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7/25/2019 Panaino Recensione Arcana Mundi
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Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO) is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to East andWest.
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ReviewAuthor(s): Antonio PanainoReview by: Antonio PanainoSource: East and West, Vol. 47, No. 1/4 (December 1997), pp. 441-442Published by: Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29757339Accessed: 05-02-2016 17:23 UTC
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This content downloaded from 80.116.209.58 on Fri, 05 Feb 2016 17:23:44 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
7/25/2019 Panaino Recensione Arcana Mundi
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/panaino-recensione-arcana-mundi 2/3
HISTORY
OF
SCIENCES
Giuseppe
Bezza,
Arcana Mundi.
Antologia
del
pensiero
astrologico
antico,
2
vols. Biblioteca
Universale
Rizzoli,
Milano
1995,
1148
pp.
This
anthology,
edited
by
Giuseppe
Bezza,
a
deep specialist
of Classical
and
Mediaeval
astrology
(1), represents
an
important
and
very
useful
tool
for the
study
f astraldivination
from
Antiquity
to
the
Renaissance.
In
the
Introduction
(pp.
5-34)
the author describes
the
evolution
of
the
astrological
art,
starting
from
preastrological
omen-texts
and
Babylonian
nativities
to
the Greek
elaboration,
and
paying
close
attention
to
the
relationship
between
Mesopotamian
astronomical
sciences
and
their Western
adaptations
and
developments.
It is
necessary
to
underline
that the
cultural
contacts
and
ramifications
among
Indian,
Sasanian,
Arabic
and Mediaeval
techniques
are
also
treated
in
this
work,
a
care
which
is
rare
in
general
discussion where
the
classical
texts
are
the
main
subject.
The
work
is
divided
into 18
chapters,
each
one
dedicated
to
a
specific
subject
of
astrology
with
an
introductory
section,
followed
by
a
selection
of
sources
(Greek,
Byzantine,
Latin,
Mediaeval
and
Humanistic
Latin, Arabic),
sometimes translated for the first time into a
modern
European
language:
1)
Names and
object
of
Astrology
( Nomi
e
oggetto
dell astrologia ,
pp.
35-61)
with
texts
by
Gerolamo
Vitali,
Conrad
Rauchfuss,
al-Bir?ni,
Bartolomeo
da
Parma,
Gerolamo
Cardano.
2)
The
Seven
Planets
( I
sette
pianeti ,
pp.
63-107)
with
texts
by
Ptolemy, Olympiodorus,
Marsilio
Ficino,
ab?
Ma s?r,
etc.
3)
The
Zodiac
( Lo
zodiaco ,
pp.
109-62),
with
texts
by
Rhetorius,
Orpheus,
Paul
Alexandrinus,
Vettius
Valens,
etc.
4)
The
Harmony
of
the
Spheres
( L armonia
delle
sfere ,
pp.
163-92),
with texts
by
Censorinus,
Ptolemy,
etc.
5)
The
Twelve
Houses
( Le
dodici
case ,
pp.
193-282),
with
texts
by
Placido
Titi,
al-Hw?rizml,
Abraham
ibn
Ezra,
etc.
6)
The
Dignities
of the
Planets
( Le
dignit?
dei
pianeti ,
pp.
283-300)
with
texts
by Ptolemy,
Ficino,
Firmicus,
al-QabisI,
Cardano,
etc.
7)
The
Configurations
of
the
Planets
( Le
configurazioni
dei
pianeti ,
pp.
301-420),
with
texts
by
Rhetorius, Valens,
Bartolomeo da
Parma,
etc.
8) The Fixed Stars ( Le stelle fisse , pp.
421-73)
with
texts
by
Antoine
de
Villon,
Jean
Stade,
etc.
9)
The
Planetary
Week
( La
settimana
plane?
taria ,
pp.
475-517)
with
texts
by
Dio
Cassius,
Teophilus
of
Edessa,
Philon
Alexandrinus,
etc.
10)
Catarchic
Astrology
( L astrologia
catar
chica , pp.
519-48),
with
texts
by
Demetrius
and
Ephestio,
Palchos,
etc.
11)
Catholic
Astrology ( L astrologia
cattolica ,
pp.
549-669),
with
texts
by
Ptolemy,
Rhetorius,
Placido
Titi,
M?s? all?h,
and
many
others.
12)
Iatromathematics
( La
iatromatematica ,
pp. 671-756, vol. II), with textsbyAbu Ma s?r,
Proclus,
Valens,
etc.
13)
Conception
and
Birth
( Concepimento
e
nascita ,
pp.
757-852),
with
texts
by Ptolemy,
Ali
ibn
Ridw?n,
Nabod,
Censorinus, Proclus,
etc.
14)
The
Doctrine
of
the Nativities
( La
dottrina
delle
nativit? ,
pp.
853-94),
with
texts
by Ptolemy,
Ridw?n, Nabod,
Rauchfuss,
Titi,
Guido
Bonati,
etc.
15)
The Nativities
( Le
nativit? , pp.
895
962),
with
texts
by Hephaestio,
the
nativity
of
Constantinus
Porphyrogenitus,
etc.
16)The
Lots
( Le sorti ,pp. 963-1012),
with
texts
by
Paul
Alexandrinus,
Johannes
Camaterus,
Niz?mi,
Ab?
Ma s?r,
Valens,
etc.
17)
The
Future Times
(T
tempi
futuri ,pp.
1013-62)
with
texts
by
Ab?
Ma s?r, Dorotheus,
etc.
18)
Appendix ( Appendice ,
pp.
1063-82)
with
the
text
of
the first
seven
sentences
of the
pseudo
Ptolemaic
Centiloquium,
and
a
text
of
astrological
chiromancy.
The
work
ends with
a
Glossary
( Glossario ,
pp.
1083-93),
two
bibliographical
lists
( Bi
bliografia
antica ,
pp.
1095-1111,
Bibliografia
moderna , pp. 1111-21), and three separate
indexes
(Tndice
degli argomenti ,
pp.
1123-31,
Indice dei
nomi ,
pp.
1133-42,
Indice
generale ,
pp.
1143-48).
I
would
like
to
express
my
appreciation
for
this
anthology,
which
for the
first
ime
collects
so
many
different
texts,
offering
a
wider-ranging
but
consistent
overview
of
astrological
literature,
with
commented
and
faithful
translations.
In
441
This content downloaded from 80.116.209.58 on Fri, 05 Feb 2016 17:23:44 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
7/25/2019 Panaino Recensione Arcana Mundi
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/panaino-recensione-arcana-mundi 3/3
a
field
where
popular
and nonsensical books
are
continuously
growing,
this
text
offers
a
prudent
and documented
introductory
key
to
these old Arcana Mundi and represents a useful
instrument
also
for
specialists working
on
the
different ranches
of
astrology
nd divination
in
Antiquity,
theMiddle
Ages
and
theRenaissance.
My
only
comment
concerns
the author s
usage
of
the
term
astrology
for
the
Mesopotamian
omen
tradition,
which
is
acceptable
only
in
a
very
general
sense.
Of
course,
Bezza
underlines
in
different
laces
that this
form f divination
was
different
from Greek and later
astrology,
but
I
think
it is time
to
use a
more
precise
terminology.
In
this
Bezza is
not
at
fault,
because,
for
istance,
the
very
good
book
by
Hermann
Hunger
on
the
Babylonian
omens was entitled
Astrological
Reports
to
Assyrian
Kings
(Helsinki
1992),
and
Abraham
Sachs
defined
as
horoscopes
the
nativities he found
in
tablets of the
reign
of
Darius
I
(see
his
important
article
Babylonian
Horoscopes , Journal
of Cuneiform
Studies,
6,
1952,
pp. 49-75),
and
in
some cases
in
previous
works
I
too
employed
the
same
definition.
Now I
am
convinced that this
terminology
is
unsatisfactory.
In
fact,
the
so-called
Babylonian
Horoscopes
do
not attest
the
concept
of
horoscope
(i.e.,
following
David
Pingree
(2),
the
ascendant,
which
implies
the
computation
of
the
cusps
of
the
12
astrological
places
which
play
no
role
in
these
cuneiform
texts ),
which
was
basic
for Greek
astrology
and
they
remain
in
the
category
of
the
omen
tradition.
Then
I
prefer
to
restrict
the
term
astrology
only
to
genethlialogy
and derived
or
connected
forms of
horoscopical
divination
(catarchic,
interrogational,
political
and
military astrology), reserving
the
espression
astral divination
or
astral
magic
(as
Erica
Reiner
did
in
her beautiful book Astral
Magic
in
Babylonia,
Philadelphia
1995)
for
pre-astrological
traditions.
Antonio
Panaino
(*)
See also G.
Bezza,
Commento
al
primo
libro
delta Tetrabiblos di
Claudio
Tolemeo,
Milano
1992;
P.
D Alessandria,
Lineamenti
introduttivi
alia
scienza
delta
previsione
astronomica,
a
cura
di
G.
Bezza,
Interpretazioni
astronomiche
di S.
de
Meis,
Milano
1993.
(2)
See
his
chapter
Mesopotamian
Celestial Omens
and the
Origins
of Greek
Astrology ,
in
From Astral
Omens
to
Astrology.
From
Babylon
to
Blk?ner,
SOR,
LXXVIII,
Roma 1997.
David
Pingree,
Census
of
the
Exact
Sciences
in
Sanskrit.
Series
A,
Vol.
5.
Memoirs of the
American
Philosophical
Society,
Vol.
213,
Philadelphia
1994,
XXVI-756
pp.
The
present
volume
is
the fifth
nd
penultim?
ate
of
a
series of books
which,
according
to
the
project
planned
by
the author
(1970, p.
1),
David
Pingree
(Professor
of
History
of Mathematics
at
the
Brown
University,
Providence,
Rhode
Island,
USA),
will
provide
all available
bibliographical
information
concerning
works
in
jyotihsastra
and related fields
and
biographical
information
concerning
their authors . The Census
of
the
Exact Sciences
in
Sanskrit
CESS)
consists of
two
series: Series A and
Series
B
(plus
a
concluding
volume
with
astronomical
parameters,
genealo?
gical
stemmata
of
authors,
indices of scribes
and
commentators,
etc.).
The first
Series,
which will
soon
be concluded
with
a
sixth and final
volume,
started
n
1970
(CESS,
Seris
A,
Vol.
1,
Memoirs
of theAmerican
Philosophical
Society,
Vol.
81,
Philadelphia),
followed
by
vol.
2
(Memoirs
of
theAPHS, Vol. 86, Philadelphia 1971), vol. 3
(Memoirs
of the
APHS,
Vol.
Ill,
Philadelphia
1976)
and vol.
4
(Memoirs
of the
APHS,
Vol.
146,
Philadelphia
1981).
It
contains articles
on
the Sanskrit
authors
arranged
in
the
order of
the Sanskrit
alphabet
(vol.
1,
names
beginning
with
a,
?,
i, i,
u,
u,
r,
I,
e, at,
o,
au;
vol.
2,
with
k,
kh,
g,
gh;
vol. 3
with
c,
ch,
j,
jh,
t,
th,
d,
dh,
t,
th,
d, dh,
n;
vol.
4
with
p,
ph,
h, bh,
m\
vol.
5
with
y,
r,
I,
v).
About
4000
authors
have been mentioned
in
these
volumes
with
detailed information
on
their
biography
and
in
particular
with
the lists of their
works
on
jyotihsastra
the threebranches of Indian astral
and
mathematical
literature:
omens
[samhita],
astronomy
[ganita]
and
astrology
[hora])
and
related
matters
(i.e.
cosmology, geography
and
the
aspects
of dharmas?stra literature connected
with
astronomical
problems).
With reference
to
each
text
it
is
possible
also
to
find listed the
commentators,
the
manuscripts,
the editions and
translations,
then the discussions
about the
subject
442
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