AD -261B (X102612)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -261B |
|---|---|
| ID | X102612 |
| Museum no. | BM 32245 + 32404 |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Hellenistic · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE |
| Genre | Astronomical Diary |
| Find spot | Babylon |
| Coordinates | 32.5434, 44.4222 |
English translation
By ORACC project adsd/adart1 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:1] o 1'o 1'–o 1'o 1' | [...] from within it were killed ... [...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [... of? S]eleucus seized the fields in Babylonia, they surrounded and [...] ... [...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [...] the guard which they had put on this fortress [...] |
| Obverse [3:5] o 4'4'–o 5'5' | [...] (holes) |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [Month IX, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), ... Ni]ght of the 3rd, the moon was 1 cubit behind δ Capricorni. Night of the 7th, beginning of the night, the moon was 2 cubits in front of η Piscium. Night of the 8th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] below β Arietis. |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [... Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 8 fingers [...] η Tauri. Night of the 11th, beginning of the night, the moon was 5 cubits above α Tauri. Night of the 12th, beginning of the ni[ght, the moon was] 6 fingers [...] β Tauri. The 12th, moonset to sunrise: 7°. Night of the 13th, moonrise to sunset: 9° [...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [... The 13th, sunrise] to moonset: [nn] (expected); clouds, I did not watch. Night of the 14th, sunset to moonrise: 3° 20'; measured (despite) clouds; last part of the night, the moon was 1 2/3 cubits below β Geminorum. Ni[ght of the 15th, last part of the] night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits in front of δ Cancri. Night of the 16th, last part of the night, the moon was |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [... below ε Leonis, the moon] being [nn] fingers back to the west. Night of the 18th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits in front of ϑ Leonis, 1 1/2 cubits below Saturn, the moon being 1/2 cubit back to the west. Around the 18th, when Saturn became stationary to the east, [it became stationary] 1/2 cubit in front of |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [... Night of the 19th, last part of the night, the moon was 1] cubit 8 fingers [in front of β Virginis,] it stood 1 cubit in front of Mars to the west. Night of the 20th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits in front of γ Virginis. The 20th, Mercury’s first appearance in the west in Capricorn; it was bright and high, sunset to setting of Mercury: 15°, (ideal) first appearance on the 19th or 18th. |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | [... The 2]2nd, Venus’ first appearance in the west in Capricorn; sunset to setting of Venus: 10°, (ideal) first appearance on the 20th. Night of the 23rd, last part of the night, the moon was [nn] cubits below α Librae, it stood 2 1/2 cubits behind Jupiter to the east; around [...] |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | [... Night] of the 25th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 cubit 8 fingers behind α Scorpii. Night of the 26th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] behind ϑ Ophiuchi [...] visible [... The 2]8th, solar eclipse [...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | [... d]ates, 4 pānu 1 sūtu; mustard, 1 kur 2 pānu 3 sūtu; cress, 5 sūtu 3 qa; sesame, 1 pānu 1 sūtu; wool, [...] ... [...] |
| Obverse [12:15] o 13'13'– | [... the 20th, Mercury’s] first appearance [in the west in Capri]corn; Saturn was in Leo; Ma[rs ...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | [...] sunset to moonrise: [x]+2° 30' [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | [...] clouds crossed the sky [...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | [...] 9° ... [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [... around the 23rd, when Mars became stationary to the west, it became stationary ... behind ρ Le]onis, 1 cubit behind Sa[turn ...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | [...] Mars was above ... [...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | [... min]as. At that time, Jupi[ter ...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | (holes) |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| o | ||
| 1' | [...]{meš} TA lib₃-bi-⸢šu₂⸣ GAZ ⸢x x⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [... {m]}⸢se⸣-lu-ku ŠE.NUMUN{meš} ina KUR URI{ki} DIB-uʾ NIGIN{meš}nim-⸢ma⸣ [...] ⸢x⸣ DU [x] ⸢x⸣ | |
| 3' | [...] EN.NUN ⸢ša₂⸣ UGU BAD₃ MU-a-ti₃ DU₃-uš-uʾ [...] [...] | |
| 4' | [...] | |
| 5' | [GAN 1 ...] ⸢GE₆⸣ 3 sin ar₂ MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-SUHUR-MAŠ₂ 1 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 7 SAG GE₆ sin ina IGI MUL₂-KUR-[ša₂-DUR]-nu-nu 2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 8 SAG GE₆ sin SIG MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-⸢SAG⸣-[HUN] | |
| 6' | [... GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆ sin x] ⸢MUL₂⸣.MUL₂ 8 SI GE₆ 11 SAG GE₆ sin e is-le₁₀ 5 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 12 SAG ⸢GE₆⸣ [sin x] ŠUR-GIGIR-ša₂-SI 6 SI 12 7 ŠU₂ GE₆ 13 9 ⸢ME⸣ | |
| 7' | [... 13 N] ⸢na⸣ DIR NU PAP GE₆ 14 3.20 GE₆ DIR muš ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG MAŠ.MAŠ-ar₂ 1 2/3 KUŠ₃ ⸢GE₆⸣ 15 ina] ⸢ZALAG₂⸣ sin ina IGI MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-ALLA-ša₂-ULU₃ 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 16 ina ZALAG₂ ⸢sin⸣ | |
| 8' | [SIG SAG-A N N sin N] SI ana ŠU₂ LAL GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI GIŠ.KUN-A 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ SIG GENNA 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL in EN 18 GENNA ana NIM ki UŠ-u₂ 1/2 KUŠ₃ ina IGI | |
| 9' | [... UŠ GE₆ 19 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI GIR₃-ar₂-ša₂-A 1 KUŠ₃ 8 SI ina IGI AN 1 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ GUB GE₆ 20 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI DELE-ša₂-IGI-ABSIN 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ 20 ⸢GU₄.UD⸣ ina ŠU₂ ina MAŠ₂ IGI KUR NIM-a 15 na-su in 19 ki 18 ⸢IGI⸣ | |
| 10' | [...] 22 dele-bat ina ŠU₂ ina MAŠ₂ IGI 10 UŠ na-su in 20 IGI GE₆ 23 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG RIN₂-ša₂-⸢ULU₃⸣ [N] ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ ar₂ MUL₂.BABBAR 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM GUB in [...] | |
| 11' | [... GE₆] 25 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ SI₄ 1 KUŠ₃ 8 SI GE₆ 26 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-KIR₄-šil-PA ⸢x⸣ [x x] ⸢IGI⸣ [x x x x] 28 AN.KU₁₀ ⸢šamaš₂⸣ [...] | |
| 12' | [...] ⸢ZU₂⸣.LUM.MA 4(BARIG) 1(BAN₂) kas₃-si-i 1(GUR) 2(BARIG) 3(BAN₂) ⸢sah-le₁₀⸣ 5(BAN₂) 3 qa ŠE.GIŠ.I₃ 1(BARIG) 1(BAN₂) SIG₂{hi.[a} ...] ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 13' | [... 20 GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ ina] ⸢MAŠ₂ IGI⸣ GENNA ina ⸢A AN⸣ [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [...] ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [... x]+2.30 GE₆ [...] | |
| 3' | [...] ⸢DIR⸣ AN DIB [...] | |
| 4' | [...] 9 na⸣ [...] | |
| 5' | [... EN 23 AN ana ŠU₂ ki UŠ-a N N ar₂ MUL₂-TUR-ša₂-4-KUŠ₃]-⸢ar₂⸣-LUGAL 1 KUŠ₃ ar₂ ⸢GENNA⸣ [UŠ ...] | |
| 6' | [...] ⸢AN⸣ e MUL₂ [...] | |
| 7' | [... MA].⸢NA⸣ i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.⸢BABBAR⸣ [...] | |
| 8' | [...] ⸢x x x x⸣ [...] | |
| 9' | [...] ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
Sources & licences
- Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618) · ORACC project editions, https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ ; cite the individual project (see texts.extra_json.project)
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.