6.0538 Network-Accessible Dissertation Available (1/141)
Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Thu, 18 Feb 1993 16:08:12 EST
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 6, No. 0538. Thursday, 18 Feb 1993.
Date: Wed, 17 Feb 93 18:44:12 EST
From: MICHAEL STRANGELOVE <441495@ACADVM1.UOTTAWA.CA>
Subject: First Network-Accessible Dissertation Available
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The Religious Studies Publications Journal - CONTENTS
Announcing the First Network-Accessible Disseration Now Available
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Volume 2.004 ISSN 1188-5734
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February 13, 1993
The CONTENTS Project is pleased to announce the electronic
publication of the first complete, network-accessible dissertation:
ASTROLOGY AND JUDAISM IN LATE ANTIQUITY
Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,
Department of History
by Lester J. Ness
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio, 1990
The abstract and table of contents follows retrieval instuctions.
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ABSTRACT
ASTROLOGY AND JUDAISM IN LATE ANTIQUITY
by Lester J. Ness
The goal of this dissertation will be to explain how it was that the
Jews of the Hellenized world adopted and adapted astrology. There
will be a focus on the zodiac mosaics found in the synagogues of
Byzantine period Israel. The dissertation will begin with a chapter
on the origins of astrology in Mesopotamia. There we will see how
astrology grew from the beliefs that the planets manifested the gods,
and that one could predict the gods' wills by predicting,
mathematically, the planets' motions. The result was the first
horoscopes.
The second chapter will tell how the Hellenistic world adopted the
Mesopotamian practice and blended it with Greek science to produce
the mathematical "scientific" astrology familiar to most twentieth
century readers. The following third chapter will show how
astrology's religious side fared in the Hellenized Near East. The
planets were important gods, astrological art was used to praise the
gods, and to portray their power and ability to care for the world
and their worshippers. Horoscopes and astrological magic allowed one
to communicate with the gods and persuade them to help one through
life.
Chapter four will deal with Jewish astrology, both "scientific" and
"religious." We will examine a variety of Jewish writings from the
Hellenized Near East to demonstrate that Jews did indeed practice
astrology. We will conclude that Jews adapted the polytheistic
assumptions of astrology to their own monotheistic world-view by
interpreting the planet gods as planet angels, beings superior to
humans, but subordinate to the one genuine god, YHWH.
The fifth and final chapter will discuss the various zodiac mosaics,
both as archaeological sites and as works of art, and the various
theories which try to explain what they meant.
Finally, we will conclude that, since the planets are the
subordinates of YHWH, administering His will in the world as part of
His creation, the zodiac mosaics are best explained as indirect
portrayals of God. The sun and the zodiac signs were His creatures.
They carried out His commands. They were the satraps of His cosmos.
Thus, they were appropriate visual substitutes for the God whom even
Moses might not see.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS v
LIST OF MAPS ix
Chapter
INTRODUCTION 1
1. ASTROLOGY IN MESOPOTAMIA 3
2. HELLENISTIC SCIENTIFIC ASTROLOGY 68
3. ASTRAL RELIGION 110
4. JEWISH ASTROLOGY 160
5. ASTROLOGY IN SYNAGOGUE ART 215
BIBLIOGRAPHY 281
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