AD -300 (X103000)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -300 |
|---|---|
| ID | X103000 |
| Museum no. | BM 40079 |
| 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' | [... Night of the 12th, beginning of the night,] the moon was 1 cu[bit] behind α Arietis. The 12th, [...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [... Night of the 14th, the moon was] 1 cubit [...] α Tauri. Around the 15th, while Jupiter was moving back to the west, [...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [... Night of the 17th, last part of the night, the moon was] 1 cubit [below] β Geminorum, the moon being 8 fingers back to the west, behind Ju[piter ...] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [... Night of the 20th, last part of the night, the m]oon was 2 cubits behind α Leonis. Night of the 21st, strong gusty wind. The 22nd, [...] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [Night of the 23rd, last part of the night, the moon was] 3? 1/2 cubits [in front of α Virginis], 1 cubit below Venus. Night of the 24th, [...]; clouds were in the sky. Night of the 25th, last part of the night, the moo[n was ... α Librae ...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [...] ... The 28th, very overcast. Night of the 29th, very overcast; [last part of the night, Venus was] 1 cubit 8 fingers above α Virginis, Venus being [...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [...] dates, 1 pānu 4 sūtu; mustard, 1 pānu 2 sūtu; cress, 2 sūtu 3 qa; sesame, 2 sūtu; wool, 1 1/2 minas for 1 she[kel of silver ...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [... Mercury's] last appearance in the east in Libra; Saturn was in the end of Pisces; Mars, in the beginning of the month, was in Virgo, at the end of the month, in Libra. That month, from the 1st to the 11th, the river [level ...] |
| Obverse [9:11] o 10'10'–o 11'11' | [...] on the 6th, there was a "fall of fire" in the district of A.HA. |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | [Month VIII, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), ...] strong gusty south wind. The 1st, very overcast, a little rain shower. Night of the 2nd, last part of the night, rain DUL. Night of the 3rd, the moon was 2 1/2 cubits in front of β Capricorni. The 3rd, [...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | [...] much PISAN DIB. Night of the 5th, beginning of the night, overcast; last part of the night, Mars stood [... fingers] behind α Librae to the west(error for: east). Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] in fro[nt of η Piscium ...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | [...] Night of the 11th, beginning of the night, the moon was [1] cubit behind β Arietis; last part of the night, Mars was 3 1/2 cubits below β Librae. The 12th, gusty south wind; in the after[noon, ...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | [... Night of the 13th, the moon was] 2 cubits [in front of] α Tauri. The 13th, moonset to sunrise: 4°, measured ... Night of the 14th, overcast; last part of the night, lightning, thunder, cloudburst, much PISAN DIB. The 14th, [sunrise to moonset:] 1+[x° ...] |
| Obverse [14:15] o 15'15'–o 15'15' | [...] ... much rain, PISAN DIB. The 15th, very overcast. Night of the 16th, sunset to moonrise: 10°; last part of the night, the moon was 2 cubits below α Geminorum, above Jupiter [...] |
| Obverse [15:16] o 16'16'–o 16'16' | [...] Night of the 18th, last part of the night, the moon was 2 cubits in front of ε Leonis. Night of the 19th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 cubit behind α Leonis; Jupiter, while receding to the west, was [...] below [α Geminorum ...] |
| Obverse [16:17] o 17'17'–o 17'17' | [...] ... very overcast; there was a section of a rainbow in the west; around noon, it thundered twice; cloudburst, a little PISAN [DIB ...] |
| Obverse [17:18] o 18'18'–o 18'18' | [... the sandal] was not removed. Around [... when Satu]rn became stationary in the west, [it became stationary] in front of η Piscium in the end of Pisces. [...] |
| Obverse [18:19] o 19'19'–o 19'19' | [... in the] afternoon, there was [a section of a rain]bow in the northeast. Night of the 23rd, very overcast; last part of the night, the moon was [...] behind α [Virginis ...] |
| Obverse [19:20] o 20'20'–o 20'20' | [...] rain PISAN DIB. The 24th, very overcast; rain DUL. Night of the 25th, last part of the night, the moon was 2 cubits in front of ... [...] |
| Obverse [20:21] o 21'21'–o 21'21' | [... The 2]6th, clouds were in the sky; cold. Night of the 28th, cold; last part of the night, Venus was [...] below β Librae [...] |
| Obverse [21:22] o 22'22'–o 22'22' | [...] Night of the 30th, overcast. The 30th, very overcast; in the afternoon, rain sho[wer]. That month, the equiva[lent for 1 shekel of silver was: ...] |
| Obverse [22:23] o 23'23'–o 23'23' | [... wool, nn] minas. At that time, Jupiter was in Gemini, Venus was in [...] ..., at the end [of the month in Libra ...] |
| Obverse [23:24] o 24'24'–o 24'24' | [...] the river level rose 1 cubit; the 12th, it receded 8 fingers ... [...] |
| Obverse [24:26] o 25'25'–o 26'26' | [... Babylo]n? was impaled [...] |
| Obverse [25:27] o 26'26'– | [Month IX, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), ...] ... [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | [... the moon was ...] below β Geminorum [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | [... ϑ] Leonis [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [...] ... rain DUL?. The 16th, [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | [...] ... Night of the 18th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] in front of π Sco[rpii ...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | [... Night of] the 21st, very overcast, strong gusty [wind]; last part of the night, clouds crossed the sky. Night of the 22nd, very overcast. The 2[2nd, ...] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | [...] stood to the west. The 23rd, [...] Night of the 24th, ... blew; last part of the night [...] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | [...] stood to the east; Mars was 2 1/2 cubits below β Capricorni. Night of the 27th, last part of the night, clouds were in the sky [...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | [...] passed. The 29th, very overcast. That month, the equivalent for 1 shekel of silver was: barley, in the beginning of the month, 1 pānu 3 sūtu 2 qa, in the middle [of the month, ...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | [...] sesame, 3 sūtu; wool, 2 1/3 minas. At that time, Jupiter was in Gemi[ni ...] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | [...] ...; Saturn was in Aries; Mars was in Capricorn. That month until the 20th, the river level receded 2/3 cubit; from the 21st to the end of the mo[nth, ...] |
| Reverse [12:14] r 13'13'–r 14'14' | [...] (blank) [...] |
| Reverse [13:14] r 14'14'–r 14'14' | [Month XII, (the 1st of which was identical with) the 30th (of the preceding month), ...] ... Night of the 3rd, the moon was [...] behind α Arie[tis]. Night of the 4th, beginning of the night, the moon was ... [...] |
| Reverse [14:15] r 15'15'–r 15'15' | [...] ... [...] ... Night of the 7th, the moon was ab[ove ...] ... [...] |
| Reverse [15:16] r 16'16'–r 16'16' | [... Ni]ght of the 8th, beginning of the ni[ght, ...] cubits? [...] |
| Reverse [17:18] r 18'18'–r 18'18' | [...] to the west [...] |
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⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [... GE₆ 13 SAG GE₆] sin ar₂ MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-SAG-HUN 1 ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ 13 [...] | |
| 3' | [... GE₆ 15 sin x] ⸢is⸣-le₁₀ 1 KUŠ₃ ina 15 MUL₂.BABBAR ana ŠU₂ LAL ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 4' | [... GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG] ⸢MAŠ⸣.MAŠ-ar₂ 1 KUŠ₃ sin 8 SI ana ŠU₂ LAL ar₂ ⸢MUL₂⸣.[BABBAR ...] | |
| 5' | [... GE₆ 21 ina ZALAG₂] ⸢sin⸣ ar₂ LUGAL 2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 22 IM ŠAR₂ KALAG 22 [...] | |
| 6' | [GE₆ 24 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI SA₄-ša₂-ABSIN] 3 1/2 KUŠ₃ SIG dele-bat 1 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 25 ⸢x x⸣ DIR AN ZA GE₆ 25 ina ZALAG₂ ⸢sin⸣ [...] | |
| 7' | [...] ZA 28 ŠU₂.⸢ŠU₂ GE₆⸣ 29 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ [ina ZALAG₂ dele-bat] ⸢e⸣ SA₄-ša₂-ABSIN 1 KUŠ₃ 8 U dele-bat [...] | |
| 8' | [...] ZU₂ 1(BARIG) 4(BAN₂) ⸢ka-si⸣ 1(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) sah-le₁₀ 2(BAN₂) 3 qa ŠE.GIŠ 2(BAN₂) SIG₂{hi.a} 1 1/2 MA.NA a-na 1 ⸢GIN₂⸣ [KU₃.BABBAR ...] | |
| 9' | [... GU₄.UD] ina NIM ina RIN₂ ŠU₂ GENNA ina TIL zib{me} AN ina SAG ITU ina ABSIN ina TIL ITU ina RIN₂ ITU BI TA 1 EN 11 ⸢ILLU⸣ [...] | |
| 10' | [...]+6 IZI.ŠUB ina KI A.HA{ki} GAL₂ | |
| 11' | [APIN 1 ...] ⸢x⸣ ULU₃ ŠAR₂ KALAG 1 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ AN UTAH i GE₆ 2 ina ZALAG₂ ŠU₂ AN DUL GE₆ 3 sin ina IGI SI-MAŠ₂ 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ 3 [...] | |
| 12' | [...] ⸢PISAN⸣ MAH DIB GE₆ 5 SAG GE₆ ŠU₂ ina ZALAG₂ AN ar₂ RIN₂-ša₂-ULU₃ [N N] ana ŠU₂ GUB GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆ sin ina ⸢IGI⸣ [MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu ...] | |
| 13' | [...] GE₆ 11 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-⸢SAG⸣-[HUN 1 KUŠ₃ ina ZALAG₂ AN SIG RIN₂-ša₂-SI 3 1/2 KUŠ₃ 12 ULU₃ ŠAR₂ ina KIN.[SIG ...] | |
| 14' | [GE₆ 13 ... sin ina IGI] ⸢is⸣-le₁₀ 2 KUŠ₃ 13 4 ŠU₂ muš ⸢x x⸣ GE₆ 14 ŠU₂ ina ZALAG₂ GIR₂ GU₃ U AN rad PISAN MAH DIB 14 1+[x ...] | |
| 15' | [...] ina ŠU₂ ⸢AN⸣ MAH PISAN DIB 15 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ GE₆ 16 10 GE₆ ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG MAŠ.MAŠ-IGI 2 KUŠ₃ e MUL₂.BABBAR [...] | |
| 16' | [...] GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina ⸢IGI⸣ SAG-A 2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 19 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ LUGAL 1 KUŠ₃ MUL₂.BABBAR ana ŠU₂ ina LAL-šu₂ SIG [MAŠ.MAŠ-IGI ...] | |
| 17' | [...] ⸢x⸣ ŠU₂.ŠU₂ bu-tuq ⸢TIR⸣.AN ⸢A₂ MAR GAL₂ AN⸣.BAR₇ U 2-šu₂ GU₃-šu₂ ŠUB AN rad PISAN i [DIB ...] | |
| 18' | [...] NU TUH EN [N] ⸢GENNA⸣ ana ŠU₂ ki ⸢UŠ-a⸣ 2 1/2 ⸢KUŠ₃ ina IGI MUL₂⸣-KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu ina TIL zib{me} [UŠ ...] | |
| 19' | [... ina] ⸢KIN.SIG⸣ [bu-tuq] ⸢TIR⸣.AN ⸢A₂ KUR u SI GAL₂⸣ GE₆ 23 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ ⸢SA₄⸣-[ša₂-ABSIN ...] | |
| 20' | [...] AN PISAN DIB 24 ŠU₂⸣.ŠU₂ AN DUL GE₆ 25 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI ⸢x⸣ [x]+2 ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ [...] | |
| 21' | [...] 26 DIR AN ZA ŠED₇ ⸢GE₆ 28 ŠED₇ ina ZALAG₂ dele-bat SIG RIN₂-ša₂-⸢SI⸣ [...] | |
| 22' | [...] GE₆ 30 ŠU₂ 30 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ ina KIN.SIG AN ⸢UTAH⸣ ITU BI KI.⸢LAM⸣ [...] | |
| 23' | [...] MA.NA i-nu-ši MUL₂.BABBAR ina MAŠ.MAŠ dele-bat ina ⸢x x⸣ ina TIL [ITU ina RIN₂ ...] | |
| 24' | [...] ILLU 1 KUŠ₃ GIN 12 8 U LAL ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 25' | [...] ⸢E⸣{ki} ina ga-ši-šu₂ a-⸢li⸣-[il ...] | |
| 26' | [GAN 1 ...] ⸢x x x x⸣ [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [...] ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [...] sin SIG MAŠ.MAŠ-ar₂ [...] | |
| 3' | [... sin] ina IGI ⸢GIŠ.KUN⸣-[A ...] | |
| 4' | [...] [...] | |
| 5' | [...] ⸢x AN DUL 16 [...] | |
| 6' | [...] ⸢x⸣ GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI MUL₂-SIG-ša₂-[SAG-GIR₂.TAB ...] | |
| 7' | [...] 21 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ [x] ⸢ŠAR₂ KALAG⸣ ina ZALAG₂ ⸢x x⸣ GE₆ 22 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ 22 [...] | |
| 8' | [...] ana ŠU₂ GUB 23 [x x] ⸢x⸣ [x x] GE₆ 24 ⸢x GIN⸣ ina ZALAG₂ [...] | |
| 9' | [...] ana NIM GUB AN SIG SI-MAŠ₂ 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 27 ina ZALAG₂ DIR AN ZA [...] | |
| 10' | [...] DIB 29 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ ITU BI KI.LAM še-im ina SAG ITU 1(BARIG) 3(BAN₂) 2 qa ina MURUB₄ [ITU ...] | |
| 11' | [...] ŠE.GIŠ 3(BAN₂) SIG₂{hi.a} 2 1/3 MA.NA a-na 1 GIN₂ KU₃.BABBAR i-nu-šu₂ ⸢MUL₂.BABBAR⸣ ina MAŠ.[MAŠ ...] | |
| 12' | [...] ⸢x x⸣ GENNA ina HUN AN ina MAŠ₂ ITU BI EN 20 ILLU 2/3 KUŠ₃ LAL TA 21 EN TIL ⸢ITU⸣ [...] | |
| 13' | [...] [...] | |
| 14' | [ŠE 30 ...] ⸢x⸣ GE₆ 3 sin ar₂ MUL₂⸣-ar₂-ša₂-[SAG-HUN N N] GE₆ 4 SAG GE₆ sin ⸢x x x⸣ [...] | |
| 15' | [...] ⸢x x x⸣ [...] ⸢x⸣ GE₆ 7 sin ⸢e⸣ [...] x [...] | |
| 16' | [...] ⸢GE₆⸣ 8 SAG ⸢GE₆⸣ [...] ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ [...] | |
| 17' | [...] ⸢x x⸣ [...] | |
| 18' | [...] ana ŠU₂ [...] | |
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.