Using both images and texts, this project explores the development, use, and social role of the zodiac in first millennium BC Babylonia. This exploration looks at the zodiac from a variety of perspectives (its development and how it functioned on a technical level, its place within astronomical and astrological practice, and its role within society) using a range of approaches (philological, art historical, astronomical, and cultural-historical) in order to try to provide a holistic understanding of the Babylonian zodiac. In doing so, the project will take a new approach to the study of Babylonian astronomy which combines both internal technical history with external socio-cultural history without privileging one approach over the other.
Drawing of a cuneiform tablet from Uruk in southern Babylonia with an illustration of the constellations within the zodiacal sign of Virgo. Reproduced from François Thureau-Dangin, Tablettes d’Uruk (Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1922).
