AD -181 (X201810)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -181 |
|---|---|
| ID | X201810 |
| Museum no. | BM 40095 + 55572 |
| 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 [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | Night of the 4th, the moon was 2 cubits below γ Virginis. Night of the 5th, the moon was [...] above α [Virginis ...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | the west wind blew. Night of the 7th, the moon was 2 1/2 cubits below β Librae, the moon having passed a little to the east. [Night of the 8th,] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | the moon was 4 fingers above β Scorpii, the moon having passed 1/2 cubit to the east. Night of the 9th, the m[oon was] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | 1 1/2 cubits [in front of] ϑ Ophiuchi. Night of the 12th, the moon was 1 cubit in front of β Capricorni. [Night of the 13th,] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | the moon was 2 1/2 cubits in front of γ Capricorni, the moon being 2 1/2 cubits high to the north; [last part of the night,] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | Venus was 1/2 cubit above δ Cancri. The 13th, moonset to sunrise: 3°; the west wind blew. Night of the 1[4th,] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | first part of the night, the moon was 3 cubits behind δ Capricorni, the moon being 2 1/2 cubits [high] to the north. |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | The 14th, sunrise to moonset: 12°, measured; the west wind blew. [...] ... last part of the night, the moon was in front of ... [...] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | The 15th, the west wind blew ... [...] cubits, the moon being [...] |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | back to the west. The 17th?, ... [... Night of the 19th, ...] ... [the moon stood] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | 1 cubit 6 fingers [behind] Saturn to the east. [Night of the 20th, last part of the night, the moon was ... below η Tauri, the moon] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | having passed 1/2 cubit to the east. The 20th, the west wind blew. Ni[ght of the 21st, last part of the night, the moon was ... above α Tauri, the moon] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | having passed 1/2 cubit to the east. The 21st, the west wind blew. Ni[ght of the 22nd, ...] |
| Obverse [14:15] o 15'15'–o 15'15' | Night of the 23rd, last part of the night, the moon was [...] in front of γ Geminorum. [Night of the 24th, last part of the night, the moon was] 6? cubits [below α Geminorum,] |
| Obverse [15:17] o 16'16'– | the moon being 1/2 cubit back to the west. The 24th, the west wind [blew. Night of the 25th, last part of the night, the moon was] |
| Bottom [0:1] b.e. 1b.e. 1–b.e. 1b.e. 1 | 2 cubits [behind] β ? Geminorum, the moon being 5 cubits low to the south, [...] behind J[upiter,] |
| Bottom [1:3] b.e. 22– | the moon being 2 cubits low to the south. The 25th, the west wind blew. The 26th, the west wind blew. [Night of the 27th,] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | last part of the night, the moon was 2 cubits below Venus, the moon being 1/2 cubit back to the west. The 27th, ... [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | That month, the equivalent was: barley, 1 kurru 1 pānu 4 sūtu; dates, 2 kurru 3? pānu [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | new, 2 kurru 1 pānu 1 sūtu 3 qa; cress, [...;] sesame, 2 sūtu 4 1/2 [qa; wool,] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | [x]+2 1/2 minas(!) were sold for 1 shekel of silver. At that time, Jupi[ter was in Gemini;] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 55–r 55 | the 15th?, Jupiter reached Cancer; Venus, in the beginning of the ??? was in Gemini; the 3rd, Venus [reached] Cancer; |
| Reverse [5:6] r 66–r 66 | the 27th, Venus [...] Mercury was in Leo; the 26th?, Mercury reached Virgo; [Saturn] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | was in Aries; Mars was in Libra. That month, the 7th day, rumour of Laodike, |
| Reverse [7:8] r 88–r 88 | the wife of king Seleucus, came to king Seleucus ... [...] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 99–r 99 | to Seleucia on the Tigris |
| Reverse [9:10] r 1010–r 1010 | and on the royal canal. Mourning and lamentation were held in it. |
| Reverse [10:11] r 1111–r 1111 | The 9th day, the rumour was heard in Babylon |
| Reverse [11:12] r 1212–r 1212 | as follows: Fate has carried off the queen, and the people of the land ... |
| Reverse [12:13] r 1313–r 1313 | and the assembly of Esangil which not ... |
| Left [0:1] l.e. 1l.e. 1–l.e. 1l.e. 1 | That month, the river level from the 1st to the end of the month receded 5/6 cubit; |
| Left [1:2] l.e. 22–l.e. 22 | 35 was the na na-gauge. ($intrusion from upper edge, itself not preserved$) [...] last part of the night, Venus was 4 cubits below ε Leonis. |
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' | GE₆ 4 sin SIG DELE 2 KUŠ₃ ⸢GE₆ 5 sin e SA₄⸣-[ša₂-ABSIN N N ...] | |
| 3' | MAR GIN GE₆ 7 sin SIG RIN₂-ša₂-SI 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin i-ṣa ana ⸢NIM DIB⸣ [GE₆ 8 | |
| 4' | sin e MUL₂-e-ša₂-SAG-GIR₂.TAB 4 SI sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM DIB GE₆ 9 ⸢sin⸣ [ina IGI] | |
| 5' | MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-KIR₄-šil-PA 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 12 sin ina IGI SI-MAŠ₂ 1 ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ [GE₆ 13 | |
| 6' | sin ina IGI MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SUHUR-MAŠ₂ 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana SI NIM [ina ZALAG₂] | |
| 7' | dele-bat e MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-ALLA-ša₂-ULU₃ 1/2 KUŠ₃ 13 3 ŠU₂ MAR GIN GE₆ 14 | |
| 8' | USAN sin ar₂ MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-SUHUR-MAŠ₂ 3 KUŠ₃ sin 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana SI [NIM] | |
| 9' | 14 12 na muš MAR GIN [x x x x] x ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI [x x] | |
| 10' | 15 ⸢MAR GIN x x x⸣ [...] KUŠ₃ sin [N N] | |
| 11' | ana ŠU₂ LAL 17 ⸢x x⸣ [... GE₆ 19 ...] ⸢x sin⸣ [ar₂] | |
| 12' | GENNA 1 KUŠ₃ 6 SI ana ⸢NIM⸣ [GUB GE₆ 20 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG MUL₂.MUL₂ N N sin] | |
| 13' | 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM DIB 20 MAR GIN ⸢GE₆⸣ 21 ina ZALAG₂ sin e is-le₁₀ N N sin] | |
| 14' | 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM DIB 21 MAR GIN ⸢GE₆⸣ 22 ...] | |
| 15' | GE₆ 23 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI MAŠ.MAŠ-ša₂-SIPA [N N GE₆ 24 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG MAŠ.MAŠ-IGI] | |
| 16' | 6 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL 24 MAR [GIN GE₆ 25 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂] | |
| b.e. | ||
| 1 | [MAŠ].⸢MAŠ-ar₂⸣ 2 KUŠ₃ sin 5 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG ⸢ar₂ MUL₂⸣.[BABBAR N N] | |
| 2 | ⸢sin⸣ 2 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG 25 MAR GIN 26 MAR GIN [GE₆ 27 | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG dele-bat 2 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL 27 ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 2 | ITU BI KI.LAM še-im 1(GUR) GUR 1(BARIG) 4(BAN₂) ZU₂ 2(GUR) GUR 3(BARIG) [x x] | |
| 3 | GIBIL 2(GUR) GUR 1(BARIG) 1(BAN₂) 3 qa sah-le₁₀ [x] ⸢ŠE⸣.GIŠ.I₃ 2(BAN₂) 4 1/2 [qa SIG₂{hi.a]} | |
| 4 | [x]+2 1/2 KUŠ₃ a-na 1 GIN₂ KU₃.BABBAR ep-šu₂ i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.⸢BABBAR⸣ [ina MAŠ.MAŠ] | |
| 5 | 15 MUL₂.BABBAR ALLA KUR-ad₂ dele-bat ina SAG ITU ina MAŠ.MAŠ 3 dele-bat ⸢ALLA⸣ [KUR-ad₂] | |
| 6 | 27 dele-bat [x x x] ⸢GU₄⸣.UD ina A 26 GU₄.UD ABSIN KUR-⸢ad₂⸣ [GENNA] | |
| 7 | ina HUN AN ina RIN₂ ⸢ITU BI U₄ 7 na-aš₂⸣-mu ša₂ {f}lu-di-⸢qe₂⸣-[e] | |
| 8 | DAM {m}se-lu-ku LUGAL a-na {m}se-lu-ku LUGAL {lu₂}⸢DAM⸣-[šu₂] | |
| 9 | a-na {uru}se-lu-ke-ʾa-a ša₂ ana muh-hi {id₂}[IDIGNA] | |
| 10 | u ID₂ LUGAL GIN-ku si-ip-du u bi-ki-tu₄ ina lib₃-bi | |
| 11 | il-tak-nu-u₂ U₄ 9.KAM₂ na-aš₂-mu-u₂ ina E{ki} it-⸢te⸣-[eš-me] | |
| 12 | um-ma NIN šim-tu₄ ub-til u {lu₂}UN{meš} KUR [gab-bi] | |
| 13 | u UKKIN ša₂ E₂.SAG.GIL₂ ša₂ la [x x x] | |
| 14 | ⸢x x x x x⸣ [...] | |
| l.e. | ||
| 1 | ITU BI ILLU TA 1 EN TIL ITU 5/6 KUŠ₃ LAL | |
| 2 | 35 na [...] ina ZALAG₂ dele-bat SIG SAG-A 4 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.