An alternative interpretation of BM 76829: astrological schemes for length of life and parts of the body

DOI10.1007/S00407-021-00279-YMaRDI QIDQ2069714zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Yanyan Li

Publication date 21 January 2022

Published in Archive for History of Exact Sciences (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://doi.org/10.1007/s00407-021-00279-y

zbMATH Keywords

astrologyBabylonBabylonian astronomyLate Babylonian cuneiform tabletSipparzodiac

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

History of Babylonian mathematics (01A17)

Review text

BM 76829 is a fragment of a small Late Babylonian cuneiform astronomical/astrological tablet, probably from Sippar or Babylon. It was recently published by \textit{J. C. Fincke} et al. [Arch. Hist. Exact Sci. 75, No. 3, 349--368 (2021; Zbl 1472.01008)]. In this paper, the author proposes an alternative interpretation of the contents of the tablet. As is quite often the case in Mesopotamian studies, substantial differences in interpretation hinge ultimately on the reading of a single sign. In this case, the previous authors read `a-na \(x\)' (for \(x\) a single digit number), but the current author sees the `na' sign as a combination of `lid' and `DIŠ', read as numeral `1', In translation, `a-na \(x\)' becomes `to/for \(x\)', and `a-lid \(1,x\)' is `born [in the region of] \(1,x\)'. The addition of an extra sexagesimal place to the numbers removes certain technical oddities from the previous reading, and the reading of `born' instead of `to' certainly changes the interpretation of the contents. In this new reading, the sign of the zodiac in which an individual is born is connected to predicted maximum lifespan. The author's reading of the damaged reverse of the tablet is more tentative and complex, but he suggests it connects body parts with signs of the zodiac. The arguments are careful and detailed with numerous references to parallel astronomical and astrological texts.

Recommendations

• BM 76829: a small astronomical fragment with important implications for the Late Babylonian astronomy and the Astronomical Book of Enoch
• Rising time schemes in Babylonian astronomy
• Shadow-length schemes in Babylonian astronomy
• BM 76488 -- a Babylonian compendium about conjunctions and other planetary phenomena
• BM 42282+42294 and the goal-year method

Cites work

• BM 76829: a small astronomical fragment with important implications for the Late Babylonian astronomy and the Astronomical Book of Enoch
• Rising time schemes in Babylonian astronomy
• The circulation of astronomical knowledge in the ancient world

Cited in

(1)

• BM 76829: a small astronomical fragment with important implications for the Late Babylonian astronomy and the Astronomical Book of Enoch

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