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History of the Zodiac,

By B. L. van' der Waerden (Ziirieh).
INTRODUCTION.
1.TheProblem.
. What nation did first discover the oblique circle; in which the sun moves, the funda-
mental Circle of pldnetary astronomy? And who did first divide this. zodiacal circle or .
' "ecliptic" into the 12 well-known "signs": 'Aries ' Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra
Scorpim Sagittarius Caprieornus Aquarius Pisces? What is the origin of the fantastieal
pictures of these signs on the famous Round Zodiac of Dendera (Fig. 1) ? And how came
these sigDs, originally a mathematieal eonstruction) afterwards to be worshipped like Gods and .
i thought to influence our 'lives like Gods? '
The last question, a-part of, the "difficult problem "of the origin of Hellenistie Astrology,
:
' cannot 'as yet be satisfactorily' answered ': As to the astronomical zodiac, three eivilisations
have serious claims to Priority: the Egyptian,Ahe" Greek and the Babylonian.
The Egyptian claim has' been supported by W. Gundel ', ..but his arguments are not
~ very convincing and he himself is not" quite certain; he suggests a possibility, but he is not
)
, able to .prove it. . "
\
· Greek sources, preserved by Plinius, ascribe .the discovery of the obliqueness of the
: sun's eircle . to Anaximander, and the introduction of the zodiacal signs to Cleostratus.
However, the statements eoneerning Cleostratus are rather obSeure, and seem to be contradieted "
) by others ascribing the "engirdlement of the zodiac" to Oenopides, while still others maintain
that Oenopides stole the idea of the oblique circle from Pythagoras. The only certain faets in
. this eoiifus'ion
move in obliqueofcircles,
opinions seem
and to be: (about
Eudoxns Anaximander
370 B. (about 550)
C.) knew allknew
aboutthat
theSun andand
zodiac Moon
its --..
l twelve signs. . .
The Babylonian claims were most firmly supported by Fotheringham '.. iiis main point
i
is the undeniable fact that most 'Greek' names of signs are translations or small modifieations
\ of Babylonian names. Against this argument, Webb ' has 'remarked that it 'proves at most
l.
that most zodiacal constellations are of Babylonian origin, but nOt the exaet notion of a
0
zodiacal sign, and' the deseription of the sun's path as an oblique circle. The constellations in
the moon'S path have been enumerated and named at an early 'date, but the determination
: of the surjs path between the stars is a more difficult matter, a matter of exact medsurement
and reasoning,' and the mere observation and listing of zodiacal constellations does not neees-
'sarily. lead to a division of the sun's eirde into 12 signs.
Thus, two concepts should be dearly distinguished:
1) the zodiacal belt: a belt of some 12° breadth in which the planets (including Sun and
Moon) move, with its conheiiations, the number of which need not be restrieted to 12, .

.
moon 2) the ecliptic:
eclipses, divided a line
into 12inzodiacal
the middle
signsofofthe
30 zodiacal belt, the sun's orbit and loeus of .
degrees each.
As we shall see, the zodiacal belt was known in Babylonia as early as 700 B. C.
The text m 'IAPTN lists some 15 constellations in it' and says that the moon, the sun and ' '
the other planets follow this path. The, text VAT 4956 records distances of planets from ,
zodiacal stars in "eubits", for the year 568/7 B. C.
C
,
1) We refer the reader to the standard work of Boiich&Leclereq, L'A8i:ologie grecque, to .. a
summary of more recent investigations by O. Neugebauor, J. Near Eastern Studies 4, p. 1, and to
FestugiMre, La ReUelation d'Herme8 TrisnUgiste I (1944), II (1949).
2) W. Gundel, Dekane und Dekansternbilder, Hamburg 1936, p. 327; Neue Teete des Hermes '
Trismegisto's, Abh. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. (Phil.-hist.), N. F. 12 (1936), Kap. 5.
') j. K. Fotheringham, Cleo8lratu8, J. Hellenic Studies 39 (1919), p. 164 and 45 (1920), p. 78.
") E. J. Webb, J. Hellenic Studies 41 (1921),' p. 70, and 48 (1928), p. 54.

,i. .
7

"~

BZ
%"
 B. .L. van der Waerden, History of the Zodiac. 217

However, in a text from the year 419 B. C. a new system appears: now positions of
planets are recorded by indicating in whieh signs the planets are. In 'Seleucid lunar and
planetary tabIes,· the system is even more refined:· positions are calculated arithmetically and
expressed in terms of signs, degrees and their sexagesimal parts. The signs are of exactly
equal length: 30 degrees each. Observational tdMets and calculated ephemerides of the 2nd
century B. C. record the dates of entrance of planets into signs. Full references to text£ will
be given in Chapter I. _ ..L~4 ,

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'At
Fig. 1. Round zodiac of D&idera. From the Dkcription de l'Egypte,. Vol. IV, PL 21.

What is the explanation of this ehange. of system? Did the Babylonians learn these
mathematical notions from Greek seientists such as Hecataeus, who visited Babylonia in
the first half of the 5th century?
.This is extremely improbable. Babylonian observational .astronomy had " nothing
lo learn from the Greeks: it was far ahead of them. The Babylonians had observed and

. . of
recorded' planetary
signs instead positions
of stars for centuries,
in Babylonian the Greeks
planetary recordshad not. be
cannot Thethat
reason for the had
the Greeks use
just discovered the notion of a zodiacal sign; it must be that the Chaldaeans themselves
considered, for some astronomical or. astrological reason, the zodiacal signs as something
very important, which implies that they, had developed thi's notion long before.
The' conclusive proof of the Babylonian origin of the 12 signs can be given by
penetrating into the, motives, why they were introdueed and eonsidered as important. We
ask: For what purpose did Greeks and Babylonians use the signs? Why did they want to

4
 Q

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.

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.
.

. 218 · B. L. van der Waerden.

· df

have exactly 12 signs instead of any number 'of eonstellations scattered over the zodiac? Why ..
are the 9igns (the Greek as well as the. Babylonian one8) of equal. length? Why were" a
they divided into 30 degrees eaeh?
1
, . . . .
V z .· ¶

. ,

2. The' practical use of the signs. . . . . . .

One purpose for which iiiie Greeks" used the signs is explain"ed in the famous poem i

of. Aratos, .the Phainomena '. It is the determination of time during the night: At 'sunset
6 signs .stand above the horizon, 'for"the zodiac 'is halved'by the horizon. The point opposite to
l "' the sun rises at sunset, and the sun itself rises at the end of the night, which means that
li .
.i exactly 6 signs rise during the night. ' The time, in which iiny one "of these signs riseS,." .
.,
' is approximately one sixth of the night, i. e. approximately 2 "night hours". Thus, obser- .
vation of the rising. signs is- a means of " determining the number of hours elapsed since ..
sunset. Aratos then gives a number- of stars rising simultdheously with the Signs of the
. zodiac, whieh may be used if .the exact limits of the sigiis arp not' knoy:n ,or. if a, Cloud
.., ,
. or mountain hinders their observation.
' I

· 'In a recent paper 'J'I have shown that, this method of; deterhining time originated' in · i.
Babylonia, "and that it is connected with' the' division' of iiight' and dd.y 'into' 12 seasonal i
f

" ' hours each,' .which is ,Babylonian ' as .well. '!" . . · '. " . '' , N

Still more important is the use: of zodiacal schemes in. G;reek ealen&trs: .A. zodiacal !'/
scheme is a iiivision Of thei year'.into 12 artificial months 'T during which the sun dwells in "i
the 1'2 zodiacal. sigils.· It "will b4 shown ·that such a zodiacal sehemQ is .'already. implied in ' . I ' :'

the 'text m u LAPIN, and that·.the notion of 'a .zodiacal sign arose with ,necessity f,rom thi8 '
zodiacal. scheme. ' . ',,·. , .,.
. . . .. .. .
.
0 . .in the. sehematical
This' answers
yedrall''of'our' questions.
a u'lAPIN There
'. ' The are· 12
signs signs,
were .because
made. of equal there are 12
length (inmonths
order ". .I
to- get months' of equal duration;' 'they were divided into 30 degrees each because the. 1
schematical months were ,supposed t"o contain 30 days each. · ,,,,,3 . .' t
i
In ·this way. the Babyloiiian' origin of the .geometrical. notion "zodiacal, sign"' will ' ' I'
" be establishe,d beyond ',anY ,doubt, '.and the motives for its invention . will be made , dear. . ' )i
i ' g'
4 Y
· 13

3."':ril'e Gre'ek"and·i)h'j)Egyptian Zoiiiae. "

i
0 .
,- We shall see how the) greeks modified the Babylonian ZOdiac', arid replaced .one !

'. of the names,.that

origin. of'the')first",sign,
we shall further show , that."bythe
a' new. One (Aries)
. astrological of unknown
zodiac (perhaps. times
' of ' Hellenistic Egyptian).
is a . -i'ii
mixture of the original "Babylonian. 'Zodiae with"tiie Greek modified zodiae ', and that the ' '
r
2 pictures .of the Zodiacs ofl.Denderj in Egypt (First century A.. D.) "are elosely related -to I
". ' l
J

·' Babylonian representations 'on. seals and boundaiy stones. We shall hirther discuss the
- \
b·~.
, origin ofGenerally
the 36' HellenistiC,
speaking, :'Decans':
HellenisticrePresented "' on the
astrology' proves Round
to be Zodiacofofmostly
a mixture y'Dendera.
Babylonian, li
some Greek and 'a few genuine Egyptian elements. " ' '
! Y

Dapter 1. . |i
dP

.. ,
.,. . ... .
0

. ..
1 Zodiacal .Constellations.
the babylonian zodiac. , i
0.

' ,r
,

--· The zodiacal belt with its. constellations was known in · Babylonia as early as . . - · " j
' 700'B. C. The first tablet of. the 'series mulAPIN " lists ."the eonsteiPtions in the pdth of the · . . . I
i
moon" as follows 11; . H
.j

'. 5) According to Hipparchos, 'the poem is mainly a hoetic version of the' Phainom.'ena of 'Eudo.xus. -}
. . " now'lost.·
:, '. ' '. " ..' '7) ')Artificial,
B. L. v. d. Waerden,
because theBabylonian AstTonomy
civil ' months were, inIII, Journalas
Greece Near
wellEastern'Studies 10 (1951),
as in ' Babglonia., jL 20.
determined, , ' ,':
\ .
by the moon ·and not by the sun. ..
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History of the Zodiac 219

'

» .

·m· '
i C

' m u l m u I (= 'zappu, the hair' bush) =± Pleiades ·-' - . - "

.
e
. qp

· I
m u i gu, . a'n . n a '(the bull of Ami). = Taurus ' .. . ,
:. ( -.L

, . 4b . ,. .
P

'. f"1- J m u i s i b . z'i.. a n . n a (Ann's true shepherd) ·= Orion . . , " - .. ... . .

. 'C i:
0I
.
. ' ' m ulSu.gi (d Sibu, the old man) == Perseus
» y m u ig ii m (= gamlu; side sword) = Auriga ". f:" '" ' "
IP ' · ' '"ulmaS..tab.ba.gal.gal (the great·twins) == Gemini . ... .. ,·
. . .
n"·"u 1 AL . LUL == ProkjTon or Cancer " ' ..r

m u lUR . GU . LA,'(lion ,or lioness) = Leo

...)' }6'. ' ' ·-. Ill u la b .s i n (furroF) = Spica . . '- . . · '
I' . .
..r t I

li--- ' , ' ' m u l zi-b«mi-tum '(the' scales) = Libra '

'li . " . - m u"l g i r . t a b " (seorpion) — Scorpio . . ..
i.!: "
'li ' m ul PA ."BIL . SAG (archer?) = Sagittarius " '
I

;, - : . m u i sub 1jl r . m ii S (goatfish) = rCapricornus · · 0

' m u i GU . LA (great star or giant?) = "Aquarius

.
.
. 'r.'u Izibbdti " "g (the tails) — Pisces .. , .
0
.
H

0
m

. m u l S i m . m a b (the great swallow) == Piscis SW + e Pegasi

.C ·
'i
,
"
.
m u i amu-ni-tum (the Goddess Anunitum) .= Piseis NE + middle part of '.Andromeda"- " ' ¥

.i
P
tn ut luh u n . g a "(= agru, the hireling) = Aries
' ¶hj
.
iL . Fgii the identifieaiion of the anstellati(?n's; see" f. X. Kugler,'Siernkunde u. Stehidienst,
?\' Erg. 2, p.' 207; P: GOssmann, Planetarium Babylonicum, VOl. 'IV, 2 "of" Deimeljs" SumiwisCh"Cs' " .
j : I

I' " ' Lescikon '(Rome" '1950). '"

. F ' ·

·|- . ' The text states' explieitely that not' only the Moon, but alSo the sud and .the 'otherj '
,. ")] , · , " planets move in the "moon's path"' defined "by these constellations.
" 'As, a matter of fakt, all "constellationS mentiohed belong to the zodiiical belt , with ' '
i
,.
' the exception "-of Orion, Perseus and 'Auriga. Why were these' three added""to "the list? ' 0

f
r
'" Modifying a suggestion by Dr. R. BOker,' I suppose they' were added' as ""paraIiatellonta";
6

"" " simultaneously rising stars, to the "signs" Aries and Taurus. ' In astrological 'literature, (p

Perseus is mentioned as rising with "Aries, and so are Auriga aiid Orion" "with Tauius. See
0

., F. Boll,"Later
Sphaera p. 41
texts 43,eiitier
tend and W. ,toGundel,
multiplyNeue
or toTerte des'
reduce theHermes T·rismegistos,"
.number of stars andp.constel-
51154:
lb .
lations. In. order to 'be able to define the positiOns' Of planets in' the' zodiacal belt 'quite '
ekactly, new' star groups' were .named (e. g. Praesepe) and 'names were given tO single " '
zodiacal stars. A list of 33 such stars, taken from Babylonian ephemerides, was given' by
Kugler, Sternkunde .u. Sterndienst II, .p. 550: On the other 'hand, in Babylonian lists. of '
zodiacal .eon'stellations their' number is gradually reduced to "12. In the so-called TE-tablet,
)1 ' written "about 400 B. C. '3 Su .g i and g a m are missing, S im .m ab and anunitum are
j. , . replaced. by ikU "(= Pegasus)," and their tails zibbiiti are called rikis nUni: the' Band of the '
'" Eishes. In a ·-late-Babylonian text published by.lThureau-Dangin, 'Tablettes d'Uruk 14, we .' -
are left with the well-kngwn 12 constellations or zodiacal signs: ,. '
. .

.8)
9) The
This civil
has year eonsisted
already of 12' or
been,pointed out13
bymonths, but Quellen
A. "Sehott, the scheme
und simplified it.
Studien Gesch. Math. B 4,. p. 176.
") See E. Weidner, Amer. J. Sem. Lang. 40, p. 186, and ArchiU f. Orientf. 7, p. 170. An Assyrian
eopy of mulAPIN bears the date 687 B. C., but the obgervations upon which 'the text is based were
" certainly made in BabylOnia, most probably between 1400 and 900 B. C. SCe"my Bab. Adron. II, J' Near '
Eadern Studie8 8, p. 6.
' 11) Spaced upright types metin Sumerianiwords or' ideograms. such as m u l == star. Italics mean ' 4

Aceadiari yords. Capitak yill be used whenever I' do not know how the cuneiform sign should be read'
in the ease under consideration. . " . 40

. 12). In the list of Ziqpu-stars published by Schaumberger (Z. f. Assyriol. DO, p. 228) m ulA:r, .LUL'
can only Mean the central part of Cancer (Praesepe). In other texts AL . LUL stands for the sign. Cancer.
- However from the list of heliaeally' rising stars in m ulAPIN it is quite clear that AL .LUL must
f

include Prokyon. Most probably AL . LUL is .Prokyon + Cancer.

m
13) See Weidner,' Handbuch, p. 121..Photograph in E. A. W. Budge, The Babylonian Legends of
' . the Creation, London '1921, p. "24.

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61

m . · B. L. .van der Waerden

i¶jun.ga = Aries - "- zi-ba-ni-tu = Libra

m u l ,, = PleiaAes , gir.tab = Scorpio '
maS ' ' = Gemini PA =- Sagittarius
' KUSU " m- Praesepe subur = Caprieornus
' '"'iir .a ". = Leo GU = Aquarius
ab:sin == Spica " zib = Pisces
';, n.

The identification of the eonstellations is quite certain from ®servationai texts of the
Seleucid age. That KUSU means Pra.esepe is proved by the observational text VAT 4956,
i transcribed and discussed by P. V. Neugebauer and E.Weidner, Ber. &"chs. Akad. 67 (Leipzig
1915). An autograph of this text, made by E. Weidner, will be reprodueed as Plate XVII.' The.
text records positions of planets with respeet to zodiacal signs for the year. 568/7 B. C. In this
text, KUSU clearly means Praesepe and nothing .else. However, 'in the 'ziqpu-star list
VAT 16436, KUSU is .said to contain 10 stars. In another ziqpu-star list, AL .LUL takes the
place .of KUSU. Both liSts have .been published by J. Schaumberger, Z. f.· Assyriol. 50, p. 222.
>
'7 0
,
L

2. Tihe"12 zodiacal si-gns. " " L ,

'They occUr for the first time in the planetary text VAT 4924 for the year 419 B. C.
i mentioned before. By Dr. Weidner's kindness, an autograph of tiiis text will Y·reprodueed
as. Pldte XVIII'. The text contairµ statements of the following kind: . - . ) ·

" (Obv. D) NisannU: "Jupiter and Venus at the beginning of Gemini, Mars. in Leo,,'Saturn"
I
' in Pisces. '29th day: Mercury's evening setting in Taurus. . .
I
T.

i " (Rev. 13) Addaru II: Jupiter "at the beginning of Cancer, Venus in Aries; Sqturn,.
Mars and Mereury invisible k.
'i.
- .Schnabel, Weidner and Rehm, who discussed this text, all agree that the positions refer
i . " to signs,
texts werenottaken
to zodiacal eonfigurations.they
from constellations Still,contain.
the names of signs
Thus, used
the, sign in this and
TauruS mayother similar
be denoted .-
by m ui (Pleiades), by g,u, . a n .n a (Taurus) or by is 'Ii-e " (Hyades + Aldebaran); similarly
" the sign "pisces iS denoted by zib m'S (tails of the Fishes) or by. ikii (Pegasus), and the sign' .
i:dncer by AL .LUL (Prokyon .+ Caneer?) 'or KUSU (Praaepe). Whether sign or eonstel-
iatfO'n "is jneant, should in' each cUe be.' concluded from the context If e. g. in a lunar tablet
j ' the position of the Full' Moon is given as 17° 24' m a S, it is" ciedr that m a S means the,.sigu
l Gemini, not the constellation.
C ·'

The Babyl'onian signs are 'of strictly equal 'lengths. This" is quite 'clear from 'j table'
,
· on p. 519 of Kugler's Sternkunde II, where Kugler has calculated the coordinates of the limiting
points of Babylonian signs from almanacs and Observational texts of the period 200—70 B". C.
Ilhe lunar and planetary tallies, in Which each sign contains 30"degrees, confirm the conclusion
that the signs had equal lengths. " . . .j
In the light of alch facts no credit *haterer can "be given to the tallc"ofSextus"Empiri
A cus, who asserts that the ChaMaearis defined the zodiacal signs so &s to rise in equal times,
i
. !i '
measured by water cloCks (AdU:' Math. V 23). )

In the lunar tables;inagnitudes of solar eclipses are calculated from the latitudes of the
new moon. This shows that their authors knew: first of all, that 'soiaf"echpses are caused
i
by the new moon 'covering the sun, secondly that the Sun has' no motion jn latitude, but moves
exactly in a circle: the ""ecliptic" or "middle'line of the zodiac", as it is called in Greek. j
On the whole, Babylonian lunar tables were computed by purely Babylonian methods i
and 8how no sign of Greek influence. 'This is clear for anyone .'familiar 'witii Greek astronomy .
and with Kugler's Babylonische Mondrechnung. t

i') The ideogram KUSU = NANGAR = SAL + DJS + U was formerly read as nangaru oi " '
pulukku. The reading k u S ii was proposed by Ungnad, this Archir 14, p. 256. See, however, GOs3mann, i'
,!
.,)
Plandarium Babylonicum 114, No. 294. According to A. Sachs, J. Cuneif. Stud. 6 (1952). p. 54, the '
¢i ,
ij correct reading would be alla or thelike, notkuSti'or nangar. "." " " !
'5) A. Rehm, Parapegma-Studien, Abh. Bayer. Akad. Wiss. (Phil.-Hist. Kl.), N. F. 19 (1941), p. 23. ,
16) 18 Ii-e = bull's jaw. See J. Schaumberger, 3m ErgMzungsheft -to .Kugler's SUrnkunde, p. 336. " .

'" ;'

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 ITistory 'of .the' Zodiac. 221.

3.The Zodiacal Scheme. ,

A division of the year into 4 astronomieal seasons, each corresponding to 4 parts of

P
the Zodiacal circle, is implied in the following statements of the text 'n u.l A:)?IN !':
. .
From XII 1 until II 30 the Sun is in the path Of the-(stars) of Anu:. Storm and Wind.
From Ill 1 until V 30 the Snn is in the path of those of Enlil: Harvest and Heat.
. From IX
From VI 1
1 until
until VIII
XI 3030the
theSun
Sunisisin
inthe
the path
path of
of those
those of
of Ea:
Anu:Cold.
Storm and Wind.
Hei"e the "path" of the stars of Anu is a belt from nearly'17° North to 17' South of the
equator ", whereas the "paths" of the stars of Enlil and Ea are the regions North and South
of these limits. The Roman numerals stand for the names of Babylonian months. '
These statements show that already at this early /jj 6
date '(about 700 B. C.) l.he sun's orbit was conceived as a
line intersecting the limiting circles of the zones of Enlil,
. . Anu and Ea in 4 points and divided by them into 4 seg- /~~- " " " " """ ;j;""""Y.;" lV "
merits, such that the sun dwells 3 months in each segment' /" lOW " " " ' :a
It is true that this zodiacal scheme is incomplete: l" ' " " 3
the year is divided into 12 artificial months, whereas the \ i" ~~~,y. I
zodiacal circle is divided into 4 Segments only. Still, the y}" " " " " " "" ~~' "'/'
division of the year into 4 astronomical seasons correspon" x "j-~~< {
ding to these segments was already a zodiacal seheme; and \.xi ' i

as each season consisted of 3 months, the system itself cal- ,

led for a division of each zodiaeal segment into 3 ."signs",
a.s indicated in fig. 2, in order to make the correspondence
complete. This last step was perhaps taken soon after- Fig. 2. The Zodiacal Scheme of
' wards, in any ease before 419 B. Cf m uEastern
LAPIX.. Studies
From VIII,
Journ.
p. 24.Neu
The idea of some correspondence of months to '
eonstellations is very old: it goes back to the so-ealled Astrolabe lists (1100 B. C. or earlier),
which assign to every month 3 stars or constellations supposed to rise in that month 19. However,
in 'this old system the correspondence was bad: Inaily ·eonstellations did not rise in the months
. assigned to them. The correspOndence of zodiacal constellations to months was much better,
for nearly each 12th part of the. zodiac contained at least one constellation; and it was made
quite perfect by the introduetion of the notion "zodiacal sign".

'4. The firAt sign: Aries or Taurus?

If our opinion that the signs were meant to correspond to the months is right, the first '
¶
lr ~
sign should eorrespond to the first month. Now according to the zodiacal scheme of m ul APIN
,j . the sun dwells during the month Nisannu in the sign k u n .g a (Aries). This explains why all
!
younger texts begin the list of signs with h u n .g.a.
gr

How, can
'However, the older Very
this be explained? lists simply:
of zodiacal configurations
the old Astrolabe lists(not yet signs)
assigned begin with mul.
the configuration m ul
to the first month Nisannu, and also in mulAPIN it was supposed to rise on Nisannu 20.
' Since 111 these old texts the configurations were mainly connected with the months in which
they rose, it was quite reasonable to begin the list of zodiacal configurations with m ul
' (Pleiades). . '
Of course, both pnventions are highly arbitrary. The beginning of the civil year
depended on the visibility of the monn"s crescent and on arbitrary intercalation, so th"e. actual
rising of Pleiades could fall into' the second· month just as well as into the first, and the sun
eould be in Pisces, Aries or Taurus during the first month. Thus, the correspondence of the
signs to months is largely a question of convention. .Preeession worked, though very slowly, in
") See E. Weidner, Archiu f. Orientfomchung 7,"'p. 170.
dp 18). See J. Sehaumberger, 3rd Erganzungsheft tO Kug]er's Sternkunde und Sterndienst, p. 321. ·
i' '9) B. L. v. d. Wderden, Babylonian Astrononuj III, J. Near Eastern Studies 8 (1949), p. 9.

kla
Pll||||!| ~~~~~mm "" ' '^4 —
I
.. i . .
H'~' ' e

. .. . . .

I)
m
1
):
i!
ii 222 R L. van da Waerdeii
i'
..
. 6

' favour of Aries against Taurus, for every' 200 years Aries would riSe '3 days later" in the
. solar year. ' j"· .. 0

.. . . . . . .

· 5.'Limitin'g Po'int9 of "Si'g"ns. · . " ' .

f ' Since Hipparchus,. we are wont . to identify the beginning point of the sign Aries
F with the spring equinox. However; we must not stick tO this. In Babylonian and .early Greek
t

' ': '

. astronomy the' begiiining points."of. the signs are' rigidly connected, not uMh the equinomes,
but. ioith the fieed . stars. Fi)r Babylonian astrOnomy, this was 'firSt, proved by Kugler from
I , Lunar Tables, ."and planetary tables confirme'd 'it. As for Greek astronomy, see' Chapter II.
i :' ' ' .The reasons fOr eonneeting the signs with the stars are quite obvious.. First, the stars
iI! ~ " are easily observable; whereas the equinoxes are not. Secondly, the equinoxes have nothing to '
do with the purpose for- which the zodiacal signs were introduced. The zodiacal signs had to
L
..
S
r·
L

·
L
S , 'meet
whiehtwo
theyrequiremenis: First they
took their" names, .had to
secondly coincide
they .had toapproximately with th'e constellations
e"orresp"dnd approximately from
tO the months
I

of the"eivil year. The first. requirement is much more concise, for the" stars are always at .
.

.
iI
,
. .

· the"Same place, whereas the beginhing" of the eivil jTear change'g" Kith the' Moon Hom year to
) j year. As a'tnatter. of fact; the limiting points of the Signs are defined within a few degrees by .
the conditions that' (I) the signs should be of equal length, and (II) the. zodiacal constellation - ·
· should fall .as well as possible within their signs 't A small shift backward and Spica
'1 .. · would.not fall within 'the sign Virgo, which would seem absurd to any Babylonign astronomer. .
: I
· i

! i ' " . . ." Following Kugler,·we .shall- define: the' position of. the origin of the Babylonian zodiac
- by comparing" it t"o the' equinox of the year — 100. Let the longitude of any star or planet, '
L

:. 1 ·
'! ' ' . ' calculated with respect to'the equinox of the year — 1QO (i. e. with the vernal point of — 100 "
G ' as origin"of coordinates) be called Kugler lOngitude, and let the"lon'gitude as given in Babylonian
. ..
) i planetary tdbles be called Babylohian longitude. The mean .differeiiee of the two longitudes
jI (Babylonian minus Kugler) measures the distance between the Babylonian origin and .the "
vernal point of .— 100. Now-. from several lunar.. and planetary tables Kugler and- myself ,'
· have computed the. following .mean difkrences: ' ' - ¥ ' 0'

"). · ..
· 0 . r

) -
. ,, . . .. - Tables . .' " ' Years G' ' Difference '
t

I -j ,
,..
C

.' Lunar table Nr. ' 93, System II " ' — 174 to ' 154' ' ' ' ' 9.'7 .
D

Lunar table Nr. 272, System I" ' ' '— 103 to " 101 ' ' "33
! . Jupiter tables, jst "'kind 23 . .,- —"180 to — 90 . ' 4.2 .
II ' " . Jupiter tableS, 2nd kind '3 " '· "· . — 120 to — 100 ' · ' · 4.2
. ' "Jupiter tables, 3rd kind" ' " . k
· " " 120 'to — 80". " ' " . 4.3 ' - ' '
. . .. . . · " " — 210 to — 160 ' · 3.5
Babylonian Almanacs " ' . ' .
€
" — 160 to — 130 ' ' . '4.2 ·
E ' · —110 to 60 .' " " .'," 5.3 .
. \ r

" i '
q,
. . .
'q
i '1·'
I .I These values range from 33 to 5.3, which means that the vernal point .of — 100 lies ." .

. near .4.3°·Aries of the Babylonian zodiac, and Spica near 29° Virgo,. with
. .i
a possible deviation
. . . ,
. of 1° to eithy side.
$

i
, )" ' '' 20) See 'the. computations of' R: BOker, Enktehung der Sternsphare" Arats,. B€t. Siichs. .Akad: 99 ' '
(Leipzig 1952), p.' 43, 21) F. X. ·Kugler, Babylonische Mondmchnung, p. 58.. , .

). )

j
i
,
. 22) F. X. Kugler, Babylonische Mondrechnung, p: 102.
. 23) B. L. v. d. Waerden, Eudem.us I '(1941), p. 33, ·'
· .
24) F. X. Kugler, Stemkunde I, p. 158.
.

"
2

! ! ' .
·' .. into
'" Venus 25)signs,
The,ge of"texts, ·formerly
the ,zodiae. As'called ephemerides,
I wrote' my Eudemus give the days
paper, of entrance
I believed of 'one
at least Jupiter, Saturn
of these .' and
texts to . '- ."
G

;
' be .an observational 'record, I coniputed a standard error .from it,, iind. I 'concluded that in the later texts ' '
!l ' (110 to 60 B. C.) a shift of the origin of the..zodiac had. taken" place. I now' bel'ieve with' A. Sachs that ' ' '
i: .
i! - " all 'entrances Of planets into' zodiaeal" signs .were 'computed, and that" the deviation of the later almanacs '
il ,
r
' from the earlier ones. 13 due to a systematic error of about' j0 in the Venus.positions. .See A.'Saehs:, J.. of " .'.
¶
·1 Cu.neiform Studies 2 (1948), p.." 277 and 289."' ' '
,

"j . .

i. t · '
i. if 'I . .. . .
: :)1 . ; L

,: i. C

.! ::!
' ..i : ' '
i .|1 : y
.
. , .

";t
: ,;b
'' i:
': "" l ,'
1· ' -
i
C

t : 5^ 0

q ,

:0

' / . . '
K .
tl , ¥
 "5

Wl:tZ

+h

History of. the- Zodiiic 223

»P· J «

. This recently
catalogue,. result, obtained ,several"
published years '6.
by A. Sachs ago, .is strikingly
Restricting confirmed
ourselves to 5by a Babylonian
entries that eanstar
.be
identified with certainty, we find in this list the following longitudes. I have added to the list "
two Jupiter Iongitu(ks, 'drawn from planetary tables and :proMbly observed in the years 108
. and 158 SE 27. . . . ·.. ' . ." :j. , .
r
. ), .
. .
b

. . Teht " ' . Star na'me Bab. Long. " . Kiigler Lohg. 4' 'Differenee " 7 r

BM 46083 B Virginis "151' . 147.6 ." ' 3.4 - t

·/ Virginis " 166 ' . 161.2 : "4.8 " -i

I

a iVirginis . , . .178 -"- ' 174.7 - . a . .3 3 " ' ¢

. . .
C

a Librae' ' 200 ' . 195.9 .- 4.1 l. - ' " 1.

I
,
. .. (3 Librae , 205 ' 200.2 ' · - 4.8 - j"'
i
m . AO 6476 Jupiter 108.,IX 4 r 151.75 148.05" " ' 3.7" " '
Sp. II 889 Jupiter 158 XII 10 230.17 ' 226.20 ' 4.0 .-
L

t
' The mean difference is,.4.1, 'the standard erry of the' singl?,.observations 0,6. ·'
, . . i '. b
U.

6.Equinoxes and S.olstiees; PreU.ssion.. .' ,.'. '4

, C
,· . .
?

. ' C
;

- In·Greek geometrical 'astrononi'y, the eQuinoxes ,and solstices are of' prime importance: " · I

· they determine the points of 'intersection of the fundamental- circles on the sphere,"whiCh were. ' . 0·
" "!
needed for all calculations and constructions. This is why · the Greeks made, ever.' sinCe" '1

Meton 'and Euetemon (420 B: C.), exact observations of equinoxes and solsti&s, which enabled '
Hipparchus (150 B.' C.) to" diseover precession. . :

' Y '

, .
- In' Babylonian .astronomy, the situ'ation is qiiite different. Equinoxes and Solstices )
i ·. play only a minor"'part, in the theoretical as" well as in observational textS. Longitudes And · ' ,
7
¥

latitudes. of sun, mOon and planets were ealeulated arithmetically," but the caleulated "positions F

.
were not related to the equator, and henCe the points' of intersection of' equator tind ecliptic
I

: were quite unimportimt. " 'i

I

' '" The only point where equinoxes and solstices' come in is the caleulation of the duration
, ,

· ·

' l'
!
1·

,, ' ['

. of night and day. Now, ,an error of. some 2 or 3 days in. the observation of equinoxes would
),

l'
r .
' µean an error of 8 minutes' at most in the duration of daylight, i. e. of 4 minutes in the moment ' .
, .

), ' of sunSet, which

determination .is .quite unimportant.
of equinoxes? So fixed
..They simply why should
them atthe
100Babylonians
of the signsbottler
in the about an .exact'
older' System.II ' ''
'· ., of thtiir Lunar TheOry, and at 8q in the younger System I. These fixations were retained during i
I .

i
K several centuries, disregarding precession. The right thing "would' have been .to. fix .them
.! for. 200 B. C. at 5°, and to correct them afterwards by repeated observations. " i
! .. Iri Babylonian. planetary calendars, the lengths of the astronomical.. seasons. were t

' assumed to be equal, although the "scribes might have concluded the inegalitV of the SeaSons . qbr
' t

,
from" their own Lunar Tables. .This "proves: again, how little attention was given. to mich " ' .
thihgs. Th'e spring equinoxes have error9 up to 5 days ". In observational tables, tile 'equGoxes i
and solstiees -are noted, .but time and again there is a remark: "not observed" (Kugler .II, ' ' '
'I

p. 521). Obviously the dates .were ealeulated from year" to yearuby some simple -seheme,' such ' .

as Neugebauer. has. recently Ijublished 29. ' ..

1

'' Conclusion:. The Babylonians did not discover hrecession, bepause they did not care !
:

. for exact obServation .of equinoxes and solsti&s. Theyj were content with rough estimates,. and
.' -they were quite riglii' in that from 'their point" of view. ' '
'In the zodiacal scheme of mulAPIN, the 'equinoxes. and.so]stices Weire fixed at 15' of i

the signs. This is dear from. a glance at fig. 2, and it is confirmed by the text itself, which -
states that on' Nisan 15 day and night are equal. Fig.-2 would be correct, with the Babylonian " ' 46

, . ,
b

. , '6) A.L.Sachs, A late Babylonian i .

") B, v. d. Waerden, Eudemusstar
'I,'p.catalog,
45—A6. J."' Cuneiform Stud. 6 (19.52), p. 146. . ·
.a . 28) See Kugler, ·Sternkunde und Sterndiend in Babel II, p. 606. ·
'9) O. Neugebauer. A'ta.ble of solstices from Uruk, J. Cunei/orih Studie8 1 (1947), p. 143. ' .!'
.t

.b .
¢ '

:
.
,
-I
{

(
·1 . . . .
,

L
. .
' 1"\ ' \·

. l
I

' 4

,2
C
Wjjp'
U,'
ti
l
S
, 7

224 B. L. ·van der Waerden "

% II

1QU

' " limits of signs, for about 940 B. C. Other statement9 in the same text, concerning heliacal ris'ing .

' I
J of stars, poirit"to el somewhat earlier date, say between .'1400 and 900 B. C. . .- . : "
r \

!: P
1 '
· 7. Wo.rship'o"f Zo"diacal"Signs. .Birth horoscopes..
I: "... . .
A, much-discussed text of Diodorus indicates that 12 stars in the,·zodiae and ·12 stars
' north and' 12 south of it were considered by the Chaldaeans as Gods, having the, supervision . - '
over all things in' heaven and on eariii. We know from cuneiform texts "too that"stars 'were ·
worshipped as Gods. For the zodiacal signs,or constellations we have 3 magical .texts, published
'. by Ungnad30, presuiibing to repeat the names of the signs a certain number 'of -times in
. . different cases. This proves that zodiacal sigiis (or, c.onstellations) were cohsidered as mighty ·
". powers. ' . ·I

. all
that . The same. idea underlies
pseudo-physical argumentshoroscopic
by whichastrology. Bouch&Ledercq
astrologers has made quite
try to make plausible-the .clear . . "
iiifluence
of planets and zodiacal sigiis upon our lives, are only disguises, the primary idea' being .that
I
9|
1 ' the planets and signs are Divine Powers. Now' this is clearly a Babylonian idea. The aecomplish- ·
ed system .of astrology with its vague religious background could be .. transplanted into any
other ldnd,l but it.eould originate,only in a country where the 'staEs, .planets .and zodiacal signs .
were worshipped as gods, i. e. in Babylonia.

¢
are .in the.year
..The text VATB.4924
419/8 mentioned
C., may before,
have been usedrecording the zodiacal,
as an auxiliary table insigns in horoscopes.
casting which.the planets
I can
"scareelY imagine. any other,purpose for such. a"'table. The obvious: conelusion is, that .already. . .
' in the "Persia.n.'time the .Babylonians east horoscopes.
Q

l"
I : ·, ' .. t.
This cOnclusion has been confirmed .quite recently by a horoscope.. ,for. A10" B. C. b

1_
published by A. SUhs ". In the same paper' Sachs published .5 more horoscopes .for'the years '
· Y
. - 263, 258,.235, 230 and 142 B. C. All of these are older than" the okest known Egyptian horoscope.
' So the conclusion seems unavoidable that horoscopic aMronomy' originated in Babylonia during . .
ii ' " the PerSian reign." ' .
' Dr. Sachs, 'arrives 'at the same eondusion. He writes: "If I am right -r and I do not
see wherein I-might have erred-'— in restoring the date of the earliest cuneiform horoscope. as
'410 B. C., there actually remains' next to no chance that extra-Babylonian influences played . '
a' role in the earliest development of horoscopiC astrology." '
.i .,
· Older Babylonian astrology, which flourished in Kassite and.Assyrian 'times (1400—'700
' B. C.) had a quite' different eharaetei: it aimed at short-range .predictions. of general. public "
!. - eUents, such as wars and harvests, from. striking phenomena suCh" as eclipses, clouds, 'annual "
I
J

' - rising and setting of planets, whereas the Hellenistic "ChaldaeanS" predicted indiuidual fates
from po8itions of planets and Zodiacai signs at the date of birth or conception. .

i' ' " · 'It 13. true that personal predictions are found already in earlkr .times, as Sachs'.has"
. pointed out. It is also true that Hellenistic astrologers continued to predict .public ·events.
So the individual character of horoscopie astrology should hot be stressed too' much. The .
essential new feature is, that positions of plahets and zodiacal signc: are used ;for long-range
" predictions. ,
r" . b

Now these positions are' by no 'means striking events: planets' may be invisible, . and
I
. signs are neVer visible. The data needed fOr a horoscop'e had, in most cases, to be calculated
from tables. 'We ignore how,' when and wIly this transformation took .place. But it. could ' ·

. only take place

at remote in Babylonia)
"dates. Not withoutwhere tables
reason .we're available
astrologers for calculating
were called positions
"Chaldaeans" of planets
throughout the ' ". . ' .
Roman Empire! - " " - "" 7i" .- "
'
.
Chapter II.
!

P THE Greek ZODIAC. , .

1. General Notions. . P

. We
zodiacal have seen,
scheme how the
gradually notions concerning"
developed theFrom
in Babylonia. zodiacal bell1000
about the ecli;ptical signs' and
B. C. onwards,' the
more " "
C \
30) A. Ungnad, Arch.iu f. Orient/orschung 14, p. 251. 1qr

3') A. Sach3, Babylonian horoscopes, J. Cuneiform Stiidies 6 (1902), p. 49.' " .

F .

ii

l .
i

·r C
i
' ¢7 7 C"
...

It
WIll' ·

. q

m' 0

lb " ' ' .J i

. C 4

,
.¥
J

t
a

· History of' the Zodiac. , . ' 225

4 'gp
, .
.., . .....
. . · : n

and more attention was given to iiie "zodiacal. belt, in which 'the nioon, .planets and the sun
L
,
b ' move. Before 420' B."C. the system of the 12 zodiaeal signs' was established Uth complete
' D
ckrity and precision.' We found' the.iundameiital idea of the zodiacal 'seheme""alriady in the
text ii' ii LAPIN,' 'written' about "700' B. C. or'. eailier. ·We we"re able to reconstruet',th¢i .leading
': ,. ideas 'and to' understand their gradual development without assuming Emy foreign' influence.
P .
. .
J

.'V

: ." -at all. ''In

-" Greeee and Egypt, the situation is quite different. The GreekS 'did not study the
" motion"of the planets during many centuries. Demoeritus is said to have been quite uncertain'
I.
abOut the nu.mber of i)lanets and to have considered their motion as totally 'irregular.' ' In
' ·Plato's time, when Eudoxus set Up. his brilliant planetary theory, its observational basis and

, "sun's
the knowledge of ,perio&'
anomalistie etc.'
motion in was stillbut
longitude, quite
he insufficient.
believed in For instanee,
a motion EudoxUs ignored
in kititude'.which does the
n6t .
j) . . ..' exist 32..' '"·' '' .' ) ., ' '. .' ., . ' .. :. ,:
2 ' '
'- ' .. · '· .. ' . I
'.. · . ' :. ,. . ., . . , . , · i. .". , .'" '-. ' . . . . ... . ,. ''... .· .' .'

. '· The Greek' zodiac with 'its 12 signs was not, like' 'ihe "Babylonian zodiac, the·result of'
'. H
' ' ·a gradual 'developnient,' starting with long and careful Observations of planets and' zodiaeai' '.
. " .constellations, but it' appare'htly" was introduced all at onee by Cleostratus, 'after Anaximailder ·
. ",had .discovered its ' obliquity: .'. · ' .. ."' " ' ,. - .. . .
.. , . ; ·:

' Obliquitatem eius .intelle£i.qs.e, hoc es't' rerum foris aperuisse, Anaeimander Milesius
. ' :tradit·ur primus ol,gmpiade guinquajesima octaO'a" (548—645 B. C.), signa deinde in eo Cleodra-
'lus, et prima ahietis 'ac sagittarii "(Plinius,' Nat. "Hist. II,' 31). -' ''" ' ' . .
. . ... ..... .. yt

" . :. The exact meaning of this phrase. is not quite 'clear: Fotheringham' and' Webb had "'a ' '
l" long disiussion about'it 'in Vol. 39, 41, 45 and 48 of'the Journal Of 'Hellenic"Sludies; Equally .
( '

-. ' ' "'mus

.obsgure'
tellsis.uS·
a statement "about"),Oinohides,
in his Histoiy of Astronomy:'quoted from" Dercyllides
·that 'Oinopides by' Theon "Of
first. discoverMi itie,Smyrna: "Eude-
engirdlement" ' ·
4.

. .
of the zodiac:' Wi,do' not "kiioW, what the- word engirdlement (ddt(%tg).exactly medns. Diels
X

·i . ' proposes tO' lead' skewness (AOEg)bLg)· ' ' C

. . ':.

i .' '
4 .
· " The' light Of history begins to shine only about 400 B. C. Zodiacal '·schemes were then
" # l ' '
..

- ·C
S
used ' by' Euctemon'and 'Eudoxus An their"Calendars u, and a division of" the eeliptie into ·
J,
. . '12 'stl"ictly·equal:signs was iised bv Eudoxus' in his Phainomena, the source of 'Ardtus' famoU . U'..
. . .. .
.
J C ·
, I . .

' .! ·
" C
,

i I

I
C
,' " ' ' 'Eudoxiis' 'and Aratus' statements' eoneerning the stys' iisinj; ':siIiiultaneoiisly ' witb .
I ..
, .

·
; q izodiaeal 'sigiis ,were Xhoroughly analyzed by Pr.""BOker Q'. HiS main results are:'
' " ".; :i" I' 1.".Just ds 'tlie'.Biibylonians did, Eudoxus used a"fixed zodiac with iZ "signs of equal "
: length, .rigidly' Connected with the fixed stars. The.equino±"" of " 100 lies between 2° aiid" 3° "
t ..'

'
I
C
" Aries .on tlie,ecliptie of Eudoinis His division -"differS only 1 or"Z degr&'s fro'm 'tile Babylonian ' ' .
.didsionj':Thei zeroj'poiht of Ptolemy's eatalOgue of stars happens tO coincide with the zero .
. F '

'\
4~- 'point
. , .. ' .of' Eudoirus.
.· 2. ' :'asSudes,
Eudoxus' '" ) . . ' ''just
" '"'"' aS" mulAPIN does,'" the equinoxeS '.and Solstices.'"to lie at 15J ·

'j " of.,the signs. 'This 'Gould be true for 1000 b. c., but not for his own time (370"B."c.j. " '" ."
i' .'' ,
!l ' ' " . ' 3.·Eudoxus
' jBdbylonia hdd adjusted
or, Phoenicia. - ' hisj
' . globe
' ' . ' ' "to a' geographical
' · . latitude
, of 33°, corresponding io, ,1 · . · I'-,
·
i:' · : , .;';'.'· 'To these facts, we may add that most hames of 'Greek 'zodiaeal signs are translations..
. ,
i: . . - or small mOdifications of the Babylonian names, as wiii be Seen presently: Hence the.conelusio.n

'
I · . is ,iinavoidable that the iohole Greek zodiac with its 12 signs' 18 of Babylonian. origin. '. '· .
. . . . .
.I . '
' ' ' ';: ' ' .

;2.',)Names'of Signs. · ..

7 .
' .'' The ,Greek. names of "the signs Taurus,'Gemini, Leo, Scorpius, "ckarly are tranSlationz '
ofj'the Babjlonian names gu,.an.na, maS.tab,.ba.gal"."gal, ur.a, gi'r.tab, which' '
. 0

. mean' 'ljull)|of. Anu', |th¢ "great twins', 'lion' or 'lioness', 'scorpion'. ·¥ .

. ..
1!
0

." . : .32). See the classical memoir of" Schiaparelli,'.Le sfere di'Eudo88o. etc.; German translation in Abh.' ' ""
" . .y '

. '.&edch: . . , . ...
'i" ;. "Maiii. :i. A. Rehm,
33) '.See " Art.Pairapegma in Pauly's Real-Enzykl., and Parapegma-Studien, Abh. Bayer.

. . . JAlcad.; N: F. 19. ' -·. . .

" '. 'f) 1?. BOker, Die Enlstehun.g der Stemsphd"re 'Arat8, Ber. "siicU. Akati. Wiss. 99' (Ldpzig 1952).
. 'i · '
' Archiv fiir Orientforschung XVI; ". . . ' . ,- ' . 15
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Capricornus ('A:7&EQag)is just a slight modification: of, the, goatfish (s u jj,1lL r: Ill a S). '.

" . . 'The
originally, BabyloniaK·name
means.. of the the
'furrowl"However, sign .Virgo.
text and of
mulAPIN the .starUla
states:,,"& Spica;
b s ianb1st
s i.n':.or ab.ear.of
ther corn s i n,
the goddess. gala':. ,(Cuneit.. Teets 33, BM 86378, Col. II 10). The Seleucid text,,AO 6448 (see

. fig.. 3) shows .a virgin holding .an ear representing· m ul, a b , s.i n.. I:d'o..not^see.:any' hason to B

::
1

... . .. ...

='!j"="'"""ji3©i|,""'""")i'"-'"'"F¢by:))":.)!,,.,,)3i)'i3

"' ').')..gljjgf
Ila' ' ' "' T
^7yT
:jl) "'".'"))):'))'")))))|ib)))
4)).jl¥: Em~'

..... .. .... ... .. ,J . . ,...... .. ... . . . . _... - . .

L- .. .. .. .... .. . ... . . . . .. .

. .
P .. . .. . . . . . . .. .

" Fig. 3. Virgin with .corn ear, represhting .a b . s i n. Froin Archiu' f. Orien|for8¢hun9'.· IV; pI. .'Ill. ,- .. ." '
.
C'"
. C

. ' I .·" ,

ascribe thii"pi'iture :to Greek influenee, because in all other cases :,the...ill"fluenee :,is the other?
way round; 'but 'even,.if .'it is not' admitted ,for eertain that the Greek naine of"th'e sign Virgo.
" . came from Bdbylonia," it is' in any ease eertain that.the corn ear, (Spica) 'is of BabylOnian origin.
' Insiead"·of, the Bdtjjilonian scales (zibiinitu) the, Greeks have the·: scotpion's claws
L
(,%q;lai).B1lt the:te£t m "L&PIN.already gives qaran zuqiiqipi (the scorpion's horn) 'as. & synonym
I

' . ':. ' : L ' " : "

. of zibiinitu
)The(Cuneifo,Fm Tezts 33;" BM 86378; Col.
Greeks'!·.reduced,.the,.'Babylonian II 11),.
constellations '.. :m :-m
:Si , a b and 'dnunitum' to our "
much smaller fishes, most 'prolAbly because the head 'of 'S i m'..m a h 'was aliiea"dy 'a" part of ' .·
the Greek· :configuration. "Pegasus, and the .head of anuniium' was ".the':midd,le± piirt· of' Andro- .
· " inedQ
latioh" a': Stiii, 'the eombination
called,':'the', of ,the tails
taiis';. (Zibbatim.f.e) wasof S i m .m performed
already a b and anUnitunt.to oii¢j
in- the.' text "mzodideal"
aI'Ap'IN;_cOnstel-
and the . .
" . he' · ·

C
part of the' congtellation near dl -'pisciUm was called by the. Babylonians just as ""bjr" the Greeks
. . . . .

"the.band of the fishes"" (rikis nUni), '· .' J . .,. .

" r .
. C

. ' Sagithirius is repr&nted on the r.ound zodiac of Dendera by.a Centaur.with' .wings .and-
-a' bow, similar in all', details 'to a pieture ,on.. BabyloniQn boundary" stones (figs. 4. .and 5).. " '
t
We " can .ieavd open ",the question whether the symbol on .the · boundary stones already- .
'

y
y
meant. a eonst¢iiatkn, or wheQier 'it' rejnresented a minor god, afterwards 'transferred to the-.
sky. In the analogous case 'of the'goatfish, represented in Dendera and on the boundary stones
. by "quite'
700 B. C., siMiiar pictures
since the (figs.',6 s'ahd
eonst"ella!ior! u b .7), meii know
u r -m that it was.intransferred
S "is mentioned to .the sky'
mulAPTN. probably thebefore
same .
is "triie in' the ,case of sagittarius. Thus, although we ignore the..exaet signifieation of the name
" - .. . - PA . BIL'. SAG, we may safely !eonelude from the pictures that. the arCher is-. of Bdbylonian .
' Origin." The Greeks preferred the pieture of a silen with a bow. . '..,. . .. . .
". AlsO in the case of AQuarius- we ignore the exaet sigijifiCation of the-'Babylonian .
. name Gtj'. LA;. but we have'old Babylonian representations of a watefpouring god analogous .
. lo:the'ivaterman of Ikiidera' (figs. 8 and 9). ' ' '-
$ ' . '

.. . ·"" 1
" . "- . .
' T ' ''
. ,.

.' "' ' The 'ea9e·' of Cancer is doubiful, because we ignore the meaning .of tile ideogrdm.
C

, "" .AL . LUL

texts. L a l l the.sign'
to design u, used in older"texts,
Cancer. and of .the
The Aecadian ideogramofKUSU
equivalent =. NANGAR
AL :LUL 'used
'is"' Sittum.'. in later'.. ' '
Aceording
;
' .. tQ .LandSberg&, allutiu is ,a" crab; 'but m ulAllultu is. Caprieornus, not'Caneer.' A k'ju 'dppears '
¶.
in" 'a 'list- of aiiimals. This seems to be all we 'know. See B. Lan&berger, ,.bie. .babylonische
"Fauna .(Leipzig 1934), 'p.' 18;' A.· Ungnad, this Archio 14, p. 256; F Thureiiu-Dangin; Rea
ui'As8yriol.' 10,, p.: 225; GOssmahn, .Planetarium Babyl.,-p. 5; A. Sachs, J. Cuneif." Siud.'6, p. 54.
tI
.I- ;

(I ,

i i! g

,
'!; m 2 ·· .
· . The Babylonian t'hireling" (bun :g a == iigru) was replaced, in .' the Gr&k "zodiac,, 0

,: .' i ' jiy 'a ,Rarii: "'of uiikhown origin: - . ·. .' '
i'
35) 'See B. L. v. d.' Waerden,".The 36 stys, J, Ncar Eastern Studies 8 (1949j, p: 15; Fig. 3.
I
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. . " History of the Zodiac.. . 227
¶ 'qf .
,

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f . ·' : ;. .:' tea · ' ... .j. t; ,
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Kr "y'" '. "' . . . . . .. . . ..... .
d .)
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h " . "- i, :"'
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'Fig. 4: :i\rcher'" ori Bouridary Stone. From iiintte,

. t . . .
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' "Fig. 5. Archer 'On ROund' Zodiac ijf ""Dendera;. Froiii

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," ' - " '" . Netu Boundiiby Stbne,'"'p:· 98; Fig. 32. -' '''. -' . . · :Hinke;" p: gg,-Fig: '33. !- '-'· .'- "'" i"? :> -
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Fig. C. Giatfi'sti' on' Boundary. Stine. From Hinke, Fig. 7,:, ,Goatfish on "Round Zodiac of ' Dendera. '

,. , , .'. ' ,. p., 102, .Fig., 36: - " ' . .Flom Hinke, p. 102,. Fig. 37. q - . :.. . jr "

I :
. " q.· , . .3. TrOpical.or.side.real. . . . ... .
, \ ;

. P

" ' ' ' ', ,|.)::":a . ,. A division'

zodiac? ' of. '.-the .zodiac -is - C-

r·- ·
.. . .
"t" ' ·.:.. /e·*·tr? ' called -tropical, "if the dividing "P . .. . . '" '.
f' ',^ '
p 0

" {lg :'tij3 'S >

' A' tion to are
the defined
eQuinoxial' andrela
sol- , · ,':-- H
At ' "'

' ' €sd[':!""« "- points by their

. . 4
4

..: -.' -, '~a" 'S q" sticial points, and -sidereal, if aj· ·. ,.
, : ~ '"" j ' /\i they are defined by means of the

- " )g ' .€\'"t

,,:,, 075 . , fixed stars. . .. ' b

,. tA , '- .t'\
r iAYg
' _&91%
NM .~u
' ' ' ·l""" ,'i$i " m
:'"ti\j:(kwir ' ' ' ("· gMost Greek- astro'nomers
.Hypsieles, Hipparchus, · .-ua

': l/dN ' s w::Hm ' ' . Cteminus,., Ptolemy, Theon . of . L -- :w

. .
ii)) ,..:;'2' . ·:,"!'m I Alexandria) used a tropical ¶o" "- l ' " )' """ 4 A

h,· .
·qp

'· ·'. I, tl,,. \ N:'g} " ' spring equinox. '. -. ·1%
"' " |J%±~'::% - However, Eudoxus and Ara- d"
' 4 i
"" " 1\""" ' tus used a sidereal zodiac. The 1· 4)'/ . , . )
.* ' µ
qMP
" beginning ·points of the signs "r"" y "- .
Fig.' 8. Water-pour.ing'God. From. - . ' . - ' . , Fig. · 9. Waterman on "
b

i Hinke, p. 103, Fig. 38. ' - ' ' ' Round Zodiac of Dendera. ,
' From Hinke, p. 103,
9
"I ' Fig. 38. _
' 15*
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qp

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i 'l · '

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i) ' P,
 ms B. L. van der Waerden
'· 't

were defined, for practical purposes, by simultaneously rising stars. The 12 signs were
so chosen that their middle poihts coincided, as well as possible, with the middles of the 12
zodiacal constellations (BOker, p. 43). On Eudoxus' zodiac, Spica lie8 between 27° and 280
I ' Virgo, whereas on' the Babylonian zodiae Spica was assumed to lie between 28° and 29' Virgo.
The difference is not significant.
2
In their Phainomena, Eudoxus and Aratus loeated the spring equinox at 15° Aries.
The correct location would be, for Eudoxns' own time (368 B. C.), 6° Aries. It seems that Eudoxus
himself noted and corrected this error, for Columella tells us (De re rustica XI, Ch. 14) that
Meton and Eudoxus placed the equinox at 8° Aries. This was also the Babylonian location
in the system of Kidenas., as we have seen.
The 8 degrees of Meton, Eudoxus and Kidenas remained popular for a long time. They
reappear in Plinius (Nat. Hist. 18, eh. 59), CoIumella, Achilles Tatius (Isag. '23) and Cen-
sorinus (De die natali 25). The, astrologer Vettius Valens (ed Kroll, p. 354) professes to have
used tables of Apollonius for the sun and moon ,,witih the addition of the 8 degrees". This '
can only mean that 'Apollonius' tables were computed fgr 'the tropical zodiac and that Vettius
added 8° to bring the equinox to 8° Aries.
The original purpose of the addition of the 8 degrees must have been to reduce the "
tropical longitudes to the sidereal zodiac of Eudoxus and Kidenas. However, after Hippar- ,
' ehus discovered precession, it became clear. that this aim could not be reaehed by the addition -.
of a fixed number of degrees. Therefore a new rule was devised by those who wanted to stiek
to the sidereal zodiac. Theon of Alexaxidria discusses . this rule in his Commentary to ' tihe n
Handy Tables in the following words: .
The ancient astrologew believed .that the tropical points hioved towards th0 east for a certain time
and then returned to 'their starting point .., . We sha ll explain tho method which' these astrologers. follow '
in their computations. They take the 128 years up to the beginning of the reign of Augustus, beeause at' the
' beginning of this time the deviation towards 'the following signs reached its 'largut amount of $ dogrees
and the retrograde motion started, and they add the 313 years from Augustus to Riocletianus and the !
years elapsed since Diocletianus, and from the sum they calculate the place at a rate of motion of :
one .degree in 80 years. Theji subtract the result. of tho divkion from 8 degree3. The reM, giving the degree . 7
up. to which the tropieal pchnts have moved, is added to the result of itie calculation of the longitudes
of the .sun, the moon and the 5 planets (Halma, Commentaire de Th&n sur les tables' manuelles de
PtoUnUe, Paris 1822, p. 53).
The ,,aneient astrologers", who applied thk rule, lived after, 29 B. C., because they
used the era of Augustiis: Their successors, living in the era of DiocletianuS siiii used the '
same rule, adapted to the new era. Obviously, the purpose of the rde was, to reduee tropieal
longitudes (taken e. g. flom tables: of Apolloniu,s, Hipparchus or Ptolemy) to sidereal Iongi- ' I
tudes.
Theon's account clearly proves the popularity of the sidereal zodiac among astrolo-
gers of the late Roman period.
CHAPTER Ill.
THE EGYPTIAN ZODIAC.
")
1. Egyptian Astronomy.
Did there ever exist a .geimine· Egyptian astronomy, comparable to, Babylonian and
Greek seience" Nobody knows. Late Greek authors often praise Egyptian Wisdom, 'but every
time we learn to know texts, -they lead t? disappointment. The "Egyptian System" of late
Roman authors is really a Gr&k pIaoetary theory. The "eternal tables", in Which the Egyp-
tians are said to have laid down .their wisdom about planetary motion, prove to, be a mere
eompilation from Babylonian " almanacs, ' ready for astrological use 36. New Moon tables,
, published by Neugebauer and Volten ", are corriputed by the simplest possible arithmetical "
devices, far inierior to Babylonian
. Lunar' tables.

36) B. L. v. d. Waerden, Egyptian "Eternal Tabled', Proc. Kon. Akad. Amsterdam 50 (1947),
p. 537. ,
3') ' O. Neugebauer and A. VoIten, Quellen u. Studien Gt?8C/l. Math. B 4 (1"938), p. 383.

"i j
 .History of the Zodiac: ' . »A
? k

The only thing that remains really and genuinely Egyptian, is the doctrine of the 36
$ "Decans" or Calendar Stars, which were' supposed to rise and set at intervals of 10 days
throughout the year, and to culminate at intervals of 1 hour throughout the night. Lists of "
decans are found on coffin lids of the Middle 'Kingdom and in royal tombs of the New" King-
. dom. The doctrine of their rising, culmination and .setting is systematically 'exposed in a
;
1
i
i
commentary published by Neugebauer and Lange '". The doctrine 'is rather primitive and even
inconsistent, for if "the 36 decans do really rise at intepvals of- 10 days, the mean time int,er-
'" vals between their culminations should be 40 minutes instead of 1 hour. '
Still, these lists were the best thing the Egyptian wise men were able to give their
dead as a guide through time and eternity. Obviously the Egyptians had no better method'
of determining time during the night thm the observation of the rising, culmination and setting
of deeans. This means: they knew nothing about the Zodiac
This conclusion is confirmed by the total absence of texts eoncerhing the zodiac. or
related topics, before Hellenistic times. Serious Greek authors (Geminus, Hypsicks, Ptolemy)

',i, often use Babylonian methods and observations, bnt never Egyptian ones. If we are to rely
on documents and not on fictions, we are bound to conclude: A scientific Egyptian astronomy
never existed, and even if it exiSted it did not appreciably influenee our seiencti.
2. The Zodiac of Dendera.
Our conelusion that the Egyptians, ' before Hellenistie times, " knew nOthing of the
Zodiac, is not contradieted by the Round Zodiac of Dendera, nor by the rectangular one in
;
the same temple. For the Dendera Zodiac proves to be only a mixture of the Greek Zodiae
with its Babylonian original". Thus, the Ram is Greek, but the Scales are Babylonian. The
pictures of the Archer and the Goatfish follow in all details Babylonian models, as we° have
i
l
. seen already (figs. 4—9).
'i 3. The zero-point of t'he Egyptian Zodiac.
If the longitudes of the planets in Egyptian -pldnetary texts are compared with modern
¢
longitudes, the mean differenees are positive and decrease in the 'eourse of time '0. Howeveij '
. ·1
if the modern longitudes are reduced to the Vernal point of — 100, the differences remdin
constant. The mean diffeiences are, if Mercury is left out of account:
4.6 for the Berlin papyrus (years — 16 to + 10),
5.1 for the Stobari tablets (years 70 to 131).
The "differenees were 'computed by Neugebauer for the "linear parts" of the motion,
'I where the differences between text and calculation are nearly constant. ObVious text errors
E ' I
were disregarded, and so were the retrograde parts because of the speeial kind of deviations
'7" here. Mercury is quite out of line, the differences being 0.1 and — 1.0 in the two texts. One
reason for this may be that the linear part of Mercury's motion is very difficult to observe.
L ' '

,.: i. This is why Mercury was disregarded in forming the mean differences.
'. I
" L
Both values 4.6 &nd 5.1 lie within the range of values found' from' similar Babylonian
'tables. So the authors of these late Egyptian tables used the Babylonian sidereal zodiac, in
i which Spica lies between 28' and 3} Virgo.
i
From a horoscope of Pitenius for A. D. 81, C. Fagan " computed a m,ean difference of
j'
:
.t 6.5 with modern longitudes reduced to — 100. As Fagan points out, this horoscope may
well have been computed from the planetmy tables mentioned before. It is also possible that the
astrologer who computed this geniture used Theon's reduction rule (see end of Chapter II). In
any case the zero point of this horoscope was not the vernal point of A. D. 81.

'"' 38) H. 0. Lange and O. Neugebaiier, Papyrus CUlsberg 1, Kong. Dariske Viden8kaberne8 Selskab
(hist.-fil. Skr.) I, 2 (1940).
h
"39) This has been pointed out by A. Schott, Quellen und Studien Ge8ch. Math. B 4, p. 176.
g O. Neugebauer, Egyptian planetary terts, Trans. Amer. 'Philgm Soc. 32 (1942), p. 230. See .
also my "Eternal Tabled' Quoted before.
") C. Fagan, Zodiacs Old and Neio (London 1951), p. 28.

C?
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 ®101 13. L. van der Waerden, IIiStory of the Zodiac
J T

4. Hellenistic .Deeans.
All around the Round Zodiac of DeMera, the 36 Decans are represented. They reappear
t
. in astrologieal,
seem to deriveliterature
from the(see W. Gundel,
old EgYptian "Dekane
names. und Dekansternbilder).
However, their character.Their Greek names
has fundamentally
changed. Tliey. are no more sktrs, but Divine Powers' associated with parts .of the zodiac of
10 degrees eaeh. To each Decan, the astrologers give a list of simultaneously rising stars.
This .mean9 the Egyptian method of determining time by rising decans, and the' Greek 'or
rather Babylonian method of determining time by rising parts of the zodiae and their parana-
tellonta, were combined ,into one scheme, by dividing each zodiacal sign .into 3 equal parts and
giving each part the name of an old Egyptian deean. ' e
r

In my paper on the thirty-six stitrs '2, I have shown how the hellenistic deeans" are
connected with the 36 stars of the Babylonian Astrolabe, with the 36 stars of mulAPIN and
with the 36 Chaldaean star-gods mQntioned by Diodorus. 31oNover, Julianus Apostata records
a. doefrine taught in" the mysteries (of Mithra), in which the 'division of then zodiac into 36 .
"poyrs ,of gOds" is 'brought into Conneetion 'with the old-BabyloniCn division of the. sky into
the .paths'"of EnliI, -Anu and Ea '?." . N

Thus we see, that the doctrine of the decans, just like the rest of Hellgiistic astrology,
is a mixture, in whieh"Babylonian elements prevdil.
") B. L. v. d. Waerden, Babylonian Astronomy II, .J. Near,Eastern Studie8 8 (1949))'µ 6. '

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