Editing Zodiac (section)

== History ==
{{further|Former constellation}}

=== Early history ===
As early as the 14th century BC a complete list of the 36 Egyptian [[decan]]s was placed among the hieroglyphs adorning the tomb of [[Seti I]]; they figured again in the temple of [[Ramesses II]], and characterize every Egyptian astrological monument. Both the famous zodiacs of [[Dendera]] display their symbols, identified by [[Karl Richard Lepsius]].<ref>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Zodiac |volume=28 |page=997 |first=Agnes Mary |last=Clerke |author-link=Agnes Mary Clerke|inline=1}}</ref>

[[File:Antoninus Pius Drachm showing a Zodiac wheel.jpg|thumb|400px|Roman Egyptian coin of [[Antoninus Pius]] (dated year 8 of his reign or 145 AD) showing his portrait and a Zodiac wheel with the busts of [[Helios]] and [[Selene]] in the center]]
[[File:Beit Alpha.jpg|thumb|A sixth-century mosaic zodiac wheel in synagogue [[Beth Alpha]] incorporating Greek-Byzantine elements, Israel]]
[[File:F4.v. zodiac circle with planets - NLW MS 735C.png|thumb|Zodiac circle with planets, {{circa|1000}} – ''NLW MS 735C'']]

The division of the ecliptic into the zodiacal signs originates in [[Babylonian astronomy]] during the first half of the [[1st millennium BC]]. The zodiac draws on stars in earlier [[Babylonian star catalogues]], such as the [[MUL.APIN]] catalogue, which was compiled around 1000 BC. Some constellations can be traced even further back, to Bronze Age ([[Old Babylonian Empire]]) sources, including [[Gemini (constellation)|Gemini]] "The Twins", from {{langx|sux|𒀯𒈦𒋰𒁀𒃲𒃲|translit=<sup>MUL</sup>MAŠ.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL}} "The Great Twins"; [[Cancer (constellation)|Cancer]] "The Crab", from {{langx|sux|𒀯𒀠𒇻|translit=<sup>MUL</sup>AL.LUL}} "The Crayfish", among others.<ref name=Rogers_1998/><ref>{{cite book
 | chapter=History of the Sumerian, Accadian, Assyrian, and West Semitic calendars
 | title=Babylonian menologies and the Semitic calendars
 | first=S. | last=Langdon | author-link=Stephen Herbert Langdon | year=1935
 | series=The Schweich Lectures of the British Academy, 1933
 | publisher=Oxford University Press | publication-place=London
 | url=https://gospelstudies.org.uk/biblicalarchaeology/pdf/schweich-lectures/1933_babylonian-menogies_langdon.pdf
 | access-date=2024-01-15 }}</ref>

Around the end of the fifth century BC, [[Babylonia]]n astronomers divided the ecliptic into 12 equal "signs", by analogy to 12 schematic months of 30 days each. Each sign contained 30° of [[celestial longitude]], thus creating the first known celestial coordinate system. According to calculations by modern astrophysics, the zodiac was introduced between 409 and 398 BC, during [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian rule]],<ref>{{cite book
 | last=Ossendrijver
 | first=Mathieu
 | date=2013
 | chapter=Science, Mesopotamian
 | title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient History
 | doi=10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah21289
 | isbn=9781405179355
 | chapter-url=https://amor.cms.hu-berlin.de/~ossendrm/encyc-ancient-hist-2013-ossendrijver.pdf
 | access-date=2022-04-18
 | archive-date=16 June 2022
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220616052542/https://amor.cms.hu-berlin.de/~ossendrm/encyc-ancient-hist-2013-ossendrijver.pdf
 | url-status=live
 }}</ref> and probably within a very few years of 401 BC.<ref>{{Cite journal | last=Britton | first=John P. | date=2010 | title=Studies in Babylonian lunar theory: part III. The introduction of the uniform zodiac | journal=Archive for History of Exact Sciences | volume=64 | issue=6 | pages=617–663 | jstor=41134332 | doi=10.1007/S00407-010-0064-Z | s2cid=122004678 | quote=[T]he zodiac was introduced between −408 and −397 and probably within a very few years of −400.}}</ref> Unlike modern astrologers, who place the beginning of the sign of [[Aries (astrology)|Aries]] at the position of the Sun at the [[Equinox (celestial coordinates)|vernal equinox]] in the [[Northern Hemisphere]] ([[March equinox]]), Babylonian astronomers fixed the zodiac in relation to stars, placing the beginning of [[Cancer (astrology)|Cancer]] at the "Rear Twin Star" ([[Pollux (star)|β Geminorum]]) and the beginning of [[Aquarius (astrology)|Aquarius]] at the "Rear Star of the Goat-Fish" ([[Delta Capricorni|δ Capricorni]]).<ref>{{cite book | last=Steele | first=John M. | date=2012 | orig-year=2008 | title=A Brief Introduction to Astronomy in the Middle East | publisher=Saqi | place=London | edition=electronic | isbn=9780863568961 }}</ref>

Due to the [[precession of the equinoxes]], the time of year the Sun is in a given constellation has changed since Babylonian times, as the point of March equinox has moved from [[Aries (constellation)|Aries]] into [[Pisces (constellation)|Pisces]].<ref>{{Cite web | last=Plait | first=Phil | date=26 September 2016 | title=No, NASA hasn't changed the zodiac signs or added a new one | website=Bad Astronomy | url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/09/26/no_nasa_didn_t_change_your_astrological_sign.html | access-date=2 October 2016 | archive-date=2 October 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161002070120/http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2016/09/26/no_nasa_didn_t_change_your_astrological_sign.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

Because the divisions were made into equal arcs of 30° each, they constituted an ideal system of reference for making predictions about a planet's longitude. However, Babylonian techniques of observational measurements were in a rudimentary stage of evolution.<ref name=Sachs/> They measured the position of a planet in reference to a set of "normal stars" close to the ecliptic (±9° of latitude). The normal stars were used as observational reference points to help position a planet within this ecliptic coordinate system.<ref>{{cite book | last=Aaboe | first=Asger H. | author-link=Asger Aaboe | title=Episodes from the Early History of Astronomy | place=New York | publisher=Springer | date=2001 | pages=37–38 | isbn=9780387951362 }}</ref>

In [[Babylonian astronomical diaries]], a planet position was generally given with respect to a zodiacal sign alone, though less often in specific degrees within a sign.<ref name="Rochberg">{{cite journal | last=Rochberg | first=Francesca | author-link=Francesca Rochberg | date=1988 | title=Babylonian Horoscopes | journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society | volume=88 | issue=1 | pages=i–164 | jstor=1006632 | doi=10.2307/1006632 | publisher=American Philosophical Society }}</ref> When the degrees of longitude were given, they were expressed with reference to the 30° of the zodiacal sign, i.e., not with a reference to the continuous 360° ecliptic.<ref name="Rochberg" /> In astronomical [[ephemerides]], the positions of significant astronomical phenomena were computed in [[sexagesimal]] fractions of a degree (equivalent to [[Minute and second of arc|minutes and seconds of arc]]).<ref>{{cite book | last=Aaboe | first=Asger H. | author-link=Asger Aaboe | title=Episodes from the Early History of Astronomy | place=New York | publisher=Springer | date=2001 | pages=41–45 | isbn=9780387951362 }}</ref> For daily ephemerides, the daily positions of a planet were not as important as the astrologically significant dates when the planet crossed from one zodiacal sign to the next.<ref name="Rochberg" />

=== Hebrew astronomy and astrology ===
Knowledge of the Babylonian zodiac is said to be reflected in the [[Hebrew Bible]]; [[E. W. Bullinger]] interpreted the creatures that appear in the [[book of Ezekiel]] ([[Ezekiel 1#Verse 10|1:10]]) as the middle signs of the four quarters of the zodiac,<ref>Bullinger, E.W. ''The Witness of the Stars''</ref><ref>Kennedy, D. James. ''The Real Meaning of the Zodiac''.</ref>{{Better source needed|date=January 2024}} with the Lion as [[Leo (astrology)|Leo]], the Bull as [[Taurus (astrology)|Taurus]], the Man as Aquarius and the Eagle as a higher aspect of Scorpio.<ref>{{Cite book | first=Richard Hinckley | last=Allen | year=1963 | pages=213–215 | title=Star names - Their Lore and Meaning | publisher=Dover Books | publication-place=New York }} argued for ''Scorpio'' having previously been called ''Eagle''. for Scorpio.</ref> Some authors have linked the signs of the zodiac with the [[twelve tribes of Israel]], and with the lunar [[Hebrew calendar]], which has twelve [[lunar months]] in a [[lunar year]]. [[Ernest L. Martin|Martin]] and others have argued that the arrangement of the tribes around the [[Tabernacle]] (reported in the [[Book of Numbers]]) corresponded to the order of the zodiac, with [[Tribe of Judah|Judah]], [[Tribe of Reuben|Reuben]], [[Tribe of Ephraim|Ephraim]], and [[Tribe of Dan|Dan]] representing the middle signs of Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, and Scorpio, respectively. Such connections were taken up by [[Thomas Mann]], who in his novel ''[[Joseph and His Brothers]]'', attributes characteristics of a sign of the zodiac to each tribe, in his rendition of the [[Blessing of Jacob]].{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}

=== Hellenistic and Roman era ===
[[File:Dendera.jpg|thumb|left|The 1st century BC [[Dendera zodiac]] (19th-century engraving)]]
The Babylonian star catalogs entered [[Greek astronomy]] in the 4th century BC, via [[Eudoxus of Cnidus]].<ref name=Rogers_1998/>
Babylonia or [[Chaldea]] in the Hellenistic world came to be so identified with astrology that "Chaldean wisdom" became among [[Greeks]] and [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] the synonym of [[divination]] through the [[planets]] and [[star]]s. [[Hellenistic astrology]] derived in part from Babylonian and [[Ancient Egyptian astronomy|Egyptian astrology]].<ref>{{cite thesis | url=http://www.astrologer.com/aanet/pub/transit/jan2005/babylonian.htm | last=Powell | first=Robert | title=Influence of Babylonian Astronomy on the Subsequent Defining of the Zodiac | year=2004 | degree=PhD | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090521081306/http://www.astrologer.com/aanet/pub/transit/jan2005/babylonian.htm | archive-date=21 May 2009 }} summarized by anonymous editor.</ref> [[Horoscopic astrology]] first appeared in [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic Egypt]] (305 BC–30 BC). The [[Dendera zodiac]], a relief dating to {{circa|50 BC}}, is the first known depiction of the classical zodiac of twelve signs.

The earliest extant Greek text using the Babylonian division of the zodiac into 12 signs of 30 equal degrees each is the ''Anaphoricus'' of [[Hypsicles of Alexandria]] (fl.{{nbsp}}190{{nbsp}}BC).<ref>{{ Cite book | last=Montelle | first=Clemency | editor-last=Steele | editor-first=John M. | date=2016 | title=The Circulation of Astronomical Knowledge in the Ancient World | chapter=The ''Anaphoricus'' of Hypsicles of Alexandria | pages=287–315 | series=Time, Astronomy, and Calendars: Texts and Studies | volume=6 | publisher=Brill | location=Leiden | isbn=978-90-0431561-7 }}</ref> Particularly important in the development of Western horoscopic astrology was the astrologer and astronomer [[Tetrabiblos|Ptolemy]], whose work ''Tetrabiblos'' laid the basis of the [[Western astrological tradition]].<ref>{{cite book | last=Saliba | first=George | author-link=George Saliba | year=1994 | title=A History of Arabic Astronomy: Planetary Theories During the Golden Age of Islam |location=New York | publisher=New York University Press | page=67 | isbn=978-0-8147-8023-7 }}.</ref> Under the Greeks, and Ptolemy in particular, the planets, Houses, and signs of the zodiac were rationalized and their function set down in a way that has changed little to the present day.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Parker |first1=Julia |first2=Derek |last2=Parker |year=1990 |title=The New Compleat Astrologer|isbn=978-0517697009 |publisher=Crescent Books |location=New York, NY|page=16 }}</ref> Ptolemy lived in the 2nd century AD, three centuries after the discovery of the [[precession]] of the equinoxes by [[Hipparchus]] around 130 BC. Hipparchus' lost work on precession never circulated very widely until it was brought to prominence by Ptolemy,<ref name="Springer">{{cite book|last1=Graßhoff|first1=Gerd|title=The History of Ptolemy's Star Catalogue|date=1990|publisher=Springer|isbn=9780387971810|page=73}}</ref> and there are few explanations of precession outside the work of Ptolemy until late Antiquity, by which time Ptolemy's influence was widely established.<ref name=Geminos>{{cite book|last1=Evans|first1=James|last2=Berggren|first2=J. Lennart|title=Geminos's Introduction to the Phenomena|date=2006|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=069112339X|page=113}}</ref> Ptolemy clearly explained the theoretical basis of the western zodiac as being a [[tropical astrology|tropical coordinate system]], by which the zodiac is aligned to the equinoxes and solstices, rather than the visible constellations that bear the same names as the zodiac signs.<ref name="Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos">{{cite book|last1=Ashmand|first1=J. M.|title=Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos|publisher=Astrology Classics|page=37 (I.XXV)|year=2011|isbn=978-1461118251}}</ref>

=== Hindu zodiac ===

According to mathematician-historian [[Jean-Étienne Montucla|Montucla]], the Hindu zodiac was adopted from the [[Ancient Greek astronomy|Greek zodiac]] through communications between ancient India and the Greek empire of [[Bactria]].<ref name="Mill1817">{{cite book | first=James | last=Mill | author-link=James Mill | title=The History of British India | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQAMAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA402 | year=1817 | publisher=Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy | page=409}}</ref> The [[Hindu zodiac]] uses the [[Sidereal astrology|sidereal coordinate system]], which makes reference to the fixed stars. The tropical zodiac (of Mesopotamian origin) is divided by the intersections of the [[ecliptic]] and [[equator]], which shifts in relation to the backdrop of fixed stars at a rate of 1° every 72 years, creating the phenomenon known as precession of the equinoxes. The Hindu zodiac, being sidereal, does not maintain this seasonal alignment, but there are still similarities between the two systems. The Hindu zodiac signs and corresponding Greek signs sound very different, being in Sanskrit and Greek respectively, but their symbols are nearly identical.<ref name="Schmidt">{{cite web |last1=Schmidt |first1=Robert H. |title=The Relation of Hellenistic to Indian Astrology |url=http://www.projecthindsight.com/articles/vedic.html |publisher=Project Hindsight |access-date=4 July 2016 |archive-date=3 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703034617/http://www.projecthindsight.com/articles/vedic.html |url-status=live }}</ref> For example, ''dhanu'' means "bow" and corresponds to Sagittarius, the "archer", and ''kumbha'' means "water-pitcher" and corresponds to Aquarius, the "water-carrier".<ref name="Dalal2010">{{cite book |last=Dalal |first=Roshen |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC&pg=PA89 |year=2010 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |page=89 |access-date=20 October 2016 |archive-date=7 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307164318/https://books.google.com/books?id=DH0vmD8ghdMC&pg=PA89 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Middle Ages ===
[[File:Angers Cathedral South Rose Window of Christ with Zodiac.jpg|thumb|Angers Cathedral South Rose Window of Christ (center) with elders (bottom half) and zodiac (top half). Medieval stained glass by Andre Robin after the fire of 1451]]

During the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid era]], Greek reference books were translated into [[Arabic]], and [[Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world|Islamic astronomers]] then did their own observations, correcting Ptolemy's Almagest. One such book was [[Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi|Al-Sufi]]'s ''[[Book of Fixed Stars]]'', which has pictorial depictions of 48 constellations. The book was divided into three sections: constellations of the zodiac, constellations north of the zodiac, and southern constellations. When Al-Sufi's book, and other works, were translated in the 11th century, there were mistakes made in the translations. As a result, some stars ended up with the names of the constellation they belong to (e.g. [[Hamal]] in Aries).

The High Middle Ages saw a revival of interest in [[Greco-Roman magic]], first in [[Kabbalism]] and later continued in [[Renaissance magic]]. This included magical uses of the zodiac, as found, e.g., in the [[Sefer Raziel HaMalakh]].

The zodiac is found in medieval [[stained glass]] as at [[Angers Cathedral]], where the master glass maker, André Robin, made the ornate [[rosette window|rosettes]] for the North and South transepts after the fire there in 1451.<ref>King, David. '[http://vidimus.org/issues/issue-48/feature/ Angers Cathedral] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217215830/http://vidimus.org/issues/issue-48/feature/ |date=17 December 2013 }}', (book review of Karine Boulanger's 2010 book, ''Les Vitraux de la Cathédrale d'Angers'', the 11th volume of the ''Corpus Vitrearum'' series from France), ''Vitemus:  the only on-line magazine devoted to medieval stained glass'', Issue 48, February 2011, retrieved 17 December 2013.</ref>

=== Medieval Islamic era ===
[[File:Ottoman Sundial at the Debbane Palace museum.jpg|alt=Circular brass time measurement device with engraved Arabic toponyms and zodiac symbols.|thumb|Ottoman-style sundial with folded gnomon and compass. The sundial features engraved toponyms in Arabic and zodiac symbols. [[Debbane Palace]] museum, [[Lebanon]]]]

[[Astrology]] emerged in the 8th century AD as a distinct discipline in Islam,<ref name="ayduz">{{cite book |last1=Ayduz |first1=Salim |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>{{rp|64}} with a mix of Indian, Hellenistic Iranian and other traditions blended with Greek and Islamic astronomical knowledge, for example Ptolemy's work and Al-Sufi's Book of Fixed Stars. A knowledge of the influence that the stars have on events on the earth was important in Islamic civilization. As a rule, it was believed that the signs of the zodiac and the planets control the destiny not only of people but also of nations, and that the zodiac has the ability to determine a person's physical characteristics as well as intelligence and personal traits.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Andalusi |first1=Salem |title=Science in the medical world: 'Book of the categories of nations |date=1991 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin |page=XXV}}</ref>

The practice of astrology at this time could be divided into four broader categories: [[Natal astrology|Genethlialogy]], Catarchic Astrology, Interrogational Astrology and General Astrology.<ref name="ayduz"/>{{rp|65}} However the most common type of astrology was Genethlialogy, which examined all aspects of a person's life in relation to the planetary positions at their birth; more commonly known as our horoscope.<ref name="ayduz"/>{{rp|65}}

Astrology services were offered widely across the empire, mainly in bazaars, where people could pay for a reading.<ref name="sardar">{{cite web |last1=Sardar |first1=Marika |title=Astronomy and Astrology in the Medieval Islamic World |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/astr/hd_astr.htm |website=Met Museum |date=August 2011 |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=23 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023010719/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/astr/hd_astr.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Astrology was valued in the royal courts, for example, the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mansur used astrology to determine the best date for founding the new capital of Baghdad.<ref name="ayduz"/>{{rp|66}} While horoscopes were generally widely accepted by society, many scholars condemned the use of astrology and divination, linking it to occult influences.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Varisco |first1=Daniel Martin|editor1-last=Selin |editor1-first=Helaine |title=Astronomy Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Astrology |date=2000 |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht |isbn=978-94-010-5820-9 |page=617}}</ref> Many theologians and scholars thought that it went against the tenets of Islam; as only God should be able to determine events rather than astrologers looking at the positions of the planets.<ref name="sardar"/>

In order to calculate someone's horoscope, an astrologer would use three tools: an astrolabe, ephemeris and a takht. First, the astrologer would use an astrolabe to find the position of the sun, align the rule with the persons time of birth and then align the rete to establish the altitude of the sun on that date.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Winterburn |first1=Emily |title=Using an Astrolabe |journal=Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation |date=August 2005 |pages=7 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2301156 |access-date=30 July 2022 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228135159/https://www.academia.edu/2301156 |url-status=live }}</ref>  Next, the astrologer would use an ephemeris, a table denoting the mean position of the planets and stars within the sky at any given time.<ref name="saliba">{{cite journal |last1=Saliba |first1=George |title=The Role of the Astrologer in Medieval Islamic Society |journal=Bulletin d'études orientales |date=1992 |volume=44 |page=50 |jstor=41608345 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41608345 |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=20 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020185136/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41608345 |url-status=live }}</ref> Finally, the astrologer would add the altitude of the sun taken from the astrolabe, with the mean position of the planets on the person's birthday, and add them together on the takht (also known as the dustboard).<ref name="saliba"/> The dust board was merely a tablet covered in sand; on which the calculations could be made and erased easily.<ref name="sardar"/> Once this had been calculated, the astrologer was then able to interpret the horoscope. Most of these interpretations were based on the zodiac in literature. For example, there were several manuals on how to interpret each zodiac sign, the treatise relating to each individual sign and what the characteristics of these zodiacs were.<ref name="sardar"/>

=== Early modern ===

An example of the use of signs as astronomical coordinates may be found in the ''Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris for the year 1767''. The "Longitude of the Sun" columns show the sign (represented as a digit from 0 to and including 11), degrees from 0 to 29, minutes, and seconds.<ref>''[https://archive.org/details/nauticalalmanac07offigoog Nautical Almanac and Astronomical Ephemeris for the year 1767]''. London: Board of Longitude, 1766.</ref>

[[Mughal Empire|Mughal king]] [[Jahangir]] issued an attractive series of coins in gold and silver depicting the twelve signs of the zodiac.<ref>{{cite web
 | title=Jahangir's 12 gold coins of the Zodiac, Mughal Empire, ca. 1620 A.D.
 | publisher=University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
 | year=1972
 | url=https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/collection/ic/id/7341/
 | access-date=2023-05-17
 | archive-date=17 May 2023
 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230517165358/https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/collection/ic/id/7341/
 | url-status=live
 }}</ref>

<gallery mode=packed heights=200>
File:P.9 a volvella of the moon. A volvella is a moveable device for working out the position of the sun and moon in the zodiac.jpg|A volvella of the moon. A volvella is a moveable device for working out the position of the Sun and Moon in the zodiac, 15th century
File:Monasterio de Svetitskhoveli, Miskheta, Georgia, 2016-09-29, DD 41.jpg|17th-century fresco of [[Christ]] in the zodiac circle, [[Svetitskhoveli|Cathedral of Living Pillar]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] 
</gallery>