FOOTNOTES

*1. Sayce, “Astronomy and Astrology of the Babylonians.” The earliest publication of an astrological report was a translation by Dr. J. Oppert in 1871 in Journal Asiatique 18, pages 443–49.

*2. See Waterman, Royal Correspondence of the Assyrian Empire, volume 4, page 213. Some copies of the Enuma Anu Enlil tablets found in Nineveh originally came from the south and may have been picked up under these orders. See Rochberg-Halton, Aspects of Babylonian Celestial Divination, page 174, referring to one tablet of EAE 20. Identified tablets have come from Uruk, Babylon, and Borsippa.

*3. One finger is equivalent to 5 minutes of a degree. Hence, the movement of Mars—one finger a day—represents a daily motion at variance to the known movement of Mars, which is up to almost 1 degree a day. However, Parpola computes figures that demonstrate that Mars was retrograde at this time and was moving back at the rate of two fingers, while Saturn was moving forward at the rate of one; hence, the relative motion of Mars was one finger, just as the ancient astronomers recorded.
    Twenty-four fingers made one cubit, which, in the neo-Babylonian period, was the equivalent of 2 degrees. See Parpola, Letters from Assyrian Scholars, 54, volume 1, page 35, and volume 2, page 61. See also Sachs and Hunger, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, volume 1, page 22.

*4. This report concerns an incident that began with eighty-seven days of the hundred-day eclipse period having passed before. Following warnings from Akkullanu, a substitute king was hurriedly enthroned in Akkad. See Letters from Assyrian Scholars, 298, volume 1, page 255. See also discussion with dating in ibid., volume 2, pages 304–6.

*5. The end of the first eight-year cycle listed in the text is given the same “year-name” as the eighth year of Ammisaduqa’s reign. Hence, they are seen as identical. See Reiner, The Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa, page 9.

*6. See Rochberg-Halton, Aspects of Babylonian Celestial Divination, page 9. Note too that an early attempt to delineate the antecedents of the Enuma Anu Enlil series was made by Professor Ernst Weidner in “Die astrologische Serie Enuma Anu Enlil,” Archiv für Orientjorschung 14, pages 175–81.

*7. On page 95 of Laroche’s “Catalogue des textes hittites II,” entry number 193a refers to a tablet found at Hattusas, KUB IV 63, which holds part of the solar omens of the Enuma Anu Enlil series. It dates from the second millennium BCE. While it does not prove that the series was in existence, it does prove that certain of the omen compilations found in the series predate the fall of Hattusas, thus demonstrating a developmental period. See Laroche, “Catalogue des textes hittites II,” Revue hittite et asianique 59, pages 94ff.

*8. See Reiner, Enuma Anu Enlil, pages 17–18. For a complete list of the Babylonian stars together with their modern identifications, when possible, see pages 7–16.

*9. For an introduction to Jung’s writings on the unconscious and archetypes, see his Memories, Dreams, Reflections, pages 194ff.

*10. Frankfort argues that “kingship originated—not from orderly society but as the product of confusion and anxiety,” that the kings brought order out of chaos. See Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, page 236

†11. Frankfort maintains that this concept of the “ruler” god, as it was developed by the second millennium BCE, eventually led to monotheism. A monarch should be absolute ruler over heaven in the same way as the monarch was absolute ruler over earth. Thus, a tendency arose to concentrate and consolidate the god’s powers, giving rise to the amalgamation of powers in one god. See Frankfort, Kingship and the Gods, pages 78–84. See also pages 234ff.

*12. See Rochberg-Halton, Aspects of Babylonian Celestial Divination, page 15. Dr. Rochberg-Halton kindly forwarded me the manuscript of her article “Babylonian Cosmology,” to be published in The Encyclopaedia of Cosmology: Historical, Philosophical, and Scientific Foundations of Modern Cosmology, edited by N. Hetherington. In it she concludes that “Babylonian astrology . . . never became deterministic and did not require a physical theory of astral influence to explain the significance of celestial omens”; Rochberg-Halton, “Fate and Divination in Mesopotamia,” pages 366–68.

*13. See Caplice, Akkadian Namburbu Texts, for translations of the tablets and details of the basic rituals.

*14. For a discussion on these changes of Venus, see Roberts, The Earliest Semitic Pantheon, pages 39–40. Speaking of the male and female aspects of Venus, Roberts concludes that they referred to “the planet Venus under its two aspects as morning star (male = Attar) and the evening star (female = Attart). This distinction was preserved only in the west, however. In the east the masculine form usurped both functions, and the feminine form dropped out of normal use. Nevertheless, the East Semites appear to have retained a memory of the androgynous character of Venus which allowed the Akkadian Attar to develop as a goddess contrary to its grammatical gender.” Attar (originally the name of a south Arabian male deity) later transmuted into the name of the Akkadian goddess Ishtar. It is only fair to add, however, that this book comes with a warning: in a review, Aage Westenholz writes of Roberts’s work that “it cannot be used without considerable caution.” See Journal of Near Eastern Studies 34 (1975), page 293.

*15. The name Sinai means “the mountain belonging to Sin.” See Bailey, “The Golden Calf,” pages 114–15.

*16. See Raphael, Mundane Astrology, pages 63–66. The basic source for Raphael would seem to be William Ramesey’s Astrology Restored, pages 308–9. This was published in 1653 and was the first mundane astrology book published in English. While Ramesey often mentions his source as being Ptolemy, this material is not mentioned by the latter. No study has yet been done on the other sources that Ramesey might have had available.

†17. The Babylonians divided each night into three equal “watches”: the evening watch, the middle watch, and the morning watch. Each watch consisted of four hours. See Rochberg-Halton, Aspects of Babylonian Celestial Divination, page 44.

*18. For an explanation of this and a discussion of the relevant omens, see Rochberg-Halton, Aspects of Babylonian Celestial Divination, pages 55–57.

*19. According to one report, the “cross is the emblem of the god Nabu” and “the dignity of the crown prince lies upon the cross.” See Parpola, Letters from Assyrian Scholars, 318, volume 1, page 275. Nabu is the “crown prince” of the gods; hence, it can be seen as a possibility that this emblem of the cross pertains in some way to the recognition of the heir to the throne. Parpola corrects a translation in his volume of notes to read: “The king my lord knows that on the ground of this association the cross serves as the badge of the crown prince” (ibid., volume 2, page 330).

*20. See Parpola, Letters from Assyrian Scholars, 279, volume 1, page 227. The most comprehensive investigation of Assyrian and later sources for information regarding the substitute king is found in ibid., volume 2, pages xxii–xxxii.

†21. Mar-Ishtar wrote to Esarhaddon: “The substitute king . . . sat upon the throne. I made him recite the scribal recitations before the Sun-god, he took all the celestial and terrestrial omens on himself, and ruled all the countries.” See Parpola, Letters from Assyrian Scholars, 279, volume 1, page 227.

‡22. The text, column A, line 20, reads “the young woman shall become the woman.” See Lambert, “A Part of the Ritual for the Substitute King,” page 110.

*23. See Roberts, The Earliest Semitic Pantheon, page 39, and Heimpel, Catalogue of Near Eastern Venus Deities, page 21. However, Heimpel notes (page 22) that Astarte was never identified with either Venus or the evening star, at least until relatively recent Byzantine times.

*24. See the work on this subject by Ean Begg, The Cult of the Black Virgin.

*25. For the modern attributions, see Watters, Horary Astrology, pages 44–45.

*26. The first published text was six years earlier: William Lilly’s Christian Astrology.

*27. Saturn is recorded as d (meaning dingir, or “god”), Ningirsu, or—as the planet is normally written in the astrological reports—Sagush (meaning “constant”). See Reiner, Enuma Anu Enlil, page 14.

*28. See Watters, Horary Astrology, pages 48–49. Her source for this would appear to be William Ramesey, who gives a very similar listing.

†29. See Thompson, Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers, 103, page liv. Note that the text reads “Mars reaches the path of the Sun” and later explains (rev. 4) that this “path of the Sun” refers to Saturn (as the star of the sun).

*30. To the scholars who wrote the tablets in the Assyrian library, Mars was known as Nibeanu or d.Ugur.

*31. See Mayo, The Planets and Human Behaviour, page 162. The original source for this would seem to be Ramesey, Astrology Restored, page 54. See also Lilly, Christian Astrology, page 67, repeated in 1911 by Pearce in The Text-Book of Astrology, page 89. Curiously, this attribution is not mentioned by Barbara Watters, H. S. Green, or Raphael in their books on the mundane aspects of the planets. It would seem that for many modern astrologers Scorpio/Pluto has taken over this attribution. For example, Barbara Watters places butchers under Scorpio (Horary Astrology, page 29).

*32. See Thompson, Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers, 272, pages lxxxvii–lxxxviii. See also Parpola, Letters from Assyrian Scholars, 13, volume 1, page 9, for a variant on this: “If Jupiter passes Regulus and gets ahead of it, and afterwards Regulus, which it passed and got ahead of, stays with it in its setting, somebody will rise, kill the king, and seize the throne.”

*33. See Thompson, Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers, 190, page lxvii. The text speaks of Jupiter entering Pabilsag, which is Sagittarius, perhaps with one star from Ophiuchus. See also Reiner, Enuma Anu Enlil, page 14.

*34. Isaiah 46:1–2: “Bel is crouching. Nebo cringing. Their idols are being loaded on animals, on beasts of burden, carried off like bundles on weary beasts. They are cringing and crouching together, powerless to save the ones who carry them, as they themselves go off into captivity.” Bel is Marduk and Nebo is Nabu.

†35. See Langdon, Semitic Mythology, page 158. For the most comprehensive survey of Nabu, his titles, and the extent of his cult, see Pomponio, Nabu.

*36. For example, lines 383–84: “When the Pleiades . . . are rising, begin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set.” And lines 597–98: “Set your slaves to winnow Demeter’s holy grain, when strong Orion first appears.” See Hesiod, “Works and Days,” in Homeric Hymns and Homerica.

*37. Two mana sufficed to last the night at the summer solstice, three mana at the equinox, four mana at the winter solstice. See Neugebauer, “Water Clock in Babylonian Astronomy,” page 40.

†38. While some of the standard literature states that this series appeared on three tablets, the latest work on mul.Apin demonstrates that only two tablets were used. See Hunger and Pingree, MUL.APIN, page 8.

*39. See Sachs and Hunger, Astronomical Diaries, volume 1, pages 47ff, and Van der Waerden, “History of the Zodiac,” pages 96–97. The actual tablet preserved is a later copy of information dating to 568 BCE. While Professor Van der Waerden states that it “appears to be a faithful transcript of an original,” it is necessary to be aware that material could have been added at the time of copying.

*40. See Gadd, “Harran Inscriptions of Nabonidus,” pages 47, 49, 51, 57, and 59. “Sin, king of the gods, lord of lords of the gods and goddesses” appears on page 65.

*41. See Sachs and Hunger, Astronomical Diaries, volume 1, page 55. Van der Waerden, in Science Awakening II, page 125, mentions that of 419 BCE, but his comment, published 1974, has been superseded by that of Sachs and Hunger.

*42. Note that because of damage to this tablet, Sachs indicates that a number of the words are not certain. See Sachs, “Babylonian Horoscopes,” page 57.

*43. Gorman argues this date against the more common 569 BCE. See Gorman, Pythagoras, page 49.

*44. It also testifies to a change in attitude to the divine—the astronomers no longer saw the heavens as indicating the will of the gods.

*45. See Neugebauer and Van Hoesen, Greek Horoscopes, page 17. This is one of the Oxyrhynchus papyrii and gives a birth of approximately 9 a.m., Scorpio rising.

*46. The basic European source for the accounts of the Harran temples is Chwolsohn, Die Ssabier und der Ssabismus. This has never been translated into English. One brief account exists in translation: Stapleton, Azo, and Husain, “Chemistry in Iraq and Persia in the Tenth Century AD,” pages 398–403. For a more recent summary see Kollerstrom, “Star Temples of Harran,” pages 47ff. The work by Professor Tamara Green, City of the Moon God, covers many of the uncertainties demonstrated by previous scholarship and explores the intellectual context within which Harran was embedded.

*47. Apart from the existence of this arch there is no documentary evidence to suggest, as do Lloyd and Brice, that the Crusaders ever held Harran; in fact, all the evidence suggests the reverse. Nevertheless, the existence of this carved arch demands explanation. It is found in a room within the castle abutting the southwest tower. This room was rebuilt at a “late date in the history of the building.” It may be that this archway came originally from the cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Edessa, destroyed in 1149 CE by Nur ed-Din, who transported much of its stone to Harran for building work on the mosque, which he was enlarging. It would not be unreasonable to suppose that some of this stone was also used in the castle. See Lloyd and Brice, “Harran,” pages 79 and 102, and illustration on page 103.

*48. For a discussion of the origins of Hermetic thought, see Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition, pages 4–7.

†49. This library also contained part of Plato’s Republic and another tract mentioning Hermes Trismegistus, The Discourse on the Eighth and Ninth, which was followed by the Hermetic prayer, The Prayer of Thanksgiving. See Robinson, Nag Hammadi Library in English, pages 300–307.

*50. In Professor David Pingree’s important work tracing the sources (Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Iranian, Indian) of a medieval Spanish magical text, the writer of which had access to much material from Harran, Pingree states his belief that the confrontation between the Sabians of Harran and the Caliph al-Ma’mun around 830 CE was crucial and introduced a change in the writings emanating from Harran. Thereafter, he argues, there was a need to persuade the Islamic authorities that the magic used in Harran did not involve evil powers but rather worked by means of the powers of good. As a result, the Sabians began producing “a host of pseudo-Hermetic works” that placed the practice of magic into this more spiritual and positive framework. See Pingree, “Some of the Sources of the Ghayat al-hakim,” page 15.
    Whether his argument is correct or not, the Picatrix is certainly an example of a work that puts the art of magic firmly into the service of the spiritual.

*51. Yates, Giordano Bruno, page 54. See Green, City of the Moon God, 179, and Hartner, “Notes on Picatrix,” who notes (page 438) that a close relationship exists between the prayers to the planets in the Picatrix and those of the Sabians in Harran. He also points out that the entire work is founded upon a Neoplatonic perspective accommodating much material from other cultures, the ancient Mesopotamian component coming via Harran (page 440).
    Professor Garin, on the other hand, in his Astrology in the Renaissance (page 48), suggests that the Picatrix was a compilation from many other earlier works but written in Arab Spain. In 1256 King Alfonso X of Castile had it translated into Spanish from Arabic. From this Spanish translation came the Latin version, which was available to scholars in the fifteenth century. All the above scholars agree on its importance. Garin states, “In reality the Latin version of the Picatrix is as indispensible as the Corpus Hermeticum or the writings of Albumasar for understanding a conspicuous part of the production of the Renaissance, including the figurative arts.” See Garin, Astrology in the Renaissance, page 47.

†52. For a discussion of the Picatrix, see Yates, Giordano Bruno, pages 49–55. A German translation of this work exists: “Picatrix”: Das Ziel des Weisen von Pseudo-Magriti, translated by Hellmut Ritter and Martin Plessner.

*53. See Yates, Giordano Bruno, page 16. For a discussion of the Renaissance attitude toward the antiquity of the Hermetica, see pages 1–19.

*54. Also known as De Vita Triplici.