David Pingree

Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia (Handbook of Oriental Studies) David Pingree

Astronomy and astrology, or the astral sciences, played an enormous, if not key role in the political and religious life of the Ancient Near East, and of the Greek and Roman world. This text provides a comprehensive account of the origins of the astral sciences in the Ancient Near East. Every type of Sumerian or Akkadian text dealing with descriptive or mathematical astronomy, including many individual tablets are thoroughly dealt with. It also features descriptions of astronomical contents, an explanation of their scientific meaning, and the place a given genre or tablet has in the development of astronomy both within the Mesopotamian culture and outside of it.