The introduction of the zodiac triggered a transformation of the astral sciences, scholarship,
religion, and social practices which took shape in communities across the ancient world between ca. 450 BCE and ca. 300 CE. The zodiac became a central concept for interpreting, predicting, computing, and representing celestial phenomena. Divinatory, religious, medical, and social practices were affected by new forms of astrology that catered to private individuals, such as horoscopy and astral medicine. These originally Babylonian innovations were transformed through interactions between linguistically, culturally, religiously, and economically diverse communities. However, there is no satisfactory account of how and why the zodiac and the practices, theories, and concepts based upon it were transformed and able to take root in such different conditions.

The workshop aims to shed new light on the cross-cultural transmission of zodiac-based astral
science and related practices by bringing together experts from diverse disciplines and inviting a fresh look at the evidence - texts, images, artefacts - from a cross-cultural perspective.