Astronomy in ancient times - Babylon 1

The Babylonian Empire was one of the most astronomically advanced civilizations in Mesopotamia

Yaniv Sade, Israel Astronomical Society

The Babylonian Empire was one of the most astronomically advanced civilizations in Mesopotamia, it existed around the 16th century BC, and prospered in various fields of science, it was an important basis for today's modern astronomy. The article will follow the achievements of the Babylonians in the field of astronomical science, and will briefly review the various gods in Babylonian mythology from an astrological point of view (as the Babylonians saw it and not today's astrology, of course AB)

astronomy:
The sleep of the Babylonians was lunar. They invented the division of minutes, seconds and also degrees into 60 parts, (they calculated and worked with base 60, as we work with base 10). Their discoveries were many and important to the science of that time, some of them still amaze today's researchers. All the knowledge and development of Babylonian astronomy, like any other astronomy in the world, started from astrology. The whole thing started from the need to predict the future by phenomena and signs. Sky watchers were associated with the temples, and some of the priests of the temples were astrologers, who were engaged in predicting events. They were called "Tupšar En�ma Anu Enlil" (tupšar En�ma Anu Enlil). "Topsar" notes a writer, "Inuma Anu Enlil" is an astrology book, the composition of which was attributed to the wise god Ea, who taught to predict things according to the stars. The book, which consisted of seventy tablets, was discovered in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. Aššurbanipal in Nineveh. (who was the last of the great kings of Assyria and a contemporary of Jeremiah). The first tablet described the constellation Cassiopeia and was called Mul-Apin, a.k.a. the "Plow Star" It also described the important stars in the sky of Mesopotamia and arranged them according to their places in the groups. Various prophecies are written in the book, such as "In the month of Iyer in the night guard, in the eclipse of the moon the king will die." His sons will compete for his throne, but they will die and not win it" (Tablet 17, 2).
According to Amzedek's "Venus Tablets" from the 17th century BC, it can be seen that sky observations were conducted already in the ancient Babylonian period, including many records that the Babylonians made for hundreds of years, recording their observations in special diaries, and cataloging stars in complete almanacs. Thanks to the precise records and observations, all these exact calculations were possible. In the diaries, the Babylonians recorded day after day and recorded data regarding the positions of the moon, the planets, eclipses, solstice and equinoxes, and sometimes even recorded the sunrise times of Sirius (probably in connection with the Egyptian culture, where Sirius was the most important star). At the end of each diary, personal impressions and notes were also written, such as if there were clouds, how long the writer floated, etc. The oldest tables of records found are from the middle of the seventh century BC, and the newest from the middle of the first century BC. All records were recorded from an astrological point of view, and the news and revelations were usually sent to the king.

To be as accurate as possible in the measurements, the Babylonians built towers called ziggurats. The Tower of Babel is the biblical example of this. All their calculations were done arithmetically, without spatial drawings.
They discovered the time of the synodic month (the cycle of moon appearances) already in the 5th century BC, and reached an error range of less than half a second! . The most accurate calculations were made by Kidinnu, who is considered the greatest astronomer of Babylon in the 4th century BC. He relied in his calculations on the calculations of Nab� r�mannu who preceded him. Kidino also calculated the time of the solar year, to within four and a half minutes of error. He discovered more relationships and values, such as that 251 synodic months are equal to 269 anomalistic months (the time between the maximum proximity of the moon to DHA and the one after it), when the difference in the size of the moon between its maximum and minimum proximity is only 11% of its size to the naked eye. The Babylonians also discovered at the end of the fifth century AD that the moon did not move at a constant speed.
It is not known when, but the Babylonians also discovered the Saros Cycles, which apply at time intervals of about 6585 days, which are cycles in which the moon returns to almost the same position in relation to the sun. The above time is equal to a multiple of 223 synodal months or 18 years and 11.3 days. With the help of the Saros, solar eclipses and lunar eclipses can be calculated accurately, and they really predicted eclipses.
The Babylonians believed that the eclipses were a sign of the wrath of the gods, and with the prediction they knew in advance which king the gods would be angry with. The current king was left in office, but the one who was going to succeed him (in whose time the eclipse will take place) was deliberately murdered. Moon shows were also predicted with the help of saros. In the middle of the 6th century BC, an eight-year calendar was drawn up in Babylon, where three of its years were leap years (having an extra month) (later the lunar calendar was used by the Jews). With the development and accuracy of observations, the astronomers in the New Babylonian period made a 19-year calendar, in which seven years passed, in order to coincide the seasons with the moon appearances, this calendar is called the "Meton calendar", and it is more accurate than the eight-year calendar.
The Babylonians also noticed the movement of the moon in the sky, they divided the area where the moon moves into 29 parts. Each part was a lunar station, and constituted a day in the synodic month. The part was called "Fidno-sha-shama", which means: the furrow of the sky. These stations were actually the first constellations. The first stop was the star Aldebaran, Alpha Taurus, which at that time was at the vernal equinox. Each group counted one or two of the brightest stars. If there was no bright star in the area, the Babylonians used a star a little further away, as in the case of Vega, Alpha Nebula. From this we learn that today's zodiac was already invented by the Babylonians.
The Babylonians knew how to differentiate between the planets and the stars, and noticed their uneven movement in the sky in relation to the other stars.

mythology:
In Babylonian mythology there are many gods, and several versions of each god. As the Babylonian culture grew out of the city-state 'Babylon' which gathered more city-states under its rule, each city added its own pantheon of gods. After the re-editing of the mythology by the Babylonian priests in the story called En�ma Elish, clearer lines were created for the roles of the gods and the relationships between them, but there are still many inconsistencies and different versions. Only one version of relationships and roles will be presented here.
In Babylonian mythology there are a number of triads of sacred gods, representing relationships and powers. The first and most important trinity is the trinity of the sky: Anu-Enlil-Aah, and correspondingly: Heaven-Earth (including the air) - the sea (mainly undersea). This trinity constitutes the entire world and its control.
Another sacred trinity is: China-Sun-Ishtar which represented the three great forces of nature - the sun, the moon and the life force of the earth. Sometimes one can find in this trinity the god of the wind, Enlil, appearing instead of the goddess of life Ishtar.

General Sky Gods:
Anu, called An for short, is the god of the sky and constellations (he appears in the name of the astrologers), his name means a synonym for heaven, where he also lives. This is the king of the gods and demons and is the oldest god in the Babylonian pantheon. He created the stars as an army to fight evil, and according to the belief he can find out who is a criminal at any place and time. He was the leader of the Anunnaki who were the gods of the underworld and the land of ghosts. Sometimes he was described as a camel and sometimes he had a royal tiara, which was usually decorated with two bull horns. Our main worship was in the city of Arach. When more gods were added, some of his roles were transferred to other gods, such as Enlil and Ea.
Enlil is the god of wind, air, storms and earth. He was known as the inventor of the hoe and the grower of plants and the keeper of the tablets of destiny (which give control over human life), and this basically means that he is the supreme god.. He is the eldest son of Anu (the god of the sky) and Ki (Ki - the goddess of the earth), and the brother of Ninursag. His wife is Ninalil and their sons were Sin, Nergal, Ninurtha and Enbilulu. His nickname is the prince of heaven, and his birth is part of the Anuma-Elish creation story. His ritual took place in the city of Nippur.

Sun and Moon Gods:
Shamash (Shamash or Shama) - was the god of the sun and also the god of justice and judgment. He is the son of Ningal and China. The two main centers where he was worshiped were in Sippar and Larsa, where he was the main god. In both places his temples were called E-Barra "The Shining House", an allusion to the sun god's radiance. Of the two temples, the one in Sipfer is the larger and more famous, but many other temples were built for him in important cities, such as Babylon, Ur, Nippur and Nineveh.

Sin (Sin) - was the god of the moon and also of the nomads in the desert who guides them and protects them at night. It probably came from the Arab culture. He looks like an old man with a flowing beard, the crescent moon is his symbol. Its number is 30, like the days of a lunar month. He was the son of Enlil and Ninelil, his wife was Ningel and his sons were Shemesh. and Ishtar. He was worshiped mainly in Ur and Harran, where he was the supreme god. His holy place is called in Or "the Great House of Light", and in Haran "the House of Joy".

Gods of the planets:
The five planets visible to the naked eye were named after different gods: Hema - named after the god Nab�, Venus - Ištar, Mars - Nergal, Jupiter - Marduk and Saturn - Ninurta :
Nebo (Nab�) - after his name the star-Hema is called, he is the god of wisdom and writing, the keeper of the wise. He was the son of Marduk and Sarpanitum. His wife was Tashmetum. His symbols are writing boards and a stylus. His influence on man is tremendous, because he engraves the fate of each person, in the sacred tablets. He is described as wearing horns on his head, and clasping his hands like a priest, and he rides a winged dragon. The main city of Nebo was Borsippa.
Ishtar - represented the planet Venus, she is the goddess of beauty, fertility, passion, love and also the goddess of war. She was Marduk's wife. She was called the "Queen of Heaven" (better known by her Sidonian name - Ashtoreth), her symbols: the dove and the number 15, and she is usually depicted with snakes climbing on her legs.

Nergal - represented the planet Mars, was the god of plagues, the king of the underworld and death, and sometimes he is considered a secondary sun god associated only with a part of the sun which is the midday sun and the sun of the summer solstice, and mainly the burning and hot part. Next to him stood Arshchegel, the goddess of hell. His wife was the goddess Laz, and his son was the god Ninazu. He was the supreme god in the city of Kutha.

Marduk - after his name is called Zedek, he was the god of rains, storms and lightning, fortune-telling, magic and oaths. He is the son of Aa, his sister is Anat (goddess of war and the hunter) and his son is Nebo. He is described as having large ears, and holding a wand and a ring. He was the main god in Babylon, and when the empire grew, the Inuma-Elish story was emphasized, which described how he defeated the gods and became their ruler. According to the story, Marduk received the roles of the high gods (mainly Aah, Enlil and Anu) which included the creation of the world, the creation of man and the control of his destiny. It should be noted that the Ionian god Jupiter, whose name is the planet Jupiter, is also the god of storms and lightning, and he, like Morduk, was the chief god, and he also defeated all the gods and became their ruler.

Ninurta - the planet Saturn was named after him, he was the "lord of the plow", the god of healing, and also the god of war. Sometimes he is identified with the sun god, and in ancient texts his name is Ninib.. His brothers are Sin, Nergal and Anbilulu, and his wife is Gula (Gula, Babylonian goddess, probably related to the sun). Ninurta is often depicted as holding a bow and arrow and a scythe-shaped sword. He was the main god of Nippur, and there he was part of a holy trinity together with his two parents - Enlil and Ninelil.

They knew ancient astronomy
The Israeli Astronomical Society
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