ZODIAC talk: Alessia Pilloni, “Gazing at the Sky Above Babylonia”, SASA Winter 2025 Master Class
Time & Location
Feb 25, 2025, 17:00 - 19:00 CET (11:00 AM – 1:00 PM EST)
Zoom
About the Event
You must have heard at least once that the Babylonians were skilled astronomers and astrologers, and that many of their scientific discoveries have come down to us. But what did they observe? How did they write and organise their knowledge? What process led them to these scientific accomplishments? If you are curious to learn more about the Babylonian astral sciences, join us on 25th February at 11am ET (17:00 CET)!
We often hear that one of the things we've inherited from the Babylonians is the division of a full rotation around the center of a circle into 360°. This comes from a Babylonian astronomical concept – the zodiac. The zodiac, made up of 12 signs each spanning 30° (for a total of 360°), was developed in the late 5th century B.C., when Babylonian astronomers were refining their understanding of the heavens with remarkable precision.
The Babylonians' interest in the sky, though, dates back as far as the third millennium B.C., when they created a 12-month calendar based on lunar and solar cycles. Over the centuries, they started recording the names of stars and planets in cuneiform texts, compiling detailed celestial divination texts and also "diaries" to keep track of regular observation of astronomical phenomena.
From the late 5th century B.C. onward, the Babylonians developed complex mathematical techniques to predict the movements of the moon and planets, as well as astrological methods to forecast individual fates.
In this masterclass, we will explore the genres of texts one encounters when studying Babylonian astral science and the remarkable scientific achievements they made over centuries of interest in the heavens.
NB: Knowledge of Akkadian (Babylonian) and cuneiform writing are not prerequisites for participation in the master class.
MUST RSVP TO GET THE LIVE SYLLABUS WITH ZOOM LINK.
