It was the Sumerians who, in addition to creating the cuneiform writing system, first identified and named the constellations. But what were they looking for, and what bearing did the heavens have over human affairs in ancient Mesopotamia? In the answer to these questions lies the very roots of astrology. ![]() Known as ummanu, these learned men would record what they saw on wet lumps of clay, using a reed stylus to cut cuneiform characters into the clay. – Babylonian Diviner’s ManualĪlmost 3,000 years ago, in what is now Iraq, soothsayer-scribes stood atop stepped ziggurats, gazing up at the sky. ![]() Sky and Earth both produce portents though appearing separately, they are not separate, for sky and earth are joined.
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