Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jun 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aspc..441..353l&link_type=abstract
The Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena VI. Proceedings of a conference held October 18-23, 2009 in Venezia, Italy. Edited by
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
For Ancient Mesopotamians, astronomical phenomena were signs signifying the gods' judgment on human behaviour. Mesopotamian scholars studied celestial phenomena for understanding the gods' will, and strongly developed astrology. From the 8th to the 6th century BC Assyrian and Babylonian astronomers achieved the ability to predict solar and lunar eclipses, and the planets' movements through mathematical calculations. Predictability of astral phenomena solicited the awareness that they are all regular, and that the universe is governed by an eternal, immutable order fixed at its very beginning. This finally favoured the idea that the cosmic order depended on the will of one god only, displacing polytheism in favour of monotheism; and astrology lost its religious importance as a mean to know the divine will.
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