CONFERENCES: Scale in Ancient Astrology (Durham University, 9-10 December )
From Kathryn R. Stevens [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
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Scale in Ancient Astrology
Durham University, Institute of Advanced Study 9-10 December 2016
Workshop sponsored by the British Academy and the Institute of Advanced
Study at Durham; held under the auspices of the Durham Centre for the Study
of the Ancient Mediterranean and the Near East.
Ancient astrology confronts both ancient and modern interpreters with an
acute problem of scale: given the spatial and temporal gulfs between
celestial and terrestrial phenomena, how can the former be mapped onto the
latter? This interdisciplinary workshop compares the ways in which
Babylonian, Egyptian and Greek astrology dealt with this problem. All three
cultures had in common the cosmic scale of celestial movements which can
ultimately be understood and predicted mathematically, yet the ways in which
they each 'scaled down' to human affairs were different. Even where concepts
and techniques were borrowed cross-culturally, the relationship between
events in heaven and earth was reconfigured, sometimes subtly, sometimes in
far-reaching ways. The workshop brings together experts in the different
cultures to explore points of intersection and divergence between
Babylonian, Egyptian and Greek astrology, as well as changes within each
tradition over time.
If interested in attending, please contact Kathryn Stevens
(mailto:[log in to unmask])
Programme (all sessions are in IAS Seminar Room, Cosin's Hall, Palace Green)
Friday, 9th December
2.30 Registration
3.00-3.15 Welcome and introduction
3.15-4.00 Eleanor Robson (UCL) 'The human scale of Babylonian horoscopy:
Ellil-belšunu and sons'
4.00-4.30 Tea
4.30-5.15 Ulla Susanne Koch (University of Copenhagen) 'Late Babylonian
oracular astrology'
5.15-6.00 John Steele (Brown University) 'Astrology at the Reš temple in
Uruk'
7.00 Dinner
Saturday, 10th December
10.30-11.00 Coffee
11.00-11.45 John Wee (University of Chicago) 'Sundering the beast: from
the Babylonian Micro-Zodiac to Dodekatemoria in Greco-Roman Late Antiquity'
11.45-12.30 Alex Jones (ISAW) 'Some quantitative procedures in Greek
astrology and their consequences'
12.30-2.00 Lunch
2.00-2.45 Andreas Winkler (University of Oxford) 'Casting horoscopes in
Graeco-Roman Egypt'
2.45-3.30 Helen Jacobus (UCL) 'The Metonic Cycle in the Dead Sea Scrolls
and the Books of 1-2 Maccabees'
3.30-4.00 Tea
4.00-4.30 Closing discussion
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