330 
From the remotest periods^ the nations of 
Asia were acquainted with the two divisions of 
the ecliptic^ one into 27 or 28 houses, or lunar 
prefectures, the other into 12 parts. The asser- 
tion, that this last division was found only among 
the Egyptians, is erroneous. The most ancient 
monuments of Indian literature, the works of 
Calidas and Amarsinh* mention both the 12 
signs of the zodiac, and the 27 campaigns of the 
moon. From what we know of the communica- 
tions which had taken place several thousands 
of years before our cera, between the nations of 
Ethiopia, Upper Egypt, and Hindostan, we 
ought not to consider all that they transmitted 
to the people of Greece as belonging exclusively 
to the Egyptians. 
The division of the ecliptic into 27 or 28 lunar 
houses, is probably 'f- more ancient than the 
division into twelve parts, which relate to the 
annual motion of the Sun. Phenomena repeated 
every lunation in the same order, fix the attention 
of men much more strongly than changes of po- 
sition, the cycle of which is finished only in the 
space of a year. As the Moon is placed, in each 
lunation, near the same stars, it appears natural, 
that particular names should be given to the 27 
or 28 constellations, through which she passes in 
* Asiutic Researches, toI. ii, p. 346. 
+ Lc Gentil, vol. i, p. 201. 
