Babylonian astrology

Babylonian astrology was the first known organized system of astrology, arising in the second millennium BC.
In Babylon as well as in Assyria as a direct offshoot of Babylonian culture, astrology takes its place as one of the two chief means at the disposal of the priests for ascertaining the will and intention of the gods, the other being the inspection of the livers of sacrificial animals.

Early origins

There is speculation that astrology of some form appeared in the Sumerian period in the 3rd millennium BC, but the isolated references to ancient celestial omens dated to this period are not considered sufficient evidence to demonstrate an integrated theory of astrology. The history of scholarly celestial divination is therefore generally reported to begin with late Old Babylonian texts, continuing through the Middle Babylonian and Middle Assyrian periods.
By the 16th century BC, the extensive employment of omen-based astrology is evident in the compilation of a comprehensive reference work known as Enuma Anu Enlil. Its contents consisted of 70 cuneiform tablets comprising 7,000 celestial omens. Texts from this time also refer to an oral tradition – the origin and content of which can only be speculated upon. At this time Babylonian astrology was solely mundane, and prior to the 7th century BC the practitioners' understanding of astronomy was fairly rudimentary. Because of their inability to accurately predict future celestial phenomena and planetary movement very far in advance, interpretations were done as the phenomena occurred or slightly before. By the 4th century BC, however, their mathematical methods had progressed enough to calculate future planetary positions with reasonable accuracy, at which point extensive ephemerides began to appear.

Divinatory basis

The history of Babylonian astrology shows the development of astronomical knowledge within the context of divination. A collection of 32 tablets with inscribed liver models, dating from about 1875 BC, are the oldest known detailed texts of Babylonian divination, and these demonstrate the same interpretational format as that employed in celestial omen analysis. Blemishes and marks found on the liver of the sacrificial animal were interpreted as symbolic signs which presented messages from the gods to the king.
The gods were also believed to present themselves in the celestial images of the planets or stars with whom they were associated. Evil celestial omens attached to any particular planet were therefore seen as indications of dissatisfaction or disturbance of the god that planet represented. Such indications were met with attempts to appease the god and find manageable ways by which the god's expression could be realised without significant harm to the king and his nation. An astronomical report to the king Esarhaddon concerning the lunar eclipse of 18 January 672 BC shows how the ritualistic use of substitute kings, or substitute events, combined an unquestioning belief in magic and omens with a purely mechanical view that the astrological event must have some kind of correlate within the natural world:
Ulla Koch-Westenholz, in her 1995 book Mesopotamian Astrology, argues that this ambivalence between a theistic and mechanic worldview defines the Babylonian concept of celestial divination as one which, despite its heavy reliance on magic, remains free of implications of targeted punishment with the purpose of revenge, and so "shares some of the defining traits of modern science: it is objective and value-free, it operates according to known rules, and its data are considered universally valid and can be looked up in written tabulations". Koch-Westenholz also establishes the most important distinction between ancient Babylonian astrology and other divinatory disciplines as being that the former was originally exclusively mundane, being geographically oriented and specifically applied to countries cities and nations, and almost wholly concerned with the welfare of the state and the king as the governing head of the nation.

Planets and gods

The Patron God of Babylon was Marduk, and this god was recognized in Babylonian astrology as the planet Jupiter. Marduk was recognized as the most powerful god, but not the one and only god. The Babylonians were polytheistic, believing in many gods with different purposes, and they associated certain gods with certain planets.
The Babylonians used horoscopic astrology. By observing the seasonal movement of the sun, moon, and planets, especially related omens, the Babylonians connected their beliefs of divine intervention to social, political, and environmental problems, such as giving birth to deformed children.
The Babylonians believed their gods' activities influenced their own lives. These celestial events were viewed by the Babylonians as divine intervention in their lives using the influence of the Sun, Moon, and planets, and to communicate when bad or good events were going to occur. Horoscopic astrology is significant to Babylonian beliefs, because associating the sun, moon, and planets with their gods shaped the way the Babylonians lived their lives and viewed the world around them. The parallels between horoscopes and nativity omens from a Seleucid tablet shows the benefic and malefic natures of the planets in Babylonian astrology. The Babylonians associated and created their beliefs around planets based on the nature of the god associated with it. Planets were believed to have influences and provide guidance to humans, as they lived their lives. The planet's nature determines whether it is benefic or malefic.
The Babylonians divided the fixed stars into three groups: the stars of Anu, Enlil and Ea. The group to which they belonged depended, for most, on where they rose on the Eastern horizon which was divided into the Paths of Anu, Enlil and Ea.
Five planets were recognized: Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Mercury and Mars, to name them in the order in which they appear in the older cuneiform literature; in later texts Mercury and Saturn change places.
The planets were identified with the gods of the Babylonian pantheon as follows:

Jupiter with Marduk,
Venus with the goddess Ishtar,
Saturn with Ninurta,
Mercury with Nabu,
Mars with Nergal.

The movements of the sun, moon and planets were regarded as representing the activity of the five gods, together with the moon-god/goddess Sin/Selardi and the Sun-god Shamash, in preparing the occurrences on Earth. If therefore one could correctly read and interpret the activity of these powers, one knew what the gods were aiming to bring about.

System of interpretation

The Babylonian priests accordingly applied themselves to the task of perfecting a system of interpretation of the phenomena to be observed in the heavens, and it was natural that the system was extended from the Moon, Sun and five planets to the more prominent and recognizable fixed stars.
The interpretations themselves were based chiefly on two factors:

On the recollection or on written records of what in the past had taken place when the phenomenon or phenomena in question had been observed, and
Association of ideas—involving sometimes merely a play upon words—in connection with the phenomenon or phenomena observed.

Thus, if on a certain occasion, the rise of the new moon in a cloudy sky was followed by victory over an enemy or by abundant rain, the sign in question was thus proved to be a favourable one and its recurrence would thenceforth be regarded as a good omen, though the prognostication would not necessarily be limited to the one or the other of those occurrences, but might be extended to apply to other circumstances.
On the other hand, the appearance of the new moon earlier than was expected was regarded as unfavourable – prognosticating in one case defeat, in another death among cattle, in a third bad crops – not necessarily because these events actually took place after such a phenomenon, but by an application of the general principle resting upon association of ideas whereby anything premature would suggest an unfavourable occurrence.
In this way a mass of traditional interpretation of all kinds of observed phenomena was gathered, and once gathered became a guide to the priests for all times. However, not all of these ideas are still used in astrology as it is usually practiced today.

Astral medicine

Astrology was also incredibly important in a practice known as astral medicine. According to a kalendartext discovered, belonging to a mašmaššu priest in the late Babylonian period of Uruk named Iqīšâ, different remedies are created for patients for different days, depending on the date.

1	Aries	7	Sheep-blood, sheep-fat, and sheep-hair, you anoint.
2	Capricorn	14	Goat-blood, goat-fat, and goat hair, you anoint.
3	Libra	21	"Empty place", you anoint.
4	Cancer	28	Crab-blood, or crab-fat, you anoint.
5	Taurus	5	Bull-blood, or bull-fat, or bull-hair, you anoint.
6	Aquarius	12	Eagle-head, wing, and blood, you anoint.
7	Scorpio	19	"Empty place", you anoint.
8	Leo	26	Lion-blood, lion-fat, or lion-hair, you anoint.
9	Gemini	3	Rooster-head, blood, and wing, you anoint.
10	Pisces	10	Dove-head, blood, swallow-head, blood, you anoint.
11	Sagittarius	17	Anzu-head, Anzu-wing, Anzu-blood, you anoint.
12	Virgo	24	šigušu-barley-flour, raven-head, and raven-wing, you anoint.

Steele acknowledges that it is entirely possible that the practice of astral medicine is nothing more than a theoretical practice, devised by scholars of the time. Since several of the parts would have been expensive or otherwise impossible for the average Babylonian to obtain, this raises two possible situations. It is very possible that the whole concept of astral medicine in terms of the kalendartexte and other such sources were, as previously stated, simply theory and never intended for real use. However, Babylonian medicine contains a tradition known as Dreckapotheke, wherein the names of common ingredients are given names of often unpleasant sounding ones. It is also within the realm of possibility that the ingredients listed in the kalendartexte are following this tradition.

Zodiacal Sign	Normal Babylonian Name	Ingredient
Aries	The Hired Man	Sheep
Taurus	The Stars	Bull
Gemini	The Twin	Rooster
Cancer	The Crab	Crab
Leo	The Lion	Lion
Virgo	The Barleystalk	Barley-flour, Raven
Libra	The Balance	"empty"
Scorpio	The Scorpion	"empty"
Sagittarius	Pabilsag	Anzu-bird
Capricorn	The Goat-fish	Goat
Aquarius	The Great One	Eagle
Pisces	The Tails	Dove, Swallow