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System of interpretation
[edit]Astral medicine
[edit]Astrology was also incredibly important in a practice known as astral medicine. According to a kalendartext discovered, belonging to a mašmaššu priest in the late Babylonian period of Uruk named Iqīšâ, different remedies are created for patients for different days, depending on the date.
| 1 | Ares | 7 | Sheep-blood, sheep-fat, and sheep-hair, you anoint. |
| 2 | Capricorn | 14 | Goat-blood, goat-fat, and goat hair, you anoint. |
| 3 | Libra | 21 | "Empty place", you anoint. |
| 4 | Cancer | 28 | Crab-blood, or crab-fat, you anoint. |
| 5 | Taurus | 5 | Bull-blood, or bull-fat, or bull-hair, you anoint. |
| 6 | Aquarius | 12 | Eagle-head, wing, and blood, you anoint. |
| 7 | Scorpio | 19 | "Empty place", you anoint. |
| 8 | Leo | 26 | Lion-blood, lion-fat, or lion-hair, you anoint. |
| 9 | Gemini | 3 | Rooster-head, blood, and wing, you anoint. |
| 10 | Pisces | 10 | Dove-head, blood, swallow-head, blood, you anoint. |
| 11 | Sagittarius | 17 | Anzu(-bird?)-head, Anzu(-bird?)-wing, Anzu(-bird)-blood, you anoint. |
| 12 | Virgo | 24 | šigušu-barley-flour, raven-head, and raven-wing, you anoint. |
Steele acknowledges that it is entirely possible that the practice of astral medicine is nothing more than a theoretical practice, devised by scholars of the time. Since several of the parts would have been expensive or otherwise impossible for the average Babylonian to obtain, this raises two possible situations. It is very possible that the whole concept of astral medicine in terms of the kalendartexte and other such sources were, as previously stated, simply theory and never intended for real use. However, Babylonian medicine contains a tradition known as Dreckapotheke, wherein the names of common ingredients are given names of often unpleasant sounding ones. It is also within the realm of possibility that the ingredients listed in the kalendartexte are following this tradition. [1]
| Zodiacal Sign | Normal Babylonian Name | Ingredient |
|---|---|---|
| Aries | The Hired Man | Sheep |
| Taurus | The Stars (Pleiades) | Bull |
| Gemini | The Twin | Rooster |
| Cancer | The Crab | Crab |
| Leo | The Lion | Lion |
| Virgo | The Barleystalk | Barley-flour, Raven |
| Libra | The Balance | "empty" |
| Scorpio | The Scorpion | "empty" |
| Sagittarius | Pabilsag | Anzu-bird |
| Capricorn | The Goat-fish | Goat |
| Aquarius | The Great One | Eagle |
| Pisces | The Tails | Dove, Swallow |
Astrology and the calendar
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The calendar and astrology were very interconnected. When creating the calendar for the next month or year, it was important to keep in mind where important festivals and other religious activities would fall. [1] It seems that four nearby, surrounding countries contributed to each twelve-month calendar year: Elam, Amurru, Subartu, and Akkad.[2] The months were divided intro groups of three, alternating by four, evenly split among the four lands. The first, fifth, and ninth months belonged to Akkad, the second, sixth, and tenth belonged to Elam, the third, seventh, and eleventh belonged to Amurru, and the fourth, eighth, and twelfth belonged to Subartu. Days of each month follows the same pattern, beginning with one for Akkad, two for Elam, three for Amurru, four for Subartu, five for Akkad, and so on.[2] As calendars were often created by priests, months that would come with rather unfavorable events were limited, especially prioritizing against eclipses and new moons; this practice also carried over into scheduling the days of each month. [2] The moon was rather important to Mesopotamian peoples, often it was what they based their calendar on. Lunar omens were among the most commonplace and, most often, they were based on eclipses rather than simple visibility. [3] Deities of Mesopotamia were associated with certain times, days, and months.
In more mythological belief, at the end of each day, the sun god, Shamash, retired to "the lap of heaven" to rest. [4]
- ^ a b c d Steele, John M. (July 26, 2011). "Astronomy and culture in Late Babylonian Uruk†". Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. 7 (S278): 331–341. doi:10.1017/s1743921311012774. ISSN 1743-9221.
- ^ a b c Jastrow, Morris (1910). "Months and Days in Babylonian-Assyrian Astrology". The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures. 26 (3): 151–155.
- ^ Al-Rawi, F. N. H.; George, A. R. (1991). "Enūma Anu Enlil XIV and Other Early Astronomical Tables". Archiv für Orientforschung. 38/39: 52–73.
- ^ Heimpel, Wolfgang (1986). "The Sun at Night and the Doors of Heaven in Babylonian Texts". Journal of Cuneiform Studies. 38 (2): 127–151. doi:10.2307/1359796.
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