Oldest Known Astrology Board Discovered
Friday, January 20th, 2012Jan. 20, 2012
Thirty pieces of ivory engraved with signs of the zodiac, found in what is now Croatia, may represent the oldest known astrologer’s board. The fragments, which are at least 2,000 years old, were found in a cave in the Dalmatia region, overlooking the Adriatic Sea. The board was likely used by ancient astrologers to cast (draw) horoscopes, said researchers from the United States and Croatia, who spent years excavating the reassembling the fragments. Cancer, Gemini, and Pisces are among the signs on the fragments. A horoscope is a chart that shows the position of the planets in relation to both Earth and the stars at a certain time, in most cases, the time of a person’s birth. A horoscope supposedly reveals a person’s character or future.
The pieces of the board were found with thousands of pieces of ancient Hellenistic drinking vessels in a section of the cave that had been sealed off for more than 2,000 years. The researchers speculated that local people, who were known as Illyrians, may have closed off that part of the cave during a military campaign by the ancient Romans. The Romans conquered this region in the 200′s B.C. The researchers also speculated that the board may have been made in Egypt, in part because the ivory probably came from an elephant.
The signs of the zodiac, according to astrologers, each exert a special influence over people born under them. The signs are based on a band of constellations that appears to encircle Earth. This chart shows the signs of the zodiac along with their associated symbols, birthdates, and personality characteristics. World Book diagram by Dick Keller
Astrologers in ancient Babylon began casting individual horoscopes between 600 and 200 B.C. Today, many people consider astrology to be a superstition, and nearly all scientists declare that the whole basis of astrology is unscientific. They point out that Earth’s position in space has changed since ancient times. As a result, the dates astrologers associate with the signs of the zodiac no longer match the positions of the constellations for which they were named.
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