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D: Early Mesopotamian Constellations
4: Sumerian constellations and star names?
Gudea cylinder A. The two Gudea cylinders (both enormous hollow clay cylinders) and thousands of clay tablets were excavated by the French at Lagash between 1877 and 1900. Both Gudea cylinder A and Gudea cylinder B are held in the Louvre museum, Paris. They are both inscribed with lengthy hymns to the god Ningirsu (= Ninuta) and his temple at Lagash. They were among the first Sumerian monuments to be recovered. Lagash was one of the oldest Sumerian cities in the state of Lagash, and in the late 3rd-millennium BCE was also one of the largest cities in the world, if not the largest.
It is a widely held popular belief that the constellations and the zodiac originated with the Sumerians circa 3000 BCE. This is wrong on both counts. The existence of reasonable evidence for Sumerian constellations and star names dating to the 3rd-millennium BCE has been lacking until recently. The topic still remains controversial and somewhat speculative. The best evidence for early Mesopotamian constellations and star names still remains with texts dated to the 2nd-millennium BCE (circa 1800 BCE).
Circa 3500 BCE the Sumerians recognised Venus was both a morning and evening star. The Sumerian Inanna myth, centred on the city of Uruk, is readily interpretable as referring to the periodic disappearance of the planet Venus from sight and the planet's reappearance in the sky. Also, the two epithets húd 'morning' and sig 'evening' describe the goddess Inanna (Venus) as two manifestations of the planet Venus, one shining in the morning sky and one shining in the evening sky. Bendt Alster believed astronomical observations could be discerned in Sumerian compositions dated as early as circa 3500 BCE, which refer to the movement of the heavenly bodies and the constellations.
Circa 3300-3200 BCE A cylinder seal from the Uruk period in the Eldermeyer Collection has 3 star symbols at the top which may represent the Sun, Moon, and Venus. The cylinder seal also contains 2 symmetrical curved signs, one star, and an ear pole with a pennon - corresponding to the symbol for Inanna. The decipherment may be dingir.Inanna.Údsig = "Goddess Inanna [star] of sunrise and sunset."
Circa 3000 BCE (Archaic Period) the Sumerians were able to regulate an intercalated lunar calendar by inserting a 13th lunar month approximately every third year.
Circa 2900 BCE Sumerian pictographic texts discovered on monuments of the Sumerian city-states Uruk and Jemdet Nasr refer to the 29th century BCE, show evidence of calendar inscriptions and records of the rising and setting of Venus, and (supposedly) delineations of several constellations.
Circa 2700 BCE the goddess Nisiba [note: early and current spelling Nisiba but now usually spelled Nisaba or Nidaba] (the patron goddess of scribes) had a knowledge of astronomy attributed to her and her temple in Eres was called the "House of the Stars." She had a lapis-lazuli tablet which is sometimes called the "tablet with the stars of the heavens" or "tablet with the stars of the pure heavens." It was kept in her "House of Wisdom." It is possible that this lapis-lazuli tablet - which was connected with astronomy - was a kind of star-map or symbolic representation of the heavens.
Circa 2400 BCE Sumerian records provide evidence for the government practice of arbitrarily inserting calendar months to keep in order to keep the traditional month of the barley harvest (Nisanu of the Babylonians) in the harvest season.
Circa 2200 BCE Cylinder A of Gudea has a reference to the heliacal rising of a star marking the month. It has been speculated that the star was possibly Aldebaran (though this does not mean that the constellation of Taurus was established). A system of named stars is also indicated. (Also, recognition of Nidaba mul ku-ba as constellation of the 'corn-goddess'?)
Circa 2100 BCE Šulgi, king of Ur (reigned circa 2100 to circa 2150 BCE), recorded that he had learned how to calculate the appearance of the new moon while a student in a scribal school. Also in the Post Sargonic/Ur III Period the Sumerian term "house" (é) is used to denote the celestial positioning of the moon.
One of the earliest and clearest references to a celestial sign dates to the Sumerian Gudea Cylinder A where the goddess Nisaba tells Gudea, with a sign sent in the form of a bright star, when to begin construction of Ningirsu's temple. Also, several lines of inscription on Gudea Cylinder A, in a section dealing with his commission to build the Eninu [Eninnu], suggest astronomical observations in the 3rd-millennium BCE. (The clay cylinders of Gudea, known as Cylinder A and Cylinder B comprise a very important text corpus. They were found as foundation deposits in the temple Eninus [Eninnus] devoted to the god Ningirsu. Both the cylinders contain texts devoted to the achievements of Gudea (a king). The texts are quite long with about 1300 lines each. They are the most ancient complete Sumerian literary composition and are an important source for understanding Sumerian. (The language on the cylinders is actually called New Sumerian. Most of our present knowledge of Sumerian is derived from texts in an era in which Sumerian as a spoken language was already extinct.)
Recent authors who have broached the topic of the possibility of Sumerian constellations and star names are:
(1) Alster, Bendt. (1976). "Early Patterns in Mesopotamian Literature." In: Eichler, Barry. (Editor). Kramer Anniversary Volume, Pages 13-24).
(2) Brown, David. (2000). Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology. (See especially pages 67, and 245-248.) Relies primarily on Cylinder A of Gudea.
(3) Cohen, Mark. (1993). The Cultic Calendars of the Ancient Near East. (See pages 178-180.) Relies primarily on Cylinder A of Gudea (and the identification of the heliacal rising of the month star Aldebaran (by Thorkild Jacobsen), and the work of the assyriologist Bendt Alster regarding possible astral themes in Sumerian compositions.
(4) Horowitz, Wayne. (1991). "Further Notes on Birmingham Cuneiform Tablets volume I." (Acta Sumerologica, Volume 13, Pages 406-417). The article includes a brief discussion of possible evidence pointing to a Ur III origin of at least some constellation and star names.
(5) Horowitz, Wayne. (1998). Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography. On pages 166-168 the author discusses evidence indicating the possibility of Sumerian star charts.
(6) Horowitz, Wayne. (2005). "Some Thoughts on Sumerian Star-Names and Sumerian Astronomy." In: Sefati, Yitzhak. et. al. (Editors). An Experienced Scribe Who Neglects Nothing: Ancient Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Jacob Klein. (Pages 163-178). Wayne Horowitz discusses a tablet (The Nippur Forerunner to Tablet 22 of Urra = hubullu) listing 2 star names in Sumerian (line 396 having: mul gisz apin; and line 410 having: mul lu2.hun.ga2) which he believes were in use in Sumer and Akkad in the 3rd millennium. BCE. (The lexical series Urra = hubullu) in its classical 24-tablet form known from first millennium exemplars, presents lists of Sumerian entries and their Akkadian equivalents.)
The latter paper by the assyriologist Wayne Horowitz is an important discussion of the topic. The Sumerian literary work Enki and the World Order (288-289) refers to two constellations. These are "The Field" (= the Pegasus-square) and "The Chariot." Cylinder B of Gudea (ix, 15) refers to the chariot of Ningirsu ("The Chariot" constellation mul.giš gigir). He also expresses the possibility that constellation/star names written in Sumerian but appearing in late texts may actually be genuine survivors from the 3rd-millennium BCE. The name of the "Bull of Heaven" (mul gu4.an.na) in the Sumerian epic Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven has the same name as the bull constellation Taurus. In the epic Lugalbanda I there are two references (201-3, and 484) to "morning star(s). Two Sumerian hymns to the Moon-god indicate knowledge of stellar movement where mention is made that Nanna-Suen herds cattle (= herds stars). The term cattle meaning stars is obvious from the passage.
Wayne Horowitz concludes ("Some Thoughts on Sumerian Star-Names and Sumerian Astronomy." In: An Experienced Scribe Who Neglects Nothing, edited by Yitzhak Sefati et. al. (2005)): (1) Sumerian texts, dating back to the time of the earliest archives of cuneiform texts, do directly and indirectly indicate evidence of astronomical/astrological activities. (2) The state of present cuneiform evidence indicates that the Sumerians of the 3rd- and 4th-millennium BCE had no formal system of astral sciences (astronomy/astrology) that can be compared to astronomy/astrology in Akkadian texts of the 2nd-millennium BCE.
Appendix 1: Problems with use of Sumerian words.
The Semitic Akkadians borrowed the Sumerian-invented cuneiform script for writing their own language. The Akkadians not only borrowed the idea of cuneiform but also retained numerous Sumerian logographs and phonetic signs (Sumerograms). Additionally they added many of their own. Because of their shortness Sumerian symbols remained in use in Akkadian writing. The terms ideograms and logograms are applied to the Sumerian language. The terms Sumerograms and logograms are applied to the Akkadian language. They are used in the graphic representation of a language other than Sumerian. In Akkadian Sumerian logograms are often named Sumerograms because they originate from Sumerian cuneiform signs. A Sumerogram is the use of a single, or group, of Sumerian, cuneiform signs as an ideogram or logogram rather than a syllabogram. An ideogram is a graphical symbol representing an idea rather than a word i.e., graphical wayfinding signage at airports. A logogram is a sign that stands for an entire word. A logogram is a written symbol representing an entire spoken word without expressing its pronunciation i.e., $ for dollar. The term ideogram is also commonly used to describe logographic writing systems.
Proponents of a Sumerian origin for the Babylonian constellations like to argue that the names of many constellations are originally Sumerian, not merely Sumerograms (i.e., logograms, or ideograms) for Akkadian. However, the issue is not a simple one. Beginning circa 2500 BCE the Akkadians adapted the Sumerian cuneiform writing system for writing Akkadian. (Akkadian was the language of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. It seems the Akkadians were the first Semites to borrow the Sumerian writing system.) Most cuneiform signs were taken from the Sumerians. Though the Akkadians spelled their words phonetically they still made use of the old Sumerian system. Semitic scribes preferred to avoid syllabic spelling. Long Akkadian words were preferentially written as Sumerograms. It is generally stated that the term logogram is used to describe a Sumerian word that is used in Akkadian cuneiform writing i.e., has been borrowed into the Akkadian language. But it is not always the case that Sumerograms mean the use of Sumerian loan words. It may be that there has been an Akkadian adaptation of a Sumerian logogram. In Akkadian texts Sumerian words are frequently used to stand for their Akkadian equivalents. A Sumerian word that is used in Akkadian writing usually indicates meaning (words) (i.e., are mostly used for common nouns i.e., "king" or "horse") rather than a syllable or sound. (Present day example: The use of 4 for "four" illustrates a single symbol representing an entire word without expressing its pronunciation.) Use of a Sumerian word is represented by 1 sign in the case of a simple logogram or by 2 signs in the case of a composite logogram. (Composite logograms are separated by a dot.) Use of logograms in Akkadian cuneiform texts are recognisable either because (1) a syllabic reading of the sign makes no sense in the context, or (2) cuneiform scribes usually add (preceding) signs (determinatives) that act as logogram identifiers and indicate the class the (following) logogram belongs to. (See: Beyond Babel by Steven McKenzie and John Kattner (2002).)
Sumerian loan words were written just as they were written in Sumerian. However, it is not (always) possible to decide whether the Sumerian words (word-signs or 'ideograms') used in later (non-Sumerian) times are actually Sumerian in origin or are just later Babylonian notions recorded in anachronistic Sumerian. (According to the cuneiform philologist John Heise, Akkadian speakers systematically used the Sumerian language at least to the Old Babylonian Period. It was the language of the Akkadian-speaking scholars.) Because of the ability of the Sumerian language to express multiple words with the brevity of a single logogram the Sumerian language was later used for either technical or ritual purposes. Sumerian logograms offered the advantage of brevity enabling technical terms to be written with a single symbol. (A Sumerogram can be symbol (sign) and would mean one word, or compound symbols (signs) - separated by spacings - representing multiple words.) A logogram used in an Akkadian text could represent either a loan word from Sumerian or a native Akkadian word. Sumerograms did not necessarily represent Sumerian loan words in the Akkadian language. Sumerograms were actually read in Akkadian only. The Sumerian symbols were used because of heir shortness. To write the word meaning 'scales' (Akkadian zibanitu(m)), for the constellation Libra, either the single Sumerian logogram RIN could be used or the four Akkadian cuneiform signs zi-ba-ni-tum. Understandably, logograms were used as short-cuts in order to write faster and save space on a tablet. Sumerian word signs were frequently used as technical terms in mathematics and astronomy. In some ways the later use of Sumerian in Babylonian texts is somewhat similar to the continued use of Latin in the Middles Ages in Europe (termed 'Classical Latin'). It was the language of a cultural elite (i.e., the lingua franca). It was a general convention in ancient Mesopotamian scientific texts to use Sumerian word-signs to render Akkadian vocabulary words. As such no conclusion can be confidently drawn from the later use of Sumerian terms regarding the time or place of the origin of the content of the texts. Also, there are very few original Sumerian tablets containing any significant astronomical references.
Appendix 2: The Ur III Period
The Ur III period (2112-2004 BCE) (not to be confused with the earlier Uruk III period reaching up to circa 3000 BCE) is generally considered the best documented century in antiquity. It is also termed the Neo Sumerian period or the "Sumerian Renaissance." The tens of thousands of cuneiform tablets that have survived document an immense range of activities. This has resulted in nearly 100 years of intense scholarly work on the Ur III period. Within the context of the active intellectual endeavour recorded at this period no astronomy emerges.
Appendix 3: Sumerian Astral Omens?
No astral omens in the Sumerian language have been found. However, there is some evidence that ominous signs were observed and interpreted. The somewhat sole example is Gudea of Lagaš looking for signs from extispicy before beginning the rebuilding the temple of his city's god, Ningirsu.
Appendix 4: Star Names in Sumerian Eblaite list.
The Sumerian term mul.mul "The Stars" (= Pleiades) occurs in a Sumerian-Eblaite list as an equivalent of the Eblaite term mul kà-ma-tù "The Family." Four more entries in lexical lists from Ebla may be names for stars in Sumerian. (Of the 15,000 tablets recovered from Ebla approximately 80% are written in Sumerian. The date of the tablets is circa 2250 BCE.)
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