Astrology and Astronomy
Astronomy and Astrology are probably what Chaldea is most known for today. Nowadays, people who study the stars are sometimes called Chaldeans. For the people of Chaldea astronomy was essentially their religion. They started by using their ziggurats [see below] as a way to be closer to the sky and the heavens, but then it stemmed to the study of the stars. Because of this the first astronomers were priests. Early mathematicians in Chaldea came up with the system of having the time of sunrise to sunrise as twelve equal parts. One important aspect to the Chaldean belief of the sun, moon, and stars was the fact that they had the idea that each phase of the moon controlled a woman’s fertility. The moon was a god named Sin, and Sin was there to get rid of darkness and control dreams. The moon was also associated with change and femininity. This meant that the moon controlled times when a baby could be conceived and when a woman was regularly fertile, which would be during the same moon phase that it was then she was born. They also had an idea that the traditional definitions of positive or negative to each sign in the zodiac symbols had to do with the birth of either a girl or a boy. Through this idea doctors were able to determine (in the most likely types of scenarios) if the baby would be a boy or girl.
The sun was like another planet to the Chaldeans. It was considered to be the king of the gods and was worshiped as such. To the Chaldeans the sun was Shamash who was the bearer of life and justice. One of their main gods was Aires. Aires was the sign of spring and because the symbol is of Aires is a ram, the Chaldeans sacrificed a ram at the time for spring, planting in March. The planets were also very important to the Chaldeans. Every planet was a god and held a role that impacted the everyday lives of the people. Mercury was the god named Nebo. Nebo was “the announcer” and his job was to write down the good things done by man. Nebo was the supporter of wisdom, learning, and writing. Venus was the goddess Ishtar who was the goddess of earth, love, and marriage. Mars was the god of war and death, Nergal, and he had a fiery appearance. Jupiter was a bit different because Jupiter came from the god of lightning, Jupiter Marduk, but didn’t represent him. The last planet to represent a god was Saturn. Saturn was the god Ninid, the god of evil influence. As you can tell, astrology and astronomy had a heavy influence on the Chaldean lifestyle and impacted their everyday lives.
The sun was like another planet to the Chaldeans. It was considered to be the king of the gods and was worshiped as such. To the Chaldeans the sun was Shamash who was the bearer of life and justice. One of their main gods was Aires. Aires was the sign of spring and because the symbol is of Aires is a ram, the Chaldeans sacrificed a ram at the time for spring, planting in March. The planets were also very important to the Chaldeans. Every planet was a god and held a role that impacted the everyday lives of the people. Mercury was the god named Nebo. Nebo was “the announcer” and his job was to write down the good things done by man. Nebo was the supporter of wisdom, learning, and writing. Venus was the goddess Ishtar who was the goddess of earth, love, and marriage. Mars was the god of war and death, Nergal, and he had a fiery appearance. Jupiter was a bit different because Jupiter came from the god of lightning, Jupiter Marduk, but didn’t represent him. The last planet to represent a god was Saturn. Saturn was the god Ninid, the god of evil influence. As you can tell, astrology and astronomy had a heavy influence on the Chaldean lifestyle and impacted their everyday lives.
Ziggurats
A big focus for having ziggurats was to bring astrology to Chaldea. Ziggurats were huge structures that acted as temples. They were far above the ground and sometimes reached the height of 150 feet. They made the ziggurats to be closer to heaven and was used for the city God. The building was the religious center and was a sense of pride for the community.
Hanging Gardens
During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar ll, the King married a princess, Amyitis, from Media. This type of marriage was very common, to create a bond between allies. Around 600 B.C.E. the princess, now known as the Queen of Chaldea, was feeling very homesick, so the King decided to make the castle feel like her home. He decided to build her a garden. It was built in such a way that it looked as if there were spacious mountains and greenery everywhere. The garden was called the Hanging Gardens, and looked just like the beautiful country of Media. The Garden is sometimes thought to be a myth because it is only written about in journals of philosophers and ancient scholars. It is known as one of Herodotus’ Seven Wonders of The World.
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