AD -270B (X102702)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -270B |
|---|---|
| ID | X102702 |
| Museum no. | BM 32490 + 41848 |
| 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 1o 1–o 1o 1 | [Year 4]1, Antiochus and Seleuc[us, ...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 22–o 22 | Mercury’s first appearance in the west, omitted. Night of the 3rd, the moon was 1 [...] in front of ϑ Ophiuchi. [... Night of the 6th,] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 33–o 33 | [beginn]ing of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits in front of β Capricorni. Night of the 8th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] behind δ [Capricorni ...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 44–o 44 | [Ni]ght of the 13th, moonrise to sunset: 7°; first part of the night, Venus was 1 2/3 cubits below Jupiter. The 13th, moonset to sunrise: 9°; in the after[noon, ...] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 55–o 55 | Night of the 15th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits in front of α Tauri. Night of the 16th, first part of the night, the moon was [...] in front of [β Tauri ... Night of the 18th, last part of the night, the moon was] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 66–o 66 | 1 1/2 cubits in front of α Geminorum. Night of the 19th, last part of the night, Mars was 1 1/2 cubits above α Virginis [... Night of the 22nd, last part of the night, the moon was] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 77–o 77 | 2/3 cubit behind α Leonis. The 22nd, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 24th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] above β Vir[ginis ...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 88–o 88 | 1/2 cubit. The 25th, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 26th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] above α Virginis, [it stood] 1 1/2 cubits [in front of] Mars to the west [...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 99–o 99 | The 28th, moonrise to sunrise: 19°. Night of the 30th (and) the 30th, clouds crossed the sky. That month, the equivalent for 1 shekel of silver was: barley, [... at the end of the mon]th, 2 pānu 5 sūtu; dates, 2 pānu [...] |
| Obverse [9:11] o 1010–o 1111 | wool, 3 minas. At that time, Jupiter was in Sagittarius; Ven[us was in Sagittarius, at] the end of the month, in Capricorn; Saturn was in Aries; Mars was in Virgo, at the end [of the month, in Libra ...] |
| Obverse [10:11] o 1111–o 1111 | Month VIII, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), sunset to moonset: 18° 30'. Night of the 1st, clouds crossed the sky. The 1st, in the afternoon, clouds crossed the sky. Night of the 2nd, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits behind Jupiter, the moon being 1 cubit high to the north. The 2nd, Mer[cury ...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 1212–o 1212 | Night of the 3rd, very overcast, lightning, thunder, rain DUL, gusty wind. The 3rd, clouds crossed the sky, it thundered, rain shower. Night of the 4th, overcast, rain, but the sandal was not removed ... [...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 1313–o 1313 | there was [... in ...] and west. Night of the 5th, beginning of the night, the moon was 2/3 cubit behind δ Capricorni; overcast, lightning, thunder, rain PISAN DIB. Night of the 6th, be[ginning of the night, ...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 1414–o 1414 | [...] Night of the 9th, beginning of the night, the moon was [nn] cubits in front of η Piscium; first part of the night, Venus was 2 cubits below β Capricorni; very overcast, rain [...] |
| Obverse [14:15] o 1515–o 1515 | [...] crossed the sky, rain [...] The 11th, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 12th, beginning of the night, the moon was ... [...] |
| Obverse [15:16] o 1616–o 1616 | [... Night of the 14th, beginning of the night?, the moon was] 2/3 cubit behind ζ Tauri. The 14th, sunrise to moonset: 10° [...] |
| Obverse [16:17] o 1717–o 1717 | [... Night of the 16th, last] part of the night, the moon was 3 1/2 cubits below β Geminorum, the m[oon being ...] |
| Obverse [17:18] o 1818–o 1818 | [... Night of the 19th, last part of the night, the moon was] 1/2 cubit [...] α Leonis, the moon being 8 [fingers ...] |
| Obverse [18:19] o 1919–o 1919 | [... Night of the 25th, last part of the night, the moon was] 1 [cubit in front of] α Librae [...] |
| Obverse [19:20] o 2020–o 2020 | [...] 8 fingers, in front [of ...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'r 1'–r 1'r 1' | [...] crossed. The 4th, clouds ... [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | [... Night of the 7th, beginning of the night,] the moon was 1 cubit in front of α Geminorum [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | [... Night of the 11th, beg]inning of the night, the moon was ... in front of β Virginis [...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | [...] ... the 15th, very overcast, rain shower, gusty wind. Night of the 16th, [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [... Night of the 18th, last part of the night, the moon was] 2 1/2 cubits [behind β] Scorpii. The 18th, in the afternoon, clouds crossed the sky. Night of the 19th, overcast, rain DUL; in [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | [... Night] of the 21st (and) the 21st, clouds were in the sky; the sun was surrounded by a halo. Night of the 22nd, clouds were in the sky; last part of the night, the moon was [...] below β [Capricorni ...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | [... Night of the 23rd,] last part of the night, the moon was [nn] cubits in front of γ Capricorni. Around the 23rd, Saturn’s last appearance in Aries; clouds [...] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | [... Night] of the 25th, clouds crossed the sky. The 25th, overcast, slow rain, PISAN DIB. Night of the 26th, clouds crossed the sky. The 26th, in the a[fternoon?, ...] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | [... Mercury’s] last appearance in the east in Pisces. That month, the equivalent [for 1 shekel of silver was]: barley, 2 pānu 4 sūtu 3 qa; dates, 1 pānu 1 sūtu 3 qa; mustard, [...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | [...] At that time, Jupiter and Mars were in Capricorn; Venus was in Aquarius, at the end of the month, in Pisces; Mercury was in Aquarius, at the e[nd of the month, in Pisces ...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | [...] That month, until the 18th, I did not watch the river level; 6 was the na (gauge); from the 19th to the 21st, 8 fingers [...] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | [... mon]th?, it receded 1/2 cubit, 2 was the na (gauge); the 29th, it rose 8 fingers. That year, [...] The month, until the 24th [...] |
| Reverse [12:13] r 13'13'–r 13'13' | [...] the conjurers and lamentation-priests [performed?] the ritual of covering the kettle-drum [...] ... [...] |
| Reverse [13:14] r 14'14'–r 14'14' | [...] and Alexander to the citizens of Babylon ... [...] ... [...] |
| Reverse [14:15] r 15'15'–r 15'15' | [...] cypress garden they covered. That month, the 10th day, [...] |
| Reverse [15:16] r 16'16'–r 16'16' | [the con]jurers and the lamentation-priests of Esangila performed the ritual of "whe[n? ...] |
| Reverse [16:17] r 17'17'–r 17'17' | as written in front of it. That month, the 13th day, [...] |
| Reverse [17:18] r 18'18'–r 18'18' | there was much [...] in the land. That year, the king encamped in Transpotamia. That year, [...] |
| Reverse [18:21] r 19'19'– | That year, there were many birds; salad [was sold] at 4 qa for 1 sh[ekel ...] |
| Top [0:1] t.e. 1t.e. 1–t.e. 1t.e. 1 | Not checked. [...] |
| Top [1:3] t.e. 22– | Diary from month VII to the e[nd ...] |
| Left [0:1] l.e. 1l.e. 1–l.e. 1l.e. 1 | [...] kings [Antiochus and] Seleucus. |
| Left [1:2] l.e. 22–l.e. 22 | [Not che]cked. |
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 | [MU].41.KAM₂ {m}an-ti-ʾu-uk-su u {m}se-lu-[ku ...] | |
| 2 | [GU₄].UD ina ŠU₂ IGI DIB GE₆ 3 sin ina IGI MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-KIR₄-šil-PA 1 [... GE₆ 6 | |
| 3 | ⸢SAG⸣ GE₆ sin ina IGI SI-MAŠ₂ 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 8 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ ⸢MUL₂⸣-[ar₂-ša₂-SUHUR-MAŠ₂ ...] | |
| 4 | ⸢GE₆⸣ 13 7 ME USAN dele-bat SIG MUL₂.BABBAR 1 2/3 KUŠ₃ 13 9 ŠU₂ ina ⸢KIN⸣.[SIG ...] | |
| 5 | GE₆ 15 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI is-le₁₀ 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 16 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI [ŠUR-GIGIR-ša₂-SI ... GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin] | |
| 6 | ina IGI MAŠ.MAŠ-IGI 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 19 ina ZALAG₂ AN e SA₄-ša₂-ABSIN 1 1/2 [... GE₆ 22 ina ZALAG₂ sin] | |
| 7 | ar₂ LUGAL 2/3 KUŠ₃ 22 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 24 ina ZALAG₂ sin e GIR₃-ar₂-⸢ša₂⸣-[A ...] | |
| 8 | 1/2 KUŠ₃ 25 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 26 ina ZALAG₂ sin e SA₄-ša₂-⸢ABSIN⸣ [N N ina IGI] ⸢AN⸣ 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ⸢ŠU₂⸣ [GUB ...] | |
| 9 | 28 19 KUR GE₆ 30 30 DIR AN DIB ITU BI KI.LAM še-⸢im⸣ [x x ina TIL] ⸢ITU⸣ 2(BARIG) 5(BAN₂) ZU₂.LUM 2 PI [...] | |
| 10 | SIG₂{hi.a} 3 MA⸣.NA a-na 1 GIN₂ KU₃.BABBAR ep₂-šu₂ i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR ina ⸢PA⸣ dele-[bat ina PA ina] ⸢TIL⸣ ITU ina MAŠ₂ GENNA ina LU AN ina ABSIN ina ⸢TIL⸣ [ITU ina RIN₂ ...] | |
| 11 | APIN 1 18.30 na GE₆ 1 DIR AN DIB 1 ina KIN.SIG DIR AN DIB ⸢GE₆⸣ 2 sin ar₂ MUL₂.BABBAR 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 1 KUŠ₃ ana SI NIM 2 ⸢GU₄⸣.[UD ina NIM ina RIN₂ IGI ...] | |
| 12 | GE₆ 3 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ GIR₂ GU₃ U AN DUL IM ŠAR₂ 3 DIR AN DIB {⸢d}IM⸣ GU₃-šu₂ ŠUB AN UTAH GE₆ 4 ŠU₂ AN še-ni NU TUH ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 13 | [x] u MAR GAL₂ GE₆ 5 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-⸢SUHUR-MAŠ₂⸣ 2/3 KUŠ₃ ŠU₂ GIR₂ GU₃ U AN PISAN DIB GE₆ 6 ⸢SAG⸣ [GE₆ ...] | |
| 14 | [x x x (x)] ⸢GE₆ 9 SAG⸣ GE₆ sin ina IGI DUR-⸢nu⸣-[nu N] KUŠ₃ USAN dele-bat SIG SI-MAŠ₂ 2 KUŠ₃ ŠU₂.ŠU₂ AN [...] | |
| 15 | [...] AN DIB AN [x x x] 11 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 12 SAG GE₆ sin ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 16 | [... GE₆ 14 SAG GE₆ sin] ar₂ ŠUR-ULU₃ 2/3 KUŠ₃ 14 10 na [...] | |
| 17 | [... GE₆ 16 ina] ⸢ZALAG₂⸣ sin SIG MAŠ.MAŠ-ar₂ 3 1/2 KUŠ₃ ⸢sin⸣ [...] | |
| 18 | [... GE₆ 19 ina ZALAG₂ sin x] LUGAL 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 8 [SI ...] | |
| 19 | [... GE₆ 25 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI] ⸢RIN₂⸣-ša₂-ULU₃ 1 [KUŠ₃ ...] | |
| 20 | [...] 8 SI ina ⸢IGI⸣ [...] | |
| 21 | [...] [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [...] SI 4 DIR ⸢AN⸣ [...] DIB 4 | |
| 2' | [... GE₆ 7 SAG GE₆] sin ina IGI MAŠ.MAŠ-IGI 1 KUŠ₃ [...] | |
| 3' | [... GE₆ 11 ⸢SAG⸣ GE₆ sin ina IGI GIR₃-ar₂-ša₂-A ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 4' | [...] ⸢x⸣ [x] ⸢GE₆ 15 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ AN UTAH IM ŠAR₂ GE₆ 16 [...] | |
| 5' | [... GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ MUL₂-e-ša₂]-⸢SAG⸣-GIR₂.TAB 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ 18 [ina] KIN.SIG DIR AN DIB GE₆ 19 ŠU₂ AN DUL ina [...] | |
| 6' | [... GE₆] 21 21 DIR AN ZA šamaš₂ ⸢TUR₃⸣ NIGIN GE₆ 22 DIR AN ZA ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG ⸢SI⸣-[MAŠ₂ ...] | |
| 7' | [... GE₆ 23 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SUHUR-⸢MAŠ₂⸣ [N] KUŠ₃ in 23 GENNA ina LU ŠU₂ DIR ⸢AN⸣ [...] | |
| 8' | [... GE₆] 25 DIR AN DIB 25 ŠU₂ AN ne-hi ⸢PISAN⸣ DIB GE₆ 26 DIR AN DIB 26 ina ⸢KIN⸣.[SIG ...] | |
| 9' | [... GU₄.UD] ina NIM ina zib{me} ŠU₂ ITU BI KI.LAM še-im 2(BARIG) 4(BAN₂) 3 qa ZU₂.LUM 1(BARIG) 1(BAN₂) 3 qa kas₃ [...] | |
| 10' | [...] ep₂-šu₂ i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR u AN ina MAŠ₂ dele-bat ina ⸢GU⸣ ina TIL ITU ina zib{me} GU₄.UD ina ⸢GU⸣ ina ⸢TIL⸣ [ITU ina zib{me} ...] | |
| 11' | [...] ITU BI EN 18 ILLU NU PAP [x] 6 na [TA] 19 EN 21 8 ⸢SI⸣ [...] | |
| 12' | [...] ⸢ITU⸣ 1/2 KUŠ₃ LAL 2 na 29 8 U GIN MU BI [x x] ITU ⸢BI EN 24 [...] | |
| 13' | [... {lu₂]}⸢MAŠ⸣.MAŠ{meš} u {lu₂}LAGAR{meš} ne₂-pe-šu₂ ša₂ a-ra-mu ša₂ li-[li-si x x] ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 14' | [x x x (x)] u₃ {m}a-lik-sa-an-dar ana {lu₂}DUMU{meš} E{ki} u₂-⸢x⸣ [...] [...] | |
| 15' | [x (x) {giš]}⸢KIRI₆⸣ ŠIM.LI i-te-ri-mu-u₂ ITU BI U₄.10.KAM₂ [...] | |
| 16' | {[lu₂]}⸢MAŠ⸣.MAŠ{meš} u {lu₂}LAGAR{meš} ša₂ E₂.SAG.GIL₂ ne₂-pe-šu₂ ša₂ e-nu-⸢ma⸣ [...] | |
| 17' | ⸢lib₃⸣-bu-u₂ šaṭ-ri ina pa-ni-šu₂ DU₃-uʾ ITU BI U₄ 13 [...] | |
| 18' | ina KUR MAH MU BI LUGAL ina e-ber-ID₂ ŠUB MU ⸢BI⸣ [...] | |
| 19' | MU BI MUŠEN{hi.a} MAH SUM{sar} 4 qa a-na 1 ⸢GIN₂⸣ [...] | |
| t.e. | ||
| 1 | NU IGI.TAB [...] | |
| 2 | EN.NUN ša₂ gi-ne₂-e ša₂ TA DU₆ EN ⸢TIL⸣ [...] | |
| l.e. | ||
| 1 | [...] {m}se-lu-ku LUGAL{meš} | |
| 2 | [NU ba]-ar₂ | |
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.