The scaffolding of our thoughts : : essays on Assyriology and the history of science in honor of Francesca Rochberg / / edited by C. Jay Crisostomo, Eduardo A. Escobar, Terri Tanaka, Niek Veldhuis.

• TeilnehmendeR: Crisostomo, C. Jay.; Escobar, Eduardo A.; Tanaka, Terri.; Veldhuis, Niek.; Rochberg, Francesca, 1952-
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2018.
• Year of Publication: 2018
• Language: English
• Series: Ancient Magic and Divination 13.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (474 pages).
• Notes: Includes index.

Francesca Rochberg has for more than thirty-five years been a leading figure in the study of ancient science. Her foundational insights on the concepts of “science,” “canon,” “celestial divination,” “knowledge,” “gods,” and “nature” in cuneiform cultures have demanded continual contemplation on the tenets and assumptions that underlie the fields of Assyriology and the History of Science. “The Scaffolding of Our Thoughts” honors this luminary with twenty essays, each reflecting on aspects of her work. Following an initial appraisal of ancient “science” by Sir Geoffrey Lloyd, the contributions in the first half explore practices of knowledge in Assyriological sources. The second half of the volume focuses specifically on astronomical and astrological spheres of knowledge in the Ancient Mediterranean.

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Contents -- Preface -- Where Next for “Ancient Science”? / G.E.R. Lloyd -- Crow Omens in Mesopotamia / Ann Kessler Guinan -- Old Signs in New Dress? On the Meaning of Inanna’s Symbol as Sign and “Presence” in Early Babylonian Divination / Abraham Winitzer -- Material, Constellation, Image, God: The Fate of the Chosen Bull According to kar 50 and Duplicates / Alan Lenzi -- A Late Babylonian Compilation Concerning Ritual Timing and Materia Medica / Matthew Rutz -- bm 40187: A Birthnote for Two Named Individuals / M. Willis Monroe -- Converging Fortunes—Links between Celestial and Intestinal Divination / Ulla Koch -- Sumerian Divination / C. Jay Crisostomo -- The Form and History of a Babylonian Prayer to Nabû / Tzvi Abusch -- Translation in The Elevation of Ištar / Niek Veldhuis -- Judean Scribalism, Documentary Epistemology, and the Name ישׂראל / Jeffrey L. Cooley -- Dating eae. When was the Astrological Series Enūma Anu Ellil Created? / Nils P. Heeßel -- Bricoleurs in Babylonia: The Scribes of Enūma Anu Enlil / Eduardo A. Escobar and Laurie E. Pearce -- The Date of the Accession of Nabonidus to the Throne of Babylon: A Reappraisal of the Evidence / Grant Frame -- Intercalary Months in Achaemenid Elamite Administrative Documents from Persepolis / Matthew W. Stolper -- The Importance of Experts: Agents in the Transfer of Astral Knowledge between Hellenistic Mesopotamia and the Greek-speaking World / Zoë Misiewicz -- Diodorus on the Chaldeans / Alexander Jones and John Steele -- Observing Eclipses: An Optical Question in Problemata 15.11 / Alan C. Bowen -- Chaldeans on the Nile: Two Egyptian Astronomical Procedure Texts with Babylonian Systems A1 and A2 for Mercury / Mathieu Ossendrijver and Andreas Winkler -- Clever Machines and the Gods Who Make Them / Daryn Lehoux.