AD -330A (X103301)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -330A |
|---|---|
| ID | X103301 |
| Museum no. | BM 36761 |
| 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' | [...] ... [...] The 13th, moonset to sunrise: 8° ... [...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [... lunar] eclipse, in its totality covered. 10° night [totality? ...] (broken) Jupiter set; Saturn [...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [...] during totality the west wind blew, during clearing the east wind. [...] fourth? ...; during the eclipse, deaths and plague? [occurred?] in [...] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [... all] day clouds were in the sky. Night of the 15th, sunset to moonrise: 16°; cl[ouds ... the moon was] 3 2/3 cubits [below α Arietis,] the moon having passed [...] to the east; a meteor which [...] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [...] ... flashed, its light was seen on the ground; very overcast, lightning fl[ashed, ... Night of the 17th, ...] (broken) rain DUL; last part of the night, the moon was [...] behind [α Tauri ...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [clou]ds were in the sky. Night of the 18th, a "fall of fire" occurred in the district ... [...] entered?, opposite of the Nabû temple [...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [... a d]og? was burned. Night of the 19th, first part of the night, a "fall [of fire" ... last] part of the night, the moon was 20 fingers behind γ Geminorum; Venus was [...] above [β Virginis,] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [Venus] having passed [nn] fingers to the east. Night of the 20th, last part of the night, the moon was [nn cubi]ts below β Geminorum, the moon being 2/3 cubit back to the west. The 21st, equinox; I did not watch. Ni[ght of the 22nd, last part of the night,] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | [the moon was] 6 cubits [below] ε Leonis, the moon having passed 1/2 cubit to the east. Night of the 2[3rd, last part of the night, the moon was] 1 cubit behind α Leonis. Night of the 24th, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 25th, cl[ouds ...] |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | [...] thick rain DUL. The 25th, in the morning, clouds were in the sky. Night of [the 26th, last part of the night, the moon was ... below γ Virginis, the moon] being 2/3? cubit back to the west, it stood 1 cubit 8 fingers behind Venus to the east. [...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | Night of the 29th, solar eclipse which was omitted; (it was expected for) about 1° night after sunset. Night of the 30th, last part of the [night, ...] ... kur; mustard, 3 kur, at the end of the month, 4? [kur; ...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | sesame, 1 pānu; wool, 5 minas. At that time, Jupiter was in Scorpius; Ve[nus was in Leo, at the end of the month, in Virgo; Saturn was in Pisces; Mercury and Mars, which had set, were n]ot visible. That month, the ri[ver level ...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | That month, on the 11th, panic [occurred] in the camp before the king [...] |
| Obverse [14:15] o 15'15'–o 15'15' | lay? opposite the king. On the 24th, in the morning, the king of the world [...] the standard? [...] |
| Obverse [15:16] o 16'16'–o 16'16' | they fought with each other, and a heavy? defeat of the troops of [...] |
| Obverse [16:17] o 17'17'–o 17'17' | the troops of the king deserted him and [went?] to their cities [...] |
| Obverse [17:19] o 18'18'–o 19'19' | they fled to the land of the Guti [...] |
| Obverse [18:19] o 19'19'–o 19'19' | [Month VII, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month); sunset to moonset: 13° 30+x'. Night of the 2nd, the moon was above Jupi[ter ...] |
| Obverse [19:21] o 20'20'– | [... Night] of the 7th, beginning [of the night, ...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | for 1 shekel of s[ilver ...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | That month, from the 1st to [...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | came to Babylon saying: "Esangila [..."] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | and the Babylonians for the property of Esangila [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | On the 11th, in Sippar an order of Al[exander ...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | ["...] I shall not enter your houses". On the 13th, [...] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | [...] to? the outer gate of Esangila and [...] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | [...] On the 14th, these? Ionians a bull [...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | short, fatty tissue [...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | [...] Alexander, king of the world, [came? in]to Babylon [...] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | [... hor]ses and equipment of [...] |
| Reverse [12:13] r 13'13'–r 13'13' | [...] and the Babylonians and the people of [...] |
| Reverse [13:14] r 14'14'–r 14'14' | [...] a message to [...] |
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⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [...] ⸢x⸣ [...] 13 8 ŠU₂ ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 3' | [... sin AN].⸢KU₁₀⸣ gab-<bi>-šu₂ ŠU₂ 10 UŠ ⸢GE₆⸣ [GIN ...] he-pi₂ MUL₂.BABBAR ŠU₂ ⸢GENNA⸣ [...] | |
| 4' | [...] ina IR₂ MAR ina ZALAG₂ KUR GIN{me} x [...] 4 U₂ KA+ŠID ina AN.KU₁₀ NAM.UŠ₂{me} u šib-ṭi ina [KUR MAH] | |
| 5' | [... kal] U₄ DIR AN ZA GE₆ 15 6 GE₆ ⸢DIR⸣ [... sin SIG MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-SAG-HUN] 3 2/3 KUŠ₃ sin he-pi₂ ana NIM DIB MUL₂ GAL ⸢ša₂⸣ [...] | |
| 6' | [x x] ⸢AN⸣ ŠUR UD.DA-su ina KI IGI ŠU₂.ŠU₂ GIR₂ ⸢GIR₂⸣ [... GE₆ 17 ...] ⸢x⸣ he-pi₂ AN DUL ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ [is-le₁₀ N N ...] | |
| 7' | ⸢DIR⸣ AN ZA GE₆ 18 IZI.ŠUB ina KI ku-mar [u] ⸢ina⸣ KI tu-ba a-na tar-ṣi E₂ {d}AG GAL₂ [...] | |
| 8' | [x] ⸢UR⸣.KU IZI KU₂ GE₆ 19 USAN IZI.⸢ŠUB⸣ [...] ⸢ina⸣ ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ MAŠ.MAŠ-ša₂-SIPA 20 SI dele-bat e [GIR₃-ar₂-ša₂-A N N] | |
| 9' | [dele-bat N] SI ana NIM DIB GE₆ 20 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG MAŠ.MAŠ-⸢ar₂⸣ [N] ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ sin 2/3 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL 21 LAL₂-tim NU PAP ⸢GE₆⸣ 22 ina ZALAG₂] | |
| 10' | [sin SIG] ⸢SAG⸣-UR.A 6 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM DIB GE₆ 23 [ina ZALAG₂ sin] ⸢ar₂⸣ LUGAL 1 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 24 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 25 ⸢DIR⸣ [AN ...] | |
| 11' | [x x] AN kab-bar DUL 25 ina še-ri₃ DIR AN ZA GE₆ 26 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG DELE-ša₂-IGI-ABSIN N N sin] 2/3 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL ar₂ dele-bat 1 KUŠ₃ 8 SI ana NIM GUB [...] | |
| 12' | GE₆ 29 AN.KU₁₀ šamaš₂ ša₂ DIB in 1 GE₆ GIN GE₆ 30 ina ⸢ZALAG₂⸣ [...] ⸢x⸣ GUR ka-si 3(GUR) GUR ina TIL ITU 4 [...] | |
| 13' | ŠE.GIŠ 1 PI SIG₂{hi.a} 5 ma i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR ina GIR₂.TAB dele-[bat ina A ina TIL ITU ina ABSIN GENNA ina zib{me} GU₄.UD u AN ša₂ ŠU₂-u₂] ⸢NU⸣ IGI{meš} ITU BI ⸢ILLU⸣ [...] | |
| 14' | ITU BI U₄ 11.KAM₂ hat-tu₄ ina ma-dak₃-tu₄ ina qud-me LUGAL GAR-⸢ma⸣ [...] | |
| 15' | ana tar-ṣi LUGAL ŠUB-u₂ <U₄> 24.KAM₂ ina še-ri₃ LUGAL ŠU₂ za-qip-⸢tu₄⸣ [...] | |
| 16' | GABA a-ha-meš im-ha-ṣu-ma IGI.IGI {lu₂}ERIN₂{meš} kab-⸢tu₄⸣ [...] | |
| 17' | LUGAL ERIN₂{meš}šu₂ u₂-maš-šir₃-u₂-ši-ma ana URU{meš}šu₂-nu [...] | |
| 18' | [ana] ⸢mat⸣ gu-ti-i ZAH₂-it-uʾ [...] | |
| 19' | [DU₆ 1 13.30+[x] na GE₆ 2 sin e ⸢MUL₂⸣.[BABBAR ...] | |
| 20' | [... GE₆] 7 ⸢SAG⸣ [GE₆ ...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [x x] x [...] | |
| 2' | [a]-na 1 GIN₂ ⸢KU₃⸣.[BABBAR ...] | |
| 3' | ⸢ITU⸣ BI TA 1 ⸢EN⸣ [...] | |
| 4' | ana E{ki} GIN-ku um-ma ⸢E₂.SAG.IL₂⸣ [...] | |
| 5' | u DUMU{meš} E{ki} a-na NIG₂.GA E₂.SAG.IL₂ [...] | |
| 6' | ⸢U₄⸣ 11.KAM₂ ina {uru}UD.KIB.NUN{ki} ṭe₃-e-mu ša₂ {m}a-⸢lik⸣-[sa-an-dar-ri-is ...] | |
| 7' | [x x] a-na E₂{meš}ku-nu ul er-ru-ub U₄ 13.⸢KAM₂⸣ [...] | |
| 8' | [KA₂].⸢SIKIL⸣.LA KA₂ ka-mi-i ša₂ E₂.SAG.GIL₂ u₃ ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 9' | [x x x] U₄ 14.KAM₂ {lu₂}ia-ma-na-a-a MU-tim GU₄ [...] | |
| 10' | LUGUD.DA{meš} {uzu}ME.HE₂{⸢meš⸣} [...] | |
| 11' | [x x x] a-lik-sa-an-dar-ri-is LUGAL ŠU₂ ana E{ki} ⸢KU₄⸣ [...] | |
| 12' | [x ANŠE].⸢KUR⸣.RA{meš} u₃ u₂-⸢nu-ut⸣ [...] | |
| 13' | [x x x] u DUMU{meš} E{ki} u UN{⸢meš⸣} [...] | |
| 14' | [...] ⸢x⸣ ši-piš-tu₂ ana [...] | |
| 15' | [...] ⸢um-ma⸣ [...] | |
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.