Babylonian astrology source lauded by Lester Ness reprinted 1 by Philip Graves Lauded... or at least recommended, but that wouldn't fit in the subject line frame so I had to adopt a shorter approximation... by ancient astrology scholar Lester Ness as an important primary source-text on Babylonian omen astrology was the following title, second-hand originals of which are completely unobtainable at any price: Simo Parpola's 'Letters from Assyrian Scholars to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal', in two hardcover volumes. It has just been reprinted within the last month as I write, priced at $152.10 if bought directly from the publisher. Doesn't seem yet to be available on Amazon or from any other source. I stumbled on it purely by chance today. It seems to run to 883 pages plus more than enough prefatory pages to take that over 900, at least somewhat justifying the heavy price-tag, and first to have been published sequentially in the 1970s (Volume I) and 1980s (Volume II) http://www.eisenbrauns.com/wconnect/wc. ... PARLETTSET Lester Ness says in one or two of his critical bibliographies scattered around on the Internet that it complements Hermann Hunger's 'Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings' (Helsinki University Press, 1992), which is unfortunately equally unobtainable at any price on the used market currently, but is essentially billed as having been a more complete and up-to-date in its scholarship replacement for R. Campbell Thompson's 'Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon' which was published in 1900. Last edited by Philip Graves on Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:40 am, edited 1 time in total. Quote Fri Sep 07, 2007 5:51 pm
2 by granny_skot Thank you I know someone who has been desperately trying ot get a copy of this! I will alert her to the source! Granny Quote Sun Sep 09, 2007 4:12 pm
3 by granny_skot I keep getting page cannot be found can you check the link? thanks, Granny Quote Tue Sep 11, 2007 1:42 am
Link corrected, with apologies 4 by Philip Graves Dear Granny, Thanks for pointing out that the link wasn't working. It turns out that the publisher uses a very strange system of temporary URLs at its website, whereby they appear to (and in fact do) change the code at the end of the URL every time the same page is accessed, but on the page itself a 'permanent link' is also given, and I have now copied and pasted this in place of the one that proved only to be valid for the duration of my earlier visit to the site. I presume that your friend who wants the Parpola set was also the one who was looking out for the Hunger volume? I wonder if that one will eventually be reprinted too. Incidentally, I seem to recall reading recently that Parpola is based in Finland for his academic work, and wonder if there is any connection between this fact and the fact that Hermann Hunger's book on such a closely connected theme was published by the University of Helsinki back in 1992. But that's pure idle speculation really. Best wishes, Philip Quote Tue Sep 11, 2007 7:45 am
5 by granny_skot SAme friend and an alternate listing for you to pursue! It seems there is a cheeper offer (120 USD) of the > book: > > From link: > http://awilum.com/?cat=64 > > This summer Eisenbrauns is publishing two really > great volumes that > you will definitely want to purchase if you are > interested in their > subject matter. > > The first is a re-issue of Simo Parpola's two-volume > work on the > writings of Assyrian scholars to the kings > Esarhaddon and > Assurbanipal. Parpola's volume for the SAA series > that deals with this > same subject has been out of print for a while and > furthermore, while > the two-volume work does not include all of the > texts in the SAA > volume, the treatments are much more detailed. Also, > the two-volume > set includes great indexes that are a big help in > research. So, if you > are interested in any aspect of Assyrian scholars > (this includes > diviners as well) then you need to pick up this set > (plus, they are > also having a pre-publication special). > > The second book is Lambert's collection of > Babylonian oracle questions > that were addressed to the sun god Shamash and the > storm god Adad > (both of these deities have analogues in Canaanite > pantheons as well). > The volume includes 50 plates of hand drawings, and > Lambert's copies > are always excellent. Also, one reason why I love > Eisenbrauns?you get > all the good stuff from Lambert plus 50 pages of > plates all for list > price of $49.50. If this book were from Brill you'd > have to sell your > grandmother to pay for it. Granny Quote Wed Sep 12, 2007 1:58 am
6 by Philip Graves Looks as though that offer was only open before the publication date, Granny! The link goes through to the current page of the publisher where the price again becomes $152.00, so I'm afraid there's no way around that higher price. Having said that, $152 for 900 pages of scholarly primary source text and commentary in two cloth-bound volumes is in fact not that high compared with frequently found prices of $130-150 for 250-350 pages charged by other academic publishers, or $350+ for about 800 pages in the case of the volume of studies in the history of the exact sciences in honour of David Pingree that was published by Brill a few years ago (which is so expensive that I have studiously avoided buying it). I suppose ultimately it's the kind of purchase decision which only someone who has a specialist research interest in Babylonian omen astrology or is trying to put together an astrological library will make, however! Your friend would appear from the little I know to fall into the first category. Philip Quote Wed Sep 12, 2007 3:48 pm
7 by granny_skot Actually she is a rather famous fixed Star astrologer. And was looking for verification of a reference for one of her books. I keep digging, and may break down and by the book. do you know the other work? Granny Quote Thu Sep 13, 2007 1:19 am
8 by Philip Graves Hi Granny, I have the Parpola set ordered and paid for so it should be here soon; also I was lucky enough to stumble on a second-hand copy of the Hunger text just this summer and bought it immediately. This means that any references your friend needs from either book I'd be happy to look up in due course. I also have the Thompson (1900) edition that Hunger's book was supposed to supersede, and all four fascicules of the Pingree and Reiner 'Babylonian Planetary Omens' series. Just thought I'd mention that in case I can be of any further help with looking things up etc.. Philip Quote Thu Sep 13, 2007 8:29 am