AD -266A (X102661)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -266A |
|---|---|
| ID | X102661 |
| Museum no. | BM 32614 |
| 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 [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [...] cubits, the moon being 1/2 cubit back to the west. Night of the 4th, be[ginning of the night, ...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [... Night of the 6th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 1+[x cubits] above ρ Leonis [...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [... Night of the 7th, last part of the night, Venus was] 5 cubits [below α] Arietis. Night of the 8th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [... Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 1 2/3 cubits [behind] α Virginis; clouds were in the sky, rain D[UL ...] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [...] clouds were in the sky, rain shower. The 12th, Saturn’s last appearance in the Chariot; clouds, I did not [watch ...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [... Night of the 14th, ... the moon was] 2 2/3 cubits [behind] α Scorpii. The 14th, sunrise to moonset: 4°. Night of the 15th, sunset to moonrise: 15°; clouds, [I did not watch ...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [... clouds] were in the sky. The 21st, Sirius’ last appearance; I did not watch. Night of the 22nd, clouds crossed the sky [...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [...] flashed from ϑ Leonis to the north. Night of the 24th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] in front of [η Piscium ...] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | [... Night of the 25th, last part of the night, the moon] stood 2 cubits [in front of] Jupiter to the west. Night of the 26th, first part of the night, Mars was [...] above δ Can[cri ...] |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | [... Night of the 27th,] moonrise to sunrise: [nn], measured; the sun rose in a "box". Night of the 28th, last part of the night, Jupiter was above Venus [...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | [...] 1/2 mina. At that time, Jupiter and Venus were in Aries; around the 12th, Saturn’s [last appearance in the Chariot; ...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | [...] the 5th, removing of sand from the small courtyard ... [...] |
| Obverse [13:15] o 14'14'–o 15'15' | [...] (blank) |
| Obverse [14:16] o 15'15'– | [Month III, (the 1st of which was identical with) the 30th (of the preceding month), ... [...] |
| Reverse [0:2] r 1'r 1'–r 2'2' | [...] (blank) |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | Month V, (the 1st of which was identical with) the 30th (of the preceding month, sunset to moonset): 11° 50'; dense mist, I did not see the moon. The 1st, sunset to moonset: 18° [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | Venus was 5 cubits below α Geminorum. Around the 5th, Mars’ last appearance in the end of Leo. Night of the 6th, [...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | Night of the 9th, beginning of the night, the moon was 2 cubits in front of ϑ Ophiuchi [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | 5 cubits. Night of the 14th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] in front of γ Capricorni [... Night of the 19th, last part of the night, the moon was] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | 3 1/2 cubits [below] η Piscium. Night of the 20th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] behind α Arie[tis ... Night of the 21st, last part of the night, the moon] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | stood 1 cubit in front of Jupiter to the west, the moon being 8 fingers high to the north. Night of the 22nd, first part of the night, [...] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | Night of the 23rd, last part of the night, the moon was 1 cubit 8 fingers below β Tauri, the moon having passed 8 fingers to the east [...] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | flashed from Capricorn to the south; last part of the night, the moon was 1/2 cubit behind μ Geminorum, behind Saturn [...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | Night of the 26th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits in front of γ Cancri, 2 1/2 [cubits] in front of Venus [...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | [Ni]ght of the 28th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits behind α Leonis. The 28th, moonrise to sunrise: 18°. That month, the e[quivalent ...] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | [wool,] 3 1/2 minas. At that time, Jupiter was in Taurus; Venus in the beginning of the month [was in Gemini, ...] |
| Reverse [12:13] r 13'13'–r 13'13' | [... the r]iver level - remainder? 1/2 cubit - [...] 3 cubits 8 fingers [...] |
| Reverse [13:15] r 14'14'–r 15'15' | [...] (blank) |
| Reverse [14:15] r 15'15'–r 15'15' | [Month VI, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), ...] last part of the night, Venus was 4 fingers below ε Leonis [...] |
| Reverse [15:16] r 16'16'–r 16'16' | [... midd]le ... [...] |
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' | [...] ⸢x x x x⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [...] KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL GE₆ 4 ⸢SAG⸣ [GE₆ ...] | |
| 3' | [... GE₆ 6 SAG GE₆ sin] ⸢e⸣ MUL₂-TUR-ša₂-4-KUŠ₃-ar₂-LUGAL 1 2/3 [KUŠ₃ ...] | |
| 4' | [... GE₆ 7 ina ZALAG₂ dele-bat SIG MUL₂-ar₂]-⸢ša₂⸣-SAG-HUN 5 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 8 SAG GE₆ sin [...] | |
| 5' | [... GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂] SA₄-ša₂-ABSIN 1 2/3 KUŠ₃ DIR AN ZA AN ⸢DUL⸣ [...] | |
| 6' | [...] DIR AN ZA AN UTAH 12 GENNA ina GIGIR ŠU₂ DIR NU [PAP ...] | |
| 7' | [... GE₆ 14 ... sin ar₂] SI₄ 2 2/3 KUŠ₃ 14 4 na GE₆ 15 15 GE₆ DIR [NU PAP ...] | |
| 8' | [...] AN ZA 21 {mul₂}KAK.BAN ŠU₂ NU PAP GE₆ 22 DIR ⸢AN DIB⸣ [...] | |
| 9' | [...] TA GIŠ.KUN-A ana SI ŠUR GE₆ 24 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI ⸢MUL₂⸣-[KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu ...] | |
| 10' | [... GE₆ 25 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI] ⸢MUL₂⸣.BABBAR 2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ GUB GE₆ 26 USAN AN e MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-[ALLA-ša₂-ULU₃ ...] | |
| 11' | [... GE₆ 27 N] KUR muš šamaš₂ ina pit₂-nu KUR GE₆ 28 ina ZALAG₂ MUL₂.BABBAR e dele-bat [...] | |
| 12' | [...] 1/2 MA.NA i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR u dele-bat ina HUN in 12 ⸢GENNA⸣ [ina GIGIR ŠU₂ ...] | |
| 13' | [... U₄] 5.KAM₂ de-ku-u₂ ša₂ SAHAR{hi.a} ša₂ KISAL BAN₃.DA šu ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 14' | [...] | |
| 15' | [SIG 30 ...] ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [...] | |
| 2' | NE 30 11.50 a-kam₂ KALAG-ma sin NU IGI 1 18 ⸢na⸣ [...] | |
| 3' | dele-bat SIG MAŠ.MAŠ-IGI 5 KUŠ₃ ina 5 AN ina TIL A ŠU₂ ⸢GE₆ 6 [...] | |
| 4' | GE₆ 9 SAG GE₆ sin ina IGI MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-KIR₄-šil-PA 2 ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ [...] | |
| 5' | 5 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 14 SAG GE₆ sin ina IGI MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SUHUR-MAŠ₂ [... GE₆ 19 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG] | |
| 6' | MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu 3 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 20 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ MUL₂-⸢ar₂⸣-[ša₂-SAG-HUN ... GE₆ 21 ina ZALAG₂ sin] | |
| 7' | ina IGI MUL₂.BABBAR 1 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ GUB sin 8 U ana SI NIM GE₆ 22 USAN [...] | |
| 8' | GE₆ 23 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG ŠUR-GIGIR-ša₂-SI 1 KUŠ₃ 8 SI sin 8 U ana NIM ⸢DIB⸣ [... GE₆ 24 ...] | |
| 9' | TA MAŠ₂ ana ULU₃ ŠUR ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-še-pit₂-MAŠ.MAŠ 1/2 KUŠ₃ ar₂ GENNA [...] | |
| 10' | GE₆ 26 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-ALLA-ša₂-SI 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ina IGI dele-bat 2 1/2 [KUŠ₃ ...] | |
| 11' | ⸢GE₆⸣ 28 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ LUGAL 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ 28 18 KUR ITU ⸢BI KI⸣.[LAM ...] | |
| 12' | [SIG₂{hi.a]} 3 1/2 ma i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR ina MUL₂.MUL₂ dele-bat ina ⸢SAG ITU⸣ [ina MAŠ.MAŠ ...] | |
| 13' | [x x] ⸢ILLU⸣ 1/2 KUŠ₃ KA₂-tu₂ 3 KUŠ₃ 8 U [...] | |
| 14' | [x x x] | |
| 15' | [KIN 1 ...] ⸢ina ZALAG₂⸣ dele-bat SIG SAG-A 4 ⸢SI⸣ [...] | |
| 16' | [...] ⸢MURUB₄ x x x⸣ [...] | |
| 17' | [...] ⸢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.