Gerd Graßhoff and Erich Wenger, "The Coordinate System of Astronomical Observations in the Babylonian Diaries", in: John Steele and Mathieu Ossendrijver (Eds.), Studies on the Ancient Exact Sciences in Honour of Lis Brack-Bernsen, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2017, 83–103

Abstract

A large number of the astronomical observations in the Babylonian diaries are occurrences
of close conjunctions of moving objects, such as the Moon or planets with bright stars, in
the vicinity of the ecliptic. In 1995, Graßhoff proposed the hypothesis that the observations
fit best when one assumes that the Babylonians used an ecliptical coordinate system. In the
following we present a test that excludes an equatorial coordinate system as an alternative
system of measurement.

Published In

John Steele and Mathieu Ossendrijver (Eds.), Studies on the Ancient Exact Sciences in Honour of Lis Brack-Bernsen, Berlin: Edition Topoi, 2017