Persian The GreatYearin Greek, and HinduAstronomy

B. L. VANDER WaERDEN 1. Introduction Yearas a periodat theend of Plato defines (Timaios39C-D) thePerfect started to thepointfrom which return starsand planets thefixed which they Greatest and saysthat Aristotle * callsthesameperiod revolutions. their Year, a takesplace,in thesummer of thisyeara flood(kataklysmos) in thewinter thiscosmicperiodis In laterGreekand Latintexts (ekpyrosis). conflagration

called the Great Year. In a series of papers2'3'4'5'6 and in a joint paper with E.S.KENNEDY7 I the historyof the doctrineof the "Great Year", and the have investigated applicationof thisdoctrinein Persianand Hindu Astronomy. My papers on this subject have been vigorously criticized by and many are distorted In his papers,manyof myarguments D. PlNGREE8'9'10. are not of some are leftout altogether. Moreover, easily accessible, my papers I have found new connectionsbetween Hellenisticand Persian and recently For thesereasons,it seems desirableto presenta new expositionof astronomy. will be explained anew, and PlNGREE's the whole subject. All my arguments be refuted. will criticism 1 Censorinus: De die natali, 18. Chapter 2 B.L. van der Waerden: Das GrosseJahrund die EwigeWiederkehr. Hermes 80 (1952)p. 129-155. 3 .L. van der Waerden: Das GrosseJahr des Orpheus. Hermes81(1953)p. 481484. 4 B.L. van der Waerden: in der undPlanetenperioden Gleichungen Diophantische 100(1955)p. 153-170. indischen Astronomie. naturf. Ges. Zrich Vierteljahrsschrift 5 B.L. van der Waerden: Methode der Perser und indische Ausgleichspunkt, Hist.ExactSei. 1 (1961)p. 107-121. Archive Planetenrechnung. 6 B.L. van der Waerden: Das heliozentrische in der griechischen, System per55 (1970) naturf. Ges. Zrich Astronomie. sischen undindischen Neujahrsblatt 7 E. S.Kennedy & B.L. van der Waerden: The WorldJ. Year of the Persians. Amer. Oriental Soc. 83 (1963)p. 315-327. 8 D. Pingree: and Astrology in IndiaandIran.Isis54 (1963)p. 229-245. Astronomy 9 D. Pingree: The Persian oftheSolarApogee in Ca. A.D. 450.J.of "Observation" 24 (1965)p. 334-336. NearEastern Studies 10D. Pingree: Review 20 (1976)p.258-260. of6. Centaurus

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in favourof the some arguments In my expository paper6,I have presented was inhypothesisthat the astronomyof the Persians and of RYABHATA fluenced by the heliocentric systemof Aristarchos of Samos. In the present to it on anotheroccasion. paper I shall leave thissubjectaside. I hope to return

in Greek Sources 2. The "Great Year" and theDoctrineof EternalReturn From a fragment of Eudemos quoted by SlMPLiKiOS11we know that the Pythagoreans believed in the eternal returnof all things "according to If one believesthe Pythagoreans, says Eudemos, I too shall stand numbers". here again in future, holdingthislittlestickin my hand and tellingyou myths, now. and you will sit herebeforeme just as you are sitting Accordingto Nemesios12 and other sources,the Stoic philosophersheld caused There will be a conflagration the same opinion as the PYTHAGOREANS. and and afterwards the world will be recreated by the planets,so theytaught, and an will be as before:therewill be a PLATO and a SOCRATES, everything of all motionsin the skyand on earth. exact repetition followedby a new creationand an exact The same doctrineof annihilation of everything in the worldcan be foundin Hindu sources,notablyin repetition the Mahbhrata and the Laws of Manu13, as we shall see presently. The idea of a Great Year with Flood and Ekpyrosis seems to be of Babylonianorigin.Berossos, a priestof the Babyloniangod BEL, who came to on theislandKos, tells a school ofastrology Greece about 300 B.C. and founded in Cancer, willtake place whenall planetscome together us thata conflagration in Capricorn14.In anotherfragment15, and a deluge when theycome together of 120 saroi as thesum of theregnalyearsofmythical Berossos givesthefigure 1 the before Flood, sar being 3600 years. Hence, a certainpart of the kings of BEROSSOS, Great Year was, accordingto the chronology 120x3600 = 432000 years. forthe durationof the Great Year are given in later Greek Several figures I shall mentiononlythosethatare composed of factors texts. Of thesefigures 2, 3 and 5. According to Censorinus (De die natali, Ch. 18) the following GreatestYears wereproposed: Heraclitus and Linus Orpheus Cass ANDRUS 10800 years, 120000 years, 3 600000 years.

11Simplikios: to Aristotle's Physics, p.732(ed. Diels). Commentary 12Nemesios:Anthropology 38,p.309(ed. Matthaei). 13G. Bhler: The Law ofManu.SacredBooksoftheEast 25 (Oxford, Clarendon Press1886). 14Seneca: Quaest.nat.Ill 29. 15P. Schnabel: Berossos (Leipzig1923)p. 261-263.

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On the otherhand, Aetios tells us: "According to Herakleitosthe Great Year contains18000 years,but accordingto Diogenes the Stoic 360 such years as thatof Herakleitos".(Aetios II 32; see 2, p. 134). I shall leave aside the Great Year of Heraclitus and Linus, because its connectionswith Babylonian,Persian or Indian cosmic periods are not clear. forus is the "Great Year of Orpheus". More important fromthe factor12 multiplied There are threeperiods formed by powers of viz: 10, a) the "Chaldaean Dodekaeteris" of 12 years,mentionedby CENSORINUS, and ascribed to also called Dodekaeteris of Zeus (i.e. of the planet Jupiter) Orpheus or to Zoroaster16, of 12 millennia, each governed b) a Persianperiod of 12000 years,consisting 1 a zodiacal by sign 7, c) the Great Year of Orpheus of 120000 years3. Periodsa) and c) wereboth ascribedto Orpheus; thisprobablymeans that they were mentioned in the "Books of Orpheus". Periods a) and b) are connectedwiththe 12 zodiacal signs. The Great Year of Berossos was composed of the factors120 and 3600. Justso, the Great Year of Diogenes was composed of the factors360 and 18000,and the Persianperiod b) of 12 and 1000. The Great Years of Orpheus the same factors: and Cassandrus may be obtainedfrom 120x1000= 120000 3600x1000 = 3600000 3. The IndianYuga System The Laws of Manu and the Mahbhrata both contain a passage on a commonsource Yugas, i.e.cosmicperiods.The twopassages clearlycome from which,according to BHLER13,existed already in the second centuryA.D. BHLERhas translated the two passages and printedthemin parallel columns The Mahbhrata passage beginsthus: (13,p. lxxxiii). In the commencement existsthe Brahmanwithout or end, unborn, beginning free from unfathomable notto be fully luminous, immutable, eternal, decay, byreasoning, known. Next the authorproceedsto an explanationof the divisionsof time,starting with nimeshas(twinklings of the eye) and then passing to days, monthsand years.A yearis called "a day and nightof the gods". The nextlargerunitis the of 360 ordinary vears. "year of the gods", consisting Our passage describes thedurationof a "nightand day of Brahman"and the foursuccessiveYugas or WorldAges as follows: 16J.Bidez& F.Cumont: Les Les belleslettres). I, p. (Paris1938, mageshellniss and II, p. 138-187. See also the article Dodekaeteris 120-127, by F.Boll in PaulyWissowa's Realencyclopaedie. 17E.S.Kennedy: Ramifications of theWorldYear Concept in IslamicAstrology. Ithaca26 VIII-2IX 1962(Hermann, IV. Paris), p. 23^5, especially Chapter

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of four thousand yearsof thegods; the Theydeclarethatthe Kritaage consists it ofthe of as many and thetwilight it consists hundreds, following twilight preceding samenumber. This means thatthe Kritayuagais a period of 400 + 4000 + 400 = 4800 yearsof the gods. thethousands and following, their In the(other) three twilights ages,with preceding one and hundreds arediminished (in each). by Thus, the Tretyugahas 300+ 3000 + 300= 3600 yearsof the gods,the Dvparayuga 200 + 2000 + 200 = 2400 and the Kaliyuga 100+1000+100=1200 yearsof the gods, i.e. 1200x360 = 432000 years. that in the Great Year of Berossos the sum of The readerwill remember the regnal years of the kings beforethe Flood, was also 432000 vears. This part of the "Great Year" of BEROSSOS,and the period was a well-defined part of the Indian Mahyuga. Kaliyuga is a well-defined of numericalvalues mighthave been One mightargue that this agreement 432000 are obtainedin both cases! the numbers look how accidental.But now are of BEROSSOS the The unitsin system chronological saros= 3 600 years, neros= 360 years, sossos= 60 years. This systemof countingis typically Babylonian: The Sumeriansalready had 60, 360 and 3600. Now thesum 432000 is obtained special signsforthenumbers as 120 saroi= 432000 years. Since the saros contains10 neroi,one can also writethisequation as 1200 neroi= 432000 years. On the otherhand,the Hindu "Year of the Gods" is just the Babylonianneros of 360 years,and the durationof the Kaliyuga is calculatedas 1200 yearsof the Gods = 432000 years.

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This is a strongargumentin favourof a Babylonian originof the Indian calculation. of the fourages in the Indian textis verysimilarto that of The description Hesiodos. I shall quote the versionof Manu: nordoes any and entire, and (so is) Truth; In theKritaage Dharmais four-footed In theother (three ages),by reasonof(unjust) gainaccrueto menby unrighteousness. ofone foot, and through Dharma is deprived of)theft, (theprevalence successively gains, from themerit falsehood and fraud is diminished (in each).(Men are)free byone-fourth in four hundred in the Krita but all their and live aims, disease, years (age), accomplish life is lessened theTretaand thesucceeding byone quarter. (ages)their Next the sum total of the fourages is calculatedas 12000 yearsof the gods, i.e.4320000 years.This periodis called one age of thegods.In laterastronomical texts the same period is called Caturyuga( = fourfoldYuga) or Mahyuga ( = Great Yuga). Manu proceeds: But knowthatthe sum of one thousand ages of the gods (makes)one day of and that hisnight has thesamelength. Brahman, This "day of Brahman"is called in latertextskalpa: 1 kalpa=1000 Mahyugas= 4320000000 years. The Mahbhrata passage adds: When Brahman at theendofthis he modifies himself and awakes imperishable night, theelement creates that themind which is discrete. (called)theGreatOne (and)from The idea of a repeated creation of the world by the Supreme God also underlies a Hymnof the Magi summarized by Dion CHRYSOSTOMOS18. The Manu passage ends thus: that To whatever course ofactiontheLordat first each(kindofbeings), appointed aloneithas spontaneously in eachsuccessive creation. Whatever he assigned to adopted eachat the(first) noxiousness or harmlessness, or ferocity, virtue or creation, gentleness or falsehood, that to it. sin,truth (afterwards) clung spontaneously This is just the same doctrineof endless repetition as Eudemos ascribes to the Pythagoreans, and Nemesios to the Stoics. All in all, we have founda whole networkof interrelations betweenBabylonian,Greek and Hindu doctrines. Note on Pingree'sCriticism In his review10 of mypaper6,PlNGREEwrites: Another oftheauthor's flaws is his failure to look at hissources critically: anytext thatcan be interpreted to fithis hypotheses is accepted, and all others Thus ignored. 18See Bidez-Cumont16, I, p. 91 and II, p. 142-143.

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citation ofBerossus Seneca's is taken to represent a truly source Babylonian (pp.21-22) noneofour hundreds ofthousands ofextant cuneiform texts would van though justify derWaerden's ofit. interpretation of PlNGREEis wrongin severalrespects: This statement 1) Seneca was not my only source.On page 141-143 of my paper2. I have all pointingtowards a Babylonian originof the presentedseveral arguments, doctrineof the Great Year. One of these argumentswas used by PlNGREE on page 238 of his paper8. PlNGREEwrites: himself The last yuga,then, the kaliyuga, is 1/10mahyuga, or 432,000 This is a years. It number: it would be written is the 2,0,0,0. Babylonian sexagesimally span of time of Berossos before the Flood in the histories and givento the Babylonian kingdom It seems thatit should havebecome a significant in Indiaat a number Abydenos. likely time when other felt . .. influences were Babylonian being I had to restrict fora "Neujahrsblatt", 2) In my expository paper6,written to a few testimonies but in myself supporting my hypotheses, my more fundamentalpapers2'3'4'5 and in thejoint papers7'22I have always quoted all texts available to me. So PlNGREE'sassertionthat I selectedtextsfavourableto my withthe exclusionof othersis not justified. It would be nice if he hypotheses would thinkit over and withdraw his unjustaccusation.

4. Al-Brn and Abu Ma'shar If,as Berossos says,the Deluge took place whenall planetscame together in Capricorn, then it must be possible to date the Deluge by means of astronomicalcalculationsof conjunctionsof planets in the past. Accordingto triedto date the Deluge by this method.In his Al-Brn, severalastrologers writes: BRN19 "Chronology", - The next in which Era oftheDeluge. era is theera ofthegreat following Deluge, at thetime ofNoah.Here, is sucha difference ofopinions, too,there everything perished as to thecorrectness ofthe and sucha confusion, thatyouhaveno chanceofdeciding andyoudo noteven feel truth. The inclined to investigate itshistorical matter, thoroughly theperiod between theEra Adami reason thedifference is,inthefirst instance, regarding thatdifference, which which we havementioned and secondly, and theDeluge, already; the Deluge and the Era the periodbetween we shall have to mention, regarding thislatter theThora, and thefollowing Alexandi. For theJews derive from books,for from derive their Thoraforthesameperiod whilst theChristians period1,792years, 2,938 years... of the from the first have triedto correct theseyears, The astrologers beginning ofBabel, theinhabitants for which thesagesamong ofSaturn and Jupiter, conjunction in theDelugehaving haveconstructed astronomical andtheChaldaens tables, originated itwasthere that andthat thearkin Kufa, that Noah built For peoplesay, their country. thattheark rested its waters" "the wellpouredforth upon the (Sra xi.42;xxiii.27); Now thisconjunction thoseregions. of Aljd, whichis not veryfarfrom mountain andtried studied Thisdatethey 229years 108daysbefore theDeluge. occurred carefully, 19Albrn:Chromology, translated byC.E.Sachau (London1879), p. 27-29.

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to correct thesubsequent theDeluge So they found between times. as theinterval bythat andthebeginning ofthereign andas ofthefirst Nebukadnezar 2,604 years, (Nabonassar), a result theinterval between Nebukadnezar and Alexander 436years, which comes pretty from nearto that is derived theThoraoftheChristians. one,which This was the era which'Ab-Ma'shar Albalkh wanted, upon whichto base his statements themeanplacesofthestarsin his Canon.Now he supposed that regarding of of theDelugehad taken at the the in the last stars and conjunction place part Pisces, thefirst andhe tried to compute their that time. Thenhe found, partofAries, placesfor - all of them - stoodin conjunction thatthey in thespace between thetwenty-seventh of and the end of the first he supposed that degree Pisces, degreeof Aries.Further, between thattimeand the epochof the Era Alexandi, there of 2,790 is an interval and 26 days.This computation intercalated comesnearto thatof the years7 months 249years and 3 months lessthan theestimate oftheastronomers. Christians, Now, being when he thought thathe had wellestablished thecomputation ofthissumaccording to themethod, which he has explained, at theresult, and whenhe had arrived thatthe duration of thoseperiods, which astronomers call "star-cycles", was 360,000 the years, of of which was to the time the he drew the 180,000 beginning precede Delugeby years, inconsiderate thattheDelugehad occurred oncein every and conclusion, 180,000 years, that itwouldagainoccurin future at similar intervals. Thisman, whois so proud ofhisingenuity, had computed these starcycles onlyfrom ofthestars, themotions as they had beenfixed ofthePersians ... bytheobservations What does BRNmean by "the Persians"? I claim thathis "Persians" are the authors of the "Tables of the Shah", which were composed in Sassanid Persia underKhosro Anshrvan about 560 and revisedunderYazdigerd III about 640 (see20'21'22).This claim is supportedby severaltestimonies: 1) BRNsays in his Chronology (19,p. 121) thatthe solar yearhas 365; 15,32,30 days accordingto "the Persians".If one leaves out of account the 365 days and multipliesthe fractionalpart by 360, one obtains the so-called excess of revolution of the fixedstarsin a solar year: 93; 15 degrees. This same value is also attributed to "the Persians" by Al-Hshim (see20, On the other the Escoriai hand, p. 147). manuscriptof the Mumtahan ZJ ascribes the value 93; 15 to the "Tables of the Shh" (see again20, p. 147). the"Persians" of BRNand HSHIMwiththe authorsof Hence,ifwe identify the "Tables of the Shh", the statements of the threeauthors are in perfect accordance. 20E.S.Kennedy: A of IslamicAstronomical Tables.Trans.Amer. Philos. Survey Soc. 46,p. 129-130, No. 30. 21E.S.Kennedy: The SassanianAstronomical HandbookZj-i Shh. J. Amer. Oriental Soc. 78,p. 246-262. 22J.J.Burckhardt& B.L. van der Waerden: Das astronomische der System Persischen Tafeln I. Centaurus 13 (1968)p. 1-28.

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thatthe maximalequations of on Transits23 2) Brn statesin his treatise the sun and the moon accordingto the "Tables of the Shah" agree exactlywith the Hindu values 214' and 456' "because these values had passed fromthe halfof thissentenceBRNspeaks of the Hindus to the Persians".In the first BRN "Tables oftheShah" and in thesecondhalfof"the Persians".Obviously, to the same set of tables in both partsof his sentence. is referring BRNsays (30:10) about theequationsofthefive 3) In thesame treatise23, planets: have a common so thezjes of theShah,and The Hindusand Persians opinion, one on which differ and Ya'qb ibnTriqcontain AbuMa'shar, except only nothing they have for not one minute. the difference of which does exceed They thing, Venus Mercury Saturn Jupiter Mars 4 1112' 213' 56' 837' in thesame of"the Persians"and next, In thisstatement, BRNspeaks first makes sense only if of the Zj of the Shah. Once more,the statement context, "the Persians" are regarded as the authors of that Zj. - The third author mentioned by Brn, namelyYa'qb ibn Triq, is the authorof a zj called "SindhindZj", whichis based on Hindu astronomy (see 20,p. 134). is clear.Next we shall show 4) So forBRUNand Al-HSHIMthesituation "the Persians" in the same sense. In thatIbn al Qifti also uses the expression to the tables of Al-Khwarizmi (see 24) Ibn al Qifti states his commentary thatin thesetablestheequationsof theplanetswerecalculatedaccordingto the "Method of the Persians".For an explanationof thismethodsee 5 or 22 or 24. In the paper of BuRCKHARDT& van der Waerden22 it was shownthat the "Method of the Persians"was actuallyused in the "Tables of the Shah". about the source of Abu Mashar's We now see thatin BRN'sstatement cycle of 360000 years the expression"cycles whichhave been based upon the in as "cycles mentioned be interpreted of the Persians"may safely observations the Tables of the Shah". claimed thatthe In the nextsectionwe shall see that Abu Ma'shar himself of 360000 years is due to "the Persians and some of the Babyworld-year his claim is in fullagreement lonians". As far as the Persians are concerned, of Al-Brn. This agreement withthe statement impliesthat Abu Ma'shar and Al-Brn use the expression"the Persians" in the same sense. The meaningof "the Babylonians"will be discussedin a latersection. In his "Elements of Astrology"25,BRN gives a list of numbers of revolutionof the planets in 360000 years according to "the thousands" of 23Al-Brn: On Transits, of translated University by E.S.Kennedy. American 24: 7-11. No. 32,section Oriental Series Beirut 24O.Neugebauer: The Astronomical Skrifter Hist.-filos. Tablesof al-Khwrizm. of H.Suter in the DanskeVid.-Selsk. commentary 4, no. 2 (1962).See also theearlier 7th series 3 (1914), sameSkrifter, especially p. 33. 25Al-Brn: The Book of Instruction of the Artof Astrology, in the Elements Section Luzac 1934), transi, 204,p. 113-114. byR. R.Wright(London,

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Abu Ma'shar26. He states that Abu Ma'shar has recorded these numbers "fromPersian sources". As we have seen, these sources include the "Tables of one of the main sources the Shah". So the "Tables of the Shah" were certainly of Abu Ma'shar's astronomical are confirmed Biruni's figures system. by alHshim and al-Tankhi (see Pingree26, p. 30). Note on Pingree'sCriticism In his review10, Pingree writes: In order to lendweight to hisdoctrine AbuMa'shar, thelead ofa number following ofearly ofIranian and Miskawayh), 'Abbsid scholars Ibn Nawbakht origin (e.g., sought to ascribe itsdiscovery to ante-Diluvian and eventually to God Himself. To this times, endhe invented a mythological to which thefirst ofthree "Hermes", history according whois at oncetheIranian theHebrew Khanukh and the (Hshank), Abanjhan (Enoch), ArabianIdrsreceived from God at Akhmm This knowledge (Panopolis)in Egypt. included the astronomical of the Persians", of which Tahmrath knowledge "System buried a description in theSrawya at Jayin Isfahan before theFlood,butnotbefore Bdhsaf had carriedthe system to India. This manuscript was (the Bodhisattva) excavated notlongbefore AbuMa'shar's and he claims that hisdoctrine is directly time, from derived thisante-Diluvian source. His theories and themany ofhistwo fragments bookshavebeenthoroughly discussed reviewer inThe Thousands ofAbu bythepresent London1968. Ma'shar, A little morethana millenium after Abu Ma'sharpublished his fiction Professor van derWaerden has resurrected thismythology. he has been misledinto However, thatby"the Persians" AbuMa'sharintended to refer to theSasanians rather thinking thanto Hsankand Tahmrath oflegendary fame. He thusconceives of AbuMa'shar's as representing an early Sasanian to pushitbackto the system zij- on p.48 he eventries between 200 and 250 because AbuMa'shar, states thatthe period al-Sijz, quoting used it. In AbuMa'shar's theBabylonians do indeedderive their Babylonians history of astronomy from the second"Hermes", imperfect who,in the timeof knowledge NabrzBni (whoever he is supposed to be), was the first to revive scienceafter the Flood.To see this source as serious in 1970 is indeed. quoted history astonishing All this is completelywrong. I never tried to resurrectAbu Ma'shar's mythology. My main source was not Abu Ma'shar but Al-Brn, who said quite clearlythat Abu Ma'shar's "Great Year" and his numbersof revolution were derived from Persian sources. The "Persians" of Al-Brn were denot the legendaryHsank and Tamrath,but real Sassanid Persians. finitely I never triedto push back Abu Ma'shar's system to the period between Also, - 200 and -250. These timelimitsare invented Pingree. by My own opinion about the time of inventionof Abu Ma'shar's systemwill be explained in section11 of the present paper. 5. ThreeWorldYears Compared In an excerptfromAbu Ma'shar's "Book of the Thousands", written by Al-Suzi (about A.D. 1000), the WorldYear of 360000 yearsis comparedwith 26D. Pingree: The Thousands ofAbu Ma'shar Institute (London, Warburg 1968).

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two other, in two versions, Years. The excerptis preserved which longerWorldwere translatedby E.S.Kennedy and discussed in our joint paper7. Both versionsare said to come fromthe treatiseAl-Jmial-Shh of Al-Suz. The first versionA beginsthus: A world-year, of the astrologers, is from the timeof to the generality according oftheir to theendofPisces, arrival oftheplanets at thefirst ofAries until thetime return As forthosein a without there in their amounts (i.e.,longitudes). beinga difference andtheir and ofIndiaandtheir theseven adherents, they saythat planets apogees region of in from of Aries, and they at the end Pisces nodesbegin themotion thefirst conjoin differ oftheyearofArjabhaz As for thepartisans 4,320,000,000 they (Aryabhata), years. of theyears of the The partisans from and maketheworld-year them 4,320,000 years. of and some the from this. The Persians Arkand said differently (ahl Fars) Babylonians of whichthere are 365 days,15 are 36[0],000solar years, said thatthe world-years their without 3[2] seconds, minutes, requiring apogeesand nodes(to be (and)24 thirds, there comeout the at Aries0). If we dividetheyearsof theSindhind by a thousand ofthePersians. outtheyear Ifwedivide there comes thousand bytwelve years. Arjabhaz but adds a fewwordsabout thesame information, Version givesessentially Abu Ma'shar, the authorof the "Book of the Thousands": are oftheworld theyears ofIndia,they claimthat ofone oftheregions As for those the other of the Sindhind. the However, group 4,320,000,000, (ashb) being partisans they ofthe theyears that claim ofArjabhaz, oftheyears thepartisans ofthem, they they being usedthe ofthe"Book oftheThousands" Buttheauthor are 4,32[0],000. world (shib) usedthe someofthemoderns and tasyrt. thecycles for ofthePersians However, years butwe of the Sindhind the to the them, explained way partisans world-years according used. ofthe"Book oftheThousands" theauthor what in this book,willutilize now, Year" are compared,namely: threevariantsof the "WorldIn thesetexts, Year of 4320000000 years,ascribed to "those in a region of 1) a WorldIndia". Year of 4320000 years,ascribedto Arjabhaz, 2) a WorldYear of 360000 years,ascribedin versionA to "the Persiansand 3) a WorldYear and in version to "the Persians".This Worldsome of the Babylonians", was used by Abu Ma'shar in his "Book of the Thousands". The period 1), of 4320 millionsof years,is the Kalpa used by BrahmaA.D. 628. ^ written GUPTAin his Brhmasphutasiddhnta27, or is the The period 2) (called Catoryugaused by ARYABHATA Mahyuga his treatise in Arab Rightat thebeginning ryabhatya28. authors) Arjabhazby the authorsays thathe was just 23 yearsold in A.D. 499, when of thistreatise, in A.D. 499 was written 3600 yearsof the Kaliyuga had passed. So the treatise or later. The period 3) is the "Great Year" of Abu Ma'shar al-Balkhi. According "the cyclesof the Persians". to Al-Brn, thisGreat Year was derivedfrom Abu Ma'shar too ascribes the period 3) to "the Persians", just as he of 1) and 2) ascribes 1) to "the Indians" and 2) to "Arjabhaz". The ascriptions 27 hisowncommentary with by byBrahmagupta,edited Brhmasphutasiddhnta, Vol. 24. from MedicalHall Press1900), Pandit, M.S.Dvivedi (Benares, reprinted 28W.E.Clark: The Aryabhatya ofAryabhata (Chicago1930).

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are correct, so I see no reason to doubt the ascriptionof 3) to "the Persians". is confirmed Moreoverthisascription by Al-BRN. The period 1) is 1000 timesthe period2), and 2) is 12 times3), as VersionA states. correctly mentioned under1) 2) 3) are similarin many The threeastronomical systems of an approximate details.They are all based upon the assumption conjunction 3102 B.C. In the systems1) of all planetsnear the point 0 Aries in February, of the Kaliyuga. In the system3) and 2), thisconjunctionmarksthe beginning adopted by Abu Ma'shar, the conjunctionof 3102 B.C. was connectedwitha Flood, and it took place, according to the calculations of Kennedy & in the nightjust before Thursday,February 17. The vanderWaerden7, Year was 131493240days,and it began on a durationof Abu Ma'shar's Worlda as and ended with p. 35). Friday, Al-HSHIMstates(see PlNGREE26, Tuesday of Al-HSHIM'swordsseemsto be thatthe The mostnaturalinterpretation Year was a Tuesday and the last day a Friday. This first day of the Worldin full withthe calculationsof Kennedy & van der is accord interpretation Waerden. In Pingree's opinion (26, p. 35-36) the first day of Abu Ma'shar's Great Year would be a Wednesday and the last day a Saturday,but this is in with the verywords of Al-HSHIM as well as with our calcucontradiction lations. I shall now compare the numbersof revolutions in 360000 yearsaccording to Abu Ma'shar and ryabhata. The lattercomposed (about A.D. 500) two In the first, the "midnight astronomical whichis knownfrom system", systems. Varha Mihira's account of the old Sryasiddhnta29 and also fromthe treatiseKhandakhdyaka of Brahmagupta30, the conjunctionwhich marks thebeginning betweenThursday, Kaliyuga is assumedto take place at midnight February 17 and Friday, February 18, 3102 B.C. In the "morningsystem", whichis the systemof the ryabhatya, the conjunctiontakes place at sunrise on Friday,18 February. The two systems differ onlyin details.The numbersfor Abu Ma'shar are taken fromPingree's book26, the figures forryabhata from mypaper4. Numbers in 360000 years of Revolutions Planet Saturn Jupiter Mars Sun Venus Mercury Moon Abu Ma'shar 12214 30352 191402 360000 585199 1494751 4812778 MidnightSystem 12214- | 30352-^ 191402 360000 585199 1494750 4812778 SunriseSystem 12214- i 30352 191402 360000 585199 1494751+ 4812778

29Varhamihira: Pancasiddhntik, ed. Thibaut & Dvivedin (Benares Lahore 1930).New translation 1889,reprinted by Neugebauer & Pingree, Danske 6 (1970-71). Hist.-Fil. Skrifter Selskab. Vidensk. V Brahmagupta: Khandakhdyaka, translated by P.Sengupta (Calcutta 1934).

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from In my paper4 I have shownthatthe meanlongitudes computed of ryabhata (A.D. 500), ryabhata's theory are very thelifetime good for but less good fordates one or two centuries earlieror later.The "sunrise is even better thanthe "midnight is that system" system". My explanation his numbers of revolutions to observations madein his ryabhata adjusted ofall planets owntime. In histheory, themeanlongitudes are supposed to be of 3102B.C. If thisis assumed, zeroat thetimeoftheconjunction the exactly thenumbers of themeanlongitudes is,to change only possible wayofadjusting in a Mahyuga. all numbers ofrevolutions revolutions In ryabhata's system themean must be divisible is increased by4 units, by4. If one ofthenumbers a good for A.D. 499 areincreased by 112'(see 4,p. 157).In this way, longitudes to observations is always possible. adaptation the situation is different. Because thereis a In AbuMa'shar's system, of his numbers ofrevolutions for in the middle his "Great Year", conjunction If of the and the moon must be one numbers is Mars even. Saturn, Jupiter, 799 a for A.D. is increased so that increased the mean by 748', by2, longitude to is not The to observations alwayspossible. only way good adaptation terms to thelongitudes. It overcome is to add constant correction thisdifficulty forBiruni19 saysthataccording to seemsthatAbuMa'shar did just that, "stood in forthe timeof the Deluge theplanets AbuMa'shar's calculation of and the the the Pisces in between twenty-seventh degree conjunction space endofthefirst of Aries". degree of thatin thekalpasystem remark Pingree (8,p.245) madetheimportant between the limitsset by Brahmagupta the mean planetsare precisely of Kaliyuga. It is quite possible that AbuMa'shar at the beginning in orderto obtainsuitable correction AbuMa'shar used thiskalpa system of360000 have taken his to theplanetary He well terms period longitudes. may from terms Persiansources(as BRNsays),but his correction yearsfrom Brahmagupta. thatthey The three astronomical 1),2), 3) agreein so many points systems butI do not On thispointI agreewith must havea common PlNGREE, origin. to statemyarguments was Indian.In order sharehis opinion thatthisorigin ofthe"TablesoftheShah". I must thehistory first discuss clearly,
6. The Tables of theShah The Arabicname of thistable set is, accordingto Kennedy20, Zj ash-Shh. whichwas probablycalled Zlk-i Shatroof a Pahlavi original, It is a translation as follows ayr. The historyof this Persian table set is told by AL-HSHIM (see22, p. 4): and what the Arkand between whenhe beheldthedifference KhusroAnshrvn, and in the people learnedin computation he gathered asserted, together Ptolemy theArkand to be He found twobooks. andhe lookedoverthese judgments, (astrological) based its and and observation themostaccurate upon planets eyesight, judgments by with outa zj called"The Shah"andhemadeitinkardajas So heworked more accurate. four kardajas.

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ibn Shahriyar ibn Khusro.He Theywereusingit untilthe reignof Yazdigerd theexample oftheShah.He madeit in three out a zj and he namedit after brought textand apogeesand nodesand kardajasand calledit "The Triple".Its explanatory oftheArkand to those as to midnight mean andequations (motions) correspond (epoch). work with it. Peoplestill The work Arkand,whichoccurs threetimesin thistext, is probablyderived from Sanskrit Khandakhdyaka. This is the name of an extant treatise of Brahmagupta30, in whichthe calculationof planetary positionsaccordingto the Midnight System of ryabhata is taught. Now KHUSRO ANSHRVN in Persia from 531 to 579, and the Khandakhdyakawas written in 665, reigned of KHUSRO could not use this treatise, but theycould use so the astronomers the underlying whichwas composed about A.D. 500. In fact, MidnightSystem, the calculationsof Kennedy21 and of Burckhardt & vander Waerden22 have shown that the Tables of the Shah agree withthe Khandakhdyakaand hence with the Midnight System in many points, includingmean motions, apogees and maximalequations. Al-Hshim states that Khusro compared the Arkand with a book of Ptolemy. It followsthat a book of Ptolemy existedat the Sassanian court. book of the Denkartto the effect in the fourth This is confirmed by a statement of Al-majist thatShapur I added a copy (or a translation) (i.e. the Almagest)to of KHUSRO did the books in his Royal Treasury31. However,the astronomers to use the not use the Almagest.Accordingto Al-Hshim, they preferred Arkand,i.e. the MidnightSystemof RYABHATA. In the Tables of the Shah, the year was supposed to contain(in sexagesimal fractions) 365; 15,32,30days (see 20,p. 147). the durationof the year is only On the otherhand,in the MidnightSystem, 365; 15,31,30days32. one sees that 3600 years(the time fromthe conjunction From thesefigures of 3102 B.C. to the lifetime of ryabhata)contain one more day accordingto the Tables of the Shah than accordingto the MidnightSystem.In the latter the conjunctiontook place betweenFebruary17 and 18, 3102 B.C., at system, local timeUjjain. Hence the Tables of the Shah musthave placed the midnight conjunctionat about midnight just beforeFebruary17. This resultagrees well withBRN'sstatement thatthe Zj-i Shah used midnight epoch in contrastto the generalpracticeof usingnoon. See Kennedy's Survey20, p. 130. Let us recallthatthe Epoch of the Flood accordingto BRN'sChronological Table (19, p. 133) is the same midnight beforeThursday,February17, and that this midnight was also the middle of the Great Year of Abu Ma'shar. Once more,Abu Ma'shar agreeswith"the Persians". 31See R.C.Zaehner: Zurvan, a Zoroastrian Dilemma (Oxford 1955), p. 139. J^ Ihis duration ol daysin a Mahayuga was tound thenumber bydividing bythe number ofyears.

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of3102B.C. tookplace theconjunction In ryabhata's Midnight System, of thesystem and Friday. In hisSunrise at midnight between System, Thursday on Friday, the conjunction took place at sunrise the treatise ryabhatya, not dateoftheTablesoftheShahwas certainly 18.So theThursday February ofRYABHATA. from derived anyofthetwosystems On theother hand,it seemsthatryabhata knewabout theThursday In thetreatise he writes: tradition. ryabhatya
the and 72 yugas constitute 1.3.There are 14 Manusin a dayofBrahman (a kalpa), oftheBhrata ofthiskalpaup to theThursday ofa Manu.Sincethebeginning period ofW.E.CLARK28, 6 Manus, 27 yugas and 3 yugapadas haveelapsed battle (translation p. 12).

What ryabhata calls a yuga is the This calls forsome explanation. of of4320000years. into4 yugapadas or quarter-yugas It is divided mahyuga in which we nowliveis thelastquarteryuga 1080000 each.The kaliyuga years ofthecurrent ofthekaliyuga is themoment when yuga.Hencethebeginning this of thecurrent three yugahave elapsed.ryabhata identifies yugapadas of theBhratabattle". On this ofthekaliyuga "theThursday with beginning for in the point,ryabhata is in accordancewithan earliertradition, of at battle ofBhrata the Mahbhrata itis saidthat thegreat beginning began have of the must IfThursday the thekaliyuga. was thefirst battle, kaliyuga day with ryabhata's Thisis in contradiction in thenight before Thursday. begun on in which thekaliyuga at sunrise ownsystem, Friday morning. began natural seems The most this contradiction? How can we explain explanation This tradition. theThursday date in an earlier to be thatryabhata found of a Great doctrine withthe Persian connected earlier tradition was perhaps of two halvesof 180000yearseach, separated Year consisting by a Great 3102 B.C. Because in the before 17, February Thursday, night Conjunction to thisconjunction to shift he was forced ryabhata's yearwas shorter, the Bhrata battle he the he mentioned but when kept Fridaymorning, date. traditional Thursday In the old Srya-Siddhnta, Another factpointsintothe same direction. a lunarperiodof of whichis based on the Midnight ryabhata, System this of the moon during of revolutions 180000yearsis used33.The number the same as in the is exactly to the old Srya-Siddhnta periodaccording thatryabhata tookthis 2406389.It seems Persian possible namely System, connected was somehow which from an earlier of180000 tradition, years period GreatYear. with thePersian withits that the "Persian System" We thus are led to the conjecture before even existed of 360000 Year Great its and years Thursday conjunction A.D. 500. ofryabhata, i.e.before thetime oftheTablesofthe version we shallsee thatan earlier In thenextsection A.D. 500. before existed Shahactually
33Varhamihira: Pancasiddhntikl Saura 14:"According tothe ( = Sryasiddhnta) lunar months and 1045092 66389intercalary arein 180000 there days." years

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Al-BirOni informs us in his Masudic Canon34 thatKhusro Anshrvan forthepurposeof A.D. in the 556,an assemblageof astronomers convoked, year of From i.e. the Tables the Shah. thistestimony, the correcting Zj ash-Shahriyr a & Kennedy concluded that Persian set of tables Taqzdeh (20, p. 130) existedalreadyat thatdate. is given by Ibn YNIS in the Leiden Anothervery valuable information Hkim of Ibn his YNIS statesthat the Persiansobservedthe Zj35. fragment of the at A.D. 450 sun 7755' about and again at 80 about A.D. 610 apogee what Ibn Now does YOnis mean the (see 7,p. 325). by theexpression "observing sun's apogee"? The solar apogee is not an object one can see in thesky.One has to determine it fromthree observationsof the sun's position,e.g. fromtwo and one solstice (method of HlPPARCHOSand PTOLEMY) or from equinoxes threelunareclipses.Ibn YNIS knewthis:he was a competent who astronomer, collectedmanyancientobservations and made observations himself. So we may his statement as follows:The Persian astronomers determined safelyinterpret the apogee of the sun by observationsmade about A.D. 450 and again by observationsmade about A.D. 610. What was the situation of the Persian astronomers about 610? Theyhad the choice betweenseveralvalues of the solar apogee. They may have known Ptolemy's value 6530'. The value 7755' was knownalreadyabout 450, as we know fromIbn Ynis, and the value 80 was known fromthe "Arkand" system, i.e. fromthe midnight systemof RYABHATA.The Persiansmade observations and decided to adopt the value 80, for Al-Brn informs us that the value 80 was used in the Tables of the Shah. BRN probablyhad in mind the Yazdigerd editionof the Tables, whichwas of Ibn YNIS concerning composed between632 and 642. Hence the statement the observations of the apogee about 610 is in accordance withwhat we know from othersources. I feelwe should interpret the otherstatement of Ibn YNIS in the same way. About 450, a hundredyears beforeKhusro, the Persian astronomers were in doubt about thevalue of thesolar apogee. Theymade observations and adopted the value 7755'. The same value was also used in the tables of Al-KhwRizmi24. Why did the Persiansobservethe apogee? The most naturalanswerto this questionis: because theywantedto computea table forthe motionof the sun. So we may conjecturethat about 450 the Persians actually computed astronomicaltables. This conjectureis confirmed by BRN's testimony quoted of rightat the beginningof the presentsection. Combining the statements BRN and Ibn YNIS,we may conclude that a set of astronomical tables was about 450 or a littlelater,and revisedunderKhusroAnshrvn about composed 560. 34Al-Brn:Al OsmaniaOriental Publications Qnnal-Mas'd. Bureau, Hyderabat-Deccan (1954-56), p. 1423. 35IbnYnis: al-Hkim. LeidenCod. Or. 143, Az-Zjal-Kabr p. 124.

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Note on Pingree'sCriticism In his paper9 and again in 10 PlNGREEclaimsto have demonstrated thatthe value 7755' of thelongitude of theapogee of the sun,reported by Ibn YNIS as observedby the Persiansabout A.D. 450, was "in factcomputedby means of the parameters of an Indian text, the Paitmahasiddhnta of the - and computed from the beginningof the Kalpa!" Visnudharmottarapurna Now let us have a look at this"demonstration". In the Appendixto his paper9, PlNGREEcomparestwo textswhichhe calls (B)and(P): of Brahmagupta, (B), the Brhmasphutasiddhanta the in the Visnudharmottarapurna. Paitmahasiddhnta, (P), incorporated PlNGREE shows that many parameters, includingthe motion of the solar of from the the are just the same in both texts.He also apogee beginning kalpa, calculatesthe longitudeof the apogee of the sun accordingto the texts(B) and whichmay be roundedoff to 7755'. (P), and he finds77; 54,7,17 degrees, seems verydoubtful: So farI agree,but the nextstep in the argument " As thelatter was compiledbetweenca. work(theVisnudharmottarapurna) A.D. 450 and 650, the Paitmahasiddhntamust be even older; and as it is to by ryabhata under the name Svayambh (ryabhatya,Goreferred 50), it mustbe dated at least A.D. 450." ldhyya, thatthe To thisconclusionI have two objections.First,it is not at all certain work referred to by ryabhata under the name Svayambh (which means Brhma or Paitmaha) is the same as text(B). There were severalastronomical or Paitmahasiddhnta;PlNtreatises going underthe name Brahmasiddhnta GREE (36, p. 178-179) mentions four of them. ryabhata mentions "the revealed by Svaywhich was formerly true science of astronomy, universally ambh", but I do not know what revelationhe refersto, and I thinkthat his guess as He onlyguesses,and he presents PlNGREEdoes not know it either. ifit werea certaintruth. to the My second objectionis: Even if one admitsthat ryabhata refers that A.D. but not this text existed text(B), thenit would followonlythat 499, by it existedA.D. 450, as PlNGREEclaims. thatthe Persiansobserved statement So whynot accept Ibn YNIS definite the apogee about 450 and again about 610? The author of the astronomical exposed in thetexts(B) and (P) may well have knowna Persiantable set system in whichthe apogee was located at 1155'. In Pingree's opinion Abu Ma'shar got theidea of a Great Year connected withthe conjunctionof 3102 B.C. fromIndia. He roundedoffthe numbersof in a Mahayuga so as to make them divisibleby 12, and thus he revolutions obtainedhis period of 360000 years.As faras I can see, PlNGREEhas no good off of his thesis:he just speaks of "Abu Ma'shar's rounding in favour arguments as ifit werea fact(26,p. 33). of the Sindhind parameters" learnt In myopinion,it is muchmoreprobable thatthe Hindu astronomers I ryabhata about the conjunctionof 3102 B.C. fromthe Persians. suppose
36 D. PlNGREE Centaurus14, p. 172-241. : The Later Paulisasiddhnta,

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and Brahmagupta replaced,forgood reasons,the Persian "Great Year" of 360000 years by the Mahyuga and Kalpa theyknew from earliertraditions. better and more to construct The largerperiodsenabled the Hindu astronomers This hypothesis seems reasonable fromthe asflexibleastronomicalsystems. of Ibn YNIS and tronomical point of view,and it agrees withthe testimonies Al-Brn, forthe latterassertsthat Abu Ma'shar's systemwas exclusively of based on "the motionsofthestars,as theyhad been fixed by theobservations the Persians". It is truethat in Al-Brn's India a different opinion on Abu Ma'shar's to BRN writes37: sourceseems be expressed. oftheworld takes itclearthat this destruction ofthese makes "The context passages ofAb-Ma'shar that a deluge thetheory andhence is derived placeat theendofa kalpa, at infact, stand inconjunction oftheplanets, takes because, they placeat theconjunction ofeachkaliyuga." and at thebeginning theendofeachcaturyuga of returnIn thispassage, Brn seems to say that Abu Ma'shar's theory in "India" his statement derived from Hindu sources. was However, ing deluges whereas his he for it is not is rather and the reason veryconvincing, gives vague, in the Abu Persian sources statement Ma'shar's "Chronology" is concerning When writing the "Chronology",BRN had the Persian clear and definite. tables and the textof Abu Ma'shar beforehis eyes,and he could compare the Persiancycleswiththose of Abu Ma'shar. in myjoint in favourof my hypothesis was presented One more argument paper withKennedy7 on p. 323: of the"GreatYear" was thedoctrine In classical Greekand Hellenistic literature, with themyths oftheDelugeand Ekpyrosis. Thesecatastrophes were connected already in certain to return whentheplanets cametogether signsof the supposed periodically with a conjuction ofthe zodiac.In thePersian we still find theDelugeconnected system, the the "battle of does not mention he alludes to planets. ryabhata Deluge: only of a Bhrata" on Thursday, 17, -3101. The idea of a Delugein themiddle February of 360,000 cannot be derived from havecometo Persiafrom India; it must cycle years theWest. I admitthattheopinionsexpressed in this"Note on Pingree's are Criticism" not certain, but in any case theyrest on a betterfoundation than Pingree's firm assertions.

8. PersianAstronomy before Khusro Persian treatise Denkart, the Sassanian king According to the middleSHPRI (240-270) collectedwritings fromIndia, the ByzantineEmpire,and otherlands, and whichtreatedof medicine, movement, time,space, astronomy, substance, creation, becoming, passingaway,etc.(see 31,p. 8). Amongthe books collectedwas Ptolemy's Almagest(see 31,p. 139). The hexameters of the firstcentury astrologerDorotheos of Sidon were translatedinto Pahlavi under 37 IndiaI, translated Al-Brn, byE.C.Sachau, p. 325.

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ShPR (see Pingree8, p. 241). Also translatedduringthe Sassanid Period were the "Anthologies" of Vettius Valens (see again8, p. 241-242). From these facts,Neugebauer39 rightly concluded that "serious astronomicalacLater on, underKhusro was takingplace in Persia in the thirdcentury". tivity AnSHrvn, the "Paranatellonta" of Teukros the Babylonian were also into Pahlavi38.The contentsof the Paranatellontawill be discussed translated in Section11. Withoutastronomicaltables it is impossibleto cast horoscopes.Therefore tables fromthe very we may safelyassume that the Persianshad astronomical of the under Shpr I. The observation apogee of the sun about beginning tables. A.D. 450 was probablymade in orderto correct existing mean conjunctions In Kennedy's paper17,Persian methodsforcomputing of Jupiter and Saturnare discussed.These methodsare foundin severalPersian Both Pingree and Kennedy assume the sources,but not in Hindu treatises. and its astrologicalapplicationsto have been invented astronomy conjunction in Sassanid Persia (17,p. 41). of Jupiter and Saturn The lapse of timebetweentwo successiveconjunctions is nearly 20 years. The motion of Saturn during this time is given by Abu Ma'shar as 24225'17". different values (17,p. 31). Abu Ma'shar's value Otherauthorsgive slightly in whichperiodthenumbers is in fullaccordancewithhis cycleof 360000 years, of revolutionsof Jupiterand Saturn are 30352 and 12214. The difference in 360000 is 18138; hence thereare 18138 conjunctions betweenthesenumbers to the next is from one mean of motion Saturn and the conjunction years, ^360 = 24225'17"...

Startingwith the assumed conjunction of 3102 B.C., the times of the successivemean conjunctionscan be calculated. If the mean motions of the the differPersian systembased upon the cycle of 360000 years were correct, of Jupiter and Saturnoughtto be zero at the times ences ofthemean longitudes of the calculatedmean conjunctions. theyare not zero. Accordingto Actually, 7 is approximately thecalculationsof Kennedy & van der Waerden theerror 5 in the 3rdcentury, 4 in the 4thcentury, 2 in the 5thcentury, Io in the 6thcentury. 38 F.Boll: Sphaera. See also C. A.Nallino: Traccedi opere Teubner, Leipzig1903. 6 (1948), di scritti Raccolta trafila arabi p.285-303. pehlevica, per agli giunte greche 39O. Neugebauer: Reviewof L'Inde classiqueby L. Renouand J. ArFilliozat, des Sciences d'Histoire Internationales 8, p. 172. chives

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From these errorsKennedy & van der Waerden7 concluded that the Persiansystem in the form in whichwe know it,with18138 mean conjunctions beforethe 5thcentury. Now we know in 360000 years,cannot have originated that in 556 Khusro's astronomers decided to replace the old "Tables of the Shah" by better tables based on the "Midnight System" of ryabhata. of the "Persian System"withits Therefore the most probable timeof invention of revolutions 30352 and 12214 forJupiter numbers and Saturnseemsto be the fifth A.D. century This conclusion is well in accordance with the testimony of Ibn YNIS the observationof the solar apogee about A.D. 450. So we may concerning that about this timethe Persianscomposed tables of the same kind conjecture as the later"Tables of the Shah", but based upon the cycleof 360000 years. 9. The Hellenistic Originof the"Persian System" is thatthe"Persian System"withitsconjunction of 3102 My nexthypothesis B.C. in the middle of a cycle of 360000 years was ultimately derived from Hellenistic sources. Let me first note that the conjunctionof 3102 B.C. was not observed,but calculated.In thatyear,no matter whether the calculationis made forFebruary 17 or 18 or any otherdate in thatneighbourhood, no conjunction of the planets took place. On February17 the mean longitudes of Jupiter and Saturndiffered by more than 40. The main reason forthis deviationis that the real Saturn moves much faster than it was supposed to move in the Persian system40. The difference amountsto 26" a year,or 26 in the 3600 yearsfrom 3102 B.C. to the timeof ryabhata. So the conjunctionof 3102 B.C. was found by a backward calculation, perhapsby one of thoseastrologers who,accordingto BRN,triedto date the flood by computingconjunctionsof Jupiterand Saturn. Now for such an one needs methodsto calculate mean longitudesof planets.The extrapolation Babylonians of the Seleucid era had no such methods: the notion "mean longitude"does not occur in theirtheories.The Greeks of the hellenistic age were the first to calculate planetary mean longilongitudesby first computing tudes and nextadding correction terms. This is the main reason whyI suppose thatthe conjunction of 3102 B.C. was a Greek invention. Another reasonis a passage from Abu Ma'SHAR's"Book ofConjunctions"41. The firstpart of this passage was quoted in Kennedy's paper17, p. 25. This quotationends withthe words: 40See B.L.van der Waerden: dermittleren in dergriechiVergleich Bewegungen schen undindischen Astronomie. 11 (1965)p. 16. Centaurus 41Kitb Escoriai MS arabe937,fol.5r. See also footnote42. al-qirnat, 42 to Kennedy7, note[32],another According copyofthe"Book ofConjunctions", Kitbal-Qirnt, is inthelibrary oftheNearEastSchoolofTheology, MS PB 20. Beirut,
A Latin translation, Albumasarde magnis coniunctionibus annorumrevolutionibus ac eorum was publishedin Venice 1515. profectionibus,

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Andthere is between thefirst day oftheyearoftheFlood and thefirst day ofthe theArabpeople, three was theconjunction thousand and six yearin which indicating 3761. hundred and seventyone years, Accordingto Kennedy, the "conjunctionof the Arabs" was A.D. 571. If one countsback fromthis year 3671 solar years,one arrivesat the year 3101 of 3102 B.C. the conjunction B.C., the yearjust after of thispassage in the Escoriai MS Arabe 937, fol.5 r reads: The continuation ofthebirth that between thebeginning mentioned Andverily ANYNS and others ofGod uponhim, and theFriday on which was theDeluge of Adam, theprayers night and one month and twentyand twohundred and twenty-six was twothousand years three hours ...43. daysand four a Greek name; it here is almost certainly The name ANYNS mentioned can be read as If are name be read as Anianos. some dots the may changed, the Greek historian that it is ABTNUS. As suggested A.Sachs44, possible by and chronology, Abydenos is meant,who wrotea book on Babylonianhistory based on the "Babyloniaka" of BEROSSOS.Since Berossos wroteon the partly well. Deluge and on the Great Year, the name Abydenos would fitextremely of ANYNS with Abydenos is far from However, since the identification I shall restrict to statingthat Abu Ma'shar connectedhis date certain, myself of the Deluge with the name of a Greek author who had computedthe time from the creationto the Deluge. A similar statementabout the date of the deluge according to a Greek author,probably drawn fromthe same source, is found in BRN's "ChroSachau's translation, page 25: nology".I quote from and between thecreation theinterval to one of thehistorians, Anianus, According 23 daysand4 hours. is 2226years when thedeluge oftheFriday thenight commenced, in his Kitb-alkirnt is reported Thisstatement (Book of byIbn-Albzyr by Anianus ... theConjunctions) the name Anianus is based on a conjecturedue to the In this translation the translator Sachau. On page 374 Sachau notes that in the manuscripts In his opinion,the mean ATHENAIOS. name is written as 'THNYWS, whichmight he prefers the reading author Athenaios is out of the question; therefore of PanAnianus. This Anianus was an Egyptian monk, a contemporary AnynS and The two a as who was known readings ODORUS, chronographer. dots. in the diacritical Athnyws differ only is Note that a historianAthenaios, who wrote about Assyrianhistory, of in Oldwater I the translation II 20. shall DlODOROS mentioned quote by Loeb's Classical Library: but thatCtesiasof Cnidushas givenaboutSemiramis; is theaccount Such,then, and because courtesan a was that she other historians and certain Athenaeus comely say shewasaccorded Now at first oftheAssyrians. waslovedbytheking ofherbeauty only a lawful when shehad beenproclaimed butlater, in theplalace, a moderate acceptance 43Thistranslation to me communicated wasmadebyDr. Anwar Sinnu andkindly byE. S. Kennedy. 44See8, 243,footnote 114. p.

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to herfora periodof five thekingto yieldtheroyalprerogatives she persuaded wife, on thefirst thesceptre andtheregal dayheld garb, uponreceiving days.AndSemiramis, of the at commanders which she a festival and persuaded banquet, gave magnificent high withher;and on the to co-operate and all thegreatest themilitary forces dignitaries were hertheir notable citizens while thepeopleandthemost second respects paying day, a and sinceshewasbynature andputhimin prison; herhusband shearrested as queen, thethrone andremaining andboldas well, sheseized ofgreat woman queenuntil designs are theconflicting accounts which old age accomplished Such,then, things. many great ofSemiramis. thecareer in thehistorians regarding maybe found

10. The "Chaldaeans" and the"Babylonians" We have seen that Al-Brn, in his account of the attemptsof the of Saturnand Jupiter, to date the Deluge by means of conjunctions astrologers of Babel and the Chaldaeans". mentions "the inhabitants We also have seen that Abu Ma'shar ascribesthe cycleof 360000 yearsto "the Persiansand some of the Babylonians". Who were the "Babylonians" mentioned by BRN as well as by Abu Ma'shar? In ancientastronomicaland astrologicaltextsone findsmanyreferences to collectivities such as "the Chaldaeans", "the Egyptians", "the Babylonians", "the Persians", "the Indians". In a recent the"Chaldaeans" paper45I have collectedmanyquotationsfrom and the "Egyptians",and I have shown that these can all be understoodas quotations fromspecifictreatiseswrittenby or ascribed to Chaldaean and Egyptianauthors.Concerningthe originof these treatisesI have reached the conclusions: following All testimonies to the "Chaldaeans" come from one treatise 1) referring (or of related written in 170 Greek between 330 and group treatises) B.C., in which Babylonian astronomyand astrologywere summarized.This treatise,from whichwe have extensive excerpts (e.g. in the"Isagoge" of Geminos), was based on cuneiform texts. to the "Egyptians" come fromone astrological 2) All testimonies referring treatise written in Greek in Hellenistic Egyptbefore150 B.C. The authorsof this treatiseare sometimesquoted as "Nechepso and Petosiris", sometimesas "the Egyptiansaround Petosiris", and veryoften just as "the Egyptians"or "the ancientEgyptians". I shall illustrate the consequences of these conclusionsby an example. In Lydus, DeMensibus II 12 we read: 45B.L.vanderWaerden: Die und die "Chalder". Sitzungsber. "Aegypter" Akad.(Math.-nat.) 5. 1972, Heidelberger Abhandlung

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The Egyptians and Chaldaeanscall the seventh day of the week and also the starPhainon. corresponding If thisstatement is interpreted as a testimony about the inhabitants of Egypt and southern Babylonia,it is just nonsense,forthe Egyptianscalled the planet Saturn"Horus the Bull", and the Babylonianscalled it kaimanu. However,as a about books written in Greek it is perfectly statement reasonable.In bothbooks the Greek word Phainonwas used to denote Saturdayas well as Saturn.This is a meaningful and interesting statement. It impliesthat the planetaryweek, in whicheach weekdayis put under the supremacyof a planet,was used in the book of the "Chaldaeans" as well as in thatof the "Egyptians". "the Persians",the situationis similar, as we have seen in section Regarding 4. The "Persians" are authorsof treatises written in Middle Persian(Pahlavi),or morespecifically the authorsof "Tables of the Shah". The same thing holds for "the Indians". When BRN speaks of "the astronomical Hindus and Persians"(see section4), he is comparing parameters used by Persianand Hindu authors.When Abu Ma'shar speaks of "those in a regionof India" who use the kalpa of 4320 millionsof years(see section5), he just means Brahmagupta. twicein the "AnthoNow considerthe "Babylonians".They are mentioned of Vettius Valens46. logies" 1) In VI 3, on page 249 of Kroll's edition,VETTIUSspeaks of Saturnand makes sense says: "The Babylonianscall the planet Phainon". This statement only if Vettius had before his eyes an exposition of the doctrinesof the in Greek. Babylonianswritten between"Chal2) In IX 11, on page 353, Vettius makes a distinctions durationof daeans" and "Babylonians".He ascribesto theChaldaeans a certain the year,and to the Babyloniansanother, namely 365+| + T4days

If theword"Chaldaeans" is takenin its usual sense as Babylonianastronomers, between Chaldaeans and Babylonians makes no sense. It does a distinction sources. two different weretakenfrom if make sense we assume thathis figures In the first wereascribedto the Chaldaeans, and in the source certaindoctrines othersource doctrineswere ascribed to the Babylonians.The durationof the accordingto his two sources. yearwas different of 3) Three chaptersof an anonymousauthor,known as "The Astrologer of authors a list first At theend ofthe chapter 379", werecopied by PALCHOS47. about the phenomenaof the fixedstars. The first is given who have written 46VettiusValens: Anthologiae,ed. W.Kroll (Berlin 1908). See also 47 Review Harvard of Vettius O.Neugebauer: The Chronology Valens, Theological (1954), p. 65-67. 47The textof the"Astrologer of 379" was published by F.Cumont in Catalogus Graecorum codicum VI, p. 194-211. astrologorum

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authorslistedare "The Babyloniansand the Chaldaeans". Justas in the textof Vettius Valens, a clear distinction is made betweenthe two sources. The subjectmatterin this chapterof the Anonymousis just the same as in the Paranatellontaof "Teukros the Babylonian"38.Hence we may conjecture thatthe "Babylonian"source of the Anonymouswas just Teukros. 4) Alexander of Aphrodisias48,speaking of the number seven of the mentionsthe Chaldaeans, next the Greeks,again the Chaldaeans Pleiads, first the Babylonians. and finally By the"Babylonians"he may well mean TEUKROS, thePleiads severaltimesin his Paranatellonta who mentions (see Boll38, p. 122 and 280). Let us now pass to Islamic sources. Abu Ma'shar and Al-Battani and Al-Brn ascribe certainastronomicaltheoriesand numericalvalues to "the Babylonians"or to "the people of Babylon". I shall mentionfourcases. Accordingto Al-Battn49 the "Egyptians" and the "Babylonians" assumedthe durationof the yearto be 365; 15,30 days. Varaha Mihira ascribesthesame value to the Paulisa-Siddhnta. Nobody doubts that this Siddhntawas based on a Greek treatisefromthe Hellenistic period. 5) A very interesting testimony concerning"the people of Babylon" (ahl Babil) comes fromAl-Brn, who in his book Ris'il IV describesseveral methodsfor calculatingthe risingtimes of the twelvezodiacal signs50.Most but the last three methods are purely methods make use of trigonometry, I shall call thesemethodsA, B, and C: arithmetical. A: Ris'il IV, 137: 2-12 : Ris'il IV, 137: 13-138:2 C: Ris'il IV, 138: 3-13. As Lesley has shown50, methodsA and C are based on thesame arithmetical methodsas were used in cuneiform textsbelongingto the ancient Babylonian SystemA. However,thesemethodswereadapted to different latitudesby of the shadow This is not made in usingmultiples equinoctial length. adaptation cuneiform texts;hence Lesley concludes that the adaptation to otherclimata thanthatof Babylon was made in the Hellenisticage. BRN ascribes Method to "some of the books of the Persians", and Method C to "the people of Babylon". It seems thathe foundboth methodsin one and the same Persian source, for afterhaving described Method B, he : writes 48Alexander Aphrodisiensis: In Aristotelis ed. commentaria, Metaphysica Hayduk (Berlin 1891)p.832.See also Boll38, p.366. 49Al-Battn: I, edited Opusastronomicum byC.A.Nallino (Milano1903), p.40. 50M.Lesley: Brn on Rising Timesand Daylight Centaurus 5 (1957)p. Lengths. 121-141. More material is in Al-Brn's"Exhaustive Treatise on Shadows", Translationand Commentary forHistory of ArabicScience, by E.S.Kennedy (Institute ofAleppo1976, University Chapter 22).

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The (Persian) authorof the operation said. "As forthe peopleof Babylon, they theequatorial and divided theresult and shadow multiplied bytwenty-five byeighteen, from forAries. subtracted whatresults Thereremained theascension Thenthey thirty. forAriesfrom subtracted twice theascension and divided theremainder sixty, by ve. Thereresulted thebase of increase foreach sign, for and they did it to theascension and so on to Aries to obtain and to theascension for Taurus to obtain Gemini, Taurus, obtain Virgo"51. The last sentenceimpliesthatthe ascensiontimesof the signsfromAriesto an arithmetical Virgo form sequence,just as in the Anaphorikosof Hypsikles and in the Anthologies of Vettius Valens52. The conclusionis the same as before:The "Babylonians" were Hellenistic authors. of Al-BRN has alreadybeen quoted in Section4: 6) Another testimony from the first of the The astrologers have triedto correct theseyears, beginning ofSaturn and Jupiter, for which thesagesamong theinhabitants ofBabel, conjunctions and theChaldaeans haveconstructed astronomical theDelugehaving tables, originated in their country. Once more,as in the testimonies of Vettius Valens and Palchos, the Chaldaeans are distinguished fromthe Babylonians.This is correct, foraccordwhereasthe ing to our resultsthe "Chaldaeans" were earlyHellenisticauthors, "Babylonians" were late Hellenisticauthors. I guess the "Chaldaean" books werewritten in the thirdcentury B.C., and the "Babylonian" books in the first A.D. century of Abu Ma'shar 7) In Section 5 I have already quoted the testimony (VersionA): solar The Persians saidthat theworld-years are360000 andsomeoftheBabylonians without of whichthereare 365 days,15 minutes, 32 seconds, and 24 thirds, years, theapogees and nodes(to be at Aries 0). requiring I suppose thequotation"The Persiansand some of the Babylonians"means Year in a Persian that Abu Ma'shar found the descriptionof the Worldin was as in a source which source, 5). quoted, testimony Babylonian Can we make a reasonableguess about thissource?I thinkwe can. 11. TeukrostheBabylonian In my opinion it is extremely probable that the common source of all quotations from"the Babylonians" was "Teukros the Babylonian". Several in my paper53 in the were presented in favourof this identification arguments 51 Thistranslation to mebyE. S. Kennedy. communicated waskindly 52 O. Neugebauer: On Some Astronomical of Anand RelatedProblems Papyri 251-263. 32 Philos. Soc. American of the Transactions cient (1942), p. Geography. 53.L.van der Waerden: The "Babylonians" Festand the"Persians". Prismata, Wiesbaden Hartner fur schrift 1977), p.431-440. (Steiner, Willy

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for Willy H artner. As we have seen, "the Babylonians" were Festschrift quoted by Vettius Valens as well as by Abu Ma'shar and Al-Brn, and we also know that these three authors have known and used the work of in favourof the identification. Teukros. This seems to be a strongargument of Teukros not much is known.Boll showed (38. p. 8) About the lifetime thathe musthave lived beforecirca A.D. 100. On the otherhand, GUNDEL54 thelongitudes in the"Paranatellonta"ofTEUKROSthathe lived concludesfrom "not long afterHipparchos". We may conclude that Teukros lived, most betweenHipparchos (130 B.C.) and Vettius Valens (A.D. 140). probably, In Islamic sources TEUKROS was known as TNQALSor TNQARSor into Pahlavi under KhuTankalOsha. His "Paranatellonta" were translated SRO Anshirvn, and this translationwas used by Abu Ma'shar in his "Great Introduction". In fact,book 6, Chapter 1 of this work containsthree variantsof the list of "Paranatellonta"or simultaneously rising (or culminating or setting) stars55.One of the variantsis ascribedto the "Persians", one to the Indians and one to Ptolemy. The "Persian" list was derivedfrom the Pahlavi versionof the workof Teukros. So the road of transmittance was Teukros

Pahlavi Translation

Abu Ma'shar I suppose that Abu Ma'shar's knowledgeabout the Great Year of 360000 yearsand the Conjunctionof 3102 B.C. was transmitted by the same road. I don'tbelievethatTeukros theBabylonianinvented the"Persian System". but rathera Accordingto BOLL38,TEUKROS was not an originalastronomer, The man who discoveredthe conjunctionof 3102 B.C. must have compilator. been an astronomerwho calculated conjunctionsin the past and found an of all planetsnear 0 Ariesin theyear3102. Only after approximate conjunction thisdiscovery was it possible to set up an astronomical based upon the theory thatthisconjunction took place in the middleof a "Great Year" of assumption 360000 years. Mathematical Institute ofZrich University (Received 20,1978) January 54W.Gundel & H. G. Gundel: Wiesbaden Astrologumena (F. Steiner, 1966), p. 112 55A German translation ofthispartoftheGreatIntroduction by K. Dyroff was with theArabtext, in Boll's Sphaera38,p. 490-539. printed together