x^
Acknowledgements
During the course of my research I have come into contact with several scholars, both
established and emerging, without whose advice and insights this dissertation would have
been much diminished. The foremost of these is Dr Ian Young, my supervisor and men-
tor, to whom I owe the initial inspiration for this thesis. His tireless efforts in reading the
many drafts of this document, as well as his constant advice and friendship throughout
the entire research process have proved invaluable.
I owe thanks to Ms Lucy Davey, Dr Robyn Vern and Dr Noel Weeks at the University of
Sydney for their advice and support. I also owe thanks to Luis Siddall at the School of
Oriental and African Studies at the University of London for bringing to my attention
several pertinent articles in the scholarly literature of which I would otherwise have re-
mained ignorant.
The Trustees of the Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund afforded me the opportunity to
research at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem during the Spring semester of 2007.
Studying at the Hebrew University significantly broadened the scope of my research
thanks to the advice of several people. In particular I would like to thank Professor Mor-
dechai Cogan for supervising my research at the Hebrew University and for giving so
freely of his time, and also Professor Wayne Horowitz who directed me towards some of
the more significant cuneiform astronomical literature included in this study.