Author(s):
Renger, Johannes (Berlin)
|
Quack, Joachim (Berlin)
|
Hübner, Wolfgang (Münster)
[German version] I. Ancient Orient The rotation of the moon and the phases of the moon served as significant structural elements of the calendar from early times in all ancient Oriental cultures. People discussed not only the phases of the moon but also, from earliest times, the eclipses of the moon, regarding them as ominous signs (Astrology; Divination). Like the sun, the moon, which was represented as a deity, was the protagonist of numerous myths in Egypt, Asia Minor [1. 373-375] and Mesopotamia (Moon deities). In Babylonia, as early as toward the end of the 3rd millennium, the systematic observation of the rotation of the moon was the basis for determining leap months. The astronomical compendium MUL.APIN ([2]; Astronomy) from the 1st millennium BC contains, among other things, details about the conjunction of the moon and the Pleiades as a criterion for establishing a leap month. In addition, it provides tables deduced on the basis of observation of the length of day and night including data regarding the ideal time interval between sunset and the setting of the moon in the case of new moons, other tables concerning the change in the duration of the moon's visibility, as well as information about the constellations through which the path of the moon passes. Observation texts from the 7th cent. BC that report about ominously important manifestations of the moon lead us to discern constant observation practice by experts experienced in astronomy; the so-called ‘Astronomical Diaries (7th-1st cents.) note astronomically relevant observations month by month and day by day. Mathematical-astronomical texts facilitating, among other things, the calculation of the n…