Ancient skies : early Babylonian astronomy, with specific reference to MUL.APIN

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis is an attempt to investigate whether the Babylonians of the periods prior to the 6th Century BCE possessed an interest in the workings of celestial bodies reaching beyond the scope of what would today be regarded as astrology – the idea that the movements of the stars were signs from the gods, foretelling the future. The objective is thus to see whether it is possible that at least some of the texts recording the phenomena present in the night sky could have been compiled for what could be termed a more 'scientific purpose: recording the stars out of an interest in how the universe works.It will be acknowledged that to the people of the time, the formal study of the movements of astral bodies, as well as any supernatural implications they might hold, were not separate fields. This, of course, stands in contrast to the differentiated modern schools of astronomy and astrology. In order to investigate the possibility that to some individuals the former took precedence (and by implication that they possessed what could be termed a more 'scientific frame of mind), selected sources, particularly the different sections of the text known as MUL.APIN, will be analysed for signs of content and approaches more befitting to the field of generalised study than that of divination.It will be found, however, that although some texts do show signs of study isolated from divination (through, for example, the inclusion of detail which would have no relevance to the aforementioned), others, which at first glance appear purely astronomical, contain information contrary to what would be expected of a thorough investigation of visible reality. This includes idealised dates and intentionally falsified information, inserted to have the recorded universe appear to conform to conservative ideology. In order to make this point clearer, cosmological aspects of this ideology will be introduced even before the astronomical texts are analysed.Finally, it will be concluded that while scientific inclinations amongst the individuals recording the stars during this era was by no means the norm, there are indications that they were emerging in some. Though the field of Babylonian astral observationsduring this period cannot, as a whole, be classified as a science, does not mean that all its practitioners should be disqualified as scientific thinkers.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University