The ZODIAC project, funded by the European Research Council and hosted by the Free University of Berlin, aims to document and explain the spread of mathematical astronomy and personal, zodiacal astrology from Babylonia to Egypt and the Graeco-Roman world. Seeking to provide the first in-depth and comprehensive history of this process, we aim to understand what drove the spread and popularity of these ideas and technologies. As part of this project I am studying astrological treatises preserved on papyrus and how they illustrate the application of astral science “on the ground,” research which will culminate in a monograph with editions and studies of the papyrus texts.

Read a blog post about astrological papyri here, and follow the project on Instagram under zodiac_berlin.

This Greek papyrus book-roll (P.Louvre N 2329+2388), part of an archive of papers kept in an Egyptian temple (the Serapeum of Memphis) in the second century BCE, preserves a scientific treatise of “Pseudo-Eudoxus,” showing the importance of the zodiac as a structural concept in contemporary astronomy. This example of the accompanying illustrations shows the constellation and zodiac-sign Scorpio.

Another Greek papyrus book-roll (P.Michigan inv. 1) from Egypt of several centuries later, the early Roman period, shows a combination of astronomy and astrology. The astronomical calculations make use of Babylonian sexagesimal numbers, and the astrology offers forecasts for individuals and theory on how celestial bodies produce effects in earthly matters, for example by assigning parts of the human body to astral influences (“melothesia”).