Monroe, M. Willis, 2016, "The Micro-Zodiac in Babylon and Uruk: Seleucid Zodiacal Astrology" in The Circulation of Astronomical knowledge in the Ancient World, 121.
Looking at the various fragments of the micro-zodiac both from Uruk and Babylon one can begin to see how such a descriptive text was compiled and used. An analysis of texts over time and space allows for the creation of a model of textual transmission specific to the extant texts but applicable to a wider tradition. Martin Worthington in his book on Akkadian textual criticism has noted that the study of variants in texts can inform us of the “geography of textual transmission in antiquity.” While Worthington is primarily concerned with “reconstructing the original wording of a composition” (what he terms textual or lower criticism), many of his methods still apply when working with larger aspects of text, revealing historical and geographical traces of transmission. Collecting these divergent patterns or traditions reveal patterns in the way texts were worked with and recopied in new contexts. In the case of the micro-zodiac the evidence is sparse at best, but two distinct geographical locations allow for some recognition of textual traditions. In this case, the difference between texts from Babylon and those from Uruk. At the same time the different formats of the micro-zodiac including a tabular layout, as well as other unique formats give hints at the production and conception of the text in its scholarly context. The unknown question with all of this late material in Mesopotamia is to what degree Hellenistic theoretical thought influenced the work of Babylonian scholars. Certainly many of the ideas that the scribes working with the micro-zodiac used quickly found currency in Greek astrology: the zodiac, triplicities, and hypsomata among other concepts. In regards to the new texts written during this period and their associated novel concepts and formats, Koch attributes some of this creativity to the development of mathematical astronomy during this period. Certainly, more accurate predicative methods allowed for the creation of horoscopes and other texts.
Monroe, M. Willis, 2016, "The Micro-Zodiac in Babylon and Uruk: Seleucid Zodiacal Astrology" in The Circulation of Astronomical knowledge in the Ancient World, ed. J. M. Steele, . Leiden/ Boston: Brill.
