Astrology

Babylonian astrology

The history of scholarly celestial divination is therefore generally reported to begin with late Old Babylonian texts (c. 1800 BC), continuing through the Middle Babylonian and Middle Assyrian periods (c. 1200 BC)....The gods were also believed to present themselves in the celestial images of the planets or stars with whom they were associated.

Babylonian astrology. Accessed Jan. 19, 2024. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_astrology

Hellenistic astrology

Sometime around 280 BCE, Berossus, a priest of Bel from Babylon, moved to the Greek island of Kos in order to teach astrology and Babylonian culture to the Greeks. With this, what Campion calls, 'the innovative energy' in astrology moved west to the Hellenistic world of Greece and Egypt. [Campion (2008) p. 84.]

Astrology in Rome

Like so much else, astrology came to Rome due to Greek influence. Among the Greeks and Romans, Babylonia or Chaldea was so identified with astrology that "Chaldaean wisdom" became the synonym of divination through the planets and stars. Astrologers became very much in vogue in Imperial Rome. [Parkers (1983) p.16.] Indeed, the emperor Tiberius had had his destiny predicted for him at birth, and so surrounded himself with astrologers such as Thrasyllus of Mendes.

Hellenistic astrology. Accessed Jan 19, 2024. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenistic_astrology

Sunday

The name "Sunday", the day of the Sun, is derived from Hellenistic astrology, where the seven planets, known in English as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon, each had an hour of the day assigned to them, and the planet which was regent during the first hour of any day of the week gave its name to that day. During the 1st and 2nd centuries, the week of seven days was introduced into Rome from Egypt, and the Roman names of the planets were given to each successive day.

Sunday. Accessed July 28th, 2024. In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunday