AD -278B (X102782)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
Open in the reader & map →See it among all tablets
| Designation | AD -278B |
|---|---|
| ID | X102782 |
| Museum no. | BM 35400 + 45866 |
| 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' | [...] Night of the 10+[xth, ...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [...] passed [... beginning of the ni]ght, the moon ... [...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [...] the moon [...] ... The 14th, moonrise to sunset: 10°. |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [... Night of the 17th, last part of the night, the moo]n was 2/3 cubit behind α Leonis. Ni[ght of the 18th,] last part [of the night, the moon was] 2 cubits [behind] Mars, 2 cubits in front of ϑ Leonis. |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [...] halo. The 19th, the sun was surrounded by a halo, [its gate?] was open to the west. Night of the 20th (and) the 20th, very overcast. |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [...] 4 cubits. Night of the 23rd, last part of the night, the moon was 2 cubits behind [α Librae]. Night of the 24th, last part of the night, the moon was |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [...] Night of the 26th, last part of the night, the moon was 1+[x ...] behind ϑ Ophiuchi. The 27th, moonrise to sunrise: 21°, measured. The 26th, solstice. |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [... x]+2 qa; mustard, 3 pānu 4 sūtu 3 qa; [cress, ...;] sesame, 2 sūtu; wool, 3 minas. |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [... Mercu]ry was in Sagittarius, at the end of the month in Capricorn; Saturn, which [had set, was not visible; Mars] was in Leo. That month, |
| Obverse [9:11] o 10'10'–o 11'11' | [...] (blank) |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | [Month X, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), ...] 1 1/2 cubits behind Venus; in the middle watch, [...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | [...] 1 cubit [... η] Piscium. Night of the 7th. beginning of the ni[ght, ...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | [...] last appearance; clouds, I did not watch. Night of the 9th, beginning of the night, the moon [...] |
| Obverse [13:15] o 14'14'– | [... Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the moo]n was 2/3 [cubit] behind μ Geminorum [...] |
| Bottom [0:2] b.e. 1b.e. 1– | [... year 3]3, [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | [...] ... moonrise to sunrise. The 29th, Venus’ [last appearance] in the west [in Aquarius ... That month, the equi]valent (of 1 shekel of silver was): barley, |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | [... must]ard, 3 pānu 2 sūtu; cress, 1 pānu 1 sūtu; sesame, [... wool,] 3 minas. |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | [...] Saturn was in Capricorn; Mars was in Leo, at the end of the month, in Canc[er. That month, the river] level? |
| Reverse [4:6] r 5'5'–r 6'6' | [...] (blank) |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | [Month XI, (the 1st of which was identical with) the 30th (of the preceding month), ...] sunset to moonset: [...] Night of the 3rd, clouds crossed the sky. The 3rd, overcast [...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | [... Night of the 5th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 2 1/2 cubits [in front] of η Tauri. Night of the 6th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] in [front of α Tauri ...] The 7th, |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | [... Night of the 8th, beginning of the night,] the moon was 1/2 cubit above η Geminorum. Night [...] ... |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | [... Night of the 11th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 1/2 cubit [... δ Can]cri. The 11th, Mercury’s first appearance in the west in Aquarius [...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | [... Night of the 14th,] last part of the night, the moon was 5 cubits below ϑ Leonis, the moon being [...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | [...] The 15th, sunrise to moonset: 6° 40'. Night of the 16th, last part of the night, the m[oon was ... behind γ Virginis ...] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | [...] The 19th, clouds crossed the sky. Night of the 20th, cl[ouds ...] |
| Reverse [12:13] r 13'13'–r 13'13' | [... Night of the 24th, last part of the night, the moon was] 2 2/3 cubits] in front of β Capricorni [...] |
| Reverse [13:14] r 14'14'–r 14'14' | [... That month, the equivalent (of 1 shekel of silver was): bar]ley, 4 pānu 2 sūtu; dates, 2 pānu [...] |
| Reverse [14:17] r 15'15'– | [...] Jupiter was in Aries [...] |
| Right [0:1] r.e. 1r.e. 1–r.e. 1r.e. 1 | [...] year [33 ...] |
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' | [...] GE₆ 10+[x ...] | |
| 2' | [...] ⸢DIB⸣ [... SAG] ⸢GE₆⸣ sin ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 3' | [...] ⸢sin⸣ [...] ⸢x x 14 10 UŠ ME | |
| 4' | [... GE₆ 17 ina ZALAG₂] ⸢sin⸣ ar₂ LUGAL 2/3 KUŠ₃ ⸢GE₆⸣ 18 ina ⸢ZALAG₂⸣ [sin ar₂] AN 2 KUŠ₃ ina IGI GIŠ.KUN-A 2 KUŠ₃ | |
| 5' | [...] TUR₃ 19 šamaš₂ TUR₃ ⸢NIGIN⸣ [KA₂-šu₂] ana {im}MAR BAD GE₆ 20 20 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ | |
| 6' | [...] 4 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 23 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ [RIN₂-ša₂-ULU₃] 2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 24 ina ZALAG₂ sin | |
| 7' | [...] GE₆ 26 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ šil-PA 1+[x x] 27 21 KUR muš 28 šamaš₂ GUB | |
| 8' | [...]+2 qa kas₃ 3(BARIG) 4(BAN₂) 3 qa [sah N N] ⸢ŠE.GIŠ⸣.I₃ 2(BAN₂) SIG₂ 3 MA.NA | |
| 9' | [... GU₄].⸢UD⸣ ina PA ina TIL ITU ina MAŠ₂ GENNA ⸢ša₂⸣ [ŠU₂-u₂ NU IGI AN] ina A ITU BI | |
| 10' | [...] | |
| 11' | [AB 1 ... GE₆ 2 sin] ar₂ dele-bat 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ EN.NUN.MURUB₄ [...] | |
| 12' | [...] ⸢DUR⸣-nu-nu 1 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 7 SAG ⸢GE₆⸣ [...] | |
| 13' | [...] ŠU₂ DIR NU PAP GE₆ 9 SAG GE₆ sin [...] | |
| 14' | [... GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆] ⸢sin⸣ ar₂ MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-še-pit₂-MAŠ.MAŠ 2/3 [KUŠ₃ ...] | |
| b.e. | ||
| 1 | [... MU] 33.KAM₂ [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [...] ⸢x x⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [...] ⸢x x KUR 29 dele⸣-bat ina ŠU₂ [ina GU ŠU₂ ... KI].⸢LAM še⸣-im | |
| 3' | [...] ⸢kas₃⸣ 3(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) sah 1(BARIG) 1(BAN₂) ŠE.GIŠ.I₃ [... SIG₂] 3 MA.NA | |
| 4' | [...] GENNA ina MAŠ₂ AN ina A ina TIL ITU ina ⸢ALLA⸣ [ITU BI] ⸢x⸣ | |
| 5' | [...] | |
| 6' | [ZIZ₂ 30 ...] na-su GE₆ 3 DIR AN DIB 3 ŠU₂ [...] ⸢x⸣ | |
| 7' | [... GE₆ 5 SAG GE₆ sin ina] ⸢IGI⸣ MUL₂.MUL₂ 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 6 SAG GE₆ sin ina [IGI is-le₁₀ ...] 7 | |
| 8' | [... GE₆ 8 SAG GE₆] sin e MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-še-pit₂-MAŠ.MAŠ 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ [...] ⸢x⸣ | |
| 9' | [... GE₆ 11 SAG GE₆ sin x MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂]-⸢ALLA⸣-ša₂-ULU₃ 1/2 KUŠ₃ 11 GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ ina GU ⸢IGI⸣ [...] | |
| 10' | [... GE₆ 14 ⸢ina⸣ ZALAG₂ sin SIG GIŠ.KUN-A 5 KUŠ₃ sin [...] | |
| 11' | [...] 15 6.40 na GE₆ 16 ina ZALAG₂ ⸢sin⸣ [ar₂ DELE-ša₂-IGI-ABSIN ...] | |
| 12' | [...] ⸢x⸣ 19 DIR AN DIB GE₆ 20 ⸢DIR⸣ [...] | |
| 13' | [... GE₆ 24 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina] IGI SI-MAŠ₂ 2 2/3 KUŠ₃ [...] | |
| 14' | [... KI.LAM še]-im 4(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) ZU₂ 2(BARIG) ⸢PI⸣ [...] | |
| 15' | [...] ⸢MUL₂.BABBAR ina HUN⸣ [...] | |
| r.e. | ||
| 1 | [...] MU 33.KAM₂ ...] | |
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.