Origins of the ancient constellations 1. The Mesopotamian traditions John H. Rogers {the ky-map ofancient Babylon constellations had two diferent les and thus developed into two overlapping traditions, Oe Set of constlstions represented the gods and thee symbols; the oer set represented ruse actives and provide arene Calendar. Many constedations were shared by the to traditions, Dut in some reglons af sky there were ultrsative divine and use gures. These Rgures developed in stages fom 3200 TIC to ~800 BC. Of the divine se, the most hnportantatthough the last to he finalised were the twelve zolacal sis, pus several associated srmals (the serpent crow, eal nd Hs), whieh were all tasted tothe lassieal Greek sky-ao4p that we si use today. Conversely, the rustfe constllatlons af workers and tools ‘and animals were not ronanted ta the West However, afew of them may bave survived in Bedouin Ava aky-maap of he fst ‘lenses AD. Introduction Although our constellations were inherited froma classical Greece, they were probably much older. A common view is hat thoy came orginally from Mesopotamia - the land ‘of Suet and Babylon. But many statements about such an ‘origin in popalar books are derived ultimately From ald and erroneous sources.'2So this article will review what is now ‘known of Mesopotamian sky-maps, end to What exten they ‘were passed on to the western world. A second atile will explain ow the Greeks combined various waditons to forma the classical sky-rap. Although the surviving cecords from Mesopotamia are Jncomplete and often diffult to translate with certainty, they are quite adequate to show how the general picrure of the heavens developed, and we actually bave multiple copies of tie main Babylonian ‘textbooks’ from sevecsl ‘istorical stages. A complete catalogue of recorded sta names was given by Gossmana» Mesopotamian artonomy sa whole is described in the book by van dot Waerden.© and (more briefly) in Refs, 9-11. Mesopouiian religion and its symbols re summarised in Ref. 12. Reviewing this wealth of recent scholarship, infer that there were two overlapping traditions of consellatons in Mesopotamia, which developed contemporarcously but had different porposes, The “divine” wadition identied heraldic animals and divine figures inthe constellations, for teligious porposes, especially in the 2odie; these were the figures ilusrated as pictographs in Mesopotamian at The “farming calendar’ vation ientlaed rustic workers and snimals nthe sky, to provide an annual calendar for farm crs, Although many constellations belonged to both tric tions, only the zodiacal and associated constellations from the ‘divine traction were transmitted tothe West. “The historical development will be waved through six phases, 1. The early pietograph phase, ~3200-2100 BC; 2. The boundary-stone pictograph pase, ~ 1350-1000 BC. ‘These ewopphases show the cons ofthe gods which were also applied to constellations in the diving tradition (Table b 3. The Three Stars Bach phase, 21100 BC (Table 2); 4. The MULLAPIN phase, 1100-700 BC. These tw phases provided successive textbooks’ of the constellations, ‘ubich ae the frst writen eecords to include the farm. ing-elendar tradition. The MULAPIN bts (Table 2), which are more complete and uccurate, also give the Heliaca rising is when a constellation fist becomes visible rising in the dawn, This canbe coincident with the date ‘when the Sun sin the constellation, if the princpal stars happen to lie aorth-preceding the centre ofthe coastal Tation, a6 in the case of Taurus (the Pleiades} and Aries. Orit can be upto @ month later, depending on te pater sand brightness of the stars, and the i of the eclipse at that season Precession iste gradual circling of the Earth's axis around the pote of the ecliptie, I alters the 2odiac’s relation to the seasoos at arte of one constellation every 2160 years (1° every 72 years). The cardinal points have shifted {rom one constellation to the nex n approx. 6540 BC. 4380 BC, 2220 BC. 60 BC, and AD 2100 ~but these are 5 the constellations ha different and variable sizes, and wee only assigned equal 0-degree Jmervas in the ffth century BC for atzological purposes. [fa constellation marked a paticlar month in (sty) 1000 BC by te solar position, on average it would have marked iby heliacal sing about a thousand yeas earis. i only average dates ‘The four cardinal points, 90 degrees apart, ate where the ecliptic crosses the celestial equator and where Itreaches furthest north and south. As defined by the postion ofthe Su, they are the equinoxes and solstces. The position | ‘of he spring equinox is named the First Point of Aries; the latudes of the suramer and winter slsices define the J. Br Aron. Aste, 108, 11998 © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data SystemOrigins of he ancient constellations sions are often astonomically incorrect, Almost all the “sure have been identiied, mostly with constellations thet wil be deserbed later, bur some are single stars and thers tare planels, The earliest such ext lists the 32 stars by ‘month, and bas notes on ther relative positions, sing and J.B. Astron Asoe 18,1, 1958 © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysies Data SystemOrigins ofthe ancient constellations ‘Table 2 (continged) D Mors Sirs ofElam, ete. Trawlaton —— Madem stars ‘Gitar x MULAPIN Trnstion Moder, 1 oniear venus LaHUNGA —Hisedfarmn Anes a Am labourer GAM SeimlaCrock Capetiaor Auriga 2) alse Succtcars —Plindee —@) GUANA © Bulg Tauran, athe Bullsjaw Hyaerine. Ald. (4) m Una Loa, a Le (lt) MASHTABAA. GURGULA) “Great dog TURTUR Lesserevins 5. patofGem (7) Iv MASHTABBA Twine Procyon +805 ALLUL ra Procyon andor (8) ‘Cascer Vo BANG Pan Bow earof Ma + NUN: Ciyotesgy Canepa 14) ato Papris (12) YE UGAastes] Raven Conus (15) AB.SIN Fanow Spica an VU ENTENA. Cala Cenmaras uRxu Dos Heriles ay MASHLUM —swameppig? Green’) (20) vin GIRTAB Scorpion Scorpion” 2) GARGIRTAB remo Sco, Ane 24) iio trap 1X UDKADUNA Pantera Cyaaus part of Pabilsag Ante? Sir a Cipelae 25) xX — GULA Grestone Agunius” = (29). SUHURMASH ishgcat—Capiormus Xi) NUMUSHDA — Crowa? Ges MCen tau Deer Cs (wit B) G1) xi KUA, Fish PskrFomal. (3) setting, and significence for agriculture and mythology it says thelr helseal rising occur in ee relevant month This ‘was tue in many cases eg. month [included mul-APIN (Triangalum) and -Tku (Square of Pegasus) as well as us (1), while month included Perseus and the Pleiades ~ but the following statement, that heliacal sexing occurs ‘six monts later, shows thatthe astronomical basis af these ‘abies had been seriously corrupted. Indeed, the positions ‘of some enties must have been scrambled, ether because the copyists made errors (which are evident among the surviving vesions) ar because the layout was done for non- astronomical reasons. Two closely similar texts survive Which list ‘12 stars of Elam, 12 sar of Aka, and 12 stars fof Amurru’ ~ the three ancient countries Uhat bordered ‘Sumner onthe eas, north, end west*# Although these could indicate that srs (like othee omens) were assigned asto- logically to different counties, van der Waecden'® 9ug- ested that these were actully the oldest, Iocally-based, popular star ists, dating from>>1700 BC, and tha they were systematised in the Old Babylonian empite to ft he “3 stars cesch’ mythology without great regard for astronomical ‘These ists are reproduced in Table 2A, B,C. The surviv= ing version of the Stars of Elam’ is incomplete, and has been completed hereon the assumption that constellations inchadeinother permutations of Taree Stars Each bie, which are 301 otherwise included here, longed tothe Stars of Elam, Many ofthe constellations liste have already been cncountered and were presumably shared with the religious pictograph tradition, But the zodiac is remarkably poorly represented. One can argue that only the Pleiades, Leo, Scorpius and Aquarius are shared with che pictographs of J.B tr, Assoc. 108 1, 1998 the 2odie at tis stage, and they were probably all in the Stars of Elam. In the other lists we ind Gemini (obrious in any wradition), Cancer? (out of place), and Libra (the detached claws of the Scorpion; the last two were ot i the pictographs, and probably ware farming-calendat constellations. We also find Anunitum and Shimmah, which conflicted withthe ate zodiacal conselaton of Pisces, and the lists donot inchude any part of Aries, Vigo, Sagittavs, ce Capricomus. Ths seams to be a adition separate from that ofthe zodiacal pctograps, and this is confirmed when ‘we move on tothe MULAPIN ables Fourth phase: the MULAPIN tablets, ~1100-700 BCs ‘The second formal compendium of Babylonian astronomy 1s the pair of ablets called MULAPIN after dhe opening ‘words, which are the mame ofthe fst constellation cf the year. These tablets also exist in several copies, the oldest being from 687 BC, and some ofthe lists also appear in ‘elated tablets from the same period. The MULLAPIN tablets ‘ere the astronomical textbook of Babylon ~a compilation ofthe catalogves producedup tothatime, which apparently ate from ~1000 BC. The starlsts are direct descendants lof the Three Stars Eocklss, including the same stars, the sam purposes, and some ofthe same descriptions, But they dad been reworked on the bass of accurate observations around 1000 BC, and ae muck more extensive and system sticand accurate astronomicaly. They record more constel- Iations, including mast eircumpotar ones for she ist die, the ne ones include more of the zodiacal figures, and "7 © British Astronomical Association » Provided by the NASA Astrophysies Data SystemOrigins of he ancient conetelations ‘Table 3. Mesopotamian constellations and stars: MUZ-APIN lst T ‘Thsie List [ofthe MUL APIV abot fom the translation by Hunger & Piste, Colao 1; Tanslteraton ofthe aeme. All aames were prefired by mul exeept hove for which he profit dis howe, Cola 2: Whole text, tanlated ito Bags (Italics cates onthe mane deity; als see ext. CCaluma 3: Idefiaion. fo brackets, peasibe alternatives. Forfurter opitiogs ou identifications, see table 2 ahd rel 27, Ay Northern sky (the Stars of Enlil) Name (ransteration) cation snalara ‘The Plough, Fal, who goes athe rent ofthe sar of Enlil Thy And UR BARRA “The Wot, the teedera ne Poo gh ats sHU.Gr ‘The Od Man, Eameshaea (shadowy oncetor of Enlil, Perseus GAM The Crook, Garis. Auge MASHTABBAGALGALLA Tbe Gres! Twine Luge and Mesiamtaca 3-8 Gem, ete MASHTABBATURTUR —— TheLitle Twins Alammush ang 9Nin-EZENKGUD. E+hGem, ee ALLUL “The Crab, she set of Anu Cancer UR.GULA “TheLion, Latarak an beaded prvecor god. Lee LUGAL, “The tar which ands athe beat of the Lion the King. Regulur : “Te dusky stars which standin the al ofthe Lice 5,21 Leo! {Comma Quster?} the Frond (ofthe date palm) of En, Zarpnit wif of Mardu Com SUPA SHUPA, Eall who decrees the fate cf the laa. Bosses esas “The star which sands in rot of iste Abundant Ore, BCom ‘the messenger of Nii [wif of El). BALTESHA ‘The tar which ands behind i ee Star of Dignity, CCorone Boe the messenger of Tishpak [ged of arms) MARGIDDA ‘The Wagea, Nail fie of Eni. Une Major - ‘The star whic tana he cape ofthe Wao: KASA the Fox, Era th svong one among th gods 30.86 UMafAlkon!? ¥8 ‘The sac which stands in frat ofthe Wagon: the Ee, Aya, NE. Boots? (UM?) MUBUKESH.DA — Thebllehed Yoke, the peat Anu of Heaven, MARGIDDAAN.NA Tue Wagon of Heaven, Damkiaana. TEILAEMAH Tae star Mhich stands ats rope: the Hsirof the Sublime Temple, 7 be fit ranking sem of Ans DINGIRGUBBAS — The Standing Gods of ker, DINGIRTUSHAS the Siting Gods of Ek (the ereettemple of Enlil, uz. ‘The She goat, Gul uRKU ‘The suar which sands in fen ofthe She-goat the Dog, SLANMA, ‘The bright star ofthe She-got: Lamm, the mesteager of Babe SNia-SARUSEagal —Therwo art which sand behind it Nin-SAR and Eragl UDKADUHA ‘The Panther: Nergel, SHAR ‘The star which stands tis ight side: the Pg, Dame foe of healing ANSHEKURRA Thestar which stands tise side the Horse ‘tke ‘The star which stands Fein it: the Stag, the messenger ofthe Star 7 “The dusky stars which stand in the bees ofthe Stag: aria Harrie, the Rainbow. ‘Thobright sed sar hick sands inthe kidney ofthe Stag: KAMUSHIKUE — theDeleter ‘When the sass of Eli have finished, - ove big star (altboug) it light is dim divides the ey i. Inbal apd stands there the sar of Mart, he Ford, TUISAGMEGAR ——_lupiter, eps changing it pasion and crosoes the sky 7 33 sar of all “Thubaa? Urea Minor Polaris? be nkiers er.p.6 Her? ba Heresies Ves geet Gra, La, par of ep. Headot Deo? Dal} 4.8 Can iPept ace) End (Ca) 183152 Aad? {odromada Ne] And fa Cas?) piter(onihe Imerisianat dow) 2.Br. Astron Assoc. 108, 1, 1098 © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysies Data SystemOrigins ofthe ancient constlltions Table 3 (cont,) B: Equatorial sky (the Stars of Anu); Southern sky (the Stars of 2 ame rata) Treltion eration ASHAKU “The Feld te seat of Ba, which got at the ton of he sas of Aas. ‘Sq of Peps Shinanutug The star which sands oppsie the Field: the Swan W. Fick + Head of Pog Acuninuy ‘he sta which stands behind the Feld: Acuni goddess of ildbith). —N, Fah lowuN.oA ‘The sar Which ands bebind tthe Hired Man, Dum ‘ics MULMUL ‘Tre Stars, the seven goals, the great gods eines GUGAN.NA dislee The Bull of Heaven the fw ofthe Bul the row of Ant “Tauns, Hyades SIPAZLAN.NA The True Shepherd of Heaven, Papsikl, the meeseagerof Ano and Isbtar. Cron ak. Shicadate MASHTABBA Taetwinarswhih and opposite the True Shepherd of eave: + tod + 8 Gem? Lill and Latark to domense protector god. [ae Best, DARLUGAL The sar which stands bebind i the Rooster ‘epuser CME? KAK SISA, ‘The Arrow, the arow of the grea. warrior Nina Sirus, te BAN ‘The Bow, the Bamite ear, he daupher of Fab S. CMa (& pattorPoppis) MUSH (Aéé.°Nicoh) The Snake, Ningzaith, od of te Netherword ya fine. 8 Cae) Garin ‘The Raven, the tar of At, CCoema (ine. Crate?) ABSIN ‘The Fura, Shula. he ear of com. Spien et) ZLBAANNA ‘The Seales the hom ofthe Scores tes Aza uaong Tue sur of Zaha, InOphsSee-Agl: ‘Tigsten, ADs the Eagle, andthe Dead Maa, ‘Aqula: Dephnus? Dita ‘Vers keeps changing is poston and eresses the sky Venus Salbaano ‘Mars xeeps changing its poston and roses the sy Mors UDUIDIM.SAG.USH Satur keps changing its postion ad crosses th sky. Sanen UDUIDIMGUgUD Mercury, whose name i Ninos rire oat isthe east, Mercury orinthe west withina mouth Besar of Anu Kug ‘The Fih, Ea, who gots athe rot ofthe sar of Bx BA GULA; NUN The Gest One Ea the star of rid (he cy, Ea. ‘Aquados: Canopus Niecah ‘Thestarnhich stand at ite ight Niamsh (goddess ofmotherhics. Monto Vela ENTENABARHUM EN.TENABARHUM, Nigits. Centmurus(+ Crs?) SPIGANOR spot «Hanis ‘Thestarwbich sands at its side: the Harrow, te weapon of Mari inside af which one sees he subersnean Wales “Thetwo says which sand beind it Shollat ane Hai, ‘Shamash and Ada, ‘The war hich wands behind thm sae ike Ea pero Vola [sr Flds ine. Carnebalal pew Cen? [ae Cent) Namaste ad sts Ike Ex: Numushde,Adad cea? uRIDIw “The sar which ands athe et de ofthe Seorpion: the Mad Deg Kus Laps oi TaB “The Score, inka, goddess ofall inhabited pons. Seorite GABAGIRTAB The Boas ofthe Serpico: Linh, Nabo. ‘Anes : "The two sars which and inthe sting of the Sconion S3harag uShangat Shar and Sharper devseo Petihang “The sat which stands behind them: Paitsag, Sagiarss MA.GURS a “The Bark and eSar(Coras? SUBURMASHK5 the Gontssh Chpicrnos ; ‘Saar of Ea [Nebilaes, The Babylonians may bave named five naked ye nebulee or cist, four of them in ths Tele. The ist wo ae tbe only ‘ros for dusky star in th ise the Coma Clase (0.10 of Ex: the Frond nd the Andromeda Nebula (30°31 af Ea he nbow). The Peiades (a0 Sof Ams the Star) were ale called Zapp meaning tlt cerns (ofthe Bulls week). The ar Feld sound then Carne nebula may ben. 6 af Es, "inside f which oe tes the suberanens waters" classical maps this masked the point wher the prow af Argo dsppesred nt the mist on the hogan, Filly, the Praesepe ster was not sted MUL APIV, but ‘yas ater known at Kus (a Water sriea (ee text under Cancer). J. Br. Astron. Asoc. 108 1.1988 9 © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysies Data SystemOrigins of she ancient constellations several portraits of deities, bet also mare depicting firming activities and animals, The rustic aature of these later constellations may scem suprising for Mesopotamia whieh, then as now, had a reputation for despotic rule by priests and warriors, We do not know if they were really ‘new at the ime of MULAPIN, Peshaps they came from a long-standing popular tradition that had never been folly ‘writen down before, dating from early times inthe coun igs preceding or surrounding the Kingdom of Sumer, before the great empires arose, In any case, the MULAPIN lists (Fable 3) clearly encompass both the divine and the rustic cadition ‘The tablets were described in some detail in Ref, 6, and «complete transcription and trensation is in Ref. 8. The lists om the frst tablet are 1. Catalogue of sar inde 3 Ways: 71 constellations, stats, ‘and planets (Table 3). Tai catalogue includes all the ‘stars" in the earlier lists (Table 2) (except Bis) and all the "sts inthe fellowingllits in MULAPIN (except for afew single stars). A constellation is usually sted by ts name (prefix mul) followed by the name ofa god asso- lated wih it (prefix d+) and often by some other brief epithet. A star is usually listed as “The star which stands.” in come relation to another constellation, and sometimes fas its own stellar name (mol-) or divine nasae (d+), Buc the distincton is pac absolute gute 6. The rican paresis (Eppa case BC) The tof he ay ‘ied wihheEpypanconanintom, ost Stokke ten dled om copy fers ataughafewathe wpe ian Att crn. Ov hs 299, Ome ed moath he pontning. fo esle Di Caner and Len sepa The pr Fedoca consmnione et tbe For mpl pes see 8. TL Dates ofheliacal sings. These are indicated by sequen tial numbers in Table 2, The list seems to date from 1300-1000 BC+ (Pape revised many ofthe ta iden tifications and deduced an earlier date, ~2300 BC, which ‘van der Waerdan has supported; but Hunger and Pingreet explain chat the agguments for 1300-1000 BC are much suonger)A sign that itis late than -2200 BC's thatthe year begins with helical rising of la HHunga (Aries), not Taunus, IL Pairs of constellations which rise and set simula. neously TV. Timesintervals between dates of heliacal sisings. ‘Escenialy the same data as List, but with some difer- fences in roundiag-off; these suggested to van der ‘Waevdent that this ws derived from an eater fst with itsstarta Situs, which had acer been re-settoagree with List V. Pais of constellations which are simultaneously atthe zenith ané a the horivon. Hunger and Pingree! worked ‘ut that ists IT and V date from about 1000 BC a136°N, support the date of ist ‘Vi. The path of the Moon and planets. "The gods who stand the path ofthe Moon, through whose regions te Moon the course of a month passes and whom he touches: The Pleiades, the Boll o"H, he Shepherd o'H (Orioal, the Old Man (Perseus), the Crook (Auriga, the Grest J.B Aaron. Atos, 108, {1998 © British Astronomical Association * Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data SystemOrigins ofthe ancient constellations ‘Dwins, the Crab, the Lion, the Furrow (Virgo), the Scales, tha Searpien, Pabilsag (Sagittarius, the Goat Fish, the Great One (Aquarius), the Tails ef] the Swallow, (and of] Anuniry the Hired Man [Asis] (Ref, 81 OF these 18 names, the Tals isthe only one not prefixed by mul- soit probably qualifies the Swallow (abird with forked tal, and does not indicate che Fishes tied by their cals. Therefore, this ist contains mest of the 20d acalconsellations bu whut alternatives for Pisces. Aries, nd Vigo: they are not striily organised into toe [2 sis, and some others intrude. Note thatthe Pleiadas and Torus were named fist: they masked the spring ‘equinox before 7200 BC. The main ists on the second tablet are: ‘VIE Solar calendar, with ates when the Sun is atthe card- ne pois LVI The planets andthe durations oftheir solar conjunc 1X, Stellar risings and planetary postions for predicting ‘weather and dictating leap years (atecalary month). X. Telling time by length of the gnomen shadows XU. Length of night watches through the year, by water ‘lock, and sing an seting of the Moon, XI. Omens connected with appearance of stars, planers “comets (enl-U RLRD, an winds tthoogh not with the zodias), Arising third table seers tobe implied by some versions but this as probably just an optional appendix or link 29 aie texts, concerting omens" Letus now take sock of these Mesopotamian constlia- tions, Many of them comprised a mundane objector animal tached to a divine narne; others were purely rustic oF purely divine, In keeping with their use as 2 farming calen- dar, rustic constellations were numerous, In the zodice we have noted the Hired Labourer (later Aries), the Furow (ater Virgo) and the Seales (Libra), while other constella- lions inchded the Shepherd (Orion), the Crook (Auriga, sppareatiy a goat herd) their Plough (mul-APIN, perkaps preserved in Triangulum), the Field (Squate of Pegasus), the Harrow (starfelds in Argo?) and around the poe the two Wagons and the Hitched Yoke, The Yoke was also an alternative name for Bostes (Table 2).) The Field was narned fora unit of are, and onthe Dendera Zodiac it was shoven asa square with a patter of furrows orwaves denat- sng agriculture (Figure 6). ‘The circumpolar constellations were no us forthe farm- ing calendar, and appeared foc the Mist time in MULAPIN (Table 3, te Starsof Eli, numbers 15 to 22) None ofthese were the same as be classical constellations, They had two Wagons (oot bears) revolving around the star(s) of the Hitched Yoke. (The descriptions indicate thatthe Wagons ‘were travelling backwards around the Pole.) The pole would still have been near the tail of Deaco, and it was named fot ‘the sky-god Amu. Ekurwas the gresttemple of Enh and ike other great temples it was regarded as & cosmic “moaring- ope of beaven and eam’? which may also be alluded on 4 Br Astron Assee 108, 1 1998 the names of Thuban and Polaris. The nume for or Polaris is intigeing ~ it could suggest chat the Babylonians krewe the pole was precessing towards this str, although iis not ‘ought hat they undersced the paenomenon of peecession No original pictures of the non-zodiaenl constellations have survived, However, some texts give more details of star positions which imply that constellations aamed for deities such as Era and Zabsba and Ninmh, and perhaps eventhe Bow, were complete portraits with heats andhande and feet2"Tadzed we shill see evidence thatthe goddesses Shala and Gula were portrayed (in our Vigo and Lyra) as alternatives tothe rustic asignments ofthe same stars. tables from Asshurin Assyia™ actually decribes the figures fo the fst part of the Stars of Enlil, roughiy as listed in MULAPIN. There ate many gaps inthe surviving text bat some interesting elimpses remain. The Greater and Lesser “Twins were both pairs of clothed, bearded men holding ‘weapons. After the Crab, four constellations were fisted instead of just Leo: SAGMEGAR (Jupiter, which was denofied astrologically with Cancer), UR.GU LA (lion ot great dog), URMAH (oe), and Ero, Ciealy she as 2 whole constellation, occupying the area of Coma and Canes ‘Venatict under the Wagon: “Ezy, 2 cathe figure. A sar sm ber Head she hos 3 ship ia rg andthe leather huni?) of the wit vere owas te tala! URGIEA: her if hand se bok sa. ‘Then the two Wagons are described (out not Botes), and then "UR KU adog, which ss ot iadguares, looking at. Gola Tw sas init treat 7 ary in eta. tbe bound ny. stars af the Siting Gods 3 sts ofthe Sanding Goes, ss46 srs af the Donndary ofthe Way of Anu. The Stars ffthe goles Gala 2 are ae shown side sge uncer the nse of her tron Gols was idented with Lyra in MULAPIN, bu the constellation name was tere given as the Goat, s0 this passige shows that the associated divinity was also drawn Inthe sky. This tablet doesnot go further, s0 sadly we have no description of the huge Pantbert-gifn) ("Demon with gaping movth’) tn list V of MULAPIN, Foor sars of the Panther ave listed separately, probably ¥ Cye at its side, ce Cyg at ita breast, Lac atte knee, and 8 Cas atts hee? 11 was named for Nergal (See above). With the Panther (artis) above the Bagi, andthe Centau-archer and Gost- fish below i thie part of the sky was an exotic exception to the general rustic scene. “Tuming towards the saunn side of the northern sky (Figure 7, there were the Horse and Stag and Angnitam (in the area now occupied by the Andromeda legend). Re- rmarkably, pictures of them may have been transmitted 19 post-classical times, as we shall see below. But outside the zodine only afew of the Mesopotamian constellations have survived into our sky-map, Three of ‘ese (Orion and Perseus and Andromeda) were human Figures which could have been independently invented. Another may be the Mad Dog (Lupas), but there are several dogs in bot sky-maps. Otherwise. the only clear survivals seam tobe the divine “signs of te zosie’, and fous para- zodiacal constllations, which we discuss in detail below: Piscis Austrinus, Aquila, Hydra, and Convus. a © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data SystemOrigins ofthe ancient constellations igre 7. The sgh iy of tsar in 220 BC a 6°, showing Babylonian constsions, Sl ines a he gute 2 epic: he cesta eben lehed Yoke of denen eng oes miele spe pola ces cle cenmon tema the pate ceil oleae Bepecesven cyte Fx ones noe aE Mit, Agila Caprccrue snd Perse now theese pape, sin Cabs oh ‘Buepiwacs ied econo fore The sues Wagons sat og are ont denn nn uur Te psi oe Macs een fora Be The taper ote Seg wd Hse nfo fo eae wns Noth seen several ts eel arena in soearup nen thy aang, cnaert win he Pporance of enc og To shape Yaa ga) stow bat as Deen ‘ctstd sg winged ane salar oar he coast wih te sur-ranes 2 MULAPIO Lt Tie shape te Bal sua 08 ‘Spee wthteSgunon he Seed ane Depa scac Tn at SovotYothce l, shous th saa apes Oe Bul on ne Teta ‘popovedby Hau ie 1 Tw se rap ee aks teat of rope aden. compte o apne sma preaices she C632) roan sue Seen Seng it el fom Sos Ment 1 oaerz 2 2. Astron Aros 108, 1, 1998 © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data SystemOrigins of the ancient cones Fifth phase: astrome ‘ic diaries, 750-60 BCw eom about 750 BC, the Babylonians began precise chron- icles of both histrical evens and astronomical measure rmenis. few suck “dares” survive from 680 BC onwards, and many from 384 BC onsards. They included precise ‘measurements of planetary postions in degrees, minutes, and seconds of ate, relative to the standard 12 signs of the zodiae (after 420 BC}s8it and also telatve 1031 stars spaced around the 2adive. (These were diferent from the 36 constellations refered to above, and also from the 36 stars or “decans' which che Rgystians used fer their calendar, spaced rather more evenly at I-day intervals sound the zodiac.) There were few if any new constella- ‘The division of the zotiac into 12 equal vigns* was made inthis penod, possibly round 660 BC, certainly before 475 BC! about the same time chat zodiacal horoscopes were ‘nroduced (Paper fDIn place of the 17 “Stars inthe path of the Moon’ listed ia ALILAPIN, texts from the Persia, period list ust the clasical swelv, but with Is Hangs (the ied Labourer) for Aries and "tls othe Feld for Pisces ‘The signs were defined so thatthe cardinal points were Jn the middle of them, Originally, chetefore, the spring cquinox was at "1S" oflu-Hungs (Aries) Later Babylonian Junar tables put at 10" or 8° thus aecountng for preces- son *# Other hats that he Babylonians may have known out precession ae theirnamse fr Polaris [see above), and the ball-slaying motif of che Mithras cult (Paper 1D. However, tisnotthoughtthat hey understood the phenom enon of precession, and they may have ateibuted te shift- Jngcardinalpoims to increasing accuracy rather than steady motion. They retained the equinox at 8° trough the 2nd cenuiry BC, when it shoula have been st 4°. Greek and Roman authors stil had he equinox at 8°, Only after Fipparchus diseovered precession waste equinox set ta 0° ‘of Aries, corect fr that time, forthe purpose of astrology Pager Th, Afier the conquest of Babylon by she 25-year-old upstart oly AS Seah stn ae ti eee as 8) {BE Repraaced by pemision foe Ss of Conbdge Urea Liban J: Br, Astron. Asso. 18,1 1998 Alexander in 331 BC, te asuomenry costinved under bs Successors indeed, these Seloucd kings had ever. greater demands for astology. The last dares date from about 60 BC, when the region was conquered by Persians, andthe very last cuneiform astwoaomical records date from 75 AD. From this period also come the only extant pictamgs ofthe odin, the Seleucid and Dendere Zadiaes (See above and Figure 6). Worship of Babylonian astral deities didcontinue for some time in southern Arabia, however. Last phase: Survival in the desert? ‘Were ine msc constellations completly los? Between the ‘osvafll of Babylon and the advent of Islam, tie nomadic Bedovin Arabe ofthe deeert had a ich astronomical culture ands grea: variety of constellations" A smal group of their constellations ray have been relics ofthe Babylonian farm ing-caencae tadtion, which were iluseated forthe est. nd last ime in Arab manasesipts ‘The Bedovin coastellaions were deveribed in detail by Sufi along with his descriptions ofthe classical constel- lations. These descriptions were summarised by Allen, and many have been sketched by Staal” One class consisted of familar figures swollen to gigantic size: the lion (Leo) spread from Spica to Castor, the giant (Orion) expanded into Gemini and pair of hoge arms extended from the Pleiades into Cassiopeia and Cetus, Another clas, covering most of the sky, comprised not “jointhe-do:s figures ike aus, bur Mocks of animals, each star being an ‘divs. Ths there were goss in Auriga (ich we also hove); camels in Draco and Lepus andthe Hyades;gazeles sunning inthe preceding part of Ursa Major; the vultures (oreages) of Vega znd Altaira grea Fold around the Nor Pole, containing camels, sheep, calves, wolves, anda shep- herd with his dog: similar Pastce in Hereules and Ophivchus; and ostiches standing and nesting and hatch ing and running atound much ofthe souther horizon, This was an engaging tradition, but perhaps nota very ancient fer serious one. A few of the figures do evoke refections of the Babylonian sky. ‘Thos most of Hydra survived as the Verbs; where the Babylonians bad the ‘Standing Gods of Bkur, the Bedouin bad the Images or Statues; andthe two citcurmpolar ‘Wagons became the two Funeral Biers, rot bears. The Square of Pegasus was an cnot- mous Bucket; was this a desert parody of ‘he irrigated Field or the ‘celestial sea’? ‘Most interesting, though, are thre aai- smal figures which faaked she Square of Pegasus. They differet from other Bedouin constellations in several ways: they were he cnly animals formed 2s ‘join-thedoes' figures ike ours, dey cot across several of the previously deseribedconstelations, and they wore the only ones to be illustrated in manuscripts of al-Sui.o# The dlustae show the stars nly schematically, but other a © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data Systema (Origins ofthe ancient constellations copies of al-Suli%sn2* show them accurately enough For their stars to be identified (Fignre 7). One was the Northern Fish of Pisces, in the larger fore that corresponded to ibe Mesopotamian goddess Anunitum, with its snout atthe Andromeda Nebula; the clearest usation™ shows the lady Andromeda with wnat looks ikea brace of alibatin her lp. The second was the Horse, possibly the Horse of MULAPIN (Table 34); it fied between our Pegasus, Equuteus, and Cygnus, but unlike Pegasus it was whole and Upright 2% The third was dhe Camel, fist dasesbed 9s a ‘Arab constellation by Piolemy, which covered Cassio- pein? this may have evolved fom the Babylonian ‘Stag. Cas was the Camel's hump, and was not par ofthe Stag: and the figure indeed has the “bright red star 0 Cas ints loin, and the Andzemeda Nebula cose tots breast, as escribed in MULAPIN CTable 38), Solin these three animals, ve apparently See relics of the snimal constellations ofthe Mesopotamian farming calon- dar, still being portrayed a millennium after the downfslt of Babylon ‘The zodiacal and parazodiacal constellations Lec us now review how the 12 zodiacal and 4 parezadivcal constellations developed, both in Mesopotamia ai in their later transmission to classical Geeece and Rome. They can be grouped inio quarters, each of which has marked the cardinal poins ata different epoch. Zodiae 1 The frst four zodiacal constellations were early enough that they were fied into the cafendeicalstar-lsts ~ unlike some ofthe other cight which we will consider hereafter. Some fem huve since heen reduced in ize, butnever replaced. ‘These earliest zodiacal constellations must have been established in Sumer orealir in Elam, Three were large, conspicuous, realistic animals, symbols of strength aad power: he Bul, the Lion, andthe Scorpion. Along withthe water-pouting god, Aquarius, they contained the four cardi- ral potsts around 4400-2200 BC. Iris hard to be more precise abou these dates because of the large sizes of the constellations, but Harte pointed out that around 4000 BC the cardinal pots in the calendar were marked by bei sea risings of the Pleiades, Regulus, and Antares, then around 2800 BC, she cardinal pints in the sky were close vo these same stars. Haartner® proposed that dhe quartet was completed with ameven earlier constellation ofthe Poex, marking the winter solstice, as hexes were common motifs in proto-Elamite art of =#000 BC. Sometimes the hom of the ibex enclosed a star or Sun or pattemed square, which he saw as the pito- raph for 1-ku (he Feld), His Tbex was formed ftom stars Of our Aquarius, Capricoraus, and the head of Pegasus (Figure inset), However there iso direct evidence fr this constellation, and the potery with ibexes and geometric pattems was a distinctive prcto-Elamite tradition, quite Separate from the bulls and iors and seorpons that pref wed the other thee constellations. Balls and lions were very common in at from ~3200 BC pwards, and the wster-pouriag god and scorpions and sear. pion-mer tem ~2600 BCoawarls. One common motif was the Lior-artacking-Bull, seen on seals of the th mil: Jeanium," whieh reached ity monumental climax in Persepolis around SUO 3.C: itnert need that as Tears set, L2o wat at the zenith, sn he argued that thie most represented the changing ofthe seasons. (However, ther common artistic modfS had no evident astronomical ‘weaning, ‘Tuese constellations each contain frst-magniude stars {Aldebaran, Regulus. Antares, and Foralhaul), which were se othe cardinal points and became known asthe Royal Siar inate Persia,' However Fomalbauc was too farsouth te be clearly seen at that epock; Altair may have been adopted instead, and this may have beer the origin af the Eagle as another ‘royal’ constellation. The four oyal stars ‘may be symbolised in Persepolis, in «vast bes-rlief of « ‘ing slaying a griffin, which has the horns and body ef a bull, mane and forelegs of ation, tail of seompion, and ‘wings and hindlegs of sx eagle 2 Variants with parts of & ‘man instead of» scomion were Rist seen on a iSth-centiry [BC stone from Syria’? and taier in Ezekiel 1: 1-28 and Revelation & 6-7 ‘Taurus: The Bull was the Bul of Hesven othe Sumerians le marked the spring equinox and the star of the new yest. Ie bead fas always been the Hysdes, including ‘Aldebaran, Our Taurss, showing just the front bel? emerging from storm cloud, i reminiscent of the Bull fof Adad in the pictograps. But the posture was proba: bly different in dhe Mesopotacinn sky (Figure 7), The Pielades may have formed the upper horn Harnect Suggested thatthe = Ort starchain was the lower hora (Figure 7 inset). In Figue 7 offer an alternative which matches the pictue on the Seleucid and Dendera “odiaes. Only in clasiesl Greece were the horns rened forwards to give the cisssical pier. Len: The Lion masked the summer solstice for the Sumenans. Regulus (Latin “litle king’) was called Shar (the king’) by the Babylonians, Leo isthe 12th Jangest constellation, Although the str cluster of Coma Berenice belonged 19 the igre of Bruin the Babylonian sky-map it may alter- natively have figured asthe cuft ofthe lion's ta, ast id to some Greeks and Muslims, But Eratostenes and Hyginus insteed descebed it asthe hale of Queen Berenice of Egypt, hence ovr present tle consteliatien, Scorplus: The Scorpion marked the autumn equinox. Tr #36 layger at first the stars that ae now Libea were ie ew0 laws" Scompius plus Libra together would be the 1088 largest constellation. Ie was split eo the two constella- tions atleast as early asthe Taree Stars Eachzexts (Table “ole. ie Natoma Cw (BL) aU get ong weacing Ertoshoves a ignurcus! 7s Polen wea SNSEB Lend Astes wer wh 2 espace Since the, LD ha ply ‘ated wate anaes as begin. Ata: wis sted soa ge ‘oe op 0 AD (10, hen Brat sgse ne tho Le ery Pom, AD iehbonwarsevaederaenanegtace Dan Tava arse oe 5 yeu, ot mizedem caaogus he ge som 9.9912 J Br Aatron Asso 108, 1, 1998, @ British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data SystemOrigins of the ancient constlitions Fipte9.Toecid An somtsiions of be Nore, Fite Carel adit Here. pot rnc of the aent Bayon cosrioan ef Anau (Being ante Ho Ta eviusly wpe ‘eases aap AD IT oon a se. 5) ste aly one barney oie he iy nyt ou edema owner nee fot Show arte el he af Canon ‘eeopseate be Svae of Fog hs apeued tthe Fhe ea hy oo arate Fir smn te ance. ea pokey me fm aco-pite esrgtons of the Fe fac hn re on apy. Otherdetons of Sa Emme tlah Sn il Liam pel ty E Swrge-Srit spite Decaiebolsuof he Boda Usa fermen tannins Bolan temp Hn afte hsp erin ofthe Boia bray. [tne nie i mares by Hee hough of wong rom be thei page aon, edie "hough as en gay preside ones of Seigecrcnmendt 2) bot Libra was sil referred to as the hom’ or ‘claws? Of the Scorpion in MULAPIN and through into Greek times (see below, This conspicuous animal shape aurarted tention from other cultures as well. The Chinese divided the zodiac ‘nto only four constellations, and here was the Dragan, stretching from Sagitarus to Virgo, with Spica and ‘Arcturs sit hor, Aquarius: The winter selstice of 4400-2200 BC was marked by the Water-Poucer, which represented Ea himself from Sumerian times. Tate common pietogaph (Pigures 2 5,6) Es, often standing atop a sacred moun. tain or iggurat, was pouring two streams of water from his shoulders or from vases, with fish below. MULAPIN called the gure Gu.La ("The great one"). In Gosk times ‘he figure was unnamed, with a single vase feom which poured a substantial stream down to Piscis Austinas ‘Aquatas is now the 10h largest constellation, Four parazodiacal animele Although many ofthe MULAPLY not-2odiacal coastela+ tions had divine associations, only a few of them have survived into our sky-maps, and these four animals were sssocated with the summer and winter solstcil signs ip the old pitograph tradition. So these are te only won J. Br Aaron. Apt. 108, 11998 zodiacal constelations to have been shared by both ‘Mesopotamian traditions and sso transnited tothe elassi- cal raion, and they are also shown onthe Dendera Zodiae (Figure 6) and on Mithese shines (Paper It) Piscis Austrinus: The Souther Fish hav always been ‘tached tothe zoacal figure of Aquaris. In classical maps i¢ mysteriously swallows the stream which he ‘ours out, but Remap originally jst swam i it asin Figure 2 Aquila: The Eagle was pethaps associated withthe ancient odiae by viue ofits ‘royal sta’ Altair Bogles were common in ancient ar, but Aquila may be shown with Aquarius onthe Sea! of Adda (Figure 2). Iris not knowa, ifthe Eagle had any divine signiicanee, but the adjacent constellation 1s Zababa, who was also represented by the wulture/eagle-head standard on the Boundary stones. On the Dendere Zodiac, there are three binds in this eneral area chough none of them is really large nor souiline Hiydea and Corvus: The huge Serpent, uniquely, belongs to all cur constellation traditions: the farming calendar lists, the oundary-stone pictograghs, and also the ancien: Mediterranean tradition, a8 it mazked the celes- tie equator around 2800 BC (see Paper I). [twas asso- elated with Leo, which was shown standing on che 25 © British Astronomical Association * Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data SystemOrigins ofthe ancient constellations Serpenton a boundary stone (Figure 3), and alse i ater ‘versions ofthe pictograph traction, viz" the Seleuetdand Dendeca Zodiaes (Figure 6). Conv isthe Crow or Raver thatis mysteriously perched on Hydra. Although: there are no early pictographs ofthis "sssocation, the Raven islised in MULAPIN ane shown, ‘on the Seleucid snd Denders Zadiaes. As visualised By he Greeks, the constetiation Crate (he Cup) was also ar of te group, anc the tno was even preserved into the Mithras cult (Paper ‘Why were these such sigifican group, even when they 19 longer marked the equator? The classes! myth oes not sees helpful (Paper Ml), ut note the entry for Hydra in MULAPIN: "The Snake (Adadian: Nit, Ningizzica, lord of the Netherworld’. Also note the following passage from une description ofthe funeral of Gilgamesh, giving offerings to the gods ofthe dead Bress for Neti the Keeper af the Gute [2 Net: se Sugita: read for Ningiside he pod ofthe serge the lord of the Tiee of Lite for Durnel asa, the yoong Sephgd ice Vem an eh =Uthe Eleaf Caen Ningizzida and Dumuzi stood together in the under world, and Ningizzida and Pabilsag (sce Sagitaris) governed the household of the queen ofthe underwode ‘Therefore suggest that Hydra represented the entrance ' the underworld, joined by the Crow and Cup as symbots of death 2odigc tt The other eight zodiacal constellations were mostly estab lishee by the time of the MULAPIW Wiss, though not all included in them, Virgo and Sapinarvs may be descended fiom che fenlity godess and the hunting god shown on Pictographs of ~2500 BC enwards, and Segitiaris. and Capricornus re found on boundary-stones ftom the second millennium BC, just as they aze shown en the Dendera odiae. Gemini, Cancer, and Libra were frst recorded the Three Stars Each and MULAPIN, Only Pisces and Aties Were late additions, though pictographie evidence suggests that both might have existed inthe second millennium BC ‘Thus the set comprising Gemini, Virgo, Sagivarius, Pisces, is defintely old; buc how ola? They are very large, Don-cepresenttional, and include three of the four human id (or divine) Rgures in the zodiac. These atibutes led Garshiein to propose tha they were the most ancient of all, They would have marked che cardinal points arcund {6600-4400 BC. well before urban civilisation, But thete is ‘o historical evidence for them being even as early as the {Zociae set, More likely their divine forms were invented ‘around 2300 BC, when Mesopotamian religion became ‘ore systematic. Their large size may be due tothe happen. stance that, outside the four animal figures of Zodiac thers were large amorphous sky areas waiting tobe filled. Why were they created? Not for astronomical reasons even though the cardinal points were hen drifting out ofthe Zodiac I constellations, no special significance was given to the Zodiac It constellations which succeeded them (ce below). Nor for astrological reasons: the zodiac did not 6 figure asa distinet or important feature of omen texts unt ‘he mid: fiss millennium, *Probably foc religious reasons, > ‘etend divine symbol around the reminder of the path of the gods (ihe planets), Thus a ferility goddess was placed neXt to shter’s Lion: « hunting god was placed inthe dawn sky of autumn; Ex atthe winter solstice wes supported wit his Goat-fsh on onesie and Fishes on the other and even ‘ually he shepherd god of spring, Damn, furnished ¢ Rare for the spring equinox. Geminis The Twins has been che mest sable of thie set His striking pai of frst-magoitude stars was called the Great Twins. They were identified as Luatlgima and ‘Meslama-ea, armed twin gods who guarded deorways, wit aspects of Nergal. To their south were the Lesser ‘Twins, ter combined! n the seme constellation, Inthe first Greek account of them, by Azstus, he Twins wece not named, Later they weve identifed as Castor and Polydeuces (by Ecatosthenes) or as Apollo nd Heracles (by Hyginus and Prolemy) Virgo: While there ae plenty of men among our constella: tions, thee are only three women: but dhe Viegin makes up for thisienbalance by being the second largest onstel- lation and embodying the aldest of deities ~ the Earth ‘Mother. The classical Virgo has always held & sheat of orn, so she was clearly a goddess felt. Thus Virgo was Demeter ia Greece, who was analogous to Ishr in Babylon and Isis in Egypt. Each of these goddesses travelied to the underworld 10 rescve a dead loved ‘one ~ Demeter's daughter Persephone, Ishtar’s husband Dumuzi (Tammuz), and Isis" husbandbrother Osis and this was the mythical ovigia of autumn and spring. En MUL.APIN, Virgo was identified with Sala, who was ‘ot Ishtar; bur the eaily picographe show Ishtar, with lions end holding vegetsble prodace (see Figure 2): 30 [ethan the ateibutes of Shala were derived from Ishiar, ‘We can only speculate a5 to whether this great earth {goddess was implicidy identified with tis constellation Jn earlier times, Shala andlor her ear of cern wore cersinly shown on Kessite boundary. stones This figure co-enisted with a different Babylonian constellation, the Furrow (Ab.sin}. This was obviously one of the ‘farming’ constellations, and one is tempted to think the turow was made bythe ploughman Bootes, althengh he is not known to have been a ploughman Babylon. Anyway, the wo xaditions were recognised by ‘he description in MUL APIN: “The Furrow, the goddess Shala's eee of com.” Actually, the Furcow seems w have been just Spica or the surounding are, burke name was later applied to the whole zodiseal sign in the ast phase ‘of Babylonian astronomy, even while the igare was that ‘ofthe goddess with the corn that had perhaps grown from the furrow, Sagittarius: The Archer has long and perplexing bistooy, Which likewise may represent confusion between two peraliel Mesopotamian figures. The mame forthe eonstel lation in MUL.APAN was Pabisag: he was alte known Sumerian god, later identified wih Niner, However ‘nother Babylonian neme fer itis recorded, Neda? ‘Which means ‘soldier’ and was also the gutekeeper of the J te Astron Arce 108, 1, 2998 © British Astronomical Assoclation + Provided by the NASA. Astrophysics Data SystemOrigin ofthe ancient constellations underworld (See Hyde, above) be perhaps represents & Aiferent tition, and we do not know if he had « bow ss arrow, Butt is ot known if ther divinity was rele ‘yancto the zodiacal sign centaur wit x haw and aco, Which was already present on a few boundary stones i the second millennium BC (Figure 5), The earliest Geek porcayal ofthe Archer was apparently a sayr with two legs, ofa gaat) rather tan x contaur (sath four lege, of & horse), He was said tobe the son of Pan {goat-g00) and Eupheme (human); Brawsthenes described him as 2 styr, and this is how he is shown onthe Farnese Atlas (Paper IL). In classical mes he became scents, a the ancient four-legged zodiacal sign was reconciled with the constellation, Only in modem Ameria has Sagittarius been jgnomin~ ‘cusly tuned into a teapot although tomost Americans, a teapot is as exotic as 2 centaur. Sagitarius isthe 15th largest constelation, Pisces: lus i de 14th largest constellation, but it seems larger ast sprawis over fog cbstances, and ft orginally sprawled even further, completely embracing two sides of the Square of Pegasus. Bur itcontains no bright stars and its meaning is an enigma. Tt consists of to fishes wth thee as ed together by asibbon, Pehape it cefers ‘o catching fish, n keeping with the various agricleural constellaons, but { do aot know if anvone has ever caught ish by lassoing their tails. I is also part ofthe eoestial sea’, most of which coasizs of watery constel- Intions derived from Ea However, twas one ofthe ast constellations tobe eetab- lished, in MULAPIN and eales,€4 the western fish ‘was called the “Great Swallow’, whieh algo included the ‘neck’ of Pegssus. (Uf ¢ Peg was included, it may have belonged tothe Ibex and Swallow and Fish in succes: sion, before it ended up in Pegasus), The nordern fish, ‘which also included the middie of Andromeda, was called Anucitur, ‘Lady of the Heavens’ and goddess of childbit, Weave seen this ish ilustrated by the Arabs (Figures 8and9), The MULAPIN tablets do not mention the Fishes: the single eeference to the Tails (Zibbatt- mesh) probably refers othe Swallow, not the Fishes, ab we noted above: but this aame came to symbolise the ‘odiacal Pisces later. Other Tate Babylonian sources fame i as DUNU.NU ef Rikis-na.ni, meaning “Pish- cord’™ the Brstleae reference to Pisces. Yet ohers ist. the zodiacal sign a5 Lolo (the Field, our Square of Pegasus), whose pictograph is wedged between the Fishes on the Dendera Zodiac (Figure 6). Hartner® suggested that this was an ancient pictograph, but this remains speculation as no such sign has been found in the astral traditions we have examined, "suggest that Pisces did in fact come from the ancient pictographic tradition, in thet Aquarius (Es) originally oured out two streams with fishes, as on the old pictographs (Figure 2). One steam can south to Piscis, ‘Austrinus, the other can eat through Pisces. Pesteps the streams of water were misinterpreted by later copyists, aiving rise to the strange postures of the thee shes today, J.B Aston, A206 108 | 1588 © British Astronomical Associ Zodiae Wt ‘These four constellations inslade the last aditons to the zodiac, eventhough they are the set which gave ther ames fo he Fist Point of Aries and the Tropic of Cancer. CCapricerous was an ancient divine symbol, but the other three ae the smallest and faintest ofthe zodioca!constll- ‘ions, and seem not eave been securely defined uh class sical times. They were needed then 10 mark the cardinal solar point of the 2adiae (hick had preceesed away from the Zodiac I constellations) and to complete the equa dvi- sion ofthe zadie into 12 ‘signs inthe middle ofthe frst millennium BC. These tree Were perhaps orginally mastic constellations (the crab of the marshes, the scala of the village market, and the hired farm-labourer) which only belatedly scquired symbolic importance as signs of the odiae. The farm-labourer was seplaced by the sivine symbol Anes when it superseded the Plough (ml-APIN) asthe fst constellation of the yeas ‘Aries: The Ram was a major cult igure in ancient ciilis tions ~ e.g, for Ea in Mesopoxamia and for Ammon in Egypt ~ but there is no Mesopotamist cecord of it as 3 constellation, The farming’ constellation was he Hived Farm-laboure, listed in MULAPIN at “9 Upp, Samu’. There are several plausible origins forthe Ram which replaced it First the ram's-head symbol of a, which adéed tohis representation inadjacentcansel- lations. Second the name lu-Hian-ga {Farm-tabourer, ‘hough "Lu" meant sheep), which in Babylon became both Agra (Fann labourer) and Immeru (Sheep); hence, the Ram, Third, and perhaps most likely: Duc (Tammuz), who asa dying and rising god was suitable custodian of the spring equinox, was 2 shepherd (see Hydraand Virgo, above). Mereover, unlike all tbe other major gods, he was never illustrated ~ whichis coasise ‘ent withthe paucity of pictagraphs of Aries. However, stam lke Artes was shown on Kassite boundary-stones with Shala’s ear of conn, so perhaps this symbol was transferable among the frtiy deities Anes has no very bright stars, but contained the spring ‘equinox after -2200 BC, so the intesection of eclipse and equator has ever since been known as the First Pint of Anes. ‘Cancer: The Crab seems o date from the Three Start Each phase, chough its ealy history iss vague its stars. The constellation of ALJul (Crab) was Usted in the Three Stars Each bein the rong place CFable 2B). ad it was an MULAPIN, bat may have been Cancer and/or Proeyon, while 6 Cx, which les between them, was ‘ncaded in Hiya, Later, a8 a zodiacal siga, Cancce was also known 2s Kush (2 wateranimal, perhaps 2 era; formerly read as Nangar), which denoted just he nebula Pracsepe.%# Cancer was occupied by «scarab in Egyot, sothe general shape of animal may have been suggested by Prassepe. To the Greeks, Cancer marked the summer solitce Libra: The Weighiog-scales also has adval history is 0 bright stars originally formed he claws ofthe Scorpion, (Gee above), They were split of w form che Seales as n ion * Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data SystemOrigin ofthe ancient constellations curly asthe Thvee Stars Buch (Table), pecs because were a farming’ constelaton; and this was also che zodiacal sign 25 sbown on the Dendera Zodiac, But the onginal figure was not forgomtea: MULAPIN ail sted Libra as “The Seales, tke horn of the Scorpion’, and ‘Aratus end Prolemy still gave ithe alternative name oF CChelsi, ‘the Claws’, saying. that Libra came fom Chaldvea, The constellation of Libra, the “point of balance’ atthe autumn equinox, was finaly ordained by Salus Caesar, sho represented himself on oles aolding ‘the Scales of lustice Capricornus: This more ancient and substantial constlla- tion, mavking the winter solstice, is a Goat-Fish hybrid (igure 5)~noca goat Idates back topictographs before 2000 BC, and was a symbol of Ba on boundary-stones {In Paper I, we will review how the Babylonian 2odiae and ppura-zodiacal constellations ‘vere combined ‘ith non ‘Mesopotamian constellations ~ probably [rom an ancient Meditersnean sesfaing cultare ~ co make the Creek sky- -auap which we have inberited Agdyess: 30. Tee Woodie Linton, Cambs, C81 6U GRemiebieanscat References 4 ler. termes ander neanings Seer, New Yr, 193 2 DrowaR Reearctes tw hog he ree cnet of Ihe Gris Phomicins and Babionnes Tslemsee Mili omg Lenn 1599, 190. [Bu ee took tees at Je Aeron Age 9386-1818) Steemann Panett Habyoncum; VOLE (Pn 2) of Dal 1a Sunrise acco ap. Biante (980), (aso gue {Do abyouar Germ econ ofa tn sar ames Vin de Waren LBabylauan Aone. The eae Naa Ester Studies 281959), Vin se Waren BL "Wisoey of be rode Arey ir Dring 18, 216-330, (959) Vener fae, ene Avatenng I The bith fasronomy, ‘eth eden OU [New Yor. 17S. “rasaion dese ce Van et Ween BL, Di fing der eronami Noor oesgel, 965s Caran Apert @ Page. Bayon Panay Ovens, Pat 2 Ena fo Bail Tope 5-31 ie Bucelat Got), Batanece IMeropatanice aba), 302) 381) enger fl Pages MULAPING An atronomicalcnpendae fs caaoem Avy fi Orenjoracang Speen 24 (989, {alsouce mot review by: Koch te Wet der en 23 183-198 ipsa 9 G'Net WM. Early Aeraoms frm Babyona Jo Copernicus Syne Ua Fes 6 1 Wage hay A ade To Ancient Near Basen Asronay, bp! eo euieased-bopernease dea (1986) 1 Giggessn Tne sno te ae’ Tele, 984 Marc, 12 Bisset & Gras A. Gah Dement and Symbol of Ania 15 Weidner 6 Fhe Bextor Serestiuels as A Archi fr Oriegirctang 78S C92 1s Wha, The oping of he lens, Beh ibe, Londo, is 8 15 Callen Omprenin: Cinder el he Ancient Mer Ea, ‘Un Chicago Beas 1987 Caan Wear Baste Sein Bot Mae. Lod, 1990 is 1 eer." earshot ansetition ithe Ne East ‘nde he owl soot Near Exper Say, 3, ess 19 Take WK. 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The ro cnstelnitae eo ond phot eae Inte y KH Pos from te alan Dino oct), oa Yor. 981 16 Ppt Die Kalehfeie MULAPIN Tobinge, 1978 2 Koch J Neue Uncerachanges car Tpograph des bobonschen Flanermmals Wisse, 08, Ay seebackeve oy: Png Die We fer Onenr 3, 56-79 1080) 24 Popes & Weer Bayon sacaoque: BM 7816" Letty Bea ls) a Site Humans, Ena in Mamery of ‘rata acs Rinne Fon, alle 98; gp33-132 29 Koski Samentasog BM "HL Die Wel de One 2, ba (858, 30 AIS Abd s-Ratan sa Uni (086 AD), ook of te Fed ‘Sor Eaton lous: (a) ut 103) by abs sn: a Bodin Larry, Oxo ‘onsen nape palate wy: Wales Ere Orns S128 (G8shj ats Ey isa Base 9 be Connon ed Ur iss) (@) Bal fas. 171); Beta Lay, Oxf: map of Caso. {rian puso ty Sovage Sea EGR 31.38, (Gib ed 1675 fresh nrtnon by Seleny CFC, Desergae des tes esa aS Peer 1879, ‘Shvege-Sh Es, Chgter 2 Galea Mappang’ Bary 3. Woodard Do on of Camograpiy oat 3 bak Ure ot heap, 82 52 Savge-Snih "Te ade ean of lesa mao ie ‘Arson 5.0992) 235 ScD We Then Parra he Sy MeDonal 8 Waco, Siege Yeah ‘siroany 170-190 (1993) 138 Gunma A. hen he oi climbed se" Sky Toles 19950 pi8-33 FI Receive 1986 November 8 cepted 1997 Jenny ¢ J.B trom Asice 108, 1, 1988 © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data SystemOrigins of the ancient constellations: Il. The Mediterranean traditions John H. Rogers “The classical map ofthe sky, with the $8 Greek constellsions, ws derive from atlas wo diferent pre-Greek tasks. One {radiilon comprised the I2signs of the zodla, wit several asceated anal constellations, al of which developed over ~3200-500 [BC in Mesopotamia ina religious of ritual tradsin. These vere taken over Ds the Greeks sxouad S00 BC. However the other Babylonian constellations, ther farming-caleuder tadition, were not adopted. The other tradition was net Mesepotarla ik ‘comprised large constellaiis whit sppear to Gate From ~2800 BC, probably from the Mediterruscan cepom, devised for the havigntors of sips. They include huge bears ad serpents which marked the clstal pole and equator af that tne, aad proba by the four anonymous pants whieh we know as Heresies, Ophiuchios, Bodtes and Avrga, a well a cone ofthe large sonthers ‘marine’ constellations. The origin af torn other conselations, nluding the Perseus ables and various animal, ae salen ‘ey may have been new ereations ofthe Greeks. The Greeks assembled the lassea sky-map rom hese iferentsourcesbeteen 540-370 BC, but may ofthe aii egends were only applied to the costes Introduction “The heavens appear o us tobe fied with Faneastic figures ofthe imagination ~ heroes and monsters, animals andare- facts ~ which have been s source of inspiration to artistic :ap-makers fortwo millennia, a6 was beautifully shown in recent exhibition and book. But these maps do wot ansner the ceucial questions: Why were ese igure pt there: when aid by whem ane for what parpose? Most of tem are in po way suggested by the actual seater of srs inshe sky. ‘The constellations we are concemed with here are the 448 constellations of the classical worid ~ the Greek and Hellenistic und Roman cultures. They wor fist deserved hy Eudoxus and Aratus, afew centuries BC, andthe defini live ie of 48 was given by Ptolemy. in Roman Egypt. will not describe the lazar constellations, nor the classical Greek myths of the Ptolemaic ones; these are thorougly covered in books such as Refs. 2-3, ané many of the myths were undoubiedly applied retrospectively to pre-existing celes- tal fguces. will not generally consider the names of indi- vidual stars, citer, since these (being mostly classical or Arabic) are fnter han the classical constellation figures. and mostly refer to positions in those figures? Nor will I esoribe the constellations of other cultures. Even Eaypt and tngia, which were in contact with dhe Mediterranean world, had largely different sar systems (although they all sdopted the classical zodiac in Hellenistic times, and some other congrucacies are aoted below). China hid an alto- gether differeat map of te sky ‘In Paper I we saw that only a subset of the classical constellations came from Babylonia ~ the zadiac and four associated animal: serpent, crow, eagle, and fish, In this paper, weceview the literacte which has deed the origin ofthe remainder. Much of the historical and mythological information herein is derived from various bocks on ‘constellation lore“ of which Sest® is the most substan tial. However much of their information on the east longins seoms to have come from late nineteenth-ceatury ‘books by Allent and Brown! although those authors explored 2 wealth of historical sources with which modern astronomers are not Familiar, some of their data were it- J.B Astron. Asioe 108, 2, 5998 accurate of, in the case of Mesopotamiza constellations, simply wrong, ‘There have been wef short eviews of some aspects of fo opie Tris clea, fromthe positions ofthe Greek constellations Wiemselves, that many were much older than classical Greece. Tae original descriptions of theirrsngs and sexings, by Budoxus and Arstus, were eroneous unless they referred toamuch eater epoch, around 2000 BC a fac fiusenoticed boy Hlppaschus, and developed in more recent Sines by Proctor Mauider’ and Crommelin® and mast recently (Gvendon” and Roy. These authors showed thatthe actual forms ofthe constellaions indicate an even earlier orig, The beestestimate is 2600 BC (2300 yr). The dates given by he fects of precession (see Paper [for definitions) while the ecliptic is fixed relative 10 the stars, the celestial pole and ‘equator slowly drift. recession shifts the Noth Pole; in 2800 [BC, conveniently. che Pole Sar was Thuban radher than Polaris (Figure |) Te shifts the South Pole nd ths the “zone ‘of avoidance’, where scuthera stars could not be scen fom north temperate latindsss0 th sas of Ceniaucs and Argo were more visible at thar ime, and te sare of Eridanas and Piscis Austinus are more visible now Ishii the zodi, so ‘he cardinal points shift ors one constellation tothe next every 2160 years. And it silts de dates of lina! sisings ‘elatve tothe seasons, The results thatthe ancient mytho- logical, calendical, and navigational meanings of the constellations gradually became invalid, but these authors have worked back in ime to deduce when they were valid. ‘They also deduced te latitude ofthe constellation. makers, 236°, fom thesadiusofthe ‘one of avoidance witkin which Piolery recorded no str: twas cented onthe poleof=2800 BC (thouga see Ref. 19 for a contrey view Previous authors have implicit assumed that the clas- sieal constellations were crested a a ingle pace and ime, but this leas toa historical paradox. The oaly plausible centr of cvilistion at the fight time and latuce were Mesopotamia and the Mediterancan. Mesopoimia has Jong been assumed, but we have examined the Babylonian records in Paper I, and they show chat while the classical constellations of the zodiac and some others developed w @ British Astronomical Association * Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data Systemi Origins of th ancient constellations a igure 1 Th ih hy fae wine 2800 9 140, showing te clic cansliaons Sl ns nar he cgetoe {deli ronses ah ba cee ol Tb) ad ace ee Nae “ae ‘ea ss Be equ, ao ea of Serpents oul conus fhe ce. Cras cag th Souler ‘eas and Argo (ow ght ou) ese sed above boa, const o estat om Scent of pager mote ate he poston f Aiur and Rig Keine) sod cmpsteomaginoe 3H otic seg tb CytrSy peo. aur Sepex Sep help om Sine MH Rogers progressively from die fourth to dhe fist mileanium BC, many of our cofstellatons were in fet unknown i Mesopotamia, Conversely Ovenden'” favoured tbe Medi- terraneaa region, particularly Minoan Crete, However this ‘would be incompatible with the documented development of the zoditeal eontallaoas in Mesopotamia, We are forced to the conclusion that the classical sky-map was synthesised fiom several unrelated sources, s follows. First, thete ae some constellations that were known 19 all cultures, The only str-groups mentioned by Homer and by Hesiod, around 700 BC (and also in the Book of Job), were the Bea (presumably the seven stars of aur Plough), Arcrurs, Sirius (lhe Dog sta, he Pleindes, the Hyades, ad Orion, Hesiod’s great pocm provided a farming cles dar based on helseal sings and setings, like that ofthe Babylonian MULAPIN (Paper I, but with only these few star-groups. Thus he wrote: “When the Pleiades, Ala daughers, ise (at das, Begin your baveet and plowing when they (a dew} ao ‘The second set comprises the constellations which best riarked the celestial coordinates aroand 2800 BCI" — enormous serpents, Beas, and giants. With one exception (CHydea), these are not found inthe Babylonian texts, So it {slikely that they were invented by a Mesiterranean people, Tor use in navigation at sea,” We may call these people the Navigators. There is no documentary evidence a to who they were, but the most Hkely candidates are the Minoans;"™ their seafaring civilisation was beginning. ‘round 2800 BC, and was destroyed following the great volcanic eruption of Tara in the 16th or 1Sth century BC. ‘These constellations allowed navigators to ind nor, south, ‘east and west even ona party cloudy night, by viewing the serpeatine constellations which marked Out the celestial ‘coordinates, or by observing the points on the horizon at ‘which certain sar groups wece rising or seting. Unlike the first set, these would of course only have been relevant uring the hours of darkness. Te zodiacal stars would not Ihave been specially significant tothe Navigators, A. Br Aston. Asie. 108, 2.1998 © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data SystemOrigins ofthe ancient constellations ‘The thin sets the twelve ‘sign ofthe zodiae’ lus the ‘parazodiacal’ animals (Hydra, Corvus, Aquila, apd Piscis Auswinus), We have seea how they developed in Mesopotamia from ~3200 io 500 BC (Paper 1.4032) They ‘were sign of the gods, and atthe end beeame impentant for ssrology, Which seems to be why they spread rapidly Uieough the Egyptisa aad Mediterranean words scom ater 500 BC. They were among the last to acquire Greek legends; Aratus di not give any for them, Finally, some ofthe classical constellations cannot be showa wo belong to any of these groups, and some ofthese represent Greek myths quite coherently, so they may have been invented by the Greeks themselves. The Greeks also synthesised the preceding tations to give the classi cal list History of the constellations in Greece and thereafter Some of the classical constellations were already knovn in Greece in the Sth century BC. But the eavliest known description of the full get (with a few exceptions) was by Eudoxus, around 370 BC. He learnt much of his astronomy during a vist to Egypt, and is sai to have made te fst celestial globe, showing the constellations with both equatorial and ecliptic coordinates. Eudoxus’ book of the constellations, the Phaeromena, was rewriven as a long oem of the same name around 275-280 BC hy Aras of Soli, This poem survives in Greek, in Latin translations (including one by Cicero and one by Germanicus Caeser) snd in later editions, and it became one of the most popular Scientific texts in the clasical world and up to medieval ‘mes. It decribed the shapes of che constellations and pat: sions ofthe stars, gave the relative times of thei sings and settings, efered only briefly ro some Greek myths about ‘hem, and explained their use for weather-forecastng for seamen, The later editions were supplemented by more extensive mythology and illustrations from later authors, 2, from the Katasteiomois8> ateibuted to Eratostienes Qnd oF 1st century BC), and from Hyginss (Ise or 2nd Century AD) who desribed the fal-blown classical myths ‘of the constellaions. No original Aratus. manuscripts ‘survive, Bt European copies rom the ime of Chatlemagne (ea. AD 860) onwards are ilustated with paintings of the constellation Agures}2 though not with actual star maps, ‘Perhaps the greatest Greek astronomer up this ime was Fipparehus, who worked in Nicaea then Rhodes, ca. 150- 130 BC. He wrote a Commentary on the Phaeromena of Eudoxos and Aratas, which sarvives complete, and crite ‘ised many of their apparent errors. Thereafter, by 128 BC, having produced an aceurace star catalogue fiom bis own observations, he discovered the phenomenon of precession, ‘which explains the apparent erors in the Pacenomena. The starlore of Eudorus and Aratus epparenty dates from at least 1000 years earlier, Ovenden,” who analysed ther lists of simultaneous risings and setings in detail, deduced an epoch of 2600 (2800) BC. Roy further analysed Aranis! Tiss ofthe stars on the Equator and the Tropics, and found J.Br Aston. Asoc. 18,2 1998 © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NAS ‘them valid for 2000 (+200) BC. Likewise the calendar of hescal sisings ete, of Gewines® sominally dating from ‘a, 200 BC, agrees well wit the MUEAPIM calendar and rust also date from before 1000 BC. The Greek authors before Hipparchus had apparently been cepeatingstar-ore foroneactwo millennia witout realising that ic was becom Ing so out-of-date 1s 1 be useless Finely, around AD 130-160, classical astronomical nowledge reacted completion with Ptolemy of Alexandeia and his Syuaris Mashemarike (or Almagest). Tis great hock included an expanded star catalogue, instructions for making a globe, and tie fnal defniion of the 48 constellation, So, when and whece were the navigators’ and 2odtacal sraiions combined to form the classical sky map? Almost certainly, in Greece itself between about 540 and 270 BC. Before hen, a the zodiac had no special significance inthe Navigators" constellations, iis most unlikely to have been transmitted from them to Mesopotamia; conversely, the zegite as We know it could nat have been transmitted From Mesopotamia to the west tefore the mificst millennium, because icwas notcomplete until hen. The historical record of Babylon shows te 2adine developing in stages up ta the 6th century BC, when the twelve constellations were de fined with equal boundaries, after which the zodiac quickly spread to neighbouring cultures. And th historical record of Greoce is stated “The obigity (of he zone] is supposed to have been made noun rt by Anscrandres of Nes inthe S884 Olympiad [s48-545 BC). Sobeequenly Kisoor made known the sien ini, taring wit Anes and Sapitarus” [Pliny quoted iometean2uy (The obliquity of the rodiae was of course known to the Babylonians ongbefore, bat this passage implies hatitwas not embodied in the Navigators’ constellations known in Greece.) The Greeks also atributed individual constelis- tions to the Eas, e.g. Ptolemy said thar Libra came from CChaldsea, and Eratosthenes sad that Pisces symbolised a reat Syran goddess. 0 "Bur this raises a paradox: how did Eudoxus describe positions of zodiacal constellations for ~2000 BC if they had not been adopted until ~500 BC? If the zodiac was already developed in 2000 BC. it must have been kept as a cult secret or in some non-Babylonian county; this would be a 1500-year conspiracy theory. Mor likaly is the indi- vidual cockup theory, viz, the naive of Eudoxas himself Previous authors have suggested that Budoxus deduced his lists of ‘phenomena’ fom his star-giobe, not from obser- vations, and that he was actually given his star-globe uring lus visito Egypt. Roy" speculated that the Egyptian priests gave him an antique Minoan globe dating from before the Minoans’ destruction in the mid-second millennium BC. T suggest that chs showed only the Navigators’ constlla- tons, withthe pole and equator of 2060 BC, perhaps with the stars accurately ploted, and that Eudoxus made a copy of itonto which he mapped both the Babylonian zodiac and ‘ore recent Greek mythological constellations. This was the fst complete synthesis of the classical constellations. ‘Then be used his gicke to read of his ‘phenomens', and never checked them against the actual sky. a A Astrophysics Data SystemOrigine af the ancient constllaions Astral cults in classical times Meanie, of course, astrology had devefoped in paralfet “with astronomy.21© To soraeone familiar wit elaims that personal horoscopes are based on ancient wisdom, it may be a suepnse to fear that this type of astrology ~ using the Tocation ofthe sun, moon, and planets a the exact time of | petson's birth ~ only originated in the middle of the first. rilennium BC, in Babylonia, perhaps with admixcare of Egyptian ideas The first records are of predictions by “Chaidaeans' (from Babylonia) in the Sth century BC. ‘eadors wrote thot he least credence shouldbe given othe Chale in topics and asses about te eof « frat based on he dy tis bth [Cier, quoted in Ref 2), “There is none ofthis astrology in Arans. Ptolemy wrote the definitive werk on astrology, the Teerabibios, which is lmost as long as hie great work on astronemny. However, the Tetrabiblos is didactic and merely qualitative in style, in contrast tthe empiical and quantitative nature of the Syntax, Most ofthe qualities attributed therein tothe vari- ‘ous planes and zodiacal signs appearto be arbitrary. Asthe odiacal signs have not been adjusted for precession, they fre now offset by one constellation from the stars that ‘Sefined them in Prolemy’s time, So whatever astrologers think isthe source of inuence it eannot be associated with the stars, but with the ditections of abstract celestial coor- dinates determined by the tit ofthe Earth's axis ‘Another asta clt which flourished around that ime was ‘the religion of Mithras, and tis may hold clues aso how the synthesis of constellations happened. wasasceret cult ‘of Middle Eastem engin. poplar among soles and admi- istotrs ofthe Roman Empire, andthe ue origin and iden- tty of its images was never revealed. But the central image ints temples showed Mithras, as sun-god and ruler of tbe Sar, surrounded by ie zodiac slaying abull3t2% This has, ‘een identifica withthe ending ofthe age of Taurus asthe spring equinox, due to precession, which eccurred around 2200 BC3 This dea ie supported by the presence of ther animals inthe tableau « scorpion (Gometies sipping the Bull's most sensitive organ), a dog, a sna, 2 crow, and sometimes a cop and a lion. These seem 10 be the equatorial constellations of the 3ed millennium BC=52* Tauris and. ‘Seorpus in the zodiac; Hyea with Corvus and Crate; plus Leoatthesummersolstce, (The dog could be Lupuser Canis, ‘Minor. Remarkably, these are the constellations which were shared by allof the pre-lasscal traditions, Moreover the go himsef might be Perseus, who was worshipped in Cilicia in ‘Asia Minor <2 Mihras' dress and weapon and pose above the Bull are similar © those in the Perseus constellation ‘though Orion aight also be a candidate). The Perseus constellation in Babylon had been an Old Man who repre- sented the shadowy ancestor ofthe king ofthe gos. ‘What this implies depends on when Mithraism really started. Although Mithra was an ancien Persian god he did not have these astronomical associations, and the Mithraic ‘ult was first recorded in 67 BC, among pitates from Cilicia Te may have been a new religion then It might indeed have celebrated the recently-discoveted phenomenon of precession, conse’ by the sky-god. But this does not ‘explain why lyéra, Corvus, and Crater were represented, a as they were not regarded as special in classical dies. I ‘suggested in Paper I that they represented the entrance (0 the underworld in Babylon, and pethaps tht was a remem trance that they once marked thecelestal equator. Previous scholars have balieved that Mithralsm developed fom Mesopotamia around the 6ih century BC. Taus van der ‘Waerdens*t argued that ts astronomical content probebly cme from the Magi in late Babylon, and that an occu ‘Hymn to King Helios’ by the Roman emperor Jolin seferred to Mithras creating the Three Stars Back system of tnciert Babylon. If sa, the Mitusic iconography may be evidence thatthe Babylonians did know about precession ~ ‘hough perhaps she knowlege was kepeas 2 cue soccer. Classical sky-maps ‘What maps do we have ofthe ancient constellations? As mentioned above, zodiacal symbols are conumon in Meso- potamian and Egyptian art But only te actual maps ofthe sy are known from classical times, carved in stone, both showing ony figures, aot individual stars. (One is the Dendera Zodixe, described in Paper, whieh shows the Mesopotamian 2odiac surrounded by the Egyptian constellations for the es of the sky. The others the Famese Aas, asculprure from te 2nd century AD, whe carries a celestial globe that is probably a direct descendant fof Eudorus’ globe! (Figure 2). It shows the classical constellation figures, which were to be portrayed in almost exactly the seme way forthe ext 1500 yeas. ‘Although globes were the main form of celestial ‘map’ in classical times (being described by Eucoxus and Prolemy), pola projection maps of the figures if not ofthe stars apparently did exis, as direct copies have survived ia three cultures: (i) European manuscripes of Aratus ftom the easly 9th century AB: Gi) a Byzantine mansseript ‘of Ptolemy from the eatly Sth century AD; ii) an Islamic palace ceiling from the early 8th century AD.P2t ‘The classical sky-pietoe was transmitted mot only through these rather schematic ilustrations, but also ‘through accurate Islamic star-globes as well asthe writen specifications of the figures in Ptolemy's Almagest iereap~ peared almost unchanged in 2 Vieaga map of about AD. 1440, which was the model for subsequent Renaissance map ofthe sky. ‘The 48 constellations [Now let us examine the origin ofeach ofthe 48 constela tions, grouping them according to their meaning and prod- able origin. Many of the oldest ones are also among the largest, 30 I note their order of size among the modern constellations, although these ae only approximations to the original Bgures which did not have distinct boundaries ‘The groups are as follows. 1 Landmark of the Milky Way ‘Some star-groups, which ae reat clusters or associations in the Galaxy, are so distinct that they have been named in 2B Astron. Aste 108, 2, 1908 © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysies Data SystemOrigin ofthe ancien: constellations ry culture. The most abvious are the Plow (in Ursa ‘Mayor, the Pleiades in Touts) and Orion, Also, be Milky ‘Way self was the inspiron forthe conselaons of Ara in sriguity and Seurutm ia our own times Orion, Thissplentid setf stars looks so much ike human Figore that it has always been xéenified a one, Ih Mesopotamia it was the True Shepherd of Heaven (Sipe zing in Sumerian), denied with Papsokal messenger of the gods (Paper 2. (Suggestions thatthe constellation was Tama, and also 2 Sumerian sun-god Uneanin which provided the name Orion? are now ‘enown te be unfounded.) The Greeks chose to entity ‘him. Orion, who wat the tallest ané most handsome of men, In mythology be was never recorded a fighting 2 bull; but in the sky he carries club and lor-skin and ccmfrnts the Bul. Cuonsly, there seems 19 be a continuous subtext to both traditions. The equivalent Bsbylonisn name in MULAPIN (Sicuddalu) means he who was smitenby a weapon’. Thus relates co the Babylonian canseelltions ‘covering our Canis Major, which werea Bow and Arrow, alimed al Orion (Paper 1). Similarly in Hindu myths Sirius wasa hunter, while Orion was a giantincestuously Drsuing his own daughter (Aldebaran); che unter duly ‘hori with in arrow, which was embedded in his body 48 Che stare of ‘Orion's bel. In simile vein, one of the Greek legends ofthe death of Orion bad him being shot by anarrow from the godess Diana while he was swim sming fa out at sea Ara. The Altar may not be very cld, and its stars ae of mediocre brightness, but it aks the point on ze hor zon from which he summer Milky Way streamsupwards like a plowing, writhing column of saoke. 2. Bears, serpens, and giants: he ancient pole and equator 1p the thind millennius BC, only three of our present copstellstions were circumpolat (Figure 1). They do not stapd oat as obvious ama figues inthe sky. They clea were designed symmetrically to mark the North Pole ~ he dragon which also marks out the Nosh Eclipic Pole, and the two beats, back to back on either side of the Deagon, which circle endlesly around each other. Meanwhile, the Sespent Hyde would have marked the celestial equacr. ‘Taree of these four constellations are among the largest in the sky. For these reasons, it is thought that these constellations date from the Navigators of ~2800 BC.#-0 tn the seme family as Draco and Hyer, two other great serpentine figures, Serpens and Cerss, could have pointed to the celestial equator and equinoxes ath same epoch, Als, “our lage human figures ate drawn onthe northern sy, but fagtin they are not evident from he star pattems. Their ‘origins ae unknown: from their great size, orientation, and association with giant sepeats, they seem kely o belong ‘withthe cicurnpolar corstellaions just described. The Greeks identified ther with great men of history ot legend, Dutonly beitedly the original igure were anonymous, and only one (Ophiachus)s doing anything at all heroic. Rather, ‘wo of them aze taking care of livestock. Who knows? — pethaps even Ophiuchss nots god tearing epartthe cosmic esgor, bar merely a farmer protecting bis herds. ‘These ate the major constellations thar were ineried from che putative Navigators. None of these constellations ‘except ida were known in Mesopotamia, The references to Phoenicia and Crete for Ursa Minor (helow) ace consis: {ent with an origin among Meditertancan seafres, Draco, The only possible reason for forming this random seater of mediocre sas into « Dragon seras tobe that ‘igre 2 Te ures one Fares Nts sender AD lobe wie ste ony loving np ofa oft beaver fom Grek Ra ‘mi, probaly cop rom Buen’ lobo, grs i kom toate ea Spe ba eb fom ovine The tee ‘he Nation! Moses Mapes eps se Rei, and 1) This map oft glen fom Nata dsrnanteon {179 J.B. Astron, Asine 18, 2.19% a © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysies Data SystemOrigin ofthe ancient constellations EULSEHAEME GOREALE Ones sume SEE TE igre 3 fabve and cing pul. The clas! coeliac, on at maps fx agen. AD 1 Ts Her coomsy havoc sd tly De he Fane Aaa won cle wns Sages i anya fate ema Centre hes ns. ots spe Here a spp ame of Ergon. Gams Beeies Mo te sad. rom a eon of Ksrrimor Re 30) oie Way te Ror aon! Sse itmarked the two potes, the North Eciptic Pole whichis fixed (inthe middle ofits cols) and the North Celestial Pole of -2800 BC (Thuban, which is in its tai) (A date 1000 years on either side would also ft she configura dion) ICs the th largest constellation. Ursa Minor. Our Polaris has only become the Pole Star within the last thousand yeas; before that, the Lite Bear Was just a small reflection of the Great Bear, each lying with its back to the Dragon, as they were described by ‘Aratus (Figure 3). The Gree dated te Litle Bear only as far back as Thales, the ‘father of Grek astronomy’ According to Strabo it ws not acid mong he conte lations of the Greeks antl about 600 BC, when Tiles, Inspr by its use Phoenicia, his probable Btls suggested it to Greek manners in lace of ts greater ng bout, which adden ed been tee sang gude. Thass 'Stepord to have formed! by wing he aneen mgt oi Drac"PRe'5} “ ‘The Greeks had various myths ofthe two bears, petaps grated on 0 an earlir tradition, They may have Calisto and her son Arcas, wansforsped into bears as casualties of ove of Zeus" many philanderings. Or they ‘may have been two bears which had saved the infant ‘Zeus from his cannibalistic father, a Aratus wrote (Te ancients) would have os beleve nat they ascend to heaven from the slr of Cre ty the powers sistance of Zes hist, brosuse Ces bears, sen they deceived Crone, placed him [Ze] wile slam if aa place oderferoas with Rowers ear oust, ad nourished fora whole yea Either way, ther long tls were said co be the result of suetching when Zeas swung ther up into the sky ‘Ursa Major. This enormous Bear(thohird largest conse lation) at least looks ken sim, though its ai 00 long for any bear J. Br Aston. Asse, 108, 2, 1998, © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysics Data SystemOrigins of ancien: constellations empasrHCATEMO AUETRA, ‘known Plough Wain Wagon) is ony part of it and being very conspicuous, tis has been a separate constelation at Far back as records go. Our folk-name “Chares' Wain’ datesback atlestas faras AD 1000and referred to King Charlemagne;® but it was a wagon long before that. These seven stars were the long Wagon ‘he Babylonians the Heats tothe pre-Islamic Arabs and Syrians, the eavealy Plough pulled by oxen in maay Euco-Asiate coulves, the Sever, Oxen’ to the Romans (Septem Triotes, from which is derived the word "seplentio' for noah), and the severed legaf an ox othe Egyptians. Our word ‘arctic’ derives from the Gi ‘arktos' meaning Bear. Remarkably, even the natives of North America saw ‘these seven stars asa bear +4 The details varied between ‘nibs, but atypical image had the four leading stars as the Great Spirit Bea, andthe three ‘til stars as three huners pursuing ie Most odely, for a eireumpoiar constellation, they all agreed thatthe hunters killed the bear each winter, only for it to come back to life in the spring, Aliough this American bear could be a coinci sence, it may rellect a tradition of a beae perenally J.B. Aston sce 08,2, 1988 teacking around the North Pole ever since the Stone Age Te moder Ames ‘he Plough i called the Big Dipper Hyd, This is the lcgest constellation inthe modern sky, Dutittoa isa sing of undistinguished sar, whose only reason for existence seems {0 have been to mark the ‘elena equator around -2800 BC! (Figure 1) Itdoes rnothave the multiple heads ofthe Grock monster Hydre which Heracles hlled rather. it isa seaserpent, which balances the rarine constellations ofthe opposite hem sphere twas also a Mesopotamian conselstion (Paper 1, both inthe early pictograph phase ~ Leo was so times shown standing on it~ and inthe later MULAPI phase, when it seems to have been ever longer Sot its leading star was B Cancri. Hydra with Corvus and Crater may have symbolised the entrance tothe under wor Hereules (Engonasin). He is the largest of the glans (the St largest constellation) and at present appears upside down; but he would have been the right way up, above the pole sa, atouné 2800 BC. Bur the gure was not 8s © British Astronomical Association + Provided by the NASA Astrophysies Data System