Post by GateKeeper on Sept 11, 2012 17:34:00 GMT
Semitic tribes lived north and west of the Sumerians in an area called Akkad. Gradually more migrated to Mesopotamia and invaded the land of Sumer, home of the Sumerians. Eventually (around 2500 B.C.E.) the Semitic king Sargon of Agade brought all of Mesopotamia under his rule. His son, Naram-Sin, and following kings referred to themselves as "rulers of Sumer and Akkad." Their language is called Akkadian.
Although the Semites ruled Mesopotamia following this conquest, the Sumerians were still the scribes and civil servants. Their cuneiform writing thus was adopted to writing the Semitic language, and their culture and learning were passed on to their conquerors.
In the dynasty of Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.E.), the capitol of the kingdom was moved to Babylon. These Semites then came to be known as Babylonians. The picture at left shows the top of a steele containing the Code of Hammurabi.
The Semites recorded dated financial transactions (such as land sales, rents, and loans) in their temples. Because of this, today we have a very complete chronology of the succession of Babylonian kings and a detailed knowledge of the Babylonian calendar. The twelve Babylonian months by the time of Hammurabi were Nisannu, Airu, Simannu, Duzu, Abu, Ululu, Tishritu, Arach-samma, Kislimu, Tebitu, Sabatu, and Adaru. Like their Sumerian predecessors, Babylonians began their lunar months at the first appearance of a crescent Moon following the New Moon. When a thirteenth intercalary month was necessary, Babylonian priest-astronomers repeated the last month, Adaru. If a correction was necessary sooner for their crops then they could repeat the sixth month, Ululu, although this was rare. In Babylonian astronomical writing, months were written as the first character of their former Sumerian names.
At first, addition of a thirteenth intercalary month in the Babylonian calendar was irregular. Sometimes two thirteen-month years occurred in a row. Apparently, Babylonians determined the need to add a month from the condition of crops or signs of the weather.
Later, the Babylonians determined the start of each month by the heliacal rising (rising just before sunrise) of a particular star. Babylonians further assigned three stars to each month: one for the beginning, one for the middle, and one for the end. Babylonians could have shared this concept with the Egyptians, who had a system of "decans," one every 10°, with 36 in the Zodiac. The 36 stars defined the solar calendar far more accurately than had been possible before. They named their 12 months after constellations that appeared during those months, and attached astrological meanings to the months that are still in vogue today.
Babylonians recorded eclipses and many other observations. There is even evidence in the Strassburg Cuneiform texts that Babylonians could solve the quadratic equation for x: ax2 + bx + c = 0. Today, we count on the decimal system of one to ten. The Babylonians counted on a sexagesimal system (instead of decimal) that counted from one to 60, which they borrowed from the Sumerians.
Babylonians also used a seven-day week. They named each day for one of the visible planets, and the Sun and Moon: Monday was named for the Moon; Tuesday for Mars; Wednesday for Mercury; Thursday for Jupiter; Friday for Venus; Saturday for Saturn; and Sunday for the Sun. Next to the Sun and Moon, Babylonians held Venus in the highest regard. The Babylonian word for planet was "lubat," which translates as "stray sheep." They named Venus Nin-dar-anna, "mistress of the heavens," and referred to the Sun, Moon, and Venus as a triad of deities.
An account of the Creation relates how the god Marduk (the Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Enlil) became King of all other gods by slaying Tiamat (Chaos). The Babylonian tradition was to recite this epic on the fourth day of the New Year's Festival. The first five tablets are believed to date to the Amorite dynasty (the first Babylonian dynasty), while the last two tablets are believed later additions dating to the Kassite dynasty, after Hammurabi's time.
Anu first created the four winds, then stirred up dust in a whirlwind, and then brought the flood wave. From the pieces of the body of Tiamat, Marduk created the Earth and the heavens, and the other gods named him ruler of the entire Universe.
The later Tabelt 5 tells how Marduk caused the Euphrates and the Tigris to flow from the slain Tiamat's eyes. He named Babylon the abode of the gods on Earth. Marduk slew Qingu while battling Tiamat, and seized the "Tablet of Destinies" from him (similar to the Sumerian epithet for their King of gods, Enlil, "who forever decrees destinies"). Marduk then used the blood of Qingu to make Primeval Man, to do the work of the gods so the gods could enjoy their leisure. The Sumerians had this same rationale for man's creation, and believed that man's reason for being was to serve the gods.
Tablet 5 contains this description of the stars, the Moon, and timekeeping [L. W. King, Babylonian Religion an Mythology, (London, 1903), p. 79]:
He made the stations for the great gods,
The stars, their images, the constellations he fixed;
He ordained the year and into sections he divided it.
For the twelve months he fixed three stars.
The Moon god he caused to shine forth, the night he entrusted to him.
He appointed him, a being of the night, to determine the days.
The passage continues to describe the Moon as having horns during the first six days, a half-crown on the seventh day, at its midpoint on the fifteenth day, beings to disappear as it approaches the Shamash (god of the Sun, Sumerian god Utu), and on the thirtieth day the year begins again. The Babylonian word for the fifteenth day, "shabattu," is a cognate of the Hebrew Shabbat" (Sabbath).
The Egyptians could very well have gained their astronomical and mathematical knowledge from the Babylonians and the Sumerians before them. "Fixing" three stars for the twelve months as quoted above could be a parallel to the Egyptian decans, with 36 stars (3 times 12) each representing 10° of the zodiac
ephemeris.com/history/mesopotamia.html
Although the Semites ruled Mesopotamia following this conquest, the Sumerians were still the scribes and civil servants. Their cuneiform writing thus was adopted to writing the Semitic language, and their culture and learning were passed on to their conquerors.
In the dynasty of Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.E.), the capitol of the kingdom was moved to Babylon. These Semites then came to be known as Babylonians. The picture at left shows the top of a steele containing the Code of Hammurabi.
The Semites recorded dated financial transactions (such as land sales, rents, and loans) in their temples. Because of this, today we have a very complete chronology of the succession of Babylonian kings and a detailed knowledge of the Babylonian calendar. The twelve Babylonian months by the time of Hammurabi were Nisannu, Airu, Simannu, Duzu, Abu, Ululu, Tishritu, Arach-samma, Kislimu, Tebitu, Sabatu, and Adaru. Like their Sumerian predecessors, Babylonians began their lunar months at the first appearance of a crescent Moon following the New Moon. When a thirteenth intercalary month was necessary, Babylonian priest-astronomers repeated the last month, Adaru. If a correction was necessary sooner for their crops then they could repeat the sixth month, Ululu, although this was rare. In Babylonian astronomical writing, months were written as the first character of their former Sumerian names.
At first, addition of a thirteenth intercalary month in the Babylonian calendar was irregular. Sometimes two thirteen-month years occurred in a row. Apparently, Babylonians determined the need to add a month from the condition of crops or signs of the weather.
Later, the Babylonians determined the start of each month by the heliacal rising (rising just before sunrise) of a particular star. Babylonians further assigned three stars to each month: one for the beginning, one for the middle, and one for the end. Babylonians could have shared this concept with the Egyptians, who had a system of "decans," one every 10°, with 36 in the Zodiac. The 36 stars defined the solar calendar far more accurately than had been possible before. They named their 12 months after constellations that appeared during those months, and attached astrological meanings to the months that are still in vogue today.
Babylonians recorded eclipses and many other observations. There is even evidence in the Strassburg Cuneiform texts that Babylonians could solve the quadratic equation for x: ax2 + bx + c = 0. Today, we count on the decimal system of one to ten. The Babylonians counted on a sexagesimal system (instead of decimal) that counted from one to 60, which they borrowed from the Sumerians.
Babylonians also used a seven-day week. They named each day for one of the visible planets, and the Sun and Moon: Monday was named for the Moon; Tuesday for Mars; Wednesday for Mercury; Thursday for Jupiter; Friday for Venus; Saturday for Saturn; and Sunday for the Sun. Next to the Sun and Moon, Babylonians held Venus in the highest regard. The Babylonian word for planet was "lubat," which translates as "stray sheep." They named Venus Nin-dar-anna, "mistress of the heavens," and referred to the Sun, Moon, and Venus as a triad of deities.
An account of the Creation relates how the god Marduk (the Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Enlil) became King of all other gods by slaying Tiamat (Chaos). The Babylonian tradition was to recite this epic on the fourth day of the New Year's Festival. The first five tablets are believed to date to the Amorite dynasty (the first Babylonian dynasty), while the last two tablets are believed later additions dating to the Kassite dynasty, after Hammurabi's time.
Anu first created the four winds, then stirred up dust in a whirlwind, and then brought the flood wave. From the pieces of the body of Tiamat, Marduk created the Earth and the heavens, and the other gods named him ruler of the entire Universe.
The later Tabelt 5 tells how Marduk caused the Euphrates and the Tigris to flow from the slain Tiamat's eyes. He named Babylon the abode of the gods on Earth. Marduk slew Qingu while battling Tiamat, and seized the "Tablet of Destinies" from him (similar to the Sumerian epithet for their King of gods, Enlil, "who forever decrees destinies"). Marduk then used the blood of Qingu to make Primeval Man, to do the work of the gods so the gods could enjoy their leisure. The Sumerians had this same rationale for man's creation, and believed that man's reason for being was to serve the gods.
Tablet 5 contains this description of the stars, the Moon, and timekeeping [L. W. King, Babylonian Religion an Mythology, (London, 1903), p. 79]:
He made the stations for the great gods,
The stars, their images, the constellations he fixed;
He ordained the year and into sections he divided it.
For the twelve months he fixed three stars.
The Moon god he caused to shine forth, the night he entrusted to him.
He appointed him, a being of the night, to determine the days.
The passage continues to describe the Moon as having horns during the first six days, a half-crown on the seventh day, at its midpoint on the fifteenth day, beings to disappear as it approaches the Shamash (god of the Sun, Sumerian god Utu), and on the thirtieth day the year begins again. The Babylonian word for the fifteenth day, "shabattu," is a cognate of the Hebrew Shabbat" (Sabbath).
The Egyptians could very well have gained their astronomical and mathematical knowledge from the Babylonians and the Sumerians before them. "Fixing" three stars for the twelve months as quoted above could be a parallel to the Egyptian decans, with 36 stars (3 times 12) each representing 10° of the zodiac
ephemeris.com/history/mesopotamia.html
is it navigation?