The Babylonian Astronomical Diaries: A Graphical Analysis Of Their Implied Reference System (2016)
Gullberg, Steven (Author)
Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry
Volume: 16
Issue: 4
Pages: 167-173
The intent of this study is to describe the directional relations employed in the Babylonian Astronomical Diaries and visually demonstrate their function with charts showing positions of the Moon, planets and stars as viewed on dates corresponding with diary entries. The Babylonians observed and recorded celestial events each night for over six centuries during the first millennium BC. A number of cuneiform tablets containing these astronomical diaries have been recovered and were later translated by Abraham Sachs and Hermann Hunger. The majority of diary entries track the position of the Moon with reference to 31 “normal stars,” all within 10 degrees of the ecliptic. Entries specify the moon as being “above,” “below,” “in front of,” or “behind” a second body by a specified distance in “cubits.” The extant tablets fail to adequately define the reference system used for the topographical relations. Computer-generated star-charts that are specific for the date and location of selected diary entries show a general interdependence between the topographical relations and the celestial course of the Sun, Moon, and planets. John Steele has discussed the Babylonians as having considered the Moon and planets to move through the zodiac within their own individual bands. This is considered with regard to graphical data that represents a distinct correlation between diary descriptions and the path of the general direction of ecliptic travel.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Wayne Horowitz;
(2015)
The Mesopotamian Wind-Star Directions and a Compass Card from Uruk
(/isis/citation/CBB286475233/)
Article
Huber, Peter J.;
Steele, John M.;
(2007)
Babylonian Lunar Six Tablets
(/isis/citation/CBB000773657/)
Article
Steele, J. M.;
(2006)
Miscellaneous Lunar Tables from Babylon
(/isis/citation/CBB000670057/)
Article
S. Draxler;
M. E. Lippitsch;
(2016)
Astronomy In The Medieval Liber Floridus
(/isis/citation/CBB397973726/)
Article
Steele, J. M.;
(2007)
Celestial Measurement in Babylonian Astronomy
(/isis/citation/CBB000772410/)
Article
Christián C. Carman;
(2019)
A Possible Date for Ptolemy’s Development of a Model for the Second Lunar Anomaly
(/isis/citation/CBB205575975/)
Book
Chambers, John;
Mitton, Jacqueline;
(2014)
From Dust to Life: The Origin and Evolution of Our Solar System
(/isis/citation/CBB001422209/)
Article
Yasuyuki Mitsuma;
(2015)
From Preliminary Diaries to Short Diaries: The First and Second Steps in the Compilation Process of the Late Babylonian Astronomical Diaries
(/isis/citation/CBB206124503/)
Book
Ossendrijver, Mathieu;
(2012)
Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts
(/isis/citation/CBB001200940/)
Article
Lars Gislén;
C. J. Eade;
(2019)
The calendars of Southeast Asia. 5: Eclipse calculations, and the longitudes of the Sun, Moon and planets in Burmese and Thai astronomy
(/isis/citation/CBB018190434/)
Article
David Juste;
(2023)
The Alfonsine Tables mentioned in 1304
(/isis/citation/CBB714367666/)
Book
Swerdlow, N. M.;
(2000)
Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination
(/isis/citation/CBB000110580/)
Essay Review
Steele, John M.;
(2000)
Babylonian Lunar Theory Reconsidered
(/isis/citation/CBB000110326/)
Book
Golub, Leon;
Pasachoff, Jay M.;
(2001)
Nearest Star: The Surprising Science of Our Sun
(/isis/citation/CBB000100219/)
Article
Tedlock, Dennis;
Tedlock, Barbara;
(2002/2003)
The Sun, Moon, and Venus among the Stars: Methods for Mapping Mayan Sidereal Space
(/isis/citation/CBB001252008/)
Article
Case, Stephen;
(2014)
How Bright Planets Became Dim Stars: Planetary Speculations in John Herschel's Double Star Astronomy
(/isis/citation/CBB001214331/)
Book
Aratus, ;
(2010)
Phaenomena
(/isis/citation/CBB001022955/)
Chapter
Chen, Meidong;
(2001)
The Argument between Right-Rotation Theory and Left-Rotation Theory of the Sun, the Moon, and the Five Planets in Ancient China
(/isis/citation/CBB001021482/)
Article
Li, Yong;
(2007)
Research on 34 Ancient Chinese Timing Records of Lunar Occultations of the Planets
(/isis/citation/CBB000933492/)
Article
R. N. Iyengar;
Sunder Chakravarty;
(2021)
Transit of sun through the seasonal nakṣatra cycle in the Vṛddha-Gārgīya Jyotiṣa
(/isis/citation/CBB264814207/)
Be the first to comment!