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Rita Watson / Wayne Horowitz: Writing Science before the Greeks. A Naturalistic Analysis of the Babylonian Astronomical Treatise MUL.APIN. Leiden/Boston: Brill 2011. XXVIII, 224 S. (Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 48) ISBN 978-90-04-20230-6. € 97,—.


Pages 213 - 217

DOI https://doi.org/10.13173/zeitdeutmorggese.163.1.0213




Leipzig

1 Eine völlig konträre Einschätzung vertritt D. Brown in seinem Werk Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology (Groningen 2000). Zwei Zitate zur Illustration mögen an dieser Stelle ausreichen: S. 116: „[…] I indicate below, however, that most of the period schemes attested in Mul.Apin are not substantially different from those attested in EAE, and that Mul.Apin contains material which is substantially older than the date assigned to its composition by Hunger & Pingree (1989). I suggest that it does not represent a significant improvement on the schemes of known OB date, and that Mul.Apin's aims are in no way distinct from those of EAE. Mul.Apin, as with all the pre-750 bc period schemes, falls well within the remit of the EAE Paradigm.‟ S. 120: „[…] The use of this very inaccurate ratio in Mul.Apin indicates that the series was not an astronomical compendium, but a divinatory collection of ideal schemes. It is no surprise, then, that from IIii16 to its end (IIiv12) Mul.Apin was concerned only with celestial omens. Its purpose was not distinct from that of EAE.‟ Eine Auseinandersetzung mit diesen Thesen wäre durchaus wünschenswert gewesen.

2 Der auf Seite 16, Fußnote 3 angeführte Hinweis Houston 2004 wird erst über den Umweg Cooper 2004 verständlich.

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