Francesca Rochberg
Biographic Data
| ID | 444834 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Francesca Rochberg |
| GIVEN NAMES | Francesca |
| FAMILY NAME | Rochberg |
| SIGNATURE | ROCHBERG F |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, Berkeley |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 22 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
In memoriam Noel M. Swerdlow
We have recently received the sad news that Noel Swerdlow (1941–2021) passed away this Saturday 24 July. Noel was a leading historian of science who specialized in premodern astronomy from the Babylonian astronomical ephemerides of the Hellenistic period across the entire range of Western astronomy to the Renaissance, focusing on the works of Regiomontanus, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo. Published Online (2021-08-31)Copyright © 202…
Mereological themes in cuneiform worldmaking
Taking as a point of departure Nelson Goodman’s idea that it is the frames of reference and the descriptions that refer within those frames that make for ways of worldmaking, this paper considers descriptions of the world attested in Akkadian cuneiform texts as a way to approach the Babylonia literati’s notion of ‘world.’ In this corpus, descriptions of world-parts display mereological themes of complementarity, correspondence, and the relation o…
Anthropology of Science: The Cuneiform World
The substantive kalu similarly means "whole, entirety, all," and is sometimes constructed following a noun referring to things that can be counted, as in "signs, all of them" (ittātim kalašina), or "prediction from birds, all (kinds) of them" (purussû iṣṣūrū kalašunu). The extended meaning of the word napḫaru, "all, whole, totality," stems from its basic meaning "sum, total (of things counted or added)," which occurs in the context of a total tal…
Reasoning, Representing, and Modeling in Babylonian Astronomy
This paper considers Babylonian astronomical predictive schemes as a source for the study of reasoning and representing via modeling. Two principal questions are addressed: first, whether Babylonian astronomical modeling can be usefully included in the conversation about scientific reasoning with models, and second, how and what the representational value of the practice of astronomical modeling was in ancient Babylonia. It is found that the Baby…
Before Nature: Cuneiform Knowledge and the History of Science
The History of Science and Ancient Mesopotamia
This paper views the relevance of cuneiform texts to the history of science from inside, i.e., from the perspective of the available sources, as well as from outside, i.e., from the perspective of historians of science outside the field of Assyriology. It reviews some of the methodological problems that beset the reconstruction of science in the ancient Near East as well as a way forward, which acknowledges localism and pluralism as well the comp…
The Expression of Terrestrial and Celestial Order in Ancient Mesopotamia
This chapter examines the various cultural contexts for mapmaking in ancient Mesopotamia, focusing on maps on cuneiform tablets and how they served as expressions of terrestrial and celestial order during the period. It begins by looking at the history of mapmaking in the ancient Near East before turning to a discussion of evidence for plans of houses and other buildings. It then considers field surveys, city maps, regional maps, a map of the wor…
Beyond Binarism in Babylon
This contribution is part of a special issue on History and Human Nature, comprising an essay by G.E.R. Lloyd and fifteen invited responses
Conditionals, Inference, and Possibility in Ancient Mesopotamian Science
Argument This paper argues that ancient Babylonian signs (omens) reflect a mode of inferential reasoning as a function of their syntactic and logical structure as conditionals. Taking into account the institutional context that produced a systematic written body of omens, the paper is principally interested in the cognitive disposition of such texts. Investigating what constitutes system in these works, formal aspects of the material are examined…
A consideration of Babylonian astronomy within the historiography of science
The Concept of Fate in Ancient Mesopotamia of the First Millennium: Toward an Understanding of Šīmtu . Jack N. Lawson
Empiricism in Babylonian Omen Texts and the Classification of Mesopotamian Divination as Science
Francesca Rochberg, Empiricism in Babylonian Omen Texts and the Classification of Mesopotamian Divination as Science, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 119, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1999), pp. 559-569
Babylonian Horoscopes
Babylonian Horoscopes
Early Physics and Astronomy: A Historical Introduction . Olaf Pedersen
The Horoscope of Anu-Bēlšunu
Personifications and Metaphors in Babylonian Celestial Omina
Within the protases of the Babylonian celestial omen series Enuma Anu Enlil, a number of celestial phenomena are referred to by means of anthropomorphic tropes whose referents are the gods associated with the celestial body in question. For example, a lunar eclipse is referred to as the moon god in mourning. Metaphor and its implications for abstract relational thought in the language of Babylonian divination can be established on the basis of th…
A consideration of Babylonian astronomy within the historiography of science
Before Nature: Cuneiform Knowledge and the History of Science
Anthropology of Science: The Cuneiform World
The substantive kalu similarly means "whole, entirety, all," and is sometimes constructed following a noun referring to things that can be counted, as in "signs, all of them" (ittātim kalašina), or "prediction from birds, all (kinds) of them" (purussû iṣṣūrū kalašunu). The extended meaning of the word napḫaru, "all, whole, totality," stems from its basic meaning "sum, total (of things counted or added)," which occurs in the context of a total tal…
Empiricism in Babylonian Omen Texts and the Classification of Mesopotamian Divination as Science
Francesca Rochberg, Empiricism in Babylonian Omen Texts and the Classification of Mesopotamian Divination as Science, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 119, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1999), pp. 559-569
The Horoscope of Anu-Bēlšunu
Personifications and Metaphors in Babylonian Celestial Omina
Within the protases of the Babylonian celestial omen series Enuma Anu Enlil, a number of celestial phenomena are referred to by means of anthropomorphic tropes whose referents are the gods associated with the celestial body in question. For example, a lunar eclipse is referred to as the moon god in mourning. Metaphor and its implications for abstract relational thought in the language of Babylonian divination can be established on the basis of th…
The Horoscope of Anu-Bēlšunu
Personifications and Metaphors in Babylonian Celestial Omina
Within the protases of the Babylonian celestial omen series Enuma Anu Enlil, a number of celestial phenomena are referred to by means of anthropomorphic tropes whose referents are the gods associated with the celestial body in question. For example, a lunar eclipse is referred to as the moon god in mourning. Metaphor and its implications for abstract relational thought in the language of Babylonian divination can be established on the basis of th…
Early Physics and Astronomy: A Historical Introduction . Olaf Pedersen
Babylonian Horoscopes
The Concept of Fate in Ancient Mesopotamia of the First Millennium: Toward an Understanding of Šīmtu . Jack N. Lawson
Empiricism in Babylonian Omen Texts and the Classification of Mesopotamian Divination as Science
Francesca Rochberg, Empiricism in Babylonian Omen Texts and the Classification of Mesopotamian Divination as Science, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 119, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1999), pp. 559-569
Babylonian Horoscopes
A consideration of Babylonian astronomy within the historiography of science
Conditionals, Inference, and Possibility in Ancient Mesopotamian Science
Argument This paper argues that ancient Babylonian signs (omens) reflect a mode of inferential reasoning as a function of their syntactic and logical structure as conditionals. Taking into account the institutional context that produced a systematic written body of omens, the paper is principally interested in the cognitive disposition of such texts. Investigating what constitutes system in these works, formal aspects of the material are examined…
Beyond Binarism in Babylon
This contribution is part of a special issue on History and Human Nature, comprising an essay by G.E.R. Lloyd and fifteen invited responses
The Expression of Terrestrial and Celestial Order in Ancient Mesopotamia
This chapter examines the various cultural contexts for mapmaking in ancient Mesopotamia, focusing on maps on cuneiform tablets and how they served as expressions of terrestrial and celestial order during the period. It begins by looking at the history of mapmaking in the ancient Near East before turning to a discussion of evidence for plans of houses and other buildings. It then considers field surveys, city maps, regional maps, a map of the wor…
The History of Science and Ancient Mesopotamia
This paper views the relevance of cuneiform texts to the history of science from inside, i.e., from the perspective of the available sources, as well as from outside, i.e., from the perspective of historians of science outside the field of Assyriology. It reviews some of the methodological problems that beset the reconstruction of science in the ancient Near East as well as a way forward, which acknowledges localism and pluralism as well the comp…
Before Nature: Cuneiform Knowledge and the History of Science
Reasoning, Representing, and Modeling in Babylonian Astronomy
This paper considers Babylonian astronomical predictive schemes as a source for the study of reasoning and representing via modeling. Two principal questions are addressed: first, whether Babylonian astronomical modeling can be usefully included in the conversation about scientific reasoning with models, and second, how and what the representational value of the practice of astronomical modeling was in ancient Babylonia. It is found that the Baby…
Anthropology of Science: The Cuneiform World
The substantive kalu similarly means "whole, entirety, all," and is sometimes constructed following a noun referring to things that can be counted, as in "signs, all of them" (ittātim kalašina), or "prediction from birds, all (kinds) of them" (purussû iṣṣūrū kalašunu). The extended meaning of the word napḫaru, "all, whole, totality," stems from its basic meaning "sum, total (of things counted or added)," which occurs in the context of a total tal…
In memoriam Noel M. Swerdlow
We have recently received the sad news that Noel Swerdlow (1941–2021) passed away this Saturday 24 July. Noel was a leading historian of science who specialized in premodern astronomy from the Babylonian astronomical ephemerides of the Hellenistic period across the entire range of Western astronomy to the Renaissance, focusing on the works of Regiomontanus, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo. Published Online (2021-08-31)Copyright © 202…
Mereological themes in cuneiform worldmaking
Taking as a point of departure Nelson Goodman’s idea that it is the frames of reference and the descriptions that refer within those frames that make for ways of worldmaking, this paper considers descriptions of the world attested in Akkadian cuneiform texts as a way to approach the Babylonia literati’s notion of ‘world.’ In this corpus, descriptions of world-parts display mereological themes of complementarity, correspondence, and the relation o…
Ancient Near East History (15 works) · History (11 works) · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology (8 works) · Ancient history (7 works) · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies (7 works) · Philosophy (7 works) · Epistemology (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Cuneiform (5 works) · Art (4 works)