c shape of the animals distinguished led to further
speculations. So, eleven constellations, that is to say, the entire
zodiac with the exception of the bull--the sign of Marduk--were
identified with the eleven monsters forming the host of Tiamat. The
passage in the Marduk-Tiamat myth[812] which speaks of the capture of
these monsters through Marduk appears to have suggested this
identification, which, fanciful though it is, has a scholastic rather
than a popular aspect. Jensen (to whom, together with Epping and
Strassmaier,[813] most of our knowledge of this subject is due) has
shown[814] that of the twelve constellations in our modern zodiac, the
greater number are identical with those distinguished by the
Babylonians; and while it is probable that two or three of our
constellations are of occidental origin, the zodiacal system as a whole
is the product of the Babylonian schools of astronomy. From Babylonia
the system made its way to the west and through western, more
particularly through Greek, influence back again to India and the
distant east. The number of constellations distinguished by the
Babylonian astronomers has not yet been definitely ascertained. They
certainly recognized more than twelve. Further investigations may show
that they knew of most of the forty-eight constellations enumerated by
Ptolemy.

The general regularity of the courses taken by the sun, moon, and
planets made it a comparatively simple matter to map out the limits
within which these bodies moved. These limits impressed the Babylonians,
as we have seen, with the thought of the eternal and unchangeable laws
under which the planets stood. The laws regulating terrestrial
phenomena, did not appear to be so rigid. There were symptoms of
caprice, so that the order of the earth has the appearance of being an
afterthought, suggested by the absolute order prevailing in the heavens.
Comets, meteors, and eclipses alone seemed to interrupt this absolute
order. As science advanced, it was found that even eclipses fell within
the province of law. The course of astronomical science was thus clearly
marked out--the determination of these laws.

The path taken by the sun served as a guide and as a means of
comparison. Anu being both the chief god of heaven and the
personification of heaven,[815] the sun's ecliptic became known as the
'way of Anu.' The division of this ecliptic into certain sections,
determined by the constellations within the belt of the