Product details:
| ISBN13: | 9780521830102 |
| ISBN10: | 0521830109 |
| Binding: | Hardback |
| No. of pages: | 360 pages |
| Size: | 229x152x24 mm |
| Weight: | 700 g |
| Language: | English |
| 0 |
Category:
The Heavenly Writing
Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Date of Publication: 27 September 2004
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GBP 85.00
GBP 85.00
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Estimated delivery time: In stock at the publisher, but not at Prospero's office. Delivery time approx. 3-5 weeks.
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Short description:
This book, first published in 2004, examines the various ways the heavens were studied and understood in ancient Mesopotamia.
Long description:
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, first publsiehd in 2004, 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.
'It is a long time since I've enjoyed a book this much, found so much in it to agree with, and so much to provoke further thought and research ... The Heavenly Writing is a book that lives up to its name.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review
'It is a long time since I've enjoyed a book this much, found so much in it to agree with, and so much to provoke further thought and research ... The Heavenly Writing is a book that lives up to its name.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Table of Contents:
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.
