Head of All Years: Astronomy and Calendars at Qumran in Their Ancient Context (Studies on the Texts of the Desert of Judah)

353 Pages·2008·2.09 MB·English

by  Jonathan Ben-Dov

Head of All Years
Studies on the Texts of the
Desert of Judah
Edited by
Florentino García Martínez
Associate Editors
Peter W. Flint
Eibert J.C. Tigchelaar
VOLUME 78
Head of All Years
Astronomy and Calendars at Qumran in
their Ancient Context
By
Jonathan Ben-Dov
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2008
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ben-Dov, Jonathan.
Head of all years : astronomy and calendars at Qumran in their ancient context /
by Jonathan Ben-Dov.
p. cm. — (Studies on the texts of the desert of Judah, ISSN 0169-9962 ; v. 78)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-17088-9 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Calendar, Jewish—History.
2. Jewish astronomy. 3. Dead Sea scrolls. 4. Apocryphal books (Old Testament—Criticism,
interpretation, etc. 5. Ethiopic book of Enoch—Criticism, interpretation, etc. I. Title.
II. Series.
CE35.B395 2008
529’.326—dc22
2008024372
ISSN: 0169-9962
ISBN: 978 90 04 17088 9
Copyright 2008 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints BRILL, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................... xi
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................... xiii
LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................... xv
ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ......... xvii

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1
0.1 Calendars, Astronomy, and Cosmology .............................. 2
0.2 Authorship, Tradition, and Rewriting ................................. 7
0.3 Late Cuneiform Culture and the History of Science ......... 12
0.4 General Features of the 364-day Year ............................... 15
0.4.1 Intercalation ................................................................. 18
CHAPTER ONE: UNIFYING ELEMENTS OF THE
364-DAY CALENDAR TRADITION .......................................... 21
1.1 1 En 82:9–20 and the Hierarchic Division of Time .......... 22
1.2 Stars, Angels and Priests: The Hierarchic Division
of the Year ......................................................................... 25
1.3 The Turn of the Seasons and the Cardinal Days of
the Year ............................................................................. 31
1.3.1 The Book of Astronomy .............................................. 32
1.3.1.1 The 360-day Year ................................................. 34
1.3.1.2 The Cardinal Days: The Beginning or End
of Every Season? ........................................................ 38
1.3.2 The Aramaic Levi Document (ALD) and the
Book of Jubilees ......................................................... 40
1.3.3 The Serek Hymn 1QS X and Related Texts ................ 44
1.3.4 Calendrical Texts from Qumran .................................. 47
1.3.5 11QPsa XXVII ............................................................. 49
1.3.6 Summary: The Turn of the Seasons and the
Cardinal Days ............................................................. 52
1.4 The Septenary Principle .................................................... 52
1.4.1 The Book of Astronomy .............................................. 53
1.4.2 Sabbaths and Festivals ................................................. 55
1.4.3 The Number Seven in Long-term Time Reckoning .... 58
1.4.4 Counting of Weeks and of the Days of the Week in
the Book of Jubilees .................................................... 59
1.4.5 The Days of the Week in the Qumran Texts ............... 62
1.5 Conclusion ......................................................................... 67
CHAPTER TWO: LUNAR THEORY AND THE
COMPOSITION OF AB ................................................................ 69
2.1 The Problem of AB’s Composition and Literary
Identity .............................................................................. 69
2.2 Lunar Theory in AB .......................................................... 77
2.2.1 1 En 73:1–8 .................................................................. 82
Excursus: The Question of the “Additional” Half-Part .... 86
2.2.2 1 Enoch 74 ................................................................... 89
2.2.2.1 Delimitation and Internal Structure ....................... 89
2.2.2.2 Comments on 1 En 74:1–9 .................................... 91
2.2.3 A First Treatise on Lunar Theory: 73:1–74:17 and
its Relation to the EMLV ........................................... 94
2.2.4 The Second Lunar Treatise, Part I: 1 En 78:1–9 ......... 97
2.2.5 The Second Lunar Treatise, Part II:
1 En 78:10–79:6 ........................................................ 101
2.2.5.1 The Original Order of Chapters 78–82 ................ 101
2.2.5.2 The Second Lunar Treatise, Part III:
Comments on 1 En 78:10–14, 17 .............................. 107
2.2.5.3 The Second Lunar Treatise, Part IV:
Comments on 1 En 78:15–16, 79:3–5 ...................... 108
2.2.6 Summary: Lunar Theory in AB ................................. 110
2.3 Stars in AB ...................................................................... 113
2.4 Conclusion: AB’s Composition and Thematic
Structure .......................................................................... 116
CHAPTER THREE: THE TRIENNIAL CYCLE ........................ 119
3.1 The Schematic Year ........................................................ 119
3.2 The Moon in AB: Ideological Aspects and Lunar
Theory ............................................................................ 122
3.3 A Triennial Cycle in 1 En 74:10–16? .............................. 125
3.4 The Range of Time Covered in the EMLV ..................... 129
3.5 The Triennial Cycle at Qumran ....................................... 132
3.5.1 The Absence of the Triennial Cycle from
4Q503 ‘papDaily Prayers’ ........................................ 132
3.5.2 The Lunar Cycle in 4Q334 Ordo ............................... 139
3.5.3 The Triennial Cycle in 4Q317 ................................... 140
3.5.3.1 Notes on the Structure of 4Q317 ......................... 140
3.5.3.2 The Moon in 4Q317 and the EMLV:
A Comparison ........................................................... 144
3.5.3.3 4Q317 as a Sectarian Document ......................... 145
3.5.4 The Triennial Cycle and Lunar Phenomena in
Mišmarot Scrolls ....................................................... 147
3.6 Theological Statements Concerning the Moon and its
Orbit in the Early Stages of the 364DCT ....................... 148
CHAPTER FOUR: THE ASTRONOMICAL BOOK AND
BABYLONIAN ASTRONOMY: MUL.APIN AND EAE .......... 153
4.1 The Astronomical Teaching of Mul.Apin ....................... 153
4.1.1 The “Water-Clock Formula” ..................................... 157
4.1.2 The First Intercalation Scheme .................................. 160
4.1.3 The Second Intercalation Scheme and the 364DY .... 161
4.1.4 The Shadow-length Table .......................................... 167
4.1.5 Lunar Visibility: Mul.Apin Section l and EAE 14 .... 169
Excursus: Additional Notes on EAE 14 ........................... 174
4.2 The Acceptance and Influence of Mul.Apin-type
Astronomy ....................................................................... 176
4.2.1 Mul.Apin in Neo-Assyrian Letters and Reports ........ 177
4.2.2 Mul.Apin-type Astronomy Outside Mesopotamia .... 180
4.3 AB and Mul.Apin-type Astronomy ................................. 181
4.3.1 The 360-day Year, the 364-day Year, and the
Triennial Cycle ........................................................ 182
4.3.2 The Length of Daytime and Night Time ................... 183
4.3.3 The Gates/Paths of Heaven and the Annual
Seasons ..................................................................... 184
Excursus: A Possible Source for the System of
Twelve Gates ................................................................... 185
4.3.4 Lunar Visibility .......................................................... 189
4.3.5 The Stars .................................................................... 192
4.4 Conclusion: AB and Mul.Apin-type Astronomy ............ 195
CHAPTER FIVE: LUNAR PHASES IN THE MIŠMAROT
SCROLLS AND LATE BABYLONIAN ASTRONOMY ......... 197
5.1 A Description of 4Q320, 4Q321, and 4Q321a ................ 198
5.1.1 4Q320 ........................................................................ 198
5.1.1.1 Creation in 4Q319 and 4Q320 ............................. 200
5.1.2 4Q321 and 4Q321a .................................................... 207
5.2 The Lunation in 4Q320 and 4Q321 and the Identity of
X and dwq ........................................................................ 208
5.2.1 General ...................................................................... 208
5.2.2 Dwq—A Morphological and Etymological
Analysis .................................................................... 215
5.2.3 The Mišmarot Lunar Texts and Other Lunar Texts
from Qumran ........................................................... 219
5.2.4 Earlier Attempts to Identify X and dwq ..................... 222
5.3 Lunar Visibility at Qumran and in Late Babylonian
Sources ............................................................................ 227
5.3.1 Non-mathematical Astronomy of the Persian and
Hellenistic Period ..................................................... 227
5.3.2 The Lunar Three ........................................................ 231
5.3.3 The Lunar Text BM 32327+ ...................................... 232
5.3.4 The Lunar Three and the Qumran Lunar Data:
Comparison and Implications ................................... 236
5.3.5 Further Answers to the “dwq = full moon”
Hypothesis ................................................................ 239
5.3.6 The Order of X and dwq in 4Q321 ............................ 241
5.4 Conclusion ....................................................................... 243
CHAPTER SIX: BETWEEN BABYLONIA AND JERUSALEM:
THE NATURE AND DATE OF THE CONTACT .................... 245
6.1 Nature and Date of the Cultural Contact ......................... 245
6.2 Mesopotamian Elements in the Enochic and Qumran
Literature ......................................................................... 250
6.3 Aramaic Cultural Mediation ............................................ 259
6.4 Possible Contacts with Syrian Culture ............................ 266
6.5 Cuneiform Culture, Babylonian Jewry, and the
Transmission to Judaea ................................................... 270
6.6 Adoption or Adaptation: Babylonian Science in
Qumran Calendars ........................................................... 276

CHAPTER SEVEN: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ......... 279
7.1 The Jewish 364-day Calendar Tradition ......................... 279
7.2 The Composition of AB .................................................. 280
7.3 The Jewish Representation of Mesopotamian
Astronomy ....................................................................... 282
7.4 The Westwards Transmission of Babylonian
Astronomy ....................................................................... 286
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................ 289
INDEX OF ANCIENT SOURCES .............................................. 309
INDEX OF MODERN AUTHORS ............................................. 319
INDEX OF SUBJECTS ............................................................... 325