The Circulation of Astronomical Knowledge Between Babylon and Uruk

chapter 4 The Circulation of Astronomical Knowledge between Babylon and Uruk

John M. Steele

1 Introduction

Substantial numbers of Late Babylonian cuneiform tablets containing astronomical and astrological texts have only been found at two sites in Mesopo- tamia: Babylon and Uruk. Between four-and-a-half and five thousand tablets covering the complete range of observational, predictive, and mathematical astronomy, celestial divination, and astrology are known from Babylon. The number of astronomical tablets that have been recovered from Uruk is smaller, numbering approximately two hundred and fifty, but covers the same range of genres of astronomy as the tablets from Babylon. By contrast, only a handful of astronomical tablets have been found at other Late Babylonian sites—less than ten each from Nippur, Sippar and Ur. Whether this reflects a lack of astronomical activity in these cities or simply that the archives containing astronomical texts have not been discovered remains an open question.1 The aim of this article is to explore the relationship between astronomy at Babylon and Uruk during the Achaemenid and Seleucid periods: Did astronomical knowledge and/or astronomical texts circulate between Babylon and Uruk?2 If so, did that knowledge travel in both directions or only from one city to another? Were there local traditions of astronomical practice in these two cities? In order to answer these questions I compare the preserved examples

1 For simplicity, throughout this article I will generally use “astronomy” and “astronomical texts” to refer to all branches of astronomy and astrology. 2 The circulation of astronomical knowledge and the circulation of astronomical texts are related but not identical processes. Texts may be copied and move from one location to another without being read or used, thus the knowledge contained in the text is not itself circulated. On the other hand, astronomical knowledge may be passed between individuals or communities without an accompanying transfer of textual material (the standard list of 25 ziqpu stars provides an example where a body of knowledge appears to have circulated widely, sometimes being written down, without the direct transmission and copying of texts—see Steele 2014). Most of the time, however, knowledge and texts probably circulated together.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/9789004315631_006 84 steele from Babylon and Uruk of four genres of astronomical texts: texts containing astronomical observations (Astronomical Diaries and collections of lunar or planetary data), texts containing predicted astronomical phenomena (Nor- mal Star Almanacs and Almanacs), texts of mathematical astronomy (Synodic Tables, Auxiliary Tables and Procedure Texts), and late astrological texts (Horo- scopes and astrological treatises). Before making this comparison, however, it will be helpful to present a broad overview of the preserved sources from Baby- lon and Uruk, their archival contexts, and the possible routes of and obstacles to the circulation of knowledge between these two cities.

2 Astronomical Tablets from Babylon and Uruk: Some Broad Trends

More than four-and-a-half thousand cuneiform tablets from Babylon contain astronomical texts. The tablets date from the mid-eighth century bc down to the first century ad, with the majority preserved from about 400bc onwards. Unfortunately, all but a handful of these tablets were recovered either through unscientific excavations conducted on behalf of the British Museum during the 1870s and 1880s or by purchase from dealers at around the same time.3 Thus, it is not known where these tablets were found, or even whether they were found together in one archive or whether we have the remains of several archives. The German excavations of Babylon led by Koldewey from 1899–1917 recovered many thousands of cuneiform tablets but only a handful (less than twenty) of astronomical tablets.4 These tablets were found at a number of locations including temples and private houses. Administrative documents from the Achaemenid and Seleucid periods demonstrate that some astronomers were employed by the Esagila temple in the heart of the city,5 but this need not imply that all astronomers were functionaries of the temple, nor that all of the astronomical texts come from a temple archive. On the contrary, Koldewey’s discovery of astronomical tablets from other sites in the city implies that at least some astronomical tablets were held outside of the Esagila temple.

3 See Reade (1986) for a survey of the British Museum’s excavations and purchases. The British Museum was the major purchaser of tablets from Babylon and as a result now holds the vast majority of astronomical tablets from Babylon. Smaller groups of astronomical tablets from Babylon, also acquired by purchase, are found in Berlin, Birmingham, New York, and Paris. 4 Pedersén (2005) catalogues all of the tablets excavated by Koldewey. Almost all of the astronomical tablets remain unpublished and are either in Berlin but currently inaccessible to researchers, or cannot be located. 5 Beaulieu (2006).