Ancient Astronomy and Astrology: From Babylonian Catalogs to Egyptian Zodiacs

Example of Cataloging
An example of text relating to the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II: Saturn in front of SIM (southwestern part of Pisces). On the morning of the second day a rainbow "closed" to the west. On the night of the third day the Moon ahead by $2$ cubits ($1$ cubit = $2°$) [...] from the eighth of Adaru II to the twenty-eighth day the tide rose by $3$ cubits and $8$ fingers. $\frac{2}{3}$ of a cubit to the tide [...] By order of the king, victims were sacrificed. In this month a fox entered the city. Cough and [...] van der Waerden 1968

Cosmology of Seti I from the ceiling of the Osireion
This region which is beyond the sky is totally devoid of light. Its boundaries are unknown in the direction of south, north, west and east. They are established in the primeval waters [...] There is no light for the Soul [...] Its kingdom is unknown to the south, north, west and east by spirits and gods. There is no light and every place in the Abyss is devoid of sky, while the entire Duat is devoid of earth. Text L of image N: He proceeds from the earth, rises and is born. From T1 to T3 there is a list of Decans from the Seti I family.

Astronomy in the Middle Kingdom
The decans appear in the sarcophagi. Eventually here to speak of the inner chamber of the Osireion and the temple of Seti I. Osireion: important because they are unpublished images since only Paolo photographed them and they allow us to have a perfect cross-section of the astronomical-astrological conceptions of the Middle Kingdom era. Doctrine of the Sun and $36$ decans. $36$ decans: what do the decans derive from, what were they used for. Geb and Nut.

Babylonian Astronomy and Astrology
The Babylonian Almanac dates back to $1500$ BC (Nils Hessel). In this there is already the subdivision of the year into $360$ days and $12$ months of $30$ days. Each was then divided into favorable and unfavorable days.

Dendera and the Birth of the World
It has some particular elements: it is round unlike most of the typical Egyptian custom, there are decans with Egyptian names, there are zodiacal constellations, the circumpolar ones however are in the typical Egyptian style. Problem in the dating of Dendera: the sky represented as indicated by Joseph Fourier is from $2500$ BC, but the inscriptions of the pharaohs date it to the Ptolemaic period. The realization currently seems to be situated around $50$ AD. So: is it a copy of an earlier zodiac? It is known that the first installations date back to the IV dynasty, but are the sources of the Dendera Zodiac Egyptian? Or perhaps instead are they, as is more likely, Babylonian? It is good to remember that already in $1500$ BC the Babylonians had divided the year into $12$ sectors of $30$ days each and three groups of stars for each sector (i.e., $36$ decans), their horoscopes were circular like Dendera.

Another important element is the day that Dendera represents: so far we have focused on the period taken into consideration for Dendera, but which day does the bas-relief indicate. You see there are planets that are in particular positions that are not realistic, they do not have an astronomical meaning but have a precise astrological meaning: that of the birth of the world. In fact, the theme of the birth of the world is a typical theme of classical astrology that had some relevance in the I and II century in Alexandria, Egypt as testified by the writings of Paul of Alexandria, Macrobius, Firmicus Maternus:

"[The Egyptians] also provide the reason why these twelve signs are ascribed to the influence of different divinities. They affirm indeed that when the world had been generated, at the precise moment when it was born, Aries occupied the Midheaven and Cancer then comprised the Moon. After it the Sun rose with Leo, Virgo with Mercury, Libra with Venus, Mars was in Scorpio, Jupiter occupied Sagittarius, Saturn moved in Capricorn."

In the case of Dendera, however, the planets are not in their domiciles but in their exaltations. This practice of placing the planets in exaltations as a theme relating to the birth of the world is typical of Persian and Babylonian origin and was taken up in the poem Bundahišn, an encyclopedic collection of writings relating to Zoroastrian Cosmogony. So the problem is not only of the date but also of the source of the sources.