The introduction of the zodiac in the 5th century BCE was a turning point in the history of astral science, as well as in science, and culture at large. The zodiac became the central concept for interpreting, predicting, computing and representing celestial phenomena. The “zodiacal turn” was accompanied by a “mathematical turn” in predictive astronomy, and a “personal turn” in astrology with the emergence of practices such as horoscopy that cater to private individuals. From Babylonia, zodiac-based astral science – astronomy, astrology, and related practices – spread to Egypt, the Greco-Roman world, and beyond, shaping subsequent cultures until the modern age. Since astral science was connected to social practices, religious doctrines, philosophical theories and iconographic expressions, its cross-cultural diffusion can be compared with that of Christianity, Islam, or Copernican astronomy. But how was zodiac-based astral science able to move across the ancient world between linguistically and religiously different cultures and take root there? What explains this cross-cultural phenomenon of global scope?
ZODIAC aims to answer these questions by setting out from the hypothesis that zodiac-based astral science offered universally appealing, readily adaptable solutions to social, religious and political needs that emerged in multi-cultural empires. Accordingly, ZODIAC uses an interdisciplinary approach that pays full attention to all aspects that shape transmission, by conceiving astral science as a package or toolbox of interconnected astronomical, astrological, mathematical and other practices. ZODIAC carries out the first in-depth, comprehensive study of cross-cultural transformations in textual and iconographic sources. The aim of this approach is to reveal strategies that foster acceptance of astronomical and astrological practices in new contexts. A key element was the reliability of ancient predictions. ZODIAC uses modern astrophysical data to analyse their accuracy. In the second stage of the project, recent scholarship on ancient empires will contextualise astral science in a new framework that transcends microhistorical approaches. This will be developed in dialogue with existing models of innovation, transmission, and theory change, thus connecting ancient astral science to contemporary narratives of globalisation.
