AD -170J (X201709)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -170J |
|---|---|
| ID | X201709 |
| Museum no. | BM 40092 |
| 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/adart2 · 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' | [...] the moon was 1 ⸢x⸣ in front of α Librae [...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [... Night of the 26th, last part of the night,] the moon was 2 1/2 cubits behind α Scorpii. The 26th, [moonrise to sunrise:] 21°? [...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [...] 4 sūtu; sesame, 1 pānu 1 sūtu; wool, 4 1/2 mi[nas ...] |
| Obverse [3:5] o 4'4'–o 5'5' | [...] Sat[urn was in Vir]go; Mars, which had set, was not visible. That month, the river level rose 4 fingers [...] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [Month IX, (the 1st of which was identical with) the 30th (of the preceding month),] sunset to moonset: [x]+7° 40'; clouds, I did not watch; clouds were in the sky. Night of the 1st, clouds were in the sky, rain shower, all [night ...] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [...] crossed?. Night of the 3rd, beginning of the night, the moon was 4 fingers below δ Capricorni, the moon being 1/2 cubit back to the west [...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [... in the m]orning, heavy fog; all day clouds were in the sky. Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the moon was 1+[x cubits] behind η Tauri [...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [... Night of the 12th, beginn]ing of the night, the moon was 1 cubit in front of η Geminorum, it stood 1 cubit behind Jupiter to the westsic [...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [...] sunrise to moonset: [x]+50'; clouds, I did not watch; very ???. Night of the 14th, moonrise to sunset: 2°; clouds, I did not watch; last part of the night, the moon was in front of [...] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | [... Night of the 15th, last part of the night, the moon was] 2 cubits [... ε Leo]nis, the moon having passed a little to the east. Night of the 16th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 cubit behind α Leonis [...] |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | [... x]+1 cubits. Night of the 19th, clouds were in the sky; last part of the night, the moon was 1 cu[bit] below γ Virginis [...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | [... Night of the 21st,] last part of the night, the moon was 5 cubits in front of α Librae. The 21st, in the afternoon, clouds [...] the sky [...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | [... Ni]ght of the 23rd, clouds were in the sky; last part of the night, the moon was [...] in front of π Sc[orpii ...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | [... Ni]ght of the 25th, all night clouds crossed the sky. The 25th, all [day ...] |
| Obverse [14:15] o 15'15'–o 15'15' | [... The 27th, Siri]us’ acronychal rising [...] |
| Obverse [15:16] o 16'16'–o 16'16' | [... That mon]th, the equivalent was: bar[ley, ...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | [...] south, Jupiter to ... [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | [...] became stationary in Virgo; Mars was in Capricorn [...] |
| Reverse [3:5] r 4'4'–r 5'5' | [...] receded 4 fingers, total: 32 was the na na-gauge; the 29th, [...] 4 fingers [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [Month XI, (the 1st of which was identical with) the 30th (of the preceding month), ...] measured (despite) clouds; clouds were in the sky. The 1st, clouds crossed the sky. Night of the 2nd, clouds crossed the sky [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | [... Night of the 5th, the moon was x]+1 cubits [... η Tauri,] it was set toward its inside. The 5th, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 6th, clouds were in the sky; beginning of the night, [...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | [...] ... rain shower. The 7th, in the morning, clouds crossed the sky; all day clouds were in the sky. Night of the 8th, beginning of the night, [...] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | [...] 1 1/2 cubits [...] γ Capricorni; last part of the night, Mars was 2 fingers above δ Capricorni. Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the moon was in fr[ont of ...] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | [... Night of the 11th, beginning of the night, the moon was x]+1 cubits [... ε Leonis,] the moon being 3 cubits low to the south; clouds ??? the sky. The 11th, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 12th, beginning of the night, the moo[n ...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | [...] ... crossed?. The 13th, moonset to sunrise: 2° 40'; clouds, I did not watch. The 13th, lunar eclipse which was omitted; at 31°? before sun[set ...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | [...] The 14th, sunrise to moonset: 6°, measured; clouds were in the sky. Night of the 15th, [sunset to moonrise:] 13+[x° ...] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | [... Night of the 16th, last part of the night, the m]oon was 1 cubit behind α Virginis, the moon being 1/2 cubit to [...] |
| Reverse [12:13] r 13'13'–r 13'13' | [...] the moon having passed to the east; last part of the night, ... [...] |
| Reverse [13:14] r 14'14'–r 14'14' | [...] 3? cubits? [...] |
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' | [...] ⸢sin⸣ ina IGI RIN₂-ša₂-ULU₃ 1 x⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [... GE₆ 26 ina ZALAG₂] sin ar₂ SI₄ 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ 26 21 [...] | |
| 3' | [...] 4(BAN₂) ŠE.GIŠ.I₃ 1(BARIG) 1(BAN₂) SIG₂{hi.a} 4 1/2 ⸢MA⸣.[NA ...] | |
| 4' | [...] ⸢GENNA⸣ [ina] ⸢ABSIN⸣ AN ša₂ ŠU₂-u₂ NU IGI ITU BI ILLU 4 SI ⸢GIN⸣ [...] | |
| 5' | [GAN 30 x]+7.40 na-su DIR NU PAP DIR AN ZA GE₆ 1 DIR AN ZA AN UTAH kal [GE₆ ...] | |
| 6' | [...] DIB GE₆ 3 SAG GE₆ sin SIG SUHUR-ar₂ 4 SI sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL [...] | |
| 7' | [... ina] ⸢še⸣-ri₃ IM.DUGUD KALAG kal ME DIR AN ZA GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ MUL₂.MUL₂ 1+[x ...] | |
| 8' | [... GE₆ 12 ⸢SAG⸣ GE₆ sin ina IGI MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-še-pit₂-MAŠ.MAŠ 1 KUŠ₃ ar₂ MUL₂.BABBAR 1 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ GUB [...] | |
| 9' | [... x]+50 na DIR NU PAP ŠU₂.ŠU₂ GE₆ 14 2 ME DIR NU PAP ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI MUL₂ [...] | |
| 10' | [... GE₆ 15 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG SAG]-⸢A 2 KUŠ₃ sin i-ṣa ana NIM DIB GE₆ 16 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ LUGAL 1 KUŠ₃ [...] | |
| 11' | [... x]+1 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 19 DIR AN ZA ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG DELE-ša₂-IGI-ABSIN 1 ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ [...] | |
| 12' | [... GE₆ 21 ina] ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI RIN₂-ša₂-ULU₃ 5 KUŠ₃ 21 ina KIN.SIG ⸢DIR AN⸣ [...] | |
| 13' | [...] ⸢GE₆⸣ 23 DIR AN ZA ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI MUL₂-SIG-⸢ša₂⸣-[SAG-GIR₂.TAB N N ...] | |
| 14' | [...] ⸢GE₆⸣ 25 kal GE₆ DIR AN DIB 25 ⸢kal⸣ [ME ...] | |
| 15' | [... 27 KAK].⸢BAN⸣ ana ME E-a [...] | |
| 16' | [... ITU] ⸢BI⸣ KI.LAM ⸢ŠE⸣ [...] | |
| 17' | [...] [x x] [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [...] [x] [...] | |
| 2' | [...] ULU₃ MUL₂.BABBAR ana ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 3' | [...] ina ABSIN UŠ AN ina MAŠ₂ [...] | |
| 4' | [...] 4 SI LAL PAP 32 na 29 4 SI [...] | |
| 5' | [ZIZ₂ 30 ...] ⸢DIR⸣ muš DIR AN ZA 1 DIR AN DIB GE₆ 2 DIR AN DIB [...] | |
| 6' | [... GE₆ 5 SAG GE₆ sin ina IGI MUL₂.MUL₂ x]+1 KUŠ₃ ana ŠA₃-šu₂ GIN 5 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 6 DIR AN ZA SAG GE₆ [...] | |
| 7' | [...] ⸢x⸣ AN UTAH 7 ina še-ri₃ DIR AN DIB kal ME DIR AN ZA GE₆ 8 SAG ⸢GE₆⸣ [...] | |
| 8' | [...] SUHUR-IGI 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ina ZALAG₂ AN e SUHUR-ar₂ 2 SI GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆ sin ina ⸢IGI⸣ [...] | |
| 9' | [... GE₆ 11 SAG GE₆ sin x SAG-A x]+1 KUŠ₃ sin 3 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG DIR AN ZA 11 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 12 SAG GE₆ ⸢sin⸣ [...] | |
| 10' | [...] ⸢x DIB⸣ 13 2.40 ŠU₂ DIR NU PAP 13 AN.KU₁₀ sin ša₂ DIB in 31 ⸢ME ana ŠU₂⸣ [šamaš₂ ...] | |
| 11' | [...] 14 6 na muš DIR AN ZA GE₆ 15 13+[x GE₆ ...] | |
| 12' | [... GE₆ 16 ina ZALAG₂] ⸢sin⸣ ar₂ SA₄ 1 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana [...] | |
| 13' | [...] sin ana NIM DIB ina ZALAG₂ ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 14' | [...] 3 KUŠ₃⸣ [...] | |
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.