AD -384 (X103840)
Astronomical Diary, Achaemenid, Babylon · c. 539 BCE–330 BCE
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| Designation | AD -384 |
|---|---|
| ID | X103840 |
| Museum no. | BM 34634 |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Achaemenid · c. 539 BCE–330 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' | [...] ..., rain, a little PISAN DIB [...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [Night of the 3rd, the moon was] 1 1/2 cubits [... of γ Capri]corni; lightning flashed in the east. The 3rd, clouds [...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [...] tornado. Night of the 7th (and) the 7th, fog crossed the sky; the sun [set?] in mist [...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [...] before [sun]rise, a rainbow stretched in northwest direction [...] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 3 2/3 cubits below η Tauri, the moon being a little back to the west. The 10th, Mercury’s [first appearance] in the east in Sagittarius [...] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [Night of the 11th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 8 fingers [above] α Tauri, it stood 1 cubit behind Jupiter to the east; last part of the night, D[UL ...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [... rain, but the san]dal was not removed. Night of the 13th, lightning, wailing thunder, cloudburst, much PISAN [DIB ...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [...] Night of the 15th, sunset to moonrise: 11° 30'; last part of the night, the moon was 1/2 cubit behind the rear stars of Cancer. Night of the 17th, last part [of the night ...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [Night of the 19th, last part of the night, the moon was] 1/2 cubit [...] the foot of the Lion. The 19th, tornados kept falling down; clouds were in the sky; the sun set in a “box”. Night [...] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | [Night of the 21st, last part of the night, the moon was] 1 cubit [...] α Virginis. The 21st, in the morning, rain shower, gusty wind. Night of the 22nd, lightning, strong thunder, cloudburst [...] |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | [...] The 23rd, rain PISAN DIB. Night of the 24th, first part of the night, rain PISAN DIB; last part of the night, the moon was in front? of the head of the Scorpion [...] |
| Obverse [11:13] o 12'12'– | [...] The 25th, ...; middle part of the day, strong gusty east? wind [...] |
| Bottom [0:2] b.e. 1b.e. 1– | Diary from month VII to the end of month XII2 of year 20 of Ar[ses] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | [...] in the afternoon, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 28th, dew; a small “fall of fire” in front of [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | [... Saturn] was 6 fingers above ζ Tauri. That month, the equivalent (for 1 shekel of silver) was: barley, 4 sūtu 3 qa, at the end of the month, 5 sūtu; dates, 1 pānu 3 sūtu 3 qa; mustard, [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | [...; wool, nn mi]nas. At that time, Jupiter was in Taurus; Venus was in Capricorn, at the end of the month in Aquarius; Saturn was in the Chariot; Mercury was in Sagittarius; Mars was in Aquarius. [That] month, [...] |
| Reverse [3:5] r 44–r 55 | [...] until the end of the month, the river level rose 20 fingers. (The sections for) months VIII and IX were not checked. |
| Reverse [4:6] r 55–r 66 | [Month X, ... sunset] to moonset?: [nn°; the moon] became visible while the sun stood there; earthshine. The 1st, Sirius’ acronychal rising. |
| Reverse [5:7] r 66–r 77 | Months X and XI were not written on the writing-board. |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | [Month XII, ...] sunset to moonset: [nn°]; dense clouds so that I did not see the moon. Night of the 1st, first part of the night, rain, much PISAN DIB; strong gusty south wind; lightning flashed all night; [...] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 88–r 88 | [Night of the 2nd, ...] ... flashed in the middle of the sky from south to north. The 2nd, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 3rd, beginning of the night, the moon was below η Tauri [...] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 99–r 99 | [Night of the 4th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 2 cubits 8 fingers [behind] α Tauri. Night of the 5th, beginning of the night, the moon was 14 fingers behind ζ Tauri, behind Saturn [...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 1010–r 1010 | [...] Mercury was 2 cubits 4 fingers below β Arietis, Mercury being 8 fingers back to the west; cl[ouds ...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 1111–r 1111 | [...] ... cubits. Night of the 9th, beginning of the night, the moon was in front of [ε Leonis ...] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 1212–r 1212 | [...] first part of the night? [...] |
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 AN PISAN i⸣ DIB ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [GE₆ 3 SAG GE₆ sin x MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SUHUR]-⸢MAŠ₂⸣ 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ GIR₂ ina KUR GIR₂ 3 DIR AN [...] | |
| 3' | [...] ⸢U₂⸣.LAL GE₆ 7 7 IM.DUGUD AN DIB ⸢šamaš₂⸣ ina ⸢a-kam₂⸣ [...] | |
| 4' | [...] la-am KUR-ha TIR.AN A₂ SI u MAR GIB [...] | |
| 5' | [GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆ sin] ⸢SIG MUL₂⸣.MUL₂ 3 2/3 KUŠ₃ i sin ana ŠU₂ LAL 10 GU₄.UD ina NIM ina PA.⸢BIL⸣.[SAG IGI ...] | |
| 6' | [GE₆ 11 SAG GE₆ sin e] ⸢SA₄⸣-ša₂-GU₄.AN 8 SI ar₂ MUL₂.BABBAR 1 KUŠ₃ ana NIM GUB U₄.ZAL AN ⸢DUL⸣ [...] | |
| 7' | [... AN še]-ni NU TUH GE₆ 13 GIR₂ GU₃ U ṣar-hi AN ra-a-du PISAN MAH ⸢DIB⸣ [...] | |
| 8' | [...] GE₆ 15 11.30 GE₆ ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ MUL₂{me} ar₂{me} ša₂ ALLA 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 17 ina ⸢ZALAG₂⸣ [...] | |
| 9' | [GE₆ 19 ina ZALAG₂ sin x] GIR₃ ša₂ UR.<A> 1/2 KUŠ₃ 19 U₂.LAL ŠUB.ŠUB-ni DIR AN ZA šamaš₂ ina pit₂-nu ŠU₂ GE₆ [...] | |
| 10' | [GE₆ 21 ina ZALAG₂ sin x SA₄-ša₂]-ABSIN 1 KUŠ₃ 21 ina še-ri₃ UTAH IM ŠAR₂ GE₆ 22 GIR₂ GU₃ U KALAG AN ⸢ra⸣-[a-du ...] | |
| 11' | [...] 23 AN PISAN DIB GE₆ 24 USAN AN PISAN ⸢DIB⸣ ina ZALAG₂ sin ⸢ina⸣ [IGI] ⸢SAG⸣ GIR₂.TAB [...] | |
| 12' | [...] ⸢x AN⸣.BAR₇ ⸢x⸣ KALAG ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| b.e. | ||
| 1 | [EN.NUN ša₂ gi-ne₂]-e ša₂ TA DU₆ EN ⸢TIL DIR⸣.ŠE ša₂ MU 20.KAM₂ {m}⸢ar₂⸣-[šu₂ ...] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [...] ina KIN.SIG DIR AN ZA GE₆ 28 AN na-al-šu₂ IZI.ŠUB i ina IGI [...] | |
| 2 | [... GENNA] e ŠUR-GIGIR-ša₂-ULU₃ 6 SI ITU BI KI.LAM ŠE 4(BAN₂) 3 qa ina TIL ITU 5(BAN₂) ZU₂.LUM 1(BARIG) 3(BAN₂) 3 ⸢qa kas₃⸣ [...] | |
| 3 | [... SIG₂ N] ⸢ma⸣ i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR ina GU₄.AN dele-bat ina MAŠ₂ ina TIL ITU ina GU GENNA ina {giš}GIGIR GU₄.UD ina PA AN ina GU ITU [BI ...] | |
| 4 | [...] EN TIL ITU ILLU 20 SI GIN APIN u GAN NU ba-ar₂ | |
| 5 | [AB N N] ⸢na⸣ ina šamaš₂ GUB IGI AGA a-pir 1 KAK.BAN ana ME E-⸢a⸣ | |
| 6 | AB u ZIZ₂ ina {giš}DA NU SAR{meš} | |
| 7 | [ŠE ... N] na DIR KALAG-ma sin NU IGI GE₆ 1 USAN AN PISAN MAH DIB ULU₃ ŠAR₂ KALAG kal GE₆ GIR₂ GIR₂ x [...] | |
| 8 | [GE₆ 2 ...] ⸢x x⸣ ina MURUB₄ AN-e TA ULU₃ ana SI ŠUR 2 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 3 SAG GE₆ sin SIG MUL₂.[MUL₂ ...] | |
| 9 | [GE₆ 4 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂] ⸢is⸣-le₁₀ 2 KUŠ₃ 8 SI GE₆ 5 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ ŠUR-GIGIR-ša₂-ULU₃ 14 SI ar₂ ⸢GENNA⸣ [...] | |
| 10 | [...] ⸢GU₄⸣.UD SIG MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SAG-LU 2 KUŠ₃ 4 SI GU₄.UD 8 SI ana ŠU₂ LAL ⸢DIR⸣ [...] | |
| 11 | [...] x x x x ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ GE₆ 9 SAG GE₆ sin ina ⸢IGI⸣ [SAG-UR.A ...] | |
| 12 | [...] ⸢USAN⸣ [...] | |
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.