Classical planet#Chinese astronomy

{{main|Babylonian astronomy}}

The Babylonians recognized seven planets. A bilingual list in the British Museum records the seven Babylonian planets in the following order:{{cite book |author=Mackenzie |title=Myths of Babylonia and Assyria |date=1915 |chapter=13 Astrology and Astronomy |url=http://sacred-texts.com/ane/mba/mba19.htm}}

• The Moon, Sin.
• The Sun, Shamash.
• Jupiter, Merodach.
• Venus, Ishtar.
• Saturn, Ninip.
• Mercury, Nebo.
• Mars, Nergal.

{{main|Mandaean cosmology}}

{{Contains special characters|special=Mandaic text|section=section}}

In Mandaeism, the names of the seven planets are derived from the seven Babylonian planets.{{cite book|last=Bhayro|first=Siam|title=Hellenistic Astronomy |chapter=Cosmology in Mandaean Texts|publisher=Brill|date=2020-02-10|chapter-url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004400566/BP000051.xml|access-date=2021-09-03|pages=572–579|doi=10.1163/9789004400566_046|isbn=9789004243361 |s2cid=213438712 }} Overall, the seven classical planets ({{langx|myz|ࡔࡅࡁࡀ|šuba|The Seven}}; {{lang|myz|ࡔࡉࡁࡉࡀࡄࡉࡀ}} {{transliteration|myz|šibiahia}}, "planets"; or, combined, {{transliteration|myz|šuba šibiahia}} "Seven Planets"{{cite book|last=Nasoraia|first=Brikha H.S.|author-link=Brikha Nasoraia|title=The Mandaean gnostic religion: worship practice and deep thought|publisher=Sterling|publication-place=New Delhi|year=2021|isbn=978-81-950824-1-4|oclc=1272858968}}) are generally not viewed favorably in Mandaeism, since they constitute part of the entourage of Ruha, the Queen of the World of Darkness who is also their mother. However, individually, some of the planets can be associated with positive qualities. The names of the seven planets in Mandaic are borrowed from Akkadian. Some of the names are ultimately derived from Sumerian, since Akkadian had borrowed many deity names from Sumerian.

Each planet is said to be carried in a ship. Drawings of these ships are found in various Mandaean scriptures, such as the Scroll of Abatur. The planets are listed according to the traditional Mandaean order of the planets as mentioned in Masco (2012).{{cite book|last=Masco|first=Maire|title=The Mandaeans: Gnostic astrology as an artifact of cultural transmission|publisher=Fluke Press|publication-place=Tacoma, WA|year=2012|isbn=978-1-938476-00-6|oclc=864905792}}{{rp|87}}

{{main|Astrological symbols|Planet symbols}}

The astrological symbols for the classical planets appear in the medieval Byzantine codices in which many ancient horoscopes were preserved.{{cite book

| title = A history of ancient mathematical astronomy

| last = Neugebauer

| first = Otto

| date = 1975

| pages = 788–789

}} In the original papyri of these Greek horoscopes, there are found a circle with one ray (File:Sun symbol (medieval).svg) for the Sun and a crescent for the Moon.{{cite book

| title = Greek Horoscopes

| last1 = Neugebauer

| first1 = Otto

| last2 = Van Hoesen

| first2 = H. B.

| date = 1987

| pages = 1, 159, 163

}}

The written symbols for Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn have been traced to forms found in late Greek papyri.{{cite book

| title = Astronomical papyri from Oxyrhynchus

| last = Jones

| first = Alexander

| date = 1999

| pages = 62–63

| quote=It is now possible to trace the medieval symbols for at least four of the five planets to forms that occur in some of the latest papyrus horoscopes ([ P.Oxy. ] 4272, 4274, 4275 [...]). That for Jupiter is an obvious monogram derived from the initial letter of the Greek name. Saturn's has a similar derivation [...] but underwent simplification. The ideal form of Mars' symbol is uncertain, and perhaps not related to the later circle with an arrow through it. Mercury's is a stylized caduceus.}} The symbols for Jupiter and Saturn are identified as monograms of the initial letters of the corresponding Greek names, and the symbol for Mercury is a stylized caduceus.

A. S. D. Maunder finds antecedents of the planetary symbols in earlier sources, used to represent the gods associated with the classical planets. Bianchini's planisphere, produced in the 2nd century,{{cite web

| url = http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/galileopalazzostrozzi/object/BianchinisPlanisphere.html

| title = Bianchini's planisphere

| publisher = Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza (Institute and Museum of the History of Science)

| location = Florence, Italy

| access-date = 2010-03-17

}} shows Greek personifications of planetary gods charged with early versions of the planetary symbols: Mercury has a caduceus; Venus has, attached to her necklace, a cord connected to another necklace; Mars, a spear; Jupiter, a staff; Saturn, a scythe; the Sun, a circlet with rays radiating from it; and the Moon, a headdress with a crescent attached.{{cite journal

| last = Maunder

| first = A. S. D.

| date = 1934

| title = The origin of the symbols of the planets

| journal = The Observatory

| volume = 57

| pages = 238–247

| bibcode = 1934Obs....57..238M

}}

A diagram in Johannes Kamateros' 12th century Compendium of Astrology shows the Sun represented by the circle with a ray, Jupiter by the letter zeta (the initial of Zeus, Jupiter's counterpart in Greek mythology), Mars by a shield crossed by a spear, and the remaining classical planets by symbols resembling the modern ones, without the cross-mark seen in modern versions of the symbols. The modern Sun symbol, pictured as a circle with a dot (☉), first appeared in the Renaissance.

{{main|Planetary hours|Names of the days of the week}}

The Ptolemaic system used in ancient Greek astronomy placed the planets by order of proximity to Earth in the then-current geocentric model, closest to furthest, as the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.{{cite journal |title= The Arabic version of Ptolemy's planetary hypothesis |first= Bernard R. |last= Goldstein |page= 6 |journal= Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |date= 1967 |volume= 57 |issue= pt. 4 |doi= 10.2307/1006040 |jstor= 1006040}} In addition the day was divided into seven-hour intervals, each ruled by one of the planets, although the order was staggered (see below).

The first hour of each day was named after the ruling planet, giving rise to the names and order of the Roman seven-day week. Modern Latin-based cultures, in general, directly inherited the days of the week from the Romans and they were named after the classical planets; for example, in Spanish Miércoles is Mercury, and in French mardi is Mars-day.

The modern English days of the week were mostly inherited from gods of the old Germanic Norse culture – Wednesday is Wōden’s-day (Wōden or Wettin eqv. Mercury), Thursday is Thor’s-day (Thor eqv. Jupiter), Friday is Frige-day (Frige eqv. Venus). Equivalence here is by the gods' roles; for instance, Venus and Frige were both goddesses of love. It can be correlated that the Norse gods were attributed to each Roman planet and its god, probably due to Roman influence rather than coincidentally by the naming of the planets. A vestige of the Roman convention remains in the English name Saturday.

{{further information|Astronomical symbols|Alchemical symbol}}

In alchemy, each classical planet (Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) was associated with one of the seven metals known to the classical world. As a result, the alchemical glyphs for the metal and associated planet coincide. Alchemists believed the other elemental metals were variants of these seven (e.g. zinc was known as "Indian tin" or "mock silver"Philip Ball, The Devil's Doctor: Paracelsus and the World of Renaissance Magic and Science, {{ISBN|978-0-09-945787-9}}).

Image:Alchemy-Digby-RareSecrets.png

Alchemy in the Western World and other locations where it was widely practiced was (and in many cases still is) allied and intertwined with traditional Babylonian-Greek style astrology; in numerous ways they were built to complement each other in the search for hidden knowledge (knowledge that is not common i.e. the occult). Astrology has used the concept of classical elements from antiquity up until the present day today. Most modern astrologers use the four classical elements extensively, and indeed they are still viewed as a critical part of interpreting the astrological chart.

Image:Alchemical table Valentine (1671).jpg’s The Last Will and Testament, 1670 ce.]]

Traditionally, each of the seven planets in the Solar System as known to the ancients was associated with, held dominion over, and "ruled" a certain metal.

The list of rulership is as follows:

• The Sun rules Gold (20px)
• The Moon, Silver (14px)
• Mercury, Quicksilver/Mercury (20px)
• Venus, Copper (20px)
• Mars, Iron (16px)
• Jupiter, Tin (20px)
• Saturn, Lead (20px)

Some alchemists (e.g. Paracelsus) adopted the Hermetic Qabalah assignment between the vital organs and the planets as follows:

{{main|Planets in astrology}}

{{See also|Astrological sign#Dignity and detriment, exaltation and fall}}File:Thema Mundi.svg: the Thema Mundi shows the naked-eye planets in their domicile]]

{{main|Navagraha}}

Indian astronomy and astrology (jyotiṣa) recognise seven visible planets (including the Sun and Moon) and two additional invisible planets (tamo'graha); rahu and ketu.{{cite book |first=Roshen |last=Dalal |title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-14-341421-6 |pages=280}}{{Cite web |title=Strengthening Planetary Forces |url=https://nepalirudraksha.com/blogs/blog/strengthening-planetary-forces-with-rudraksha |website=Nepa Rudraksha}}

{{Main|Wufang Shangdi}}

{{See also|Names of the days of the week#East Asian tradition}}

Chinese astronomy and astrology recognise seven visible planets (including the Sun and Moon). Chinese astrology flourished during the Han dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD).{{cite book | last=何|first=丙郁| author-mask =何丙郁| title = Chinese mathematical astrology : reaching out to the stars | date = 2003 | publisher = Routledge| isbn = 0415297591}}

{{Main|Planetae}}

Mercury and Venus are visible only in twilight hours because their orbits are interior to that of Earth. Venus is the third-brightest object in the sky and the most prominent planet. Mercury is more difficult to see due to its proximity to the Sun. Lengthy twilight and an extremely low angle at maximum elongations make optical filters necessary to see Mercury from extreme polar locations.{{Cite web |url=http://www2.wwnorton.com/college/astronomy/astro21/sandt/latitude.html |title=Sky Publishing – Latitude Is Everything |access-date=2007-07-14 |archive-date=2017-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170324061045/http://www.wwnorton.com/college/astronomy/astro21/sandt/latitude.html |url-status=dead }} Mars is at its brightest when it is in opposition, which occurs approximately every twenty-five months. Jupiter and Saturn are the largest of the five planets, but are farther from the Sun, and therefore receive less sunlight. Nonetheless, Jupiter is often the next brightest object in the sky after Venus. Saturn's luminosity is often enhanced by its rings, which reflect light to varying degrees, depending on their inclination to the ecliptic; however, the rings themselves are not visible to the naked eye from the Earth.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

• Antikythera mechanism
• Behenian fixed star
• List of former planets
• {{section link|List of Mesopotamian deities#Major deities}}
• Monas Hieroglyphica of John Dee
• Olympian spirits
• Worship of heavenly bodies
• Wufang Shangdi (the Classical planets in Chinese mythology).
• Navagraha (the Classical planets in Hindu mythology).

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite web |first=Martin J. |last=Powell |url=http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/ |title=The Naked Eye Planets in the Night Sky (and how to identify them) |website=Nakedeyeplanets.com |access-date=2023-10-01}}
• {{cite web |first=Martin J. |last=Powell |url=http://www.nakedeyeplanets.com/movements.htm |title=Wandering Stars: The Movements and Visibility Cycles of the Naked Eye Planets |website=Nakedeyeplanets.com |access-date=2023-10-01}}

• [http://www.nineplanets.org/history.html Chronology of Solar System Discovery ]

{{Solar System|state=collapsed}}

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Category:Ancient astronomy

Category:Planets of the Solar System

Category:Solar System