The Heavenly Writing

Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture
Erscheinungsjahr 2007
ISBN: 978-0-521-71661-1
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 360 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 584 g

In antiquity, the expertise of the Babylonians in matters of the heavens was legendary and the roots of both western astronomy and astrology are traceable in cuneiform tablets going back to the second and first millennia BC. The Heavenly Writing discusses the place of Babylonian celestial divination, horoscopy, and astronomy in Mesopotamian intellectual culture. Focusing chiefly on celestial divination and horoscopes, it traces the emergence of personal astrology from the tradition of celestial divination and the use of astronomical methods in horoscopes. It further takes up the historiographical and philosophical issue of the nature of these Mesopotamian 'celestial sciences' by examining elements traditionally of concern to the philosophy of science, without sacrificing the ancient methods, goals, and interests to a modern image of science. This book will be of particular interest to those concerned with the early history of science.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rochberg, Francesca

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Altorientalische Geschichte & Archäologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Alternative Glaubensformen Okkultismus und andere religiöse Praktiken
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Kunst Kunstgeschichte Kunstgeschichte: Vorderasien

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. The historiography of Mesopotamian science; 2. Celestial divination in context; 3. Mesopotamian genethlialogy: the Babylonian horoscopes; 4. Sources for horoscopes in Babylonian astronomical texts; 5. Sources for horoscopes in the early astrological tradition; 6. The scribes and scholars of Mesopotamian celestial science; 7. The classification of Mesopotamian celestial inquiry as science.

Über Autor(innen)

Rochberg, Francesca
Francesca Rochberg is Catherine and William L. Magistretti Distinguished Professor of Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is a recipient of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship and the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. She is the author of Babylonian Horoscopes (1998) and Aspects of Babylonian Celestial Divination: The Lunar Eclipse Tablets of Enuma Anu Enlil (1988).