Working Paper on Astrological Physiognomy: History and Sources

<strong>Working</strong> <strong>Paper</strong> on Astrological Physiognomy: History and Sources
III-B. Sources on Astrological Physiognomy
1. Hellenistic (Greco-Roman) 44
a. Dead Sea Scrolls: 4QZodiacal Physiognomy & 4QPhysiognomy ar
Mladen Popović. Reading the Human Body: Physiognomics and Astrology in the Dead Sea
Scrolls and Hellenistic-Early Roman Period Judaism, Leiden: Brill, 2007.
Popović dates two Dead Sea Scrolls named 4QZodical Physiognomy and 4QPhysiognomy ar
to 30 BCE-20CE and 50-25BCE respectively. Subjected to a comprehensive study as part of a
2006 doctoral dissertation (University of Groningen), the first Dead Sea Scroll fragment includes
one of the earliest dated set of sign-based physiognomy rules. ‘Fragment’ is the operative word
for these sources. Just a few scraps of text remain from the originals. Based on a comparative
study of Teucer, Maternus, and two Vatican codices studied by Neugebauer, Popović suggests
that the dodecatemoria (dwads) played a supplementary role in physiognomy.
Building Blocks
Sign-based rules
Dwad-based rules (implied)
b. Teucer (speculatively 1 st Century CE)
The Astrological Record of the Early Sages in Greek, trans. Robert Schmidt and ed. by Robert
Hand, Project Hindsight, Greek Track, Volume X, The Golden Hind Press, 1995. See section
16, pp. 71-78. For the Rhetorius-Teucer interpolation, see Appendices I & II of the Rhetorius
translation by Holden (below).
Teucer of Babylon’s original works are mostly lost, but his list of planet-based and signbased
rules were later edited and presented by Rhetorius (referred to as ‘Rhetorius-Teucer’).
Teucer is also credited with the first delineation of decans. No method of choosing between
planet and sign-based rules has been discovered in surviving fragments by Teucer.
Building Blocks
Sign-based rules. See Rhetorius, pp. 167-190
Planet-based rules. See Rhetorius, pp. 195-206
Teucer’s decan delineations (Rhetorius, pp. 9-11) mention life affairs and do not give any
rules for physiognomy. Schmidt and Hand present different excerpts of Teucer for the decans
which also concern life affairs.
44 What is currently referred to as ‘Hellenistic Astrology’ spans the period from c. 2 nd Century BCE to the 6 th
Century CE and covers both ‘Greek’ and ‘Roman’ classical periods. For a chronological overview of Hellenistic
astrologers and their methods, see Project Hindsight’s Catalogue of Hellenistic Astrologers and Their Writings
online: http://projecthindsight.com/reference/catalog.html.
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