ge when they
bore any resemblance to the pictures they originally represented. The
expression 'writing of heaven' was, therefore, equivalent to 'picture of
heaven.' The heavens themselves being regarded as a fixed vault, it
followed that the movements observed there were caused by the stars
changing their position; and the regular characters of these movements
within certain periods led to speaking of the movements of the heavenly
bodies as their 'courses.' It was furthermore apparent, even to a
superficial observer, that some of the stars seemed fixed to their
places, while others moved about. A distinction was thus drawn between
wandering stars or planets and fixed stars. Groups of stars, the single
members of which appeared in a constant relationship to one another,
were distinguished partly by natural observation and partly as a
convenient means of obtaining a general view of the starry canopy. It
was such a group that more particularly justified the view which
regarded the stars as pictorial designs. A line drawn so as to connect
the stars of the group turned out to be a design of some sort. On omen
tablets, geometrical figures are often found[810] and interpreted as
omens, and it is plausible to suppose that the outlines presented by the
stars of a group first suggested the idea of attaching significance to
combinations of lines and curves. To connect these outlines with the
pictures that formed the starting-point for the development of the
script was again a perfectly natural procedure, although a scholastic
one. The investigations of Delitzsch have shown that the more than four
hundred cuneiform characters in use can be reduced to a comparatively
small number of 'outlines' of pictures--to about forty-five. The
subjects of these 'outlines' are all familiar ones,--sun, moon, stars,
mountain, man, the parts of the human body, animals, plants, and
utensils.[811] Association of ideas led to giving to the outlines
presented by the groups of stars, a similar interpretation. The factor
of imagination, of course, entered into play, but it is also likely that
the comparison of these heavenly figures with the pictures of the script
was the controlling factor that led to identifying a certain group of
stars with a bull, another with a scorpion, a third with a ram, a fourth
with a fish, still another with a pig, and more the like. That animals
were chosen was due to the influence of animistic theories, and the
rather fantasti