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British Museum

“The son of Tar-sa-mu-ku-us, born on September 1, 288 B.C.” reads the cuneiform inscription on this 2-inch-wide Babylonian horoscope tablet, now in the British Museum. Ancient astrologers, much like their modern counterparts, cast horoscopes by connecting a person’s birth date to certain astronomical facts, such as the positions of the moon, sun and planets. This inscription refers to an autumnal equinox and total lunar eclipse that had occurred not long before Tar-sa-mu-ku-us was born.