Zodiac calendars in the Dead Sea scrolls and their reception : ancient astronomy and astrology in early Judaism / by Helen R. Jacobus.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jacobus, Helen R., author.

Series:

IJS studies in Judaica ; Volume 14.

IJS Studies in Judaica, 1570-1581 ; Volume 14

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dead Sea scrolls.

Jewish calendar.

Jewish astronomy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (555 p.)

Place of Publication:

Leiden, Netherlands : Brill, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The ancient mathematical basis of the Aramaic calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls is analysed in this investigation. Helen R. Jacobus re-examines an Aramaic zodiac calendar with a thunder divination text (4Q318) and the calendar from the Aramaic Astronomical Book (4Q208 - 4Q209), all from Qumran. Jacobus demonstrates that 4Q318 is an ancestor of the Jewish calendar today and that it helps us to understand 4Q208 - 4Q209. She argues that these calendars were taught in antiquity as angelic knowledge described in 1 Enoch and the Book of Jubilees . The study also encompasses Babylonian, Hellenistic, Byzantine astronomy and astrology, and classical and Jewish writings. Finally, a medieval Hebrew zodiac calendar related to 4Q318 with an astrological text is published here for the first time.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Introduction

1 Towards A New Interpretation of 4QZodiac Calendar

2 4QBrontologion: Transmission, Origins and Significance

3 The Aramaic Astronomical Book of Enoch Reconsidered in the Light of 4Q318

4 The ‘Enoch Zodiac’ and Greco-Roman Zodiac Sundials

5 Zodiac Calendars in Hellenistic Texts and Artefacts

6 A Late Medieval Astrological Hebrew Text

Summary and Conclusions

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Conference proceedings of the Institute of Jewish Studies, University College London.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

90-04-28406-0

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004284067 DOI