The Terminology of Historical Astrology According to Abraham Bar Ḥiyya And

8/10/2019 The Terminology of Historical Astrology According to Abraham Bar iyya And

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Abstract

Josefina Rodrguez ArribasThe Terminology of Historical Astrology according to AbrahamBar H iyya and Abraham Ibn Ezra

Abraham Bar H iyyas Megillat ha-Megalleh is the first treatise onhistorical astrology written in Hebrew and the only text in which BarH iyya describes how astrologers base prognostications on specificheavenly positions and the relations in or between specific horoscopes.It represents the first attempt by a scientist and translator to find Hebrewterms for concepts that had hitherto circulated among the Jews of Spainonly in Arabic. The coinage of technical terms for historical astrologyin the fifth chapter of Megillat ha-Megalleh is studied, specificallythose related to the Arabic intiha (terminal point) and tasyr (direction/prorogation), both translated as haqqafah. The meanings of that term inMegillat ha-Megalleh,as well as the equivalents employed by Abraham

Ibn Ezra, are also studied. This concept seems to have been completelyignored or obscurely understood until now, despite its relevance to afull understanding of conjunctional theory in the two authors.


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J o s e f i n a R o d r g u e z A r r i b a s

The Terminology of Historical

Astrology according to Abraham Bar

H iyya and Abraham Ibn Ezra1

Abraham Bar H iyyas Megillat ha-Megalleh (written ca. 11201129)is the first treatise on historical astrology written in Hebrew and theonly text in which Bar H iyya describes how astrologers base specificprognostications on specific heavenly positions and the relations inor between specific horoscopes.2This double quality makes the workthe first source of scientific astrology in Hebrew, interesting for bothhistorians of science and linguists. We see here the first attempt by a

1 I would like to express my appreciation to the Warburg Institute and the Sophia

Trust for the Sophia Fellowship that made this article possible. This research was also

supported by a travel fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Relations and

Cooperation. A preliminary and much shorter version of this paper was presented at

the Directors Work in Progress Seminar at the Warburg Institute in October 2008.

I am particularly grateful to Prof. Charles Burnett for reading and commenting on a

late draft of this article, as well as to the referees for Aleph, whose suggestions haveimproved it. I also want to thank Alice Machinist for her generous and helpful readingof my text. All translations, unless otherwise noted, are mine.

2 In his other astrological and astronomical works in Hebrew, Bar Hiyya is concerned

with the justification of astrology within Judaism (Iggeret) or with the technical

Aleph 11.1 (2011) pp. 11-54


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Jo se f in a R od r g u ez Ar r ib a s

scientist and translator to find Hebrew equivalents for concepts that hadhitherto circulated among the Jews of Spain only in Arabic.3This articlelooks at the coinage of technical terms for historical astrology in thefifth chapter of Megillat ha-Megalleh, and specifically those related tothe Arabic technical terms intiha (terminal point) and tasy r (direction/prorogation), both translated as haqqafah.4 This article is part of awork in progress on the astrological and astronomical terminology ofAbraham Bar H iyya and Abraham Ibn Ezra. Consequently it exploresthe meanings of the technical term haqqafah in Megillat ha-Megalleh aswell as the equivalent terms employed by Abraham Ibn Ezra (beit ha-

sof and nihug), who immediately followed Bar H iyya in diffusing Arabastronomy and astrology among the Jews. I chose this concept in thesetwo writers because some of its meanings seem to have been completelyignored or obscurely understood until now, despite their relevance toa full understanding of conjunctional theory in the two writers.5 Inorder to understand properly the contexts, techniques, and meanings ofhaqqafah (and beit ha-sof/nihug), we must first consider how historicalastrology works in the fifth chapter of ha-Megalleh. In this text theconcept is employed more frequently and methodically than in anyother medieval Hebrew text on historical astrology (including the twoversions of Ibn Ezras Sefer ha-Olam).

Historical Astrology inSefer Megillat ha-Megal leh

Bar H iyyas Megillat ha-Megalleh is devoted to messianism; i.e., whenthe Messiah will come and what signs will precede his arrival. 6One of

the main contributions of this work is the use of astrology and the theoryof the periodical conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn to anticipate theMessiahs arrival (the fifth chapter of ha-Megalleh). According to a theorythat originated in Sassanian Persia (224652), the periodic conjunctions ofJupiter and Saturn, the largest and slowest-moving planets, rule history.7

description of elements of a horoscope in general, e.g., the division of houses (SeferH ebon mahalek ot ha-kok avim, Sefer ha-Ibbur, Sefer S urat ha-ares ), but not withspecific horoscopes.

3 Some terminology can be found in passages on astronomy and astrology in the talmudic

and midrashic literature, as well as the Baraita di-emuel and the Baraita de-mazzalot;these works influenced Bar H iyyas terminology to some extent. A different case is

the Sefer H ak moni by Shabbetai Donnolo (913ca. 982), a commentary on the SeferYes irah whose context is the Byzantine-Greek culture and language of southern Italy,which must have determined Donnolos lexical choices, as Bar H iyyas was determined

by his Arabic culture and models in Spain. But Bar H iyya was the first Jew to write in

Hebrew on technical astrology (in the fifth chapter of Megillat ha-Megalleh), whereasDonnolo seems to have been focused on cosmology and a more general approach.

On astrology in Hebrew in southern Italy, see Joshua Holo, Hebrew Astrology in

Byzantine Southern Italy, in The Occult Sciences in Byzantium, ed. P. Magdalinoand M.V. Mavroudi (Geneva: La Pomme dor, 2006), pp. 291-323; on Donnolos

astrology, see A. Sharf, The Universe of Shabbetai Donnolo (New York: Ktav Pub.House, 1976). For Bar H iyyas scientific terminology and language, see especially:

I. Efros, Studies in Pre-Tibbonian Philosophical Terminology, Jewish QuarterlyReview 17 (192627): 12964 and 32468; ibid. 20 (192930): 11338 [repr. in idem,Studies in Medieval Jewish Philosophy (New York and London: Columbia UniversityPress, 1974)]; G. B. Sarfati, Mathematical Terminology in Hebrew Scientific Literatureof the Middle Ages (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1968), pp. 61129 [Heb.]; H. Rabin,R. Abraham bar H iyya u-teh iyyat leonenu biymei ha-beinayim, Mes udah (1945):158170 [Heb.]; Shlomo Sela, Abraham Ibn Ezra and the Rise of Medieval Science(Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2003), pp. 98, 107, and 114.

4 Tasy r is a calculation involving the period of time that separates two points signifyingan event in a horoscope. The zodiacal arc separating these two points is converted into

degrees of sphaera recta and these degrees are counted directly as years. The point ofthe zodiac where the direction falls is called qisma in Arabic. The lord of the termin which the qisma falls is the qa sim (divisor) and rules the time that the directeddegree remains in the term. See Michio Yano, ed. and trans., Ku shya r ibn Labba nsIntroduction to Astrology (Tokyo: Tokyo University, 1997), pp. 21621 [3.20.212]


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Bar H iyya merges this astrological theory with the rabbinic idea that thehistory of the world mirrors the six days of the creation in Genesis.8Byapplying this analogy one can find correspondences between the actionsrecounted for each the six days of creation and historical events in any ofthe six millennia that the world is supposed to last.9Neither the idea of anastrological pattern in history nor the calculation of the date for the endof days originated with Bar H iyya. His contribution was to combine thetwo ideas and to introduce two new cycles into the periodic conjunctionsof Jupiter and Saturn.10Saadia Gaon (882942), in the introduction to hiscommentary on the book of Daniel, rejected astrology and all methods of

divination as a means to calculate the arrival of the Messiah, which can beknown only by prophecy.11Saadias rejection proves that, at least in thetenth century, speculations similar to those referred to by Bar H iyya inha-Megalleh more than a century later were rampant.12The real pioneersfor this branch of astrology, devoted to explaining the astral causes ofpast and future historical events, are Mashaallah (762ca. 815) and Abu Mashar (787886).13

Bar H iyya employs the annual revolution of the sun (tequfat ha-anah), the periodic conjunctions (dibbuqim or h ibburim) of Jupiterand Saturn, and different types of directions (haqqafot) as tools formaking astrological judgments about past, present, and future events.The annual revolution of the sun is one of the most common techniquesin historical astrology. It consists of casting the horoscope for themoment at which the sun returns to the vernal point, when the springand therefore the new year begin.14This procedure has a long history inGreek and Arabic astrology. The genethliacal form of this technique (theanniversary horoscope) is mentioned in Abu Mashars Kita b Ah ka m

tah a w

l sin l-mawa

l d;

15

its historical application (annual revolutionof the sun), in his Kita b Tah a w l sin l-a lam.16Bar H iyya, in the fifth

chapter of Megillat ha-Megalleh, considers the annual revolution ofthe sun in every year that some conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn takesplace. The moment chosen to cast the horoscope of the conjunction

and 23035 [3.21.111]. There are no specific terms for these elements in Bar H iyyas

texts. Intiha (denoted by one of the main meanings of haqqafah in ha-Megalleh) isthe direction that moves the rising-sign of a radix horoscope one zodiacal sign per

year in the order of the signs.

5 There is a Catalan translation of Bar H iyyas Megillat ha-Megalleh by J. M. MillsVallicrosa, Abraam bar Hiia, Llibre revelador (Barcelona: Editorial Alpha, 1929).Mills Vallicrosas translation is not very helpful in matters of astrology and leaves

the meanings of haqqafah without explanation or explicit translation. Shlomo Sela(Abraham Bar H iyyas Astrological Work and Thought, Jewish Studies Quarterly12 [2005]: 12858) does not explain any of the technicalities involved in historical

astrology, except for the five kinds of conjunctions. The persistent appearance of

haqqafah in the fifth chapter of ha-Megalleh (more than 30 times) remains not onlyunexplained but it is not even mentioned. However, haqqafah is a key term forunderstanding the conjunctional theory in ha-Megalleh and why Bar H iyya comparesspecific conjunctions and specific horoscopes in order to make prognostications,

while ignoring others. Concerning one of the equivalent terms for haqqafah in IbnEzras texts (beit ha-sof), Sela leaves the reader in doubt concerning the use of thistechnique in his critical edition and English translation of the two versions of Ibn

Ezras Sefer ha-T eamim. See Abraham Ibn Ezra, The Book of Reasons (Sefer ha-T eamim) (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2007), p. 317 [6.4].

6 Adolf Poznanski and J. Guttmann,Abraham bar H iyya, Sefer Megillat ha-megalleh(Jerusalem: [s.n.], 1968), p. xii (Introduction). For an introduction to Bar H iyyas life,

a bibliography of his work, and a very general introduction to ha-Megalleh, see Sela,Abraham Bar H iyyas Astrological Work and Thought.

7 Persian texts translated into Arabic account for the introduction of cyclical periods

of time into astrology. See E. S. Kennedy, The World-Year Concept in Islamic

Astrology, in Studies in the Islamic Exact Sciences, ed. David A. King and Mary H.

Kennedy (Beirut: American University of Beirut, 1983), pp. 35171.8 Six thousand years as the duration of the world has a Jewish precedent (B Rosh ha-

anah 31a), but the correlation between the six days of the Genesis and events inworld history can be found in the patristic literature, especially St. Augustine (354

430) and Isidore of Seville (d. 636). See F. Cumont and J. Bidez, Les mages hellniss


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is the moment when the sun returns to the vernal point. The rising-sign and the aspects at this moment are the relevant elements for theastrological judgments of the conjunction. In his historical horoscopes,Bar H iyya denotes this moment with unusual expressionsmolad,molad ha-anah, molad ha-levanah ha-rionah, and biat ha-anah,instead of the traditional tequfah ortequfat Nisan.17Bar H iyya doesnot explain his choice of terminology and one can only offer variousconjectures. For example, he may have wished to avoid traditionalterms, that might suggest that he computed these moments according tothe traditional methods ascribed to R. Samuel and R. Adda. However,

he employs molad with the traditional meaning of New Moon inmolad Siwan min ha-anah ha-zeh(ha-Megalleh,p. 153, line 31). Theevidence in this text indicates that Bar H iyya did not use the traditionalmethods of computation. Unfortunately, he does not explain how he didcompute the dates and times of vernal equinoxes.18In the fifth chapterof ha-Megalleh, the dates (anno mundi) and the correlated events forevery periodic conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn are as following (withequivalents in the Julian calendar). See Table 1.19

Table 1Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn according to Bar H iyyasMegillat ha-Megalleh

AnnoM u n d i

J u l i a nYear

C o nj u n ct i o n H i st o r ic a l E v en t P r o f e c t i o

2365 1396 BCE WATERYTRIPLICITY (12

conjunctions)1st conjunc-tion (superior) inAquarius/Pisces[238 years]

Kingdom of Israel begins.Birth of Aaron. Solar

eclipse that indicates birthof Moses.

(Leo in therising-sign)

(Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1938), 2: 36366. The Christian influence in the Megillat ha-Megalleh seems likely enough, although it is difficult to know how Bar H iyya couldhave known the Latin texts. See: G. Vajda, Les ides thologiques et philosophiques

dAbraham bar H iyya, Archives dhistoire doctrinale et littraire du Moyen ge 15(1946): 197201 and 216 n. 2; J. M. Mills Vallicrosa, La obra enciclopdica de R.

Abraham bar H iyya, Estudios sobre historia de la ciencia espan ola (Madrid: CSIC,1987), 1: 21962, on p. 253.

9 This idea is particularly expressed at the beginning of the second chapter of Megillatha-Megalleh: We certainly know that the seven days of Genesis are the days ofthe world (p. 18, line 29p. 19, line 1). Bar H iyya makes every day of the creation

equivalent to a thousand years of the world (namely, 857 years), which entails that

the Messiah will arrive in the sixth millennium of the creation of the world, see ha-Megalleh, p. 147: The beginning of the seventh day will be at the end of the fifthmillennium of the world [7 times 857 years are equivalent to 5999 years, i.e., the end

of the millennium that begins with the digit 5].

10 Concerning Bar H iyyas introduction of these two new conjunctions, see Sela,

Abraham Bar H iyyas Astrological Work and Thought, pp. 13335. Despite

Selas statement that the 60-year cycle of the conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn is

a novelty introduced by Bar H iyya, Abu Mashar already used it in his Kita b al-qira na t (although without a specific name); see K. Yamamoto and Ch. Burnett, Abu Mashar, On Historical Astrology, The Book of Religions and Dynasties (On the GreatConjunctions) (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2000), 1: 14851 [2.8.32].

11 See H. Ben-Shammai, Saadias Introduction to Daniel: Prophetic Calculation of the

End of Days vs. Astrological and Magical Speculation,Aleph 4 (2004): 1187. Ben-Shammai states that Bar H iyya created the false impression that Saadia was a defender

of astrology when he referred to Saadias commentary on Daniel in the introduction

of ha-Megalleh, in order to justify the use of astrology to calculate the end of days (p.

43).12 Bar H iyyas contemporary, Abraham Ibn Ezra, condemns the employment of the

great conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn to calculate the arrival of the Messiah in his

long commentary on Daniel 11:31. He refers there to two exponents of this practice

in Judaism, Abraham bar H iyya and Solomon Ibn Gabirol. As far as I know, there is


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2368 1393 BCE Birth of Moses

2424 1337 BCE 2nd conjunction(middle) in Pisces

Moses flees from Pharaoh(3rd conjunction in thetriplicity).

Cancer

2444 1317 BCE Conjunction inScorpio

Plagues in Egypt (4thconjunction in the triplic-ity).

Scorpio

2448 1313 BCE Israel leaves Egypt (pro-fectio of the rising-signof the conjunction inScorpio).

2484 1277 BCE 3rd conjunction(middle) in Pisces:

End of forty years in thewilderness and beginning

of the wars in Canaan(7th conjunction in thetriplicity).

Cancer

2488 1273 BCE Death of Moses (profectioof the fourth house in ananairetic place), start of

Joshuas kingdom, cross-ing of Jordan.

2504 1257 BCE End of Joshuas kingdom(twelfth year of the 8thconjunction in the triplic-ity).

2544 1217 BCE 4th conjunction(middle) in Pisces

Death of the elders whogoverned after Joshua(10th conjunction in thetriplicity).

2556 1205 BCE Othniels death (twelfthyear of the 10th conjunc-tion in the triplicity).

2603 1158 BCE FIERYTRIPLICITY(12 conjunctions)1st Conjunction(great) in Aries/Pisces [238 years]

Period of the judges,short governments andhardships for Israel.

(Aries in therising-sign)

no extant text of Ibn Gabirol on mundane astrology.

13 See E. S. Kennedy and D. Pingree, eds. and trans., The Astrological History ofMa sha alla h (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), p. vi; Abu Mashar,On Historical Astrology, 1: 582. Ab u Mashars work describes the periodicalconjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn: small (the conjunction takes place in the same

triplicity), middle (the conjunction changes triplicity), and great (the conjunction

completes the four triplicities and returns to its starting point). A triplicity is a group

of three signs that belong to the same element (fire, air, water, and earth). In the first

case, the conjunction indicates small political and social changes in the city or the

country. In the second case, it points to a change in the dynasty or the emergence

of a new nation. The third type indicates the emergence of a great prophet. The

predictions were deduced from a horoscope cast for the annual revolution of the sun

(Arab. tah w l, Heb. tequfat ha-anah) of the year in which the conjunction took place.Masha allahs work has a larger context, for it assumes a Zoroastrian theory according

to which the world will last 12,000 years after creation, with every thousand ruled by

one of the seven planets. In addition to the horoscope of the annual revolution of the

sun, Masha allah used the horoscope of the exact vernal equinox, the conjunctions

of Jupiter and Saturn, and the mighty profectio ( intiha ), which makes one zodiacalsign equivalent to one thousand years, starting from Aries. Likewise, Abu Ma shar

considers the annual revolution of the sun at the moment when the sun enters the

vernal point and the three types of conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn (every 20, 240,

and 960 years). For historical predictions, Abu Ma shar considers the cycles of the

conjunctions, the annual revolution of the sun, and eclipses, while he uses the syzygy

before the beginning of the season and the syzygy of every month for the judgments

concerning the weather of the corresponding period, in other words, the full or new

moon before the beginning of season or month.

14 This return does not take place exactly at the same moment every year. According

to Ibn Ezra, there is a difference of 87 15' between two annual revolutions of thesun, i.e., five equinoctial hours and 49 minutes; see the second version of Sefer ha-T eamim, pp. 23839 [6.3].

15 Tenth-century Greek version edited by D. Pingree,Albumasaris De revolutionibusnativitatum (Leipzig: Teubner, 1968).


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2841 920 BCE EARTHLYTRIPLICITY (12conjunctions)1st conjunction(great) in Taurus[238 years]

Prophecy emerges inIsrael, righteous rulers,and proclamation of thekingdom.

(Sagittariusin the rising-sign)Aries

2854 907 BCE Birth of David; Samuelprophesies (thirteenthyear of the conjunction,

profectio of the risingsign of the conjunction inTaurus).

2881 880 BCE Conjunction in

Virgo (3rd in thetriplicity)

Sauls kingdom, and

Davids after him

Leo

2884 877 BCE Beginning of Davidskingdom (for fortyyears and six months),which lasts until exile of

Jehoiachin [442 years] inthe fourth year of the 3rdconjunction.

Scorpio

2960 801 BCE Conjunction inTaurus (7th in thetriplicity)

End of Solomons reign,decline of the kingdom,and division between

Jeroboam and Rehobo am(804 BCE)

3199 562 BCE AIRYTRIPLICITY(12 conjunctions)7th conjunction inGemini

Decay of the kingdomsof Israel and Judah in the3rd conjunction of thistriplicity.

(Aries in therising-sign)

3204 557 BCE Shalmaneser decrees theexile of Israel (fifth year

of the 1st conjunction inthe triplicity).

Leo

16 A Latin version, perhaps by John of Seville,Albumasaris Flores, ed. Johannes BaptistaSessa (Venice, 1488 or 1506) is available in PDF format in the Warburg Institutes

online Bibliotheca astrologica numerica (http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/mnemosyne/orientation/Bibastro.htm).

17 For instance, Bar H iyya employs the term tequfahfor solstices and equinoxes in hisIggeret li-Yehudah ben Barzillai(tequfot ha-anah); see Z. Schwarz, ed., Abrahambar H iyya, Iggeret R. Abraham b. H iyya ha-Nasi e-katav le-R. Yehudah b. R.

Barzillai, in S. Kraus, ed., Festschrift Adolf Schwarz zum siebzigsten Geburtstag(Berlin and Vienna: R. R. Lwit, 1917), p. 30. In ha-MegallehBar H iyya uses threeexpressions for the vernal equinox: molad ha-anah(e.g., ha-Megalleh,p. 122, line 29;p. 123, line 2), biat ha-anah(ha-Megalleh, p. 122, line 17), and molad ha-levanah ha-rionah(ha-Megalleh,p. 130, line 2). The use of moladto mean equinox is intriguingin light of astronomical terminology before and after Bar H iyya (e.g., ha-Megalleh,p.119, line 3 [molad]; p. 124, line 4 and p. 132, line 1 [ha-molad ha-rion];p. 126, line7 [ha molad ha-dibbuq ha-rav]; and p. 148, line 3 [ha molad ha-dibbuq ha-rion ha-rav]). For the astronomical and calendrical meanings of molad, see E. Ben-Yehudah,Milon ha-laon ha-ivrit ha-yeenah ve-ha-h adaah, (Jerusalem: Maqor, 1980), 6:28452846.

18 For details, see E. Mahler, Handbuch der jdischen Chronologie (Leipzig: GustavFock, 1916), pp. 507519. Moladand molad ha-anahcannot refer to a New Moon,because the molad and molad ha-anahoccur on various days of the month in the

Jewish calendar according to Ba r H iyyas text (in all likelihood the day of the vernal

equinox), whereas the New Moon always occurs on the first day of the month in the

Jewish calendar (although som etimes d isplaced by a da y for various re asons). I am

very grateful to Mr. Lenn Schramm (Jerusalem) for alerting me to the problem with

Bar H iyyas dates for the moladotand to an anonymous reader forAlephfor his/herhelp in clarifying it.

19 For Julian calendar conversions I relied on Scott E. Lees online tool (http://www.rosettacalendar.com/index.cgi).


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3318 443 BCE WATERYTRIPLICITY(12 conjunctions)Conjunction (supe-rior) in Cancer[953 years]

Nebuchadnezzar exilesJehoiachin, king of Judah,in 436 BCE (profectio ofthe sign of the conjunc-tion)

(Leo in therising-sign)

3338 423 BCE Conjunction inPisces

Zedekiahs exile and fu-ture deliverance of Israel.

Capricorn

3397 364 BCE Conjunction inPisces

Cyrus the Persian allowsIsrael to return from exileand rebuild the Temple.

Leo

3408 353 BCE Enmity against Israelstops during this period

(eleventh year of theconjunction in Pisces,profectio of the rising-sign of the conjunction inPisces).

Sagittarius

3556 205 BCE FIERYTRIPLICITY(12 conjunctions)1st conjunction(great) in Leo [238years]

Flowering of knowl-edge during the SecondTemple, although withdifficulties.

(Taurus in therising-sign)Cancer

3793 33 CE Crucifixion of Jesus (oneyear before the conjunc-tion of the change of tri-plicity).

3794 34 CE EARTHLYTRIPLICITY(12 conjunctions)1st conjunction(great) in Virgo[239 years]

End of the kingdom ofIsrael and its occultation;emergence of a new reli-gion, Christianity

(Capricornin the rising-sign)Virgo

3828 68 CE Exile of Israel decreedby Titus (fourth year ofthe 2nd conjunction inthe triplicity), 1460 yearssince the birth of Moses(AM 2368)

4033 273 CE AIRYTRIPLICITY(12 conjunctions)1st conjunction(great) in Libra[238 years]

Constantines kingdom,great but with an impi-ous religion, Christianity;Diocletian; Manes foundsManichaeism

(Sagittariusin the rising-sign)

4271 511 WATERY

TRIPLICITY(12 conjunctions)1st conjunc-tion (superior) inScorpio [953 years]

A new religion that will

spread by sword.

(Virgo in the

rising-sign)

4331 571 2nd conjunction(middle) in Scorpio(3rd in the triplic-ity)

Birth of Muhammad; hisreligion will prevail for584 years. Full eclipse ofthe moon

(Cancer in therising-sign)

4382 622 Beginning ofMuhammads kingdom

4392 632 3rd conjunction inScorpio

Death of Muhammad;Umayyad dynasty rulesin Damascus

4509 749 FIERYTRIPLICITY(12 conjunctions)1st conjunc-tion (great) inSagittarius[238 years]

Conflict betweenUmayyads and Abbasids;kingdom moves fromDamascus to Baghdad;last Umayyad flees toHispania.

(Gemini inthe rising-sign)


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are grouped into the middle conjunctions of 60 years (dibbuq ems ai),which are the conjunctions that take place in the same sign within thesame triplicity. Forty-eight successive conjunctions of the two planets,cycling through all four triplicities of the zodiac (water, fire, earth, andair) bring them back, every 953years, to the same triplicity wherethe cycle began. This conjunction that returns to the first triplicityis called the superior conjunction (dibbuq rav). In the time frameconsidered by Bar H iyya there are four superior conjunctions of Jupiterand Saturn: 1396 BCE (in Pisces), 443 BCE (in Cancer), 511 CE (inScorpio), and 1464 CE (in Pisces). There is a total of 144 conjunctions

(48

3) until the return of the conjunction to the sign and triplicityof the first conjunction. The conjunction that returns to its originalposition, where the count until the advent of the Messiah started, is themighty conjunction (dibbuq as um), with a period of 2,859 years (238 12= 2,860 years),20 exactly the number of years that separate thesuperior conjunction of AM 2365 (1396 BCE) from the superior andmighty conjunction of AM 5224 (1464 CE). Bar H iyya confers a uniquestatus to the cycle of this conjunction, for its completion will bring theMessiah and the end of days.21For Israel, this means the restoration ofits kingdom, the kingdom of the righteous, and the resurrection of thedead, among other things. As noted by Sela, Bar H iyyas justification forintroducing this cycle, never before mentioned in historical astrology,is to place the messianic calculation in a cosmological frame that bringsthe dates he found in biblical chronology into accord with the historyof the world up to his time.

Bar H iyya uses either the mean motion or the true motion ofthe planets when he establishes the moment of the conjunction of

the upper planets. However, he does not refer to both motions in allcases. The clearer and perhaps more controversial cases are the firstgreat conjunction in Pisces (the watery triplicity) and the first greatconjunction in Aries (the fiery triplicity). In the first of these (1396BCE), the conjunction took place in Aquarius (airy triplicity), if we take

20 Sela, following MS BNF 1058, f. 67a, has the mighty conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

taking place every 2,869 years (Abraham Bar H iyyas Astrological Work and Thought,

pp. 13435). The edition by Poznanski and Guttmann, which I follow, is based in

three manuscripts: MS Oxford Bodleian 160, MS Frankfurt (Merzbacher Library),

and MS Munich 10. There the number of years of the mighty conjunction is 2859.

21 According to Abu Mashar, the starting point of the dawr (cycle) can be shiftedto the date of the significant conjunction, but he seems to regard the first dawr(which is not shifted) as still valid (Yamamoto and Burnett, On Historical Astrology,1: 589). Different Arabic authors attach different lengths to the dawr cycle (see Table4). Bar H iyya seems to have considered the conjunction of the kingdom of Israel as

the starting point of a conjunctional dawr, the only one he would consider in hisastrological history, with a duration of 2,859 years, but placed within the context of a

particular theory of thousands, whose beginning took place at the creation and whose

end would coincide with the accomplishment of the mighty conjunctional cycle (the

seventh day of the world). Bar H iyyas thousands theory is inspired, in part, by Psalm

90:4, where Gods day is equated with a day (half of a 24-hour cycle) plus one-third

of the night (a watch/vigil). As we have mentioned (see note 9), Bar H iyya keeps the

correspondence with the seven days of the creation, but employs a calculation that

differs from that suggested in Psalms and makes Gods day equivalent to 857 1 7years; see the second chapter of ha-Megalleh(Mills Vallicrosa, Llibre revelador, pp.35ff.).

22 Megillat ha-Megalleh, p. 119.23 Ibid., p. 126.

the true motion of Jupiter and Saturn, or in Pisces (watery triplicity),if we take their mean motion.22 In the second, the first conjunctionof the fiery triplicity (1158 BCE), the conjunction was in Aries (meanmotion) or Pisces (true motion).23Especially in the first example, BarH iyya looks at the conjunction in Aquarius as well as that in Pisces inorder to interpret this significant horoscope, which is the radix of all thefollowing horoscopes until the end of time. It is the longest temporal


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24 Ibid., p. 127.

25 Ibid., p. 135.

26 Ibid., p. 135.27 Ibid., p. 135.

28 Ibid., p. 149.

29 Ibid., p. 151.

30 Ibid., p. 145.

cycle (the mighty conjunction of 2,859 years). Throughout the fifthchapter of ha-Megalleh, Bar H iyya seems to give priority to the viewthat the conjunction in Pisces (according to the planets mean motion)is the first in the cycle of the mighty conjunction. Because Bar H iyyacompletes the cycle of 2,859 years with the return of Jupiter and Saturnto the watery triplicity (Pisces) and not to the airy triplicity (Aquarius),it is clear that he considers the mean motion to be more correct thanthe true; this is, indeed, the usual procedure in the calculation of theconjunctions, as he himself states.24 Note that the rule in historicalastrology, for Bar H iyya and later, was not to use the horoscope for

the exact moment at which the conjunction takes place, but rather thehoroscope of the annual revolution of the sun in the year during whichany conjunction of the two upper planets would take place.

Throughout the text, Bar H iyya frequently compares positions ina certain horoscope with the positions in a previous one in order todeduce astrological judgments about future events. The references areusually to the horoscope considered to be that of the kingdom of Israel(1396 BCE), the horoscope of the first conjunction in any triplicitywhere a certain event took or will take place, and the horoscope of anyconjunction whose cycle rules a past, present, or future historical event.A clear instance of this comparison between horoscopes is the fact, whichBar H iyya frequently points out, that from the first conjunction of themighty cycle (1396 BCE) until the great conjunction in Virgo (earthlytriplicity) in the year 34 CE (inclusive), all the great conjunctions tookplace in signs that were above the horizon in the starting horoscope(1396 BCE). After that, all the conjunctions took place in signs thatwere below the horizon in the first horoscope.25 Bar H iyya confers

great importance on this general feature, because he holds that any staror zodiacal sign above the horizon indicates the emergence and visibilityof its qualities, whereas its position below the horizon implies, in ageneral way, its occultation or latency.26All the signs in which the greatconjunctions took place from the great conjunction announcing Moses

birth and the emergence of the kingdom of Israel (1396 BCE) until thehoroscope of the conjunction indicating the emergence of Christendomand the decline of Israel (34 CE) were signs that were above the horizonin the radix horoscope (1396 BCE). Bar H iyya interprets this as a signof the persistence and endurance of the kingdom of Israel. By contrast,the change of the great conjunctions to signs below the horizon in theradix horoscope means Israels darkness and occultation in the historyof the world.27 Only with the great conjunction in Aquarius (1226CE) would the great conjunctions return to the signs that transited thediurnal sky in the radix horoscope.28This change implies that Israel

will again have a visible role and increasing relevance in the history ofthe world, while Christendom and Islam will be eclipsed and disappearbefore the arrival of the Messiah.29

Every great conjunction is joined to one zodiacal sign that is theruler of a people or nation. Therefore the corresponding people ornation is especially signified and affected by the conjunction that takesplace in its ruling zodiacal sign. If we take a look at Table 1, which listsall the conjunctions mentioned in the fifth chapter of ha-Megalleh, wewill notice that the emergence and re-emergence of Israel are linkedwith the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions in Aquarius/Pisces (AM 2365,4986, and 5224); the conjunctions of these planets in Virgo/Libra(AM 3794 and 4033) indicates the emergence of Christendom; and theconjunction in Scorpio (AM 4271) indicates the birth of Islam. 30The


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date of the Messiahs arrival and the subsequent deliverance of Israelenter Bar H iyyas text in two alternative forms. Astrologers hold twodifferent opinions concerning this date and the moment at which themighty cycle of 2,859 years will be closed.31According to one group,this will happen in 1448 CE; according to the other group, in 1468 CE.The former group, Bar H iyya explains, consider it unnecessary for allthe conjunctions of the watery triplicity until Pisces (the sign of the firstconjunction according to the mean motion of the planets) to take place.They consider that the mighty cycle will be closed when the conjunctionof the upper planets moves from the previous triplicity to the watery

triplicity, to the corresponding sign (Cancer). For the second group,the conjunction has to arrive at the same watery sign in which it was atthe beginning (Pisces) before the cycle of the mighty conjunction of thetwo upper planets is complete (four superior conjunctions). AlthoughBar H iyya does not explicitly incline towards either view (as he says,both groups have supporting arguments), the way he uses the mightyconjunction suggests that he favors the second group, i.e., those who endmighty conjunction in Pisces instead of Cancer.32

There is a significant change in Bar H iyyas style and approach inthe fifth chapter of ha-Megalleh, after he concludes his explanation ofthe conjunctions before his time and begins to deal with contemporaryand future conjunctions.33The transition is marked by the conjunctionof the year 1129 (the terminus post quem for the composition of ha-Megalleh), thirty years after the Crusader conquest of Jerusalem (1099).The predictions of future events concern the year 1186, for whichrevolts and disorders are predicted.34These two dates (1099 and 1129)bracket the period in which Bar H iyya wrote his book and when the

wars in Muslim and Christian lands, which he surely knew about, werebeing waged. Bar H iyya describes his present in the following terms:

We are not authorized to declare what the benefit and outcomeof this war [between Christians and Muslims] will be, for we

31 Ibid., pp. 15254.

32 Ibid., p. 154.

33 Ibid., p. 143.

34 For the many traditions regarding the conjunction of this year, see D. Weltecke, Die

Konjunktion der Planeten im September 1186, Saeculum 54.2 (2003): 179212. I owethis reference to Prof. Charles Burnett. A conjunction of all the planets in the year

1186 is also described in a Hebrew text from the Cairo Geniza; see B. R. Goldstein

and D. Pingree, Horoscopes from the Cairo Geniza, Journal of Near EasternStudies 36.2 (1977): 11415 and 13738.

35 Megillat ha-Megalleh, p. 144.36 There were several attempts to write astrological histories of the caliphate during

the eighth and ninth centuries. According to Kennedy and Pingree, from before

Masha allah, there are extant one by pseudo-Stephanus of Alexandria and anotheranonymous one summarized by al-Sijz. In addition to the works by al-Kind and

Abu Mashar, there is a long series of horoscopes of the installation of caliphs in

al-Yaqu bsHistory and fragments of astrological histories by al-Khwa rizmand al-Battan(The Astrological History of Ma sha alla h, p. 135).

are going to talk about future events that will happen, and Godcan strengthen, among the signs, whatever motions [of theplanets] He deems appropriate.35

Several passages in the text hint that Bar H iyya read or knewworks on historical astrology similar to the one he was writing, whichcirculated in his time:36

Among the Muslim ... Someone else among them did likewisein a poem that he composed about the events in the kingdom

of Ishmael since the arrival of this conjunction. He says thathe has neither permission nor capacity to tell the misfortune ofIshmael, for they are children of his people and his family. These


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persons manifested much fear about Ishmaels kingdom andwanted neither to show more nor to indicate who will inheritthe kingdom, its greatness, and its glory after the destructionof Ishmaels kingdom, because they do not want to or becausethey do not know it.37

The Meanings ofHaqqafah in Bar H iyyasMegillat ha-Megalleh

A key term for understanding the meaning of the astrological chapterin ha-Megalleh is the Hebrew word haqqafah.38This is only one ofthe many terms that Bar H iyya coined to denote concepts taken fromArabic astronomy and astrology. We have chosen to focus on it herebecause of its ambiguity and the key role that it plays for understandingBar H iyyas astrological techniques in ha-Megalleh and the branch ofmedieval astrology known as historical or mundane astrology.Haqqafah is a technical term whose general meaning is revolution,circuit, rotation, or path of a star. This general meaning emerges,for instance, in the sixth chapter of Bar H iyyas Sefer H ebon mahalek otha-kok avim, where it means heavenly circle or zodiac.39 In Megillatha-Megalleh, haqqafah can also mean either profection (profectio) orthe technique known as direction or prorogation. In these cases,haqqafah implies two horoscopes or two positions of heavenly bodies.In addition, as nomen rectum haqqafah signifies various elements ofmathematical astronomy: e.g., galgal ha-haqqafah deferent (Arabicfalak al-h a mil); galgal ha-haqqafah ha-qat on epicycle (Arabic falak

al-tadw r):

The astrologers (h ak mei melek et ha-kok avim) ... say thatthe planets can move on the epicycle (galgal ha-haqqafahha-qaton), which revolves for each of them on the sphere/

orb of the deferent (reqiagalgal ha-gadol), whose center isthe center of the Earth. They also can move on the eccentriccircumference (ofan galgal gadol), whose center is apart fromthe center of the Earth, and then they do not need the deferent(galgal ha-haqqafah).40

The type of direction known in Latin as profectio (Arabic intiha ) issurely the most commonly used predictive technique in ha-Megalleh

37 Megillat ha-Megalleh, p. 146.

38 For a list of words derived from this root and their meanings in Bar H iyyas work, see

Efros, Studies in Pre-Tibbonian Philosophical Terminology, pp. 337 and 356. This

glossary is useful but has to be handled with care for this and some other terms that

have astrological meanings.

39 J. M. Mills Vallicrosa, ed. and trans., La obra Sfer hesbn mahlekot ha-kokabim

(Libro del clculo de los movimientos de los astros) de R. Abraham bar H iyya

ha-Bargelon (Madrid: CSIC, 1959), p. 38 , line 4: If you investigate the motion

of the heavenly circle/zodiac (seder haqqafatan) in the horizons inclined ( ofanimha-not im) with respect to the sphaera recta ( ofan ha-mior), either northward orsouthward, you will find that the number of its rising upon the Earth and that of its

setting below it are not the same, but they are according to three ways. The sphaera

recta, a concept of mathematical astronomy, can be defined as the heavenly sphere

as it appears to observers on the equinoctial line (equator), for whom the meridian

is always perpendicular (recta) to the equator. It has to be distinguished from the

sphaera obliqua, the heavenly sphere as seen by observers everywhere else except for

the equator. From their perspective, the meridian is always inclined with respect to

the equator, by an angle that changes depending on the place.40 Megillat ha-Megalleh, p. 113, line 16 (galgal ha-haqqafah); p. 113, line 14 (galgal

ha-haqqafah ha-qat on). The sense of epicycle is also found in Bar H iyyas SeferH ebon under the slightly different and abbreviated form ofan ha-haqqafah (ch. 14,p. 91, line 3).


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(aside from the elements that constitute the horoscope: signs, planets,and aspects).41In the fifth chapter of ha-Megalleh we can distinguishthree different types of profection. The first is the profection of therising-sign of the vernal equinox of the year in which the conjunctionradix of the two upper planets took place, i.e., the conjunction of thekingdom of Israel (1396 BCE). This profectionreappears throughoutthe text as the reference for successive horoscopes that take thisconjunction as their radix. Bar H iyya does not further explain thetechnique he is employing, but simply mentions it after the degreesof the rising-sign, midheaven, and the positions of the planets in the

horoscope in question. He includes it in the formula the profection (haqqafah) of the year was, in the clause when the profectionarrived, and in other sentences where haqqafah is the subject of a verbof motion.42This type of profection is mentioned for the remaininggreat conjunctions of the 2,859-year cycle that is the frame and the limitof world history, starting with the exodus from Egypt.43The secondtype is the profection for the rising-sign of the vernal equinox of theyear in which any conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter takes place.44Thethird type of profection, secondary with respect to the first two, isthe profectionof the zodiacal sign in which any of the conjunctionsof the two upper planets take place.45Bar H iyya refers, as a rule, tothe profectionof the zodiacal sign in the rising-sign, but he also paysattention to the planets and houses affected by the movement of theprofection.46He also employs haqqafah (as in haqqafah la-yamim) todenote the astrological direction that makes one sign equivalent to oneday (Arabic tasy r), although this meaning is less frequent.

Here are several examples of direction and profection(both denoted

by the same term, haqqafah):

The [fulfillment of] this injunction [the crossing of the Jordan]was postponed until the mourning days [for Moses] wereover.47The third day was the day on which the direction of

41 Intiha is the Arabic name for the sign or degree in which the direction from therising-sign falls. The planet that is the lord of that sign is the sa lh uda h and is the rulerof the entire year. For a comparison with the more systematic and complete use of

the profectio by Abu Mashar, see Yamamoto and Burnett, On Historical Astrology,1: 610 (table). Abu Mashars system is more universal (the first conjunction or radixis connected not with Islam but with a universal catastrophe, the flood), while Bar

H iyyas approach is more local (the radix is the conjunction of the kingdom of Israel);where Abu Mashar and Arabic astrology place a conjunction affecting the world,

Bar H iyya focuses on a conjunction affecting only a people and a religion. We could

consider Bar H iyyas work as the unfolding of a particular case of the conjunction

of the religion and/or dynasty in Abu

Ma shars scheme. There is also an early use

of the profectio in the Liber Aristotelis (itself probably a work by Masha allah); seeCh. Burnett and. D. Pingree, eds. The Liber Aristotilis of Hugo of Santalla (London:Warburg Institute, 1997), p. 112 [4.15] (De signo alentiphe, videlicet terminali). I owethis reference to Prof. Burnett.

42 For instances of the first formula, see Megillat ha-Megalleh, pp. 128, 129, and 132; forexamples of the second and third ways of introducing the profectio, see pp. 122, 128,and 151.

43 For instance, in the first conjunction in the earthly triplicity (AM 2841), Bar H iyya

considers theprofectio from the rising-sign of the first conjunction in AM 2365; seeMegillat ha-Megalleh, p. 127.

44 In the conjunction of AM 3408, Bar H iyya takes into consideration the moment at

which theprofectio reached Sagittarius from the rising-sign (Aquarius) of the annualrevolution of the sun in AM 3397; see Megillat ha-Megalleh, p. 133, and otherexamples on pp. 131 and 153.

45 For instance, in the conjunction of AM 3318 (first conjunction of the watery triplicity

that began in Cancer), Bar H iyyawho understands that this conjunction indicates

the kingdom of Babylon, and more precisely, Nebuchadnezzars kingdom, whichruled over Israelinterprets the arrival of theprofectio of the sign of the conjunction(Cancer) at the place of Mars (Capricorn) as a sign of the exile of King Jehoiachin,

during the cycle of this conjunction. Keeping this pattern, when theprofectio returnedto the sign of Mars twenty years later (AM 3338), Zedekiahs exile took place before


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the days (haqqafah la-yamim) from the rising-sign [Scorpio]reached the lot of fortune (goral ha-yofi) [in Capricorn]. Thenext day, when the direction (haqqafah) reached the signAquarius, which is the zodiacal sign of the first conjunction[1396 BCE], they crossed the river Jordan.48

Bar H iyya explains that the vernal equinox of AM 2488 (1273 BCE)was the day on which the period of thirty days of mourning for Mosesfinished and at that moment Joshuas rule began (7 Nisan=23 March inthe Julian calendar). Three days later, Israel crossed the Jordan River

(10 Nisan=26 March in the Julian calendar). This day is signified inastrology by the three signs that were between the rising-sign (15Scorpio) and the lot of fortune (21 Capricorn), for the three signs aremade equivalent to three days. The fourth day, when the direction thatmakes one sign equivalent to one day (haqqafah la-yamim) reachedAquarius, the actual crossing of the Jordan took place, for Aquariusis the zodiacal sign of Israel and the sign in which the conjunctionsignifying the emergence of Israel (1396 BCE) took place (accordingto the true motion of the two planets). In addition to the favorablesign that implies the presence of the lot of fortune, the day of the weekon which the crossing of the Jordan took place was Thursday, the dayruled by Jupiter, the most favorable of the planets, which was in the signof Aquarius, the sign of Israel.49

The meaning of haqqafah is more difficult to detect in othercontexts:

Our ancestors came out of Egypt in AM 2448 (1313 BCE),

which was the fourth year of this conjunction (in Scorpio, AM2444/1317 BCE). ... The ruling planet of the year (ha-kok avha-moel al ha-anah) was Saturn, which was in the rising-sign[Sagittarius]. ... The exile took place on the third day after thevernal equinox [of the year AM 2448, when the vernal equinox

the darkness of Israel; see Megillat ha-Megalleh, p. 132. Likewise, Ibn Labba

n refers

to the fact that it is also possible to direct the sign where the intiha falls (and otherelements, as well). He does so in the order of the signs and in degrees of sphaera recta(Yano, Introduction, pp. 216221 [3.20.212]).

46 For the case of theprofectio of a planet, see Megillat ha-Megalleh, p. 124. Concerningthe profectio of a house, see ibid. Here, Bar H iyya refers to the conjunction in AM2488 (in the watery triplicity). The middle conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in Pisces

took place in the fourth house of the horoscope of the vernal equinox of 2484. Four

years later (2488), moving one house per year in the order of the signs, the profectioof the sign of that conjunction was in the eighth house, which indicates death, where

Mars was placed the year of the middle conjunction in Pisces (2484). All these factors

indicated Moses death.

47 Namely, the thirty days established for the mourning.

48 Megillat ha-Megalleh, p. 125, lines 2 (haqqafah la-yamim) and 3 (haqqafah).49 For other examples ofprofectio, see ibid., p. 128, line 15 and p. 130, line 20. We know

of at least one source where the days of the week are related to the zodiacal signs, the

Malh amat Daniyal, a calendar with the prognostication of weather, harvests, illnesses,

death, and political issues according to the beginning of the year, the month, and thesigns of heavens. See A. Fodor, trans. (with facsimile of Arab ic text), The Muslim East,Studies in Honour of Julius Germanus (Budapest: Lornd Etvs University, 1974),pp. 85133, especially p. 98 [5].

50 Megillat ha-Megalleh, p. 123, line 7. See also p. 122, lines 27 and 29.

was on 23 March], when, according to the number of the days,the direction (haqqafah) reached Jupiter, the lord of the rising-sign (baal meon ha-s omeah ), which was (Jupiter) in Aquarius,in the third house.50

In this fragment, Bar H iyya seems to be speaking about the directionof one sign and one planet moving one day per sign in the order of thezodiac. As we can appreciate here, much of the information conveyed


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by Bar H iyya must be extracted from between the lines; this is the rulein the astrological chapter of ha-Megalleh. Only a reader familiar withthe technique involved is able to properly understand the passage.The technical term employed here (haqqafah) is never defined in BarH iyyas work, despite the fact that he seems to have introduced it toHebrew with these two specific meanings (profectionand direction).Haqqafah also appears in different nominal collocations; for example,beit ha-haqqafah, meaning the sign in which the profection of anyconjunction of any of the four triplicities falls:

This seventh conjunction took place in Taurus. The vernalequinox of the year [molad ha-levanah ha-rionah] was at twohours less one eighth of the second day (Monday), 3 Nisan (21March in the Julian calendar), AM 2960 (801 BCE). ... Marswas in the sign of the profection(beit ha-haqqafah) that ruledthe kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Jeroboam. Thoseversed in this science say that Mars, which was the custodian(memunneh), was in the house that indicates the kingdom ofIsrael. For that reason, the kings of Israel deviated from the[right] way and followed the ways of Jeroboam and his sins,and Mars made them sin.51

In the previous example, the collocation beit ha-haqqafah (lit. houseof the profection, i.e., terminal house) is equivalent to mazzal ha-haqqafah (lit. sign of the profection) in the next passage below. Thisreflects the common confusion of the concepts of sign and house, whichare clearly distinct in theory but overlap in texts and in astrological

terminology.52

The conjunction moved from the fiery triplicity to the earthlytriplicity, to Taurus (2841/920), where Venus was at [themoment of] the vernal equinox of the year of the superior

conjunction [of Jupiter and Saturn] (2365/1396). ... The sign ofthe profection(mazzal ha-haqqafah) was Aries.53

Exceptionally, we find haqqafah as the direct object of the verb sovevspin, rotate, revolve in the phrase savevah ha-haqqafah.

The vernal equinox of the first year of this conjunction tookplace at the end of the first hour of the fourth night (the nightbetween Tuesday and Wednesday), 9 Nisan (17 March in theJulian Calendar), AM 4847 (1087 CE). ... Twelve years after

this conjunction, when the profection completed the circuit(savevah ha-haqqafah) of all the zodiacal signs in the sky andreturned (h ozer h alilah) to the first sign, the troops of Edombecame strong in this year to go and conquer the land ofIsrael.54

51 Ibid., p. 130, line 2.

52 Arab. burg al -muntah a , Lat. signum profectionis: namely, the sign reached by themotion of theprofectio. Intiha specifically means the terminal point (degree) reachedby theprofectio; see Yamamoto and Burnett, On Historical Astrology, 1: 578.

53 Megillat ha-Megalleh, p. 128, line 8.54 Ibid., p. 143, line 27 (h ozer h alilah) and line 26 (savevah ha-haqqafah). In addition to

haqqafah, Bar H iyya employs the expression h ozer h alilah to allude to the indefinite

periodic return of the heavenly motions. Regarding the meanings of this expression,see E. Ben-Yehudah, Thesaurus totius hebraitatis et veteris et recentioris (Jerusalem:Ben-Yehudah, 1959), 3: 1575, where, in addition to h ozer h alilah as an adverb, we alsofind the collocation h ozer h alilah with h alilah equivalent to tequfah (Rashi on Job1:5).


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Table 2Abraham Bar H iyyas Terminology

haqqafah

cycleprofectio (1 sign/1 year)direction (1 day/1 sign)heavenly circle/zodiac

beit ha-haqqafah sign/house in which the profectio fallsmazzal ha-haqqafah sign in which the profectio fallsofan ha-haqqafah

galgal ha-haqqafah ha-qaonepicycle

galgal ha-haqqafah deferenttequfat ha-anah annual revolution of the sun

Abraham Ibn Ezras Terminological Equivalents

We will consider the term haqqafah, what it denotes, and theequivalent terms for the profectionand astrological directions in thewritings of Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089/921164/67). This comparisonis relevant, because Ibn Ezra was Bar H iyyas immediate successorin coining Hebrew astrological and astronomical terminology. Thedifferences between their choices should tell us something about theirrespective approaches to the problem of dealing with the limits ofmedieval Hebrew to convey scientific and technical issues. Directionsare used in practically all of the astrological branches that Ibn Ezraexplored in his astrological encyclopedia.55He employed them to makeprognostications about certain aspects of the horoscope or about generalfortune at a certain moment of the future in natal, historical, elective, and

medical astrology.56

Among other texts, Ibn Ezra explains directions(nihugim) in the tenth chapter of his Sefer Reit h ok mah.57Ibn Ezraemploys various terms (only one of them connected to haqqafah, as wewill see below), allowing the context to clarify the procedure involved:nahag/niheg to direct, nihug ha-maalot direction according to the

55 For an overview of this encyclope dia and of Ibn Ezras scientific terminolo gy,

see S. Sela, Scientific Data in the Exegetical-Theological Work of Abraham Ibn

Ezra: Historical Time and Geographical Space Conception, Ph.D. dissertation,

Tel Aviv University, 1997 [Heb.]; idem, Ast rologiyah u-faranut ha-miqra ba-haguto el Avraham Ibn Ezra (Ramat Gan: Bar Ilan University Press, 1999);

Abraham Ibn Ezra and the Rise of Medieval Science. Concerning this field ofscientific terminology, we should mention his articles: El papel de Abraham ibn

Ezr en la divulgacin de los juicios de la astrologa en las lenguas hebrea y latina,

Sefarad 59.1 (1999): 15994; Abraham Ibn Ezras Special Strategy in the Creationof a Hebrew Scientific Terminology, Micrologus 9 (2001): 6587; Queries onAstrology Sent from Southern France to Maimonides: Critical Edition of the

Hebrew Text, Translation, and Commentary, Aleph 4 (2004): 89190; and theglossary and general comments on terminology in hisAbraham Ibn Ezra, The Bookof Reasons. On Ibn Ezras astrological terminology, see also J. Rodrguez Arribas,Les significations de et et de zeman dans le commentaire de Qohlet dAbrahamibn Ezra, Revue des tudes juives 165.34 (2006): 43544; eadem, Finis ab o rigine

pendet: Death according to Medieval Astrological Sources in Hebrew, Pecia 17(forthcoming).

56 See Ibn Ezras commentaries on Exod. 5:26, Eccles. 1:13, 1:15, 3:13, 8:6, and 9:11.

57 R. Levy and E. Cantera, ed. and trans.,Abraham ibn Ezra, The Beginning of Wisdom(Baltimore: John Hopkins Press, 1939): lxxvlxxvi; I follow the Hebrew text there for

the explanation of the directions.58 See: first version of Sefer ha-eelot, MS BNF 1056 f. 67a (niheg); Sefer ha-Moladot,

MS BNF 1056 f. 50b (nihug ha-maalot); M. Ben-Yitzhaq Baqal, ed., A. Ibn Ezra:Sefer Mipetei ha-mazzalot, in Seder 12 ha-mazzalot (Jerusalem: Baqal, 1995), 2: 185(nihug ha-mis adim).

degrees, and nihug ha-mis adim direction according to the rises ofthe signs.58In each case, the reference is to calculating when a planetor a degree of the zodiac will reach a certain position or when a certainaspect will be formed between these two points.


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One calculates the directions (nihugim) of the aphetic places(meqomot ha-h ayyim), which are five and are called the princes(sarim): the sun, the moon, their conjunction and oppositionwhichever of them takes place just before the birth (and youtake into consideration only the conjunction or the oppositionalready past)the rising degree, and the lot of fortune (goralha-mazzal ha-tov).59

According to Ibn Ezra, directions (and the aspects among planets) canbe calculated by two methods. The first is according to the degrees of

the signs, which are equal everywhere; the second, according to the risesof the signs, which change from place to place. The former is based onthe ecliptic (galgal ha-mazzalot); the latter, on the sphaera recta (galgalha-yoer). Ibn Ezra ascribes the first method to Enoch, i.e., Hermes,and the second to astrologers. Bar H iyya also refers to this doubleprocedure in several places, employing the expressions (derek ) h ebonha-mazzalot and (derek ) maalot ha-mazzalot.60 The calculation bythe two methods, in addition to being prescriptive (depending on thetype of direction involved), can result in astrological judgments thatare completely different or even opposite.61Ibn Ezra states that thereare five types of directions (nihugim) that provide general knowledgeof future events. In the first type, every sign rules the mundane issuefor 1,000 years, in a cycle of 12,000 years; in the second type, everysign rules for 100 years, in a cycle of 1,200 years; in the third type, onesign rules for ten years, in a cycle of 120 years. The fourth type, calledal-farda r in Arabic (in Latin,fardaria orfirdaria), is a cycle of 75 yearsin which each of the planets rules for a certain number of years in a

certain order.62

For Ibn Ezra, the fifth type of direction is the rule byone sign in each year of a persons life until the cycle of twelve signshas been completed in twelve years (in all likelihood the profection).63Directions can also be employed in the periodic conjunctions of Saturnand Jupiter, individual anniversary horoscopes, the annual revolution

of the sun, and the customary lots that astrologers calculate.64 Thedirection (nihug) of a degree, planet, or sign can move in the order ofthe signs or the opposite. According to Ibn Ezra, lots are directed inthe reverse order of the signs, while the fifth type of direction (nihugin the sense of profection) is directed in the order of the signs, as in ha-Megalleh.65Another type of direction is that of the rising degree until

59 Second version of Sefer Keli ha-neh oet, MS BNF hb. 1045, ff. 195a195b. Inthe second version of Sefer ha-T eamim, Ibn Ezra explains that in certain specificcircumstances the positions of the sun, the moon, and their conjunction cannot be

aphetic places (pp. 236239 [6.2]).

60 Among other places, ha-Megalleh, pp. 121, 137, and 152 (h ebon ha-mazzalot); pp.120, 137, and 151 (maalot ha-mazzalot).

61 Baqal, Sefer Mipetei ha-mazzalot, 2: 185: The first way of directing is with equal

degrees: every degree is given one complete year, and the fraction of the year will

depend on the fraction of the degree. ... The second way is the direction according to

the rises. An example: if the first type of direction informs about a sick person, [the

judgment] will not be serious. If the direction is acc ording to the se cond wa y, [the

judgment] will be very serious. ... You will act in this way with the rising degree that

you want to try. Make the direction with the rises of the signs in the place and [give]

one complete year to every degree.

62 See R. Ramsay Wright, facsimile and trans.,Al-B ru n , The Book of Instruction in theElements of the Art of Astrology (London: Luzac, 1934), pp. 255 [438439] and 321 [517].

63 The five types of directions are mentioned and described in Levy and Cantera, Reshith okhmah, pp. lxxvlxxvi.

64 Dorotheus of Sidon, who refers to the fifth type of direction in his Carmen

astrologicum, states that the fortune of the native for a certain year will depend onthe position in the natal horoscope of the lord of the sign in which the profectio falls.See David Pingree, ed. and trans., Dorotheus of Sidon, Carmen astrologicum(Leipzig:Teubner, 1976), p. 245 [4.14].

65 Arab. sahm. The basic procedure to calculate lots involves transferring to the rising


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it reaches the body of a planet (guf kok av) or an aspect with a planet(mabbat or); this applies to natal astrology and annual revolutionsof the sun.66Depending on which degree is directedthe rising andsetting degrees, or the degrees in upper midheaven and the oppositein lower midheaventhe procedure changes. Astrologers directed theformer employing the rising times of the signs in the local horizon,while they directed the latter taking into consideration the rising timeat sphaera recta.67When the degree to be directed is placed betweenany of the angles in the horoscope (rising-sign, descending-sign, uppermidheaven, and lower midheaven), the procedure is longer and more

complicated and takes account of the rises in the contiguous angles.

68

Ibn Ezras approach to directions is longer, richer, and more detailedthan Bar H iyyas; however the latter gives a thorough and specificexplanation of some of the mathematical calculation involved indirections in his SeferH ebon.69

Ibn Ezra uses the adverbial phrase h ozer h alilah to describe theperiodic return and repetition of the cycles of the stars, as Bar H iyyadid and we mentioned above (see note 54).

The meaning of what has been (Eccles. 1:9) [refers to] thespheres and their stars, for they are like wheels repeating a cycle(hem kemo agullot h ozerot h alilah) and their beginning is liketheir end and their end is like their beginning.70

For Ibn Ezra, n.q.f revolve, complete a circuit or revolution, whichis the root of haqqafah, retains one of the meanings assigned it by BarH iyya (rotation, revolution, circuit). Both Bar H iyya (in Sefer H ebon)

and Ibn Ezra (in Sefer ha-Ibbur)71

employ a noun from the sameroot that is predominant in the context of historical astrology: tequfah(Arabic tah w l), as in tequfat ha-anah (annual revolution of the sun),the procedure characteristic of this branch of astrology and which wehave already explained above.72We find the word haqqafah only in the

second version of Ibn Ezras Sefer ha-T eamim, with the sense of theorb of a sphere, in this case, the zodiac (the sphere that the sun circlesand that encloses the other spheres of the planets and the luminaries),with the same meaning given it by Bar H iyya.

Now in one day it [the sun] circles the entire circumferential orb(ha-galgal ha-maqqif), which is 360 [degrees], and completes itscircuit (haqqafato).73

Here we also encounter the collocation galgal ha-maqqif (from n.q.f)

to mean the sphere that revolves around everything, i.e., the zodiac.In the second version of Sefer Keli ha-neh oet, Ibn Ezra employshaqqafah in the construct state, using haqqafat enot ha-olam as anequivalent for tequfat ha-anah (annual revolution of the sun).74 Inaddition, the Hebrew translator of Ibn al-Muthanna s commentary onal-Khwarizms found in MS Parma, usually identified with Ibn Ezra,also employs the word in construct expression, such as galgal ha-haqqafah (epicycle):

degree the number of degrees separating two given positions in the horoscope where

any planet, angle, or other element is placed. The degree at which the count from the

rising degree finishes is the corresponding lot. For the motion of the direction of lots,

see Reshit h okhmah, p. lxxv.66 Ibid., p. lxxv (Hebrew text).

67 See also the first version of Sefer ha-T eamim, in Sela, Book of Reasons, pp. 9699[10.3.16].

68 This calculation is carefully described by al-Qabs . See K. Yamamoto, M. Yano,and Ch. Burnett, eds. and trans., Al-Qab s : The Introduction to Astrology (London:Warburg Institute, 2004), pp. 12029 [4.13].

69 Ibid. pp. 11217 (Hebrew text).

70 M. Gmez Aranda, ed. and trans., El comentario de Abraham ibn Ezra al Libro del


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The epicycle (ha-galgal ha-qaton) is thegalgal ha-haqqafah andit is so-called because the planets complete a revolution on it. 75

Finally, Ibn Ezra and the aforementioned translator of Ibn al-Muthanna scommentary use the hifil form of the root n.q.f (hiqqif), with two mainmeanings, one astronomical (Ibn al-Muthanna ), the other astrological(Ibn Ezra): to revolve a star or sphere and to direct a planet or degreein a horoscope, respectively. The latter is the only case where Ibn Ezrauses root n.q.f for direction (rather than his customary n.h.g.).

... God created the seven planets, their apogees (gavehut), andnodes (mah beret), in the first part of Aries and commanded themto go around (le-haqqif), giving each of them a fixed motionuntil they come together again where God created them.76

I already mentioned that the lord of the hour of birth (baaleot ha-molad) is very powerful. For this reason, astrologersdirect it [calculate its directions] (yaqqifu) every year.77

For the profection, Bar H iyya uses haqqafah; Ibn Ezra uses nihug and,much more frequently, the less equivocal beit ha-sof (terminal house),similar to Bar H iyyas beit/mazzal ha-haqqafah; less frequently, IbnEzra also employs ha-mazzal ha-h ozer h alilah (lit. the zodiacal sign thatmakes a cycle). The profectionseems to be the last of the five types ofdirections (nihugim) mentioned by Ibn Ezra: one sign for every year ina twelve-year cycle.78As seems to have been the rule among astrologers,for prognostications concerning historical astrology Ibn Ezra employsthe chart of the year in which some conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

takes place, but especially a conjunction that signified the emergence ofthe people, religion, or city at issue. Ibn Ezra sometimes mentions thechart of the city, which could mean the chart of the citys foundation.Instead, though, it refers to the rising sign of the city in the horoscopeof the annual revolution of the sun.79As we have seen, Bar H iyya, too,

frequently employs the chart of the year for mundane prognostications.In either casethe conjunction of the two upper planets or the annualrevolution of the sunIbn Ezra always calculates the horoscope of

Eclesiasts (Madrid: CSIC, 1994), pp. 14*15*.71 S. Z. H. Halberstam,Sefer ha-Ibbur(Lyck: Verein Mkize Nirdamim, 1874), book 1 [p. 11].72 The expression tequfat ha-anah is equivalent to tequfat ha-eme; see Ibn Ezra,

Sefer ha-Moladot, MS Paris BNF 1056, f. 49a. Ibn Ezra also employs tequfah in theexpressions tequfat ha-h odaim (monthly revolution, i.e., the periodic conjunction ofthe sun with the moon that indica tes the beginning of a month); see the second version

of Sefer ha-T eamim, in Sela, Book of Reasons, pp. 248251 and 328 [8.2]) and tequfatha-yom (daily revolution, i.e., the diurnal revolution of the sun that determines days);see Ibn Ezras commentary on Ps. 19:7, in M. Cohen, ed., Miqraot gedolot ha-keter[Ramat Gan: Bar-Ilan University Press, 1992], Psalms, 1: 59.

73 Sela, Book of Reasons, p. 238 [6.3.2] (Hebrew text) and p. 239 (English trans.).74 MS BNF hb. 1045 f. 188a.

75 B. R. Goldstein, ed. and trans., Ibn al-Muthanns Commentary on the AstronomicalTables of al-Khwrizm (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1967), p.112 [293]. Goldsteins translation of this passage omits the translation of galgal ha-haqqafah (p. 158, lines 2930).

76 Ibid., p. 106 [299] (Hebrew text) and p. 152, lines 69 (English trans.).

77 Second version of Sefer ha-T eamim, in Sela, Book of Reasons, p. 252 [8.4.1] (Hebrewtext). I complete Selas translation (p. 253), which misses the technical sense ofyaqqifuas referring to directions; nor does he explain it in his notes.

78 Dorotheus of Sidon states that, when someone is born, the lord of the year is the

lord of the rising-sign in the natal horoscope. From the rising-sign, the astrologer

must count one year per sign until reaching the year whose prognostication he islooking for; the lord of the sign at which his count ends is the lord of that year. The

prognostication will depend on its position in the natal horoscope and with respect to

the directed rising-sign; see Carmen, pp. 245249 [4.1].79 See, e.g., the second version of Ibn Ezras Sefer ha-Olam, MS Vatican 477 f. 87b. See


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the syzygy before the spring (new or full moon, in contrast to BarH iyya, who uses the horoscope of the vernal equinox). In these types ofhoroscopes, the motion of the profectionis always from the rising sign.

If you know the years of the city, look at the terminal house(beit ha-sof), for, year after year, every time the rising-signreaches the position of a benefic or malefic planet [the influenceof the benefic or malefic planet] will be manifested.80

In natal astrology, Ibn Ezra seems to have known a direction (nihug)

that makes one sign equivalent to one month instead of one year(profection), to which Bar H iyya does not refer. This next passage refersto the direction (one month per sign) and to the profection (one yearper sign), in addition to the method for counting signs when one iscalculating the profection:

In the horoscope, look at the positions of the planets and the lotof fortune, and assign one sign to every month. Start countingfrom the rising degree until thirty degrees, which correspondsto thirty days and ten hours [i.e., a mean solar month]. Look:the month in which [the direction] reaches a benefic planetindicates a profit, and the contrary if it reaches a malefic. Enochsaid that when the profection(beit ha-sof) reaches the first, fifth,seventh, ninth, tenth, or eleventh house, it is the sign of a goodyear, unless one of the malefic planets is in one of them.81

Clearly, Ibn Ezras terminology is richer and more specific than Bar

H iyyas, at least in the semantic field of directions. However, likehaqqafah (direction and profection) in ha-Megalleh, the words nihug(direction and profection) and beit ha-sof (only profection) sometimesoverlap in Ibn Ezras writings when they denote the concept ofprofection.

Table 3Abraham Ibn Ezras Terminology

haqqafah orb of a spheregalgal ha-haqqafah epicycle*beit ha-sof profectio (1 sign/1 year)nihug direction

1 sign/1000 years (12,000-year cycle)1 sign/100 years (1200-year cycle)1 sign/10 years (120-year cycle)cycle of 75 years of all the planets (fardaria)1 sign/1 year (cycle of 12 years or profectio)direction (1 sign/1 month)

ha-mazzal ha-ozer alilah profectiohiqqif revolving a star or sphere*

directing a planet or other point on the zodiac

ha-galgal ha-maqqif zodiactequfat ha-anah annual revolution of the sunhaqqafat enot ha-olam annual revolution of the sun

* used in Hebrew translation of Ibn al-Muthanna s commentary in MS Parma,

attributed to Ibn Ezra

also the first version of this treatise in MS BNF 1056 f. 85a, where a copyist clarifies

in a marginal note that the sign of the city (mazzal ha-medinah) referred to in thetext denotes the rising-sign of the city. See also F. E. Robbins, ed. and trans., Ptolemy,Tetrabiblos(Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 1998), pp. 162165 [2.5].

80 Second version of Sefer ha-Olam, MS Vatican 477 f. 90a.81 Sefer ha-Moladot, MS BNF 1056 f. 61a. About two hundred years after Bar H iyya

and Ibn Ezra, Gersonides (12881344) employed theprofectio in his prognostication

for the year 1345 (a small conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the airy triplicity).However, he neither coined technical terms nor employed the expressions already

put in circulation by Bar H iyya and Ibn Ezra to refer to it (despite the fact that he

knew their texts). He simply uses the procedure without naming or explaining the

technique. The Hebrew text of Gersonides and the Latin texts on this conjunction


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Conclusions

The terminological problems reviewed here are only a sample of theimportant task that faced the first translators from Arabic into Hebrew,who had to deal with concepts and techniques never before described inHebrew. The comparison of the terminology employed by Bar H iyyaand Ibn Ezra reveals interesting coincidences. Both describe the returnof the cycles with the mishnaic expression h ozer h alilah and designatethe heavenly sphere/orb by forms of the root n.q.f (move in a circle,revolve, complete a cycle): haqqafah for Bar H iyya, ha-galgal ha-maqqif and haqqafah for Ibn Ezra. However, much more frequently

Ibn Ezra diverges from BarH iyya in his terminological preferences.In the field of mundane astrology, this divergence is visible in the very

word chosen by Ibn Ezra to designate the periodical conjunctions ofJupiter and Saturn and any astrological conjunction. Bar H iyya usesdibbuq (root d.b.q join) or h ibbur (root h .b.r join), whereas IbnEzra employs mah beret (root h .b.r). In this case, Ibn Ezras choiceis not determined by a lack of precedent, but by personal preference(curiously, mah beret is a biblical word, while dibbuq has a biblical rootbut is not a biblical form). Bar H iyya uses the nonbiblical haqqafah todenote the profection(also beit ha-haqqafah and mazzal ha-haqqafah);Ibn Ezra employs another expression (beit ha-sof) that is less equivocaland closer to the original Arabic (intiha and bur al-muntaha ), but isalso a compound of two biblical words. However, Ibn Ezra utilizesa more specific and precise term than Bar H iyya for the directionsnihug and the verbal forms niheg (root n.h.g direct/guide) and hiqqif(n.q.f, as in haqqafah); both are biblical roots, and the latter is a biblicalform. Despite this, Ibn Ezra uses nihug to denote either the direction

(the most frequent meaning of the word in Ibn Ezras texts) or theprofection (more precisely denoted by beit ha-sof), thus reproducingthe amphibology of Bar H iyyas haqqafah (direction and profection).Bar H iyya seems to have given up looking for a more precise word fordirections and the action of directing a degree or a planet.

We can draw some conclusions about their different approachesto the coinage of terminology. It is clear that Ibn Ezra approachesthe Arabic legacy independently of Bar H iyyas terminology. Thereare two likely reasons for this. First, Ibn Ezra was the first to writein Hebrew about certain astrological questions. He wrote much moreand about many more astrological fields than Bar H iyya (nothing byBar H iyya is extant in Hebrew on elective, interrogative, and natalastrology). Second, Ibn Ezra is more concerned than Bar H iyya withprecision and with the purity and authenticity of the Hebrew language;hence his predilection for biblical terms and roots. In all likelihood,

this characteristic of his terminology has to do with his training asa grammarian and his concern with linguistic matters, which aremissing from Bar H iyya. Bar H iyyas astrological writings are lessrich and diversified than Ibn Ezras. However, the fifth chapter ofha-Megalleh is clearly one of the most specialized and detailed textsin historical astrology, surely one of the most technical in this field inmedieval Hebrew. It is clear that a reader familiar with the procedure ofhistorical astrology would understand the expression haqqafah, which

have been edited and translated by B. R. Goldstein (Hebrew ed. and English tr.,

pp. 1221), D. Pingree (Latin ed.), and E. Poulle (English trans. of De Muris Latin)

in Levi Ben Gersons Prognostication for the Conjunction of 1345, Transactionsof the American Philosophical Society n.s. 80.6 (1990): 160. Gersonides use of the

profectio differs from Bar H iyyas and Ibn Ezras: he counts one sign per year but inthe reverse order of the signsperhaps, as Goldstein suggests, because he is dealing

with a nocturnal horoscope. With regard to Gersonides calculations, we must point

out that, in contrast to Bar H iyya and Ibn Ezra, he calculated horoscopes for thetrue moment of the conjunction of the two upper planets, which proves that he was

a more expert or more confident astronomer than his predecessors. Ibn Ezra states

explicitly that this calculation and that of the true moment of the suns return to the

vernal point, are impossible.


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is left without explanation in the fifth chapter of ha-Megalleh; but itis also true that this specialized astrologer was not the reader whomBar H iyya had in mind for ha-Megalleh. Four of its five chapters aredevoted to matters that have nothing to do with astrology, but withMessianism. Readers of ha-Megalleh had not been introduced to thenew Hebrew terminology of the stars, for Bar H iyya was just beginningto cope with this question, at least in writing. Many of Bar H iyyascontemporaries surely knew astrology from Arabic sources as he did.But even if astrology was a fashionable discipline it is hard to believethat many could have properly understood how directions in general

or the profection in particular worked from so specialized a text asha-Megalleh without a previous knowledge. This consideration raisestwo questions, among many others: to what extent were technical textsof this kind autonomous, given that ha-Megalleh offers no definitionsof the key terms or an explanatory introduction? To what degree wereaverage readers familiar with the astrological techniques associated withthe practice of learned/scientific astrology?

82 The data in the table are drawn from the following works: the introductions by Ana

Labarta and Angel Mestres to Mus ibn Nawbah t, Kita b al-azmina wa-l-duhu r(Valencia: Universidad de Valencia, 2005), pp. 2023 and 4346; E. S. Kennedy,

The World-Year Concept in Islamic Astrology and The World-Year of the

Persians, Journal of the American Oriental Society 83 (1963): 31527; D. Pingree,The Thousands of Abu Mashar (London: Warburg Institute, 1968); Yamamoto,Yano, and Burnett, Al-Qab s , pp. 11829; Godefroid de Callata, Ih

wa n al-S afa ,

Les revolutions et les cycles (Beirut and Louvain la Neuve: Al-Bouraq Editions, 1996),pp. 43ff and 102 (letter XXXVI); Y. Marquet, Les Cycles de la souverainet selon les

ptres des Ih

wan al-S afa , Studia Islamica 36 (1972): 4769; R. Ramsay Wright,TheBook of Instruction, pp. 320321 [517]; and Yano,Ku shya r ibn Labba ns Introduction,pp. 13849 [2.12].

Table 482Different Cycles (dawr/adwa r) in Arabic Astrology

Abu Mashar1

adwa r(mighty, great,middle)

dawr (360years/1 planetand 1 sign)

IbnNawbah

t

cycle of360,000 years(1 degree/1,000 years)2

cycle of 9,000years(1 planet ornode/1,000years)

cycle of 7,000years(1 planet/1,000 years)

mighty dawr(1 sign/1,000

years ina cycle of12,000 years)

dawr follow-ing the greater[sic] (1 sign/360 years in acycle of 4,320years)

dawr beforethe flood(1 sign/360years in acycle of 4,320years)

great dawr (1sign/100 yearsin a cycle of1,200 years)

middle dawr(1 sign/10years in acycle of 120years)

small dawr (1sign/1 year ina cycle of 12years)

Ih

wan al-S afa

360,000 years(1 degree/1,000 years)

51,000 years(7,000 7)

36,000 years(motion of thesolar apogee,1 sign/3,000years)

12,000 years(1 sign/1,000years)

7,000 years(1 planet/1,000 years)3

Ibn Labban 12,000 years(1 sign/1,000years fromAries in as-cending order)

7,000 years (1planet/1,000years fromSaturn indescendingorder)

dawr (360years =mightyfarda r;1 sign andplanet fromSaturn andCancer)

1. For Abu Mashar, the radix horoscope is that of the year 3101 BCE, which coincideswith the Indian kaliyuga. This date is the most frequent radix among the medievalastrologers of the period. According to this tradition, a mean conjunction of all the

planets took place in Aries (0 degrees) on February 17/18, 3101 BCE.

2. As Pingree remarks, the period of 360,000 years may derive its existence from the


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Koran (sura 22), which states that one day for God is like 1,000 years for a man;

making one year of God equivalent to 360,000 human years. See The Thousands of

Abu Maar, pp. 23-25 n. 4.3. Y. Marquet proved that the theory of the great conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn,

according to the Iwan al-afa , employs a cycle of 7000 lunar years (7 960 solar

years); each new thousand is signified by the emergence of a prophet who founds a

religion or an empire. See Les rvolutions et les cycles, p. 105 n. 95.


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