Dear all, Solar zodiac is constantly mentioned in pre-Angkorian and Angkorian epigraphy for the dates of installations of images of gods (ប្រដិស្ឋានរូបព្រះ). It was known in Cambodia until -- at least -- the first half of the twentieth century (as attested by Um Pouv's book, but perhaps it can have come back from Siam) in the Royal Palace (that's why I was asking in one of my previous emails who was in charge of the calendar calculations in Cambodia nowadays). Solar zodiac and its astrology is very commonplace in the West but it didn't originate from Europe. It's from Babylon (in present Irak) perhaps 16 centuries BC, so more than 3000 years ago and then spread to the West (Europe) and to the East (India).
For those who are interested here are the names of the 12 signes which were used at the beginning of the 20th century (though at that time it was perhaps already nearly forgotten): ០ មេស ឬ មេសរាសី ៖ ៣១ ថ្ងៃ -> Aries ១ ព្រឹសភ ឬ ព្រឹសភរាសី ៖ ៣១ ថ្ងៃ -> Tauris ២ មិថុន ឬ មេថុន ឬ មិថុនរាសី ឬ មេថុនរាសី ៖ ៣២ ថ្ងៃ -> Gemini ៣ ករកដ្ឋ ឬ ករកដ្ឋរាសី ៖ ៣២ ថ្ងៃ -> Cancer ៤ សិង្ហ ឬ សិងហរាសី ៖ ៣១ ថ្ងៃ -> Leo ៥ កាន់ (កន្យ) ឬ កាញ (កញ្ញ) ឬ កាញរាសី (កញ្ញរាសី) ៖ ៣០ ថ្ងៃ -> Virgo ៦ ឌុល (តុល) ឬ ដុលរាសី (តុលរាសី) ៖ ៣០ ថ្ងៃ -> Libra ៧ ពិច្ឆ ឬ ពិច្ឆរាសី ឬ ប្រចិក (ព្រឹស្ចិក) ឬ ប្រចិករាសី (ព្រឹស្ចិករាសី) ៖ ២៩ ថ្ងៃ -> Scorpio ៨ ធ្នូ ឬ ធ្នូរាសី ៖ ២៩ ថ្ងៃ -> Sagittarius ៩ មករ ឬ មកររាសី ឬ មង្ករ ឬ មង្កររាសី ៖ ៣០ ថ្ងៃ -> Capricorn ១០ កុម្ភ ឬ កុម្ភរាសី ៖ ៣០ ថ្ងៃ -> Aquarius ១១ មីន ឬ មីនរាសី ឬ មីន្ធ ឬ មីន្ធេរាសី ៖ ៣០ ថ្ងៃ -> Pisces These solar zodiac names were used by the Siamese to coin solar month names and so did the Khmer in the 1940s (or 1950s) (see វចនានុក្រមខ្មែរនៃពុទ្ធសាសនបណ្ឌិត្យ ត្រង់មេពាក្យ រាសី). But these names for the zodiac solar and for solar months do not correspond to the same dates, though they correspond roughly to the same periods of time within the year All the best, Michel.. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org
