Editing Zodiac (section)

=== 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"/>