UC Berkeley

This dissertation is a comprehensive study of a set of stars called ziqpu-stars in Babylonian astronomy. These stars were a tool devised and employed by astronomers during the first millennium BCE (or perhaps as early as the late second millennium BCE) in Mesopotamia. The culmination of the ziqpu-stars, or when they reach their highest point during their daily journey across the skies, was correlated with other celestial phenomena, such as a lunar eclipse or the first appearance of a star over the course of the year. In effect, these stars were used as a way to indicate or describe time of specific phenomena that were of interest to Babylonian astronomers.The present study examines all known sources featuring the ziqpu-stars. It explores the different contexts in which ziqpu-stars were used as well as the developments that took place within this tradition. This dissertation also investigates the underlying practices that are reflected in the texts, and advocates that the primary method to producing and utilizing knowledge of the ziqpu-stars was by means of abstract models rather than empirical observation. Approaching the topic of ziqpu-stars by means of models highlights the similarities between these kinds of texts and texts that belong to the so-called mathematical or theoretical astronomy of the Late Babylonian period. It also brings the study of Babylonian astronomy closer to current discussions in the philosophy of science and reaffirms the place of Babylonian astronomy within the history of science.