Panbabylonism (also known as Panbabylonianism) was the school of thought that considered the cultures and religions of the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and civilization in general to be ultimately derived from Babylonian myths which in turn they viewed as being based on

Babylonian astronomy Babylonian astronomy was the study or recording of celestial objects during the early history of Mesopotamia. Babylonian astronomy seemed to have focused on a select group of stars and constellations known as Ziqpu stars. These constellation ...

, often in hidden ways.

Overview

A related school of thought is the Bible-Babel school, which regarded the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

to be directly derived from Mesopotamian (Babylonian) mythology; both are forms of

hyperdiffusionism in archaeology Hyperdiffusionism is a pseudoarchaeological hypothesis suggesting that certain historical technologies or ideas originated with a single people or civilization before their adoption by other cultures. Thus, all great civilizations that share simi ...

. Both theories were popular in Germany, and Panbabylonism remained popular from the late 19th century to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Prominent advocates included

Friedrich Delitzsch Friedrich Delitzsch (; 3 September 1850 – 19 December 1922) was a German Assyriologist. He was the son of Lutheran theologian Franz Delitzsch (1813–1890). Born in Erlangen, he studied in Leipzig and Berlin, gaining his habilitation in 1874 as ...

, Peter Jensen,

Alfred Jeremias Alfred Karl Gabriel Jeremias (24 February 1864 in Chemnitz, Kingdom of Saxony – 11 January 1935) was a German pastor, Assyriologist and an expert on the religions of the ancient Near East. Life In 1891 he published the first German translati ...

and

Hugo Winckler Hugo Winckler (4 July 1863 – 19 April 1913) was a German archaeologist and historian who uncovered the capital of the Hittite Empire (Hattusa) at Boğazkale, Turkey. A student of the languages of the ancient Middle East, he wrote extensi ...

. Panbabylonist thought largely disappeared from legitimate scholarship after the death of one of its greatest proponents, Hugo Winckler. The claims of the school were largely discredited by astronomical and chronological arguments of Franz Xaver Kugler (a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest).Jong, Teije de. ''Babylonian Astronomy 1880-1950: The Players and the Field''. In Alexander Jones, Christine Proust, John M. Steele. (2016). ''A Mathematician's Journeys: Otto Neugebauer and Modern Transformations of Ancient Science''. Springer. pp. 285-286. Bm-epic-g

References

{{Reflist

External links

Panbabylonism
New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2003.

by Gary D. Thompson. Assyriology Babylonia Biblical criticism Comparative mythology Judaism and other religions Mesopotamian mythology Fringe theories Obsolete scientific theories Hyperdiffusionism

Overview

See also

References

Further reading

External links