Books by Mathieu Ossendrijver
Sources and Studies in the History of Mathematics, 2012
Preprints by Mathieu Ossendrijver
JHA, 2025
It is demonstrated that the longitudes of the planetary exaltations mentioned in numerous Greco-R... more It is demonstrated that the longitudes of the planetary exaltations mentioned in numerous Greco-Roman and Late Antique astrological sources derive from Babylonian Normal-Star longitudes. This is achieved through a comparison between both sets of longitudes. Supporting evidence is found in the Late Babylonian astral compendium BM 36609+. The Babylonian longitudes were transferred to exaltations without significant changes, but their association with stars was discarded. The sun's exaltation constitutes an exception, since it does not correspond to a Normal Star, but appears to have been defined in relation to the longitude of the Pleiades, which became the moon's exaltation.
Edition and commentary of the fragment BM 43069, probably from Babylon ca. 330-100 BCE with a sma... more Edition and commentary of the fragment BM 43069, probably from Babylon ca. 330-100 BCE with a small portion of a table of powers of 9.
Edition and discussion of the Late Babylonian tablet BM 47042+47064 with a previously unknown typ... more Edition and discussion of the Late Babylonian tablet BM 47042+47064 with a previously unknown type of Babylonian metrological table. Each entry of the table is concerned with dividing 1 mina of weight by a different number. Not only the final result but also the operational steps by which the division is achieved are presented in the table. They can be summarized as follows:
1) number N in absolute decimal notation,
2) conversion to floating sexagesimal n,
3) finding its reciprocal 1/n (using table of reciprocals),
4) conversion to absolute weight 1/N mina (using metrological conversion table).
To be published in an upcoming edition of Late Babylonian mathematical texts from the British Museum (DFG project "Late Babylonian Mathematical Practices")
Edition and discussion of the Late Babylonian tablet BM 46561 with a previously unknown type of B... more Edition and discussion of the Late Babylonian tablet BM 46561 with a previously unknown type of Babylonian metrological table. To be published in an upcoming edition of Late Babylonian mathematical texts from the British Museum (DFG project "Late Babylonian Mathematical Practices")
Book Reviews by Mathieu Ossendrijver
Bibliotheca Orientalis, 2022
This book originated as a doctoral thesis at the University of Birmingham under the supervision o... more This book originated as a doctoral thesis at the University of Birmingham under the supervision of the late Wilfred Lambert. It was completed in the 1990s and since then substantially expanded and revised for publication, resulting in a many-faceted and erudite 464-page study. The subject of study is a Late Babylonian scholarly composition referred to as "A Babylon Calendar Treatise". The book consists of four main sections: Introduction, Edition, Commentary, and Cuneiform Texts, of which the Introduction and the very detailed Commentary occupy more than 400 pages. The difficulties of interpreting this multilayered and strongly intertextual composition are indeed severe. In total 169 lines are at least partly preserved in three manuscripts from Hellenistic Babylon. There appear to be no parallels for its combination of calendrical, ritualistic, mythological, astronomical, astrological, historiographical, and commentarial elements. The basic structure of the composition is determined by the Babylonian calendar. There were at least 14 sections, each covering a month or a portion thereof, starting with Nisannu (month I) and ending with Addaru (month XII). The bad state of preservation adds to the difficulties of interpretation, perhaps more so than acknowledged by the author. The sections for Simānu, Ulūlu, Tašrītu, and Ṭebētu are relatively well preserved, but those for Nisannu, Ayyaru, Dûzu, Abu, and Addaru are badly damaged, and nothing or almost nothing remains of the sections for Araḫsamna, Kislīmu, and Šabāṭu. Some of the better preserved sections share the following four elements: 1) A report about the past enactment or omission of an apotropaic ritual. They include namburbû rituals, other substitution rituals, temple rituals, and lamentations. The reports are vague in the sense that they do not mention who performed the rituals and in which year or in whose reign they were performed, so that they are presumably fictive. 2) A statement identifying the catastrophic event averted by the ritual, such as an attack by Elam or Subartu, a change of rule in Babylon, or Marduk abandoning Babylon. 3) Statements about planets, stars, constellations, and celestial phenomena, some in the form of omens announcing the catastrophic event, thus triggering the enactment of the ritual. 4) Exegetical statements and glosses about the rituals, catastrophic events, and celestial phenomena, and statements linking them to events from Enūma Eliš involving Marduk, Ti'amāt, and Qingu. The reports about past enactments of rituals contrasts with proper ritual texts which are formulated as instructions in the present tense. According to the author, the composition therefore served a historiographical purpose, namely to "demonstrate the validity of rituals as apotropaic measures against invasion by enemies", so that it "can be described as a calendar treatise on the ritual aversion of foreign invasion" (p. 12). These may well be an apt descriptions, but the author does not explicitly substantiate them by systematically building upon the research presented throughout the book. The suggestion that the rituals can be viewed as simulations of the events which they aim to avert (e.g. p. 24) is one of many interesting observations about the composition that also warrants a more systematic treatment. The historiographical layers are discussed in great detail on pp. 80-101. The topic of the removal of Marduk's statue by Elam and its return to Babylon is traced back primarily to events during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar I (pp. 82-92). Based on historical passages from the astronomical diaries and other sources the author argues for a date of composition in the second century BCE, when Babylon was under threat from the kingdom of Elymais, while downplaying the possibility that the composition reflects Babylonian experiences with Achaemenid rule (p. 98-101). The remainder of this review focusses on astronomical and astrological aspects, which the author discusses in the Introduction (pp. 30-50) and the Commentary (pp. 225-410). The text is infused with numerous references to stars, constellations, solstices and equinoxes, planets, synodic
Archiv für Orientforschung, 2022
Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, 2018
Journal for the History of Astronomy, 2018
125 that, as the book has demonstrated, there is a very large archival record, which lets us know... more 125 that, as the book has demonstrated, there is a very large archival record, which lets us know "what he made, how he made it, whom he sold his products to, and also -very unusually for a seventeenth-century cosmographer -how he sold them" (p. 297). The book is enriched by appendices containing a number of systematic listings, including Coronelli's globes, maps and books, and 44 plates of varying quality but adequate for their purpose.
Journal for the History of Astronomy, 2012
Archiv für Orientforschung, 2011
Various by Mathieu Ossendrijver
ZODIAC blog, 2021
the ZODIAC project brought me to Istanbul for an eagerly awaited research visit to the cuneiform ... more the ZODIAC project brought me to Istanbul for an eagerly awaited research visit to the cuneiform collection of the Ancient Orient Museum (Eski Şark Eserleri Müzesi). The Ancient Orient Museum belongs to the Archaeological Museums complex, which is located near the Topkapı palace in downtown Istanbul. The building overlooks Gülhanı park, where one can also visit a History of Science museum, apart from admiring its ancient trees and squeaking parrots. The Ancient Orient Museum was designed by a French architect under the guidance of Osman Hamdi Bey -the Ottoman official, scholar, writer and painter, who was the founding father of archaeology and museology in the Ottoman empire.
Updated version (6 August 2023)
Babylonian tablets with astral science were also found at Sippar and Borsippa. They include MUL.A... more Babylonian tablets with astral science were also found at Sippar and Borsippa. They include MUL.APIN, ziqpu star lists and omen texts, but as far as known no mathematical astronomy or diaries and related texts. p. 10, Other libraries with astronomical texts: According to Clancier (2009), p. 68, at least one of the mentioned synodic tables, SpTU I 98, can be assigned to the library of Iqīša. On p. 402 ("Astronomie") Clancier suggests the same for the other table, SpTU IV 170.
Available as PDF or plain TXT: computer−generated list of all regular sexagesimal numbers with up... more Available as PDF or plain TXT: computer−generated list of all regular sexagesimal numbers with up to 30 digits in Babylonian floating notation.
Papers by Mathieu Ossendrijver
Tempel, Tiere, Sternenhimmel. Studien zur altägyptischen Religion und Wissenschaft für Christian Leitz, 2025
The question of how to interpret, predict, and explain eclipses has occupied scholars across the ... more The question of how to interpret, predict, and explain eclipses has occupied scholars across the ancient world. Mesopotamian scholars stand out for the duration and the depth of their engagement with eclipses, as evidenced in a large and diverse body of cuneiform sources dating between the Old Babylonian period (ca. 1800 BCE) and the end of cuneiform writing (ca. 100 CE). However, the question of what causes an eclipse is only rarely addressed directly in Mesopotamian sources. The present contribution discusses two Late Babylonian texts that have thus far been ignored in discussions of this topic. It is argued here that they are unusually explicit in addressing the question, and that the answer provided reflects a new development in Babylonian scholarly thought on the cause of eclipses. The rest of the paper is structured as follows. After presenting the Late Babylonian tablets, their contents are discussed in the context of earlier Mesopotamian sources on the cause of eclipses.
Uploads
Books by Mathieu Ossendrijver
Preprints by Mathieu Ossendrijver
1) number N in absolute decimal notation,
2) conversion to floating sexagesimal n,
3) finding its reciprocal 1/n (using table of reciprocals),
4) conversion to absolute weight 1/N mina (using metrological conversion table).
To be published in an upcoming edition of Late Babylonian mathematical texts from the British Museum (DFG project "Late Babylonian Mathematical Practices")
Book Reviews by Mathieu Ossendrijver
Various by Mathieu Ossendrijver
Papers by Mathieu Ossendrijver