ESTIMATES OF BABYLONIAN SCIENCE
Before turning from the Oriental world it is perhaps
worth while to attempt to estimate somewhat specifically
the world-influence of the name, Babylonian
science. Perhaps we cannot better gain an idea as to
the estimate put upon that science by the classical world
than through a somewhat extended quotation from a
classical author. Diodorus Siculus, who, as already
noted, lived at about the time of Augustus, and who,
therefore, scanned in perspective the entire sweep of
classical Greek history, has left us a striking summary
which is doubly valuable because of its comparisons of
Babylonian with Greek influence. Having viewed the
science of Babylonia in the light of the interpretations
made possible by the recent study of original documents,
we are prepared to draw our own conclusions
from the statements of the Greek historian. Here is
his estimate in the words of the quaint translation
made by Philemon Holland in the year 1700:
[33]
"They being the most ancient Babylonians, hold the
same station and dignity in the Common-wealth as the
Egyptian Priests do in Egypt: For being deputed to
Divine Offices, they spend all their Time in the study
of Philosophy, and are especially famous for the Art of
Astrology. They are mightily given to Divination,
and foretel future Events, and imploy themselves either
by Purifications, Sacrifices, or other Inchantments to
avert Evils, or procure good Fortune and Success.
They are skilful likewise in the Art of Divination, by
the flying of Birds, and interpreting of Dreams and
Prodigies: And are reputed as true Oracles (in declaring
what will come to pass) by their exact and diligent
viewing the Intrals of the Sacrifices. But they attain
not to this Knowledge in the same manner as the Grecians
do; for the Chaldeans learn it by Tradition from
their Ancestors, the Son from the Father, who are all
in the mean time free from all other publick Offices and
Attendances; and because their Parents are their Tutors,
they both learn every thing without Envy, and
rely with more confidence upon the truth of what is
taught them; and being train'd up in this Learning,
from their very Childhood, they become most famous
Philosophers, (that Age being most capable of Learning,
wherein they spend much of their time). But
the Grecians for the most part come raw to this study,
unfitted and unprepar'd, and are long before they attain
to the Knowledge of this Philosophy: And after
they have spent some small time in this Study, they are
many times call'd off and forc'd to leave it, in order to
get a Livelihood and Subsistence. And although some,
few do industriously apply themselves to Philosophy,
yet for the sake of Gain, these very Men are opinionative,
and ever and anon starting new and high Points,
and never fix in the steps of their Ancestors. But the
Barbarians keeping constantly close to the same thing,
attain to a perfect and distinct Knowledge in every
particular.
"But the Grecians, cunningly catching at all Opportunities
of Gain, make new Sects and Parties, and
by their contrary Opinions wrangling and quarelling
concerning the chiefest Points, lead their Scholars into
a Maze; and being uncertain and doubtful what to
pitch upon for certain truth, their Minds are fluctuating
and in suspence all the days of their Lives, and unable
to give a certain assent unto any thing. For if
any Man will but examine the most eminent Sects of
the Philosophers, he shall find them much differing
among themselves, and even opposing one another in
the most weighty parts of their Philosophy. But to
return to the Chaldeans, they hold that the World is
eternal, which had neither any certain Beginning, nor
shall have any End; but all agree, that all things are
order'd, and this beautiful Fabrick is supported by a
Divine Providence, and that the Motions of the Heavens
are not perform'd by chance and of their own accord,
but by a certain and determinate Will and Appointment
of the Gods.
"Therefore from a long observation of the Stars, and
an exact Knowledge of the motions and influences of
every one of them, wherein they excel all others, they
fortel many things that are to come to pass.
"They say that the Five Stars which some call Planets,
but they Interpreters, are most worthy of Consideration,
both for their motions and their remarkable influences,
especially that which the Grecians call Saturn.
The brightest of them all, and which often portends
many and great Events, they call Sol, the other Four
they name Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter, with
our own Country Astrologers. They give the Name of
Interpreters to these Stars, because these only by a
peculiar Motion do portend things to come, and instead
of Jupiters, do declare to Men before-hand the good-will of the Gods; whereas the other Stars (not being of
the number of the Planets) have a constant ordinary
motion. Future Events (they say) are pointed at
sometimes by their Rising, and sometimes by their
Setting, and at other times by their Colour, as may be
experienc'd by those that will diligently observe it;
sometimes foreshewing Hurricanes, at other times
Tempestuous Rains, and then again exceeding
Droughts. By these, they say, are often portended
the appearance of Comets, Eclipses of the Sun and
Moon, Earthquakes and all other the various Changes
and remarkable effects in the Air, boding good and bad,
not only to Nations in general, but to Kings and Private
Persons in particular. Under the course of these
Planets, they say are Thirty Stars, which they call
Counselling Gods, half of whom observe what is done
under the Earth, and the other half take notice of the
actions of Men upon the Earth, and what is transacted
in the Heavens. Once every Ten Days space (they say)
one of the highest Order of these Stars descends to
them that are of the lowest, like a Messenger sent from
them above; and then again another ascends from
those below to them above, and that this is their constant
natural motion to continue for ever. The chief
of these Gods, they say, are Twelve in number, to each
of which they attribute a Month, and one Sign of the
Twelve in the Zodiack.
"Through these Twelve Signs the Sun, Moon, and
the other Five Planets run their Course. The Sun in a
Years time, and the Moon in the space of a Month.
To every one of the Planets they assign their own proper
Courses, which are perform'd variously in lesser or
shorter time according as their several motions are
quicker or slower. These Stars, they say, have a
great influence both as to good and bad in Mens Nativities;
and from the consideration of their several
Natures, may be foreknown what will befal Men afterwards.
As they foretold things to come to other
Kings formerly, so they did to Alexander who conquer'd
Darius, and to his Successors Antigonus and
Seleucus Nicator; and accordingly things fell out as
they declar'd; which we shall relate particularly hereafter
in a more convenient time. They tell likewise
private Men their Fortunes so certainly, that those who
have found the thing true by Experience, have esteem'd
it a Miracle, and above the reach of man to perform.
Out of the Circle of the Zodiack they describe Four and
Twenty Stars, Twelve towards the North Pole, and as
many to the South.
"Those which we see, they assign to the living; and
the other that do not appear, they conceive are
Constellations for the Dead; and they term them Judges
of all things. The Moon, they say, is in the lowest
Orb; and being therefore next to the Earth (because
she is so small), she finishes her Course in a little
time, not through the swiftness of her Motion, but
the shortness of her Sphear. In that which they
affirm (that she has but a borrow'd light, and that
when she is eclips'd, it's caus'd by the interposition
of the shadow of the Earth) they agree with the
Grecians.
"Their Rules and Notions concerning the Eclipses of
the Sun are but weak and mean, which they dare not
positively foretel, nor fix a certain time for them.
They have likewise Opinions concerning the Earth
peculiar to themselves, affirming it to resemble a Boat,
and to be hollow, to prove which, and other things relating
to the frame of the World, they abound in Arguments;
but to give a particular Account of 'em, we conceive
would be a thing foreign to our History. But
this any Man may justly and truly say, That the Chaldeans
far exceed all other Men in the Knowledge of
Astrology, and have study'd it most of any other Art
or Science: But the number of years during which the
Chaldeans say, those of their Profession have given themselves
to the study of this natural Philosophy, is incredible;
for when Alexander was in Asia, they reckon'd up
Four Hundred and Seventy Thousand Years since they
first began to observe the Motions of the Stars.''
Let us now supplement this estimate of Babylonian
influence with another estimate written in our own
day, and quoted by one of the most recent historians
of Babylonia and Assyria. [34] The
estimate in question is that of Canon Rawlinson in his Great
Oriental Monarchies. [35] Of Babylonia
he says:
"Hers was apparently the genius which excogitated
an alphabet; worked out the simpler problems of arithmetic;
invented implements for measuring the lapse
of time; conceived the idea of raising enormous structures
with the poorest of all materials, clay; discovered
the art of polishing, boring, and engraving gems; reproduced
with truthfulness the outlines of human and
animal forms; attained to high perfection in textile
fabrics; studied with success the motions of the heavenly
bodies; conceived of grammar as a science; elaborated
a system of law; saw the value of an exact
chronology—in almost every branch of science made a
beginning, thus rendering it comparatively easy for
other nations to proceed with the superstructure....
It was from the East, not from Egypt, that Greece derived
her architecture, her sculpture, her science, her
philosophy, her mathematical knowledge—in a word,
her intellectual life. And Babylon was the source to
which the entire stream of Eastern civilization may
be traced. It is scarcely too much to say that, but
for Babylon, real civilization might not yet have
dawned upon the earth.''
Considering that a period of almost two thousand
years separates the times of writing of these two estimates,
the estimates themselves are singularly in unison.
They show that the greatest of Oriental nations
has not suffered in reputation at the hands of posterity.
It is indeed almost impossible to contemplate the monuments
of Babylonian and Assyrian civilization that are
now preserved in the European and American museums
without becoming enthusiastic. That certainly was
a wonderful civilization which has left us the tablets on
which are inscribed the laws of a Khamurabi on the
one hand, and the art treasures of the palace of an
Asshurbanipal on the other. Yet a candid consideration
of the scientific attainments of the Babylonians
and Assyrians can scarcely arouse us to a like enthusiasm.
In considering the subject we have seen that,
so far as pure science is concerned, the efforts of the
Babylonians and Assyrians chiefly centred about the
subjects of astrology and magic. With the records
of their ghost-haunted science fresh in mind, one might
be forgiven for a momentary desire to take issue with
Canon Rawlinson's words. We are assured that the
scientific attainments of Europe are almost solely to be
credited to Babylonia and not to Egypt, but we should
not forget that Plato, the greatest of the Greek thinkers,
went to Egypt and not to Babylonia to pursue his
studies when he wished to penetrate the secrets of
Oriental science and philosophy. Clearly, then, classical
Greece did not consider Babylonia as having a
monopoly of scientific knowledge, and we of to-day,
when we attempt to weigh the new evidence that has
come to us in recent generations with the Babylonian
records themselves, find that some, at least, of the
heritages for which Babylonia has been praised are of
more than doubtful value. Babylonia, for example,
gave us our seven-day week and our system of
computing by twelves. But surely the world could have
got on as well without that magic number seven; and
after some hundreds of generations we are coming to
feel that the decimal system of the Egyptians has
advantages over the duodecimal system of the
Babylonians. Again, the Babylonians did not invent the
alphabet; they did not even accept it when all the rest
of the world had recognized its value. In grammar
and arithmetic, as with astronomy, they seemed not to
have advanced greatly, if at all, upon the Egyptians.
One field in which they stand out in startling
preeminence is the field of astrology; but this, in the
estimate of modern thought, is the very negation of
science. Babylonia impressed her superstitions on
the Western world, and when we consider the baleful
influence of these superstitions, we may almost question
whether we might not reverse Canon Rawlinson's
estimate and say that perhaps but for Babylonia real
civilization, based on the application of true science,
might have dawned upon the earth a score of centuries
before it did. Yet, after all, perhaps this estimate is
unjust. Society, like an individual organism, must
creep before it can walk, and perhaps the Babylonian
experiments in astrology and magic, which European
civilization was destined to copy for some three or
four thousand years, must have been made a part of
the necessary evolution of our race in one place or in
another. That thought, however, need not blind us
to the essential fact, which the historian of science
must needs admit, that for the Babylonian, despite his
boasted culture, science spelled superstition.