 1968), pp. 87-92; Wchter, "Astrologie," p. 182; Claus Westermann, _Isaiah 40-66_; _A Commentary_ (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1969), pp. 188-94.
/25/ Daniel 2: 27, 4: 7 (4: 4 in the Hebrew), 5: 7, 5: 11; Wchter, "Astrologie," pp. 182-83.
/26/ See Edwin M. Yamauchi, "Chaldaea, Chaldaeans," in E. M. Blaiklock and R. K. Harrison, eds., _The New International Dictionary of the Bible_ (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1983), pp. 123-125.
/27/ Wright, "Astrology," pp. 341-44.
/28/ I Enoch is a composite work, but "The Book of the Watchers," which contains the condemnation, was probably composed in the third century BCE. This condemnation of astrology is nearly contemporary with "Nechepso," who first popularized Hellenistic astrology, making it perhaps the earliest reference to astrology in Jewish literature. Emil Sch rer, _The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ (175 B.C.-A.D. 135)_ (Revised and Edited by Geza Vermes and Fergus Millar; Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark, Ltd., 1973-1987), p. 256.
/29/ Jubilees was probably written in the second century BCE. Sch rer, _History_, III, p. 312.
/30/ The title Watchers is used in I Enoch, and refers to Gen. 6: 2, ". . . the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair; and they took to wife such of them as they chose." The whole passage in Enoch is an expansion of this verse.
/31/ I Enoch 7-10; Jubilees, chapters 4, 8 and 12; Sch rer, _History_, III, pp. 308-11, 314. The motif of Abraham the astrologer is found in many places in Jewish literature of both the Second Temple and the Talmudic periods. See Stemberger, "Tierkreises," pp. 37-39. The legends are usefully synthesized, and sources noted, in Louis Ginzberg, _The Legends of the Jews_, 7 Vols., trans. Harold Szold (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1909-28; repr. 1968), I, pp. 186, 202, 204, 207, 216, 225. See also V, pp. 175, 222, and especially, 227, n. 108 for his sources.
/32/ "Sibylline Oracles," trans. John J. Collins, in James H. Charlesworth, ed., _The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha_, I (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983), pp. 362, 366. These pretend to be the revelations of the Jewish Sibyl, one of Noah's daughters-in-law. Arnaldo Momigliano, " `Religious Opposition' to the Roman Empire," in Arnaldo Momigliano, _On Pagans, Jews, and Christians_ (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1987), p. 138; B. Z. Wacholder, _Eupolemus_; _A Study in Judaeo-Greek Literature_ (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, 1974), pp. 290-93.
/33/ The third book of the Sibylline Oracles was probably composed in Egypt during the second century BCE. For a discussion of the dates of the various parts of the Sibylline oracles, see John J. Collins, "Sibylline Oracles," in James H. Charlesworth, ed., _The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha_, I (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1983), p. 355 and John J. Collins, _The Sibylline Oracles of Egyptian Judaism_ (Missoula, MT: Scholars Press, 1974).
/34/ James H. Charlesworth, "Introduction for the General Reader," in James H. Charlesworth, ed., _The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha_, I (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983), pp. xxi- xxxiv, 889, 934; Sch rer, _History_, III, pp. 510, 521-23; The Greek text may be found in Eusebius, _Praeparatio Evangelica_, 9.18.1, 9.27.1-37, in _Eusebii Caesarensis Opera_, ed. Guilielmis Dindorfius, 4 Vols. (Leipzig: Teubner, 1867-71), I, pp. 486-87, 316-33; an English translation and discussion by J. J. Collins may be found in James H. Charlesworth, ed., _The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha_, II (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1985), pp. 889-903.
/35/ B. Z. Wacholder, "Pseudo-Eupolemus's Two Greek Fragments on Abraham," ["Pseudo-Eupolemus"] in B. Z. Wacholder, _Essays on Jewish Chronography_ (New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1976), pp. 77-79; Wacholder, _Eupolemus_, pp. 1-21, 71, 287-93; Martin P. Hengel, _Judaism and Hellenism_ [_Judaism_], 2 Vols (London and Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971), p. 88. Like many scholars, Wacholder believes that the Abraham passage is mistakenly ascribed to Eupolemus, and is by an anonymous Jewish or Samaritan writer.
/36/ Eupolemus and Artapanus survive only in fragments quoted by Eusebius. The Greek text of Eupolemus may be found in Eusebius, _Praeparatio Evangelica_, in Eusebius, _Praeparatio Evangelica_, 9.17.8-9, in _Eusebii Caesarensis Opera_, ed. Guilielmis Dindorfius, 4 Vols., I (Leipzig: Teubner, 1867-71), pp. 484-86. Felix Jacoby, _Fragmente der griechischen Historiker_ [_Fragmente_], 3 Vols. (Berlin: Weidmann; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1923-58), Dritter Teil C, # 723, pp. 671-80, and 724, pp. 680-86, also contains the Greek texts of Eupolemlus and Pseudo-Eupolemus, respectively. Artapanus may be found in Eusebius, _Praeparatio Evangelica_, in Eusebius, _Praeparatio Evangelica_, 9.23.1-4, 9.27.1-37, in _Eusebii Caesarensis Opera_, ed. Guilielmis Dindorfius, 4 Vols., I (Leipzig: Teubner, 1867-71), pp. 496-505, or Jacoby, _Fragmente_, Dritter Teil C, # 726, pp. 680. James H. Charlesworth, ed., _The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha_, II (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983), pp. 861-872, has a!
discussion and English translation of Artapanus by F. Fallon. R. Doran discusses and translates "pseudo-Eupolemus" in Id., pp. 873-882. Wacholder gives translations of all the Eupolemus passages in _Eupolemus_, pp. 307-14. See also B. Z. Wacholder, "Pseudo-Eupolemus," pp. 75- 105, Ibid., _Eupolemus_, pp. 2-3, 104-06, 287-91, and Hengel, _Judaism_, I, pp. 88-92, section aa), "The Anonymous Samaritan" for further discussions.
/37/ A. R. C. Leaney, _The Jewish and Christian World, 200 BC to AD 200_ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984), p. 156.
/38/ Wisdom of Solomon, 12: 1, 2, 6, passim, in The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English, trans. Sir Lancelot C. L. Brenton (London: Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1851; repr., Peabody, MD: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987), p. 67; "Circle of stars" is, u #eg , kuklon astron and "luminaries of the heavens" is [ eg # # u, phstras ouranou in the Greek of the Septuagint.
/39/ Flavius Josephus, _Jewish War_, 5.217-18, in Flavius Josephus, _Complete Works_, 9 Vols., trans. H. St. John Thackeray, III (Loeb Classical Library: Cambridge: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1926-63), pp. 266-67; Philo Judaeus, _Questions and Answers on Exodus_, 75, 112-14, trans. Ralph Marcus, in Philo Judaeus, _Philo_, 10 Vols. and 2 Supplement Vols., trans. F. H. Colson, et al., Supplement II (Loeb Classical Library; London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1969), pp. 124, 162-65.
/40/ Rabbi Joel C. Dobin, _The Astrological Secrets of the Hebrew Sages_; _To Rule Both Day and Night_ (Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 1977, 1983). The entire book is a very instructive example of how one may reconcile rabbinic and astrological traditions in the modern world.
/41/ Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 935; Hengel, _Hellenism_, I, p. 69.
/42/ See Wilhelm Gundel and Hans Georg Gundel, _Astrologoumena_: _die astrologische Literatur in der Antike und ihre Geschichte_ [_Astrologoumena_] (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1966), pp. 51-59.
/43/ Ibid., pp. 52, 54.
/44/ Andr Dupont-Sommer, "Deux documents horoscopiques ess niens d couverts Qoumrn, pr s de la Mer Morte," ["Documents"] _Comptes rendus de l'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres_ (1965): p. 239. The identification of the sectarians at Qumran with Essenes is uncertain and much debated. See Todd S. Beal, _Josephus's Description of the Essenes Illustrated by the Dead Sea Scrolls_ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988) and Norman Golb, "The Dead Scrolls," _The American Scholar_ 58 (1989): pp. 177-211 for vigorous discussions of the opposing points of view.
/45/ Flavius Josephus, _Antiquities of the Jews_, 13.171, in Flavius Josephus, _Complete Works_, 9 Vols., trans. H. St. John Thackeray, VII (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1926-63), pp. 310-11.
/46/ Andr Dupont-Sommer, "La secte des Ess niens et les horoscopes de Qumran," ["Secte"] _Archeologia_ 15 (1967): p. 26; Sch rer, _History_, III, p. 464; Hengel, _Judaism_, I, pp. 238-39.
/47/ Charlesworth, "Interest," pp. 938-39; Dupont-Sommer, "Secte," p. 27; Sch rer, _History_, III, pp. 464-65.
/48/ Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 939; Dupont-Sommer, "Secte," p. 27.
/49/ Perhaps the second house? Geza Vermes, _The Dead Sea Scrolls in English_ [_Dead Sea Scrolls_] (3rd ed.; Sheffield, UK: JSOT Press, 1987), p. 305.
/50/ That is, the sun was physically in the lower part of the constellation Taurus. Vermes, _Dead Sea Scrolls_, p. 305.
/51/ Vermes, _Dead Sea Scrolls_, p. 306; For the original text, see also John Marco Allegro, _Discoveries in the Judaean Desert_, V, _Qumran Cave 4_ [_Cave 4_] (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968), pp. 89-91 and John Marco Allegro, "An Astrological Cryptic Document from Qumran," _JSS_ 9 (1964): pp. 291-94.
/52/ Neugebauer thinks that it may not be an astrological document "An `ox' or a `bull' need not be truly horoscopic at all." But his is a minority opinion. Otto Neugebauer, _Ethiopic Astronomy and Computus_ (Vienna: Verlag der sterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1979), p. 21.
/53/ Auguste Bouch -Leclercq, _L'Astrologie grecque_ [_L'Astrologie_] (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1899; repr., Aalen: Scientia Verlag, 1979), pp. 313.
/54/ Physiognomy remained part of Jewish tradition well into Talmudic times. See Ithamar Gruenwald, _Apocalyptic and Merkavah Mysticism_ [_Merkavah_] (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1980), pp. 218-224, for a discussion of such works in rabbinic circles.
/55/ Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 938; Dupont-Sommer, "Secte," p. 29; Sch rer, _History_, III, p. 465.
/56/ Hengel, _Judaism_, I, p. 237.
/57/ Joseph Fitzmeyer, "The Aramaic `Elect of God' Text from Qumran Cave 4," ["Elect"] in Joseph Fitzmeyer, _Essays on the Semitic Background of the New Testament_ (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1971), p. 128; Dupont-Sommer, "Documents," p. 246.
/58/ "`Horoscope' of the Messiah or an Account of the Birth of Noah (4QMessAr)," Vermes, _Dead Sea Scrolls_, p. 306. See also Dupont-Sommer, "Documents," p. 247 and J. Carmignac, "Les horoscopes de Qumran," _RQ_ 5 (1964-1966): pp. 216-17.
/59/ Allegro, _Cave 4_, p. 157.
/60/ Vermes, _Dead Sea Scrolls_, p. 307; Dupont-Sommer, "Documents," p. 248, l. 10; Fitzmeyer, "Elect," p. 129; Sch rer, _History_, III, p. 465.
/61/ Bruce M. Metzger, _A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament_, _A Companion Volume to the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament_ [_Commentary_] (3rd Ed.; London: United Bible Society, 1971), p. 200.
/62/ Fitzmeyer, "Elect," p. 129; Dupont-Sommer, "Documents," p. 248. See, e.g., I Enoch 49: 2.
/63/ See Dupont-Sommer, "Documents," pp. 239-253; Jean Starcky, "Un texte messianique aram en de la grotte 4 de Qoumrn," in _Ecole des langues anciennes de l'Institut Catholique de Paris M morial du cinquantenaire 1914-1964_ (Paris: Bloud et Gay, 1964), pp. 51-66; Hengel, _Judaism_, I, pp. 237-38.
/64/ See, e.g., John 1: 34 and notes, in Kurt Aland, et al., eds., _The Greek New Testament_ (3rd ed.; United Bible Societies, 1975), p. 324; Metzger, _Commentary_, p. 200.
/65/ Fitzmeyer, "Elect," pp. 129, 143-44.
/66/ Allegro, _Cave_ 4, p. 159; J. T. Milik, _The Book of Enoch_: _Aramaic Fragments of Qumran Cave 4_ (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1976), p. 56; Sch rer, _History_, III, p. 465.
/67/ For _brontologia_ in general see Franz Boll, Carl Bezold, and Wilhelm Gundel, _Sternglaube und Sterndeutung_; _Die Geschichte und das Wesen der Astrologie_ [_Sternglaube_] (f nfte, durchgesehene Auflage mit einem bibliographischen Anhang von H. G. Gundel; Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1966), pp. 134, 158, 186-87 and Bouch -Leclercq, _L'Astrologie_, pp. 348, 363-64. For connections with _Enuma Anu Enlil_, see J. C. Greenfield and M. Sokoloff, "Astrological and Related Omen Texts in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic," ["Omen"] _JNES_ 48 (1989): pp. 202 and 202, note 2, as well as David Pingree, "Mesopotamian Astronomy and Astral Omens in Other Civilizations," in Hans-Jrg Nissen and Johannes Renger, eds., _Mesopotamien und seine Nachbarn_ (Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1982), pp. 618-23 and the works cited there.
/68/ John M. Allegro, _The Dead Sea Scrolls_; _A Reappraisal_ (Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1964), p. 126; J. T. Milik, _Ten Years of Discoveries in the Judaean Desert_, trans. J. Strugnell (London: SCM; Naperville, IL: A. R. Allenson, 1959), pp. 42, 119. It resembles the brontologion ascribed to "Zoroaster" in _Geoponica_ 1.10., quoted in Joseph Bidez and Franz Cumont, _Les mages hellenis _: _Zoroaster, Ostanes, et Hystaspe d'apres la tradition grecque_, II (Paris: Belles Lettres, 1938), p. 182. See also Edwin M. Yamauchi, "The Episode of the Magi," in J. Vardaman and Edwin M. Yamauchi, eds., _Chronos, Kairos, and Christos_ (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1989), p. 38; M. Delcor, "Recherches sur un horoscope en langue hebraique provenant de Qumran," ["Recherches"] _RQ_ 5 (1964-1966): p. 521; Sch rer, _History_, III, p. 366; and Hengel, _Judaism_, I, p. 238.
/69/ Greenfield and Sokoloff, "Omen," 202, note 2.
/70/ Charlesworth, "Interest," pp. 938-39; Dupont-Sommer, "Documents," p. 244; Dupont-Sommer, "Secte," p. 30.
/71/ Dupont-Sommer, "Documents," pp. 243-45; Dupont-Sommer, "Secte," pp. 29-30.
/72/ The _Community Rule_ [i.e., _The Manual of Discipline_], Vermes, _Dead Sea Scrolls_, p. 65. The whole work, pages 61-80, should be read.
/73/ See Hengel, _Judaism_, I, pp. 218-24 for a discussion of determinism and dualism at Qumran, and in the Hellenistic world generally.
/74/ Delcor, "Recherches," p. 533.
/75/ Dupont-Sommer, "Secte," p. 29.
/76/ Dupont-Sommer, "Documents," p. 239; Dupont-Sommer, "Secte," p. 26.
/77/ Josephus, _Antiquities_, 13.172-73 = Thackeray and Marcus, VII, pp. 311-313. "Fate" translates _heimarmene_, which often means astrological fate elsewhere in Greek literature.
/78/ Hengel, _Judaism_, I, p. 239. For a spirited discussion of the possibility of sun-worship at Qumran, see Morton Smith, "Helios in Palestine," _Eretz Israel_ 16 (1982): pp. 199-214; Morton Smith,"The Case of the Gilded Staircase; Did the Dead Sea Sect Worship the Sun?" _BAR_ 10.5 (1984): pp. 50-55; and Jacob Milgrom, "Challenge to Sun-Worship Interpretation of Temple Scroll's Gilded Staircase," _BAR_ 11.1 (1985): pp. 70-73.
/79/ On lay astrology and calendologia, see Sven Eriksson, _Wochentagsgtter, Mond, und Tierkreis_: _Laienastrologie in der rmischen Kaiserzeit_ (Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell, 1956). There are other calendologia attributed to biblical heroes, too. See James H. Charlesworth, "The Treatise of Shem," ["Treatise"] in James H. Charlesworth, ed., _The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha_, I (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983), p. 473 and D. A. Fiensy, "Revelation of Ezra," in James H. Charlesworth, ed., _The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha_, I (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983), pp. 601-04.
/80/ Alphonse Mingana, Ed. and trans., "Some Early Judaeo- Christian Documents in the John Rylands Library," ["Early"] _BJRL_ 4 (1917): pp. 79-80.
/81/ Mingana, "Early," pp. 59-118; the Treatise of Shem is on pp. 76-85.
/82/ James H. Charlesworth, "Rylands Syriac MS 44 and a New Addition to the Pseudepigrapha: the Treatise of Shem, Discussed and Translated," _BJRL_ 60 (1978): pp. 376-403; Id., "Die `Schrift des Sem' Einf hrung, Text, und berseztung," ["Schrift"] unter Mithelfe von James R. Mueller, in W. Haase and H. Temporini, eds., _ANRW_ II.20.2 (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1987), pp. 951-87; and Id., "Treatise." The discussions in these last two works are substantially the same.
/83/ Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 937.
/84/ The underlined title and the opening are in red in the manuscript; otherwise there is nothing to distinguish them from the rest of the text. Charlesworth, "Treatise," p. 481, notes b, c.
/85/ "Passover" is _pysh'_ ( ) in the Syriac text. Charlesworth, "Schrift," p. 966.
/86/ [ ] is a lacuna about 14 letters or 50 millimeters long. Charlesworth, "Schrift," p. 967.
/87/ Charlesworth, "Treatise," p. 481.
/88/ Mingana, "Early," pp. 76-77.
/89/ At some point a scribe switched the last two signs. A scribal note points this out. The division into chapters and verses is by Charlesworth. Charlesworth, "Treatise," p. 473.
/90/ Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 937; Charlesworth, "Treatise," p. 473.
/91/ Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 938; Charlesworth, "Treatise," p. 476.
/92/ The reference to Passover in 1: 8 _could_ be Christian, but without any other Christian phrases, it probably is not. Mingana, "Early," pp. 78-79.
/93/ "Shabbat," trans. H. Freedman, in I. Epstein, ed., _The Hebrew-English Edition of the Babylonian Talmud_ (London: Socino Press, 1972), p. 156a, where God changes Abraham's horoscope so that he may beget Isaac.
/94/ Charlesworth, "Treatise," p., 477.
/95/ Charlesworth, "Treatise," pp. 477, 481; Mingana, "Early," p. 79.
/96/ Charlesworth, "Treatise," pp. 477-78; Mingana, "Early," pp. 76-77; Hengel, _Judaism_, I, p. 240.
/97/ _Genesis Rabbah_, 63. 7, 67.8 = Freedman, II, pp. 560-62, 612-13; "Abodah Zarah," _Babylonian Talmud_, p. 36b; Mingana, "Early," p. 77.
/98/ Cf. "Baba Bathra," trans. Maurice Simon and Israel W. Slotki, p. 16b, in I. Epstein, ed., _The Hebrew-English Edition of the Babylonian Talmud_ (London: Socino Press, 1976), where Abraham is such a renowned astrologer that men come from east and west to consult him.
/99/ Charlesworth, "Treatise," pp. 477-78; Hengel, _Judaism_, I, p. 239.
/100/ Charlesworth, "Treatise," pp. 475, 484; Mingana, "Early," p. 78.
/101/ Charlesworth, "Treatise," p. 75; Mingana, "Early," p. 78.
/102/ Charlesworth, "Treatise," p. 475.
/103/ Mingana, "Early," p. 78.
/104/ Charlesworth, "Treatise," p. 474; Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 937; Mingana, "Early," p. 79.
/105/ Mingana, "Early," p. 78.
/106/ Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 937; Charlesworth, "Treatise," p. 474.
/107/ Charlesworth, "Treatise," p. 474.
/108/ Josephus, _Jewish War_ 2.8.6 = Thackeray, II, pp. 374-75; Hengel, _Judaism_, I, p. 241.
/109/ Also called the _Epistle of Rehoboam_ and the _Hygromancy of Solomon_. This last name is misleading; hygromancy, a variety of crystal ball gazing, never comes up in the _Letter_. See Scott Carroll, "A Preliminary Analysis of the _Epistle of Rehoboam_," _Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha_ 4 (1989): pp. 91- 103.
/110/ Gundel and Gundel, _Astrologoumena_, p. 53.
/111/ Both the Greek n , aggelos and the Hebrew , ml'k lack the exclusively religious connotation "angel" has in English translations. Both simply mean a messenger of any sort.
/112/ J.-H. Niggemeyer, _Beschwrungsformeln aus dem "Buch der Geheimnisse," Zur Topologie der magischen Rede_ [_Geheimnisse_] (Hildesheim, New York: Georg Olms Verlag, 1975), pp. 79-80; Shaye J. D. Cohen, _From the Maccabees to the Mishnah_ [_Maccabees_] (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1987), pp. 82-85; Walter Wink, _Naming the Powers_; _The Language of the Powers in the New Testament_, I, _The Powers_ (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984), pp. 22-35.
/113/ See 1 Enoch 80, trans. E. Isaac, in James H. Charlesworth, _The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha_, I (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983), pp. 58-59, where the rulers of the stars, clearly angels, are punished for letting humanity worship them as goods.
/114/ Rabbinic texts sometimes portray them as relatively independent and unfriendly to mortal men. See, for example, the angels who tried to prevent Moses' ascent to God in the highest heaven, in _Pesikta Rabbati_ 20 (= Braude, I, pp. 397-411), or their hostility to Enoch in 3 _Enoch_ 6, trans., P. Alexander, in James H. Charlesworth, _The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha_ (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 19830, I, p. 63. 3 Enoch was probably written in the fifth or sixth century CE, perhaps in Babylonia. See P. Alexander, "3 (Hebrew Apocalypse of) Enoch, Introduction," in James H. Charlesworth, ed., _The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha_, I (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1983), pp. 228-29.
/115/ Gundel and Gundel, _Astrologoumena_, p. 53.
/116/ E. R. Goodenough, _Jewish Symbols in the Greco-Roman Period_, II (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1953-68), pp. 190-205; Niggemeyer, _Geheimnisse_, pp. 92-93; Sch rer, _History_, III, pp. 345, 358-59. An important example of Jewish magic in a pagan context is the Great Paris Magic Papyrus (PGM IV, 3009-85). Sch rer, _History_, III, p. 358. An English translation may be found in Hans Dieter Betz, ed., _The Greek Magic Papyri in Translation, including the Demotic Spells_ [_Greek Magical Papyri_] (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986), pp. 96-97; The Greek text is in Karl Preisendanz, ed., _Papyri Graecae Magicae_ (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1928-31; repr., Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1984). See also Edwin M. Yamauchi, _Mandaic Incantation Texts_ [_Mandaic_] (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1967), pp. 37-38 and Id., "Aramaic Magic Bowls," _JAOS_ 85 (1965): p. 519.
/117/ Ioan Petru Couliano, _Eros and Magic in the Renaissance_, trans. Margaret Cook, with a foreword by Mircea Eliade (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1987), pp. 11-12; Sch rer, _History_, III, p. 346.
/118/ Joshua Trachtenberg, _Jewish Magic and Superstition_; _A Study in Folk Religion_ [_Magic_] (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1939; repr., New York: Athenaeum, 1987), pp. 20-22. Trachtenberg is concerned primarily with the Middle Ages, but the basic ideas date to the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Ibid., p. 315.
/119/ Discussions of the _Letter of Rehoboam_ and its connections with other astrological writings may be found in Armand Delatte, _Herbarius_; _Recherches sur le c r monial usit chez les anciens pour la cueillette des simples et des plantes magiques_ (2nd ed., revised and enlarged, Li ge: Facult de philosophie et lettres; Paris: Librairie E. Droz, 1938), pp. 18-19, 81, 108-09, 157-59; Boll, Bezold, and Gundel, _Sternglaube_, pp. 182; Gundel and Gundel, _Astrologoumena_, pp. 57-59; Andr Marie Jean Festugi _La Revelation d'Herm pp. 339-40; Friedrich Pfister, "Pflanzenaberglaube," _RE_, XIX.2, col. 1452; Karl Preisendanz, "Salomo," _RE_ Supplementband VIII, cols. 690-94; Richard Reitzenstein, _Hellenistic Mystery- Religions_; _Their Basic Ideas and Significance_, trans. John E. Steely (Pittsburgh, PA: The Pickwick Press, 1978), pp. 144-48; John Scarborough, "Hermetic and Related Texts in Classical Antiquity," ["Hermetic"] in Ingrid Merkel and Allen G. Debus, eds., _Hermeticism!
and the Renaissance_; _Intellectual History and the Occult in Early Modern Europe_ (Washington: The Folger Shakespeare Library; London and Toronto: Associated University Presses, 1988), pp. 28-30.
/120/ See Scott Carroll, "A Preliminary Analysis of the _Epistle of Rehoboam_," ["Analysis"] in the _Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha_ 4 (1989): pp. 91-103 for a discussion of the _Letter_. Dennis Duling has promised a critical text and discussion in a forthcoming SBL volume of Solomonic works. See Dennis C. Duling, "The Testament of Solomon: Retrospect and Prospect," _Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha_ 2 (1988): p. 110, notes 80 and 85.
/121/ For Thessalus of Tralles, see Franz Cumont, "Ecrits Hermetiques, II. Le m decin Thessalus et les plantes astrales d'Herm litterature, et d'histoire anciennes_ 42 (1918): pp. 63-79; Scarborough, "Hermetic," p. 29.
/122/ Carroll, "Analysis," p. 98; Josephus, _Antiquities_ 8.2.5 = Thackeray and Marcus, V, pp. 592-97.
/123/ Copies of text A are published in A. Delatte, _Anecdota Atheniensia_ (Paris: E. Champion, 1927), pp. 397-445 and 470-77; Text B may be found in D. Olivieri, et al., eds., _Catalogus Codicum Astrologorum Graecorum_, IV, ed. D. Bassi (Brussels: Acad mie Royale, 1898-1953); Text C is in Id., VIII.2, ed. J. Heeg (Brussels: 1898-1953), pp. 143-65. The Thessalus texts are in Thessalos, _Thessalos von Tralles_: _Griechisch und Lateinisch_, ed. Hans-Veitch Friedrich (Meisenheim am Glan: Hain, 1968).
/124/ Carroll, "Analysis," pp. 92-93.
/125/ For a discussion of humans promoted to angelic status, see James H. Charlesworth, "The Portrayal of the Righteous as an Angel," in _Ideal Figures in Ancient Judaism_, edited by George W. E. Nickelsburg and John J. Collins, (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1980), pp. 135-53.
/126/ Carroll, "Analysis," p. 99.
/127/ Acts 19: 13-14; Carroll, "Analysis," pp. 94; Trachtenberg, _Magic_, pp. 103, 200-01, 231, 304 n. 15.
/128/ Carroll, "Analysis," pp. 6-7. Apios 3.2, fourteenth hour; Serapidie 3.4, fourth hour; Osthridie 3.4, eleventh hour.
/129/ Cumont, "Thessalus," pp. 91-3, 99-100, 102-03.
/130/ Hengel, _Judaism_, I, p. 70.
/131/ Ibid., p. 158.
/132/ 1.2. Note that "planetary gods" is simply # # g , _plantn_, planets, in the Greek text, in _CCAG_ VIII.2., pp. 143ff.
/133/ Cf. "Shabbat," p. 156a for a discussion, in later Jewish tradition, of hours versus days in determining one's basic personality.
/134/ Section 4.2, Carroll's translation.
/135/ Ibid., 5.2.
/136/ Ibid., 4.9.
/137/ Carroll, "Analysis,"; Angels were often called "deputies" or _memunim_. See Trachtenberg, _Magic_, p. 286, n. 4.
/138/ Section, 7.4, Carroll's translation.
/139/ Cohen, _Maccabees_, p. 17.
/140/ Jacob Neusner, _Ancient Israel After the Catastrophe_; _The Religious World View of the Mishnah_ (Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia, 1983), pp. 1-17, passim; Hengel, _Judaism_, I, p. 100.
/141/ Hengel, _Judaism_, I, p. 239; Stemberger, "Tierkreises," p. 34.
/142/ _Pesikta Rabbati_, 20.2 and 53.2 = Braude, I, pp. 398-99 and II, pp. 886-89.
/143/ _Pesikta Rabbati_, 20 = Braude, I, pp. 388-99.
/144/ _Leviticus Rabbah_, 31.9, trans. Rev. J. Israelstam and Judah J. Slotki, in Rabbi Dr. H. Freedman, and Maurice Simon, eds., _Midrash Rabbah_, IV (London: Soncino Press, 1939, repr. 1961), p. 404. Leviticus Rabbah was probably composed in Palestine during the fifth century CE. See Israelstam, "Introduction," Freedman and Simon, IV, P. vii; Joseph Heinemann, "Leviticus Rabbah," in Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder, editors- in-chief, _Encyclopedia Judaica_, XI (Jerusalem, New York: Macmillan, 1971), col. 147. See also "Abodah Zarah," p. 54b.
/145/ "Abodah Zarah," _Babylonian Talmud_, p. 54b.
/146/ Cf. also "Abodah Zarah," _Babylonian Talmud_, pp. 4b, 42b.
/147/ "Shabbat," _Babylonian Talmud_, p. 156a-b; Stemberger, "Tierkreises," p. 35.
/148/ "Constellation" here translates , _mzl_, which can also mean planet or fate generally, almost always with an astrological implication. See " ," "_mzl_," in Jacob Levy, _Wrterbuch ber die Talmudim und Midraschim_ [_Wrterbuch_], IV (2nd ed.; Berlin and Vienna: 1924; Darmstadt: Wiss. Buch., 1963), pp. 172-73. This is probably the origin of the greeting "Mazzal Tov," i.e., "Good luck."
/149/ Greenfield and Sokoloff, "Omen," pp. 201-14, especially pp. 203-05 and 211-14. See also _Pirk de Rabbi Eliezer (The Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer the Great) According to the Text of the Manuscript Belonging to Abraham Epstein of Vienna_ [_Pirk_], chapter 6, trans., annot. with intro. and indices Gerald Friedlander (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co.; New York: The Bloch Publishing Co., 1916), p. 32 and note 2, for brief account of which hours are sympathetic to which planets. _Pirk_, as such, dates to the eighth or ninth century CE, but is based on rather older materials, with connections to the pseudepigrapha of the Second Temple Period. Friedlander, "Introduction," xxi-liii, liii-liv; Moshe David Herr, "Pirkei de- Rabbi Eliezer," in Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder, editors-in- chief, _Encyclopedia Judaica_, XIII (Jerusalem, New York: Macmillan, 1971-72), columns 558-59.
/150/ "Shabbat," _Babylonian Talmud_, pp. 156a and 156b; See Charlesworth, "Interest," pp. 931-32 for a discussion of this passage and other similar ones.
/151/ Greenfield and Sokoloff, "Omen," pp. 211-12.
/152/ " ," "_sdq_," in Jacob Levy, _Wrterbuch_, pp. 172-73.
/153/ "Shabbat," _Babylonian Talmud_, p. 156b.
/154/ Ibid.
/155/ Epiphanius, _Panarion_, 1.1.16, in Jacques Paul Migne, ed., _Patriologia cursus completus_, _Series graeca_, XLI (Paris: 1857-87), cols. 247-58.
/156/ Stieglitz, "Names," p. 133; Johannes Quasten, _Patrology_, III (Utrecht/Antwerp: Spectrum Publishers; Westminster, MD: 1963), pp. 384-85.
/157/ Stieglitz, "Names," p. 133; Quasten, _Patrology_, III, pp. 385-86.
/158/ These are Moon, _Lebonah_; Venus, _Kokhabet_ or _Kokhab Nogah_; Mercury, _Kokhab_; Sun, _Hammah_; Mars, _Ma'adim_; Jupiter, _Sedeq_; Saturn, _Shabbatay_. Epiphanius' names, in the same order, are Yarea, Zeroua, Chochab Ochomod, Shemesh, Chochab Okbol, Chochab Baal, Chochab Sabeth. See Stieglitz, "Names," p. 135, and the sources there.
/159/ Stieglitz, "Names," pp. 135-37. See also J. M. Lieu, "Epiphanius on the Scribes and Pharisees," _Journal of Theological Studies_ 39 (1988): pp. 519-22.
/160/ Detailed discussions of rabbinic attitudes towards astrology may be found in Alexander Altman, "Astrology," in Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder, editors-in-chief, _Encyclopedia Judaica_ III (Jerusalem, New York: Macmillan, 1971-72), cols. 788-95; Charlesworth, "Interest;" David Feuchtwang, "Der Tierkreis im der Tradition und im Synagogenritus," _Monatschrift f r Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judentums_ 51 (1915): pp. 241-267; Leopold Low, "Die Astrologie in der biblischen, thalmudischen, und nachthalmudischen Zeit," _Ben Chananja_; _Wochenblatt f r j dische Theology_ 6 (1863): cols. 401-08, 431- 35; Stemberger, "Tierkreises;" and Wchter, "Astrologie." For an overall survey of rabbinic thought, see E. E. Urbach, _The Sages_: _Their Concepts and Beliefs_ (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, 1975). Jacob Neusner, _A History of the Jews in Babylonia_ [_History_], 5 Vols. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1965-70) gives the rabbis' social and intellectual context. See !
especially II, pp. 147-50, III, pp. 110-26, IV, pp. 330-62, and V, pp. 174-96, 217-43 for beliefs about magic and the invisible world.
/161/ Wchter, "Astrologie," p. 184.
/162/ Michael A. Morgan, "Introduction,"in _Sepher Ha-Razim_; _The Book of Mysteries_ [_Mysteries_], trans. Michael A. Morgan (Chico, CA: Scholar's Press, 1983), p. 1; The Hebrew text is published in _Sepher Ha-Razim_: _A Newly Recovered Book of Magic from the Talmudic Period, Collected from Genizah Fragments and Other Sources_ [Hebrew], ed. with introduction and annotation by Mordecai Margalioth (Jerusalem: Yediot Aharonot, 1966).
/163/ The best known example is the _Sepher Raziel_, cited often by Trachtenberg, in _Magic_.
/164/ Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 936; Chen Merchavya, "Razim, Sepher Ha-," ["Razim"] in Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder, editors-in-chief, _Encyclopedia Judaica_, XIII (Jerusalem, New York: Macmillan, 1971-72), cols. 1594-95; Morgan, "Introduction," pp. 2-6; Niggemeyer, _Geheimnisse_, pp. 11-17; Sch rer, _History_, III, pp. 344, 347, 349.
/165/ _Sepher ha-Razim_ 1.28 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 23.
/166/ Merchavya, "Razim,"; Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 23, n. 4; Sch rer, _History_, III, pp. 348-49.
/167/ Morgan, "Introduction," p. 8. The major exception is Ithamar Gruenwald, who prefers the sixth or seventh century CE, on the grounds that _Sepher ha-Razim_ misunderstands earlier mystical traditions. He is also unhappy with Margalioth's text and believes a new critical edition is needed. Gruenwald, _Merkavah_, p. 226. The precise date of _Sepher ha-Razim_ is less important than that it belongs to the same period as the synagogue mosaics.
/168/ Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 936; Merchavya, "Razim,"; Morgan, "Introduction," pp. 6, 8-9; Niggemeyer, _Geheimnisse_, p. 11; Sch rer _History_, III, pp. 345, 349; A short, up to date, account of mysticism in the Talmudic period may be found in Joseph Dan, _Gershom Scholem and the Mystical Dimensions of Jewish History_ (New York and London: New York University Press), pp. 38-76; Gershom G. Scholem's classic account, _Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition_ (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary in America, 1960), should also be consulted. For the specific connections between _Sepher ha-Razim_ and mysticism, see Gruenwald, _Merkavah_, pp. 225-234. Betz, _Greek Magical Papyri_, pp. xil-xlvii, includes an excellent introduction to the magical papyri of late antiquity. Yamauchi, _Mandaic_; and James A. Montgomery, _Aramaic Incantation Texts From Nippur_ [_Incantation__ Texts_] (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum, 1913) give the texts of m!
ost of the known incantation bowls, along with important discussions. Two more recent collection of texts and translations, are Charles D. Isbell, _Corpus of the Aramaic Incantation Bowls_ (Missoula, MT: Society of Biblical Literature and Scholars Press, 1975) and Joseph Naveh and Shaul Shaked, _Amulets and Magic Bowls_: _Aramaic Incantaions of Late Antiquity_ [_Amulets_] (Jerusalem: Magnes Press; Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1985).
/169/ Gruenwald, _Merkavah_, p. 228.
/170/ Morgan, "Introduction," pp. 10-11; Sch rer, _History_, III, pp. 349, 353.
/171/ Gruenwald, _Merkavah_, p. 228; Niggemeyer, _Geheimnisse_, pp. 17-18; Sch rer, _History_, III, pp. 347, 349; "One may define the Jewish magician as a scholar by vocation, a practitioner of the mystical-magical arts by avocation. Every mystic, properly trained, could practice magic as a side-line." Trachtenberg, _Magic_, p. 17.
/172/ "Abodah Zarah," _Babylonian Talmud_, p. 4b.
/173/ Gruenwald, _Merkavah_, pp. 225-26, 228.
/174/ Solomon was also an astrologer in rabbinic tradition. See Wchter, "Astrologie," pp. 184-85, and the works cited there.
/175/ _Sepher ha-Razim_, 1.15-30 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, pp. 18-19. This introduction is also found with other magical works, but it is still a good survey of the goals of _Sepher ha-Razim_. Gruenwald, _Merkavah_, p. 227.
/176/ Sch rer, _History_, III, pp. 347; W. M. Feldman, _Rabbinical Mathematics and Astronomy, with an Appendix on Rabbinic Metrology_ (3rd, corrected edition; New York: Sepher- Hermon Press, 1978), p. 212.
/177/ _Sepher ha-Razim_, 1: 1-10 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 21; Morgan,"Introduction," p. 6; Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 936.
/178/ The remaining firmaments are not named.
/179/ _Sepher ha-Razim_, 2.1-185 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, pp. 43-59; Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 936.
/180/ _Sepher ha-Razim_, 3 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, pp. 61-65.
/181/ Morgan, "Introduction," p. 6; _Sepher ha-Razim_, 4 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, pp. 67-72. Compare _Pirk_, chapter 6 = Friedlander, p. 40, where the Sun also rides a chariot drawn by angels.
/182/ Morgan, "Introduction," p. 7; _Sepher ha-Razim_, 5.10-15 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 73.
/183/ _Sepher ha-Razim_, 5.10-15 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, pp. 73-74.
/184/ _Sepher ha-Razim_, 7 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, pp. 81-86; Sch rer _History_, III, p. 347.
/185/ Morgan, "Introduction," p. 7.
/186/ Morgan, "Introduction," p. 9; Sch rer, _History_, III, p. 347.
/187/ Morgan, "Introduction," p. 9; _Sepher ha-Razim_, 1.106 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 31.
/188/ Morgan, "Introduction," p. 9; _Sepher ha-Razim_, 2.160-65 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, pp. 36-37. Cf. Leviticus 6: 26-27.
/189/ _Sepher ha-Razim_, 6.35-40 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 80; Charlesworth, "Interest," p. 937.
/190/ Aphrodite, _Sepher ha-Razim_, 1.125, = Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 33; Hermes, as _kriophros_, or "ram-bearer," _Sepher ha- Razim_, 1.179 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 38; Helios, _Sepher ha- Razim_, 4.60 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 71. The Greek names are transliterated into Hebrew letters in each case.
/191/ Morgan, "Introduction," p. 9.
/192/ Gruenwald, _Merkavah_, p. 225; Morgan, "Introduction, p. 9; Niggemeyer, _Geheimnisse_, p. 12; Sch rer _History_, III, pp. 345, 348.
/193/ Morgan, "Introduction," p. 9.
/194/ Morgan, "Introduction," p. 8; Montgomery, _Incantation__ Texts_, pp. 13-116, passim, especially, pp. 26-33, 95-101, 106-16; Naveh and Shaked, _Amulets_, pp. 17-19.
/195/ Gruenwald, _Merkavah_, p. 229; Niggemeyer, _Geheimnisse_, pp. 77-78; Sch rer, _History_, III, p. 347.
/196/ Gruenwald, _Merkavah_, pp. 229, 231.
/197/ Sch rer _History_, III, p. 346.
/198/ Gruenwald, _M__erkavah_, pp. 230-31.
/199/ Morgan, _Mysteries_, pp. 32-35.
/200/ Ibid., p. 56.
/201/ _Sepher ha-Razim_, 4.40 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 70.
/202/ Ibid., 4.30-40 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 69.
/203/ Up to this point the prayer is Greek transliterated into Hebrew letters. See Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 71, n. 21 and Margalioth, _Sepher_, p. 12, for re-transliterations back into Greek letters.
/204/ _Sepher ha-Razim_, 4.60-65 = Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 71.
/205/ Morgan, _Mysteries_, p. 72, n. 23; Johann Maier, "Die Sonne im religisen Denken des antiken Judentums," in W. Haase and H. Temporini, eds., _ANRW_ II.19.1 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1979), p. 380. Maier's entire article, pp. 346-412, should be consulted.
/206/ We do find a similar idea in _Pirk_, chapter 6 = Friedlander, p. 40, where we are told that "the sun has three letters of (God's) Name written upon his heart...." We are not told what the letters are, but it is tempting to speculate that they are , _yhw_, or Yaho. The Greek version of this name, # , _Iao_, is extremely common in Greek magic, especially amulets.
/207/ For the cult of the sun-god on the later Roman Empire, see Gaston H. Halsberghe, _The Cult of Sol Invictus_ (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972).
/208/ Morgan, "Introduction," p. 11.
__________________________________________________
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
_CHAPTER FIVE_
_ASTROLOGY IN SYNAGOGUE ART_
In this fifth and final chapter, we will discuss the synagogue zodiac mosaics
mentioned so often in earlier chapters. We will begin with a discussion of art
and the synagogue generally, and progress to descriptions of the zodiacs
themselves. Next we will discuss the various theories which try to explain the
presence and meaning of the synagogue zodiacs. Finally, I will present my own
explanation, incorporating the best points of the others.
_THE SYNAGOGUE_
The synagogue was a unique invention, unlike any earlier religious
institution. A temple in the ancient world was the home of a deity and only
professional priests entered routinely. Devotees, whether individuals or
communities, worshipped outside the temple, usually with a request and an
offering./1/ This was as true of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem as any of
other. But the synagogue introduced congregational prayer, and, particularly,
ritual reading and study of a sacred scripture. Worship might be led by
anyone, not only members of a hereditary priesthood./2/ This sort of worship
did not exist before the synagogue, but has since come to be the norm
throughout much of the world. The church and the mosque are the children of
the synagogue.
The origins of the synagogue as an institution are unknown, and little more is
known of its early history./3/ The Hebrew Bible never mentions the institution
explicitly, although prayer is a common topic. Instead, the Temple was the
focus of formal worship./4/ The first concrete evidence for the existence of
the synagogue is a series of dedicatory inscriptions from Ptolemaic Egypt./5/
By the first century BCE, when literary evidence becomes common, the synagogue
was definitely a well-established institution, found wherever Jews lived./6/
Both Josephus and the Gospels speak of synagogues quite casually, as if it
were an old, traditional, institution. Indeed, the synagogue was so well-known
a Jewish institution in the Diaspora, that anti- Jewish rioting often began
with an attack on the local synagogue./7/ After the destruction of the Temple
in 70 CE, the synagogue became the center of Jewish life in Palestine, too.
Most of the literary evidence dates to the era after the destruction./8/
The synagogue as an institution is rather older than the synagogue as a
building. Originally, a synagogue was a congregation./9/ People met to read
and study the Bible wherever was convenient, in community buildings or private
homes, much as the early Christians did. The oldest known synagogue buildings
all date to the late first century BCE or early first century CE. The oldest
known synagogue building from the Diaspora, c. 50 BCE, is on the Aegean island
of Delos./10/ Inscriptions tell us there were synagogues in Ostia during the
time of Augustus./11/ The Greek Theodotus inscription from first century BCE
Jerusalem is the oldest evidence for synagogues in Israel proper./12/ Three
buildings are known from Israel, at Masada, Herodium, and Gamla. All have a
rectangular plan, benches along the walls and internal columns./13/ The Masada
and Herodium synagogues were built during the First Revolt, 63-70 CE. Gamla's
synagogue was built some time before the Revolt, perhaps 50 CE./14/ But, as
with literary evidence, most of the material evidence for the ancient
synagogue dates from the Talmudic era, the third through sixth centuries. The
zodiac mosaics date to this period, as well.
The study of ancient synagogue buildings begins in the mid nineteenth century,
with the first archaeologists. Western scholars, such as Robinson, Renan, and
Kitchener, began to travel throughout Palestine, trying to identify ancient
sites, and recording the remains visible./15/ The Deutsche
Orient-Gesellschaft, at the turn of the century, sponsored the first large
scale surface survey devoted solely to recording the remains of ancient
synagogues./16/ The printed account of this research, _Antike Synagoge in
Galila_,/17/ is still an important reference work.
Excavation of synagogue buildings became common under the British Mandate.
Enough examples were known to group them into three types, based on artistic
style./18/ The groups were also thought to represent successive periods of
time. The first type was the early or "Galilean" synagogue, where the first
and best examples were discovered. It had an elaborate facade, including three
portals, in one of the short walls, facing Jerusalem. The members of the
congregation entered and turned 1800 to worship. The scrolls of the Torah, the
focus of ritual, were stored outside the prayer hall, and brought in when
needed. The "Galilean" synagogue was dated to the second and third centuries
CE./19/ Eventually, it was thought to evolve into the "Byzantine" or
"basilica" synagogue, so-called because it resembles the basilical parish
churches of Byzantine Palestine./20/ "Byzantine" synagogues were built from
the fourth through seventh centuries CE./21/ The "Byzantine" synagogue had an
apse in the wall facing Jerusalem, and the main entrance in the wall opposite.
The scrolls were permanently placed in a book case, the _aron_ or Holy Ark,
which was kept in the apse. A "transitional" category, dated to the third and
fourth centuries CE, held buildings which did not fit into these two
categories./22/ The change in the orientation of the main entrance was
assigned to this era. Likewise, most examples of the "broadhouse" plan, with
the entrance in one of the long walls, were put into this pigeon hole. All
three varieties typically had benches along the walls, a U-shaped colonnade
separating a nave from aisles, and an ornate artistic decoration./23/
This typology of synagogues was widely accepted for a generation. It is the
one found in such standard reference works as the _Encyclopedia Judaica_ and
the works of E. L. Sukenik and Michael Avi-Yonah./24/ But, beginning in the
1950s, newer methods of archaeology have allowed sites to be dated more
precisely and objectively. Since the 1970s, the old typology has been largely
abandoned. The "Galilean" and "Byzantine" synagogues exist as artistic
categories, perhaps reflecting local traditions, but not as chronological
ones./25/ Synagogues are now known to have been built in a variety of styles
throughout the centuries of Roman rule. These developments in methodology are
important to this chapter because the synagogue zodiacs are known solely from
archaeology. Moreover, most of them were excavated using older methods and
approaches, and thus, their dates are not very precise. It is safe to date all
the zodiacs to the Byzantine period of Israeli archaeology, the centuries
between Constantine and Umar. But attempts to put them into chronological
order and construct a typology of the development of the Jewish zodiac are
premature, to say the least./26/ Too few examples are known, and their dates
are too imprecise.
_ART AND THE SYNAGOGUE_
The Jewish attitude towards visual arts varied a great deal over the
centuries. The Hebrew Bible forbids idolatry as part of its ban on worship of
other gods,/27/ and the prophets never tire of ridiculing the folly of
worshipping the product of a man's hands./28/ At the same time, the Biblical
writers did not hesitate to tell how Solomon ornamented his Temple with lions,
bulls, and cherubim./29/ Even when Solomon is criticized for worshipping
foreign gods, his images are not mentioned. In contrast, Josephus, born and
raised during the Second Temple period, saw these animal figures as the first
sign of polytheism./30/ With very few exceptions,/31/ Josephus' attitude was
the common one among Jews of the Second Temple period./32/ There were serious
riots in Jerusalem when Herod placed an eagle over the entrance to his Temple
and when Pilate brought standards bearing Tiberias' portrait into
Jerusalem./33/ And even Herod preferred aniconic motifs in his palaces, as any
visitor to Masada may see.
This attitude changed dramatically in the centuries after the destruction of
the temple. Synagogues and tombs of the Talmudic period were highly ornamented
with human and animal figures. The eagle, absolutely unacceptable on Herod's
Temple, is very common over the entrance of synagogues./34/ The discovery of
this art was a genuine revelation, quite unanticipated by scholars at the turn
of the nineteenth century./35/
_NAARAN_
Naaran/36/ was not only the first zodiac mosaic, but the first synagogue
mosaic of any sort to be discovered./37/ It was uncovered, in a suitably
dramatic way, by a Turkish shell in 1918./38/ The site is at Ein Duk, the
ancient Naaran, and is next to a spring about 6.5 kilometers from modern
Jericho./39/ Naaran was never an important settlement, but it is mentioned
several times in ancient literature./40/ The most important notices for our
purposes are in Byzantine period Christian sources, which tell us it was a
thoroughly Jewish village./41/
The ruins were inspected casually by British officers on the spot in 1918, and
more thoroughly in 1919, by Vincent and Lagrange of the Ecole Biblique in
Jerusalem. In 1920, Vincent and Carri the synagogue completely./42/
The excavation consisted of clearing debris from the floor and wall stubs, and
drawing up a plan of the remains, with rather less attention given to the
earth covering the ruins. Approximately 350 square meters were cleared. The
synagogue proper was part of a larger complex inside a courtyard (figure 47).
Walking north from the entrance to the complex, one came into a courtyard, an
atrium with a pool, an L-shaped narthex, and finally the synagogue proper.
About 10 meters separated the facade of the synagogue from the entrance to the
courtyard. The atrium, narthex, and prayer-hall were all on a north-south
axis, and thus were not oriented to Jerusalem. A door in the west wall of the
prayer-hall led into another room./43/
Three doors connected the narthex and the prayer-hall proper, which was built
according to a basilica plan, meaning that it was rectangular with two
parallel rows of columns. The south end of the prayer-hall does not survive,
but what remains measures 14.94 meters wide and 19 meters long, with ten
square columns. It was perhaps 22 meters long originally. Vincent's
restoration has a square south wall, without apse, but that does not rule an
apse out./44/ Apses on synagogues were not known when Naaran was excavated.
The walls were of mud-brick on a foundation of stone rubble and mortar. The
frames of the doors were cut stone. The building was apparently remodelled
twice, and was violently destroyed, perhaps by an earthquake./45/
The most notable feature of the Naaran synagogue is its "sumptuous" mosaics
(figure 48)./46/ Sadly, the human and animals figure were deliberately
vandalized in antiquity, but enough survives to allow reconstruction of the
original conception./47/ Entering the narthex and walking north, one comes to
an unusual menorah/48/ with twelve flames and an inscription panel listing
donors in Hebrew./49/ Next, just within the main portal, are two gazelles
feeding on a bush. This panel was damaged and repaired in antiquity. In the
prayer-hall proper, the aisles are covered with ornate abstract designs,
forming a carpet in stone. But the most important designs are in the nave of
the prayer- hall./50/
The mosaic in the nave is surrounded by a guilloche pattern and is subdivided
into four panels./51/ The first and largest is a series of circles and
polygons separated by geometric pattern ribbons. The medallions once contained
pictures of plants and animals./52/ The second panel, in the center of the
building, is the zodiac./53/ Beyond the zodiac panel is a biblical scene of
Daniel in the lions' den, and a Hebrew inscription, "Shalom Daniel," and a
list of donors./54/ The last panel is one often found in ancient synagogues.
It shows Jewish symbols, particularly the Ark which held the Scrolls of the
Law, standing between two menorahs. Hanging from the menorahs are vases
resembling mosque lamps. Above the menorahs is another Hebrew inscription
listing more donors./55/ Presumably the genuine Ark of the congregation stood
beyond the panel picturing it, perhaps in an apse or aediculum./56/
The Naaran zodiac panel (figure 49) is a large square, 4.05 meters on a side,
containing two concentric circles, 1.6 meters and 3.5 meters in diameter,
respectively./57/ The corners hold female figures. They are damaged, but
Hebrew labels tell us that they represent the four seasons. Each season was
named for one of the Jewish months it contained. Summer is Tebet, for example.
The seasons are also marked with appropriate symbols. Spring, for example, has
a bird and tree, while Fall has a star, perhaps for Sirius, the Dog- star,
which appears in the autumn./58/
The space between the two circles is divided into twelve wedges, each just
over a meter long. Each held a figure for one of the signs as well as a label
in Hebrew./59/ The signs run clockwise, while the seasons run
counterclockwise. The signs are not aligned with the proper seasons. Spring,
for example, is next to Libra and Virgo, rather than Aries or another of the
spring signs./60/ The figures are badly damaged,/61/ but they seem to follow
the usual Greek iconography of the signs. The only unusual figure is the crab.
It is portrayed as a species found in the Jericho region, _Maia squinado_./62/
The center circle holds a picture of Sol Invictus, the deified sun, driving a
four horse chariot (figure 50). Two horses are on either side of the chariot.
He wears a cloak with stars, a crown of rays, and holds a whip. His face is
gouged out, as are those of the horses./63/ Again, the iconography is quite
typical./64/
The mosaics are not great works of art, but the style is distinctive. All the
figures in the synagogue are in a "Oriental" style reminiscent of Palmyra or
Khirbet Tannur, which became typical of Byzantine art in general./65/ All
surfaces are shown in the same plane, with the result that Sol is shown
full-face, while the wheels of his chariot are portrayed side-on and the
horses run to either side./66/ The most unusual feature about the Naaran
mosaics is the vandalism which they have suffered. The iconoclasts attacked
only animals and humans, especially their faces. Plants, Jewish symbols, and
Hebrew inscriptions were left untouched. This may imply that the vandals were
Jews, probably with religious motives, since they showed respect for the
sacred script./67/ Moreover, the scale of the damage is impressive. It is not
unusual to find a few small figures hammered into oblivion in ancient
synagogues, but rarely so many. But whether the vandals were local zealots, or
representatives of a larger Iconoclastic movement is impossible to say without
more evidence./68/
Vincent originally dated the Naaran synagogue to the third century CE for
several reasons. The building overall resembled the "Galilean" synagogue,
which in those days was assigned to the second and third centuries./69/
Literary evidence confirmed that there had been a Jewish village at the site
in the third century./70/ Finally, he identified a Samuel mentioned in the
entrance inscription with the third century Babylonian rabbi, Mar Samuel, who
was a noted astronomer. This seemed to fit with the zodiac panel./71/ However,
now much more is known about ancient synagogues than in the 1920's, and the
building is currently dated to the fifth or sixth century CE./72/
_BETH ALPHA_
The next synagogue zodiac discovered was at Beth Alpha. Its mosaics are
probably the most famous found in any synagogue, and are certainly the best
preserved. As works of art, too, they are impressive, and probably have
inspired more research than any of the other examples.
The Beth Alpha synagogue was discovered by a group of kibbutzniks digging an
irrigation canal in December, 1928. They reported the discovery to the
authorities at the Department of Antiquities of the Palestine Mandate, who
sent Eleazer Sukenik to investigate. Sukenik excavated the site for the Hebrew
University during January and February, 1929./73/
The synagogue is part of an ancient village, Khirbet Beit Ilfa. It is on the
slopes of Mt. Gilboa, overlooking the Jezreel Valley, and west of Beth
Shan./74/ It is never mentioned in any ancient source. The name is ancient and
may imply that it was once the property of a landowner named Alpha, a common
name in rabbinic literature./75/
The synagogue complex at Beth Alpha consisted of a courtyard, a narthex, a
prayer-hall, and a subsidiary room./76/ The first three are on a north-south
axis, with the courtyard at the north end, and the prayer-hall at the south
end, nearest Jerusalem (figure 51). The subsidiary room adjoins the southwest
corner of the prayer-hall. The prayer-hall has a basilica plan, with two rows
of columns dividing it into three aisles, and there is an apse in the southern
wall, facing Jerusalem./77/ The overall complex is 27.7 meters long and 14.2
wide, while the prayer-hall measures 10.75 X 12.4 meters. The apse is 2.4
meters deep, 75 centimeters higher than floor level in the prayer-hall, and
probably held the Ark./78/ Benches lined the east, south, and west walls and
both were covered with lime plaster. A fourth bench and a _bema_ or reading
platform were added later, atop the mosaic, near the apse./79/
The synagogue was built in the later fifth century and went through several
phases. Byzantine ribbed pottery in the wall-plaster, a hoard of Byzantine
coins hidden in the apse and a mosaic inscription all date the structure to
the Byzantine period./80/ It was destroyed by earthquake at some date between
the sixth and seventh centuries CE./81/
The courtyard, narthex, and prayer-hall were all paved with mosaics (figure
52). Most are simple geometric designs, with the more elaborate figures
reserved for the nave, as at Naaran./82/ Inside the main portal one comes on
two mosaic inscriptions, each in a _tabula ansata_. The first is in Aramaic,
and although fragmentary, dates the mosaic to the reign of one of the two
emperors Justin. Both lived in the sixth century CE. Justin I, 518-27 CE is
somewhat the more likely, as Justin II was a persecutor of non-Christians
generally./83/ The second inscription is in Greek and asks for a blessing on
the builders of the mosaic, Marianos and his son, Hanina./84/ In all
likelihood, they were Jews. Hanina, in particular, is a common name in
Rabbinic literature. Both men worked on other mosaics in the Beth Shan
area./85/
The entrance inscriptions are flanked by a bull and a lion, part of a frame of
animals and plants surrounding the three main panels./86/ The first panel,
closest to the door, shows the sacrifice of Isaac, called the _Akedah_ in
Jewish tradition./87/ From left to right, we see Abraham's two servants with a
donkey, a sheep tied to a bush,/88/ Abraham holding a knife and his son Isaac,
and a burning altar. All are labelled in Hebrew. A hand from a cloud is
probably the "angel of the Lord" who stopped Abraham in the biblical story
(Gen. 22)./89/ It is labelled by a quote from Genesis 22: 11-12: , _'l tslh_ .
.. . , "Do not lay [your hand upon the boy]."/90/
The second panel is the zodiac (figure 53). It is the largest of the three
panels at Beth Alpha, and, in general, is quite similar to the Naaran zodiac,
if rather more detailed./91/ It is nearly square, 3.55 X 3.75 meters. As at
Naaran, the square holds two concentric circles, 3.12 and 1.2 meters in
diameter, respectively./92/ The corners contain winged female busts
representing the seasons. Each is labelled with its Hebrew name, such as
Tequphat Tishri, as well as with appropriate attributes./93/ Spring, or Nisan,
holds a shepherd's crook, for example, while Summer (Tammuz) sits among fruit
and grain crops. Fall has a star overhead, as at Naaran. Winter is marked by
red cheeks./94/ The Beth Alpha seasons are somewhat closer to the usual
Greco-Roman iconography than Naaran's, although still not too close./95/ Both
seasons and signs run counterclockwise./96/
The space between the circles is, again, divided into twelve segments. The
figures generally follow the usual Greek iconography, but at a distance.
Marianos and Hanina took a traditional design and made it their own by means
of style and details. The Ram is the middle eastern fat-tailed sheep and the
Bull is the Indian Zebu. Gemini is a pair of Siamese Twins. The Crab is a
species found in the Jezreel Valley, _Potamion potamios_. Virgo is portrayed
as a queen, sitting on a throne and wearing shoes of Imperial purple./97/
Libra is a man holding the scales, which is not unusual; but he has only one
leg! The other is omitted because it is behind the balance./98/ In two cases,
the image is based on the Hebrew name rather than the traditional iconography.
Sagittarius is , _qst_, or "Bow" in Hebrew; at Beth Alpha, the bow is held by
a man, rather than the usual centaur. Capricorn was damaged and crudely
repaired in antiquity. Aquarius is , _dly_ or "pail" in Hebrew. The figure is
a person pulling a pail from a well, an everyday sight, even today./99/ In
general, the iconography is similar to the signs at Naaran./100/ Each figure
is labelled in Hebrew. As in the inscriptions, the Hebrew letters are less
skillfully made than the Greek ones. There are a few spelling mistakes. , tlh,
or Ram, is spelled , tl', that is with an aleph ( ) instead of a h ( ). ,
'ryyh, or Leo, is spelled with two yods ( ) instead of one. Aquarius and
Pisces, the last two signs, each have a waw ( ) or "and," , wdly wdgym, not
just the final Pisces./101/
As at Naaran, the center circle contains Sol Invictus and a four horse
chariot. It is in a particularly abstract style. The head and forelegs of the
horses are visible, two on either side of the chariot. Sol wears a crown of
rays and is surrounded by the moon and stars. Only his head and neck are
shown. Beneath is a square covered with curving colored stripes, perhaps
representing the rainbow colors seen at dawn and dusk. The square is probably
Sol's chariot, not his torso, since it is attached to small wheels./102/ The
third panel, next to the apse and the aron, is a panel of Jewish symbols like
Naaran's, but more elaborate. The Ark is flanked not only by menorahs but also
by lions, palm fronds, citron-fruits, ram's horn trumpets or shofars, and
square objects usually identified as incense shovels and shrubs. Drawn
curtains frame the whole scene. The Ark itself has acroteria, and a gable with
birds running up the sides. Probably the real Ark stood in the apse just
behind this panel./103/
Marianos and Hanina made their mosaic in a rather idiosyncratic "Oriental"
style. It particularly resembles Palmyrene art in its frontality and in the
line outlining the brow and nose of human faces. Sol is especially non-
classical. But their work is by no means as childlike or primitive as is
sometimes stated./104/ They were skilled and imaginative artists, and produced
an impressive work of art.
_HUSIFA_
A third zodiac was discovered in 1930, in the Arab village of `Isfiya (Husifa
in Hebrew), on Mt. Carmel, about 12 kilometers from Haifa. The present village
of Isfiya is no older than the eighteenth century, but it is on the site of a
Jewish village dated by coins and pottery to the Roman, Byzantine and Early
Arab Periods. The synagogue was excavated for the Department of Antiquities of
the Palestine Mandate by N. Makhouly and Michael Avi-Yonah in 1933./105/
The structure was in the midst of the modern village, beneath a private
dwelling, a public courtyard and some outbuildings. Only the portion of the
building beneath the courtyard and the outbuildings was excavated, between one
half and three fifths of the whole (figures 54, 55)./106/ The building was
apparently oriented toward Jerusalem,/107/ with the result that the corners
are closer to the cardinal directions than the walls. The whole of the
northwest wall, 10.1 meters long, was excavated, as well as 6.2 meters of the
southwest wall and 5.5 meters of the northeast one./108/ The building was
probably close to square, without an apse. One line of columns was uncovered
and it is probably a safe deduction that a parallel colonnade lies
unexcavated. The entrance was probably at the southwest wall, and there is
some evidence of a narthex beyond./109/
The whole floor was originally paved with mosaics, now badly damaged. Probably
the damage was done by the modern village, not in antiquity, since the damaged
area corresponds to the public courtyard. The layout seems to have been
similar to those we have seen up to now. The aisles next to the walls was
paved with geometric designs, one meter wide,/110/ while the nave and the
entrance had images of living creatures. Three small panels survive near the
southwest wall. The two outer panels each hold a menorah with other symbols,
as at Beth Alpha (figure 55). The center panel is damaged, and contains a
wreath with a Hebrew inscription: , _slwm `l ysr'l_, "Peace upon Israel." The
phrase comes from Psalm 125: 5. It is very common in synagogue mosaics, and is
usually found near the entrance, as here./111/
The nave has three panels. The first, walking from southwest wall, is a narrow
one listing donors. Next is a large panel, mostly destroyed, of grapevines and
birds./112/
The third panel, at the eastern end of the nave, closest to Jerusalem, is the
zodiac (figure 56). It, too, is badly damaged./113/ Like the other zodiacs so
far discovered, it is in the form of two circles inscribed on a square. It is
the smallest synagogue zodiac yet found. The square is 2.76 meters on a side,
and the outer circle is 1.38 meters in diameter. The inner circle is almost
entirely destroyed, but is estimated to have been 6 centimeters in diameter.
No central figure remains./114/ The north corner is intact, with one female
bust of a Season. Heads of grain and pomegranates designate it Fall./115/
Fragments of five signs, from Sagittarius to Aries, may be identified. The
iconography of the figures resembles that of Beth Alpha. Their style is
"Oriental" and comparable to both Naaran and Beth Alpha. Sagittarius is a nude
human, not a centaur, holding a bow, and draped in a mantle, somewhat like
Hercules' lion skin. Only two horns remain of Capricorn. Aquarius is
reasonably intact. It is an amphora emitting water, but without any person
pouring it. Pisces is destroyed, save for a fin and a tail. Only Aries' hind
hooves and tip of tail are still intact. All have their heads toward the
center, unlike Beth Alpha or Naaran. Neither the signs nor the seasons were
labelled, nor are they correlated. The signs run counterclockwise, as at
Naaran./116/
The Husifa synagogue cannot be dated directly, but it is similar enough to the
Beth Alpha and Naaran synagogues that it may be safely dated to the Byzantine
era as well. It was destroyed by fire, perhaps during the reign of
Justinian./117/
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
_HOROSCOPY_
Now that we have discussed how and why the Greeks adopted horoscopy and made it their own, it is appropriate to discuss the system itself. First of all, one must always remember that Hellenistic astrology was both a religion and a science. The planets were gods, who ruled the universe according to scientific law. Astrologers might emphasize the religious or the scientific aspects as it suited them, but both were always present. Even Ptolemy, who tried hard to explain everything in terms of four element physics, says that ultimately the planets move as they do because of "divine, unchangeable destiny,"/59/ and a famous poem attributed to him in the _Greek Anthology_ says:
""I know that I am the creature of a day; but when I search into "the multitudinous revolving spirals of the stars my feet no "longer rest on the earth, but, standing by Zeus himself, I take "my fill of ambrosia, the food of the gods./60/
Likewise, one must remember that attitudes towards astrology were not uniform. At one end of the spectrum was strict determinism, associated with Stoicism. Manilius illustrates this attitude when he says (in Goold's translation):
""Fate rules the world, all things stand fixed by its immutable "laws, and the long ages are assigned a predestined course of "events. At birth our death is sealed, and our end is consequent "on our beginning. Fate is the source of riches and kingdoms, and "the more frequent poverty; by fate are men at birth given their "skills and characters, their merits and defects, their losses "and gains. None can renounce what is bestowed or denied; no man "by prayer may seize fortune if it demur, or escape if it draw "nigh./61/
At the other extreme, one might reject astrology completely. This position is associated particularly with Carneades, the leader of the skeptical phase of the Academy, and with the Epicurean school in general. But it was also the view of most of the Church Fathers./62/ Even some Stoics, such as Panaitios, rejected astrology./63/ In between were probably the majority of astrologers, then and now, who believed that the stars left room for free will, and that with foreknowledge one might avoid a bad fate./64/ Finally, we must remember that astrology, like philosophy, appealed to people from every background, not only the wealthy and well-educated. There was not a great deal of social mobility in Greco-Roman society, which meant that the lower orders included many individuals with intellectual interests, while chronic unemployment gave such people time to think. The best known example is Socrates, a professional stone mason. Zeno the Stoic was a seaman. Gregory Nazianzus is a wi!
tness that the christological controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries CE interested many humble people./65/
Nor were intellectuals the only people who found astrology interesting and useful. Divination of all sorts had flourished in Greece before the Hellenistic era. The destruction of Athens' expedition in Sicily because of a lunar eclipse is only one dramatic example of the importance of divination. Once introduced, "lay astrology" replaced almost all the earlier methods./66/ Works listing the hours favorable for various activities are among the most common astrological texts to come down to us. Juvenal and Ammianus Marcellinus both speak of people who did nothing without first checking their lists of favorable hours./67/ Astrological medicine and magic were also popular. Likewise, astral religion became widespread, particularly in Syria, which had a long history of Mesopotamian influence before the Hellenistic era. Works of lay astrology, astrological medicine, and astrological magic show the religious assumptions of horoscopy more clearly than do the more "scientific" texts./6!
8/
The basic principle in a Greek horoscope is that the planets each radiate individual "influences," which are modified by their positions relative to each other, to the signs of the zodiac, and to the time and place of the individual in question. We on earth respond because of cosmic "sympathy."/69/ In general, the signs of the zodiac were most important early in the development of astrology, and decreased over time, while the planets became more important./70/ Manilius, for example, who lived in the first century CE, but used early sources, all but ignores the planets and exalts the zodiac./71/ Ptolemy, active in the second century CE, and a more competent, up-to-date, scientist by far, emphasizes the planets almost exclusivel/72/
While the planets were identified with the Olympian gods, their mythology was not usually transferred to the sky. However, the powers assigned to the planets often were derived from mythology and the personalities it portrayed. The appearance of the planet also played a role./73/
The planets were usually listed according to the times each took to go through the zodiac once (their sidereal periods) on the correct assumption that this corresponded to their distance from the earth./74/ Plato's _Timaeus_ gives the earliest example, where the planets, from outside in, are: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Moon. This was later called the "Egyptian order."/75/ By at least the second century BCE another order, known as the "Chaldaean," became standard: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon./76/ The difference is that Mercury and Sun have traded places./77/ It makes no difference mathematically, because Sun, Mercury, and Venus all have the same sidereal period. But putting the Sun in the middle position was used to explain the different influences of the planets. The upper planets, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, are farther from the sun and the earth, thus were cooler and drier, and hence male. Venus and the Moon are closer to the Sun and the!
earth, were warmer and moister, and female./78/ Mercury the hermaphrodite is left unexplained. The "Chaldaean" order also emphasized the Sun as the leader of the planets./79/
The "Chaldaean" order of the planets is also the source for our seven day week, which was in general use by the time of Augustus./80/ According to one doctrine, each planet ruled over certain hours of the day. Each period sunrise to sunrise was divided into twenty-four hours, either seasonal or equinoctial. The first hour of the first day was Saturn's, the second was Jupiter's and so on in order through the twenty-four. The first hour of the second day would then be ruled by the Sun, the first hour of the third day was the Moon's, and so on. Tuesday belonged to Mars, Wednesday to Mercury, Thursday to Jupiter, and Friday to Venus. Even now, our weekdays are named for the planet-gods, although this is more noticeable in a Romance language such as French. Wednesday, for example, is Mercredi, from Mercurii dies, the day of Mercury. Our English names are from the Germanic gods who corresponded to the Roman ones. Tuesday is the day of Tiuw, the Germanic equivalent of Mars, Wednesd!
ay is named for Wodin, the Germanic Mercury, Thursday is Thor's day, who corresponds to Jupiter, and Friday is for Freya, the German Venus. Saturn had no Germanic equivalent, and the days of the Sun and Moon need no explanation./81/
Saturn, who was Ninurta in Mesopotamia, became Kronos for the Greeks. Kronos was a sinister figure in mythology, who overthrew his father Ouranos (which means sky) and castrated him with a sickle. He devoured his own children to keep from being overthrown in turn, but was eventually exiled to the underworld by his son Zeus. Astrologers pictured him as an old man, slow, shrewd and hostile, often holding a sickle. A pun associated him with _Chronos_, or Time. Our own artistic motif of Time as an old man with a scythe probably comes from this image. His influences were very cold and dry, making Saturn the most dangerous of the planets./82/
Jupiter was Marduk, the king of the gods, in Mesopotamia, who naturally became Zeus, the king of the gods, among the Greeks. He was pictured as a king, often with his eagle, the bird of Zeus, or his thunderbolt, since Zeus was also the rain god. His influences were moderately warm and moist, making him the most favorable of the planets./83/
Mars, identified with Nergal, the Mesopotamian war god, became the Greek war god, Ares, or sometimes Herakles. The red color and the sudden movements of the planet helped create the image of a capricious, violent tyrant. He was usually shown bearing arms. Mars's influences were quite hot and dry, making him the second worst planet./84/
The Sun was one of the two great luminaries, but was not important in Greek mythology. In Homer he was Helios, a Titan, and without much authority. When Odysseus' men killed his cattle, he could only complain to Zeus, rather than take independent action as Poseidon did when he was offended. In the Classical period, he was identified with Apollo. In astrological art, he is usually shown wearing a crown of rays, driving a four-horse chariot. His influences were hot and somewhat dry. He was generally favorable, but dangerous in excess./85/
Venus, or Ishtar in Mesopotamia, was Aphrodite. Aphrodite grew from the severed genitals of Ouranos and was the patron of sexuality and reproduction. She was usually portrayed as an attractive woman, often holding a mirror. Her influences were moderately warm and quite moist, which promoted growth in plants and animals. Venus was the second most favorable of the planets. The morning and evening star were identified with Aurora and Cephalos or Astraeus, lovers of Aphrodite./86/
Mercury was Nabu, the son of Marduk and scribe of the gods in Mesopotamia. The Greeks identified him with Hermes, or occasionally with Apollo. Hermes was the son of Zeus in mythology. He was associated with cleverness and success in business. He was also the messenger of the gods, which fit in well with the speed of the planet's movements. Mercury guided the souls of the dead to the underworld, as well, which helped give him an ambiguous image. In Egypt, he was identified with Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing, and scholarship, and especially magic. Many astrological and other works are ascribed to this syncretized "Hermes Trismegistos." Hermes was usually shown in his role as messenger, wearing a winged cap and winged sandals, and holding a staff entwined with snakes. The planet Hermes was hermaphroditic, male or female, depending on relationships with other planets. His influences were likewise ambiguous, changing quickly from dry to moist and back again./87/
The Moon had almost no mythology. In earlier times, she was Selen or Men, the sister Helios, while later she was Artemis, the twin sister of Apollo. Artemis was a major Greek deity, but her role as moon-goddess was far from her most important one. In art, the Moon is usually shown driving a chariot, like her brother, and wearing a crescent. Her influences were moist and somewhat warm. Generally, she was a favorable planet, but too much lunar influence did cause mental illness, which gives us our word "lunatic."/88/
Besides their individual characteristics, the planets were grouped together in a bewildering variety of ways. They "saw" one another, they were friendly or unfriendly, they each had houses for the daytime and houses for the night in certain signs of the zodiac. The groupings were often quite anthropomorphic, and all affected the planets' influences./89/
Influences particularly modified each other according to the angular relationships, or "aspects" between the planets. The planetary aspects were probably derived from the aspects between the signs./90/ The Greeks wrote of them as polygons inscribed within the zodiacal ring./91/ There were four major aspects: _opposition_, when a diameter of the zodiac connected the planets; _trine_, when the planets were at the points of an equilateral triangle; _quartile_, the points of a square; and _sextile_, the points of a hexagon; sometimes _conjunction_, when two planets crossed paths, was also counted as an aspect (see figures 1-4). Trine and sextile were favorable aspects, with trine somewhat the stronger. Quartile and opposition were unfavorable, with quartile the stronger. The nature of a conjunction depended on the nature of the planets./92/
There was disagreement on just how the aspects worked. Ptolemy (1.13) tried to derive the aspects from the mathematics of musical intervals. Porphyry, the fourth century CE Neoplatonist, believed that the planets emitted their influences in seven beams, which left the planets at precise angles, and formed the aspects when the beams from different planets met. Pseudo-Manetho the astrologer, who also wrote in the fourth century, simply said that was how the gods wanted to do it./93/
In the previous chapter we saw that the zodiac began as a celestial yardstick, useful for calculating a planet's position. The signs were named for constellations which they contained. The Greeks took over the Mesopotamian zodiac and used it in the same way. Even the names and the iconography of the zodiacal signs and constellations were nearly the same./94/ The correspondences between the Mesopotamian and the Greek signs, in tabular form, are:/95/
[NB in the original paper version the following three columns are parallel. LJN] [Fixed by moi - ash]
_ENGLISH_ _MESOPOTAMIAN_ _GREEK_ _SYMBOLS_
Aries HUN-GA _Krios_ [N/A]
Taurus U-AN-NA _Tauros_
Gemini MAS-TAB-BA-GAL-GAL _Didymoi_
Cancer ? _Karkinos_
Leo UR-A _Leon_
Virgo AB-SIN _Parthenos_
Libra zibanitu _Zugos_ or _Chelai_
Scorpio GIR-TAB _Skorpios_
Sagittarius ? _Toxites_
Capricorn SUHUR-MAS _Aigokeros_
Aquarius GU-LA _Hydrophoros_
Pisces _zibbati_mes_ _Ichthyes_
One change in the iconography was that the Greeks usually showed the zodiac as a ring (figures 5-6). Mesopotamian art often showed pictures of the constellations, but never in a ring, perhaps because they did not think of the universe as a sphere, as the Greeks did. Eventually the ring motif even spread back into Mesopotamia.
Unlike the planets, the constellations were closely connected with Greek mythology. _Catasterism_, or becoming a constellation, was a popular motif in Hellenistic poetry. Manilius identifies Aries with the ram of the Golden Fleece, Taurus with the bull that carried Europa to Europe, Leo with the Nemean lion, and so on. Other writers made other identifications. Taurus was also the Apis bull of Egypt, Pasiphae's bull, or Io to different writers. Gemini, which Manilius forgot to mention, was variously identified with Castor and Pollux, Apollo and Herakles, Apollo and Bacchus, and Theseus and Herakles, among others./96/ This variety arose because the zodiacal constellations were late additions to Greek mythology.
Connected with their myths and their iconography, the signs each had natures which modified the influences of the planets. Aries people, for example, were hot-tempered but timid, as a ram is. They also tended to go into the textile business, because of the sheep's wool./97/
Like the planets, the signs were grouped and divided in a great variety of ways, many based on the constellations' appearance in art. Manilius groups signs according to posture, disfigurement, fertility, single or double, human or animal, day or night, male or female, among other categories./98/ Other astrologers use similar categories, if rarely so many./99/ Perhaps the most important grouping was aspect./100/ Zodiacal aspect is probably older than the aspects among the planets. The triangular aspect, at least, has been traced back to Mesopotamia, but the Greek astrologers elaborated the principle, perhaps stimulated by Pythagorean ideas./101/ The zodiacal aspects have the same powers as the planetary ones, and are likewise pictured as polygons within a circle./102/ The triangle and the hexagon were favorable aspects, with the triangle the stronger. The square aspect was unfavorable, while astrologers disagreed as to whether the diameter was good or bad./103/ The signs conn!
ected were supposed to share certain qualities in common. For example, the signs connected by the triangular aspects (called _triplicities_) were "sympathetic" with the four elements. The first triplicity, Aries-Leo-Sagittarius, was the fiery triplicity, and was ruled by the Sun (see figure 2)./104/ A fiery planet in a fiery sign would have a stronger influence. The same principle holds true for all other groups and divisions of the signs: they serve to weaken or strengthen somehow the influences of the planets.
Particular signs or parts of signs were assigned to particular planets according to three different systems, the "houses," the "terms," and the "exaltations."/105/ The houses were just what they sound like: the homes of the planet-gods, where they were particularly strong (figures 7- 8)./106/ There are several different systems for assigning the planets to houses. Firmicus Maternus, writing in the fourth century CE, uses an "Egyptian" system, which says the planets are at home in the signs they occupied when the Demiurge created the world./107/ (This is the so- called "Thema Mundi," or horoscope of the world, first found in "Nechepso and Petosiris.")/108/ This order was used in astrological medicine, but left five signs unclaimed./109/ Other astrologers, such as Manilius and Ptolemy, preferred to assign each lesser planet one house for the night and another for the daytime. Again, there were several conflicting methods. Manilius gives three alternatives, while Ptolemy uses o!
nly one./110/
The "terms"/111/ are segments within each sign assigned to the five lesser planets. The "terms" have different sizes for each planet with in the sign. Nor does any given planet have the same size "term" in all the signs. There were two major competing systems for assigning the terms, the "Egyptian," the most widely used, and the Chaldaean. Ptolemy discusses both, then offers his own improvement on the Egyptian terms, which he claims he found in an ancient manuscript./112/
The "exaltation" of a planet is the degree at which it is most powerful. Opposite it in the zodiac is its "dejection," its weakest point./113/ The exaltations may have a Mesopotamian origin (see figure 8)./114/
In the previous chapter, we discussed the Mesopotamian origin of the _dodekatemoria_, the practice of dividing each sign into a "microzodiac." Ptolemy mentions the practice only to reject it as "illogical."/115/ Manilius, however, discusses the dodekatemoria in detail (see figures 9- 10)./116/ The first dodekatemorion is allotted to the sign holding it, the second dodekatemorion belongs to the next sign, the third dodekatemorion to the third sign, and so on. Thus, the first dodekatemorion in the sign Aries is Aries, the second is Taurus, the third, Gemini, and so on. (Other writers use other systems.)/117/ The dodekatemoria serve to increase the possible strong points for a planet within a sign, which in turn helps to explain the varied characters of people with similar horoscopes./118/ Manilius even subdivides each dodekatemorion into five subsections, one for each of the five lesser planets (see figure 10)!/119/
There was also another set of subdivisions, which was really a sort of alternate zodiac, the decans./120/ In Hellenistic astrology, each sign was divided into three decans of ten degrees, but the decans began as a set of constellations used to tell time at night in Pharaonic Egypt. There were thirty-six decans because there were thirty-six "weeks" (each ten days long) in the Egyptian calendar. A new constellation was chosen as the time-teller for each "week."/121/ The decans were also definite personalities, divine lords of time, in Egyptian thought and remained so in the astrology of Hellenistic Egypt./122/ Reliefs of the zodiac with the decans are found at several temples in Egypt, most notably at Denderah./123/ The decans had individual names/124/ and in the Hermetica they are even called rulers of the universe. They also played an important role in medical astrology and in magic./125/ Manilius assigns the natures of the signs to the decans, in the order of the signs. Tha!
t is, the first decan, in the first sign, Aries, is also Aries. The second decan is Taurus, the third is Gemini, and so on. The sequence repeats three times (see figure 11)./126/ Most writers, however, assign the natures of the planets to the decans, and use aspects and planetary lords to analyze their influences, as with the signs (see figure 12)./127/ The third major factor in casting a horoscope is the division of the zodiac into _mundane houses_ (figure 13). The planets may radiate influences, the signs of the zodiac modify them, but the mundane houses relate the influences to a particular time and place, which usually means to a particular individual (called the _native_). This practice was probably invented by Greeks, since it assumes a spherical earth.
This is done by extending the planes of the individual's horizon and meridian until they cut the zodiac, dividing it into four sections. Since the horizon changes when the individual moves, these planes will divide the zodiac differently at different longitudes and latitudes. Likewise, since the zodiac is constantly rotating with the rest of the sky, the planes will cut a different part of the zodiac each moment that passes. Thus, for any given position at any specific moment, there is a unique division of the zodiac by the horizon and the meridian./128/
The four points where the planes cut the zodiac were called the n g #, _kentra_ (centers) or _cardines_ (hinges). Each had a name. The center on the eastern horizon was the most important and was called the ascendant or e # , _horoskopos_./129/ Opposite, on the western horizon, was the descendant, or k e , _dusis_. The center overhead, cut by the meridian, was the midheaven, or fne # f#, _mesouranma_, while opposite, invisible below the earth was the lower midheaven, or # n , _hupogeion_./130/ The angles between these four centers were split into three to form twelve divisions on the zodiac. These are the mundane houses proper, called _loci_ or g # , _topoi_./131/ Together the twelve houses form a sort of a framework against which the zodiac and the planets rotate, as a clock face does for the hands (see figure 13)./132/
To construct the houses for a nativity, an astrologer had to be able to calculate what points of the zodiac were rising over the horizon and crossing the meridian at a given time and latitude./133/ To do this properly took a good command of mathematics, and few could do it accurately before Ptolemy introduced tables based on spherical trigonometry./134/ Most Greek astrologers used systems of linear progressions derived from Mesopotamian methods of calculating the rising times of stars. Sometimes they did not use even these systems correctly. A common mistake was to take formulae which were correct for Alexandria or Babylon and assume they were correct everywhere./135/ Manilius first rejects, then mistakenly accepts, a scheme which assumes a new sign rises every two hours./136/ This could work only if the zodiac were the equator, instead of being angled to it. In fact, the different signs rise at very different speeds, and the exact speed depends on the latitude. The result i!
s that the four centers do not divide the zodiac into four equal sized segments, and the twelve houses are unequal too./137/
The houses are both numbered and named. The first house is that of the ascendant, the second house the next to rise, and so on. If they are pictured like the numbers on a clock, the first house is at nine o'clock, the second at eight o'clock, the third at seven, and so on, counter- clockwise./138/ The names vary from author to author, but names like # k# f , _kakou daimn_, bad luck, # # k# f , _agathou daimn_, good luck, n#, _thea_, goddess and # , _poin_, work, are common./139/ Each house represented an area of life: the first house represented the native's life, the second, finances, the seventh house, marriage, and so on. A planet's presence in or aspects with a house told how that planet's influences would effect that area of life./140/ Together they "provide a spectrum of human experience against which the zodiac with its ever- varying planetary pattern can form a kaleidoscope reflecting the infinite variety of man."/141/
The last technical feature we must discuss was the lots or , _klroi_. These are moving points on the zodiac, like invisible planets. Like houses, they represent different aspects of life./142/ The most important was the lot of Fortune, but usually there are seven, one for each planet, lots of _Daimn_, of Necessity, of Eros, and so on. More than twelve names are known from several systems./143/ A lot's position was calculated as being as far from the ascendant as one planet was from another. For example, the lot of Fortune was as far from the Moon as the ascendant was from the Sun. The lot of _Daimn_ was as far right of the ascendant as the lot of Fortune was left (see figures 14-15)./144/ The lot of Fortune was also sometimes called the ascendant of the moon, and Manilius does give a sort of alternative system of mundane houses, which he called the _athla_ (see figure 16). These may have been used in katarchic or medical astrology./145/
Horoscopes were used in a variety of ways. Predicting an individual's future from the horoscope of his birth, called _genethlialogy_, goes back to Mesopotamia./146/ But horoscopes might also be cast for collective enterprises, such as cities, armies, even whole nations. This is _universal_ or _judicial_ astrology./147/ A variant of this was astrological geography, which used astrological sympathies to explain cultural differences and to make political predictions about foreign countries./148/ A horoscope could also be used to chose the moment which the planets favored most for some activity. This practice was called _katarchic_ astrology, from #g# # , _katarchai_, beginnings./149/ Katarchic astrology was somewhat less fatalistic than genethlialogy, since it assumed that with foreknowledge one could avoid what the planets had in store. It also had connections with medicine and magic. The procedure involved casting a chart for a proposed event, and comparing it to the clients !
nativity. The aspects of the ascendant and the moon were given particular attention, while the mundane houses were also important./150/ It may not be too fanciful to say that katarchic astrologers played a social and political role in the Roman empire like that of pollsters and economists today.
One of the most important writers on katarchic astrology was Dorotheus of Sidon./151/ He wrote in the first century CE, but survives only in an Arabic translation made ca. 800 CE./152/ A sample of a katarchic warning from his book reads, in Pingree's translation:
""If a man wants to make a will, let him commence this when the "ascendant or the Moon is in a tropical sign/153/ as it "indicates that the will and the legacy will be changed. Let him "make his will when the Moon is increasing [in latitude], "decreasing in computation and increasing in light, and its "motion is from the middle of the ecliptic ascending towards the "seas [the North], and conjoining with a star in its station, and "not under the [Sun's] rays. If it is under the [Sun's] rays "[but] not in this sign but in another sign and emerging from "under the rays, then it does not indicate immediate death. Avoid "making your will in the hour in which Mars is with the Moon or "in the ascendant as if one makes his will at this hour it "indicates that the will will not be changed, and the patient "will die from this illness of his, and the will will not be "executed after his death, but someone after him will refute him "in his will and write in the will or steal the will./1!
54/
Medical astrology, or _iatromathematics_,/155/ is based on the _melothesia_, the idea that the planets and the signs of the zodiac each rule over specific parts of the body. The usual version assigns one part of the body to one sign: Aries rules the head, Taurus rules the neck, Pisces rules the feet, and so on./156/ This is the origin of the picture of the "zodiac man" still seen in modern almanacs (see figure 17). There are also versions which assign parts of the body to the decans, to the planets, and even to the dodekatemoria./157/ The principle is the same in each case. A bad planet or an unfavorable aspect with one of the signs causes a problem in the corresponding body part./158/ The idea of the melothesia probably comes from Egypt, where parts of the body were long identified with different spirits./159/ Also the Egyptians pictured the sky as a giant woman, Nut, from Pharaonic times. The Hellenistic melothesia combines the "cosmic woman" with the spirits of the decans!
or the signs./160/ There are indeed, a number of Hellenistic reliefs that show Nut with the signs and the decans superimposed on her body (see figure 18)./161/ The system seems to have been popularized by "Petosiris and Nechepso."/162/ Perhaps the Greek idea of the macrocosm and the microcosm reinforced the concept of the melothesia, as well./163/
Astrological healing was based on similar thinking. Plants, animals, stones and minerals were also "sympathetic" with the signs and planets./164/ If one were ill with a headache, for example, the physician would prescribe medicine made from substances which increased favorable influences, probably substances sympathetic with Aries. Health could be maintained by wearing amulets which attracted favorable influences./165/ Clearly the assumption that one could change physical reality by manipulating the influences from the planets has connections with magic./166/ And as in Mesopotamia, magic was not sharply distinguished from religion. Preparing an astrological prescription often included an invocation to the appropriate planet or decan./167/ One prescription, from a Hermetic work,/168/ reads thus, in Festugiere's translation: ""5. Be'lier: 1er d can. Il a nom Chenchlori, et il a la forme "ici represent [sic]: son visage et d'un petit enfant, ses mains "sont dress s vers le haut!
, il tient un sceptre qu'il eleve sur "un pierre de Babylone poreuse, place en dessous la plante "_isophryn_, fixe dans un anneau de fer et porte. Garde-toi de "manger la tte d'un verrat. C'est ainsi que tu gagnera la "bienveillance de chaque d can en le gravant sur sa pierre et "avec son nom./169/
The origins of this astrological pharmacy are obscure. Egypt, Greece and Mesopotamia all had old medical traditions which included herbal medicine. The astrological connection has definite precursors in Mesopotamia, where plants were picked at certain phases of the moon and compounded medicines exposed to the stars./170/ Sudines is credited with a book on the properties of stones./171/ Egypt had a long tradition of animal-gods, and may have contributed the sympathies with animals./172/ It is probably best to say that Hellenistic Egypt produced a synthesis of elements from a variety of traditions--a remark which describes Hellenistic astrology overall.
[cont.]
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
_EXAMPLES OF HOROSCOPES_
Sixteen cuneiform horoscopes survive: the six discussed in the previous
chapter and others not yet published./173/ Nine Egyptian horoscopes are
extant, written in Demotic./174/ In contrast, nearly 180 Greek horoscopes
survive, dating from the first five centuries of our era./175/ They are found
in a variety of sources: technical handbooks on astrology, such as Vettius
Valens' work, reliefs, graffiti, ostraca, papyri. All known examples have been
collected and translated by Neugebauer and van Hoesen./176/ The oldest known
example is a relief from the monumental tomb of Antiochus I of Commagene, at
Nimrud Dagh in the foothills of the Taurus mountains (see figure 19). It shows
Jupiter, Mercury, and Mars in Leo in pictorial form, and was cast for 7 July
61 BCE, probably the date Antiochus was reconfirmed king as a Roman
vassal./177/
Most of the surviving horoscopes are not in pictures, but in words. Diagrams
are not common before the Middle Ages./178/ The oldest reasonably complete
papyrus horoscope reads (figure 20):/179/
""1. Year 27 of Caesar (Augustus)| "2. Phaophi 5 according to the Augustan
calendar| "3. about the 3rd hour of the day.| "4. sun in Libra| "5. moon in
Pisces| "6. Saturn in Libra| "7. Jupiter in Cancer| "8. Mars in Virgo| "9.
[Venus in Scorpio]| "10. [Mercury in Virgo]| "11. [Scorpio is rising]| "12.
[Leo is at Midheaven| "13. [Taurus is the] setting.| "14. Lower Midheaven
Aquarius| "15. There are dangers.| "16. Take care for 40 days| "17. because of
Mars./180/
| Most of the ancient horoscopes are as simple as this one. Many do not even
give a warning. As Neugebauer and van Hoesen remark, one would never guess
that the horoscopes were supposed to tell the future if there were no
technical treatises surviving./181/ Presumably the astrologers gave their
customers oral explanations along with the simple list of positions. For
example, Mars was dangerous when the horoscope was cast because it was in the
ninth house, _agathos daimn_, in sextile with the ascendant, and in trine with
the descendant, but one would not know this from the text./182/
_______________________________________________________
ENDNOTES
/1/ Garth Fowden, _The Egyptian Hermes_; _A Historical Approach to the Late
Pagan Mind_ [_Hermes_] (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), pp.
91-94.
/2/ Frederick H. Cramer, _Astrology in Roman Law and Politics_ [_Law_]
(Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1954), p. 5.
/3/ Otto Neugebauer and H. B. van Hoesen, _Greek Horoscopes_ [_Horoscopes_]
(Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society, 1959), p. 161.
/4/ Cicero, _De Divinatione_, 2.87, trans. William Armistead Falconer (Loeb
Classical Library; London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1964), pp. 468-71.
/5/ Claudius Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 1.1, ed. and trans. by F. E. Robbins
(Loeb Classical Library; London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1964), pp. 2-5.
/6/ See W. Capelle, "lteste Spuren der Astrologie der Griechen," _Hermes_ 60
(1925): pp. 373-95 for a survey of the evidence.
/7/ For a survey of cultural and political developments during the Hellenistic
period, see F. E. Peters, _Harvest of Hellenism_; _A History of the Near East
from Alexander the Great to the Triumph of Christianity_ [_Hellenism_] (New
York: Simon and Schuster, 1970); W. W. Tarn, _Hellenistic Civilisation_ (3rd
ed. rev. by G. T. Griffiths; London: E. Arnold, 1952); and Michael Avi-Yonah,
_Hellenism and the East_: _Contacts and Interrelations from Alexander to the
Roman Conquest_ (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1978).
/8/ Erich Schmidt, "Die Griechen in Babylon und das Weiterleben ihrer Kultur,"
_Jahrbuch des deutschen archologischen Instituts_, Beiblatt Archologischer
Anzeiger 56 (1941): pp. 786-844; H. Klengel, "Babylon zur Zeit der Perser,
Griechen und Parther," _Forschungen und Berichte_, _Staatliche Museen zu
Berlin_ 5 (1962): pp. 46- 51.
/9/ For the history of Hellenistic Mesopotamia, see Gilbert J. McEwan, _Priest
and Temple in Hellenistic Babylonia_ (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1981);
Svend E. Pallis, "The History of Babylon, 538-93 B. C.," _Orientalia_ I,
_Studia Ioanni Petersen_ (Copenhagen: Einer Munksgaard, 1953), pp. 175-94; and
Godefroid Goossens, "Au declin de la civilisation babylonienne, Ourouk sous
les Seleucides," _Academie royale de Belgique_, _Bulletin de la classe des
lettres et des sciences morales et politiques_, 5th serier (Medaelingen) 27
(1941): pp. 222-44.
/10/ See Joachim Oelsner, "Zur Bedeutung der `Graeco- babyloniaca,' f r die
berlieferung des Sumerischen und Akkadischen," _Institut f r Orientforschung_,
_Mitteilungen_ 17 (1972): pp. 356-64, and J. A. Black and S. M. Sherwin-
White, "A Clay Tablet with Greek Letters in the Ashmolean Museum and the
`Graeco-Babyloniaca' Texts," _Iraq_ 46 (1984): pp. 131-40 for examples and
discussions.
/11/ Otto Neugebauer, "The Survival of Babylonian Methods in Ancient and
Medieval Astronomy," _Astronomy and History_; _Selected Essays_, New York:
Springer-Verlag, 1983, pp. 157- 64; Otto Neugebauer, "The History of Ancient
Astronomy: Problems and Methods," _Astronomy and History_; _Selected Essays_
(New York: Springer-Verlag, 1983), p. 118; George Huxley, "Aristarchus of
Samos and Greco-babylonian Astronomy," _Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies_ 5
(1964): pp. 123-31.
/12/ Claudius Ptolemy, _Ptolemy's Almagest_ [_Almagest_], 3.7.2, 4.2, 4.11,
trans. and annot. G. J. Toomer (New York: Springer Verlag, 1984), pp. 166,
174-75, 211-12.
/13/ Franz Cumont, "La patrie de S leucus de S leucie," _Syria_ 8 (1927): pp.
83-84 discusses one Greek scientist from Mesopotamia.
/14/ Arnaldo Momigliano, "The Fault of the Greeks," _Daedalus_ 104 (1975): pp.
9-19.
/15/ A. Leo Oppenheim, _Letters from Mesopotamia_; _Official, Business, and
Private Letters on Clay from Two Millenia_ (Chicago and London: University of
Chicago Press, 1967), pp. 43-53, esp. pp. 51-53; David Pingree, "Mesopotamian
Astronomy and Astral Omens in Other Civilizations," Hans-Jrd Nissen and
Johannes Renger, eds., _Mesopotamien und seine Nachbarn_ (Berlin: Dietrich
Reimer Verlag, 1982), pp. 613-31. But see now J. C. Greenfield and M.
Sokoloff, "Astrological and Related Omen Texts in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic,"
_JNES_ 48 (1989): pp. 201-14.
/16/ Stanley M. Burstein, _The Babyloniaca of Berossus _ [_Berossos_] (Malibu,
CA: Undena Publications, 1978), pp. 4- 5.
/17/ Such introductions were one of the new phenomena of the era. Josephus'
works are the best known example, and the only ones which survive intact. See
Arnaldo Momigliano, _Alien Wisdom_; _The Limits of Hellenism_ (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1975).
/18/ See Burstein, _Berossos_, for an introduction and a translation.
Schnabel, _Berossos und die babylonisch- hellenistische Literatur_ (Leipzig
and Berlin: Teubner, 1928; repr. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlagsbuch-handlung,
1968) gives a Greek text along with an extensive discussion.
/19/ Vitruvius, _de Architectura_, 9.2.1, 9.6.2, 9.8.1, trans. Frank Granger
(Loeb Classical Library; London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1934), pp. 226-27, 246-47, 254-55; Burstein, _Berossos_, p.
9.
/20/ Auguste Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie grecque_ [_L'astrologie_] (Paris:
Presses Universitaires de France, 1899; repr. Aalen: Scientia Verlag, 1979),
p. 550, n.3.
/21/ Sir Thomas Heath, _Aristarchus of Samos_; _The Ancient Copernicus_
[_Aristarchus_] (New York: Dover, 1981), pp. 299-351; J. L. E. Dreyer,
_History of Astronomy from Thales to Kepler_ (2nd ed., revised, with a
foreword by W. H. Stahl; New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1953), p. 109-90.
/22/ Otto Neugebauer, _The Exact Sciences in Antiquity_ [_Sciences_] (2nd ed.;
Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1957), pp. 71-96.
/23/ See R. A. Parker, _A Vienna Demotic Papyrus on Eclipse- and Lunar-Omina_
(Providence, RI: Brown University Press, 1959), and P. Derchain, "Essai de
classement chronologique des influences babyloniennes et hellenistiques sur
l'astrologie gyptiennes des documents d motiques," in J. Nougayrol, et al.,
_La divination en Mesopotamie ancienne et dans les regions voisines_ (Paris:
Presses Universitaires de Frances, 1966), pp. 147-58.
/24/ Fowden, _Hermes_, pp. 91-94; See Otto Neugebauer, "Demotic Horoscopes,"
_JAOS_ 63 (1943): pp. 115-27 for detailed information on Egyptian astrology.
/25/ Pseudepigraphy, or falsely ascribing one's own writings to some more
famous person to get it a more favorable hearing, was a common phenomenon in
the Hellenistic era.
/26/ Petosiris was a genuine priest of the fourth century BC, while Nechepso
was the second king of the twenty-sixth dynasty; See David Pingree,
"Petosiris," in _Dictionary of Scientific Biography_, ed. Charles Coulson
Gillespie (NY: Scribner's, 1970), pp. 547-49, and Manetho, _Aegyptiaca_,
trans. by W. G. Waddell (Loeb Classical Library; London: William Heinemann;
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1964), pp. 169, 171, 173.
/27/ The earliest surviving treatise, from the first century CE, is Manilius'
_Astronomica_. S. J. Tester, _A History of Western Astrology_ [_History_]
(Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Boydell Press, 1987), p. 12.
/28/ The fragments of Nechepso and Petosiris have been collected in _Nechepso
et Petosiridis fragmenta magica_, E. Riess, ed. (Gttingen, 1892-93), pp.
327-88. See also _De Nechepsonis-Petosiridis Isagoge quaestiones selectae_, C.
Darmstadt, ed. (Leipzig: Teubner, 1916).
/29/ For the spread of Greek astrology and its influence in Rome, see Cramer,
_Law_, 1954; For Mesopotamia, see Otto Neugebauer, "Hatra Zodiac," _Sumer_ 10
(1954): p. 91 and fig. 1.
/39/ Fowden, _Hermes_, pp. 12-13.
/31/ Plato, _Timaeus_, trans. R. G. Bury (Loeb Classical Library; London:
William Heinemann, Ltd.; NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1929), 30C, 33B, pp. 54-57,
60-63.
/32/ Ibid., 34C-38E = Bury, VII, pp. 64-81.
/33/ Ibid., 40A-41A = Bury, VII, 82-89.
/34/ Ibid., 41E-42D = Bury, VII, pp. 90-93.
/35/ Ibid., 44D-45A = Bury, VII, pp. 98-101.
/36/ _Laws_ 821C-822C; _Epinomis_ 981E-987D, especially 985D-E = Bury, VIII,
pp. 2-73, esp. pp. 464-65. There has long been a debate as to whether Plato
himself or a disciple wrote _Epinomis_. See D. R. Dicks, _Early Greek
Astronomy to Aristotle_ [_Astronomy_] (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press,
1970), pp. 141-42 and 241-45 for a discussion. For our purposes it is enough
that _Epinomis_ was a product of Plato's school.
/37/ Franz Cumont, "Les noms des plantes et l'astrolatrie chez les Grecs,"
["Noms"] _L'antiquit classique_ 4 (1935): p. 35; Tester, _History_, pp. 95-96.
/38/ Cramer, _Law_, p. 4.
/39/ Cumont "Noms," pp. 32-33.
/40/ Hesiod, _Works and Days_, 383-93, 414-24, 479-82, 564- 72, 609-19, trans.
Hugh G. Evelyn-White (Loeb Classical Library; London: William Heinemann;
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1929), pp. 28-32, 32-35, 38, 44, 48;
Dicks, _Astronomy_, pp. 34-38; Heath, _Aristarchus_, 1981, pp. 10-11.
/41/ Dicks, _Astronomy_, pp. 87-88; Heath, _Aristarchus_, pp. 293-94; Albert
Abt, _Parapegma Studien_ (Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Akademie der
Wissenschaften, Philosophische- historische Abteilungen, NF 19, 1941) is the
classical study.
/42/ Dicks, _Astronomy_, pp. 87-88; See also B. Z. Wacholder and D. B.
Weisberg, "Visibility of the New Moon in Cuneiform and Rabbinic Sources,"
_HUCA_ 42 (1971): pp. 227-41 for a discussion of similarities and possible
connections.
/43/ Dicks, _Astronomy_, pp. 175-88; Heath, _Aristarchus_, pp. 193-211; Samuel
Sambursky, _The Physical World of the Greeks_ [_World_], trans. from the
Hebrew by Merton Dagut (New York: Macmillan, 1956), p. 60.
/44/ Sambursky, _World_, pp. 62-64; Ptolemy, _Almagest_, 9 = Toomer, pp.
419-67.
/45/ Dicks, _Astronomy_, pp. 153-54.
/46/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 115.
/47/ Aristotle, _Metaphysics_, 12.8.11-12.8.14, ed. W. Jaeger (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1957), pp. 281-86; Dicks, _Astronomy_, pp. 200-203;
Sambursky, _World_, pp. 61-62.
/48/ Sambursky, _World_, pp. 80.
/49/ Aristotle, _de Generatione et Corruptione_ [_de Gen_.], 1.4, trans. E. S
Forster (Loeb Classical Library; London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1978), pp. 200-05.
/50/ Aristotle, _de Gen_. 2.2-2.4 = Forster, pp. 268-75.
/51/ Aristotle, _de Caelo_, 3.2, trans. W. K. C. Guthrie (Loeb Classical
Library; London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1971), pp. 268-83.
/52/ Sambursky, _World_, pp. 86-87.
/43/ Aristotle, _de Caelo_, 1.2, 2.7 = Guthrie, pp. 8-17, 178-81; Sambursky,
_World_, p. 88.
/54/ Peters, _Hellenism_, pp. 129-30.
/55/ Sambursky, _World_, pp. 133-5, 141.
/56/ Ibid., p. 188.
/57/ Ibid., p. 169.
/58/ Peters, _Hellenism_, pp. 129-50.
/59/ # ' n f# fn n # , _kath' heimarmenn theian_, Claudius Ptolemy,
_Tetrabiblos_, 1.3.11, trans. by F. E. Robbins (Loeb Classical Library;
London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1964), p.
23.
/60/ _Greek Anthology_, no. 577, trans. by W. R. Paton (Loeb Classical
Library; London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1929), XI, pp. 320 and 321.
/61/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, trans. G. P. Goold (Loeb Classical Library;
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1977),
223-25. But note that Fate, as Fortuna, or _Tyche_, was an important goddess.
/62/ See Augustine, _De civitate dei libri XX_ [_City of God_], 5.1-5.8,
Corpus Christianorum, Series latina XLVIII, 2 Vols. (Turnholtii: Typographi
Brepols, 1955), I, pp. 128- 33, for typical arguments.
/63/ See D. Amand, _Fatalisme et libert dans l'antiquit grecque_; _Recherches
sur la survivance de l'argumentation anti-fataliste de Carn ade chez les
philosophes et les th ologiens Chr tiens des quatre premier si Ph.D.
dissertation, 1945), for a thorough account.66
/64/ Tester, _History_, pp. 2-3.
/65/ Timothy Gregory, _Vox Populi_: _Popular Opinion and Violence in the
Religious Controversies in the Fifth Century A.D._ (Columbus, OH: Ohio State
University Press, 1979), p. 3.
/66/ For a discussion of "lay astrology" see Franz Boll, Carl Bezold and
Wilhelm Gundel, _Sternglaube und Sterndeutung_; _Die Geschichte und das Wesen
der Astrologie_ [_Sterndeutung_] (f nfte, durchgesehene Auflage mit einem
bibliographischen Anhang von Hans Georg Gundel, Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche
Buchgesellschaft, 1966), pp. 173-83, and Sven Eriksson, _Wochentagsgtter, Mond
und Tierkreis_: _Laienastrologie in der rmischen Kaiserzeit_ (Stockholm:
Almquist and Wiksell, 1956).
/67/ Gundel, et al., _Sterndeutung_, pp. 173, 178; Ammianus Marcellinus, _Res
Gestae_ [_Histories_], 28.4.24, 3 Vols., trans. John C. Rolfe (Loeb Classical
Library; London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1935-39; revised edition, 1950-52) = Rolfe, II, pp. 152-53; Juvenal,
_Satires_, 6.565-81, in _Juvenal and Persius_, trans. G. G. Ramsay (Loeb
Classical Library, Revised ed.; London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1979), pp. 128-31.
/68/ Gundel, et al., p. 182.
/69/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 87, 123, 309.
/70/ Ibid., p. 179.
/71/ G. P. Goold, "Introduction," in Manilius, _Astronomica_, trans. G. P.
Goold (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press;
London: William Heinemann, 1977), pp. xii-xiv, and passim through pp. cv.
/72/ F. E. Robbins, "Introduction," in Claudius Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, ed.
and trans. F. E. Robbins (Loeb Classical Library; London: William Heinemann;
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1964), pp. v-vi, viii-x.
/73/ Cumont, "Noms," p. 33; Andr Marie Jean Festugi revelation d'Hermes Trism
giste_ [_Hermes_] (4 Vols., Paris: Lecoffre, 1949-1954), I, p. 96.
/74/ Tester, _History_, p. 4.
/75/ Plato, _Timaeus_, 38C = Bury, VII, pp. 78-79; Ptolemy, _Almagest_, 9.1 =
Toomer, p. 419; Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 105-06, 107, 110.
/76/ The planets also each have a symbol. Their origins are unknown, and they
were not used in antiquity, but since they are commonly used by modern
writers, it seems best to list them here. In the Chaldaean order, they are: ,
, , , , , .
/77/ Tester, _History_, pp. 18-19, 97. Neither order has any genuine
connection with Egypt or Mesopotamia.
/78/ Festugi
/79/ Franz Cumont, _Astrology and Religion among the Greek and Romans_ (New
York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1912), p. 128.
/80/ Cumont, _Astrology_, p. 165.
/81/ Tester, _History_, p. 4; Cumont, _Astrology_, pp. 164- 66.
/82/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 94; Festugi _Hermes_, p. 96; Ptolemy,
_Tetrabiblos_, 1.4, 1.5 = Robbins, pp. 34-39.
/83/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 97; Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 1.4, 1.5
= Robbins, pp. 34-39.
/84/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 96; Festugi _Hermes_, p. 96; Ptolemy,
_Tetrabiblos_, 1.4, 1.5 = Robbins, pp. 34-39.
/85/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 100; Festugi _Hermes_, p. 97;
Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 1.4, 1.5 = Robbins, pp. 34-39.
/86/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 91-92; Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 1.4,
1.5 = Robbins, pp. 34-39.
/87/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 100; Festugi _Hermes_, p. 97;
Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 1.4, 1.5 = Robbins, pp. 34-39; Fowden, _Hermes_, pp.
22-31.
/88/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 91-92; Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_,1.4,
1.5 = Robbins, pp. 34-39.
/89/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 91-91; Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 1.4,
1.5 = Robbins, pp. 34-39.
/90/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 178-79; Tester, _History_, pp.
33-34.
/91/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 80.
/92/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 80; Neugebauer and van Hoesen,
_Horoscopes_, pp. 2-3; Ptolemy, _Tertrabiblos_, 1.13 = Goold, pp. 72-75.
/93/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 81.
/94/ David Pingree, _The Yavanajataka of Sphudjidhvaja_ [_Yavanajataka_], 2
Vols. (Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard University Press, 1978), pp. 195-96.
/95/ B. L. van der Waerden, _Science Awakening_, II, _The Birth of Astronomy_
[_Birth_], with contributions by Peter Huber (Leyden: Noordhoff International
Publishing; New York: Oxford University Press, 1974), pp. 281-82.
/96/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 131, 133, 135-36.
/97/ Ibid., pp. 130, 132, 139.
/98/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, 2.150-643, = Goold, pp. 94- 133.
/99/ See Ptolemly, _Tetrabiblos_, 1.11-1.16 = Robbins, pp. 65-79.
/100/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 158, 165.
/101/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 172-73.
/102/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, 2.270-2.431 = Goold, pp. 104- 17.
/103/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 167-72, passim; Tester, _History_,
p. 34.
/104/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 199, 201-3; Tester, _History_, pp.
34, 47; Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 1.18 = Robbins, pp. 83-87.
/105/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 182.
/106/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 182; Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 1.18 =
Robbins, pp. 83-87.
/107/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 185-6.
/108/ Cramer, _Law_, p. 25; Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 187, figure
23.
/109/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 155-7, 187-88.
/110/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, 2.203-223 = Goold, pp. 99- 101; Ptolemy,
_Tetrabiblos_, 1.17 = Robbins, pp. 78-83; Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p.
156, figure 6.
/111/ The word "term" comes from the Latin _termini_, which translates the
Greek #, _horia_, or boundaries. See Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp.
206-15.
/112/ Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 1.20-1.21 = Robbins, pp. 90- 107; Bouch
-Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 207, 210-11, tables I-III.
/113/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 192-99.
/114/ E. F. Weidner, "Gestirn-Darstellungen auf babylonischen Tontafeln,"
["Gestirn-Darstellungen"] _sterreichischen Akademie des Wissenschaft_,
_Phil.-Hist. Klasse_,_Sitzungsberichte_ 254, Bd. 2, _Abhandlungen_ (Vienna:
1967), pp. 8-10.
/115/ Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 1.22 = Robbins, pp. 108-11.
/116/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, 2.713-2.721 = Goold, pp. 137- 39.
/117/ Goold, "Introduction," in Manilius, _Astronomica_, 1977, pp. li-lii;
Tester, _History_, pp. 27-28.
/118/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, 2.701-2.714 = Goold, pp. 138- 39; Neugebauer
and van Hoesen, _Horoscopes_, p. 6.
/119/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, 2.738-2.748 = Goold, pp. 141; Tester,
_History_, p. 40.
/120/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 215-16.; Otto Neugebauer and
Richard A. Parker, _Egyptian Astronomical Texts_ III. _Decans, Planets,
Constellations and Zodiacs_ [_Decans_] (Providence, RI: Brown University
Press; London: Lund Humphries, 1969), pp. 1-4.
/121/ Neugebauer, _Sciences_, pp. 83-90; Neugebauer and Parker, _Decans_, pp.
1-3.
/122/ Neugebauer and Parker, _Decans_, pp. 2-3.
/123/ See Neugebauer and Parker, _Decans_, for illustrations of the reliefs.
/124/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 229, 232-33.
/125/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 222-23, 229-30, 237; Tester,
_History_, pp. 24, 128.
/126/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, 4.294-4.407 = Goold, pp. 245- 55; Bouch
-Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 219; Tester, _History_, p. 40.
/127/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 224; Tester, _History_, p. 40. The
classical work on the decans is Wilhelm Gundel, _Dekane und Dekansternbilder_
(Gl ckstadt und Hamburg: J. J. Augustin, 1936).
/128/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 256-57, 259.
/129/ This is the origin our English word horoscope. Astrologers call the
chart a _nativity_ or a _geniture_.
/130/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 257-59; Tester, _History_, p. 25.
/131/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 269, 280; Tester, _History_, pp.
26, 29.
/132/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, p. 257; Tester, _History_, p. 27.
/133/ Ancient geographers and astrologers used a system of zones, or
_klimata_, instead of terrestrial latitude. The _oikoumen_, or known world,
which roughly corresponded to the north temperate zone, was divided into seven
zones, based either on Babylon or Alexandria. See Tester, _History_, p. 43;
Neugebauer, _Sciences_, pp. 183-85. Ptolemy divides the entire northern
hemisphere into eleven _klimata_ and gives tables of the rising times for each
sign in each _klima_. Ptolemy, _Almagest_, 2.13 = Toomer, pp. 122-30.
/134/ Tester, _History_, pp. 39-40. Ptolemy does not give details on
calculating rising times in _Tetrabiblos_, but rather in _Almagest_, 2.10-2.12
= Toomer, pp. 105-30.
/135/ Tester, _History_, p. 36.
/136/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, 3.218-3.246, 3.483-3.509 = Goold, pp. 179-81,
201-05.
/137/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 259, 262-64; Tester, _History_, p.
36, 39.
/138/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 280-88; Goold, "Introduction," in
Manilius, _Astronomica_, pp. lvii-lviii.
/139/ Tester, _History_, p. 93; See Manilius, _Astronomica_, 2.856-2.967 =
Goold, pp. 151-59, Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 3.10 = Robbins, pp. 271-307, and
Sextus Empiricus, _Against the Professors_, 5.12-5.22, in Sextus Empiricus,
_Complete Works_, 4 Vols., trans. R. G. Bury (Loeb Classical Library;
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1945), p.
6.
/140/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, 2.958-2.967 = Robbins, p. 159; Bouch -Leclercq,
_L'astrologie_, p. 281; Tester, _History_, p. 25.
/141/ Goold, "Introduction," in Manilius, _Astronomica_, 1977, pp. lxii-lxiii.
/142/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 181, 305, 288; Tester, _History_,
p. 27.
/143/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 305-06; Tester, _History_, pp. 29,
39.
/144/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 289, 293-96; Neugebauer and van
Hoesen, p. 89, give the formulas.
/145/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, 3.43-3.159 = Goold, pp. 167- 75; Bouch
-Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 288, 297; Goold, "Introduction," in Manilius,
_Astronomica_, pp. lxiv-lxv.
/146/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 83-84, 86; see also ch. XII, pp.
372-457; Festugi
/147/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 368-71; Cramer, _Law_, p. 11.
/148/ Manilius, _Astronomica_, 4.585-4.818 = Goold, pp. 268- 89; Ptolemy,
_Tetrabiblos_, 2.2-2.3 = Robbins, pp. 120-61.
/149/ Festugi Hoesen, _Horoscopes_, p. 7.
/150/ Tester, _History_, pp. 89-90.
/151/ Ibid., pp. 80, 88.
/152/ Actually, Dorotheus was translated from Greek into Pahlavi (Middle
Persian) in the third century AD, and the Arabic version was made from this
Pahlavi translation. See Dorotheus Sidonius, _Carmen Astrologicum_ [_Carmen_],
interpretationem Arabicum in lingvam Anglicam versam vna cvm Dorothei
fragmentis et Graecis et Latinis, edidit D. Pingree (Leipzig: Teubner, 1976),
pp. XI-XIV.
/153/ The tropical signs are Cancer and Capricorn, which contain the summer
and winter solstices, respectively. Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp.
152-53.
/154/ Dorotheus, _Carmen_, 5.42.1-4, p. 321.
/155/ Tester, _History_, p. 23.
/156/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 312, 318-20; Tester, _History_, p.
23.
/157/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 320, 321-22; Otto Neugebauer,
"Melothesia and Dodekatemoria," in _Astronomy and History_; _Selected Essays_
(New York: Springer-Verlag, 1983), pp. 352-57; Ptolemy, _Tetrabiblos_, 3.12 =
Robbins, pp. 316-33.
/158/ Festugi p. 23.
/159/ Festugi p. 199.
/160/ There may be further implications: the _Thema Mundi_ is probably the
horoscope of Nut, who may also be the prototype of the "Cosmic Man" of the
Gnostic systems and Manichaeism. Pingree, _Yavanajataka_, pp. 199-200.
/161/ Neugebauer and Parker, _Decans_, Plates.
/166666662/ Festugi
/163/ Festugi p. 23; Pingree, _Yavanajataka_, p. 199.
/164/ Bouch -Leclercq, _L'astrologie_, pp. 315-16; Tester, _History_, pp.
24-25.
/165/ Festugi
/166/ Tester, _History_, p. 24.
/167/ Festugi
/168/ Such works on astrological medicine and pharmacy are very common. Often
the same work, with only a few variations, was ascribed to a variety of false
authors. See Festugi
/169/ _D'Hermes Askl pios_: _le livre dit sacr _, paragraph 5, quoted and
translated in Festugi p. 141.
/170/ Erica Reiner, "The Uses of Astrology," _JAOS_ 105 (1985): pp. 589-95.
/171/ Cramer, _Law_, p. 14 and p. 14, n. 89.
/172/ Tester, _History_, p. 25.
/173/ Neugebauer and van Hoesen, _Horoscopes_, p. 161; See Francesca
Rochberg-Halton, "TCL 6 13: Mixed Traditions in Late Babylonian Astrology,"
_ZA_ (1987): pp. 207-28 for an edition of the remaining cuneiform horoscopes.
/174/ Neugebauer and van Hoesen, _Horoscopes_, p. 161; See Neugebauer,
"Demotic Horoscopes," pp. 115-127, for the texts with translations.
/175/ Neugebauer and van Hoesen, _Horoscopes_, p. 161.
/176/ Ibid., p. vii.
/177/ Ibid., pp. 14-16.
/178/ Ibid., p. 163.
/179/ Ibid., Pl. 1, no. -3.
/180/ Ibid., p. 17. Phaophi is one of the Egyptian months.
/181/ Neugebauer and van Hoesen, _Horoscopes_, p. 162; Tester, _History_, pp.
45-46.
/182/ Neugebauer and van Hoesen, _Horoscopes_, p. 17.
_____________________________________________________
Sharyn
"CFA" <what...@alt.not> wrote in message news:3f419feb.113201955@bogus...
> Happy Talking Nippon Robotica writes:
>
> >
> > I seem to have misplaced it.
> >
> > Sorry.
> >
> >ash
> >['Was that long enough for ya'll?']
>
> to get into this.
>
Me too. Thanks, ash.
--
~Sharyn
http://www.aat-home.net
Larry Swain
"Sharyn" <shar...@adelphia.not> wrote in message
news:uDn0b.12778$2Y6.3...@news2.news.adelphia.net...
Me three! Still reading...
Larry
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
<<uDn0b.12778$2Y6.3...@news2.news.adelphia.net>>, Sharyn
<shar...@adelphia.not> spleniated...
>"CFA" <what...@alt.not> wrote in message news:3f419feb.113201955@bogus...
>> Happy Talking Nippon Robotica writes:
>> > I seem to have misplaced it.
>> > Sorry.
>> >ash
>> >['Was that long enough for ya'll?']
>> Seriously. I'm not even into the time period re: astrology, and I want
>> to get into this.
Good.
>Me too. Thanks, ash.
I need to resend what, Chapter 1 section 1, Chapter 2 section 2 and
Chapter 3 section 3, right?
ash
['That'd be kind of helpful, yes?']
Sharyn
"Happy Talking Nippon Robotica" <hur...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:w-udnR13Qqx...@giganews.com...
> On 19 Aug 2003 11:15:02 GMT, in message
> <<uDn0b.12778$2Y6.3...@news2.news.adelphia.net>>, Sharyn
> <shar...@adelphia.not> spleniated...
> >"CFA" <what...@alt.not> wrote in message
news:3f419feb.113201955@bogus...
> >> Happy Talking Nippon Robotica writes:
> >> > I seem to have misplaced it.
> >> > Sorry.
> >> >ash
> >> >['Was that long enough for ya'll?']
> >> Seriously. I'm not even into the time period re: astrology, and I want
> >> to get into this.
>
> Good.
>
> >Me too. Thanks, ash.
>
> I need to resend what, Chapter 1 section 1, Chapter 2 section 2 and
> Chapter 3 section 3, right?
>
sec 3
> ash
> ['That'd be kind of helpful, yes?']
>
: ) Yes, please.
--
~Sharyn
http://www.aat-home.net
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
_HELLENISTIC SCIENTIFIC ASTROLOGY_
Our goal in this chapter is to demonstrate how astrology in its various forms
came to pervade the Hellenistic world, including Judaea. We will concentrate
on horoscopy. Our account may seem very detailed, but it will serve to
demonstrate the all-encompassing nature of astrology, potentially touching
every aspect of life. We will emphasize, too, that astrology worked because
the planet- gods made it work. We do not claim that everyone believed in the
doctrines of horoscopy or worshipped the planet-gods. What we do hope to
demonstrate is that when ordinary people throughout the Hellenized Near East
looked into the sky, they thought they saw living creatures, who caused the
changes in the seasons and the changes in their lives./1/ We hope, too, that
the reader will see the beauty of the system, as elegant in its proportions
and intricate in its details as a Doric temple. This, too, was part of the
appeal of astrology.
_ADOPTION OF ASTROLOGY_
In chapter one we saw how horoscopy grew up as an adjunct to Mesopotamian
religion. By 410 BC, when Socrates was an old man, and Plato a young one,/2/ a
Mesopotamian could find out what the gods planned for him by calculating the
future positions of the planet-gods.
Astrology continued to be associated with the "Chaldaeans," but it was the
version of horoscopy developed by the Greeks which conquered the world. By far
the majority of the horoscopes surviving from antiquity are in Greek, as well
as almost all the treatises on how actually to cast a horoscope./3/ Some of
this, of course, is due to the accidents of preservation. Also, cuneiform is
much harder to learn than Greek, and far fewer cuneiform tablets have been
published than Greek manuscripts. But there is a more important reason.
Cuneiform literature is the relic of a completely dead civilization, without
any direct descendant continuing to read its writings, nearly indestructible
though they are. Greek civilization went through great changes, but the Greek
language has not died out, and the literature of the Hellenistic astrologers
and other writers was copied and used by their Byzantine descendants. Most of
the Hellenistic astrological treatises come to us in medieval copies, and the
astrology used in our own society is a direct descendant of the astrology
created in the Hellenistic era.
Greek astrology is a product of the Hellenistic era, although there is some
slight evidence that a few Greeks knew that horoscopy existed before that.
Eudoxus of Knidos, for example, a contemporary of Plato and Aristotle, is
quoted by Cicero as saying that one should not believe the claim of the
"Chaldaeans" that they could predict a person's future from their
birthdate./4/ But how the Greeks learned of this practice and how they turned
it into a Greek science, the practical branch of astronomy,/5/ we know only in
faint outline./6/
The Hellenistic era began when Alexander conquered the Persian Empire.
Politically, it did not last very long. The kingdoms founded by Alexander's
generals were quickly supplanted by the Roman and Parthian Empires. By
contrast, Greek culture dominated the Near East for nearly a thousand years,
until the Arab conquests. This was partly due to the large number of Greek
colonies which Alexander and his successors founded throughout their realms.
There had been Greek colonies before, of course, but the Hellenistic era saw a
different sort of colony. They were not independent communities founded by a
city-state, as Miletus or Syracuse had been. The Hellenistic colonies had
local autonomy, but not true independence or freedom. They were meant to
provide security and local government for the Macedonian kings. Thus, they
were founded wherever Alexander or one of his successors ruled, from Egypt to
India. The colonies also helped spread, more widely than before, the Greek
language and the Greek way of life, which proved very attractive to non-Greeks
as well. Greek was not only the language of administration, but of business
and high culture as well. Any writer or thinker who wanted to address an
international audience, be he Josephus the Jew, or Asoka Maurya in India, had
to do so in Greek, no matter what his vernacular was./7/
Horoscopy was "Hellenized" in this society, although just how and where remain
puzzling. We know that there were Greek colonies in Mesopotamia, the home of
astrology. Indeed, one of the two capitals of the Seleucid kingdom was
Seleucia on the Tigris, some 90 miles north of Babylon. When it was founded,
many of Babylon's inhabitants were deported to the new city. Babylon itself
also had a Greek settlement. Remains of Greek-style houses, a theater, a
gymnasium, and Greek inscriptions were found there by the excavators./8/ The
same was true of many other cities, and even those which did not receive
colonists were still partly hellenized./9/ Cuneiform tablets with Greek
superscriptions are known, and native Mesopotamians sometimes took Greek names
as well./10/ Likewise, we know that Greek astronomers had access to data
collected by their Mesopotamian colleagues./11/ Ptolemy, for example,
explicitly says that he had access to records of eclipses from seventh century
BCE Mesopotamia. He also tells us that his greatest predecessor, Hipparchus,
was using Mesopotamian values for the periods of the planets in the second
century BCE./12/ We know from other sources that Hipparchus was interested in
astrology; the first remark Pliny makes in his _Natural History_ is to say
that Hipparchus had done more to prove humanity's connection with the stars
than any other man. Mesopotamian and Greek astronomy both reached their
heights during the Hellenistic period, and there was ample opportunity for
Greeks to learn of horoscopy as they learned the contents of the ephemerides.
But of how they actually did work together, we know virtually nothing. It is
probably a safe speculation that Greek-speaking Mesopotamians played the major
role;/13/ it was almost unknown for a Greek to learn a "barbarian"
language./14/ Both Oppenheim and Pingree have speculated that at least some of
the cuneiform scholarly literature was translated into the Aramaic language
and script, which was the vernacular of Mesopotamia from Assyrian times. They
believe that it was this Aramaic Mesopotamian literature which was transmitted
to neighboring civilizations. But until some of these hypothetical documents
are discovered, the theory remains only an intriguing possibility./15/
We do know of one Mesopotamian scholar, Berossos, a priest of Bel, who moved
to Greece, settling on the island of Kos in the mid-third century BCE.
Berossos wrote an introduction to Mesopotamian culture about 281 BCE,/16/
called the _Babyloniaca_, which brought astrology to Greece proper./17/ Like
much written in the Hellenistic era, it survives only in fragments quoted by
later writers./18/ In its own day, however, it was so popular that the
Athenians voted Berossos an honorary statue with a golden tongue--a very
unusual honor for a "barbarian" whose Greek was not very elegant./19/
Berossos was probably not the only Mesopotamian astrologer to tell Greeks
about his art. We do know of others who worked as professional diviners at
Hellenistic courts, such as Sudines at Pergamon in the generation after
Berossos./20/ But despite horoscopy's Mesopotamian origins, the distinctively
Hellenistic version of horoscopy seems to have been formulated, not in
Mesopotamia, but in Hellenistic Egypt. Alexandria, the capital of the
Ptolemaic dynasty ruling Egypt, was the greatest economic and intellectual
center of the Hellenistic world, and the Ptolemies promoted scientific
research. Astronomy, in particular, made spectacular advances during this
time,/21/ and it was probably as a part of research into Mesopotamian
astronomy that horoscopy came to Egypt. Certainly there is no hint of any
horoscopy in Pharaonic Egypt, which had only the simplest astronomical
knowledge./22/ There are some examples of the sort of omens found in _Enuma
Anu Enlil_ from Achaemenian period Egypt when both Egypt and Mesopotamia
shared the same rulers./23/ Egyptian priests of the Hellenistic period
definitely added astrology to their stock of traditional learning, and even
claimed that astrology was invented in Egypt, by their god Thoth./24/
In any case, it was a work written in Egypt by some unknown person and falsely
ascribed to "Nechepso/25/ and Petosiris"/26/ which popularized horoscopy for
the Hellenistic world. Like so many other Hellenistic writings, "Nechepso and
Petosiris" survive only in quotes in later writers./27/ But the way later
astrologers love to cite "the Egyptians" or "the Ancients" as authorities for
their favorite practices is a witness to Nechepso's prestige, while it also
makes it hard to recognize the genuine fragments./28/ It was this formulation
of horoscopy which spread across the known world, even back to Mesopotamia,
and which is with us today./29/
A number of factors in Greek life and thought prepared the way for horoscopy.
Greek religion was basically similar to that of Mesopotamia. It was
polytheistic, and the heavenly bodies were thought to be divine, although they
were not major deities. Few Greek cities had cults of the sun and moon, let
alone the lesser planets. Divination was definitely an important institution,
just as in Mesopotamia./30/
Several important philosophers and scientists did promote the divinity of the
planets, notably Plato and Aristotle. In his _Timaeus_, Plato offers a
remarkable creation story, unlike any other in Greek literture before his
time. The spherical universe was created by a Creator, or _Demiurge_ (divine
Workman),/31/ who gave it an intelligent Soul, concentrated in the celestial
equator and the ecliptic. The ecliptic is subdivided into seven paths for the
planets, the "visible gods," who run the universe for the Demiurge./32/
Subordinate to the planets are four kinds of living creatures, one for each of
the four elements. The farther from the celestial sphere and the closer to the
earth they were, the less divine they were. The fiery animals lived closest to
the planet-gods, the aerial animals in a zone within the fiery ones, next the
watery creatures, and finally the earthy ones, who were not divine at all. The
gods of mythology were fit in somewhere between the airy and the earthy
creatures./33/
Human beings were earthy creatures and human bodies were filled from the stars
with souls, who return to the sky if they have behaved justly./34/ The human
head was made an imitation of the spherical heavens surrounding the earth, and
just as the intelligent Soul of the universe inhabits the sky, so the human
soul inhabits the head./35/ This is an early example of the idea of the
macrocosm and the microcosm, the idea that the human being is a miniature copy
of the universe, which played an important role in the scientific and
philosophical justification of horoscopy. The picture given in _Timaeus_
provided a sort of theology for astral religion, connecting the technique of
horoscopy with the belief that the planets were personal gods. In _Laws_ and
_Epinomis_, Plato went farther, even calling for the formal worship of the
planet-gods./36/
By Plato's time, it had become customary to name the planets for the Olympian
gods, and, generally speaking, the Greek names corresponded to their
Mesopotamian equivalents./37/ The planet Mercury, for example, named for Nabu
in Mesopotamia, was called #eg g f , _ho astr tou Hermou_, "the star of
Hermes," in Greek. Eventually, the circumlocution "the star of--" was
abandoned, and the planet Mercury was just Hermes. The change in name does
imply a certain change in thinking: from being one of the god's possessions,
the planet became the god himself. We use the Latin equivalents of the Greek
divine names./38/
There was also a set of descriptive, scientific, names for the planets, which
lacked the religious implications of the divine names. Mercury was g ,
_Stilbn_, Venus was h e[ , _Phospros_, Mars, n , _Pyroeis_, Jupiter, h#n ,
_Phaethn_, and Saturn, h# , _Phainn_. These names were most popular among
Alexandrian scientists, but were not used exclusively even by them. By the
time of the Antonine emperors, the descriptive names were forgotten, save by
scholars of earlier literature./39/
The development of astronomy in Greece also played a role. As in Mesopotamia,
the stimulus for astronomy was the calendar. The earliest references to simple
astronomy are in Hesiod's _Works and Days_ (ca. 700 BCE), where seasonal
chores and seasonal changes in the weather are dated by means of heliacal
risings of, e.g., the Pleiades./40/ Many later astronomers also wrote
calendars, called _parapegmata_, correlating seasonal shifts in the weather
with the rising and setting of prominent stars./41/ This helped promote the
assumption that the stars _caused_ the changes in weather, which in turn made
astrology's assumptions about the planets more believable.
The first Greek mathematical astronomers we know of were Meton and Euctemon,
who offered the Athenians an intercalation system much like the Mesopotamian
one during the early fifth century BCE./42/ Eudoxus of Knidos, in the fourth
century BCE, was the first Greek to attempt to analyze the intricacies of the
planets' movements, using a set of imaginary spheres, concentric, but rotating
around different axes./43/ Eventually, this was replaced by the epicyclic
model which is usually associated with Claudius Ptolemy,/44/ but which was
usually ignored by astrologers. Eudoxus also invented the system of celestial
coordinates and compiled the standard map of the constellations and star used
throughout antiquity. This map of the heavens became the major source of one
of the most popular books of antiquity, Aratus' _Phainomena_, composed in the
fourth century BCE./45/
But Greek astronomers were not only interested in describing the celestial
phenomena mathematically. Unlike the Mesopotamians, they also tried to analyze
the size and shape of the universe, and how it worked. In _Timaeus_, as we
have seen, Plato assumed that the whole universe, including the earth, was a
giant sphere. This remained the standard belief throughout antiquity, assumed
by every astrologer.
Aristotle, like Plato, believed that the heavenly bodies were divine./46/ He
also accepted Eudoxus' concentric sphere hypothesis to explain the planetary
motions, although he changed them from mathematical fictions to actual,
physical, spheres pushing each other around./47/ But it was his formulation of
physics which proved most important to astrology, because it became the
standard view in antiquity./48/ Aristotle said that all that we see around us
on earth is compounded from the four elements, earth, air, fire, and
water./49/ The elements themselves are made of _hyl_, or primal matter, plus
two of the four qualities, heat, coldness, moisture, dryness. If the amount of
a quality changed in an element, it changed into another element. This and the
intermingling of the elements caused physical and chemical changes on
earth./50/ Each element had its natural place in the universe, to which it
tried to move in a straight line./51/ Earth was at the center, water around
it, then air, and finally a sphere of fire before one came to the heavens./52/
The movements of the heavenly bodies made the changes in the elements occur,
but the heavens themselves never changed. They were made of a fifth element,
ether, which had an eternal circular motion./53/ Astrologers, such as Ptolemy,
assumed that the planets' influences changed the qualities in earthly beings.
Zeno the Stoic was a contemporary of Berossos, and, like him, was honored with
a statue by the Athenians./54/ It is therefore not surprising that his
philosophy, Stoicism, was especially congenial to astrology. Stoicism was as
much a system of psychotherapy as a philosophy in the modern sense. Its goal
was to teach people how to live without anxiety by living in accordance with
Nature. Therefore a physical model of the universe was an important part of
Stoicism. The Stoics took for granted the spherical universe and four element
physics, but they rejected Aristotle's theory that the stars and planets were
made of a fifth, extraterrestrial, element. The same rules of physics held
true everywhere. All things were pervaded and connected by _pneuma_ or spirit,
a material substance primarily of elementary fire. This phenomenon of
connection was called cosmic "sympathy," or "feeling together." _Pneuma_
connected the planets and earth, and was the medium carrying the planets'
influences to the earth./55/ Likewise, moisture from the earth rose and
nourished the heavenly bodies./56/
An important consequence of Stoic philosophy and physics was determinism.
_Pneuma_ was the substance of the human mind and soul. Just as each of us is
intelligent because of our _pneuma_, so the _pneuma_ pervading the universe
was a giant mind, which was the Stoic God. This God decided everything which
happened. All events were the result of previous causes, going back the
creation of the universe. Likewise, anything that happened was destined by the
Stoic God from Creation. And because everything was planned for a good outcome
by a just God, the individual could adjust to the "slings and arrows of
outrageous Fortune," knowing that it was for the best./57/ The effects of the
planets were among the more obvious parts of this chain of destiny, or n f# fn
, _heimarmen_, and Stoic philosophers, especially Posidonios, defended
astrology as an illustration of their world-view in action./58/
[cont.]
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
<<qC%ya.167274$ja4.8...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>>, Larry Swain
<l.c....@worldnet.att.net> spleniated...
>My understanding of his meaning, based on how he used the terms repeatedly
>at the '96 UAC conference, was a distinction between earlier stellar
>astrology and the use of planets, signs, and houses on a zodiacal wheel.
Yes, 'horoscopic astrology'. While I agree that is different from
'non-wheeled' astrology, I don't think it's THAT different. It wouldn't have
looked that different to the person that invented it.
(That is to say, some bright boy has the idea to pay attention to the
horizon of the earth and tacks that on to the already extant astro-bits.
Chicks, shaving commercials and such abound, but the change is not that big.)
>> >Astrology -- Another View), he refutes Fagan's theory that horoscopic
>> >astrology was developed in the time of the pharoahs, pointing out that
>> >horoscopic astrology was a composite of Egyptian metaphysical thought
>> Egyptian metaphysical thought? WTF?
>In the sense of symbolic meaning aligned with both human nature and
>principles on which the universe was believed to operate, yes.
>Metaphysical as being the combination of ontology and cosmology --
>Alexandria was THE center of thought in that age, after all!
Alexandria is Alexandrian. Imhotep wouldn't have had a clue, to go to
one extreme.
>> >Taken overall, it appears most likely that the Lots came into use
>during
>> >the Hellenistic era of a developing horoscopic astrology, but "most
>> >likely" isn't irrefutable fact, and Hand himself points to some form of
>> >Lot (Nechepso and Petosiris) coming from the age of the Pharoahs.
>> No evidence whatsoever.
>Not sure how you mean that, Ash.
There's no evidence for any lots coming from the Pharoahs. (Which
Pharoahs?) At all. The Egyptians had a calendar and bits of it SEEM similar to
bits we have now, but that's as far as it goes.
Kings lists and the name of assorted gods were carried down all the
way into the Christian era, even when the history, or even the meaning had
been lost, so having a lot named 'Imhotep' (fer exumpal) only proves that
someone knew that name at some point, not that Imhotep knew anything about
what people 2500 years later would have called 'lots'.
(OTOH, we DO know that the Old Babylonians paid a lot of attention to
time and observations of Venus. But they're Babylonians.)
>> >What *is* certain, at least in my mind, is that the Egyptian forms
>> >weren't written down,
>> Assuming they existed.
>It appears to me that Hand did when he wrote this, or he would have just
>said "Hellenistic" or "Greek" sources, no?
Presumably. On rereading the article years later he appears to bending
over backwards to appease the Cayceites (Caycians?) and the Faganites.
>> >but were transmitted in mostly verbal form to Hellenistic
>> >Greeks like Vettius Valens who traveled to Egypt, learned the
>> >traditions from the Egyptian astrologers,
>> Learned from the Greek astrologers that lived in Egypt. The
>> Pyramid-building Egyptians of yore had been gone for almost a thousand
>> years by that point.
>I don't think anybody was talking about the pyramid-builders, Ash, except
Unfortunately, that is usually the implication.
>Hand's reference to the Pharoahs -- which *wasn't* horoscopic astrology as
>far as I've ever heard, and is what confuses me about Hand's referring to
>"some form of Lot" coming from Nechepso and Petosiris. How can you have a
>Lot when you have no chart to place it in? In any event, there is much
>that remains mysterious and speculative, for reasons stated below.
Oh, there's lots of murkiness about the subject in general. But I
gather the Faganite argument is that astrology is Egyptian, always was, on
back to whomever. Which lines up witht he Caycite arguments about mystery
maprooms and mystic presences and space aliens and 10,000 BC and all that.
Which also dovetails with the whole Crowleyite Thoth thing.
And then of course, people tend to get vague and starry-eyed about the
whole subject, since some of them (many of them? most of them?) want astrology
to have been handed down, Moses-like, from mysterious all-knowing Druid type
guys who could, like, ya know, traverse space and time with the Mayas.
>> >and wrote them down as a compilation. Ergo,
>> >their being known as "Greek" Lots or, more appropriately, "Hermetic"
>> >Lots.
>> >But how faithful the Greeks were in transmitting that purely verbal
>> >Egyptian astrological doctrine is an open question.
>> Seriously. The elder Egyptian civilization went into a irreversable
>> decline at the start of the Iron age and was conquered by the Persians
>> in the early part of that 'Late Era', and much was lost. Saying lots come
>> from 'Hellenistic Egypt' and taking it to mean actual Egyptians is like
>> saying Cadillacs come from Protestant North America, and taking it to mean
>> they were manufactured by Cherokees.
>How about the Great Library at Alexandria? It was destroyed by fire in
>approx. 48 BCE,
Actually I've seen a pretty good argument that while there were great
fires there, the actual annihilation of the Library was in 640 AD when the
Mohammadeans came through. (Consider what they did to the Great Pyramid.)
>and most of the great works up until that time were
>lost -- the single biggest reason we don't know everything that happened
>up until that time!
In the Iron Age. The Bronze took a great deal of history down with it.
>And now that I think about it, it may be what Hand was
>so sketchily referring to: the loss of the Library (which ostensibly held
>*all* recorded thought up until then, incl. Mesopotamian and Greek) and
>thank-God-some-wandering-Hellenistic-Greeks-wrote-it-down-and-took-
>-it-home! Seems reasonable to me.
Well, yes and no. Solon went to Egypt as early as the sixth century
BC, which is where he picked up the Atlantis story that was passed down to
Plato. Other Greeks went as well, since they were starting over almost from
scratch. But the Mykeneans had already inherited/derived the Mesopotamian gods
(Marduk into Zeus, for instance) before the end of the Bronze Age. In fact, so
had the Egyptians. The constellations and the planetgods all seem to come from
Mesopotamia. (That doesn't mean the ancient Egyptians didn't have astronomy -
they did!)
We have more complete records from Egypt than from anywhere else and
astrology is pretty much a blank slate, whereas we have basic astrological
records from Mesopotamia. If the Egyptians had done all this stuff, they'd
have probably kept records, just like the Mesopotamians did, and they didn't.
Ergo, they didn't develop the stuff, and since there seem to be no records of
lost and whatnot before the Bronze collapse, that implies a Classical era
invention, when the Egyptians were pretty much on the ropes and being overrun
by other (Mesopotamian) cultures.
If you want to say that the Egyptians (Egyptian Egyptians, not
Hellenistic Egyptians) were involved in the tramission of lots to the Greeks,
that's fine and might well be true. Or not. You could as easily argue that the
came up through Asia Minor, since the Hittites had inherited lots of astrology
from the Babylonians.
{shrug}
ash
['It's a fun murk tho!']
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
/1/ Julian the Apostate, _Hymn to Helios_, in Wilmer Cave Wright, _The Works
of Julian the Apostate_, I (3 Vols., London: William Heinemann; New York: The
Macmillan Co., 1913), pp. 353-54.
/2/ Up-to-date and very thorough discussions of astrology in Mithraism may be
found in Roger Beck, _Planetary Gods and Planetary Orders in the Mysteries of
Mithras_ (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1988) and David Ulansey, _The Origins of the
Mithraic Mysteries_; _Cosmology and Salvation in the Ancient World_ (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1989).
/3/ See H. G. Gundel, _Weltbild und Astrologie in den griechischen
Zauberpapyri_ (Munich: C. H. Beck, 1968).
/4/ See Andr Marie Jean Festugiere d'Hermes Trismegiste_ [_Hermes_], 4 Vols.
(Paris: Lecoffre, 1949-54), especially volume I.
/5/ See Hans Jonas, _The Gnostic Religion_ (Boston: Beacon Press, 1958) and
Kurt Rudolph, _Gnosis_: _The Nature and History of Gnosticism_, trans. and ed.
by Robert McLachlan Wilson (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1984).
/6/ See John Dillon, _The Middle Platonists_: _80 BC TO AD 220_ (Ithaca, NY:
Cornell Unversity Press, 1977) and R. T. Wallis, _Neoplatonism_ (London:
Duckworth, 1972).
/7/ A late example may be found in Reginald Scot's _Discoverie of Witchcraft_
(London: 1584; repr. London: Centaur Press, 1964), p. 26: ". . . We should not
fail to have raine, haile, and tempests, as we now have: according to the
appoinment and will of God, and according of the elements, and the course of
the planets, wherein God hath set a perfect and perpetual order."
/8/ See H. G. Gundel, "Zodiakos," Section 13, `Bildliche Darstellungen der
Zodiakos in der Antike,' _Pauly-Wissowas Realenzyklopdie der classischen
Altertumswissenschaft_, X.A, cols. 597-705, and H. G. Gundel, "Imagines
Zodiaci: zu neueren Funden und Forschungen," B. M. de Boer and T. A. Ettridge,
eds., _Hommages Martin J. Vermaseren_ (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1978), pp. 438-54
for detailed lists and descriptions of all known images of the zodiac. Nearly
200 examples are known.
/9/ Strabo, _The Geography of Strabo_, 16.1.1-2, 16.2.1-2, trans. Horace
Leonard Jones, VII (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press; London: William Heinemann, 1930), pp. 192-97; Marcel Simon, _Verus
Israel_; _A Study of the Relations Between Christians and Jews in the Roman
Empire (135-435)_, trans. H. McKeating (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1986), pp. 202-03.
/10/ A. H. M. Jones, _Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces_ [_Cities_] (2nd
ed., revised by Michael Avi-Yonah, et al.; Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), pp.
226-27.
/11/ Ibid., p. 227.
/12/ H. J. W. Drijvers, _Cults and Beliefs at Edessa_ [_Cults_] (Leiden: E. J.
Brill, 1980), pp. 3-4; Edwin Yamauchi, "Aramaic," in E. M. Blaiklock and R. K.
Harrison, eds., _The New International Dictionary of the Bible_ (Grand Rapids,
MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1983), pp. 38-41.
/13/ H. J. W. Drijvers, "The Cult of Azizos and Monimos at Edessa," in _Ex
Orbe Religionum_ (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1972), pp. 357-58.
/14/ Ren Dussaud, _Les Religions des Hittites et des Hourites, des Ph niciens,
et des Syriens_ [_Religions_] (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1949),
p. 367; Henri Seyrig, "Le culte du Soleil en Syrie," ["Soleil"] _Syria_ 48
(1971): pp. 337-349; Javier Teixidor, _The Pagan God_; _Popular Religion in
the Greco-Roman Near East_ [_Pagan God_] (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 1977), p. 49.
/15/ Cornelius Tacitus, _Histories_, 3.24, trans. Clifford H. Moore, in
Cornelius Tacitus, _Tacitus_, 4 Vols., trans. Clifford H. Moore and John
Jackson (Loeb Classical Library; London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1925), I, pp. 368-71.
/16/ Gaston H. Halsberghe, _The Cult of Sol Invictus_ [_Sol_] (Leiden: E. J.
Brill, 1972), pp. 107, 111-16, passim, p. 137; H. J. W. Drijvers, "Die Dea
Syria und andere syrische Gottheiten im Imperium Romanum," ["Die Dea Syria"]
in M. J. Vermaseren, ed., _Die orientalische Religionen im Rmerreich_ (Leiden:
E. J. Brill, 1981), p. 243.
/17/ Halsberghe, _Sol_, pp. 167-68.
/18/ Franz Cumont, _Les Religions orientales dans le paganisme romain_
[_Religions_] (4th ed.; Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Guethner, 1929),
pp. 119, 122; J. B. Segal, "The Sabian Mysteries," ["Mysteries"] in Edward
Bacon, ed., _Vanished Civilizations_ (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1963), p. 213; J.
B. Segal, _Edessa, `the Blessed City'_ [_Edessa_] (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1970), p. 60; Teixidor, _Pagan God_, pp. 12-13, 27-29.
/19/ Cumont, _Religions_, pp. 118-20, 269 and 269 n. 109; H. Gese, "Die
Religion Altsyriens," ["Religion"] in H. Gese, M. Hpfner and K. Rudolph, _Die
Religion Altsyriens, Altarabiens und der Mander_ (Stuttgart: Verlag W.
Kohlhammer, 1977), pp. 183-84; Segal, _Edessa_, p. 60; D. Sourdel, _Les cultes
du Hauran l' poque romaine_ [_Hauran_] (Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1952), pp.
19-20; Teixidor, _Pagan_, pp. 15, 27, 124-26.
/20/ Jonas C. Greenfield, "Aspects of Aramean Religion," in Patrick D. Miller,
Jr., Paul D. Hanson, and S. Dean McBride, eds., _Ancient Israelite Religion_;
_Essays in Honor of Frank Moore Cross_ (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1987),
p. 69.
/21/ Segal, _Edessa_, p. 60; Sourdel, _Hauran_, 1952, p. 19; Teixidor,
_Pagan_, pp. 15, 27-29, 124-26.
/22/ The phrase is used twenty-two times in the entire Bible. See Edwin M.
Yamauchi, "Ezra, Nehemiah," in F. E. Gaebelein, ed., _The Expositor's Bible
Commentary_ (Grand Rapids, MI: 1988), IV, p. 602.
/23/ Harald Ingholt, "Parthian Sculpture from Hatra, Orient and Hellas in Art
and Religion," ["Sculpture"] _Memoirs of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and
Sciences_ 12 (1954): p. 27.
/24/ Teixidor, _Pagan_, pp. 15, 27, 124-26. There is also a mythology about
them. The myth of the Fall of the Angels, found in, e.g., the Enoch
literature, may be derived from the Fall of Prometheus in Greek mythology. The
key link is that in each case the Fall was the result of giving technology to
humanity. I owe this observation to Michael Morgan, translator of the _Sepher
ha-Razim_.
/25/ Origen, _Contra Celsum_, 1.24, trans. with intro. and notes Henry
Chadwick (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965, 1980), pp. 23-34;
Teixidor, _Pagan_, 1977, p. 125.
/26/ Segal, _Edessa_, pp. 104, 107-08; See also Walter Kaegi, "The Fifth
Century Twilight of Byzantine Paganism," _Classica et Medievalia_ 27 (1966):
pp. 243-75 and R. Frank Trombley, _The Survival of Paganism in the Byzantine
Empire During the Pre-Iconoclastic Period (540-727)_ [_Survival_] (Los
Angeles: Ph.D. Diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1981) for full
accounts.
/27/ Drijvers, _Cults_, pp. 9-10.
/28/ See Kay Prag, "The 1959 Deep Sounding at Harran in Turkey," ["Sounding"]
_Levant_ 2 (1970): p. 63 for a short account of the excavations.
/29/ For a survey and correlation of Harran's archaeology and written history,
see Ibid., pp. 70-78.
/30/ See Ibid., pp. 66-67, figures 1 and 2, for drawings of the west section
of the probe.
/31/ Ibid., pp. 65, 70-71, 76, 82, figure 7.1.
/32/ Hildegard Lewy, "Points of Comparison Between Zoroastrianism and the
Moon-Cult of Harrn," ["Points"] in W. B. Henning and E. Yarshater, eds., _A
Locust's Leg_; _Studies in Honour of S. H. Taqizadeh_ (London: Percy Lund,
Humphries and Co., 1962), pp. 138-40; S. Lloyd and W. Brice, "Harran,"
_Anatolian Studies_ 1 (1951): p. 87; Segal, "Mysteries," p. 202; J rgen
Tubach, _Im Schatten des Sonnengottes_; _Der Sonnenkult in Edesse, Harran, und
Hatra am Vorabend der christlichen Mission_ [_Sonnengottes_] (Leipzig and
Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1986), p. 129.
/33/ Cyrus Gordon believes that "Ur of the Chaldees," Abraham's home town, is
not the Sumerian Ur in southern Mesopotamia, but a city with the same name in
the Harran region. See Cyrus H. Gordon, "Where Is Abraham's Ur?" ["Ur"] _BAR_
3 (1977): pp. 20-21, and 52; Cyrus H. Gordon, "Abraham and the Merchants of
Urfa," _JNES_ 17 (1958): pp. 28-31.
/34/ Genesis 11: 31-32; 12: 4-5; 24: 1-67; 29: 1-35.
/35/ Prag, "Sounding," pp. 73-74; Lloyd and Brice, "Harran," pp. 87-88; Segal,
_Edessa_, p. 4.
/36/ Prag, "Sounding," 74, 77; H. Lewy, "Points," p. 140; Segal, _Edessa_, pp.
4-5, 140-41; Tubach, _Sonnengottes_, pp. 129-30.
/37/ H. Lewy, "Points," p. 140; Segal, "Mysteries," pp. 202- 03, 211; Tubach,
_Sonnengottes_, p. 130.
/38/ C. J. Gadd, "The Harran Inscriptions of Nabonidus," _Anatolian Studies_ 8
(1958): pp. 35-92, and Pls. I-XVI.
/39/ Diodorus Siculus, _Histories_, 10 Vols., 19.91.1, trans. C. H. Oldfather,
Vol. IX (Loeb Classical Library; London: William Heinemann; Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1946), pp. 78-79; Cassius Dio _Roman History_,
37.5.5, trans. Earnest Cary, 9 Vols. (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1914-27), pp. 106-09; Tubach, _Sonnengottes_, p.
132.
/40/ Cassius Dio, __Roman History__, 40.16-27, trans. Earnest Cary, 9 Vols.
(Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1914-27)
Vol. III, pp. 428-29; Plutarch, "Crassus," 24-31, in _Parallel Lives_, 10
Vols., trans. Bernadotte Perrin, III (Loeb Classical Library; London: William
Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1967), pp. 386-417;
Tubach, _Sonnengottes_, p. 133.
/41/ Lloyd and Brice, 89; Cassius Dio, _Roman History_, 79.5.4, trans. Earnest
Cary, 9 Vols. (Loeb Classical Library; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, 1914-27) Vol. IX, pp. 346-47; Tubach, _Sonnengottes_, pp. 135-36;
Jones, _Cities_, p. 220.
/42/ Tubach, _Sonnengottes_, pp. 134-5.
/43/ D. S. Rice, "Medieval Harran; Studies on its Topography and Monuments,
I," ["Medieval Harran"] _Anatolian Studies_ 2 (1952): pp. 36-37, 45; Segal,
_Edessa_, p. 104; Tubach, _Sonnengottes_, pp. 136-37.
/44/ H. J. W. Drijvers, _The Religion of Edessa_ [_Edessa_] (Leyden: E. J.
Brill, 1976), pp. 7, 9. Segal thinks the site too strategic to have been
unused before, perhaps under a different name. See Segal, _Edessa_, pp. 3-5;
Drijvers, _Edessa_, pp. 9-10; Jones, _Cities_, pp. 215-16. Cyrus Gordon thinks
that Edessa, called Orhai in Syriac and Urfa in modern times, may be Abraham's
"Ur of the Chaldees." See Gordon, "Ur," p. 20.
/45/ The name may be derived from Orhai, the Aramaic name for Edessa. Segal,
_Edessa_, p. 5; Jones, _Cities_, pp. 216, 220.
/46/ Drijvers, _Edessa_, p. 10; Drijvers, "Azizos, p. 359; Jones, _Cities_,
pp. 220-21.
/47/ Segal, _Edessa_, pp. 9-10, 24, 59.
/48/ Segal, _Edessa_, pp. 14-15; Drijvers, _Edessa_, pp. 9- 16; Jones,
_Cities_, pp. 220-23.
/49/ Nina Garsoian, "Byzantium and the Sasanians," in E. Yarshater, ed., _The
Cambridge History of Iran_, III.1, _The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian
Periods_ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), p. 571; Christopher
Brunner, "Geographical and Administrative Divisions: Settlements and Economy,"
in E. Yarshater, ed., _The Cambridge History of Iran_, III.1, _The Seleucid,
Parthian and Sasanian Periods_ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983),
pp. 761-62.
/50/ Segal _Edessa_, pp. 10-15, passim, pp. 24-30, passim.
/51/ Drijvers, _Edessa_, pp. 7-8; H. J. W. Drijvers, "The Persistence of Pagan
Cults and Practices in Christian Syria," ["Persistence"] in Nina G. Garsoian,
Thomas F. Mathews, and Robert W. Thompson, eds., _East of Byzantium_: _Syria
and Armenia in the Formative Period_ (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks, 1982),
p. 37; Segal, _Edessa_, p. 16; Jones, _Cities_, pp. 222-23.
/52/ For information on Bardaisan, see H. J. W. Drijvers, _Bardaisan of
Edessa_ (Assen: Van Gorcum, 1966), and H. J. W. Drijvers, _The Book of the
Laws of Countries_: _Dialogue on Fate of Bardaisan of Edessa_ (Assen: Van
Gorcum, 1965).
/53/ Drijvers, "Persistence," p. 37. See also Drijvers, _Edessa_, p. 61.
/54/ Drijvers, _Edessa_, pp. 63-64. The whole of the chapter "Nebo and Bel,"
pp. 40-75 should be read.
/55/ "Melitonis philosophi oratio ad Antonium Caesarem," in Car. Th. eques de
Otto, ed., _Hermiae Philosophi Irrisio Gentilium Philosophorum. Apologetarum
Quadrati Aristidis, Aristonis, Miltiades, Melitonis, Apollonaris Reliquiae_
(Ienae: In Libraria Maukii (Hermann Dufft), 1872), pp. 504- 05, Syriac text
and p. 426, Latin translation; Drijvers, "Persistence," p. 37; Segal,
_Edessa_, pp. 51-52. The mosaic dates to the reign of Alexander Severus.
/56/ For more on Atargatis and Mabbog, see Lucian, _The Syrian Goddess (de Dea
Syria) attributed to Lucian_, ed. and trans. H. W. Attridge and R. A. Oden
(Missoula, MT: Society for Biblical Literature, 1976)
/57/ Drijvers, "Persistence," p. 37; Segal, _Edessa_, pp. 53-54; Drijvers,
_Edessa_, pp. 79-80; See Lucian, _De Dea Syria_, for an account of the great
shrine of Atargatis at Hierapolis.
/58/ Many editors have emended the text from Edessa to Emesa, modern Homs or
Hama. It is true that Emesa was a famous center of sun worship, but without
any manuscript evidence, there seems no reason to deny a cult of the sun to
the Edessans. See Drijvers, _Edessa_, pp. 146-49; Drijvers, "Azizos," pp.
355-57.
/59/ Maria Hfner, "Ares," in H. W. Haussig, ed., _Wrterbuch der Mythologie_
(Stuttgart: Ernst Klett, 1961- 62), pp. 425-26, and Maria Hfner, "Azizos, "in
H. W. Haussig, ed., _Wrterbuch der Mythologie_ (Stuttgart: Ernst Klett,
1961-62), pp. 428-29.
/60/ Segal, _Edessa_, p. 50.
/61/ Segal, _Edessa_, p. 62; Edwin M. Yamauchi, _Pre- Christian Gnosticism_;
_A Survey of the Proposed Evidences_ (2d ed.; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book
House, 1983), pp. 84- 87.
/61/ Addai, _The Teaching of Addai_ [_Addai_], trans. by George Howard (Chico,
CA: Scholars Press, 1981), pp. vii, 3- 11. The Abgar of the story is Abgar V,
who reigned 4 BCE-7 CE, and 13-50 CE.
/63/ Ibid., pp. 48-49.
/64/ Drijvers, "Persistence," p. 38; Ingholt, "Sculpture," p. 10.
/65/ _Addai_, pp. 68-71, 96-99, 100-101.
/66/ Ibid., pp. 70-71, 86-89.
/67/ Egeria's exact dates are quite controversial. See Egeria, _Egeria_:
_Diary of a Pilgrimage_ [_Pilgrimage_], trans. by George Gingras (New York and
Paramus, NJ: Newman Press, 1970), pp. 12-15, for a thorough discussion.
/68/ Drijvers, "Persistence," pp. 37-38, 42; Egeria, _Pilgrimage_, 19.7 =
Gingras, pp. 77-81.
/69/ Jacob of Sarug, "Discourse de Jacques de Saroug sur la chute des idoles,"
ed. and trans. by M. l'Abb Martin, _Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlndischen
Gesellschaft_ 29 (1905): lines 51-2, p. 110, French translation, 131; Segal,
_Edessa_, pp. 170-71.
/70/ Segal, _Edessa_, pp. 82, 108, 115; J. B. Segal, "Pagan Syriac Monuments
in the Vilayet of Urfa," ["Urfa"] _Anatolian Studies_ 3 (1953): p. 110.
/71/ See Trombley, _Survival_, passim, on the subject of byzantine
_ethnophronia_.
/72/ Ephrem Syrus, _Hymni Contra Haereses_, nos. 4-10, ed. Edmund Beck
(Louvain: Imprimerie orientaliste L. Durbecq, 1957), pp. 14-47.
/73/ Segal, _Edessa_, pp. 179-80; Drijvers, "Persistence," pp. 39-40;
Drijvers, _Edessa_, pp. 43 and 43 n. 10. _The Acts of Sharbel_, a document
related to _The Doctrine of Addai_, gives an account of the pre-Christian New
Year's festival; see William Cureton, _Ancient Syriac Documents Relative to
the Establishment of Christianity in Edessa_ (London, 1864; repr. Amsterdam,
1967), pp. 41-72.
/74/ Ammianus Marcellinus, _Res Gestae_ [_Histories_], 23.3.1-2, 3 Vols.,
trans. John C. Rolfe, II (Loeb Classical Library, rev. ed.; London: William
Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1950-52), pp. 318-21;
Segal, "Urfa," p. 108; Tubach, _Sonnengottes_, pp. 137-40; Theodoret of
Cyrrhus, _Kirchengeschichte_, 4.21, trans., intro. and notes by Dr. Andreas
Seider (Munich: Verlag Josef Kstel & Friederich Pustet KG, 1926), pp. 234-37.
We may safely ignore, as a baseless slander, Theodoret's claim that Julian
performed a human sacrifice at Harran.
/75/ Friedrich Ragette, _Baalbek_, with an introduction by Sir Mortimer
Wheeler (Park Ridge, NJ: Noyes Press, 1980), p. 68.
/76/ Segal, _Edessa_, p. 108; Lloyd and Brice, "Harran," p. 90.
/77/ Lloyd and Brice, pp. 78-79, 91; al-Dimashqi, 7.8, in Daniel Chwolson,
_Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus_ [_Ssabier_] (St. Petersburg, 1856; Amsterdam:
Oriental Press, 1965), pp. 412-13; Muhammed ibn Ishaq al-Nadim, _The Fihrist_,
2 Vols., ed. and trans. by Bayard Dodge (New York and London: Columbia
University Press, 1970), p. 763.
/78/ Lloyd and Brice, "Harran," pp. 79, 99, 104; Rice, "Medieval Harran," pp.
42-44.
/79/ Tubach, _Sonnengottes_, p. 136; Franz Heinrich Weissbach, " # # ,"
_Pauly-Wissowas Realenzyklopdie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft_, X.2
(Stuttgart: Alfred Druckenm ller, 1919), col. 2016; R. Janin, "Carrhae,"
_Dictionnaire d'histoire g ographie eccl siastique_, XI (Paris: Letouzey and
An 1949), pp. 1123-24. Janin lists all of Harran's bishops.
/80/ Andreas Seider, "Introduction," in Theodoret of Cyrrhus,
_Kirchengeschichte_ [_History_], ed. Andreas Seider (Munich: Josef Kstel and
Friedrich Pestel KG, 1926), pp. xx-xxi.
/81/ Theodoret, _History_, 3.26, 4.19 = Seider, pp. 200, 231.
/82/ Egeria, _Pilgrimage_, 20 = Gingras, pp. 82-83.
/83/ Weissbach, " # # ," col. 2017; R. Janin, "Carrhae," Col. 1123; Chwolson,
_Ssabier_, I, p. 438.
/84/ Segal, _Edessa_, pp. 104-105.
/85/ Procopius, _Persian War_, 2.13.7, in Procopius, _Complete Works_, 7
Vols., trans. H. B. Dewing, I (Loeb Classical Library; London: William
Heinemann; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1979), pp. 374-75; J. B.
Segal, "Urfa," p. 108; Segal, "Mysteries," p. 202.
/86/ The best survey of medieval Harran's history is D. S. Rice, "Medieval
Harran."
/87/ Koran, surahs 2.59, 5.73, 22.17, trans. N. J. Dawood (Harmondsworth, UK:
Penguin Books, 1974), pp. 338, 395, 402, mentions an otherwise unknown sect,
the Sabians, as a People of the Book. By claiming to be the koranic Sabians,
the Harranian polytheists became honorary monotheists, as it were. See
al-Nadim, _The Fihrist_, 9.1, = Dodge, pp. 751-53.
/88/ Al-Nadim, _The Fihrist_, 9.1 = Dodge, pp. 745-73; the cultic calendar is
on pp. 755-65. Tubach, _Sonnengottes_, pp. 145-46 discusses al-Nadim and his
sources.
/89/ Dodge, "Sabians," pp. 66-68; al-Dimashqi, in Chwolson, _Ssabier_, II, pp.
381-82; al-Masudi, in Chwolson, _Ssabier_, II, p. 367.
/90/ Tubach, _Sonnengottes_, pp. 148-49; Helmut Ritter and Martin Plessner,
"Introduction," in _"Picatrix" Das Ziel des Weisen von Pseudo-Mar_, trans.
with intro. Helmut Ritter and Martin Plessner (London: Warburg Institute,
University of London, 1962), p. lxx. This last gives a German translation of
the whole of _Picatrix_, while _Das Ziel des Weisen_, ed. H. Ritter (Berlin:
B. G. Teubner, 1933; repr. London: Warburg Institute, University of London,
1962), contains the Arabic text. See also J. Hjrpe, "Un texte concernant les
`psuedo-sabeens de Harran'," _Proceedings of the XIIth International Congress
of The International Associations of the History of Religions SHR_ 312 (1975):
pp. 68-70, for similar prayers transmitted by al-Gawzi.
/91/ Tubach, _Sonnengottes_, pp. 151-53; See also Michael G. Morony, _Iraq
After the Muslim Conquest_ (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984),
pp. 384-400.
/92/ H. J. W. Drijvers, __The Religion of Palmyra__ [_Palmyra_] (Leyden: E. J.
Brill, 1976), p. 1; S. Cohen, "Tadmor," _International Dictionary of the
Bible_, IV (New York, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1962), pp. 509-10; Teixidor,
_Pagan_, p. 100.
/93/ Bertold Spuler, "Palmyra," _Pauly-Wissowas Realenzyklopdie der
classischen Altertumswissenschaft_, XVIII.3 (Stuttgart: J. B. Metzlersche,
1949), Cols. 262-77; Editors, "Tadmor," in Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder,
editors-in-chief, _Encyclopedia Judaica_ XV (Jerusalem: Keter, 1971), cols.
696-99.
/94/ Jean Starcky, _Palmyre_ (Paris: Librairie A. Maissoneuve, 1952), p. 27.
/95/ Starcky, _Palmyre_, pp. 27, 30; Watzinger, "Palmyra," cols. 262-77;
Cohen, "Tadmor," IV, pp. 509-10.
/96/ Starcky, _Palmyre_, pp. 27-28.
/97/ James Pritchard, _Ancient Near Eastern Texts_ (Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 1956), p. 275; A. T. Olmstead, _History of Assyria_ (New
York and London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1923), p. 65.
/98/ The _kethib_ of the Hebrew text of I Kings 9: 18 is , _thmr_, but the
Massoretic note, the _qere_, says it should be , _thdmr_, i.e., Tadmor. The
Septuagint omits the I Kings passage altogether. Flavius Josephus,
_Antiquities of the Jews_, 8.153-54, in Flavius Josephus, _Complete Works_, 9
vols., trans. by H. St. John Thackeray et al., V (Loeb Classical Library,
Cambridge: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1926-63), pp.
652-55, also identifies Tadmor and Palmyra; Starcky, _Palmyre_, 28-30.
/99/ Cohen, "Tadmor," IV, pp. 509-10; Watzinger, "Palmyra," cols. 262-77.
/100/ Starcky, _Palmyre_, pp. 22-23, 26.
/101/ Gaius Secundus Plinius, _Natural History_, 5.21.88, 10 Vols., trans. by
H. Rackham, Vol. II (Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press; London: William Heinemann, 1949), pp. 287, 289.
/102/ Kazimierz Michalowsky, _Palmyra_, photographs by Andrzej Dziewanowsky
(New York, Washington, and London: Praeger, 1970), p. 7; Robert Wood, _The
Ruins of Palmyra and Balbec_ [_Palmyra_] (London: Pickering, 1827), pp. 12-13.
/103/ Wood, _Palmyra_, pp. 12-13.
/104/ Malcolm A. R. Colledge, _The Art of Palmyra_ [_Palmyra_] (London: Thames
& Hudson; Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1976), p. 11; Henri Seyrig, Robert Amy,
and Ernst Will, _Le temple de Bl Palmyre_ [_Bl_] I (Paris: Paul Geuthner,
1968-1976), p. 157.
/105/ Jones, _Cities_, pp. 218-19.
/106/ Drijvers, _Edessa_, pp. 3, 9-10; Gese, _Religion_, p. 226; Seyrig, Amy,
and Will, _Bl_, p. 227.
/107/ Dussaud, _Religions_, pp. 404; Seyrig, Amy and Will, _B l_, I, p. 229;
Teixidor, _Pagan_, p. 115.
/108/ H. J. W. Drijvers, "After Life and Funerary Symbolism in Palmyrene
Religion," ["After"] in U. Bianchi and M. J. Vermaseren, eds., _La
soteriologia dei culti orientali nell' impero romano_ (Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1982), p. 713; H. J. W. Drijvers, "Die Dea Syria," p. 252; Dussaud,
_Religions_, p. 404; Gese, _Religion_, p. 226; Seyrig, Amy and Will, _B l_,
pp. 227-28; Teixidor, _Pagan_, p. 113.
/109/ Drijvers, "After," pp. 713-14; Seyrig, Amy, and Will, _B l_, p. 228.
/110/ Drijvers, "After," p. 725.
/111/ Drijvers, "After," p. 717; Drijvers, _Palmyra_, p. 9; Dussaud,
_Religions_, p. 404; Seyrig, Amy and Will, _B l_, pp. 149, 242, 243, n. 152.
/112/ Drijvers, "After," pp. 716-17; Dussaud, _Religions_, p. 408; Seyrig, Amy
and Will, _B l_, I, p. 95; Teixidor, _Pagan_, p. 136.
/113/ R. du Mesnil du Buisson, "Le bas relief du combat de Bl contre Tiamat
dans le temple de Bl Palmyre," _Annales arch ologique arabes de Syrie_ 26
(1976): pp. 83-111.
/114/ Drijvers, "After," pp. 717-18; Drijvers, "Die Dea Syria," pp. 251-52.
/115/ Drijvers, "After," p. 717; Drijvers, _Palmyra_, p. 9; Watzinger,
"Palmyra," cols. 262-77; Gundel, "Zodiakos," col. 627.
/116/ Colledge, _Palmyra_, p. 131.
/117/ Ibid., p. 38.
/118 / Ibid., p. 238.
/119/ Drijvers, "After," p. 717; Drijvers, _Palmyra_, p. 9; Seyrig, Amy and
Will, _B l_, I, pp. 45, 83.
/120/ Seyrig, Amy and Will, _B l_, I, p. 229.
/121/ For a discussion of the snake as a symbol of the ecliptic, see Beck,
_Planetary Gods _, pp. 53-56, and the sources listed there.
/122/ Drijvers, "After," p. 717; Drijvers, "Die Dea Syria," p. 254; Drijvers,
_Palmyra_, p. 9; Seyrig, Amy and Will, _B l_, I. p. 83.
/123/ Drijvers, "After," p. 717; Drijvers, "Die Dea Syria," p. 252; Drijvers,
_Palmyra_, pp. 12-13; Seyrig, Amy and Will, _B l_, I, pp. 229-30.
/124/ Colledge, _Palmyra_, pp. 24-25; Drijvers, _Palmyra_, pp. 3, 13-14;
Dussaud, _Religions_, pp. 404-05.
/125/ Drijvers, "Die Dea Syria," p. 252; Dussaud, _Religions_, pp. 404-05;
Seyrig, Amy and Will, _B l_, I, p. 232.
/126/ Henri Seyrig, "Bl de Palmyre," _Syria_ 48 (1971): p. 96; Teixidor,
_Pagan_, pp. 135, 137.
/127/ Drijvers, _Palmyra_, p. 16; Gese, _Religion_, p. 227; Seyrig, Amy and
Will, _B l_, I, p. 232.
/128/ Drijvers, _Palmyra_, pp. 16, 89; Seyrig, "Bl," pp. 97, 99-100.
/129/ Colledge, _Palmyra_, pp. 29-30, 213 and Pl. 54, d-f, i, v.
/130/ Ibid., p. 158.
/131/ Ibid., pp. 49-50 and fig. 30.
/132/ Colledge, _Palmyra_, p. 213. For the symbolism of the cosmic globe, see
Pascal Arnaud, "L'Image du globe dans le monde romain: science, iconographie,
symbolique," _M langes d'arch ologie et d'histoire_ 96 (1984): pp. 53-116;
Franz Boll, _Sphaera_; _Neue griechische Texte und Untersuchungen zur
Geschichte der Sternbilder_ (Leipzig: Teubner, 1903; repr., Hildesheim: Georg
Olms, 1967); O. Brendel, _Symbolism of the Sphere_: _A Contribution to the
History of Earlier Greek Philosophy_. Translated by Maria W. Brendel. Leiden:
E. J. Brill, 1977; and Georg Friedrich Thiele, _Antike Himmelsbilder, mit
Forschungen zu Hipparchos, Aratos, und seinen Fortsetzern und Beitrgen zur
Kunstgeschichte des Sternhimmels_ (Berlin: Weidemannsche Buchhandlung, 1898).
/133/ Gundel, "Zodiakos," cols. 627-28.
/134/ K. Michalowsky, _Palmyra_; _Fouilles polonaises 1960_, II (Warsaw:
Panstwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe; Paris: Mouton and Co., La Haye, 1962), pp.
115-17; Colledge, _Palmyra_, pp. 82, 131, 279, n. 275.
/135/ Gese, _Religion_, p. 221.
/136/ Strabo, _Geography_, 16.2.2, 16, 21 = Jones, VII, pp. 238, 258-61,
269-67; Youssef Hajjar, _La triade d'H liopolis-Baalbek_; _Son culte et sa
diffusion traverse les textes litteraires et les documents iconographiques et
pigraphiques_ [_H liopolis_], 2 Vols. (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1977), p. 512.
Different writers included different regions within "Coelesyria," but Baalbek
and the Beqaa were always in the heart of it, however defined. See Robert
Wayne Smith, _The Antipatrids and their Eastern Neighbors_ [_Antipatrids_]
(Oxford, OH: Thesis, Miami University, 1988), p. 43 and the sources cited
there for a discussion.
/137/ Ragette, _Baalbek_, p. 13; E. Honigmann, "Heliupolis," [sic],
_Pauly-Wissowas Realenzyklopdie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft_,
Supplementband IV (Stuttgart: Metzler, 1924), cols. 715-28.
/138/ Ragette, _Baalbek_, p. 15.
/139/ Ragette, _Baalbek_, pp. 16, 98-99; Hajjar, _H liopolis_, p. 178.
/140/ J. A. Knudtzon, _Die El-Amarna-Tafeln_, 2 Vols., mit Einleitung und
Register bearbeitet von Otto Weber und Erich Ebeling (Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs,
1915; repr. Aalen: Otto Zeller Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1964), I, 343-47, letter
no. 59; II, pp. 1123-28; Honigmann, "Heliupolis," col. 715. See Yousseff
Hajjar, _La triade d'H liopolis-Baalbek_; _Iconographie, th ologie, culte, et
sanctuaires_ [_Triade_] (Montr al: Universit de Montr al, 1985), p. 187, n. 3
for a variety of other proposals.
/141/ Eusebius of Caesarea, _Theophany_, 2.14, in Hajjar, _Triade_, p. 430,
no. 329C; Hajjar, _Heliopolis_, p. 187.
/142/ Ragette, _Baalbek_, p. 16; Hajjar, _Heliopolis_, p. 219.
/143/ Dussaud, _Religions_, p. 396; Josephus, _Antiquities_, 14.40 =
Thackeray, VII, pp. 468-69; Strabo, _Geography_, 16.753 = Jones, VII, pp.
252-56.
/144/ Gese, _Religion_, p. 221.
/145/ Macrobius, _Saturnalia_, 1.23.10-12, trans., with an intro. and notes,
by Percival Vaughn Davies (New York and London: Columbia University Press,
1969), p. 151; A. Haldar, "Balbek," _Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible_
(New York and Nasheville: Abingdon Press, 1962), p. 330; Ragette, _Baalbek_,
p. 28.
/146/ Hajjar, _Triade_, pp. 529-30; Honigmann, "Heliupolis," p. 716; Arduino
Kleinhaus, "Baalbek," _Enciclopedia Cattolica_, III (Rome, 1949), p. 616.
/147/ Hajjar, _Triade_, p. 530.
/148/ The only exception is a tessera from Palmyra, which shows a typical
image of Jupiter Heliopolitanus along with two names in Palmyrene. See Hajjar,
_Triade_, p. 207, no. 183, and his "Index pigraphique et litteraire" in
general.
/149/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, pp. 326-27; Hajjar, _Triade_, pp. 528-30; Ragette,
_Baalbek_, p. 39.
/150/ Haldar, "Balbek," p. 330; Honigmann, "Heliupolis," col. 717.
/151/ Cassiodorus, _Historia ecclesia tripartita_, 1.9.6; 6.12.5; Eusebius of
Caesarea, _Praeparatio evangelica_, 4.16.22; Eusebius of Caesarea, _Vita
Constantini_, 3.8, all excerpted in Hajjar, _Triade_, pp. 425-30.
/152/ Ragette, _Baalbek_, pp. 68-69.
/153/ John of Ephesus, _Historiae Ecclesiasticae_, pars tertia, 3.27-28,
3.33-34, interpretatus E. W. Brooks, Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum
Orientalium, Scriptores Syri, Series Tertia--Tomus 3 (Lovanii: ex Officina
Orientali et Scientifica, 1936; Textus Parisiis: E Typographico Reipublicae,
1936), textus, pp. 155-58, 165-67, versio, pp. 114-18, 122-24.
/154/ Haldar, "Balbek," p. 330.
/155/ Dussaud, _Religions_, p. 399; Hajjar, _Triade_, p. 521; Macrobius,
_Saturnalia_, 1.23.14-16 = Davies, pp. 151- 52.
/156/ Youseff Hajjar, "Jupiter-Heliopolitanus," ["Heliopolitanus"] in M. J.
Vermaseren, ed., _Die orientalische Religionen im Rmerreich_ (Leiden: E. J.
Brill, 1981), p. 232; Hajjar, _Triade_, pp. 540, 556-57.
/157/ Hajjar, "Heliopolitanus," pp. 232-33; Hajjar, _H liopolis_, p. 179;
Hajjar, _Triade_, pp. 523, 525.
/158/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, pp. 165, 354; Hajjar, "Heliopolitanus," p. 225;
Hajjar, _Triade_, pp. 516, 540-41, 544.
/159/ Hajjar, _Triade_, no. 227, gives a photo and transcription of the foot.
See Hajjar, _Triade_, p. 541 and Michael Avi-Yonah, "Mount Carmel and the God
of Baalbek," _IEJ_ 2 (1952): pp. 118-24.
/160/ Hajjar, _Heliopolis_, pp. 191, 354; Teixidor, _Pagan_, p. 57.
/161/ Cornelius Tacitus, _Histories_ 2.78, in Cornelius Tacitus, _Complete
Works of Tacitus_, trans. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Broadribb,
ed. Moses Hadas (The Modern Library; New York: Random House, 1942), pp.
522-23.
/162/ Dussaud, _Religions_, pp. 397, 399; Hajjar, _H liopolis_, p. 178;
Hajjar, _Triade_, pp. 512, 517; S. Ronzevalle, _Jupiter Heliopolitaine_
(Beirut: Imprimerie catholique, 1937), p. 23; Henri Seyrig, "Soleil," p. 369.
/163/ Macrobius, _Saturnalia_, 1.23.17-18 = Davies, p. 152.
/164/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, p. 195.
/165/ Seyrig, "Bl," pp. 99-100; Teixidor, _Pagan_, pp. 35, 49.
/166/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, p. 183.
/167/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, pp. 192-93, 205, 217-19; Teixidor, _Pagan_, pp.
54, 57.
/168/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, pp. 177, 183; Hajjar, "Heliopolitanus," p. 213;
Hajjar, _Triade_, "Index e'pigraphique et litteraire," pp. 579-80; Haldar,
"Baalbek," p. 330.
/169/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, pp. 221-23.
/170/ Hajjar, _Triade_, no. 197, pp. 224-25 & Pl. LXXII.
/171/ Ibid., no. 26, p. 45.
/172/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, p. 21; Hajjar, _Triade_, p. 500.
/173/ "Balanion" probably comes from Baal in the same way that "palladion"
come from Pallas. Dussaud, _Religions_, p. 396.
/174/ Ibid., p. 397.
/175/ Dussaud, _Religions_, p. 397; Hajjar, "Heliopolitanus," pp. 216-17;
Hajjar, _Triade_, pp. 500, 502-04.
/176/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, pp. 36, 224; Hajjar, _Triade_, p. 501; See Hajjar,
_Triade_, nos. 232, 290, 360 for Tyche.
/177/ Gese, _Religion_, p. 221; Hajjar, _H liopolis_, pp. 90-91, 98-100,
223-24; Seyrig, "Bl," p. 114; Seyrig, "Sol," p. 346; Hajjar, _Triade_, p. 504,
"Index monumentale," section 12, A and E, pp. 588-89, 593-94, for the numbers
of Jupiter Heliopolitanus images with one or more planet-gods.
/178/ Franz Cumont, "Jupiter H liopolitaine et les divinit s des planetes,"
_Syria_ 2 (1921): p. 42; Dussaud, _Religions_, p. 397; Hajjar, _H liopolis_,
p. 223; Hajjar, _Triade_, no. 233, p. 284 and no. 321, p. 415.
/179/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, p. 91; Hajjar, _Triade_, no. 186, pp. 211-14, Pl.
LXX.
/180/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, pp. 90, 106; Hajjar, _Triade_, p. 504.
/181/ Seyrig, "Sol," p. 346; Gese, _Religion_, p. 222; Hajjar,
"Heliopolitanus," p. 218; Hajjar, _H liopolis_, pp. 90, 101, 106, 222-25;
Hajjar, _Triade_, p. 513.
/182/ Hajjar, _H liopolis_, pp. 36, 106, 224.
/183/ Petra may be the Biblical "Rock of Edom," or _ha- Sela`_. See Jean
Starcky, "Petra et la Nabat ne," ["Petra"] _Supplement au Dictionnaire de la
Bible_, VII (Paris: Letouzey & An , 1964), cols. 886-900.
/184/ For a discussion of the geographical boundaries of the Nabataean
kingdom, see Smith, _Antipatrids_, p. 1 and the sources cited there.
/185/ Avraham Negev, "The Nabataeans and the Provincia Arabia," ["Provincia"]
in W. Haase and H. Temporini, eds., _ANRW_ II.8 (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,
1977), pp. 639-40.
/186/ Starcky, "Petra," pp. 937-38.
/187/ Cassius Dio, _Historia_, 68.14.5 = Cary, VIII, pp. 388-89; Ammianus
Marcellinus, _Historia_, 14.8.13 = Rolfe, I, pp. 70-71; see Negev,
"Provincia," pp. 640, 642 for texts and translations.
/188/ Starcky, "Petra," p. 914; Nelson Glueck, _Deities and Dolphins_; _The
Story of the Nabataeans_ (New York: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux, 1965), pp.
39, 41, 43.
/189/ Starcky, "Petra," p. 941; Negev, "Provincia," pp. 614, 616.
/190/ Starcky,"Petra," p. 932; Yigael Yadin, _Bar-Kokhba_; _The Rediscovery of
the Legendary Hero of the Second Jewish Revolt Against Rome_ (New York: Random
House, 1971), pp. 229, 232-35 and the whole of the chapter "The Life and
Trials of Babatha," pp. 222-253.
/191/ Starcky, "Petra," pp. 940-41.
/192/ Nelson Glueck, _The Other Side of the Jordan_ [_Other_] (New Haven, CT:
American Schools of Oriental Research, 1970), pp. 236, 238; Starcky, p. 985.
/193/ Glueck, _Other_, p. 214; Nelson Glueck, _Dolphins_, p. 74.
/194/ Glueck, _Other_, p. 216; Glueck, _Dolphins_, pp. 74- 76.
/195/ Glueck, _Other_, p. 215; Glueck, _Dolphins_, pp. 76- 77.
/196/ Glueck, _Dolphins_, p. 621.
/197/ Glueck, _Other_, pp. 242-43; Starcky, "Petra," p. 975; Negev,
"Provincia," p. 605.
/198/ Glueck, _Other_, p. 241; Negev, "Provincia," p. 607.
/199/ Glueck, _Other_, pp. 221-22, 227; Negev, "Provincia," p. 605.
/200/ Glueck, _Other_, p. 221; Glueck, _Dolphins_, p. 471; Negev, "Provincia,"
p. 607.
/201/ Glueck, _Other_, p. 227.
/202/ Glueck, _Dolphins_, pp. 143-44, 204-05.
/203/ Starcky, "Petra," p. 974.
/204/ Negev, "Provincia," p. 607; Hajjar, _H liopolis_, p. 195.
/205/ Gundel, "Zodiakos," cols. 628-29.
/206/ Glueck, _Other_, p. 231; Glueck, _Dolphins_, pp. 399- 400, 412.
/207/ Glueck, _Other_, p. 231; Glueck, _Dolphins_, p. 397.
/208/ Glueck, _Other_, p. 231; Glueck, _Dolphins_, pp. 413- 14.
/209/ Glueck, _Other_, p. 231; Glueck, _Dolphins_, p. 415; Negev, "Provincia,"
p. 607.
/210/ Glueck, _Dolphins_, pp. 415, 417, 426.
/211/ Glueck, _Dolphins_, pp. 433-34; Starcky, "Petra," p. 974.
/212/ Strabo, _Geography_, 16.4.26 = Jones, VII, 366-69.
/213/ Glueck, _Other_, p. 236; Glueck, _Dolphins_, pp. 58, 455, 464.
/214/ Avraham Negev, _Nabataean Archaeology Today_ (London and New York: New
York University Press, 1986), pp. 95-97.
/215/ See Maurice Dunand, ed., _La muse'e de Soueida_ (Paris: Paul Geuthner,
1934).
__________________________________________________
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
The bridge between the astral religion described above and the mathematical
astrology of Hellenistic times was the Mesopotamian practice of looking into
the sky for messages from the gods, or omens.
The Mesopotamians, in fact, looked for omens everywhere, not just in the sky.
The collection and analysis of omens of every sort was a major scholarly
activity. Omen texts made up the largest single category in Assurbanipal's
library--ca. 300 tablets out of perhaps 900 total./97/ Omen collecting was
considered practical, much as taking opinion polls is today, a way to avoid
potential disaster./98/ Since an omen was a warning that the gods were
unhappy, it could be countered by changing one's ways. Usually this meant
ritual offerings and prayers./99/ The _namburbi_ texts, in particular, were
meant to annul bad omens by an appeal to the gods. There is little evidence
that many people were at all skeptical about the reality of omens, although
some did, at times, mistrust the professional honesty of diviners. All
Assyrian diviners had to take a loyalty oath,/100/ and Sennacherib once split
his soothsayers into two groups to avoid collusion.
The fundamental assumptions behind omens were that the gods spoke to people by
means of the phenomena they controlled,/101/ and that whatever happened under
a given set of circumstances would always happen whenever those circumstances
reappear./102/ Thus, anything out of the ordinary _could_ be a warning from
the gods. The result was that Mesopotamian scholars, from early times, kept
records of all sorts of unusual phenomena for reference./103/ The records were
eventually collected into lengthy lists of omens and consequences, called
_series_ by modern scholars./104/ Each series concentrated on a different sort
of omen./105/ There were many types besides celestial omens. One series even
includes a section on the behavior of ants!/106/
Extispicy, or looking for omens in the shapes of an animal's internal organs,
was also prominent, although its most important days had been in the Old
Babylonian period./107/ The oldest surviving records of omens are models of
odd- looking livers from Mari, dating to Old Babylonian times./108/
The omens themselves tended to deal with the country as a whole, or with the
king, who represented the country to the gods, not with private
individuals--an important difference from the astrology of the Hellenistic
period./109/
Collecting and interpreting omens was primarily the job of a type of priest
called the _baru_./110/ They formed a hereditary "guild" and went through a
long education. They were supposedly descendants of Enmeduranki, the legendary
king of Sippar before the Deluge. The gods Shamash and Adad revealed to him
all the details of divination./111/ The actual origin of the _baru_ is
unknown, but they existed from at least the days of Urukagina of Lagash in the
third millennium BCE./112/
During the period which most concerns us, the most important series was _Enuma
Anu Enlil_, the major series which dealt with omens in the sky./113/ In the
reports which the _baru_ sent to the Assyrian court this was the standard,
canonical, reference work for any sort of celestial event./114/ The _baru_
priests referred to other, unofficial, series from time to time, but always
note this when they did so./115/
When _Enuma Anu Enlil_ was composed is uncertain. Its present form dates from
the Neo-Assyrian period./116/ Many copies come to us from Assurbanipal's
library./117/ Some of the materials in it are clearly older. Assurbanipal's
_baru_ required extensive commentaries to explain the archaic and obscure
language of _Enuma Anu Enlil_, implying that it was old in their day./118/
Tablet 63 contains what seem to be observations of the planet Venus made
during the reign of Ammisaduqa, of the Old Babylonian dynasty./119/ The most
intriguing evidence of age, however, is a series of Old Babylonian tablets of
celestial omens. Ironically, most were found on the fringes of Mesopotamia
proper. Sites include Mari, on the Euphrates;/120/ Hatussa, the capital of
Hittite Anatolia;/121/ Qatna, in Syria;/122/ and Elam, in Iran./123/
Astrology (of a sort) was already attractive to the rest of the world. A
number of fragments are also known from Middle Babylonian Nippur and
Nuzi,/124/ and copies are common from the Neo- Babylonian period. Finally,
Persian and Hellenistic Uruk have also yielded copies./125/ It was clearly a
popular and important work!
The practice of looking for celestial omens seems to have been at its height
during the reigns of Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal,/126/ when there was an
empire-wide network of scholars watching for omens and sending reports to the
capital.
Whenever _Enuma Anu Enlil_ may have been composed, its final version consisted
of ca. 70 tablets and perhaps 7,000 omens./127/ _Enuma Anu Enlil_ contained
omens on anything that happened in the sky: weather (e.g., rainbows), optical
illusions (e.g., sun-dogs), as well as astronomical events (e.g., eclipses).
Inconsistently, earthquakes are also included./128/ The omens were grouped by
topic into four large sections, "Sin," "Shamash," "Ishtar," and "Adad."/129/
"Sin" held the lunar omens and was much the largest section, filling tablets
1-23./130/ Nearly one third of "Sin," tablets 15 -22 were devoted solely to
lunar eclipses, showing the importance of the eclipse./131/ A representative
section reads:
""Findet an 14. Nisan eine Finsternis statt, verfinstert sich "der Gott bei
seiner Verfinsterung auf der S dseite oben und "klart er auf der Nordseite
unten auf, [. . . .] beim Weh seines "Herzens ein Westwind (in) der dritten
Nacht[wach . . . .] . . . ". tritt in seinem _surinnu_ Venus in das Innere des
Mondes ein, "so wird der Sohn des Knigs den Thron seines Vaters oder das Haus
"seines Vaters betreten. Die Finsternis, _bei_ deren _surinnu_ "Venus in
seines Inneres eintrat, ihre Verfinsterung beobachtest "du und hltst den
Westen mit deiner Hand fest, dadurch gibt (d)er "(Gott) fuer A k k a d eine
entscheidung: der Knig von Akkad "wird sterben, aber seine Leute werden
wohlbetaten sein, die "Regierung des Knigs von Akkad wird verwirrt werden,
(aber) seine "kuenftigen (Geschicke) werden sich gut entwickeln [. . . . . . .
".]. Der Gott, der mit seiner Verfinsterung in der dritten "Nachtwache
einsetze, 2/3 der Nachtwache verstrichen und (der "dann) aufhellte [. . . . .
.. . . . .]. am 28. oder 29. Kislev "beobachtest du den Beginn seines
Erschienens, und tritt Venus in "ihn ein, so wird der Sohn des Knigs in das
Haus seines Vaters "eintreten. Am 28. [oder 29.] Kislev beobachtest du [den
Beginn] "seines [Er]scheinens und deutest (ihn) auf den _Wahrspruch_ "einer
Finsternis. Der Neumondstag zeigt dir die "Finsternis./132/
As the quote illustrates, eclipses were usually bad omens. They were
supposedly caused when demons kidnapped Sin or Shamash./133/ But their
specific meaning depended on the circumstances. For example, darkness in one
section of the full moon's face meant trouble for the king of Akkad (i.e.,
Mesopotamia), but if the darkness were in another quarter, it would refer to
another king. The presence of Venus made a difference. So did the time of
night and the day of the month./134/ Finally, an "eclipse," in the terminology
of _Enuma Anu Enlil_, meant any type of obscuration, and not solely what we
call an eclipse./135/
Lunar omens also included variations in the dates the moon appeared, was full,
and disappeared. The lunar month (the basis of the Mesopotamian calendar) was
from new moon to new moon, which was theoretically thirty days. The new moon
appeared on the thirty-first day after the previous new moon,/136/ was full on
the fourteenth day after the first crescent, disappeared on the twenty-
seventh day, and remained invisible from the twenty-seventh through the
thirtieth./137/ Sin spent the three invisible days visiting the
underworld./138/ For the moon to do any or all of these things on schedule was
a good omen. Any deviation was bad,/139/ with the exact meaning determined by
the exact circumstances. Since the moon's actual movements are extremely
complicated,/140/ the moon deviated often, resulting in many bad omens. _Enuma
Anu Enlil_ gives all the possibilities.
Tablets 24-36 form "Shamash," which is similar to "Sin," save that it gives
the interpretation of solar phenomena. Solar omens are rather fewer than lunar
omens, probably because the sun's movements are rather more regular than the
moon's./141/ "Shamash" includes eclipses, colors at sunrise, sun-dogs and
halos, among other phenomena./142/ Solar eclipses were the most important
omens involving the sun, calling for the most dramatic apotropaic ceremony,
the "substitute king" ritual./143/
"Adad" (tablets 36-50) contains omens drawn from earthquakes, thunderclaps and
lightning flashes, rainbows, clouds and rain--not what one usually considers
astrology at all. Save for earthquakes, however, all these phenomena do take
place in the sky, winning them a place in _Enuma Anu Enlil_. Why earthquakes
were included is a mystery./144/
"Ishtar" deals with the fixed stars, the five lesser planets, meteors and
comets./145/ This is rather more like the sort of phenomena that horoscopy
deals with, particularly the influences of the planets. The tablets containing
the planetary omens are fragmentary,/146/ but Venus seems to have been the
most important, which is not surprising when one remembers that the planet was
always one of the major gods./147/ Most of the Venus omens were concerned with
the date that the planet changed from morning star to evening star and vice
versa./148/ The date of Venus' heliacal rising/149/ received particular
attention. It was anticipated and officially observed, just as the first
crescent of the new moon was./150/ As with the moon, if the period the planet
was invisible was normal, it was a good omen; if not, it was bad./151/
Likewise, the month in which Venus rose heliacally made a difference; so did
the fixed stars near which it rose. Unusual brightness or dimness were also
ominous./152/
Much less is known about the omens for the other planets since they are in the
most fragmentary part of _Enuma Anu Enlil_'s text./153/ Jupiter was called the
planet of the king, obviously because Marduk is the king of the gods./154/
Jupiter omens were generally favorable, especially when it appeared, was
particularly bright, or approached the moon./155/
Mercury was the planet of the crown-prince, and its omens were the most
favorable, since Nabu was Marduk's son./156/ When it came near another
heavenly body with particularly bad associations, such as Scorpio, it even
neutralized the latter's omen./157/ In horoscopy, by comparison, Mercury is a
neutral planet, taking on the influences of those heavenly bodies to which it
comes near.
Little remains of the Saturn omens, but since Saturn was associated with
justice and stability, they were generally favorable, similar to
Jupiter's./158/ This is quite a contrast to Saturn's role in horoscopy, where
it is the most dangerous of the planets.
In _Enuma Anu Enlil_ Mars was the only consistently "evil" planet./159/ When
Mars was bright, or approached the moon, or another celestial body, the omen
was bad. It was good when Mars was dim or disappeared./160/ Mars, the planet
of Nergal, the god of war, was called "violent" and "ill-omened."/161/
Stars and constellations, comets and meteors, were also interpreted in
"Ishtar." Some were favorable (e.g., Cancer, Regulus, and Spica), others ill-
omened (e.g., Sirius, and Scorpio)./162/ Their meaning depended on their
positions relative to each other, or to the planets, and on how they looked.
This last, in turn, involved atmospheric effects, such as twinkling,
brightening or dimming./163/ Refraction caused by the atmosphere when a star
was close to the horizon could also cause some more unusual effects. Sometimes
a star would be separated into a spectrum (blue-green-red, from top to
bottom). Occasionally there would be two or three such images at once./164/ A
representative segment from the stellar section of _Enuma Anu Enlil_ reads
thus:
""XV 8 If the Old Man leaves the Crook behind: the king's "functions? will
leave him.| XV 9 If the Old Man's chest is very "dark: thieves will make a
breach in the palace.| XV 10If the Old "man's feet are not visible: the king
will [. . .] from the "chariot.| XV 11If the Crab's stars scintillate: high
water [will "come.]| XV 12If the Crab's stars are faint: high water will not
"come.| XV 13If the Crab's front stars scintillate and [. . .]: "high water
will come but will not irrigate the field of the "commons.| XV 14If the
[Lion?] is very black: the land will not "be happy.|/165/
_Enuma Anu Enlil_ does show some slight connection with the astronomy of its
time. The section on stars is related to the appropriate sections of the
astronomical works Astrolabe B and MUL.APIN./166/ The order of the
constellations in tablet 51, in particular, resemble the order in Astrolabe
B./167/ As we shall see below, the development of mathematical astronomy was
paralleled by the rise of mathematical astrology, or horoscopy, in Persian and
Hellenistic Mesopotamia.
There were other collections and series which also used the sort of materials
in _Enuma Anu Enlil_. One good example is the hemerology series _Iqqur Ipush_,
which used the date on which an omen fell to make predictions./168/ As is so
often the case with the documents discussed here, no one knows when _Iqqur
Ipush_ was composed. The earliest copy dates to the reign of the Assyrian king
Tiglath-Pileser I (1115-1077 BCE), and its colophon says it was copied from a
tablet of the Babylonian king Nazimaruttas (1323-1298 BCE)./169/ It exists in
two versions, one with the omens arranged by events, the other arranged by
month./170/
Sections 67-102 contain the celestial omens,/171/ and section 71, in
particular, parallels section 24 of "Sin" closely./172/ The other sections of
_Iqqur Ipush_ include non- astrological omens which parallel other
series./173/
In general, _Iqqur Ipush_'s celestial omens are about humble people and
occupations, although the "astrological" section is an exception. As in _Enuma
Anu Enlil_, _Iqqur Ipush_'s astral omens are about king and country. It,
likewise, deals with the full range of matters found in _Enuma Anu Enlil_,
from eclipses to earthquakes./177/
Section 71 reads:
""Si, au moins de Nisan, une e'clipse se produit durant la "veille du soir: il
y aura une (tell) d solation que le fr`ere| "(_var._: tuera) son fr`ere| Si
(c'est) au mois d'Aiar: le roi "mourra et les fils du roi acc deront au trne
de leur p`ere| Si "(c'est) au mois de Siwan: invasions de sauterelles (_var_.:
de "poissons).| Si (c'est) au mois de Du'uzu [sic]: la moisson du "pays
prospera; le jouira d'un march abondant.| Si (c'est) au "mois d'Ab: Adad
pleuvra verse dans le pays.| Si (c'est) au mois "d'Elul: l'ennemi infligera
une de'fait au pays; l'ennemi jouira "de mes biens les plus pr cieux.| Si
(c'est) au mois de Teshrit: "il y aura une re'volte.| Si (c'est) au mois
d'Arahsamna: "e'pide'mie.| Si (c'est) au mois de Kislev: e'pide'mie.| Si
"(c'est) au mois de Tebet: Adad pleuvra verse dans le pays "ennemi.| Si
(c'est) au mois de Shebat: Adad au pays en[nemi?] "sera; Adad pleuvra vers
dans le pays de son ennemi.| Si au mois "d'Adar: malheur pour le pays
d'Akkad.|/178/
Another, more specialized, collection of texts, published by Hunger, using
omens to predict prices of commodities, is known from the fourth century BCE
Uruk:/179/
""Wenn Jupiter schwach leutet oder negative Breite hat, oder "auch
verschwindet, und Mars hell leuchtet oder Breite hat, oder "auch, (wenn) Mars
und Jupiter in Konjuction stehen, wird der "Handelsertrag sehr gering werden,
und die Menschen werden einer "schwere Hungersnot erleben./180/
Besides the omen series themselves, we can see Mesopotamian astrology in use
at the Assyrian court./181/ A large collection of official reports and letters
sent in by a network of _baru_ comes to us from Assurbanipal's library./182/
Most of the letters and reports which have survived date to the years 672-669
BCE. Approximately 80% were addressed to Esarhaddon, and most of the rest to
his son Assurbanipal,/183/ although we do have references in other texts to
similar reports and letters as early as the reign of Sargon II (721- 705
BCE)./184/ Likewise, the network seems to have survived into the succeeding
Neo-Babylonian period. One report survives from the twelfth year of
Nebuchadnezzar, in the form of a bronze model of a deformed fish, with a
quotation from the appropriate series engraved on it./185/ This last report
illustrates something about all the reports, that _baru_ in the network were
concerned with omens of all sorts, not solely with celestial omens. Only
extispicy was left to specialists./186/
"Letters" were usually answers to questions from the court. The queries
themselves do not survive. The letters usually began with an elaborate
salutation to the king, which included the writer's name./187/
""To the king, my lord, (from) your servant Ishtar-Shumu-eresh: "Good health
to the king! May the gods Nab and Marduk bless the "king, my lord! The 20th,
the 22nd, and the 25th are good days "for taking the oath . . . . they may
take it whenever the king, "my lord, says./188/
Reports, in contrast, were sent in by the observers in the network whenever an
omen was seen. They begin and end abruptly, and have the _baru_'s signature at
the end./189/ Usually they include an account of the phenomenon seen, and an
interpretation, which includes an appropriate quotation from __Enuma Anu
Enlil__ or another series. Occasionally technical terms in the quotation are
explained. The phenomena include all the great variety in _Enuma Anu Enlil_,
weather and earthquakes, as well as genuine astronomical phenomena./190/ One
longer example illustrates many of the above statements:
""Last night a halo surrounded the Moon and Jupiter "(_Sagmigar_) and Scorpio
stood within it. When a halo surrounds "the moon and Jupiter (_Sagmigar_)
stands within it, the king of "Akkad will be besieged. When a halo surrounds
the Moon and "Jupiter (_Nibiru_) stands within it, there will be a slaughter
"of cattle and beasts within the field. (Marduk is _Uminpauddu_ "at its
appearance; when it has risen for two (or four?) hours, "it becomes
_Sagmigar_; when it stands in the meridian it becomes "_Nibiru_.) When a halo
surrounds the moon and Scorpio stands "within it, it causes men to marry
princesses (or) lions will die "and the traffic of the land will be hindered.
(These are from "the series `When a halo surrounds the Moon and Jupiter stands
"within it, the King of Aharru will exercise might and accomplish "the defeat
of his foe.' This is unpropitious.) From Nabu- "musisi./191/
Often the writer tried to reassure the king by putting as favorable an
interpretation as possible/192/ When this was not possible, the _baru_ might
suggest an apotropaic ritual to counter the evil portended./193/ The
_namburbi_ rituals were often used, usually a "general" or "universal"
_namburbi_, covering all evil omens in general./194/ "The night of the . . .
day Jupiter (_Sagm!gar_) stood within the halo of the moon. Let them make a
_nambulbi_ [sic] ceremony. The halo was open on one side. From Nab-ah-
iriba."/195/
In a serious case, when the king's life was threatened, a substitute king
would replace the real one for a time, then be killed. Approximately thirty
letters dealing with the substitute king ritual survive, implying that it was
not a rare event. In each case, the ritual was a response to an eclipse of the
sun or moon./196/
Since the _baru_ advised the king what to do and when to do it, they
potentially had great influence on Assyrian politics. This was presumably why
they all swore loyalty to the crown. In the surviving records, however, there
is no hint of influence. Indeed, the _baru_ went to some trouble to avoid any
appearance of influencing the king, as we saw in the letter quoted above.
[cont.]
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
Astrology was part of polytheism in the Hellenistic and Roman Near East. The
planets were named for gods and they were worshipped as gods, who worked their
wills by their movements through the sky. Furthermore, many Jews practiced
astrology, as seen in mosaics of the zodiac on the floors of several
synagogues of the Byzantine period in Israel. How did they over-look or
explain away the polytheistic implications of what they put on their floors?
This is the vital question which this dissertation will try to answer.
First, it is necessary to demonstrate the origins of astrology in Mesopotamian
religion. This will be done in four sections. In the first we shall introduce
Mesopotamian religion and the major gods. Next, we shall demonstrate that the
planets were worshipped as incarnations of the gods. Thirdly, we shall show
that the Mesopotamians believed that the planet-gods spoke to them by means of
astral omens, that is, by extraordinary events in the sky. Finally, we shall
see how the horoscope was invented as a combination of astronomy and astral
omens.
Mesopotamian religion was basically similar to other ancient religions. It was
polytheistic, with literally thousands of gods,/1/ personifications of every
aspect of nature and of human society. The gods were imagined to be much like
human beings, save that they never died/2/ and were far more powerful./3/ The
gods were married and had children, they lived in their temples, where they
were represented by their statues. Much of divine worship paralleled the
everyday life of a Mesopotamian king. The statues were presented with meals,
accompanied by music and incense, just as the king was./4/ The various cities
were each the estate of a particular god, although the others would have
temples there, too. Human beings in general were created to be slaves, doing
work the gods did not care to do./5/ Human rulers were the supervisors of the
gods' estates, while the universe as a whole was the kingdom of the gods. The
events of history and of everyday life were decided by a divine government,
the prototype of earthly governments./6/
Of the thousands of gods listed in Mesopotamian literature, only a few, the
"Great Gods," were thought to rule the universe. The "Great Gods" were the
ones identified with the planets, who became the gods of astrology. This is
not to say that all the "Great Gods" were primarily astral deities. Some had
little or no connection with the heavens, and even those who did had other
important aspects as well. Nevertheless from the early days of Mesopotamian
history there was a prominent association between the gods and the sky, one
which grew more prominent with time. It is significant that the
determinative/7/ for a god was originally a picture of a star, the "dingir"
sign./8/ This tells us that the stars were identified with the gods even in
prehistoric times, when the cuneiform writing system was invented.
Most of our attention will be given to the later periods, from the
Neo-Assyrian period down to the Parthian, when astral religion and astrology
were most prominent. Not only was this the period astral religion was most
highly-developed, but it also gives us the most documents. Many of these
documents were composed in the earlier periods, although the exact dates are
often quite uncertain. But whenever composed, they illustrate the thinking of
the period which used them and which created astrology. The astrology and
astral religion of this period were, in turn, transmitted to the rest of the
world in the over-lapping Hellenistic period. It is this transmitted astral
religion which will be important in the rest of our discussion.
Some definitions are in order at this point. _Astral religion_ is used here to
mean not only the identification of the stars and planets with the gods, but
the worship of the planets and stars. Prayers and sacrifices were made to the
gods in their stellar aspects, just as to their other aspects. _Astrology_
means the use of the movements of the planets for divination. This includes
the earlier Mesopotamian practice of observing omens/9/ in the sky (which is
what Assyriologists call astrology) as well as the later practice of
calculating the planets' positions at any given time, which Assyriologists
call "horoscopy." _Horoscopy_, in turn, is what we call astrology today.
The most prominent of the heavenly bodies are the sun and the moon. It is thus
not surprising that they were the oldest and most important astral deities.
Sin, the moon-god, was more important to the Mesopotamians than his son,
Shamash, the sun. His major duties included giving light at night and
providing the lunar calendar./10/ As we shall see, the various phenomena of
the lunar cycle were important occasions for omens, as were lunar eclipses.
Sin's chief cultic centers were Ur in the south and Harran in the north,/11/
where he was worshipped into Late Antiquity and even the Islamic period./12/
Sin was married to the goddess Ningal and they had three children, Shamash,
Ishtar, and Adad.
Shamash was the most important astral deity after Sin. He not only illuminated
the world, crossing the sky from entrance to exit in a mule-drawn chariot,/13/
but was also the god of justice and protector of the oppressed. Together with
his brother Adad, a god of storm and rain, Shamash was the patron of
divination. His special cities were Sippar and Larsa./14/
The five lesser planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, are less
obvious to the casual watcher than the sun and the moon, but are still easy to
tell from the other points of light in the night sky, the fixed stars. They
are brighter, and are thus visible in twilight or a hazy sky when the fixed
stars are not. An even more obvious difference is that they seem to wander
from night to night, something easily seen against the unmoving background of
the fixed stars. This gave them their Greek name, # # g , _plants_ or
"wanderers." One Mesopotamian said "The planets are those whose stars pass on
their own road over themselves."/15/
The brightest and most easily noticed of the five lesser planets is Venus,
always close to the sun as the morning or the evening star. Thus, the third
important, primeval, astral deity was the Mesopotamian Venus, Ishtar, the
"Queen of Heaven."/16/ She was by far the most important goddess in the later
days of Mesopotamian civilization, absorbing most of the others. Her name even
became a generic word for "goddess."/17/ Ishtar was also the patron of all
aspects of sexuality, protector of kings, and goddess of war. Her major city
was Uruk, where she was the wife of the sky-god, Anu, who had lost most of his
importance by the time our records begin./18/
The remaining planets are not as easy to see. They were also associated with
major gods, but the association was not as fundamental as in the case of Sin,
Shamash and Ishtar. They had other functions before they were associated with
the planets, and these functions remained more important. Nevertheless, their
astral aspects were not trivial.
Jupiter is the brightest of the planets after Venus, and, unlike Venus, can be
seen throughout the night, not only at dawn and dusk. It was the star of the
king of the gods, who, during our period, was Marduk, the patron-deity of the
city of Babylon./19/ Originally both Babylon and Marduk were unimportant, but
as Babylon became the greatest city in Mesopotamia, Marduk rose in importance,
too. In the creation epic, _Enuma Elish_, he assigned the gods to their stars,
and took Jupiter for himself./20/
The remaining planets visible to the naked eye are Saturn, Mars and Mercury,
associated with the gods Ninurta, Nergal, and Nabu, respectively.
In early times, Ninurta was the god of the spring thunderstorms./21/ By the
first millennium, however, he had become the god of hunting and warfare. His
wife was Gula, the goddess of healing, and who was associated with the
constellation Aquarius./22/ Curiously, the planet Saturn was also sometimes
considered a second sun, representing law and justice./23/
Nergal was the god of death, especially by disease and violence, and by
extension, the god of the underworld, the land of the dead./24/ His chief myth
tells how he conquered and then married the previous ruler of the dead, the
goddess Ereshkigal. His major cult center was Cutha./25/
The last of the planet-gods was Nabu, the son of Marduk. He was patron of
agriculture and commerce, but he was especially the god of scribes and of
scholarship./26/ His most important role was to be the scribe of the gods and
keeper of the "tablets of destiny" which recorded the decisions of the
gods./27/ Nabu achieved his greatest importance after 800 BCE and during the
Neo- Babylonian dynasty may have been replacing Marduk as the most important
of the gods, much as Marduk had replaced Enlil./28/ Certainly many of the
Neo-Babylonian kings bore his name in theirs (e.g., Nebuchadnezzer,
Nabonidus). His special cult city was Borsippa, near Babylon./29/
The fixed stars and the constellations into which the Mesopotamians grouped
them were also associated with various gods. As a whole they were divided into
three bands parallel to the celestial equator, the "Ways" of Anu, Enlil, and
Ea,/30/ three gods who were not primarily astral. Anu was the sky god, Enlil
was the god of storms, as well as king of the gods before Marduk./31/ Ea was
the god of fresh water and magic, as well as the father of Marduk./32/ The
"Ways" were primarily an astronomical, not a religious, concept. The
constellations were sometimes worshipped, particularly in magic or medicine.
But the most important constellation for religion was the Pleiades, associated
with a group of seven unnamed gods, the _Sibittu_, often called upon to
witness oaths and treaties./33/ Whether or not they were the "seven evil gods"
who caused eclipses by attacking Sin is unclear./34/
_THE CULT OF THE PLANET-GODS_
Having introduced the chief gods, we shall now examine literary evidence
demonstrating the cult of the planet-gods. We shall look at the Creation Epic
and at a variety of prayers and magical texts. I shall use simple and common
definitions for prayer and magic here. In prayer, one makes a request of a
god. The magician tries to coerce or even command a god. In practice, however,
the distinction may break down. For example, knowing the habits of a god, his
likes and dislikes, one might make a request in such a way that it would be
unlikely, even impossible to reject. Certainly, there was no clear distinction
between prayer and magic in Mesopotamia./35/ It is the modern scholars who
have drawn it, and in many cases they have been force to "fudge," coining the
term "Gebetsbeschwrungen," or "Prayer-spells" to cover texts which are neither
clearly magical nor prayers./36/
Magical ceremonies in Mesopotamia were private, small-scale, versions of the
rituals performed publicly in the temples. Magical practitioners of different
sorts were usually priests. References to the astral aspects of the various
gods are common, although they do not crowd out other aspects./38/
_Enuma Elish_, the Mesopotamian epic of creation, is not actually about
creation _ex_ _nihilo_ in the traditional Christian sense, but about how a
pre-existing universe was put into its present shape and organization. In
particular, it tells how Marduk became the king of the gods and shaped the
universe./38/ _Enuma Elish_ has a complicated history. In the form we now have
it, it probably dates to the mid-second millennium BCE. At least, the language
is the Akkadian of that time./39/ For our purposes, the exact date of
composition is not very important. The myth uses materials from Sumerian times
(when Enlil was probably the hero), and was in regular use during the
Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods, when it was read as part of the New
Year Festival. (In the Assyrian version, Assur replaced Marduk as the
hero.)/40/ _Enuma Elish_ emphasizes the assignment of the stars to gods and
Marduk's association with Jupiter. This is not to say that the author's main
purpose was to explain how the gods came to be associated with the planets.
Probably his goal was political, to demonstrate that Marduk was king of the
gods, and that his city Babylon thus deserved to rule the earth. But it does
so by giving Marduk the responsibility for putting the universe into its
present form, which includes assigning the stars and planets to their gods.
For this reason _Enuma Elish_ is an appropriate text to begin our discussion
of the planets and stars as gods.
The _Enuma Elish_ begins with a description of primal chaos, and quickly
proceeds to a list of primal gods who beget successive generations. Tiamat,
Apsu, and Mummu are the first gods. The fourth generation is Anu, the first of
the "Great Gods," and he soon begets the rest. This younger generation of gods
soon quarrels with their elders, and a war breaks out between Apsu, Tiamat,
and Mummu, on one side, and Anu and his young gods on the other. Apsu and
Mummu are disposed of by Ea in the opening skirmishes./41/ But when Tiamat
continues the war more vigorously,/42/ all the gods are afraid to fight her,
save Marduk, Ea's son./43/ He agrees to fight Tiamat if the gods will vote him
supreme power,/44/ which they do. Tiamat is defeated in short order./45/
This is the point where the story begins to relate to astral religion, for
Marduk uses Tiamat's body to make the universe we know.
""He split her open like a mussel (?) into two (parts);| Half "of her he set
in place and formed the sky (therewith) as a roof| ". . . .| He created
stations for the great gods;| The stars "their likeness(es), the signs of the
zodiac/46/ he set up.| He "determined the year, defined the divisions;| For
each of the "twelve months he set up constellations.|/47/ After he had
"de[fined] the days of the year [by means] of constellations,| He "founded the
station on Nbiru/48/ to make known their duties "(?).| That none might go
wrong (and) be remiss,| He established "the stations of Enlil and Ea together
with it.| He opened gates "on both sides,|/49/ And made strong locks to the
left and "right.| In the very center thereof he fixed the zenith.| The "moon
he caused to shine forth; the night he entrusted (to her).| "He appointed her,
the ornament of the night, to make known the "days| `Monthly without ceasing
to go forth with a tiara.| At the "beginning of the month, namely, of the
rising o[ver] the land,| "Thou shalt shine with horns to make known six days;|
On the "seventh day with [hal]f a tiara.| At the full moon thou shalt "stand
in opposition (to the sun) in the middle of each [month].| "When the sun has
[overtaken] thee on the foundation of heaven,| "Decrease [the tiara of full]
light and form it backward.| [At "the period of invisi]bility draw near to the
way of the "sun,|/50/ And on [the twenty-ninth] thou shalt stand in
"opposition to the sun a second time. . . .'|/51/
It is significant that one of Marduk's first acts in shaping the universe was
to organize the heavenly bodies, and particularly the schedule of the moon. In
fact, he was creating the Mesopotamian calendar, which was based on the lunar
month. The moon's monthly cycle was also important in the collection of
celestial omens, _Enuma Anu Enlil_. It is also important to note that the
heavenly bodies were personal beings and not lifeless things. This view of the
stars and planets as persons is confirmed in the following sections, where
Marduk continues creation. In line 42 of tablet 7, and again in line 81, 300
gods were set in the sky as guards. Perhaps they were the fixed stars./52/
After Marduk finished shaping the universe, the victorious gods celebrated
with a banquet, and praised Marduk by reciting his fifty names and the powers
they imply. In lines 126-131 he was named the planet Jupiter: "Nbiru shall be
in control of the passages in heaven and earth, . . . Nbiru is his star which
they caused to shine in the sky."/53/ In other words, among his other powers,
Marduk was an astral deity too, both a personal god and a shining star.
_Enuma Elish_ is not only important for what it tells us about Mesopotamian
thinking. Its conceptions may also have had some influence on Hellenistic
astrology and astral religion. For Berossus, the Babylonian priest credited
with bringing astrology to Greece, gave a creation account which is quite
close to the one in _Enuma Elish_./54/ The fifth century CE philosopher
Damascius also refers to a creation account similar to _Enuma Elish_, calling
Bel demiurge, or creator./55/
The divinity of the heavenly bodies was not merely a literary motif. Numerous
prayers and rituals from a variety of sources address the divine stars. One
fairly common example is the so-called "Prayer to the Gods of the Night." An
example published by Oppenheim reads thus, beginning with line 19:
""Samas-star, [. . .]-star, Marduk-star,| Nabu-star, [. . ".]-star,
Eritu-star,| and enter, you, (too) Istar (i.e., "Venus),| great queen--| he
who mentions (all of) you (stars) is "sure to obtain what he desires.| I
conjure (all of) you, pure "heaven, pure earth,| pure upper stars, pure lower
stars,| pure "gods, pure goddesses . . . .| My lips are clean, my hands washed
". . . .| I have called you, stars in the north, the south, the "east, and the
west-| the famous stars (as well as) the lesser "stars that the eye cannot see
(well),| the casual observer "cannot observe,| those of (the paths of) Anu,
Enlil, and Ea--| "Surround me, all of you, gather around me! . . .|
I have prepared for you a pure sacrifice,| scattered for you pure incense, . .
..| Stand by today that I may obtain what I want! . . .|
""Remove and drive away (all) the evil from the body of NN, son "of NN --may
I, NN, son of NN, be well and happy again upon your "supreme command which
never changes . . . . In case of evil "portended by confused dreams, by omens,
[there follows a long "list of bad omens] (if you dispel all this) then I
shall sing "the praise of your great divine powers!/56/
The document ends with a ritual, including offerings of food and incense, to
be performed with the prayer./57/
Oppenheim's text dates to the Neo-Babylonian pe- riod./58/ Other such "Prayers
to the Gods of the Night" are known, as well. One example opens the _Maqlu_
texts,/59/ a collection of exorcism spells meant to counter the effects of
witchcraft./60/ The date of the Maqlu texts' composition is uncertain,/61/ but
our extant collection comes from the Neo-Assyrian period./62/ Another version,
perhaps the original, is found on a tablet of the Old Babylonian period./63/
One version is even found in the Akkadian texts from Hatussa, the capital of
the Hittite Empire, in Asia Minor./64/
The "Prayer to the Gods of the Night," in all its versions, shows that the
planet-gods (and some stars, too, in the fragmentary section lines 1-18) were
actually worshipped. In the example quoted, the object was to ask the stars to
counteract the evils which a bad omen warned about. In the version in the
Maqlu texts, the exorcist wants help against disease caused by witchcraft. The
Old Babylonian version asks for help with extispicy, the use of animal
entrails to divine the future!/65/ The common factor is that all versions
assume that the heavenly bodies paid attention to human affairs and requests,
and might take a hand in them. In other words, the planets were treated just
like the other gods.
Astral deities were also invoked in the _Shurpu_ texts, another collection of
magical prayers, similar to the Maqlu texts, but meant to end diseases sent as
divine punishment for sins./66/ The Shurpu collection was also much used in
the Neo-Assyrian period. Both the Shurpu and the Maqlu texts were used by the
same practitioners, the _asipu_ or exorcists./67/ The most interesting example
is from the second of the nine tablets.
""[Incantation. Be it released], great gods,| [god and] "goddess, lords of
absolution,| [NN, son of] NN, whose god is NN ". . .| [who is . . . .], sick,
in danger (of death), distraught, "troubled,| who has eaten what is tab[oo] to
his god, . . .|/68/ "[There follows a long list of possible misdeeds.] may the
"Warrior Shamash, may mentioning them release,| may TI.BAL, "SAG.KUD,
Kajamanu, Immerija release,| may the Bow-star, the "Pleiades, Sirius, Mars|
Narudu release,| may Hendursanga, the "star Sibzianna release . . . .|/69/
As in earlier quotations, we find here a series of celestial bodies invoked as
gods in a list of gods filling fifty-six lines. Some are planets (i.e.,
SAG.KUD, Kajamanu, Mars) while others are fixed stars. Several cannot be
identified (e.g., TI.BAL). Some of the celestial bodies are even written with
the dingir sign, which is prefixed to the name of a god.
This passage is particularly interesting because it has a biblical connection.
SAG.KUD and Kajamanu are names for the planets Mars and Saturn,
respectively./70/ Both names are mentioned in Amos 5:26 (RSV): "You shall take
Sakkuth your king and Kaiwan your star-god, your images, which you made for
yourselves." This implies that some Israelites of the divided monarchy period
worshipped the Mesopotamian star-gods.
Magical rituals involving the worship of astral gods are also to be found in
the Namburbi texts, yet another collection of spells, in this case used to
negate the evils warned by a variety of omens./71/ The 140 known copies of the
Namburbi texts were written between the eighth and the sixth centuries
BCE./72/ Most have come from Assyria, but copies have also been found in Uruk,
in Hama, in northern Syria, and in Tarsus in Cilicia./73/ References to them
are also found in the letters and reports of Assyrian diviners, who from time
to time recommended they be used to counter bad omens, especially astral
omens. The thirteenth _namburbi_ text, for bad omens in general, was used for
astral omens./74/
Text # 3 includes a sacrifice to a star:
""Namburbi [to dissipate] the evil of every kind of bow, that "it may not
approach. [Its ritual]: you set out [an offering "arrangement for] Ea and
Ishtar. you sacrifice [a kid befo]re the "Bowstar. [You pou]r out [a censer of
juniper and fine flour]. "You express greeting to Marduk. You present to
[Nin-ild]u [a "bronze axe and a saw]. You recite before Ishtar [the
incantation ""You are merciful, . . . You are life-g]iving." You set out [. .
". before Ea, Asalluhi]/75/ and Shamash. You sacrifice [. . . "on] the river
bank./76/
Once again, we find the heavenly bodies treated as deities. The Bowstar
(Sirius) receives offerings just as do Ea, Ishtar, Marduk, Nin-ildu, and
Shamash, with the expectation that all will help the sick person. The
_namburbi_s, in fact, resemble the temple rituals closely, with prayers,
ritual actions, and offerings in the form of a meal./77/ Even the incense, of
juniper and fine flour, parallels table etiquette used in the temples./78/ The
major difference is that _namburbi_s are performed privately by the _asipu_
for one person's benefit, instead of publicly for the good of the community,
although performing even a private rite for the king gave the _asipu_ a
public, political, role./79/
We could continue in this way throughout all of Mesopotamian religious
literature. The "Prayers of the Lifting of the Hands," a collection best known
from Assurbanipal's library,/80/ contains praise-songs/81/ to a variety of
gods, including stars and planets: "Zalbatnu, grosser Herr, barmherziger Gott,
der erfasst die Hand des Gest rzten, der erlst den Gebundenen, belebt den
[Toten]!"/82/ The Pleiades,/83/ Scorpio,/84/ and Orion/85/ were also invoked.
The heavenly bodies accompanied gods, even when it is not their astral aspect
which is being emphasized, as in a prayer to Marduk: "Marduk, grosser Herr,
barmherziger Gott, . . . . Patrouille und Wachposten mgen Gutes (von mir)
sprechen!"/86/ "Patrouille und Wachposten," literally "patrols" and
"sentries,"/87/ are in fact planets and constellations./88/
A number of the "Handlifting" texts contain appeals for help against the evils
predicted by a lunar eclipse.
""Ich, Sargon, der Sohn seines Gottes, der Knecht, der deine "Gottheit furchte
bei dem Ungluck der schlimmen, unguten Zeichen "(und) Omina, die sich in
meinem Palaste und meinem Lande "ereigneten, bewirke mire Bewilligung auf
(mein) Sprechen, deine "Grosse Will ich r hmen, dir huldigen!
"Beschwoerung(en) durch Handerhebung zur Adad./89/
As in our other examples, the heavenly bodies are treated as if they were as
powerful and as open to persuasion as the other gods mentioned in the
collection. The planet-gods were not only invoked in private rituals, but also
publicly. One text from Seleucid Uruk gives the details of a sacrifice to Anu
and the seven planets.
""In der ersten Nachtwache,/90/ auf den Dach des Hochtempels "der Ziggurat,
des Resh (- Heiligtums)/91/ wenn (der Stern) "der "grosse Anu des Himmels
aufglaenzt wenn (der Stern) "die grosse "Antum des Himmels im "Lastwagen" (=
im Grossen Wagen) aufglaenzt "(sprichts) du: "Gleich der Schnen Erscheinung
der Stern des "Himmels Anu, der Knig, geht auf, das schne bild," das
handwasser "richtest dem Tisch zurecht; Fleisch von Rind, Schaf, und Voegeln
"richtest du zurecht; erstklassiges Bier und "gepressten" Wein "stellst du
hin, alle Arten von Gartenfruechte gibst du "reichlich, streust . . . und
mashatu-Mehl auf das goldenen "Weihrauchbecken, giesst mit der goldenen "hohen
Tische," "spendest du Jupiter, Venus, Merkur, Saturn, und Mars, Mond und
"Sonne, bei ihrem Erscheinen, Handwasser, richtest den Tisch "zurecht,
richtest Fleisch von Rind, Schaf und Vgeln zurecht . . ". . der Mahhu-
priester, der mit einem _nibittu_-Kleid geguert "ist, z ndet eine grosse
Fackel, in die aroma- tische Stoffe "eingefugt sind, die mit guten Olivenoel
gesprengt ist und an der "(der Ritus der) "Mund-waschung"/92/ vollzogen ist,
an "Schwefelfeuer an, stellt sich dann mit richtung auf den Tisch "auf, erhebt
seine Hand zum grossen Anu des Himmels, sprich den "Spruch: "Stern des Anus,
Held des Himmels." Den "Hohen Tisch" "raeumst du ab, reichst Handwasser./93/
This text is interesting as an example of the public worship of the planets,
together with the sky, Anu. It is the large-scale equivalent of the magic
rituals cited above. Like them, and like the offerings made to the cult images
within the temples, the rite includes a meal as well as various hymns and
prayers. Once again, the planets and stars are shown to be divine, as divine
as the cult statues.
Another interesting feature is that this ritual, while perhaps originating in
an earlier period,/94/ was performed during just the period when astrology was
spreading throughout the rest of the Hellenistic world./95/ Uruk had a large
Greek or partially hellenized population, which included many of the
priests./96/ In later chapters, I will demonstrate that astral cults such as
Uruk's spread with astrology, and that by the period of the synagogue mosaics
such cults should have been well-known to their builders.
[con't.]
Happy Talking Nippon Robotica
<<%TH0b.12992$2Y6.4...@news2.news.adelphia.net>>, Sharyn
<shar...@adelphia.not> spleniated...
>> I need to resend what, Chapter 1 section 1, Chapter 2 section 2 and
>> Chapter 3 section 3, right?
>actually, looks like we're missing chap 1 sec 1, chap 2 section 1, chap 3
>sec 3
Fixed, hopefully.
>: ) Yes, please.
No problem.
ash
['Ya wanna host it?']
Richard Nolle
> On 22 May 2003 09:25:02 GMT, in message
> <<qC%ya.167274$ja4.8...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>>, Larry Swain
> <l.c....@worldnet.att.net> spleniated...
> >My understanding of his meaning, based on how he used the terms repeatedly
> >at the '96 UAC conference, was a distinction between earlier stellar
> >astrology and the use of planets, signs, and houses on a zodiacal wheel.
>
> Yes, 'horoscopic astrology'. While I agree that is different from
> 'non-wheeled' astrology, I don't think it's THAT different. It wouldn't have
> looked that different to the person that invented it . . . <snip of great stuff>
Thanks guys, wonderful discussion!
-- Richard
http://www.astropro.com/
phone/fax = 480-753-6261
"Astrology is about time . . . what else is there?"
Ray Murphy
----------
In article <xdCdnS1lrs1...@giganews.com>, Happy Talking Nippon
Robotica <hur...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> _ASTROLOGY IN MESOPOTAMIA_
>
>Astrology was part of polytheism in the Hellenistic and Roman Near East.
[A lot of good text snipped]
This series of posts has me fascinated. Does the poster have a major
transit which corresponds with the sudden surge of valuable historic
information?
If that is the case, it might be a plus for Tropical astrology :-))
Ray
Pedantus
"Happy Talking Nippon Robotica" <hur...@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:xdCdnS1lrs1...@giganews.com...
> _ASTROLOGY IN MESOPOTAMIA_
>
> Astrology was part of polytheism in the Hellenistic and Roman Near East.
The
> planets were named for gods and they were worshipped as gods, who worked
their
> wills by their movements through the sky. Furthermore, many Jews practiced
> astrology, as seen in mosaics of the zodiac on the floors of several
> synagogues of the Byzantine period in Israel. How did they over-look or
> explain away the polytheistic implications of what they put on their
floors?
> This is the vital question which this dissertation will try to answer.
[ Nice transition to a missing paragraph. The reader is probably not
familiar with what was "put on their floors", or the particular implications
of that activity. Thus a more detailed description of the riddle that we
are supposedly trying to solve seems invalueable here.]
> First, it is necessary to demonstrate the origins of astrology in
Mesopotamian
> religion. This will be done in four sections. In the first we shall
introduce
> Mesopotamian religion and the major gods. Next, we shall demonstrate that
the
> planets were worshipped as incarnations of the gods. Thirdly, we shall
show
> that the Mesopotamians believed that the planet-gods spoke to them by
means of
> astral omens, that is, by extraordinary events in the sky. Finally, we
shall
> see how the horoscope was invented as a combination of astronomy and
astral
> omens.
>
[........]
Pedantus Preposterous (wanna-be editor) and wife's hurried
chauffer...bye...:)