Star observations made in Babylon teach about the past and may hint at the future
Astronomy is apparently the oldest science, originating in antiquity; Even then, researchers (mainly through observations and analysis) examined the universe, the celestial bodies including constellations - their development, movement and structure. Their findings have influenced cultures, beliefs and scientific concepts over the years. It is not known when systematic research in astronomy began, but there is archeological evidence of the practice of this science in the most ancient cultures. Thus, for example, the ancient Babylonian empire that existed between the 16th and 18th centuries BC, and the new Babylon that existed from 625 to 539 BC, achieved many achievements in the field of astronomical science and are an important basis for today's astronomy.
The Babylonian Empire grew out of the city of Babylon (the remains of which are in Iraq, about 110 km south of Baghdad) and at its height ruled all of Mesopotamia (a geographical-historical region that stretched between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers). The Babylonians in the sky and recorded them in records. Among other things, they cataloged planets (Mercury), Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - and recorded data concerning them. and to the moon, such as their position and movements in the sky, the planets appeared to them to be traveling across the dome of the sky.
The Babylonians made their records in cuneiform writing - a writing method invented in the Mesopotamia region, in which they pressed with a peg (a stick made of a red reed) on clay tablets and created imprints on them that represented syllabic signs and meanings. After that, the tablets were burned, turned into hard clay, and thus the writing on them was immortalized and preserved, similar to a book.
Thousands of cuneiform writings
Prof. Wayne Horowitz of the Department of Archeology and the Ancient Near East at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, researches cuneiform writing, ancient astronomy and Mesopotamian languages. He studies the field of ancient astronomy through tens of thousands of records made in cuneiform, which, among other things, record observations of the celestial bodies, including the planets. "Based on records left behind by the ancients in the land of the Middle East," he says, "I investigate the relationship between man and the universe, learn about human existence in the ancient era and try to understand what the future holds."
In the last two centuries, researchers have been gathering information about the astronomy of the ancient Middle East, and of the Babylonian period. Thus, in excavations conducted in the Middle East (mainly in Iraq) beginning in the 19th century, about 500,000 cuneiform records were discovered (and collected in museums in Europe); 10,000 of them relate to astronomy and astrology and include the names of about 700 planets and star systems. Prof. Horowitz and his team, like other researchers in the field, analyze these records and thus discover data about the heavenly bodies of ancient Babylon. For example, the dates of sunrises and sunsets of planets during the year, their movements and their association into star systems. That is, they interpret the information discovered by ancient astronomers in Babylon, and as Prof. Horowitz explains: "We analyze the sky that was above the ancient world."
Now, with the assistance of the National Science Foundation, Prof. Horowitz and his team are writing the work summarizing the 200-150 years of research on the astronomy of the ancient Middle East; They gather all the information about the planets observed in the Babylonian Empire in the structure of an encyclopedia that is also intended for the general public, which will be published in the coming years. Prof. Horowitz says: "This is the pinnacle of the research of generations of researchers, an organized and accessible summary of thousands of astronomical observations from the ancient world that will allow researchers and other interested parties to understand the properties of the planets discovered by the Babylonians. It will be another tool that will help understand the structure of the universe and the heavens and develop hypotheses about its future ".
Life itself:
Prof. Wayne Horowitz, 64, was born in Long Island, New York, USA, and has been living in the Judean Desert area with his wife Lilac for many years. They have three children and three grandchildren. As a Long Islander, he still plays ice hockey and is waiting for the next championship of the local team (New York Islanders).
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