I suppose I have always heard, read and assumed that the science of astronomy grew out of the pseudo-scientific practice of astrology. Well, maybe not so. I translate from a German study of the history of Mithraism first published in 1984.
The Stoic school, however, proceeded somewhat differently [from Plato’s proposal that the planets were self-willed and self-moving gods]: the logos (“thought”) governs the entire cosmos, within which there is harmony that regulates its parts. On Earth, the sun determines the alternation of the seasons, and the moon influences the female cycle; in the early 1st century BCE, the Stoic philosopher Posidonius of Apamea in Syria observed that the moon also caused the tides. Since the two great celestial bodies induced such effects, it was hypothesized that the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn also influenced human existence. Observations were collected regarding the connection between zodiacal constellations and human fate, initially with the legitimate intention of verifying a scientific hypothesis based on observed facts (a false hypothesis, but this was not known a priori). This led to the development of a vast astrological system, within which analogies and coincidences continued to be considered as probative elements.
(Merkelbach, Mithras 65 — translation from the Italian edition and compared with the German original)
Put like that, the claims of astrology become an entirely reasonable hypothesis. At least it seems very reasonable given a pre-Newtonian understanding of the universe. Unfortunately the testing that verified it for many was and has remained circular.
Another assumption I have long kept within arms reach is that a precise knowledge of regular planetary movements long preceded the Stoics. It was, I understand, a child of Babylonia. According to my Merkebach text however, that is another erroneous assumption long since superseded. I hope anyone who has a more up to date knowledge of the scholarly research into this question can correct me if needed.
During Plato’s time, an important astronomical discovery occurred. The planets—the Greek word means “wandering stars”—had always been considered celestial bodies that, unlike the others, wandered aimlessly. But Philip of Opuntius, a member of the Platonic Academy, observed that the planets moved “around the Earth” with regular revolutions.* They were not “wandering stars” after all, and law and order reigned in the heavens. Why did the planets follow regular, albeit complex, trajectories, the understanding of which would await the discoveries of Kepler and Newton? An unprovable hypothesis was formulated, which nevertheless seemed convincing: the stars were animated and followed regular orbits by their own will and judgment, as they were “visible gods.”
* It is not clear whether the regularity of the revolution of the planets was observed first in Greece or in Babylon. It was once assumed that, since ancient times, the Babylonians had precise knowledge in this field, but this hypothesis has proven to be unfounded.
(Translation of Merkelbach 65)
Merkelbach, Reinhold. Mithras. Konigstein/Ts : Hain, 1984. http://archive.org/details/mithras0000merk.
Merkelbach, Reinhold. Mitra. Il Signore Delle Grotte. Translated by P. Massondo. 2nd ed. ECIG, 1998.
Neil Godfrey
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But astrology itself did precede the Stoics and Plato, didn’t it? I mean, it didn’t originate as a scientific hypothesis…
So I also think I have subconsciously assumed. Certainly there was “fortune telling” through the reading of omens prior to the Hellenistic era — flights of birds, marks in liver of a sacrificed animal — and various seers supposedly inspired by the gods, including official sanctuaries for that purpose such as at Delphi. Further, in Deuteronomy there is a passage warning against the worship of the heavenly bodies — but if that is a warning against astrological practices then we need to consider the real possibility (I would say plausibility and likelihood) that Deuteronomy itself is a product of Hellenistic times. But even if it was from the Persian era, we do know Greek cultural influences were infiltrating the Levant then, too — and that would not necessarily precede Plato and the early Stoics.
If astrology hangs on the belief in the regularity – and hence predictability – of the movements of the planets (as distinct from being exclusively free-will “wandering” bodies without predictable orbits) then it would follow, would it not, that astrology must indeed have arisen after the discovery that planets did have predictable movements? And if that was not known even in pre-Hellenistic Mesopotamia as I had always think I had assumed… ?
The incidental comment in Reinhold Merkelbach’s Mithras does leave me thinking astrology as we understand it is no older than the Hellenistic era. I could do a serious delving into what scholarly works there are in the past twenty or thirty years to bring me up to date on the origins of astrology but right now I’m already over my head with a few other research projects.
If anyone else has any reliable information and sources I hope they chime in.
I should add for clarity that there was no doubt a great interest in the observations of the moon — but this was for establishing the beginning of months and times required for special observances and sacrifices. It was all calendar work. In Egypt the first appearance of the star Sirius was significant for similar reasons. But calendar work, determining the times of months and keeping them in sync with the seasons, special observances on regular times for new moons and full moons, etc — but astrology is another step after all of that, I should perhaps think.
I can suggest :
– Campbell Thompson, Reginald, Reports of Magicians and Astrologers (Babylonian & Assyrian), cfr. http://www.archive.org
– Hunger, Hermann & Pingree, David, Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia (Handbook of Oriental Studies 44) Brill (1999)
– Koch-Westenholz, Ulla, Mesopotamian Astrology – An introduction (1995)
The first listed, published 1900, lists interpretations of various states of the moon and planets but that looks no different from other forms of omen reading — of birds, of fire, of livers, dreams etc. It’s not the kind of predictive calculations and the causative power planets have on earth that we understand by astrology.
Well, this was a real surprise to read today. I also assumed astronomy came out of astrology, much like chemistry came out of alchemy.
But it does make a lot of sense for things to go this way, at least for the West. I know other cultures see constellations too, and do astrology. Wonder how it went for, for example, the Chinese and the Mayas.
Okay, but I’ve got to get this somewhat out of my system — I am trying not to be too much sidelined by this topic since I really am focused on other studies more relevant to biblical (and Christian) origins, but here are a few quotations from a few texts that seem to support the note by Merkelbach in the post.
From Koch-Westenholz, Ulla. Mesopotamian Astrology: An Introduction to Babylonian and Assyrian Celestial Divination: Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1995.
On the pre Hellenistic remains of Babylonian texts relating to planets as subjects for omen interpretation:
and
Examples of that kind of extispicy (my new word for the day):
Then comes the change:
That remark looks like it hits the bulls eye of what Reinhold Merkelbach was referencing (quoted in the post).
Turning to Chapter 8….
and on the first use of horoscopes:
And from Rochberg, Francesca. The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008:
Similar notes about the change (towards mathematical predictions) in the latter half of the first millennium BCE are found in Baigent, Michael. Astrology in Ancient Mesopotamia: The Science of Omens and the Knowledge of the Heavens. 2nd Edition, New Edition of From the Omens of Babylon. Bear & Company, 2015.