A COMPARISON OF ASTRONOMICAL TERMINOLOGY, METHODS AND CONCEPTS IN CHINA AND MESOPOTAMIA, WITH SOME COMMENTS ON CLAIMS FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF MESOPOTAMIAN ASTRONOMY TO CHINA
Open accessAbstract
Mesopotamia and China have long traditions of astronomy and celestial divination, and share some similarities in their approach to these subjects. Some scholars have therefore argued for the transmission of certain aspects of Mesopotamian astronomy to China. In this paper, I compare four aspects of ancient astronomy in these cultures in order to assess whether there is any evidence for transmission. I conclude that the similarities between Chinese and Mesopotamian astronomy are only superficial and there is no evidence for the transmission of Mesopotamian astronomy to China.
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Recent scholarship has revealed the independent development of the lunar mansions idea in China based on its notable idiosyncrasies.
“recent schol ar ship has revealed the inde pen dent devel op ment of the lunar man sions idea in China based on its nota ble idi o syn cra sies (Zenba 1957; Stephenson 1998; Steele 2013; Pankenier 2014).”
From Zoomorphizing the Asterisms: Indigenous Interpretations of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions in the History of China (2022) · cites this paper as Steele 2013
The discussion of earlier scholarship says that recent scholars have argued for an indigenous Chinese origin for the xiu (lunar lodges). Section 4 describes distinctive features of the lodges, and the Conclusion notes differences between Chinese and Babylonian celestial measurement. Steele does not present those differences as proof that the lunar-mansions idea developed independently; the claim’s “has revealed” is stronger than the paper’s conclusion. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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Research works printed but not linked: 24
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- Steele, J.M., 2011. Goal-year periods and their use in predicting planetary phenomena. In Selz, G., and Wagensonner, K. (eds.). The Empirical Dimension of Ancient Near Eastern Studies -Die empirische Dimension altorientalischer Forschungen, Vienna, LIT-Verlag. Pp. 101-110.
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- John Steele has B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Durham. He is currently Professor of the Exact Sciences in Antiquity in the Department of Egypt- ology and Ancient Western Asian Studies at Brown Uni- versity (USA). He serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal for the History of Astronomy, Isis and the book series Time, Astrono- my and Calendars: Texts and Studies and Wilbour Studies in Egypt and Ancient Western Asia. John's main research focus is into the history of Babylonian astronomy. He is the author of more than fifty research papers and author or editor of several books including: Observations and Predictions of Eclipse Times by Early Astronomers (2000), Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East (2002, co-edited by Annette Imhausen), A Brief Introduction to Astronomy in the Middle East (2008), Living the Lunar Calendar (2012, co-edited by Jonathan Ben-Dov and Wayne Horo- witz), and Ancient Astronomical Observations and the Study of the Moon's Motion (1691-1757) (2012).
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Kim, S. (2022) · Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies · doi:10.1215/15982661-9767171 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“However, recent schol ar ship has revealed the inde pen dent devel op ment of the lunar man sions idea in China based on its nota ble idi o syn cra sies (Zenba 1957; Stephenson 1998; Steele 2013; Pankenier 2014).”
BackgroundThe Circulation of Babylonian Astral Science
Steele, J. M. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-97-3541-9_5
Self-citation
- Authors
- Steele, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Brown University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Steele, J.M.
- ORCID
- Steele, J.M.
- Venue
- Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage
- Published
- 2013-11-01
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 03
- Pages
- 250-260
- ISSN
- 1440-2807 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2988533817
- Cited by
- 2
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 0.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- dx.doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Peking University
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Historical Astronomy and Related Studies
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › History and Developments in Astronomy
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Historical and Architectural Studies
- Keywords
- Mesopotamian astronomy, Chinese astronomy, transmission of astronomical knowledge, celestial divination, astronomical terminology, astronomical concepts, astronomical methods
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