Fasting in civilizations and religions.. The Babylonians and Chaldeans fasted 10 days in the winter and 9 days in the summer
Muslims around the world celebrate the advent of the blessed month of Ramadan, as the holy month witnesses the performance of the obligation of fasting , which is one of the five pillars of Islam. However, fasting is not a special Islamic ritual. Humans have known it since the beginning of creation, and many different civilizations and cultures have known it. It is also an obligation for all... The Abrahamic religions, and some ancient civilizations also knew it, including the Babylonians of Chaldea.
The religion of the Babylonians, the Chaldeans, had a direct impact on the growth of intellectual beliefs in the regions of Babylon and Assyria, and fasting was an integral pillar of the legislation of that religion, and thus it remained an element in the religions of small, neighboring nations later on.
The Chaldeans fasted for thirty days, the number of the sun's distance from each sign of its zodiac, during which they abstained from food and drink, from sunrise to sunset, and broke their fast with meat other than dairy and plants, except for what was forbidden to them, and they divided these into three categories:
A section in which they fast fourteen consecutive days in the winter, corresponding to the numbers of the seven famous ancient stars and their spheres, and a section in which they fast seven days in the spring, corresponding to the numbers of the planets alone, and a section in which they fast nine days in late summer, corresponding to the spheres.
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