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

• Superior document: IJS Studies in Judaica, Volume 14
• VerfasserIn: Jacobus, Helen R.,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands : : Brill,, 2015.; ©2015
• Year of Publication: 2015
• Language: English
• Series: IJS studies in Judaica ; Volume 14.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (555 p.)
• Notes: Conference proceedings of the Institute of Jewish Studies, University College London.

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.

Table of 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.