Babylonian Cosmology

Babylonian Cosmology

The Divine Science

Babylon

• In ancient Mesopotamia.
• Originally known as Sumer.
• Found between the Tigris and Euphrates River.
• South of Modern day Baghdad, Iraq.

Culture

• Believed to be one of the first peoples to have a calander. (The first believed to be the Sumerians.)
• The calendar was based upon the lunar year.
• The calendar was important for planning agiculture.

The year began with the vernal (spring) equinox.

They had twelve months and 7 day weeks.

Hours were measured with sun or water clocks.

Months and their names

Babylonian

Tashritu

Arahsamna

Kislimu

Tebetu

Sabatu

Addaru

Nisannu

Aiaru

Simanu

Du'uzu

Abu

Alulu

Cosmology

Studied the planets and stars to gain insight on what the gods were doing.

Due to this belief, they put great emphasis on celestial observation and systematic recordings of the planets over several centuries.

Astrotheology:

• Deep, religious connections to stars
• Professional scribes carefully observed the locations of stars and recorded their findings in astronomical diaries, which were filed away in libraries.
• Understood the concept of the leap year.
• Time was associated with the movements of the stars.
• Inspired by movements of stars/planets, eclipses, etc. to create mythologies.

• Very superstitious-believed that they could predict the future using the stars, omens and signs.
• The gods were fickle-- geographic determinism.
• Believed that the gods were causing their motions.
• They thought the movements of the heavens coincided with the movements of the gods, and that that was how the gods communicated with them.
• The reading of signs was called divination, and was done by priests.

The visible planets were associated with some of the most important gods.

Marduk: Jupiter

Ishtar: Venus

Ninib: Saturn

Nebo: Mercury

Nergal: Mars

Shamash was the god of the sun, the god of the moon is Nanna-Seun.

Minor gods and goddesses were associated with stars that did not move or constellations.

The gods were associated with many different things, such as, cities, ideas, or forces of nature, like love or storms.

Babylonian spirituality had less emphasis on morals than Western religion, and had more focus on carrying out rituals. They believed that you were punished for your sins in this world, that everyone went to the same afterlife, and that the afterlife was neither punishment or reward.

Babylonian Influence Today

The Zodiac

•Defined based on the stars located inside the zodiacal belt.

•The Babylonian zodiac contained twelve constellations each thirty degrees in length that corresponded with the twelve months of the year and the average of thirty days in a month.

•Today’s zodiac consists of twelve unequal constellations.

Astrology

•Credited with the creation of astrology.

• Used astrology to plan for seasons and celestial events.

• Around 2000 BC, the Babylonians believed that the sun, moon, and the other five planets known at the time (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) had special powers. For example, because of Mars red color, the planet was associated with war and aggression.

•The Greeks discovered Babylonian astrology in the fourth century BC and after further study done by the famous philosophers Plato and Aristotle, astrology became to be known as a legitimate science.

Number System

•Developed the first known number system.

Sexigesimal--base 60 number system.

•The number 60 was important because six 60’s equals 360- the degrees in the Babylonian circle and the number of days in the Babylonian wheel of the year (calendar).

• Also, there were 360 towers in Babylon.

•Today---We use 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and 360 degrees in a circle.

Sources

The Beginnings of Science — Infoplease.comhttp://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0860975.html#ixzz1XwvVULqD

• http://www.bible-history.com/ babylonia/BabyloniaAstronomy_and_the_Calendar.htm
• http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/astronomer/home_set.html
• http://volker-doormann.org/asssky.htm
• http://www.third-millennium-library.com/readinghall/UniversalHistory/THE_OLD_WORLD/HISTORY_OF_BABILONIA/Religion/X.html
• http://www.sacred-texts.com/astro/argr/argr06.htm
• http://www.bible-history.com/babylonia/BabyloniaAstrology.htm
• http://www.astrogeographia.org/articles/BabylonianZodiac
• http://www.astrologers.com/history/
• http://www.mindspring.com/~hellfire/bishop/points/points2.htm