Volume 3, numéro 1, 2022

EN :

Apuleius’ De mundo pr. 1–3.4 is a loose paraphrase in Latin of the Περὶ κόσμου 391a1–392b14, a treatise once thought to be by Aristotle. By focusing on differences between these two works, I aim to develop some working hypotheses that situate the De mundo in relation to critical disagreements in the second century AD about the heaven, what constitutes knowledge of it, and how this knowledge is to be gained.

EN :

The analysis of astronomical tables has proven to be a powerful tool to understand the transmission of astronomical knowledge. Further, the study of the major sets of tables compiled or in circulation in the Middle Ages has contributed significantly to mapping the thousands of tables preserved in medieval manuscripts. The present paper focuses on the relationship between two specific sets of tables, both in the framework of Alfonsine astronomy: one of hitherto uncertain authorship and a much larger one compiled by the Ferrarese astronomer Giovanni Bianchini (d. after 1469).

EN :

The question of bloodletting in Babylonia (and surgery in general) has hardly been studied, since evidence is sparse, while at the same time bloodletting in the Babylonian Talmud has been assumed to have been employed, although based upon questionable medieval interpretations of vague and doubtful terminology. However, when descriptions from cuneiform medicine are combined with evidence from Aramaic sources, a somewhat clearer picture emerges of a possible limited use of a bloodletting procedure in Babylonia, in both earlier and later periods.

EN :

The texts BM 36628+ and BM 45720 contain number schemes, which in their first four columns list consecutive lines of Calendar Texts. These texts add six more columns (columns 5–10) to the classic Calendar Text. Therefore, we shall call them expanded Calendar Texts. The additional column 10 lists house numbers j, while column 9 contains four signs (labeled i) over four consecutive lines, one of which equals a j-value. As we shall see, the i-values are chosen so that they always form the zodiacal squares with j as one of the corners. I investigate the system behind the schemes by analyzing their number columns. We thus find a structure similar to that of the circular tablet BM 47762, which I presented in Part I [Aestimatio ns 2.2 (2021) 43–58]. This tablet lists the dates of first half, full, second half, and black Moon, where the zodiacal position of these special lunar phases joins to a square in the zodiacal circle. I investigate the connection between the two systems.