Zodiacal Signs and the Assigned Body-parts in Babylonian Astrology

The correspondence of body parts and their diseases with the influences of certain zodiac signs and planets is called “Melothesia“.

This tablet is the earliest preserved attestation of a melothesia, dated to the 7th or 6th century BCE.

  • Aries – Head
  • Taurus – … Neck
  • Gemini – Arm, Shoulder
  • Cancer – Chest
  • Leo – Belly, Heart
  • Virgo – Waist
  • Libra – Insides(?)
  • Scorpio – Female Genitalia
  • Sagittarius – Hip, Upper Thigh
  • Capricorn – Knees, Shins
  • Aquarius – Leg
  • Pisces – Feet
Melothesia-Babylonian-Astrology
Clay tablet, nearly complete, medical prescriptions; signs of zodiac and animals, Late Babylonian, Sippar (Iraq). British Museum 56605 © The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Find out more in the blog post “Babylonian astro-medicine: the origins of zodiacal melothesia” by Marvin F. Schreiber: https://blogs.fu-berlin.de/zodiacblog/2022/02/17/babylonian-astro-medicine-the-origins-of-zodiacal-melothesia/