Conference proceedings of the Institute of Jewish Studies, University College London.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 461-526) and index.

Preliminary Material -- Introduction -- 1 Towards A New Interpretation of 4QZodiac Calendar -- 2 4QBrontologion: Transmission, Origins and Significance -- 3 The Aramaic Astronomical Book of Enoch Reconsidered in the Light of 4Q318 -- 4 The ‘Enoch Zodiac’ and Greco-Roman Zodiac Sundials -- 5 Zodiac Calendars in Hellenistic Texts and Artefacts -- 6 A Late Medieval Astrological Hebrew Text -- Summary and Conclusions -- Bibliography -- Index.

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The ancient mathematical basis of the Aramaic calendars in the Dead Sea Scrolls is analysed in this investigation. Helen R. Jacobus re-examines an Aramaic zodiac calendar with a thunder divination text (4Q318) and the calendar from the Aramaic Astronomical Book (4Q208 - 4Q209), all from Qumran. Jacobus demonstrates that 4Q318 is an ancestor of the Jewish calendar today and that it helps us to understand 4Q208 - 4Q209. She argues that these calendars were taught in antiquity as angelic knowledge described in 1 Enoch and the Book of Jubilees . The study also encompasses Babylonian, Hellenistic, Byzantine astronomy and astrology, and classical and Jewish writings. Finally, a medieval Hebrew zodiac calendar related to 4Q318 with an astrological text is published here for the first time.