Culture and Cosmos is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the history of
astrology and cultural astronomy published by the
Sophia Centre Press in
partnership with the Sophia
Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture, Faculty of Humanitiies and the
Performing Arts, at the University
of Wales Trinity Saint David
We are currently seeking submissions for future volumes of Culture and Cosmos.
We are currently seeking submissions for future volumes of Culture and Cosmos.
Volume 17-1
Ϲελήνη Τοξότῃ: Business and Astrology in the Papyri
Giuliano Masola and Nicola Reggiani
Abstract
A private letter on papyrus found in the ancient Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus (P.Oxy. LXV 4483, 194 ce) offers a unique instance of practical use of astrology in ancient times. A deep examination of the text and of the astrological event cited in it (a position of the Moon in Sagittarius, particularly favourable for making deals) will be provided, with references to other documents, ancient horoscopes, and literary texts, in order to show how the study of ancient astrology can prove useful to understand texts and artifacts, and how star-gazing was influential in every aspect of everyday life, as often happens even today.
