I recently learned that most of the western zodiac constellations have names which are Mesopotamian in origin, the same as in the Sumerian star catalogs thousands of years ago. Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Gemini, Cancer. Or in English: the Bull, the Lion, the Scorpion, and the Goat-Horned, the Twins, and the Crab.
To the Akkadians and Sumerians they were, literally translated: the Bull of Heaven, the Lion, the Scorpion, the Goat-Fish, the Twins, and the Crayfish.
There was some process of transmission there, maybe via Aramaic, now mostly lost to history. Until quite recently the extent of the Mesopotamian influence was not recognized, even though the ancient Greeks themselves grudgingly acknowledged the Persian (i.e. Babylonian) roots of their own learning; the same origin as 12 hours in their day and 360 degrees in their circles.
A few of the traditional Arabic names of the stars are also calques from Akkadian ("heart of the scorpion", among others). This also hints at a process of transmission, which is now elusive.
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I recently learned that most of the western zodiac constellations have names which are Mesopotamian in origin, the same as in the Sumerian star catalogs thousands of years ago. Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Gemini, Cancer. Or in English: the Bull, the Lion, the Scorpion, and the Goat-Horned, the Twins, and the Crab.
To the Akkadians and Sumerians they were, literally translated: the Bull of Heaven, the Lion, the Scorpion, the Goat-Fish, the Twins, and the Crayfish.
There was some process of transmission there, maybe via Aramaic, now mostly lost to history. Until quite recently the extent of the Mesopotamian influence was not recognized, even though the ancient Greeks themselves grudgingly acknowledged the Persian (i.e. Babylonian) roots of their own learning; the same origin as 12 hours in their day and 360 degrees in their circles.
A few of the traditional Arabic names of the stars are also calques from Akkadian ("heart of the scorpion", among others). This also hints at a process of transmission, which is now elusive.