"Keeping the king’s watch”: Ominous celestial events and their political significance in Assyria and Babylonia, 7th-6th centuries BC
Project B01
Principal Investigator
Prof. Dr. Karen Radner; Dr. Mary Frazer
Researcher
Project Description
In Phase II, B01 asks how the relationship between observing, reporting, and interpreting celestial phenomena affected political decision-making in the Assyrian Empire (864−612 BC, focus: 7th century BC), and the succeeding Babylonian Empire (625−539 BC). As celestial bodies were thought to represent the gods and to communicate their will, astrologers focused their vigilance on the night sky in the exclusive employ of the crown, with the explicit purpose of keeping king and state safe. We analyse continuity and change in the strategies employed in “Keeping the King’s Watch”.