Editing Constellation (section)

=== Ancient Near East ===
{{See also|Old Babylonian astronomy}}
[[File:Babylonian tablet recording Halley's comet.jpg|thumb|upright| Babylonian tablet recording [[Halley's Comet]] in 164&nbsp;BC]]

The oldest [[Babylonian star catalogues|Babylonian catalogues]] of stars and constellations date back to the beginning of the [[Middle Bronze Age]], most notably the ''Three Stars Each'' texts and the ''[[MUL.APIN]]'', an expanded and revised version based on more accurate observation from around 1000&nbsp;BC. However, the numerous [[Sumerian language|Sumerian names]] in these catalogues suggest that they built on older, but otherwise unattested, [[Sumer]]ian traditions of the [[Early Bronze Age]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://members.westnet.com.au/Gary-David-Thompson/page11-4.html |title=History of the Constellations and Star Names – D.4: Sumerian constellations and star names? |work=Gary D. Thompson |date=21 April 2015 |access-date=30 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907050519/http://members.westnet.com.au/Gary-David-Thompson/page11-4.html |archive-date=7 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The classical Zodiac is a revision of [[Neo-Babylonian]] constellations from the 6th century BC. The Greeks adopted the Babylonian constellations in the 4th century BC. Twenty Ptolemaic constellations are from the Ancient Near East. Another ten have the same stars but different names.<ref name="Greek Constellations 2007" />

Biblical scholar [[E. W. Bullinger]] interpreted some of the creatures mentioned in the books of [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] and [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] as the middle signs of the four-quarters of the Zodiac,<ref>{{cite book|author=E. William Bullinger|title=The Witness of the Stars|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zxb1CQAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=eKitap Projesi|isbn=978-963-527-403-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Dennis James Kennedy|title=The Real Meaning of the Zodiac|date=June 1989|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pLy-IAAACAAJ|publisher=Coral Ridge Ministries Media, Inc.|isbn=978-1-929626-14-4}}</ref> with the Lion as [[Leo (astrology)|Leo]], the Bull as [[Taurus (astrology)|Taurus]], the Man representing [[Aquarius (astrology)|Aquarius]], and the Eagle standing in for [[Scorpio (astrology)|Scorpio]].<ref name="Allen1899">{{cite book|author=Richard H. Allen|title=Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vWDsybJzz7IC|date=2013|publisher=Courier Corp.|isbn=((978-0-486-13766-7))}}</ref> The biblical [[Book of Job]] also makes reference to a number of constellations, including {{lang|he|עיש |rtl=yes}} {{lang|he-Latn|‘Ayish}} "bier", {{lang|he| כסיל |rtl=yes}} {{lang|he-Latn|chesil}} "fool" and {{lang|he| כימה |rtl=yes}} {{lang|he-Latn|chimah}} "heap" (Job 9:9, 38:31–32), rendered as "Arcturus, Orion and Pleiades" by the [[KJV]], but ''‘Ayish'' "the bier" actually corresponding to Ursa Major.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/gen/1/1/s_1001|title=H5906 - ʿayiš - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (KJV)|website=Blue Letter Bible}}</ref> The term ''[[Mazzaroth]]'' {{lang|he|מַזָּרוֹת|rtl=yes}}, translated as ''a garland of crowns'', is a ''[[hapax legomenon]]'' in Job 38:32, and it might refer to the zodiacal constellations.