Exaltations of the planets (1)

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In addition to the central idea of predicting the life of a native from celestial phenomena some other elements of astrology came to the Greeks from Mesopotamia. The signs in which the planets have their exaltations according to the Greeks were Aries for the Sun, Taurus for the Moon, Cancer for Jupiter, Virgo for Mercury, Libra for Saturn, Capricorn for Mars, and Pisces for Venus. The same regions of the ecliptic contain the “secret places” (ašar niṣirti) of the planets in cuneiform celestial omen texts beginning in about 700 BCE. Presumably the distribution is based on the seasons: Venus, the Sun, and the Moon, a common Babylonian triad, are associated with spring. They are opposite to Mercury and to Saturn, which are associated with autumn; and the benefic Jupiter (= Marduk) in summer faces the malefic Mars (= Nergal) in winter. The Greeks followed the Babylonians in considering some planets as benefic and others as malefic. The differences between the Babylonian bīt niṣirti and the Greek hypsoma consist in two facts. First the Babylonians designated the general regions (qaqqaru) of a particular constellation as the location of the “secret place”, since the origin of the doctrine precedes the invention of the zodiac, whereas the Greek hypsoma was a single point of longitude, specified in degrees within a zodiacal sign. Secondly the Babylonian concept is to be understood with reference to planetary omens as distinct from hypsomata, which refer to planetary influence.

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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