Apr 29 2013

Herbalism: Comfrey

Comfrey

* Comfrey Symphytum officinale (Borage Family)

comfrey268

This herb is a favorite first aid remedy. It contains a compound called allantoin, which when applied to the skin accelerates the healing of tissue and the closing of wounds. When fresh leaves or roots are applied to a wound it causes it to contract and close quicker and inhibits the opportunity for infection while minimizing scarring.

Comfrey leaf has a long history of use to promote the healing of bones and wounds, as well as internal use to treat a wide variety of ailments from arthritis to ulcers. Its use in Chinese traditional medicine spans over 2000 years.

Recently, reports of the toxic effects of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in comfrey have led some herbalists to be wary of using it internally. PAs in extremely large doses or over long periods of time may cause potentially fatal damage to the liver. Many leading herbalists and traditional healers question the warnings, pointing to laboratory tests that show only minute levels of PAs in random samples of comfrey preparations. One of the most common uses of comfrey leaf is in an ointment or a poultice applied to sprains, broken bones and other wounds, where it promotes rapid healing of both skin lesions and bone breaks.

Comfrey leaf constituents include tannins, rosmarinic acid, allantoin, steroidal saponins, mucilage, inulin, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, Gum, Carotene, Glycosides, Sugars, Beta-sitosterol, Triterpenoids, Vitamin B-12, Protein, Zinc.

It is used in herbal pastes, ointments, tinctures, decoctions, poultices and in cosmetics. It is a popular addition to herbal salves and ointments, which can be used for bruises, sprains, eczema, swellings and burns.

Research seems to bear out the claims for the healing properties of comfrey leaf. In one major European study, an ointment based on comfrey root proved more effective at relieving both pain and swelling in 142 patients with sprained ankles. In another study with over 300 participants showed that comfrey leaf treatments of varying types (ointments, salves, compresses and other topical applications), were very effective in treating eczema, dermatitis, viral skin infections and ulcers of the lower leg. More recent research in the United States has shown that allantoin, one of comfreys main constituents, breaks down red blood cells, which could account for its ability to help heal bruises and contusions.

With regards to the warnings that comfrey can cause cancer and liver disease, most herbal practitioners point out that those results were from studies that isolated the pyrrolizidine alkaloids and fed or injected them into animal subjects in doses far higher than any typical usage of comfrey leaf, and that comfrey leaf has been regularly ingested by thousands of people around the world without reported ill effects.

Comfrey root is used to relieve pain from blunt injuries, promote healing of broken bones, sprains and bruises, reduce swelling and edema, and encourage the rapid and healthy regrowth of skin and tissue cells. Because comfrey may contain PAs, which have caused cancer and liver damage in animal studies, and because the root contains it in higher concentration than the leaves, internal use is not suggested. A strong infusion of the leaves and/or roots can be used as a skin wash to relieve irritation and promote healing.

CAUTION: There is some debate on the safety of internal consumption of this herb – mostly the root, due to the fact that it contains pyrrolizidine alkaloids which have been linked to liver cancer.

Many herbalists use the leaves internally, chopped fresh in salads or dried and added to herbal infusions, for the high mineral content. Still, many herbalists recommend that comfrey preparations should not be taken internally because of the possibility of liver disease and damage. Comfrey should also not be used by pregnant or nursing women. Use caution or avoid internal consumption if you have liver damage.

Comfreys Burning Secret

Cell regeneration and the healing of wounds – even some of the deeper ones – are comfreys burning secret. Cell regeneration? That’s a new concept to a lot of us but yet, this herb has been around for hundreds of thousands of years with the ability to do something that scientists have been trying to perfect for years and years. Proper use of the herb will allow your body to fix surface damage that caused to the point that it any previous wound is unrecognizable to the human eye. The entire plant has medicinal purposes but the expansive root system provides the most relief and solves the most problems.

The mineral rich root system provides nourishment to a plant that resembles the aloe and occasionally blooms flowers. If it is possible, try to harvest the parts that you need from the plant for yourself. You will need to be careful in how you do this – the roots break easily and you will find that they cannot all be collected at once. It is better to take storks of it one piece at a time. (You can also grow a completely new plant from one small piece of the root if you so choose – another of Comfreys burning secrets!)

Comfrey, Symphytum officinale, is an amazing aid to burns and to any surface of the body needing cooling. Although you can heal burns by using this root, it is still good to read up on first aid and burn treatment before you do anything. The plants have the healing properties, but YOU need the knowledge to apply what they offer. It can help to heal external burns far more quickly than what modern medicine would have you believe. Soaking strips of the root in water and then freezing the strips is all the preparation that you need to do. When needed, simply take them from the freezer, and apply them to the affected area and repeat as necessary each time the root defrosts until Comfrey’s burning secret heal the painful sensation!

Comfreys burning secret means more abilities: creams made from the root and the leaf of the plant to treat many kinds of skin problems – from something as simple as dryness to ailments as complex as ulcers. The comfrey leaf contains something called allantonin. This brings down the red blood cell count in a person as due to this it has the properties necessary to assist in healing bruises and discolorations of the skin.

There is something to remember when using the root of the comfrey plant: extensive testing done on the plant resulted in (arguable) findings. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are part of the make-up of the comfrey plant – and they are related to liver cancer. For this reason, it is not recommended that you ingest Comfrey internally, even though many herbalists will tell you that there is absolutely no truth in the matter.

The final decision to use Comfrey’s burning secret internally does rest with you, but please ensure that you have been properly educated in the uses of herbs and plants before you use them – especially if they are to be consumed via the mouth.

Comfrey Medicinal Uses

Comfrey is a versatile herb that has had much traditional Comfrey medicinal uses. Comfrey, Symphytum officinale, is a native herb found in temperate climates, and a member of the same family as Borage. In Europe, it is known by numerous names including:

Boneset
Blackwort
Slippery root
Gum plant

Various varieties of Comfrey are grown in different countries.

Uses and Benefits

The traditionally use of Comfrey roots and leaves are a treatment to help repair broken or weak bones. Its scientific name comes from the Latin word for make firm (confirma) and the Greek word for to unite (Symphytum). The mucilaginous root content is a traditional expectorant and cough medicine, and it can treat gastrointestinal disorders. Other ailments that can be treating with Comfrey include peptic ulcers, and it is often used as an anti-inflammatory healing agent.

Comfrey medicinal uses are not popular in the US now because it is potentially toxic. Although this herb can easily be bought from herbal shops.

Pharmacology

The main therapeutic components of Comfrey are found in the roots. These include:

Mucilage (fructans)
Tannins
Allantoin
Rosmarinic acid
Sarracine
Platyphylline
Triterpenes
Sterols

The most important active constituents are the hepatotoxic pyrolizidine alkaloids, like intermedine and the acetylated derivative nymphetamine and the toxic echimidine.

To date, there have not been any significant clinic trials of Comfrey and its derivatives on humans due to the lack of evidence of Comfrey medicinal uses.

Adverse Effects

There have been several cases of veto-occlusive liver disease reported after Comfrey ingestion. This can result in ascites and hepatic fibrosis. Other known effects of the toxicity of Comfrey include:

Curare-like defects
Adverse affects in pregnant women
Possible carcinogenesis

Individual patient factors will affect the susceptibility, but the herbs are dangerously unpredictable. This has lead to a ban on the systematic use of Comfrey in many countries and the FDA discourage its use. Comfrey from Russia is more toxic than the common Comfrey grown in North America.

Use of Comfrey with other drugs is not known to produce any recognized drug interactions.

Warning

Do not take Comfrey internally or orally as it can be toxic. It can be used topically, but only if there is no broken skin. Pregnant and nursing women should avoid all forms of Comfrey.

Preparations and Dosage

It is now more difficult to find preparations of Comfrey root and leaf parts. You can find tablets and other herbal extracts, but the safest way is a very dilute tea or other decoction.

The herb is found in some topical preparations including:

Lotions
Creams
Salves
Poultices
A liquid gargle

It can be used externally for contusions, bruises and sprains for up to six weeks out of every year, but the toxic side effects mean that it is hard to justify such use even if it is recommended by herbologists.

Making Herbal Salves

Making herbal salves at home is easy and they can provide better results than over-the-counter medications. Mainly used externally, herbal salves are most efficacious in the treatment of skin wounds, infections, and irritations.

Herbal Salve Basics

While grinding your own fresh herbs produces the best result you may also purchase dried herbs in bulk or in capsule form. If you opt for using the latter form, break apart the capsules to release the powered herb.

Use a small dish to contain the herbs and mix them with mineral water, petroleum jelly, or Aloe vera juice. Petroleum jelly is an excellent choice since it is thicker and will stay in place when you spread it on the skin. Aloe juice is a good choice for penetrating salves because it will carry the herbs into the inflamed or swollen muscles and joints.

Virgin olive oil may ever be employed as an emulsifying agent. However, when using Aloe juice or either of the oils adding slippery elm is a good idea. This herb will thicken the mixture so it won’t be so runny.

Consistency

In making herbal salves consistency and homogeneity are crucial. To this end mix the herbs with a small portion of the liquid or jelly at a time. This will ensure a uniform saturation of the active ingredients. Also, you can better control the consistency so your finished medication won’t be too thin and not adhere to the skin.

Comfrey Salve

When you have kids at home with their penchant for getting cuts and scrapes comfrey salve is a very useful all-around ointment to keep in stock. Comfrey is an herb that accelerates the repair of damaged tissues. Wounds will close more quickly and scarring will be minimized. Mix the ground comfrey with petroleum jelly for best results. Also, add a pinch of goldenseal to prevent infection from occurring. Comfrey also relieves pain and has general tissue soothing properties.

Comfrey salve is an inexpensive alternative to pricey first aid products, as Comfrey is an herb that is known to exhibit topical healing properties that has traditionally been used to heal broken bones, burns and other external wounds.

Although herbal application of comfrey has been limited owing to its potential hepatotoxicity, it still finds usage in a few skin-care products. Diluted herbal extracts and teas are sometimes used in Ayurvedic preparations to treat chronic ulcers; however, oral consumption of comfrey is not recommended.

Make Comfrey Herbal Salve At Home

Comfrey makes a great topical remedy for skin problems, and best of all it can be prepared at home. Home-made salves are great gift ideas too. Follow this quick and easy recipe to make your own salve.

You Will Need:

Olive Oil - 2 cups of good-quality olive oil
Comfrey Leaves - 2 tablespoons or 1 ounce of fresh leaves; halve the measure if dried leaves are used
Lavender Flowers - 2 tablespoons or 1 ounce of fresh leaves; halve the measure if dried leaves are used
Calendula Flowers - 2 tablespoons or 1 ounce of fresh leaves; halve the measure if dried leaves are used
Beeswax – 1/2 cup
Double boiler
Strainers
Jars or tins to store prepared salve

Method:

Use the double boiler to gently warm the olive oil along with the herbs for about half-an-hour, stirring at regular intervals. The mixture tends to bubble around the edges, but ensure the bubbles do not spread throughout.
Remove the mixture from the stove and strain it using a medium-sized strainer.
It is the comfrey-infused oil that will form the base of the salve; the herbs in the strainer can be discarded.
Then melt the beeswax on the double boiler and add this to the strained oil. Stir it in.
Pour the salve preparation into appropriate storage containers such as glass salve jars or tins.

Be sure to label the jars of Comfrey salve and include the date of preparation.

Apr 28 2013

How to Make Herbal Tinctures and Infusions

Greetings! I would like to welcome everyone to the Covenant of Babylon blog page. If this is your first time here, please feel free to review some of our previous articles and share your insights and comments. Stay Blessed.

These past few days I have been thinking of something new to add to the Covenant of Babylon blog and decided to put together a knowledge I was taught since the age of 3 – Herbalism. Along with doing posts on astrology I will be doing herbalism as well as it is a great art that is often overlooked by occultists. If there are any remedies or the like you would like to see just drop me a line in the comments section.

Making Herbal Tinctures

Herbal tinctures are spirit-based powerful elixirs made from a concentration of one or more herbs. These tinctures are usually made from fresh plant material combined with an alcohol such as vodka or brandy, or another liquid such as vinegar or ethanol.

Selecting Your Spirits

Before an herbalist scan begin the process of making an herbal tinctures, they need to determine the type of alcohol that will combine with the plant material. Although many commercial tinctures use 198-proof alcohol, many herbalists chose a simple, easy to obtain, affordable 100-proof vodka. Using a 100-proof alcohol can also ease the formulation process of a tincture.

Ways to Avoid or Reduce Alcohol Content

You can employ strategies to reduce the amount of alcohol in a tincture, if you become concerned with the alcohol-to-herb ratio.

· Placing the container in boiling water for one to two minutes after prepared can reduce the alcohol content by as much a fifty percent.

· Vinegar or glycerin can be added to the solution, although most experts believe this decreases the potency of the tincture.

How to Make a Tincture

Although many different methods exist to make herbal tinctures, certain basic steps apply to most tincture recipes. These include:

· Select herbs for the tincture

· Properly prepare by lightly cleaning and removing excess dirt and/or foreign matter – be careful not to thoroughly immerse or clean, as this could reduce potency

· Chop the stems, roots and leaves into a course material; flowers can be left whole

· Place herbs into a glass jar or container

· Add the liquid, ensuring all herbs/flowers are fully immersed

· Firmly seal the container

· Store in a temperature controlled environment for six to eight weeks for optimum flavor and affect

Storing in a cool and consistent temperature is best. Although tinctures do not require a cold environment, avoid higher temperatures that will affect the flavor of the tincture. While being stored in its distilling period, it’s best to gently shake it periodically to allow the herbs and liquid to mix thoroughly. After the weeks of distilling, strain herbs from the liquid; then pour the pure liquid into a clean, dry bottle for long-term storage and use. Most herbalists advise getting into the habit of labeling bottles clearly with the herbs and liquids used in the tincture.

Advantages of Tinctures

Tinctures have several advantages, including:

· Tinctures remain potent for years

· A multitude of doses can be derived from a small amount of plant material

· Tinctures are very portable

· Most tinctures are fast acting, even in small doses

· Tinctures can be easily controlled

Herbal tinctures have been used for many years and most of the recipes are easy to follow. Adding too much alcohol to the tincture is easily fixed; in addition, alternative methods can reduce or eliminate alcohol all together.

Making Herbal Infusions

Herbal infusions are potent water-based preparations. They are superb for extracting the medicinal properties of dried herbs. You can drink them or use them externally as skin washes, compresses, douches, sitz baths,or poultices. How are they different from a tea? They are made using larger amounts of herbs and are steeped in an air-tight container for at least several hours. You can drink them at room temperature, reheated, or over ice. Quart size canning jars are ideal to use because they rarely break when you pour boiling water into them as long as they are at room temperature when water is added. They also allow for a tight seal.

Using Dried Leaves

Put 1 ounce (a large handful) of dried leaves into a quart jar and fill the jar with boiling water. Screw the lid on tight and let steep until completely cool. Strain out plant material.

Using Dried Roots or Barks

Put 1 ounce (a large handful) of dried roots or bark into a pint jar and fill the jar with boiling water. Screw the lid on tight and let steep until completely cool. Strain out plant material.

Using Dried Flowers

Put 1 ounce (a large handful) of dried flowers into a quart jar and fill the jar with boiling water. Screw the lid on tight and let steep 2 or 3 hours. Strain out plant material.

Using Dried Seeds

Put 1 ounce (a large handful) of dried seeds into a pint jar and fill the jar with boiling water. Screw the lid on tight and let steep for 1/2 hour – no more or the taste will be bitter. Strain out seeds.

Herbal Baths

When used in the tub, the medicinal properties of an herbal infusion will be absorbed through the skin. Add 2 quarts of a strained infusion to your bath water and enjoy!

Herbal Sitz Bath

For a sitz bath, fill a large, shallow bowl or pan with at least 2 quarts of strained infusion and have a seat!

Herbal Poultices

For an herbal poultice you will retain the plant material from your infusion and apply it directly to the desired area. The liquid can be used to wash the area first if desired. This is an effective way to treat infections or wounds.

Herbal Compress

For an herbal compress you retain the plant material from an infusion and place it in a clean cloth or peice of gauze. Place it on desired area. You can dip it in the liquid from your infusion if desired. Compresses are useful for treating eye styes or when you don’t want plant material to enter open wounds.

Apr 28 2013

Mesopotamian Star Lists and Star Names

Having in the past months posted many things on astrology, I have been asked to make up a course on astrology. So far a great deal of work has been put into this endeavor. I have outlined a 3 part beginner course of 26 lessons and a 2 part advanced course. I am currently writing 2 books to go with these lessons as well. I will be using the Mesopotamian names of the stars and constellations within the course work and am today gracing our community with a nice listing of the known stars through a 900 year period of the Babylonians.

Chronology:

(1) The Late Assyrian Period (circa 900-600 BCE)

(2) The Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) Period (626-539 BCE)

(3) The Persian (Achaemenid) Period (539-331 BCE)

(4) Macedonian Period (331-circa 275 BCE)

(5) Seleucid (Hellenistic) Period (275 BCE – 116 CE)

=========================================

Some Late 2nd-Millennium Stars

Example: Star List/Star Catalogue (Select Mul.Apin Stars/Constellations).

Example: The Circumpolar Stars And Constellations.

Source: Mul Apin by Hermann Hunger and David Pingree (1989).

In MUL.APIN six circumpolar stars are counted in the Path of Enlil. Since the Paths of Enlil, Anu, and Ea are defined by the arcs on the eastern horizon over which the stars, Sun, Moon, and planets rise, the circumpolar stars ought not to be counted among the stars of Enlil.

1. (15) The Wagon. Ursa Major.

2. (16) The Fox. 80-86 Ursae Maioris?

3. (17) The Ewe. Northeastern part of Bootes?

4. (18) The Hitched Yoke. a Draconis?

5. (19) The Wagon of Heaven. Ursa Minor.

6. (20) The Heir of the Sublime Temple. a Ursae Minoris?

Example: Stars in the Path of the Moon.

Source: Science Awakening II: The Birth of Astronomy by Bartel van der Waerden (1974).

The Stars and Constellations in the Path of the Moon.

1. MUL.MUL

2. ^mulGUD.AN.NA

3. ^mulSIBA.ZI.AN.NA

4. ^mulSHU.GI

5. ^mulGAM

6. ^mulMASH.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL

7. ^mulAL.LUL

8. ^mulUR.GU.LA

9. ^mulAB.SIN

10. ^mulzi.ba.ni.tum

11. ^mulGIR.TAB

12. ^mulPA.BIL.SAG

13. ^mulSUHUR.MASH

14. ^mulGU.LA

15. zibbati^mesh

16. ^mulSIM.MAH

17. ^mulA-nu-ti-tum

18. ^mulLU.HUN.GA

The number 18 is not quite certain because the “tails” zibbati^mesh are probably to be taken together with both the following names (“tails of SHIM.MAH and Anunitum).

If we omit the six names GUD.AN.NA (Taurus), SIBA.ZI.AN.NA (Orion), SHU.GI (Perseus + and northern part of Taurus?), GAM (Auriga or Capella), SHIM.MAH (south-west part of Pisces) and Anunitum (north-east part of Pisces), those remaining are exactly the Babylonian names of the later signs of the zodiac, beginning with Taurus (MUL.MUL, actually Pleiades), and continuing in sequence to Aries (LU.HUN.GA).

In later times the zodiacal signs were named after the constellations they contained. In the beginning there were certain variations: the sign of Taurus could be denoted equally well by the names MUL.MUL (Pleiades), GUD.AN.NA (Taurus), or is li-e (Hyades – Aldebaran); it was only later that the names became standardized.

Example: Ziqpu Star List.

Source: Science Awakening II: The Birth of Astronomy by Bartel van der Waerden (1974).

The ziqpu stars lie in the path of Enlil. (Some) Ziqpu stars listed in Mul.Apin.

SHU.PA

BAL.UR.A

AN.GUB.BA^mesh

UR.KU.UZA

UD.KA.DUH.A

LU.LIM

SHU.GI

GAM

MASH.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL

AL.LUL

UR.GU.LA

ERU

HE.GAL.A.A

Example: The 36 Morning Risings (Mul.Apin).

Source: Science Awakening II: The Birth of Astronomy by Bartel van der Waerden (1974).

Month 1 day 1 LU.HUNGA rises.

day 20 GAM rises.

Month 2 day 1 MUL.MUL rises.

day 20 is li-e rises.

Month 3 day 10 SIBA.ZI.AN.NA and MASH.TAR.BA.GAL.GAL rise.

Month 4 day 5 MASH.TAB.BA.TUR.TUR and AL.LUL rise

day 15 KAK.SI.DI, MUSH and UR.GU.LA rise

Month 5 day 5 BAN and LUGAL rise.

Month 6 day 10 NUN^ki and UGA rise.

day 15 SHU.PA rises.

day 25 AB.SIN rises.

Month 7 day 15 zibanitu, UR.IDIM, EN.TE.NA.MASH.LUM and UR.KU rise.

Month 8 day 5 GIR.TAB rises.

day 15 UZA and GAB.GIR.TAB rise.

Month 9 day 15 UD.KA.DUH.A, A^mushen and PA.BIL.SAG rise.

Month 10 day 15 SHIM.MA, shi-nu-nu-tum and IM.SIS. rise.

Month 11 day 5 GU.LA, IKU and LU.LIM rise.

day 25 Anunitu rises.

Month 12 day 15 KUA and SHU.GI rise.

The best fit is obtained for Babylon between 1300 and 1000 BCE.

Example: Planet Names (Mul.Apin Series).

Source: Mul Apin by Hermann Hunger and David Pingree (1989).

Planet Name(s)

Sun ^dUTU (Samas)

Moon ^dSin

Saturn UDU.IDIM.SAG.US (the stable planet

zibanitu (Scales)

MUL ^dUTU (Star of the Sun)

Jupiter Sagmegar

^dSulpaea

^dAMAR.UTU (Marduk)

Mars Salbatanu

Venus Dilibat

Mercury UDU.IDIM.GU₄.UD

sa Ninurta sumsu (the jumping planet whose name is Ninurta)

Example: Particular Star Uses.

Source: Mul Apin by Hermann Hunger and David Pingree (1989)?

The stars associated with directions.

North Wagon (the first circumpolar star)

South Fish (the first star of Ea)

West Scorpion (sets when Stars rise)

East Old Man and Stars (Stars rise when Scorpion sets; Old Man rises with Fish)

(1) The Late Assyrian Period (circa 900-600 BCE)

Example: Star Names and Constellations mentioned in Astrological Reports to the Kings.

Source 1: Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars by Simo Parpola (1993).

1. Agru (Aries): MUL.HUN.GA

2. Alluttu (Cancer): MUL.AL.LUL

3. Bibbu (“The Planet”, a name of Mercury): UDU.IDIM

4. Dilibat (Venus): dil.bat

5. Enzu (“Goat”, Lyra): MUL.UZ

6. Epinnu (“Plough”, a star): MUL.APIN

7. Kaiamanu (Saturn): ^dUDU.IDIM.SAG.US

8. Kumaru (“Shoulder (of the Panther)”, d Cygni): MUL.ku-ma-ru

9. Lisi (Antares): li-si [MUL.LI₉.SI₄]

10. Masu (Gemini): ^dma-a-si

11. Narkabtu (“Chariot”, a constellation): MUL.GIS.GIGIR

12. Neberu (a name of Jupiter): MUL.ne-bi-ru

13. Nesu (Leo): MUL.UR.MAH

14. Nimru (“Panther”, Cygnus): MUL.UD.KA.DU₈.A

15. Pabilsag (Sagittarius): MUL.PA.BIL.SAG

16. Sagmegar (Jupiter, reading uncertain): SAG.ME.GAR

17. Sebetti (“The Seven”, a name of the Pleiades): ^d7.BI

18. Sin (moon): ^d30

19. Salbatanu (Mars): ^dsal-bat-a-nu

20. Samas (sun, god of justice): ^dsa-mas

21. Sanumma (a name of Mars): MUL.MIN-ma

22. Sarru (Regulus): MUL.LUGAL

23. Sibu (Perseus): MUL.SU.GI

24. Sihtu (Mercury): ^dGUD.UD

25. Siru (Virgo): MUL.AB.SIN

26. Sitaddaru (Orion): MUL.SIPA.ZI.AN.NA

27. Sukudu (Sirius): MUL.GAG.SI.SA

28. Urgulu (Leo): MUL.UR.GU.LA

29. Zappu (“Bristle”, Pleiades): MUL.MUL

30. Zibanitu (Scales): MUL.ZI.BA.AN.NA

31. Zibbati (“Tails”, Pisces): KUN.MES

32. Zuqaqipu (Scorpius): MUL.GIR.TAB

Source 2: Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings by Hermann Hunger (1992).

1. Agru (“Hired Man”, Aries) MUL.LU.HUN.GA

2. Alluttu (“Crab”, Cancer): MUL.AL.LUL

3. Alu (Taurus, Aldebaran): MUL.GUD.AN.NA

4. Anunitu (part of Pisces): MUL.an-nu-ni-tum

5. Anu agu (“Anu-Crown”, Hyades): MUL.a-nu-AGA

6. Anzu (a star): MUL.IM.DUGUD

7. Aribu (“Raven”, Corvus): u-ga [MUL.UGA]

8. Barbaru (“Wolf”, a star): MUL.UR.BAR.RA

9. Bibbu (“planet”, most probably Saturn or Mercury): ^dUDU.IDIM

10. Dilibat (Venus): ^ddil-bat [MUL.dil-bat]

11. Engisgalanna (a name of Jupiter, reading uncertain): MUL.EN.GISGAL.AN.NA

12. Enmesarra (a part of Perseus): MUL.EN.ME.SAR

13. Enzu (“Goat”, Lyra): u-za [MUL.UZ]

14. Epinnu (“Plough”, a star): MUL.APIN

15. Eru’a (“Frond”, a star): MUL.A.EDIN

16. Gamlu (Auriga): ^dGAM

17. Gilimma (a star, reading uncertain): MUL.GILIM.MA

18. Habasiranu (Centaurus): MUL.EN.TE.NA.BAR.GUZ

19. Idiglat (“Tigris”, a group of stars): MUL.ID.IDIG-NA

20. Iku (“Field”, Pegasus): MUL.AS.GAN

21. Indubanna (a part of Sagittaurius, reading uncertain): MUL.IN.DUB.AN.NA

22. Irat Zuqaqipi (a part of Scorpius): MUL.GABA-GIR.TAB

23. Is Le (“Jaw of the Bull”, Hyades): MUL.is-le-e

24. Kaiamanu (Saturn): ^dSAG.US

25. Kalitu (“Kidney”, Puppis): MUL.BIR

26. Lisi (Antares): MUL.LI₉.SI₄

27. Neberu (a name of Jupiter): ^dne-bi-ru [MUL.ne-bi-ru]

28. Nesu (“Lion”, Leo): MUL.UR.MAH

29. Nimru (“Panther”, Cygnus etc.): MUL.UD.KA.DU₈

30. Niru (“Yoke”, Bootes): su-du-un [MUL.SUDUN]

31. Nunu (“Fish”, Piscis austrinus): MUL.KU₆

32. Nun same (“Fish of the Sky”, Piscis austrinus): MUL.KU₆

33. Pabilsag (“Presbyter”, Sagittaurius): ^dPA.BIL.SAG [MUL.PA.BIL.SAG]

34. Pasittu (“Deleter”, a part of Andromeda): MUL.KA.MUS.I.KU.E

35. Qastu (“Bow” a part of Canis major): MUL.^dBAN [MUL.BAN]

36. Rappu (“Bridle”, a star): MUL.rap.pu

37. Sagmegar (Jupiter, reading uncertain): ^dSAG.ME.GAR [MUL.SAG.ME.GAR]

38. Sarru (“False”, a name of Mars): MUL.sa-ar-ri

39. Sebetti (“The Seven”, “Pleiades”): ^d7.BI

40. Sin (moon god): ^d30

41. Suhurmasu (Capricorn): MUL.SUHUR.MAS

42. Salbatanu (Mars): ^dsal-bat-an-nu [MUL.sal-bat-a-nu]

43. Sariru (a part of Sagittarius): MUL.AN.TA.SUR.RA

44. Surru (“Obsidian”, a star in Scorpius): MUL.sur-ru

45. Samas (sun-god): ^dsa-mas

46. Sanumma (“Strange”, a name of Mars): MUL.MIN-ma

47. Sargaz (a part of Scorpius): ^dSAR.GAZ [MUL.SAR.GAZ]

48. Sarru (“King”, Regulus): MUL.LUGAL

49. Sarur (a part of Scorpius): ^dSAR.UR [MUL.SAR.UR]

50. Selabu (“Fox”, a star): MUL.KA.A

51. Ser’u (“Furrow”, Virgo): MUL.AB.SIN

52. Sibu (“Old Man”, Perseus): MUL.SI.GI

53. Sihtu (Mercury): ^dGUD.UD [MUL.GUD.UD]

54. Sinunutu (“Swallow”, part of Pisces): si-im-ma-a [MUL.SIM.MAH]

55. Sukudu (“Arrow”, Sirius): MUL.GAG.SI.SA

56. Sulpae (a name of Jupiter): ^dSUL.PA.E [MUL.SUL.PA.E]

57. Tu’amu (“Twins”, Gemini): MUL.MAS.TAB.BA

58. Tu’amu rabutu (“Great Twins”, Gemini): MUL.MAS.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL.

59. Tultu (“Worm”, a star): MUL.tul-tum

60. Urgulu (“Lion”, Leo): MUL.UR.GU.LA

61. Usurtu (“Drawing”, a name of Gemini): MUL.u-sur-ti

62. Zappu (“Bristle”, Pleiades): MUL.MUL

63. Zibanitu (“Scales”, Libra): MUL.zi-ba-ni-tum

64. Zuqaqipu (“Scorpion”, Scorpius): MUL.GIR.TAB

Example: Star List/Star Catalogue.

Source: A Scientific Humanist: Studies in Memory of Abraham Sachs edited by Erle Liechty, et al. (1988).

Star Names Listed In Star Catalogue BM 78161. Tablet BM 78161 comes from either Babylon or Sippar and dates from the 7th to 5th centuries BCE.

Stars	Classification	Identification
Sipa-zi-an-na	Anu 8	b Ori.
dar lugal	Anu 10	m Lep.
front feet and hands of mas-tab-ba-gal-gal	ziqpu 18	q Gem.

n Gem.right hand and rear heel of sipa-zi-an-naAnux Ori.

k Ori.middle of dar-lugalAnua Lep.rear foot of mas-tab-ba-tur-turziqpu 19x Gem.mas-tab-ba-tur-turEnlil 6z Gem.kak-si-saAnu 11b Can. Mai.al-lulziqpu 20e Canc.musAnu 13b Canc.banAnu 12h Can. Maileft foot of kak-si-saAnup Puppis5 us after al-lul–Jupiter’s position after al-lul and before ur-gu-la–LU of kak-si-saAnur Puppistwo stars of the head of ur-aziqpu 21m Leo

e Leomiddle of musAnuq Hydraelbow of kak-si-saAnua Pyxhands of nun-kiEag Vel.four stars of the chest of ur-aziqpu 22z Leo.

g Leo.

h Leo.

a Leo.right front foot of ur-aEnlilp Leo.middle of musAnuk Hydranun-kiEa 3l Vel.1 danna¹⁶ after the four of its chest–foot in the middle of ur-aEnlilr Leo.hand of nin-mahEa 4j Vel.two stars of the rump of ur-aziqpu 23d Leo.

q Leo.tail of ugaAnua Crat.bite of gis-gan-gurEam Vel.single star of the tail of ur-aziqpu 24b Leo.middle of ugaAnug Corv.hand of en-te-na-bar-humEad Cent.e₄-ru₆ziqpu 25g Com.ab-sinAnu 15a Virg.^dsullat and hanisEa 7e Cent.Mercury’s position between ab-sin and uga–1 danna after e₄-ru₆–dingir-ku-a-mesEnlil 22i Virg. (?)front pan of gis-rinAnul Virg.nu-mus-daEa 8h Cent.Saturn’s position before gis-rin–na-at-tul-lumziqpu 26u Boot.middle of zi-ba-nitAnub Libr.horn of gir-tabEag Scor. = Libraeye of ur-idimEag Lupisu-paziqpu 1a Boot.middle of zi-ba-nitAnug Libr.stars of head of gir-tabEad Scor.middle of ur-idimEah Lupina-at-tul-lum 2ziqpu 2x Boot.star of chest of gir-tabEaa Scor.tail of gir-tabEam¹ Scor.rear of foot of ur-idimEaz² Scor.kip-patziqpu 3a Cor. Bor.eye of za-ba₄-ba₄Anuh Oph.^dsar-ur^dsar-gazEa 12l Scor.

n Scor.sa-mas-a-tiziqpu 4b Her.

g Her.middle of za-ba₄-ba₄Anun Oph.left hand of pa-bil-sag which is on the bowEad Sag.mar-gur₈Ea 14e Sag.tak-sa-a-tuziqpu 5d Her.knee of za-ba₄-ba₄Anuh Serp.[right hand] of pa-bil-sag which is on the arrowEaj Sag.single star of the knee of uzziqpu 6m Her.foot of za-ba₄-ba₄Anul Aquil.pa-bil-sag- above ma-gur⁸Eai Lyr.crook of uzziqpu 7a Lyr.bright star of a-musen¹⁸Anua Aquil.

(2) The Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) Period (626-539 BCE)

Example: Late Astrological Text.

Source: Mesopotamian Astrology by Ulla Koch-Westenholz (1995).

The “Great Star List”: “Among the several lists of stars, the most astrological is the so-called Great Star List …. This text is a motley of mythological and astrological data on planets and stars, mixed with other materials. Much of it seems to have been assembled from blocks excerpted from other texts. … Its composite character indicates that the text is not very old. Probably it was meant to serve as a vademecum for the astrologers.”

[Select reproduction of the contents appears below:]

[- - - -]	[^d]min	[- - - - - - - -]	ditto
[^dnin.gul.ti]	ana mas-si-e	Ningulti	is for a leader
[^ddil].bat	ana si.sa bu-lim	Venus	is for thriving cattle
[mu]l im.su.rin.na.nu.kus.u: ^ddil.bat		The Widow’s Oven	Venus
mul dil.bar	^dis-tar be-let kur.kur	Venus	Istar, queen of all lands
mul a-nu-ni-tum	^dis-tar min	Annunitu	Istar, ditto
mul a-ri-tum	^dis-tar min	The Shield-bearer	Istar, ditto
mul is-ha-ra	^dis-tar min	Ishara	Istar, ditto
mul gir.tab	^dis-ha-ra	The Scorpion	Ishara
mul gir.tab	^dmin ti-amat	The Scorpion	ditto Tiamat
mul gir.an.na	mul gir.tab	The Sword of Heaven	The Scorpion
mul nin.mah	mul min	Ninmah	ditto
mul nin.mah	dingir.mah du-at an u ki	Ninmah	Belet-ili, creator of Heaven and Earth
mul nin.girim	be-let te-lil-ti	Ningirim	Goddess of Purification
	^dis-ha-ra		Ishara

mul.ban	mul ab.sin	The Bow	The Furrow (Virgo)
mul gilim	mul min	The Reed-bundle	ditto
mul tir.an.na

mul minThe Rainbowdittomul a-ri-tummul minThe Shield(bearer)dittomul mar.gid.damul [- - - - -] xThe Wagon[- - - - -][- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -][- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -][- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -][- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ditto]mu[l - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -][- - - - -]-star[ditto]mul pa [- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -]. . -star[ditto]mul udu [- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -][- - -]-planet[ditto]mul ka.mus.i.gu₇.[e - - - - - - - - - - - -]The Deleter[ditto]mul nun.me [- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -]The Sage[ditto][- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -][- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -]24 lines missing[- - - - - - - - - - - - -]^[d]min[- - - - - - - -]dittomul x x [- - - - -] x^dmin[- - - - - - - -]dittomul x [- - - - -]^distaran. . . . . .Ishtaranmul i-li-ab-[rat]^dminIlabratdittomul dumu.[zi]^dminDumuziditto

AN AN NI x [x]	^dsal-bat-a-nu	. . . . . .	Mars
mul [- - - - - -]	^dmin	[- - - -]-star	ditto
mul ma-ak-ru-u	^dmin	The Fiery Red	ditto
mul sa₅	^dmin	The Red	ditto
mul sig₇	^dmin	The Yellow	ditto
[mu]l man-ma	^dmin	The Sinister	ditto
mul a-hu-u	^dmin	The Strange	ditto
mul [n]a-ka-ru	^dmin	The Hostile	ditto
mul s[ar₆]-ru	^dmin	The Liar	ditto
mul hul	^dmin	The Evil	ditto
mul ka₅.a	^dmin	The Fox	ditto
mul nim.ma	^dmin	The Star of Elam	ditto
mul lu.sa.gaz	^dmin	The Robber	ditto
mul ur.bar.ra	^dmin	The Wolf	ditto
mul ti₈^musen	^dmin	The Eagle	ditto
mul lu-um-nu	^dmin	The Evil	ditto
mul si-mu-ut	^dmin	Simut	ditto
mul la sid.mes	^dmin	The Incalculable	ditto
mul apin	^dmin	The Plough	ditto
mul sudun	^dmin	The Yoke	ditto
mul su.pa	^dmin	SU-PA	ditto
mul bal.tes.a	^dmin	The Star of Dignity	ditto
mul ug₅.ga	^dmin	The Raven	ditto
mul bir	^dmin	The Kidney	ditto
mul nun^ki	^dmin	The Star of Eridu	ditto
mul ud.ka.duh.a	^dmin	The Panther	ditto
[- - - - - - -] x	^dmin	[- - - - - - -]	ditto
[- - - - - -] ki gal	^dmin	[- - - - - - -]	ditto
[- - - - - -]	^dmin mu.bi	[- - - - -]	ditto, is its name
[- - - - - -]	^du.gur	[- - - - -]	Nergal
[- - - - - -]	[^d]min	[- - - - -]	ditto

[----]	[^den.me].sar.ra	[----]	Enmesarra
10 lines missing
mul nu.mus.da	[- - - - - -]	Numusda	[- - - - - - - - -]
mul min	^d[- - - - - - -]	ditto	[divine name]
mul min	^damar.utu	ditto	Marduk
mul li₉.si₄	^dx [- - -]	Lisi	. . . . . . .
mul min	^du.gur	ditto	Nergal
mul min	^dnin.urta	ditto	Ninrta
mul ra-ap-pu	mul ur.gu.la	The Bridle	The Lion
mul e-tu-ram-mi	mul min	Eturammi	ditto
mul sag ur.gi₇	mul min	The Dog’s Head	ditto
mul an.ta.sur.ra	^dsullat u hanis	The Flashing	Sullat and Hanis
mul an.ta.sur.ra	^dutu	The Flashing	Samas
mul an.ta.sur.ra	me-sih mul	The Flashing	A meteor(?)
mul an.ta.sur.ra	me-sih ^dpa.bil.sag	The Flashing	Flashing of Pabilsag
mul ur-um an.na	^dmin	. . . . .	ditto
mul bur-ru-um an.na	^dmin	. . . . .	ditto
mul al.lul	^ididigna	The Crab	Tigris
mul ^ididigna	^da-nu-ni-tum	Tigris	Annunitum
mul ^idburanun	mul sim.mah	Euphrates	The Swallow
mul.mes igi.mes sa mul al.lul: ^ididigna		The front stars of The Crab	Tigris
egir.mes-tum	^idburanun^ki	the rear ones	Euphrates
igi.mes kur₄.mes-ma sa₅.me-ma ididigna du-kam		The front stars shine brightly and are red: the Tigris will flow.
murub.mes sa₅.me-ma zi im		The middle stars are red: rising of wind.
egir.mes sa₅.me-ma ^idburanun^ki du-kam nim.mes si.sa.mes		The rear stars are red: the Euphrates will flow and the early (crop) will thrive.

mul.dingir.gub.ba.mes	^d30 u ^dutu	The Standing Gods	Sin and Shamash
kun mul ur.gi₇	mul im.su.rin.na.al.ma.nu.u	The tail of The Dog	The Widow’s Oven
mul kak.ban	mul kak.si.sa	The Arrow	The Arrow
mul ha-ba-si-ra-nu	^dnin.gir.su	The Mouse-like	Ningirsu
mul da-mu

^dgu.laDamuGulamul ^dim.dugud^musenmul anse.kur.raThe Anzu-birdThe Horsemul kamul lu.usThe MouthThe Corpsemul ag.an.bur ana bala til.lum nap-sur-tum gam-lum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .mul za-ru-uma-sad-duThe PoleThe Polemul sipa.zi.an.nasita.da.ru sa ina ^gistukul mah-suThe True Shepherd of Anu: Sitadaru, the one who was struck with the mace.mul tul-tum^da-nu-ni-tumThe MaggotAnunitumku₆.mes tu-la-a-tum u musen.mes hu-u₈-u“Sea-worms””Hoot-owls”tir.an.na ud nu-uh-su mu.bi mar-ra-tumRainbow, its name is “day of plenty”, the rainbow

ul babbar	^dsal-bat-a-nu	The White Star	Mars
ul gi₆	^dpap.sukkal	The Black Star	Papsukkal
ul sa₅	^dudu.idim	The Red Star	The Planet (Mars)
ul sig₇	^ddumu.zi	The Yellow Star	Dumuzi
ul sa₅	sub-tim izi	The Red Star	Falling of Fire
ul sig₇	an.mi	The Yellow Star	Eclipse

[mul dil.bat	mul.mul]	Venus	The Stars
[mul ur.gu.la	mul mas.tab.ba]	The Lion	The Twins
[mul ban	mul uga]	The Bow	The Raven
[mul en.te.na.bar.hum]	mul gir.tab	Entenabarhum	The Scorpion
mul ud.ka.duh.a]	mul gu.la	The Panther	The Great
mul n[u.mus.da	mul ku₆]	Numusda	The Fish

12 mul.mes	kur. nim.ma[^ki]	Twelve stars of Elam
mul apin	mul a-nu-ni-tum	The Plow	Annunitum
mul sipa.zi.an.na	mul ud.al.tar	The True Shepherd of Anu	Jupiter
mul mar.gid.da	mul su.pa	The Wagon	SU.PA
mul zi-ba-ni-tum	mul ur.idim	The Scales	The Mad Dog
mul uz	mul ti₈^musen	The Goat	The Eagle
mul da-mu	mul ne-be-rum	Damu	The Ford

12 mul.mes	kur uri^ki	Twelve stars of Akkad
mul as.gan	mul su.gi	The Field	The Old Man
mul mus	mul kak.si.sa	The Serpent	The Arrow
mul mas.tab.ba.gal.gal	mul bir	The Great Twins	The Kidney
mul nin.mah	mul lugal	Belet-ili	The King
mul sal-bat-a-nu	mul al.lul	Mars	The Crab
mul sim.mah	mul ka₅.a	The Swallow	The Fox

12 mul.mes	kur mar.tu^ki	Twelve stars of Amurru
mul gam	mul lugal	The Crook	The King
mul u₅.ri.in	mul ka.mus.i.nag.a	The Eagle	The Deleter
mul is li-e	mul mus mul li₉.si₄	The Jaw of the Bull	The Sepent Lisi

7 ti-ik-pi		Seven “Point” (tikpu) stars
mul su.gi	mul ud.ka.duh.a	The Old Man	The Panther
mul sipa.zi.an.na	mul kak.si.sa	The True Shepherd of Anu

The Arrowmul en.te.<na>.bar.

hummul ti₈^musenEntenabarhumThe Eaglemul pa.bil.sag Pabilsag

7 lu-ma-su		Seven lumasu
mul mas.tab.ba.gal.gal	mul mas.tab.ba.tur.tur	The Great Twins	The Small Twins
mul mas.tab.ba sa ina igi-it mul sipa.zi.an.na gub-zu		The Twins which stand in front of The True Shepherd of Anu
mul nin.mu	mul ir.ra.gal	Ninmu	Erragal
mul ^dsullat

mul hanismul sar.ur₄

mul sar.gazSullat HanisSarur Sargazmul zi.ba.an.naThe Scales

7 ma-a-su	Seven Twins
ul man-ma mul a-hu-u ul na-ka-ru	The Sinister The Strange

The Hostileul sar₆-ru ul hul ul ka₅.a

ul nim.ma.kiThe Liar The Evil The Fox

The Star of Elamul sal-bat-a-nuMars

7 zik-ru-su

Its seven names

^d30 u ^duru ^dsul.pa.e mul dil.batThe moon and the sun Jupiter

Venusmul udu.idim mul sag.us ^dudu.idim.gu₄.ud”Wild Sheep”: Saturn

Mercuryul sal-bat-a-nuMars

7 mul udu.idim.mes

Seven Planets

igi mus ^dban.ba.an.sur da-’-ik an.kiBefore The Serpent is Banbansur, killer of heaven and earthigi mus ^dla.ba.an.sur da-’-ik an.kiBefore The Serpent is Labansur, killer of heaven and earthigi nim-ri ^dka-mu-u da-’-ik [an.ki]Before The Panther is The Catcher, killer of heaven and earth[- - - - -] di da-’-ik [an.ki][- - - - - - - - - - - - -] killer of heaven and earth

Example: Planisphere.

Source: Koch, Johannes. (1989). Neue Untersuchungen zur Topographie des babylonischen Fixsternhimmels.

Star Name And Constellations Listed On Planisphere K 8538. Listed analysis by Koch.

Sektor (Sector)	Kurzbezeichnung (Short name)	Sternfigur (Star figure)	Babylonisches Sternbild (Babylonian Constellation)	Sternidentifizierung (Star identification)
0	Pfeilfigur (Arrow figure)		^mulgag-si-sá	Sirius + Betelgeuse
1	Figur zweier Dreiecke (Two triangular figures)	a	^mulĂS-iku (Field = Pegasus square)	Stars forming part of Pegasus
1	Figur zweier Dreiecke (Two triangular figures)	b	^mulapin (Plough)	Stars forming part of Andromeda
2	No constellation(s)/star name(s) preserved	–	–	–
3	Ellipse mit eingeschlossenen Dreiecken (Ellipse enclosing two triangles)		^mulmul	Pleiades
3			^mulgu₄-an-na	Stars forming part of Taurus
4	Figur mit Zeigerstab (Figure holding pointed staff)		^mulmaš-tab-ba-ga-gal/^mulmaš-tab-ba-tur-tur/[etc]/izzazu^meš-zu	Gemini
4	Figur mit Zeigerstab (Figure holding pointed staff)		^mulSipa-zi-an-na	Orion
5	Kleinfiguren (Small figures)	a	Schwanzende des ^mulmuš	Stars forming part of Crater
		b	^muluga^mušen	Stars forming part of Corvus
		c	^mulab-sín	Stars forming part of Virgo
6	Waage-Figur (Scale figure)		^mulGI-GI (^mulzi-ba-an-na)	Stars forming part of Libra + Centaurus
7	No constellation(s)/star name(s)	–	–	–

(3) The Persian (Achaemenid) Period (539-331 BCE)

Example: Particular Star Designations.

Source: Handbuch der Altorientalischen Geisteskultur by Alfred Jeremias (1929).

The Lumasi Stars [CT XXVI]:

SU.GI (d. i. Perseus und Sterne im Stier nördlich von den Hyaden = Perseus and stars in the bull north from the Hyaden)

UT.KA.DU.A (d. i. Cygnus and Lacerta)

SIB.ZI.AN.NA (d, i. Orion)

KAK.SI.DA (d. i. Sirius)

EN.TE.NA.MAS.SIG [habasiranu] (d. i. Sterne Südlich vom Krebs Nasru d. i. Adler = Stars south from the Crab [Cancer] Nasru d. i. Eagle)

PA.BIL.SAG (d. i. Schütze = Would protect [Sagittaurius])

The Masu Stars:

Tu’amu rabuti (d. s. die großen Zwillinge (a and b geminorum) = the large twins (a and b geminorum)).

Tu’amu sihruti (d. s. die kleinen Zwillinge = the little twins) [K 250 and VAT 9418]

Tu’amu sa ina mihrit SIB.ZI.AN.NA izzazu (d. s. die Zwillings-sterne, die gegenüber dem Orion stehen, wohl g und t geminorum = the twins-stars that stand vis-á-vis the Orion, probably g and t geminorum).

NIN.SAR (and IR.RA.GAL) (d. s. ?)

PA and LU.GAL (d. i. ?)

SAR.UR and SAR.GAZ (d. s. l and u Scorpion, s. S. 222 ff.)

Zibanitu (d. s. Wage = [Dares] The Scales [Libra])

The Tikpi Stars:

SU.GI (d. i. Perseus)

GU.AN.NA (d. i. Bull [Taurus])

SIB.ZI.AN.NA (d. i. Orion)

UR.GU.LA (d. i. Lion [Leo])

Siru (d. i. Hydra)

GIR.TAB (d. i. Scorpion)

LU.LIM (d. i. Andromeda)

Example: Particular Star Designations.

Source: Weidner, Ernst. (1957-1971). “Fixsterne.” In: Weidner, Ernst. and von Soden, Wolfram. (Editors). Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie. (Volume 3).

The lumasi Stars:

^msu-gi (Perseus)

^mu₄-ka-du-a (Cygnus + Cepheus)

^msipa-zi-an-na (Orion)

^mkak-si-sa (Sirius)

^men-te-na-bar-sig (Centaurus?)

^mnasru (Aquila)

^mpa-bil-sag (Sagittarius)

The tikpi Stars:

^msu-gi (Perseus)

^mgu₄-an-[na] (Taurus)

^msipa-zi-an-na (Orion)

^mur-gu-[la] (Leo)

^mmus (Hydra)

^mgir-tab (Scorpius)

^mlu-[lim(?)] (Cassiopeia)

^mgam (Auriga)

^mlugal (a Leonis)

^mu₅-ri-in (?)

^mka-mus-ni-ku-e (a Cassiopeia)

^mis li-e (Hyades)

^mmus (Hydra)

^mNE-gun (a Scorpii)

The masu Stars:

^mmas-tab-ba-gal-gal (a + b Geminorum)

^mmas-tab-ba-tur-tur (i + n or z + l Geminorum)

^mmas-tab-ba vis-à-vis the ^msipa-zi-an-na (Orion) (e + g Geminorum)

^mnin-sar ^mir-ra-gal (h + q Lyrae?)

^mhanis ^msullat (a + b Centauri)

^msar-ur₄ ^msar-gaz (l + n Scorpii)

^mzi-ba-an-na (Variation ^mku-an-na ^mku-ki-sikil-la) (a + b Librae)

Example: Particular Star Designations.

Source: Antike Beobachtungen farbiger Sterne by Franz Boll (1918) (Ancient Observations of Colored Stars).

Lists: K 250 and VAT 9418.

The Lumasi Stars [= Jupiter Stars]:

Su.gi = Perseus

Nimru = Cygnus + Cepheus + x

Sitaddulu = Orion

Sukudu = Sirius + Procyon

Habasiranu = Centaurus

Nasru = Eagle

Pa.bil.sag = Sagittarius

The Masu Stars:

Tu’amu rabuti = a + b Gemini

Tu’amu sihruti = l + z Gemini

Tu’amu sa ina mihrit Sitaddali izzazu = ? a + g Orionis

Nin.sar and Ur(?).ra.gal = ? Not yet identified

Pa and Lu.gal = Not yet identified

Sar.ur and Sar.gaz = l and u Scorpii

Zibanitu = Libra

The Tikpi Stars:

(a)

Su.gi = Perseus

Gu.an.na = Taurus

Sitaddalu = Orion

Urgu[lu] = Leo

Siru = Hydra + b Cancer

Zuqaqipu = Scorpius

Lu.[lim?] = Cassiopeia + Andromeda + x

(b)

Gumlu = Auriga

Sarru = Regulus

A-zu(?)-in = Not yet identified

Ka-mus.niku.a = Andromeda-fog(?)

Gisli = Taurus

Siru = Hydra + b Cancri

Us.si = Antares

Example: Zodiacal Text.

Source: Science Awakening II: The Birth of Astronomy by Bartel van der Waerden (1974) (for text from Uruk published by Thureau-Dangin).

Zodiacal Signs Listed In VAT 4956.

1. LU.HUN.GA =Aries

2. MUL = Taurus

3. MASH = Gemini

4. NANGAR = Cancer

5. UR.A = Leo

6. AB.SIN = Virgo

7. zi.ba-ni-tu = Libra

8. GIR.TAB = Scorpio

9. PA = Sagittaurius

10. SUHUR = Capricornus

11. GU = Aquarius

12. zib = Pisces

Example: Stars Names Listed In Normal-Star Almanacs.

Source: Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Volume 1 by Hermann Hunger (and Abraham Sachs) (1988).

“In order to give the positions of the moon and the planets a number of stars close to the ecliptic are used for reference. These have been called “Normalsterne” [normal stars] by Epping and the term has remained in use ever since. [The Babylonian term is 'counting stars.'] The following table lists the Babylonian names, their translations, the modern names ….”

(1) MUL KUR sa DUR nu-nu

The bright star of the Ribbon of the Fishes.

h Piscium

(2) MUL IGI sa SAG HUN

The bright star at the head of the Hired Man.

b Arietis

(3) MUL ar sa SAG HUN

The rear star of the head of the Hired Man.

a Arietis

(4) MUL-MUL

The Bristle.

h Tauri

(5) is le₁₀

The Jaw of the Bull.

a Tauri

(6) SUR GIGIR sa SI

The northern …. of the Chariot.

b Tauri

(7) SUR GIGIR sa ULU

The southern …. of the Chariot.

z Tauri

(8) MUL IGI sa se-pit MAS-MAS

The front star of the Twins’ feet.

h Geminorum

(9) MUL ar sa se-pit MAS-MAS

The rear star of the Twins’ feet.

m Geminorum

(10) MAS-MAS sa SIPA

The Twins’ star near the Shepherd.

g Geminorum

(11) MAS-MAS IGI

The front Twin star.

a Geminorum

(12) MAS-MAS ar

The rear Twin star.

b Geminorum

(13) MUL IGI sa ALLA sa SI

The front star of the Crab to the north.

h Cancri

(14) MUL IGI sa ALLA sa ULU

The front star of the Crab to the south.

q Cancri

[APOVET also lists e Cnc., a cluster, as a Babylonian normal star.]

(15) MUL ar sa ALLA sa SI

The rear star of the Crab to the north.

g Cancri

(16) MUL ar sa ALLA sa ULU

The rear star of the Crab to the south.

d Cancri

(17) SAG A

The Head of the Lion.

e Leonis

(18) LUGAL

The King.

a Leonis

(19) MUL TUR sa 4 KUS ar LUGAL

The small star which is 4 cubits behind the King.

r Leonis

(20) GIS KUN A

The Rump of the Lion.

q Leonis

(21) GIR ar sa A

The rear foot of the Lion.

b Virginis

(22) DELE sa IGI ABSIN

The Single star in front of the Furrow.

g Virginis

(23) SA₄ sa ABSIN

The bright star of the Furrow.

a Virginis

(24) RIN sa ULU

The southern part of the Scales.

a Librae [APOVET lists it as a² Lib.]

(25) RIN sa SI

The northern part of the Scales.

b Librae

(26) MUL MURUB₄ sa SAG GIR-TAB

The middle star of the Head of the Scorpion.

d Scorpii

(27) MUL e sa SAG GIR-TAB

The upper star of the Head of the Scorpion.

b Scorpii [APOVET lists it as b¹ Sco.]

(28) SI₄

(the god) Lisi

a Scorpii

(29) MUL KUR sa KIR₄ sil PA

The bright star on the tip of Pabilsag’s arrow.

q Ophiuchi

(30) SI MAS

The Horn of the Goat-fish.

b Capricorni [APOVET lists it as ab Cap., stating it denotes a combination of three stars that the Babylonians did not usually distinguish.]

[APOVET by Newton also lists y [?] Cap., as a Babylonian normal star.]

[APOVET by Newton also lists w Cap., as a Babylonian normal star.]

(31) MUL IGI sa SUHUR MAS

The front star of the Goat-fish.

g Capricorni

(32) MUL ar sa SUHUR MAS

The rear star of the Goat-fish.

d Capricorni

The stars contained in the above list are by far the most common normal stars.

Example: Counting Stars (= Normal Stars).

Source: Ancient Planetary Observations and the Validity of Ephemeris Time by Robert Newton (1976).

Babylonian Reference Stars other than Normal Stars.

m Cet.

q Tau. (A doublet that the observers did not separate into components.)

z Gem.

a C.Mi.

d Leo.

h Vir

b Cap.

f Agr.

Example: List Of Ziqpu Stars.

Source: Schaumberger, Johann. “Die Ziqpu-Gestirne nach neuen Keilschrifttexten.” Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, Band 50 [= Neue Folge, 16], 1952, Pages 214-229.

Cuneiform Text AO 6478.

I ^mulSUDUN = 18 a Bootis = Arcturus

II ^mulSUDUN ANSU EGIR-ti (= arkiti) = 19 x Bootis (+ o, p oder z)

III ^mulGAM-ti (= kipparti) = 20 a Coronae = Gemma

IV ^mulsa mas-a-ti = 21 b Herculis

V ^mulsa tas-ka-a-ti = 22 a Herculis = Ras Algethi

VI ^mulDIL (= edu) = 23 m Herculis

VII ^mulGASAN.TIN (= belet balati) = 24 a Lyrae = Wega

VIII ^mulku-ma-ri sa PIRIG.KA.DU₈.A = 25 b Cygni = Albireo

IX ^mulni-bi-I sa irti-su = 1 a Cygni = Deneb

X ^mulkin-su = 2 15 Lacertae (Gruppe)

XI ^mula-si-di = 3 s Andromedae?

XII ^mulIV sa ^mulLU.LIM = 4 p, o, x, n Cassiopeiae

XIII ^mulum-mu-lu-ti = 5 h Persei (Gruppe)

XIV ^mulni-bi-i sa SU.GI = 6 a Persei = Algenib

XV ^mulna-as-ra-pi = 7 b, c, Persei (Gruppe)

XVI ^mulGAM (= gamli) = 8 a Aurigae

XVII ^mulritti GAM = 9 b Aurigae

XVIII ^mulMAS.TAB.BA a Geminorum = Castor

= 10

XIX ^mulMAS.TAB.BA EGIR-i (= arki) b Geminorum = Pollux

XX ^mulAL.LUL = 11 Praespe in Cancer (Gruppe)

XXI ^mulII mul^mes sa SAG.DU ^mulUR.GU.LA = 12 e Lionis

m Leonis

XXII ^mulIV sa GAB (= irti)-su = 13 a Leonis = Regulus

g Leonis

h Leonis

z Leonis

XXIII ^mulII sa ^gisKUN (= rapasti)-su = 14 d Leonis

q Leonis

XXIV ^mulDIL (= edu) sa KUN (= zibbati)-su = 15 b Leonis

XXV ^mulA.EDEN = 16 g Comae Berenices

XXVI ^mulSUDUN.ANSU = 17 u Bootis

I ^mulSUDUN h Bootis

naphar (= Summe)

(5) Seleucid (Hellenistic) Period (275 BCE – 116 CE)

Example: Zodiacal Text.

Source: Foxvog, Daniel. (1993). “Astral Dumuzi.” In: Cohen, Mark. et al. (Editors). The Tablet and the Scroll: Near Eastern Studies in Honor of William W. Hallo.

Tablet: SBTU II No 43 (W 22646) (circa 200 BCE?).

Month	Symbol	Zodiacal Sign	Modern Name
BARA₂	UDU.NIT[A₂] “ram”	LU₂	Aries
GU₄	al-pi 1-i[n?]

“single(?) bull”MUL₂Taurus (Pleiades)SIG₄a-me-lu “men”SIPA u MAS.MASOrion and GeminiSUA.MES “waters”NAGARCancerNEUR.MAH “lion”URLeoKINSE.BAR “grain”AB.SIN₂VirgoDU₆RIN₂“scales”ZILibraAPING[IR₂?[(.TAB)]GIR₂ScorpioGANDIR x x ?PASagittariusABu-ri-sa “goat”MAS₂CapricornZIZ₂sal-mu “figure”GUAquariusSESE IM ?KUNPisces

Appendix 1: Babylonian Star and Constellation Catalogue

Source: After the list compiled by the American academic Hope Anthony.

“The Sumerian transliteration is in all-caps, and then the Akkadian is in italics. The English translation of the name is in quotes, followed by the modern star or constellation to which it refers. Alternate spellings for any of the constellation names are not included, as this would lead to a maze of circular definitions. Also, this catalogue is alphabetized by the Sumerian. In the event that the Sumerian name is not known, the constellation is still included and alphabetized by its Akkadian name, but only in this event.”

1. AB.SÍN

“The Furrow”; The star Spica in Virgo

2. A.EDIN = Erua

gamma Comae Berenices (?) and possibly others

3. AGA dA-nim

“The Crown of Anu”

4. AL.LUL = alluttu

“The Crab”; Cancer

5. dAMAR.UD = dMarduk

Jupiter

6. Á.MUSHEN = erû

“The Eagle”; Aquila

7. ANSHE.KUR.RA = sisû

“The Horse”

8. AN.TA.SUR.RA = sariru

“Flashing”; Probably a meteor

9. AN.TA.SHUB.SHUB.BA

“Falling from Above”; Probably a meteorite

10. APIN = epinnu

“The Plow”; Triangulum Boreale with gamma Andromedae

11. ASH.GÁN = ikû

“The Field”; alpha, beta and gamma Pegasi with alpha Andromedae

12. BAL.TÉSH.A = kakkab balti

“Star of Dignity”; Corona Borealis (?)

13. BAN (GISH.BAN) = qashtu

“The Bow”; tao, delta, sigma, and epsilon Canis Maioris

14. BIR = kalitu

“The Kidney”; zeta Puppis

15. BURANUN = Purattu

“The Euphrates”

16. DAR.LUGAL

“The Rooster”; Canis Minor (?)

17. DINGIR.GUB.BA.MESH

“The Standing Gods”

18. DINGIR.KU.A.MESH

“The Sitting (?) Gods”

19. DUMU.USH.É.MAH

Polaris (?)

20. EN.GISHGAL.AN.NA

Jupiter

21. EN.ME.SHÁR.RA

zeta and omicron Persei with, perhaps, the northern stars of Taurus

22. EN.TE.NA.BAR.HUM = habasiranu

Centaurus

23. ESH4.DAR = Ishtar

Venus

24. É.TÙR = tarbasu

“The Cattle Pen”

25. GABA SHU.GI

“The Chest of the Old Man”; Probably delta Persei

26. GAL = rabbu, rabû

“The Great”

27. GÀM = gamlu

“The Crook”; Auriga

28. GÁN.ÙR(.RA) (GISH.GÁN.ÙR) = mashkakatu

“The Harrow”

29. GIGIR (GISH.GIGIR) = narkabtu

“The Chariot”

30. GÌR.MESH SHU.GI

“The Feet of the Old Man”; Probably beta Persei

31. GÍR.TAB = zuqaqipu

“The Scorpion”; Scorpius

32. GISH.KAK dEN.ME.SHÁR.RA

“The Cart Pole of EN.ME.SHÁR.RA”; Probably zeta Persei

33. GU4.AN.NA

“The Bull of Heaven”; Taurus

34. GU.LA

“Great”; Aquarius

35. GU4.UD = shihtu

“Jumping”; Mercury

36. HÉ.GÁL-a-a = kakkab nushi

“Star of Abundance”; Part of Coma Berenices (?)

37. IDIGNA = Idiglat

“The Tigris”

38. dIM.DUGUD.MUSHEN = Anzû

“The Anzû Bird”

39. dIMIN.BI = ilu sibitti

“The Seven Gods”; The deities of MUL.MUL (the Pleiades)

40. IM.SHU.RIN.NA = tinuru

“The Oven”

41. KA5.A = shelebu

“The Fox”; Ursae Maioris (?)

42. KAK.SI.SÁ = shukudu

“The Arrow”; alpha Canis Maioris

43. KA.MUSH.Ì.KÚ.E = Pashittu

beta Andromedae

44. KU6 = nunu

“The Fish”; Piscis Austrinus

45. dLAMMA

alpha Lyrae

46. LI.DUR SIPA.ZI.AN.NA

“The Navel of the True Shepherd of Anu”; Probably alpha Orionis

47. LI9.SI4

alpha Scorpii

48. LUGAL = sharru

“The King”; alpha Leonis

49. LÚ.HUN.GÁ = argu

“The Hired Man”; Aries

50. LU.LIM = lulimu

“The Stag”; Andromeda

51. LUL.LA = sarru

“False”; Probably not a real star

52. MAR.GÍD.DA = eriqqu

“The Wagon”; Ursa Major

53. MAR.GÍD.DA.AN.NA

“The Wagon of Heaven”; Ursa Minor

54. MASH.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL = tu’amu rabûtu

“The Great Twins”; alpha and beta Geminorum

55. MASH.TAB.BA.TUR.TUR

“The Little Twins”; zeta and lamda Geminorium

56. MUL.MUL = zappu

“The Stars” (Sum.) or “The Bristle” (Akk.); The Pleiades

57. MUSH

“The Snake”; Hydra

58. dNIN.KILIM = shikkû

“The Mongoose”

59. PA.BIL.SAG

Sagittarius

60. SIM.MAH = shinunutu

“The Swallow”; Western fish of Pisces

61. SIPA.ZI.AN.NA = shidallu

“The True Shepherd of Anu”; Orion

62. SUHUR.MÁSH = suhurmashû

“The Goat Fish”; Capricorn

63. SHAH

“The Pig”; Delphinus

64. SHAR.GAZ

lamda or upsilon Scorpii

65. SHAR.UR4

lamda or upsilon Scorpii

66. SHUDUN = niru

“The Yoke”; Boötes

67. SHU.GI = shibu

“The Old Man”; Perseus

68. SHU.PA

Boötes

69. TIR.AN.NA = manzât

“The Rainbow”

70. tultu

“The Worm”

71. UD.KA.DU8.A

“The Demon with the Gaping Mouth”; Cygnus and part of Cepheus

72. UGA(.MUSHEN) = aribu

“The Raven”; Corvus

73. UR.BAR.RA = barbaru

“The Wolf”; alpha Trianguli

74. UR.GU.LA

“The Lion”; Leo

75. UR.IDIM

“The Mad Dog”; Lupus

76. ÙZ = enzu

“The She-Goat”; Lyra

77. ZI.BA.AN.NA = zibanitu

“The Scales” (Akk.); Libra

78. ziqit GÍR.TAB

“The Sting of the Scorpion”; Identified with SHAR.GAZ and SHAR.UR4

Appendix 2: Astronomical Texts from Mesopotamia in the First Millennium BCE (After: “Celestial Measurement in Babylonian Astronomy.” by John Steele (Annals of Science, Volume 64, Number 3, 2007, Pages 293-325.)

These can be divided into four main groups:

1. Letters and reports sent by state-employed scholars to the Neo-Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal during the seventh century BCE. Much of this correspondence concerns observed astronomical phenomena and their interpretation as celestial omens. (The letters are edited in S. Parpola, Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars (1993) (earlier edition S. Parpola, Letters from Assyrian Scholars to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal. Part 1: Texts (1970), with a detailed commentary in S. Parpola Letters from Assyrian Scholars to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal. Part 1: Commentaries and Appendices (1983). The reports are edited in H. Hunger, Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings (1992).)

2. Systematic reports of astronomical observations made in Babylon (and occasionally other cities in southern Mesopotamia) during the last seven and a half centuries BCE. These observations are recorded in texts known as ‘Astronomical Diaries,’ ‘Excerpt Texts,’ and ‘Goal-Year Texts,’ The Diaries contain night-by-night observations (and sometimes predictions) of astronomical phenomena such as passages of the Moon and planets by certain stars (known today as ‘Normal Stars’), first and last visibilities and stations of the planets, and eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and are presumed to be the source of the material in the Excerpt Texts and Goal-Year Texts. These latter two types of text contain collections of observations of particular planetary and lunar phenomena. They may be arranged either chronologically or into characteristic astronomical periods (e.g. 8 years for Venus, 46 years for Mercury, 18 years for the Moon) for the Excerpt Texts or by extracting reports for one planetary period earlier than a specific ‘goal’ year for the Goal-Year Texts. (All datable Astronomical Diaries are edited in A.Sachs and H. Hunger, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Volumes 1-3 (1988, 1989, 1996), and the Excerpt Texts in H. Hunger, Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Volume 5 (2001). Publication of the Goal-Year Texts is forthcoming from H. Hunger.)

3. Astronomical phenomena for a particular year predicted by non-mathematical period schemes. These predicted phenomena were recorded on texts known as ‘Almanacs’ and ‘Normal Star Almanacs.’ Both types of text contain predictions of the dates and zodiacal signs of the first and last visibilities and stations of the planets, lunar and solar eclipses, and certain lunar phenomena. In addition, the Almanacs contain the dates of the entries of the planets into each sign of the zodiac, whereas the Normal Star Almanacs contain calculated planetary passages by the Normal Stars. The predicted data were obtained by applying the goal-year periods to the data contained in the Goal-Year Texts. (Goal-year texts contain collections of past astronomical records, believed to have been abstracted from the astronomical diaries, that are used to enable the prediction of of astronomical events for a particular (forth-coming) “goal year.” Surviving goal-year texts are dated within the period 236 BCE to 24 BCE.) Suitable corrections to the dates of phenomena were applied to the data as the goal-year periods are not fully accurate. A few texts describe the methods of making some of these predictions, most importantly TU 11, BM 45728, and BM 41004 (also known as ‘Atypical Text E’). (For the classification of astronomical texts from Babylon, see A. Sachs, “A Classification of the Babylonian Astronomical Tablets of the Seleucid Period.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Volume 2 (1948), Pages 271-90, H. Hunger, “Non-Mathematical Astronomical Texts and Their Relationships.” In: Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination, edited by N. Swerdlow (1999) and H. Hunger and D. Pingree, Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia (1999). Copies of many astronomical texts of all kinds are published in A. Sachs, Late Babylonian Astronomical and Related Texts (1955). For TU 11, see L. Brack-Bernsen and H. Hunger, “TU 11: A Collection of Rules for the Prediction of Lunar Phases and of Month Lengths.” SCIAMVS Volume 3, (2002), Pages 3-90; for BM 45728, see J. Britton, “Treatments of Annual Phenomena in Cuneiform Sources.” In: Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East, edited by J. Steele and A. Imhausen (2002), Pages 21-78; for Atypical Text E, see O. Neugebauer and A. Sachs, “Some Atypical Astronomical Cuneiform Texts I.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Volume 21, (1967), Pages 183-218.)

4. Texts of mathematical astronomy including ‘Ephemerides,’ tables of calculated astronomical phenomena, and ‘Procedure Texts,’ explanatory texts detailing how to calculate Ephemerides. These texts employ abstract methods including for the lunar theories the separation of compound variability into lunar and solar components. In the Ephemerides, calculated positions of the Moon and planets are always given as a number of UŠ (‘degrees’) within one of twelve zodiacal signs, each of which is divided into 30 UŠ. Type (ii) and (iii) texts together are often referred to as ‘Non-Mathematical Astronomical Texts’ or ‘NMAT’ texts and those of type (iv) either as ‘ACT’ texts, after Neugebauer’s Astronomical Cuneiform Texts, or as ‘Mathematical Astronomical Texts’ or ‘MAT’ texts. The relationship between the NMAT and MAT texts is never discussed in Babylonian sources. (The primary publication of mathematical astronomical texts is O. Neugebauer, Astronomical Cuneiform Texts, Parts 1-3 (1955).)

The assyriologist Francesca Rochberg (Bablonian Horoscopes (1998, Page xi) would include “the horoscopes together with diaries, almanacs, goal-year texts, ephemerides and procedure texts as sources for our reconstruction of the repertoire of Babylonian astronomy in the late first millennium.”

Appendix 3: Mesopotamian Astronomical Sources

Mesopotamian Astronomical Sources
1) Iconography (containing astral symbols)
Example(s):	- Cylinder Seals (circa 3000 BCE)

- Kudurru (circa 1200 BCE)2) Inscriptions (containing astronomical information)Example(s):- Cylinders of Gudea (circa 2300 BCE)3) Religious-Mythological Texts (containing astronomical information)Example(s):- Prayer to the Gods of the Night (circa 1800 BCE)4) Omen Texts (containing astronomical information)Example(s):- The Venus Tablets (circa 1600 BCE)

- Enuma Anu Enlil (circa 1100 BCE)5) Astronomical Texts (nonmathematical and mathematical)Nonmathematical Example(s):- Star Calendars (“Astrolabes”; circa 1200 BCE)

- Star Catalogues (Mul.Apin; circa 700 BCE)

- Planisphere (diagrammatic sky chart; circa 600 BCE)

- Star Lists (ziqpu stars/normal stars; circa 600/300 BCE)Mathematical Example(s):- Astronomical Tables (Ephemerides; circa 500 BCE)

- Goal Year Texts (circa 300 BCE)

Apr 28 2013

The Assyrian Tree of Life

THE TREE OF LIFE

A stylized tree with religious significance occurs as an art motif in 4th-millennium Mesopotamia, and, by the 2nd millennium B.C., it is found everywhere within the ancient Near Eastern provinces, including Egypt, Greece, and the Indus civilization.’ The meaning of the motif is not clear, but its over-all composition strikingly recalls the Tree of Life of later Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist art. The question of whether the concept of the Tree of Life actually existed in ancient Mesopotamia has been debated.

About the middle of the 2nd millennium, a new development in the iconography of the Tree becomes noticeable leading to the emergence of the so-called Late Assyrian Tree under Tukulti-Ninurta I. With the rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, this form of the Tree spread throughout the entire Near East and continues to be seen down to the end of the 1st millennium. Its importance for imperial ideology is borne out by its appearance on royal garments and jewelry, official seals, and the wall paintings and sculptures of royal palaces, as in the throne room of Ashurnasirpal II in Calah, where it is the central motif.

The hundreds of available specimens of the Late Assyrian Tree exhibit a great deal of individual variation show that the motif and most of its iconography were inherited from earlier periods. Nevertheless, its features stand out even in the crudest examples and make it easy to distinguish it from its predecessors.

Essentially, it consists of a trunk with a palmette crown standing on a stone base and surrounded by a network of horizontal or intersecting lines fringed with palmettes, pinecones, or pomegranates. In more elaborate renditions, the trunk regularly has joints or nodes at its top, middle, and base and a corresponding number of small circles to the right and left of the trunk. Animal, human, or supernatural figures usually flank the tree, while a winged disk hovers over the whole. Even the most schematic representations are executed with meticulous attention to overall symmetry and balance.

THE TREE: ITS SYMBOLISM AND STRUCTURE

What did this Tree stand for, and why was it chosen as an imperial symbol? There is considerable literature on this question, but despite the most painstaking iconographic evidence, on the whole, little has been explained. This is largely due to the almost total lack of relevant textual evidence. The symbolism of the Tree is not discussed in cuneiform sources, and the few references to sacred trees or plants in Mesopotamian literature have proved too vague or obscure to be productive.

Two fundamentally important points have nevertheless been established concerning the function of the Tree in the throne room of Ashurnasirpal’s palace in Calah. Firstly, Irene Winter has convincingly demonstrated that the famous relief showing the king flanking the Tree under the winged disk corresponds to the epithet “vice-regent of Assur” in the accompanying inscription. Clearly, the Tree here represents the divine world order maintained by the king as the representative of the god Assur, embodied in the winged disk hovering above the Tree.

Secondly, it was observed some time ago that in some reliefs the king takes the place of the Tree between the winged genies. Whatever the precise implications of this, it is evident that in such scenes the king is portrayed as the human personification of the Tree. Thus if the Tree symbolized the divine world order, then the king himself represented the realization of that order in man, in other words, a true image of God, the Perfect Man. If this reasoning is correct, it follows that the Tree had a dual function in Assyrian imperial art.

Basically, it symbolized the divine world order maintained by the Assyrian king, but inversely it could also be projected upon the king to portray him as the Perfect Man. This interpretation accounts for the prominence of the Tree as an imperial symbol because it not only provided a legitimation for Assyria’s rule over the world, but it also justified the king’s position as the absolute ruler of the empire.

The complete lack of references to such an important symbol in contemporary written sources can only mean that the doctrines relating to the Tree were never committed to writing by the scholarly elite who forged the imperial ideology but were circulated orally.

The nature of the matter further implies that only the basic symbolism of the Tree was common knowledge, while the more sophisticated details of its interpretation were accessible to a few select initiates only. The existence of an extensive esoteric lore in 1st and 2nd-millennium Mesopotamia is amply documented, and the few written specimens of such lore prove that mystical exegesis of religious symbolism played a prominent part in it.

THE SEPHIROTIC TREE

Mesopotamian esoteric lore has a remarkable parallel in Jewish Kabbalah, and, more importantly from the standpoint of the present topic, so does the Assyrian Tree. A schematic design known as the Tree of Life figures prominently, in both, practical and theoretical Kabbalah. In fact, it can be said that the entire structure of Kabbalah revolves around this diagram, a form which strikingly resembles the Assyrian Tree.

The Sephirotic Tree derives its name from elements called Sephiroth, literally “countings” or “numbers,” represented in the diagram by circles numbered from one to ten. They are defined as divine powers or attributes through which the transcendent God, not shown in the diagram, manifests Himself.

Each has a name associated with its number. The Tree has a central trunk and horizontal branches spreading to the right and left on which the Sephiroth are arranged in the symmetrical fashion: three to the left, four on the trunk, and three to the right. The vertical alignments of the Sephiroth on the right and left represent the polar opposites of masculine and feminine, positive and negative, active and passive, dark and light, etc. The balance of the Tree is maintained by the trunk, also called the Pillar of Equilibrium.

Like the Assyrian Tree, the Sephirotic Tree has a dual function. On the one hand, it is a picture of the macrocosm. It gives an account of the creation of the world, accompanied in three successive stages by the Sephiroth emanating from the transcendent God. It also charts the cosmic harmony of the universe upheld by the Sephiroth under the influence of the polar system of opposites. In short, it is a model of the divine world order, and in manifesting the invisible God through His attributes, it is also, in a way, an image of God.

On the other hand, the Sephirotic Tree, like the Assyrian, can also refer to man as a microcosm, the ideal man created in the image of God. Interpreted in this way, it becomes a way of salvation for the mystic seeking deliverance from the bonds of flesh through the soul’s union with God. The arrangement of the Sephiroth from the bottom to the top of the diagram marks the path which he has to follow in order to attain the ultimate goal, the crown of heaven represented by the Sephirah number one, Kether.

Tradition has it that the doctrines about the Tree were originally revealed to the patriarch Abraham, who transmitted them orally to his son. In actual fact, the earliest surviving Kabbalistic manuscripts date from the 10th century A.D. It is generally agreed, however, that the “foundation stone” of Kabbalism, the Sepher Yetzirah, was composed sometime between the 3rd and 6th centuries, and the emergence of Kabbalah as a doctrinal structure can now be reliably traced to the 1st century A.D.

The renowned rabbinical schools of Babylonia were the major centers from which the Kabbalistic doctrines spread to Europe during the high Middle Ages. Altogether, the Sephirotic Tree displays a remarkable similarity to the Assyrian Tree in both its symbolic content and external appearance. In addition, given the fact that it seems to have originated on Babylonian soil, the likelihood that it is based on a Mesopotamian model appears considerable. As a matter of fact, a number of central Kabbalistic doctrines, such as the location of the Throne of God in the Middle Heaven, are explicitly attested in Mesopotamian esoteric texts. The crucial question, however, is how the existence of the hypothetical Mesopotamian model can be proven, given the lack of directly relevant textual evidence.

THE ASSYRIAN TREE DIAGRAM

For the above reasons, I had for years considered the identity of the Assyrian and Sephirotic Trees an attractive but probably unprovable, until it finally occurred to me that there is a way of proving or rejecting it. For if the Sephirotic Tree really is but an adaptation of a Mesopotamian model, the adaptation process should be reversible, that is, it should be possible to reconstruct the original model without difficulty.

The basic elements of the Tree, the Sephiroth, are crucial in this respect. Their names and definitions strongly recall the attributes and symbols of Mesopotamian gods, and their prominent association with numbers calls to mind the mystic numbers of the Mesopotamian gods. They are, in fact, represented as angelic beings in some Sephirotic schemes, which is consistent with their definition as divine powers. Accordingly, in the Mesopotamian model they would have been gods, with functions and attributes coinciding with those of the Sephiroth.

Thus, I replaced the Sephiroth with the Mesopotamian gods sharing their functions and/or attributes. Most gods fell into their place immediately. We need no justification for associating Ea with Wisdom, Sin with Understanding, Marduk with Mercy, Samas with Judgment, Ishtar with Beauty, and Nabu and Ninurta with Victory (Netzach). Crown (Kether) was the emblem of both Anu and Enlil, but since in the 1st millennium Enlil was commonly equated with Marduk (just as his son Ninurta was equated with Nabu), the top most Sephirah naturally corresponds to Anu, the god of Heaven. Foundation (Yesod) corresponds to Nergal, lord of the underworld, whose primary characteristic, strength, is in Akkadian homonymous with a word for foundation, dunnu. For the identification of Daath with Mummu (Consciousness) and the number zero.

I had to resort to Tallqvist’s Akkadische Gotterepitheta to find that the only gods with epithets fitting the Sephirah of Hod (Splendor or Majesty) was the storm god Adad, the fire god Girru, and Marduk, Nabui, and Ninurta, the last three of whom already had their place in the diagram. Accordingly, this Sephirah corresponds to Adad and Girru, who share the same mystic number, and it is noteworthy that in the Bible the word hod refers to Jahweh as a thundering and flashing storm.

The last Sephirah, Kingdom (Malkuth), is defined as “the receptive potency which distributes the Divine stream to the lower worlds,” which in Mesopotamia can only apply to the king as the link between God and Man. The motif of the king as distributor of the Divine stream is repeatedly encountered on Assyrian seals, where he holds a streamer emanating from the winged disk above the sacred Tree. I have excluded this Sephirah from the reconstructed model because it breaks the compositional harmony of the Tree and because the king, though impersonating the Tree, clearly does not form part of it in Assyrian art.

Once the gods had been placed in the diagram, which did not take longer than half an hour, I filled in their mystic numbers using as a guide W. Rollig’s article “Gotterzahlen” in the Reallexikon der Assyriologie. For the most part, this was a purely mechanical operation; in some cases, however, I had to choose between two or three alternative numbers. The numbers shown are those used in the spelling of divine names in the Middle and Neo-Assyrian standard orthography, and all of them are securely attested. I should point out that the number for Anu, 1, is erroneously given as 60 in Rollig’s article. Of course, the vertical wedge can also be read 60, but in the case of Anu, “the first god,” the only reading that makes sense is 1, as we shall see presently. The ease with which the gods and their numbers fit into the diagram was almost too good to be true, and the insights obtained in the process were more than encouraging. Suddenly, not only the diagram itself but the Mesopotamian religion as well started to make more sense.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF GODS AND NUMBERS

Looking at the reconstructed diagram more closely, one observes that practically all the great gods of the Assyro-Babylonian pantheon figure in it, some occupying the same place because they were theologically equivalent. Only one major god is missing, Assur, for whom no mystic number is attested. This strongly suggests that this important god has to be identified with the winged disk over the Assyrian Tree from which the Divine stream emanates and, accordingly, is identical with the transcendent God of Kabbalah, Ain Soph.

As a matter of fact, the various spellings of Assur’s name can, without difficulty, be interpreted as expressing the idea of the One, Only, or Universal God, as well as the various qualities of Ain Soph. The solar disk through which he was primarily represented implies that his essential nature was light, as in Kabbalah. Of the gods found in the diagram, Anu, king of Heaven, occupies the crown; Ishtar, representing all female deities, occupies the middle; and Nergal, the lord of the underworld, the base of the trunk. The remaining gods are arranged to the right and left sides of the trunk in a corresponding way, with sons lined under their fathers. In other words, the tree is composed of three successive generations of gods appearing horizontally as interrelated trinities, to be compared with the triadic configuration of nodes, volutes, and circles of the Assyrian Tree. The lines connecting the gods exactly render the divine genealogies known from late 2nd and early 1st millennium texts. But that is not all.

The distribution of the mystic numbers in the diagram adds to it a dimension unknown in the Sephirotic Tree. Six of the numbers are full tens, all neatly arranged, in descending order, on the branches of the Tree: those higher than 30 to the right, the rest to the left side. The numbers on the trunk are not tens, and their arrangement is different: they begin with 1, as in the Sephirotic Tree, but the following two are not in numerical order. Does this distribution make any sense? Initially, we note that the numbers on the trunk, when added together, yield 30, the median number of the sexagesimal system. From the standpoint of number harmony, this tallies beautifully with the medium position of the trunk and recalls its Kabbalistic designation, the Pillar of Equilibrium. The position of the number 15 in the center of the diagram is justifiable from the same point of view.

On the surface, the numbers on the right and left of the trunk seem to upset the balance of the Tree because the numbers on the left are consistently smaller than those on the right. Yet, when one adds the numbers together, one obtains for each branch the same total (30) as for the trunk, the Pillar of Equilibrium. This is so because the numbers on the left side, according to the polar system of oppositions governing the Tree, are negative and thus have to be subtracted from those on the right side. The sum total of the branches and the trunk (4 x 30 = 120) added to the sum total of the individual numbers (1 + 10 + 14 + 15 + … + 60 = 240) yields 360, the number of days in the Assyrian cultic year and the circumference of the universe expressed in degrees.

In all, it can be said that the distribution of the mystic numbers in the diagram displays an internal logic and, remarkably, contributes to the overall symmetry, balance, and harmony of the Tree. All this numerical beauty is lost with the decimal numbering of the Sephirotic Tree, which only reflects the genealogical order of the gods. The fact that the numerical balance of the Tree can be maintained only on the condition that the left-side numbers are negative, as required by Kabbalistic theory, amounts to mathematical proof of the correctness of the reconstruction.

Considering further the perfect match obtained with the placement of the gods, their grouping into meaningful triads and genealogies, and the identification of Assur with the winged disk, I feel very confident in concluding that the Sephirotic Tree did have a direct Mesopotamian model and that this model was perfected in the Assyrian Empire, most probably in the early 13th century B.C.

Being able to reconstruct this Tree, date it, and understand the doctrinal system underlying it, it has tremendous implications to the history of religion and philosophy which I will content myself with three concrete examples illustrating how the insights provided by the Tree are bound to revolutionize our understanding of Mesopotamian religion and philosophy.

THE TREE AND THE BIRTH OF THE GODS IN ENUMA ELISH

In Enuma elish, the narrator, having related the birth of Anu, mysteriously continues: “And Anu generated Nudimmud (= Ea), his likeness.” This can only be a reference to the fact that the mystic numbers of these two gods, 1 and 60, were written with the same sign, and indicates that the composer of the epic conceived the birth of the gods as a mathematical process. On the surface, of course, the theogony of Enuma elish is presented in terms of human reproduction. As the example just quoted shows, however, it did involve more than just one level of meaning.

In fact, the curious sequence of “births” presented in Tablet I 1-15 makes much better sense when it is rephrased “mathematically” as follows: “When the primordial state of undifferentiated unity (Apsu + Mummu + Tiamat, “0″), in which nothing existed, came to an end, nothingness was replaced by the binary system of oppositions (Lahmu and Lahamu)”‘ and the infinite universe (Anshar = Assur) with its negative counterpart (Kishar). Assur emanated Heaven (Anu) as his primary manifestation, to mirror his existence to the world.” Thus rephrased, the passage comes very close to Kabbalistic and Neoplatonic metaphysics.

Lines 21-24 of Tablet I of Enuma elish seem to describe the “birth” of the mystic number of Sin which can be derived from the number of Ea by simply dividing it by two. The irritation of Apsu caused by this play with numbers and the subsequent killing of Apsu and “leashing” of Mummu (lines 29-72) seem to be an etiology for the emanation of the third number and the establishment of the places of Ea and Mummu in the Tree diagram. The “birth” of Marduk, the next god in the diagram, is described in the following lines as expected. Marduk’s mystic number, like the numbers of all the remaining gods, can be derived from the preceding numbers by simple mathematical operations. The prominent part played by numbers both in Enuma elish and the Assyrian Tree of course immediately recalls the central role of mathematics and divine numbers in Pythagorean philosophy.

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

Looking at the Epic of Gilgamesh through Kabbalistic glasses, a new interpretation of the Epic can be proposed viewing it as a mystical path of spiritual growth culminating in the acquisition of superior esoteric knowledge (see fig. 12). The Path proceeds in stages through the Tree of Life, starting from its roots dominated by animal passions, the realm of Nergal (Tablet I); the names of the gods governing the individual stages are encoded in the contents of the tablets, and they follow the order in which they are found in the Tree, read from bottom to top. Tablet II, which has no counterpart in the Tree, deals with spiritual awakening; Tablet III outlines the Path; and Tablet IX describes the final breakthrough to the source of supernal knowledge.

Tablet IX also corresponds to the Sephirah Daath (Knowledge), which in the psychological Tree represents the gate to supernal knowledge, “the point where identity vanishes in the void of Cosmic consciousness before union with Kether”; passing through it is sometimes compared to spiritual death. The revelation of supernal knowledge, on the other hand, is described “in Jewish classical texts as a tremendous event, when the sun will shine with an overwhelming light. The act of acquiring supernal knowledge involves a change in both the known and the knower; it is presented as an active event, or penetration”. Compare this with the penetration of Gilgamesh through the dark passage of the cosmic mountain guarded by the Scorpion man and woman and his emergence to the dazzling sunlight on the other side. The beautiful jewel garden he finds there is the Garden of Knowledge; it corresponds to the “garden of God” of Ezek. 28:12 associated with wisdom, perfection, and blamelessness, and “adorned with gems of every kind: sardin and chrysolite and jade, topaz, carnelian and green jasper, sapphire, purple garnet and green felspar.”

The late version of the Epic consists of twelve tablets, the last of which is widely considered an “inorganic appendage breaking the formal completeness of the Epic, which had come full circle between the survey of Uruk in Tablet I and the same survey at the end of Tablet XI.” In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. Without the twelfth tablet, the Epic would be a torso because, as we shall see, it contains the ultimate wisdom that Gilgamesh brought back from his arduous search for life.

That wisdom was not meant for the vulgar, and it is therefore hidden in the text. But the Epic is full of clues to help the serious reader to penetrate its secret. The refrain at the end of Tablet XI is one of these. Far from signaling the end of the Epic, it takes the reader back to square one, the Prologue, where he is advised to examine the structure of “the walls of Uruk” until he finds the “gate to the secret,” a lapis lazuli tablet locked inside a box.” “The walls of Uruk” is a metaphor for Tablets I-XI, ”the tablet box” is the surface story, and “the lapis lazuli tablet” is the secret structural framework of the Epic, the Tree diagram.

Once it is realized that the Epic is structured after the Tree, the paramount importance of Tablet XII becomes obvious, for it corresponds to the Crown of the Tree, Anu (Heaven), which would otherwise have no correspondence in the Epic. On the surface, there is no trace of Heaven in Tablet XII. On the contrary, it deals with death and the underworld, the word “heaven” (or the god Anu) not even being mentioned in it, and it seems to end on an utterly pessimistic and gloomy note.

When considered in the light of the psychological Tree and the spiritual development outlined in the previous tablets, however, the message of the tablet changes character. We see Gilgamesh achieving reunion with his dead friend Enkidu, being able to converse with him and thus to acquire precious knowledge from him about life after death; and what is more, he achieves this reunion in exactly the same way as he did in Tablet IX, by prolonged weeping and praying. In other words, the unique mystical experience recounted in Tablets IX-XI, there presented as something totally new and unusual, has in Tablet XII become a firmly established technique by which similar experiences can be sought at will.

In Jewish mysticism, such experiences are referred to as “ascent to heaven” or “entering Paradise” and regarded as tremendous events reserved only to perfectly ethical, perfectly stable men. The evolution of Gilgamesh into such a man is described in detail in Tablets I-VIII. In the Jewish mystical text Hekhalot Rabbati, the very concept of mystical “ascent to heaven” is revealed to the Jewish community as a revolutionary “secret of the world.” There can be no doubt whatsoever that this very secret, revealing the way to Heaven, was the precious secret that Gilgamesh brought back from his journey to Utnapishtim.

THE ETANA MYTH

The Mesopotamian myth of Etana is well known for its central motif, a man’s ascent to heaven on an eagle’s back. It has thus been classified as an “adventure story” or early “science fiction” containing the first known account of “space travel.” The eagle back ascent motif has been recognized to recur in Hellenistic, Jewish, and Islamic folk tales and legends and has also been connected with the Greek myth of Ganymede and the Alexander Romance. Much less attention has been paid to the tree inhabited by the eagle and the snake which figures so prominently in the second tablet of the myth.

Without going into unnecessary detail, it can be suggested here that the tree-eagle-serpent theme in Tablet II is an allegory for the fall of man and that the ascent to heaven described in Tablet III is to be understood as mystical ascent of the soul crowning an arduous program of spiritual restoration. Seen in this light, the myth becomes closely related to the Gilgamesh Epic in substance, and in presenting Etana as the first man to achieve the ascent, it forcefully contributes to the notion of the Mesopotamian king as the “Perfect Man.” The tree of Tablet II is Etana himself, whose birth its sprouting marks. The eagle and the serpent are conflicting aspects of man’s soul, the one capable of carrying him to heaven, the other pulling him down to sin and death.

In Christian symbolism, “The eagle holding a serpent in its talons or beak represents the triumph of Christ over the ‘dark forces’ of the world. In Indian mysticism, the bird Garuda likewise achieves its ascent to heaven in spite of the serpents coiling around its head, wings, and feet. In the Etana myth, the eagle plays two roles. At first, it is “an evil eagle, the criminal Anzu (var.: criminal and sinner), who wronged his comrade”; as such, it parallels the eagle inhabiting the huluppu tree in the Sumerian Gilgamesh epic, which is explicitly called Anzu. Later, however, having suffered and been rescued by Etana, it carries the latter to heaven. The evil aspect of the bird corresponds to the natural state of man’s soul, which, despite its divine origin, is contaminated with sin (see Enuma elish VI 1-33 and Lambert and Millard, Atrahasis, p. 59). The second aspect of the bird corresponds to the soul of a “purified” man. The “tree” itself is marked as sinful by its species (the poplar), associated with Nergal; Bel-sarbe “Lord of the Poplar”. This accords with Ebeling, Handerhebung, p. 114:9, which explicitly states that mankind is “entrusted to Nergal,” that is, under the power of sin.

The deal struck by the eagle with the serpent marks the beginning of Etana’s moral corruption as king. Ignoring the voice of his conscience, he becomes guilty of perfidy, greed, and murder; for this, he is punished. Etana’s voice of conscience is the “small, especially wise fledgling” of II 45 and 97. Note that the theme of bird’s nest with the young (taken over from the Sumerian Lugal-banda epic) also plays a role in Kabbalah, where it is explicitly associated with self-discipline and wisdom.

The serpent attacks the eagle, cuts off its wings, and throws it into a bottomless pit. This is an allegory for spiritual death; the same idea is expressed by the childlessness of Etana, to whom the narrative now returns.

Etana’s realization of his condition is the beginning of his salvation; from now on, he appears as a person referred to by his own name. Admitting his guilt and shame, he prays for a “plant of birth” (that is, a chance for spiritual rebirth) and is guided to the path that will take him there.

The spiritual meaning of the prayer (concealed under the “plant of birth” metaphor) is made clear by the preceding prayer of the eagle (II 121-23): “Am I to die in the pit? Who realizes that it is your punishment that I bear? Save my life, so that I may broadcast your fame for eternity!” In the late Turkish version of the myth, the bird rescues the hero from the netherworld.

The path leads him to the mountain where he finds the eagle lying in the pit with its wings cut, a metaphor for the imprisonment of the soul in the bonds of the material world. Complying with the wish of the eagle, his better self, he starts feeding it and teaching it to fly again, an allegory for spiritual training and self-discipline. It takes eight months to attempt the first ascent to heaven, which fails because Etana himself is not ready for it.

The second ascent, better prepared, is successful and takes Etana into a celestial palace where he, having passed through several gates, finds a beautiful girl sitting on a throne guarded by lions. All this is so reminiscent of the terminology and imagery relating to the ascent of the soul in Jewish mysticism that mere coincidence can be excluded. The several heavens and heavenly palaces through which Etana passes are commonplace in the Hekhalot texts and later mystical literature. The girl seen by Etana is the Shekhinah, the Presence or Beauty of God. Etana’s fall from the heavens has ample parallels in Kabbalistic literature, where the ascent is considered a dangerous practice and the return to a normal state referred to as being “thrown down like a stone.”

The heavenward ascent of Etana is already attested on seals from the Akkadian period (ca. 2300 B.C.) and thus antedates the earliest Hekhalot texts by more than two and a half millennia, and the mystical experiences of 19th century Kabbalists by more than four thousand years. In saying this, I do not want to stress the antiquity of the “ascent” phenomenon in Mesopotamia. The point I wish to make is that, against all appearances, Mesopotamian religion and philosophy are not dead but still very much alive in Jewish, Christian, and Oriental mysticism and philosophies. The Tree diagram provides the key which makes it possible to bridge these different traditions and to start recovering the forgotten summa sapientia of our cultural ancestors.

Covenant of Babylon

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Mesopotamian Star Lists and Star Names

The Assyrian Tree of Life

THE TREE OF LIFE

THE TREE: ITS SYMBOLISM AND STRUCTURE

THE SEPHIROTIC TREE

THE ASSYRIAN TREE DIAGRAM

THE DISTRIBUTION OF GODS AND NUMBERS

THE TREE AND THE BIRTH OF THE GODS IN ENUMA ELISH

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH

THE ETANA MYTH

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