community through syncretism with ancient Hellenistic culture. In prophesizing on the destruction of the Temple, the Sibylline oracles praise Jewish ancestors who "have no concern about the course of the sun's revolution, nor the moon's [..] Nor soothsayers, nor wizards, nor enchanters [...] Neither do they astrologize with skill of the Chaldeans, nor astronomize; O For these are all deceptive"; although the author of the Encyclopaedia Judaica article on astrology holds that this view is mistaken. The early historian Josephus censures the people for ignoring what he thought were signs foreshadowing the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. There are many references to astrology in the apocrypha. The Book of Jubilees said that Abraham overcame the beliefs of astrologers by accepting one God. In the Talmudic period In early classical rabbinic works written in the land of Israel (Jerusalem Talmud and midrash compilations) astrologers are known as astrologos and astrologiyya. In early classical rabbinic works written in Babylonia, astrologers were called kaldiyyim, kalda'ei, and iztagninin. Is astrology valid? The most popular form of astrological belief in this period was to regard certain periods of time as lucky or unlucky. For example, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi listed the character traits associated with one's having been born on specific days of the week; R' Hanina dissented and said that character traits are determined by the planet under whose influence one was born. An announcement is found to the effect that it is dangerous to drink water on Tuesday and Friday evenings. Samuel of Nehardea, a physician and astrologer, taught that it was dangerous to bleed a patient on Tuesday (as well as on Monday or Thursday for a different reason), because Mars reigns at the midheaven. The new moon was likewise regarded as an unfavorable season for bleeding, as were also the third of the month and the day preceding a festival. Ecclesiastes Rabbah states that the rulers of some non-Jewish nations were experts in astrology, and that King Solomon too had expertise in this realm. In general, many people quoted in the Talmud believed that in theory astrology had merit as some kind of science, but they were skeptical that astrological signs could be interpreted correctly or in a practical fashion. In one place the Talmud states that astrologers "gaze and know not at what they gaze at, ponder and know not what they ponder." According to Jacob Neusner, in this