8

HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE

anil particularly in the book of Job; to which somecritics have assigned a date even earlier than the time ofMoses. *

The portion, or zone, of the heavens within whoselimits the paths of the sun and planets were found to beconfined, received the name of the Zodiac, and includedtwelve remarkable constellations, called signs, by a re-ference to which the positions of the movable bodieswere determined. It is on all hands agreed that theorigin of astronomical observation is to be traced to theEast; but the particular people among whom it com-menced, as well as the date, are lost in obscurity. It ismost probable that its rise was simultaneous amongvarious early nations, and its progress must have beenso gradual that it would be impossible to fix any preciseperiod for its commencement, even were our knowledgeof remote antiquity far more cotnplete than it is. Mean-while, it is not an uninteresting topic of reflection tonotice the probable circumstances which attended theearly cultivation of these sciences. The fine climateand clear atmosphere of the oriental regions render theheavens an object of far more striking and attractivesplendour than they appear to us. The habits of pastorallife were such as to lead the people of those regions tothe nightly contemplation of the glorious spectacle thusplaced before their view. The dullest apprehension couldscarcely fail to be impressed with admiration and curi-osity, and to recognise some of the more obvious changeswhich would soon be found going on among the brilliantobjects before them. When these changes were foundclosely connected with those of the seasons, other reasonsof practical utility would mix themselves up with thespirit of contemplation ; and the importance of celestialphenomena, in connection with the institutions of civilsociety, and with the labours of agriculture, would bydegrees lead to more extended and precise observations.Other motives would not be wanting from the naturalinfluence of those feelings of religious awe with which* See Hales’s Chronology , ii. 57.