If you didn't see it elsewhere, here is an argument from an astronomer that the Star of Bethlehem may have been Jupiter. It's fascinating to me that we have computer programs that can reproduce the sky as it would have been on a night two thousand years ago. In principle, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to calculate the positions of various stars and planets a long time ago, assuming we correctly understand their motions today and nothing occurred that would significantly disturb the regularity of those movements. It would take a pretty major event to change the position of Jupiter, certainly.
What I like about the argument is the idea that no one but the highest-placed stargazers of the the day would have recognized it as significant. It is true that Babylonian civilization had astrologers who were even more accurate than the ancient Greeks, for reasons Tex will appreciate: because the Greeks took their data and tried to make models to explain them, which led to occasional inaccuracies in future predictions, while the Babylonians skipped models and simply figured from empirical data. The idea that this famous star may have been one seen as significant only to those steeped in the arcane traditions of the East is rather plausible.
In any event, it's a charming story for the holiday.
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I don't know that much about ancient astrology, but didn't they know already in 6 b.c. that planets wandered while stars stayed put? Hadn't they long since taken to associating certain events and categories of events with particular planets, which they associated with their deities? So rather than attribute a conjunction of the familiar Jupiter with something a like "a surprising star in the Heavens that portends great events," I'd have expected something more like "Wow, Jupiter's doing something awfully interesting this month."
We have only the sketchiest Biblical account of how people were reacting to the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem, but the account in Luke doesn't remind me very much of how people talked back then about astrological alignments of known entities like Jupiter. On the other hand, if the story is being related by someone who doesn't follow astrology closely but heard something from people who do, you can see how it would come out that way.
Well, indeed, "planet" is from the ancient Greek word for "wanderer." But they took them to be some sort of stars, wandering stars. Until the invention of the telescope, they were thought to be like stars physically as well (made of the element ether).
The fixed stars were supposed to rest upon one of the concentric spheres surrounding Earth, the Sphere of Fixed Stars. The moving stars had lower spheres, which rotated (i.e., the stars didn't move: they rested on the spheres, which moved). The lowest sphere was the Lunar sphere, so that earthly matter was called "Sub-Lunar."
The Babylonians had a different system, though, the details of which are not as familiar to me.
" It is true that Babylonian civilization had astrologers who were even more accurate than the ancient Greeks, for reasons Tex will appreciate: because the Greeks took their data and tried to make models to explain them, which led to occasional inaccuracies in future predictions, while the Babylonians skipped models and simply figured from empirical data. "
I've been reading about semi-ancient Greek science, and this is an interesting assertion. Where is this described? (Russo's book suggests Greek science would have been on the decline by the time Jesus was born.)
One interesting aspect of his theory is that it would place the birth of Christ right around the time of year we currently observe it- Late December. For years we've been hearing how that was likely an error and his birth would probably have been in Spring due to the habits of shepherds in that area, and other factors. On the one hand it makes one concerned that it's data made to fit the narrative, but it does look interesting though.
James,
Start with R G Collingwood's Idea of Nature.
Thanks. Still lots of tablets to be translated...
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