The Historical Sections of the Astronomical Diaries in Context

Developments in A Late Babylonian Scientific Text Corpus

Bibliographic Data

ID24075136
AuthorsReinhard Pirngruber (University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume75
Pages197-210
Publication date2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueIraq (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-0889 • E-ISSN: 2053-4744
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0021088900000462
OpenAlexW2061342748
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited14

The article addresses developments within the Astronomical Diaries, as regards their formal structure and the content of their historical sections, with a particular emphasis on ominous references. Although both the total number and length of historical sections increased significantly over time, the number of ominous references declined. A relationship can be posited between this development and on-going changes in the prevailing scientific worldview in first millennium B.C. Babylonia. The Diaries were deeply embedded in Babylonian traditions of knowledge production, rendering untenable assessments that deny any impact of Babylonian science of divination on them; at the same time, a characterization of the Diaries as a kind of database for diviners falls equally short.

Archaeology · Art · Context (archaeology) · Divination · Literature · Rendering (computer graphics) · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Ancient Near East History · Classics · Computer Science · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History