The Recovery Of Babylonian Astronomy by Gary D. Thompson
Copyright © 2009-2011 by Gary D. Thompson
The Recovery of Babylonian Astronomy
Strassmaier, Epping, Kugler, and Schaumberger: A History and Legacy of Their Co-operative Pioneering Effort to Recover Babylonian Astronomy
by Gary D. Thompson
(12) Conclusion
Part 13: Our present state of knowledge of Babylonian astronomical tablets
We still have no understanding of the overall completeness of the astronomical material we have knowledge of compared to what has been excavated and acquired by museum collections. The Babylon archive is largely known only as far as it was investigated by Strassmaier and Pinches, or, on the basis of the original British Museum inventory numbers, the astronomical tablets that were acquired by the British Museum between 1876 and 1882. In the 1950s the British Museum began the process of systematic cataloging (and applying a new system of catalogue numbers to tablets) and this has resulted in the identification of additional astronomical texts as the cataloging proceeds. The astronomical contents of the Uruk archive are known only to the extent that such tablets have been acquired by museums in Istanbul, Berlin, Paris, and the United States of America. There is still no knowledge of the possible extent of the astronomical content of the tablet collections held in the Iraq Museum and other museums. Otto Neugebauer concluded that by 1955 the end of Strassmaier's and Pinches' astronomical material was reached. (Much of Strassmaier's material (autographs of tablets) has been superseded (at least as far as the text material is concerned - as opposed to the astronomical material) by later publications.)
Part 14: Our present state of knowledge of Babylonian astronomy – mathematical and non-mathematical
In its most developed and valuable form it corresponded to establishing numerical relations of the succession of various celestial phenomena. Most of the tablets dealing with mathematical astronomy are from the Seleucid Period. This late circumstance is important for appraising the general mindset inherent in Babylonian astronomy.
Babylonian non-mathematical astronomy
Part 15: References
Anon. (1920). "[Obituary] Father Johann Nepomuk Strassmaier ...." Nature, Number 2621, Volume 104, January 22, Page 540.
Anon. (1920). "Obituary. - Father J. N. Strassmaier, S.J." The Observatory, Volume XLIII, Number 549, February, Pages 98-99.
Bezold, Carl. (1911). Himmelsschau und Astrallehre bei den Babylonien. [See pages 4-5 and 28.]
Brinkman, John. (1967). Strassmaier, Johann Nepomuk ...." New Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIII, Page 732.
Clay, Albert. (1904). Business Documents of Murashû Sons of Nippur.
Delaney, John. and Tobin, James. (1961). "Strassmaier, Johann Nepomuk (1846-1920), scholar." Dictionary of Catholic Biography, Page 1087.
Budge, Ernest. (1925). The Rise and Progress of Assyriology.
Galton, Charles. (1920). "Obituary - Father J. N. Strassmaier, S.J., The Assyriologist." The Tablet, New Series Volume CIII, (Volume CXXXV) January to June, Saturday, January 17, Pages 86-87.
Hoensbroech, Count Paul von. (1911). Fourteen Years a Jesuit. (2 Volumes).
Koch, Ludwig. (1934). Jesuiten-Lexikon.
Jaki, Stanley. (revised and enlarged edition, 1986). Science and Creation.
Kugler, Franz. (1900). Die babylonische Mondrechnung.
Mayer, Werner. (2001). Private communication to Gary Thompson (dated 5th February).
Neugebauer, Otto. (1936). "Jahreszeiten und Tageslängen in der babylonischen Astronomie." Osiris, Volume 2, Pages 517-550.
Neugebauer, Otto. (1937). "Untersuchungen zur antiken Astronomie I." Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte der Mathematik, Astronomie und Physik, Series B, Volume 4, (1937-1938), Pages 29-33.
Neugebauer, Otto. (1951). "The Babylonian Method for the Computation of the Last Visibility of Mercury." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Volume 95, Number 2, April, Pages 110-116.
Neugebauer, Otto. (1954). "Babylonian Planetary Theory." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Volume 98, Number 1, February, Pages 60-89. [Note: Contains drawings of astronomical cuneiform tablets from Strassmaier's notebooks.]
Neugebauer, Otto. (1955; 1983, 3 Volumes). Astronomical Cuneiform Texts.
Neugebauer, Otto. (1957; 1969). The Exact Sciences in Antiquity. [Note: Contains drawings of astronomical cuneiform tablets from Strassmaier's notebooks.]
Neugebauer, Otto. (1975, 3 Parts). A History of Ancient Mathematical Astronomy. [Note: Contains drawings of astronomical cuneiform tablets from Strassmaier's notebooks.]
Sachs, Abraham. et. al. (1955). Late Babylonian Astronomical and Related Texts. [Note: Drawings 271 and 366 were two by Strassmaier that he made in 1889 then sent to Epping that same year.]
Schaumberger, Johann (1932). "Die Fortführung der Arbeit P. Kuglers." Actes du XVIIIe Congres International des Orientalistes, Leiden, 7-12 Septembre, 1931, Pages 68-69.
Swerdlow, Noel. (editor). (1999). Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination. [Note: See both the Preface and Introduction by the editor.]
Schiaparelli, Giovanni. (1925; reprinted 1997). Scritti Sulla Storia della Astronomia Antica. Tomo I. [Note: See “Primordi dell’ Astronomia Presso I Babilonesi”; specifically page 49.]
van Gent, Robert. (2000 & 2001) Various private communications to Gary Thompson.
Walker, Christopher. (2000). Various private communications to Gary Thompson.
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