Both of these branches of astronomy incorporate the Near Eastern ideas of the zodiac and the derivation of a horoscope based upon the position of seven planets at the time of one’s birth (Rochberg 1995, 1,932).
In terms of the lunar theory of the Near East, the zodiac was invented near the end of the fifth century in Babylon (Britton 2010, 639). The factors that the Babylonians most likely considered when determining the placement of the zodiac were that the signs should bear some relationship to their constellations. These constellations are evenly distributed throughout the ecliptic. The placement of the zodiacs would have also been set to normal stars and summed to 12 signs of thirty degrees each (Britton 2010, 631). The use of the position of zodiac coordinates for planetary, lunar, and solar positions provides some evidence that the positions were derived using mathematics rather than just observed (Rochberg 1995, 1,933). This provides credit to the astronomical knowledge of the Near