AD -281A (X102811)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -281A |
|---|---|
| ID | X102811 |
| Museum no. | BM 41660 |
| 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' | above α Vir[ginis ...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | 1 finger to the [...] horn of the moon [...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | 1 cubit 4 fingers. The 12th, [... Night of the 13th, beginning of the night,] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | the moon was [...] behind η Pis[cium ... Night of the 17th, last part of the night, the moon was] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | 2 1/2 cubits behind β Tauri. Ni[ght ... Night of the 20th, last part of the night, the moon was] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | 1 cubit [...] ϑ Cancri [...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | of ... [...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | Night of the 28th, last part of the night, the moon was [... in front of δ Scorpii ...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | ... which in ... [...] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | at the end of the month in ... [... Venus] |
| Obverse [10:12] o 11'11'–o 12'12' | was in the end of Scorpius, at the end of the month [in Sagittarius ...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | Month VIII, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), sunset to moonset: 19° 30'; [it could be seen] while the sun stood there [... Night of the 4th, beginning of the night,] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | the moon was [...] in front of γ Capricorni [... Night of the 9th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 3 cubits [in front of η Piscium.] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | Night of the 10th, beginning of the ni[ght, the moon was ... in front of β Arietis ...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | very overcast; in the afternoon, rain shower [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | The 5th, Mars’ first appearance in the end of Sagittarius; rising of Mars to sunrise: 22° [... a halo,] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | it billowed very much. Night of the 7th, [beginning of the night, ...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | 6 fingers. Night of the 10th, beginning [of the night, ...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | clouds were in the sky ... [...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | beginning of the night, the moon was below [...] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | measured (despite) clouds; beginning of the ni[ght, ...] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | which was omitted; around [...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | Night of the 18th?, [...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | behind γ [Virginis ...] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | clouds ... [...] |
| Reverse [12:13] r 13'13'–r 13'13' | clouds ... [...] |
| Reverse [13:14] r 14'14'–r 14'14' | Night of the 23rd, last [part of the night, ...] |
| Reverse [14:16] r 15'15'– | The 20+[x]th, clouds ... [...] |
| Left [0:1] l.e. 1l.e. 1–l.e. 1l.e. 1 | [...] Ea-uballiṭ? |
| Left [1:2] l.e. 22–l.e. 22 | [...] of year 30, kings Seleucus and Antiochus. |
| Left [2:3] l.e. 33–l.e. 33 | Checked?. |
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' | e ⸢SA₄⸣-ša₂-⸢ABSIN⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | 1 SI ana SI sin ša₂ [...] | |
| 3' | 1 KUŠ₃ 4 SI 12 [... GE₆ 13 SAG GE₆] | |
| 4' | sin ar₂ MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-⸢DUR⸣-[nu-nu ... GE₆ 17 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂] | |
| 5' | [ŠUR-GIGIR]-ša₂-SI 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ⸢GE₆⸣ [... GE₆ 20 ina ZALAG₂ sin x] | |
| 6' | [MUL₂-IGI]-ša₂-ALLA-ša₂-ULU₃ 1 ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ [...] | |
| 7' | ša₂ ⸢x x x x⸣ ša₂ ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 8' | GE₆ 28 ina ZALAG₂ sin [ina IGI MUL₂-MURUB₄-ša₂-SAG-GIR₂.TAB ...] | |
| 9' | ⸢x x x⸣ ša₂ ina ⸢x x⸣ [...] | |
| 10' | ina TIL ITU ina ⸢x x x⸣ [... dele-bat] | |
| 11' | ina TIL GIR₂.TAB ina TIL ITU [ina PA ...] | |
| 12' | APIN 1 19.30 na ina šamaš₂ [GUB IGI ... GE₆ 4 SAG GE₆] | |
| 13' | sin ina IGI MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-⸢SUHUR⸣-[MAŠ₂ ... GE₆ 9 SAG GE₆ sin ina IGI MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu] | |
| 14' | 3 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 10 SAG ⸢GE₆⸣ [sin ina IGI MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SAG-HUN ...] | |
| 15' | [x] ⸢x x⸣ [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [x x] ⸢x x⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | ⸢ŠU₂⸣.ŠU₂ ina KIN.SIG AN UTAH [...] | |
| 3' | 5 AN ina TIL PA IGI 22 ⸢na⸣ [...] | |
| 4' | ma-diš iq-tur₇ GE₆ 7 [SAG GE₆ ...] | |
| 5' | 6 SI GE₆ 10 SAG [GE₆ ...] | |
| 6' | DIR AN ZA ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 7' | SAG GE₆ sin SIG [...] | |
| 8' | ⸢DIR⸣ muš ⸢SAG GE₆⸣ [...] | |
| 9' | ša₂ DIB in [...] | |
| 10' | GE₆ 18 [...] | |
| 11' | ar₂ DELE [...] | |
| 12' | DIR AN [...] | |
| 13' | DIR ⸢AN⸣ [...] | |
| 14' | GE₆ 23 ina [ZALAG₂ ...] | |
| 15' | 20+[x] DIR AN [...] | |
| l.e. | ||
| 1 | [...] {m}{d}BE.TIN | |
| 2 | [...] ša₂ MU 30.KAM₂ {m}se-lu-ku u {m}an-ti-ʾu-uk-⸢su⸣ [LUGAL{meš]} | |
| 3 | IGI | |
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.