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Concept
Hebrew astronomy
Summary
Hebrew astronomy refers to any astronomy written in Hebrew or by Hebrew speakers, or translated into Hebrew, or written by Jews in Judeo-Arabic. It includes a range of genres from the earliest astronomy and cosmology contained in the Bible, mainly the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible or "Old Testament"), to Jewish religious works like the Talmud and very technical works.
Some Persian and Arabian traditions ascribe the invention of astronomy to Adam, Seth and Enoch. Some scholars suggest that the signs of the zodiac, or Mazzaroth, and the names of the stars associated with them originally were created as a mnemonic device by these forefathers of the Hebrews to tell the story of the Bible.
Historian Flavius Josephus says Seth and his offspring preserved ancient astronomical knowledge in pillars of stone.
Only a few stars and constellations are named individually in the Hebrew Bible, and their identification is not certain. The clearest references include:
Kəsīl (כְּסִיל), usually understood to be Orion, a giant angel.
Ḵīmā (כִימָה), which may be the Pleiades, Aldebaran, Arcturus, or Sirius.
'Ash or 'Ayish (עָשׁ ‘Āš), possibly the Hyades, Arcturus or Ursa Major, or even the Evening Star (Venus when seen at dusk).
Mezarim (מְזָרִים Məzārīm), which may be Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, or a synonym for mazzarot, in which case it would refer to the planets or the constellations of the zodiac.
Aside from the Earth, only two planets are named in the Hebrew Bible:
The term Chiun (כִּיּוּן Kīyyūn) in Amos 5:26 is thought by some authors to refer to Saturn, closely related to the Assyrian "Kévan" or "kaiwanu."
Venus, called məleḵeṯ haššāmayīm, (מְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם), "the queen of heaven," in Jeremiah 7:18 and elsewhere. That the latter means Venus is shown by the cakes which are said to have been baked for her. Among the Assyrians and Babylonians, the cake offerings were called "the bread of Ishtar." Hēlēl (הֵילֵל), the "son of the morning," (בֶּן שָׁחַר Ben-Šāḥar) in Isaiah 14:12, is also thought to be the morning star (Venus when visible before dawn).
Official source
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