It is frequently stated that the beginning of the Babylonian calendar month, at the new moon, was determined on the basis of a combination of new moon sighting and new moon prediction.1 This assumption is plausible but vague, and has never been properly substantiated. The purpose of this article is to establish, through detailed analysis of the evidence in the Astronomical Diaries, the extent to which observation and prediction would have been used for the determination of the Babylonian month. A similar analysis will then be applied to earlier, astrological sources. This will reveal a significant change in the way the month was determined from the neo-Assyrian to the Achaemenid and later periods, and the role that astronomy may have played in the development of this critical aspect of the Babylonian calendar.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Essay Review
Steele, John M.;
(2000)
Babylonian Lunar Theory Reconsidered
(/isis/citation/CBB000110326/)
Article
Guan, Yuzhen;
(2015)
Eclipse Theory in the Jing chu li: Part I. the Adoption of Lunar Velocity
(/isis/citation/CBB001202212/)
Book
David Brown;
Jonathan Ben-Dov;
(2018)
The Interactions of Ancient Astral Science
(/isis/citation/CBB920028822/)
Book
Steele, John M.;
(2007)
Calendars and Years: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient Near East
(/isis/citation/CBB000830863/)
Book
Swerdlow, N. M.;
(2000)
Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination
(/isis/citation/CBB000110580/)
Article
Rita Gautschy;
(2017)
Astronomical Time versus Social Time: A Case Study from Ancient Egypt
(/isis/citation/CBB080809396/)
Article
Steele, J. M.;
(2007)
Celestial Measurement in Babylonian Astronomy
(/isis/citation/CBB000772410/)
Essay Review
Van Brummelen, Glen;
(2013)
[Essay review]
(/isis/citation/CBB001566547/)
Book
Lehoux, Daryn;
(2007)
Astronomy, Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World: Parapegmata and Related Texts in Classical and Near Eastern Societies
(/isis/citation/CBB000773720/)
Article
Gray, J. M. K.;
Steele, J. M.;
(2009)
Studies on Babylonian Goal-Year Astronomy II: The Babylonian Calendar and Goal-Year Methods of Prediction
(/isis/citation/CBB000932305/)
Article
Britton, John P.;
(2009)
Studies in Babylonian Lunar Theory: Part II. Treatments of Lunar Anomaly
(/isis/citation/CBB000932081/)
Article
Britton, John P.;
(2010)
Studies in Babylonian Lunar Theory: Part III. The Introduction of the Uniform Zodiac
(/isis/citation/CBB001022009/)
Article
Huber, Peter J.;
(2000)
Babylonian Short-Time Measurements: Lunar Sixes
(/isis/citation/CBB000111267/)
Article
Kolev, Rumen;
(2001)
Witnessing the Heliacal Rise of Sirius and Procyon; Babylonian Horoscope MLC 1870
(/isis/citation/CBB000102735/)
Article
Steele, J. M.;
Gray, J. M. K.;
(2007)
A Study of Babylonian Observations Involving the Zodiac
(/isis/citation/CBB000773363/)
Article
Brack-Bernsen, Lis;
Steele, John M.;
(2005)
Eclipse Prediction and the Length of the Saros in Babylonian Astronomy
(/isis/citation/CBB000651413/)
Article
Brack-Bernsen, Lis;
Hunger, Hermann;
(2002)
TU 11: A Collection of Rules for the Prediction of Lunar Phases and of Month Lengths
(/isis/citation/CBB000202124/)
Article
Brack-Bernsen, Lis;
Hunger, Hermann;
(2008)
BM 42282+42294 and the Goal-Year Method
(/isis/citation/CBB000931524/)
Article
Vavilova, Irina B.;
Artemenko, Tetyana G.;
(2014)
Ancient Astronomical Culture in Ukraine. 1: Finds Relating to the Paleolithic Era
(/isis/citation/CBB001214534/)
Article
Goldstein, Bernard R.;
(2002)
On the Babylonian Discovery of the Periods of Lunar Motion
(/isis/citation/CBB000200350/)
Be the first to comment!