Dr. Moudhy Al-Rashid

Yeah, it's an incredible moment, I think, in the history of science is when these observations are no longer used or no longer just used to make decisions about stuff on Earth, but when they're used to predict other related phenomena. And that really starts to happen, I would say, 8th, 7th century BCE onward and really takes off after that, after the fall of Assyria.

Yeah, it's an incredible moment, I think, in the history of science is when these observations are no longer used or no longer just used to make decisions about stuff on Earth, but when they're used to predict other related phenomena. And that really starts to happen, I would say, 8th, 7th century BCE onward and really takes off after that, after the fall of Assyria.

Yeah, it's an incredible moment, I think, in the history of science is when these observations are no longer used or no longer just used to make decisions about stuff on Earth, but when they're used to predict other related phenomena. And that really starts to happen, I would say, 8th, 7th century BCE onward and really takes off after that, after the fall of Assyria.

And then you start to get different observational astronomy texts coming out of Babylonia, so Babylon and Borsippa and related cities, Uruk as well. Part of that is that because they were doing so many observations at night, it's impossible not to notice patterns. I mean, we're kind of built to notice patterns, aren't we?

And then you start to get different observational astronomy texts coming out of Babylonia, so Babylon and Borsippa and related cities, Uruk as well. Part of that is that because they were doing so many observations at night, it's impossible not to notice patterns. I mean, we're kind of built to notice patterns, aren't we?

And then you start to get different observational astronomy texts coming out of Babylonia, so Babylon and Borsippa and related cities, Uruk as well. Part of that is that because they were doing so many observations at night, it's impossible not to notice patterns. I mean, we're kind of built to notice patterns, aren't we?

And even if those patterns occur over multiple generations, you still have that accumulation of knowledge that is written down that allows people to access and learn from older knowledge in order to make predictions based on patterns that they can find in these texts. And from about 600, so that's a little early, but B.C.E. onwards, you start to get these diaries.

And even if those patterns occur over multiple generations, you still have that accumulation of knowledge that is written down that allows people to access and learn from older knowledge in order to make predictions based on patterns that they can find in these texts. And from about 600, so that's a little early, but B.C.E. onwards, you start to get these diaries.

And even if those patterns occur over multiple generations, you still have that accumulation of knowledge that is written down that allows people to access and learn from older knowledge in order to make predictions based on patterns that they can find in these texts. And from about 600, so that's a little early, but B.C.E. onwards, you start to get these diaries.

We call them astronomical diaries from Babylonia. So now we're leaving the Assyrians behind. We're leaving behind Balasi, and we're leaving behind Rashil and all the other astronomers I've already referred to, and poor Uragula, the physician who fell out of favor. And we're moving now to, let's just say Babylon.

We call them astronomical diaries from Babylonia. So now we're leaving the Assyrians behind. We're leaving behind Balasi, and we're leaving behind Rashil and all the other astronomers I've already referred to, and poor Uragula, the physician who fell out of favor. And we're moving now to, let's just say Babylon.

We call them astronomical diaries from Babylonia. So now we're leaving the Assyrians behind. We're leaving behind Balasi, and we're leaving behind Rashil and all the other astronomers I've already referred to, and poor Uragula, the physician who fell out of favor. And we're moving now to, let's just say Babylon.

where we have these nightly long observations being written down about everything going on in the sky as well as everything going on on Earth that's deemed to be relevant. So they give all the positions of the planets. They give whether or not an eclipse is predicted or witnessed, the duration of visibility, what type of moon. Is it a new moon? Is it a full moon?

where we have these nightly long observations being written down about everything going on in the sky as well as everything going on on Earth that's deemed to be relevant. So they give all the positions of the planets. They give whether or not an eclipse is predicted or witnessed, the duration of visibility, what type of moon. Is it a new moon? Is it a full moon?

where we have these nightly long observations being written down about everything going on in the sky as well as everything going on on Earth that's deemed to be relevant. So they give all the positions of the planets. They give whether or not an eclipse is predicted or witnessed, the duration of visibility, what type of moon. Is it a new moon? Is it a full moon?

If there is a comet visible, they'll talk about a comet. And then they'll give things like the price of grain, the level of the Euphrates. So there's still this connection between stuff going on above and stuff going on below. It's not worded the way omens are, if X, then Y. It's just a flat-out list of And they do this for centuries. We don't know exactly who's writing these, as far as I know.

If there is a comet visible, they'll talk about a comet. And then they'll give things like the price of grain, the level of the Euphrates. So there's still this connection between stuff going on above and stuff going on below. It's not worded the way omens are, if X, then Y. It's just a flat-out list of And they do this for centuries. We don't know exactly who's writing these, as far as I know.

If there is a comet visible, they'll talk about a comet. And then they'll give things like the price of grain, the level of the Euphrates. So there's still this connection between stuff going on above and stuff going on below. It's not worded the way omens are, if X, then Y. It's just a flat-out list of And they do this for centuries. We don't know exactly who's writing these, as far as I know.

It may be astronomers, it might be scribes that are being dictated by the astronomers, or it might be two multiple people coming together together. to put these together. And these diaries really lay the groundwork, because there are so many observations in them, for algorithms to be generated to then predict and model the motion of planets in the sky using mathematics.

It may be astronomers, it might be scribes that are being dictated by the astronomers, or it might be two multiple people coming together together. to put these together. And these diaries really lay the groundwork, because there are so many observations in them, for algorithms to be generated to then predict and model the motion of planets in the sky using mathematics.