AD -183A (X201831)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -183A |
|---|---|
| ID | X201831 |
| Museum no. | BM 35343 + 41008 |
| 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 1o 1–o 1o 1 | Year 128, king Seleucus, month II, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), sunset to moonset: 19°, it was bright; [measured?] (despite) clou[ds;] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 22–o 22 | it stood 3? 1/2 cubits in front of Venus to the west, the moon being 1 1/2 cubits low to the south; it stood 3 1/2 cubits in front of Mercury to the west, [the moon being] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 33–o 33 | [nn] cubits low to the south; first part of the night, Mercury was 1/2 cubit above Venus; first part of the night, Mercury was [...] above μ Geminorum; |
| Obverse [3:4] o 44–o 44 | [...] blew. The 1st, thin clouds were in the sky, the north wind blew. Night of the 2nd, very overcast, the north wind blew. The 2nd, in the morning, very overcast, rain sho[wer.] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 55–o 55 | [...] clouds were in the sky. Night of the 3rd, the moon was 4 cubits below β Geminorum; first part of the night, Mercury was [...] above γ Geminorum. |
| Obverse [5:6] o 66–o 66 | [... cl]ouds were in the sky. The 3rd, all day very overcast. Night of the 4th, the moon was 1 cubit below δ Cancri, the moon being 1/2 [cubit] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 77–o 77 | [...] The 4th, very overcast. Night of the 5th, clouds were in the sky; ??? beginning of the night, the moon was 6 1/2 cubits below ε Leonis, the moon having passed a little to the east. |
| Obverse [7:8] o 88–o 88 | [...] ... very overcast, all day clouds were in the sky. Night of the 6th, the moon was 2 cubits behind α Leonis, the moon being 2 cubits low to the south. |
| Obverse [8:9] o 99–o 99 | [...] overcast, all day clouds were in the sky. Night of the 7th, beginning of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits behind ϑ Leonis, the moon being ⸢x x⸣ low to the south. |
| Obverse [9:10] o 1010–o 1010 | [...] were in the sky. Night of the 8th, clouds were in the sky; the moon was 3 cubits behind β Virginis, the moon being 1 1/2 cubits [low] to the south. |
| Obverse [10:11] o 1111–o 1111 | [...] The 8th, Sirius’ last appearance; all day very overcast; around noon, rain shower. Night of the 9th, clouds were in the sky; the m[oon ...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 1212–o 1212 | [the moon being ...] low to the south. The 9th, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 10th, clouds were in the sky; the moon was surrounded by a halo [...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 1313–o 1313 | [...] all night very overcast. The 11th, in the morning, [...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 1414–o 1414 | [...] ... cloudburst, P[ISAN ...] |
| Obverse [14:16] o 1515– | [... first] part of the night, the moon [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | [...] ... 3 pānu 4 sūtu; dates, ... [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | [...] ... wool, 4 minas [were sold] for [1 shekel] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | [of silver ...] ... around the 13th, Venus’ last appearance in Gemini; I did not watch; Mercury was in Ge[mini ...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [... Saturn] was in Pisces; Mars was in Leo; the 30th, Venus’ first appearance in the east in the beginning of Gemini; |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | [...] rising of Venus to sunrise: [nn°]; (ideal) first appearance on the 25th. That month, the river level on the 1st (and) the 2nd receded 4 fingers [...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | [...] it receded ⸢x⸣ fingers, total: 16 was the na na-gauge. That month, one man from ... |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | [...] 5? heads from month I to Babylon |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | [...] set up a clamor? [...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | [...] ... of silver of the heads one single? man half a shekel [...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | [...] left, not ... That [mo]nth, I heard as follows: |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | [the co]mmander of Susa, the ... the enemy ... |
| Reverse [12:13] r 13'13'–r 13'13' | marched victoriously ... next? to him. |
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 | MU 1 ME 28.KAM₂ {m}se-lu-ku LUGAL {itu}GU₄ 1 19 na-su KUR₄ ⸢DIR⸣ [muš] | |
| 2 | ina IGI dele-bat 3 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ GUB sin 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG ina IGI GU₄.UD 3 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ ⸢GUB⸣ [sin] | |
| 3 | [N] KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG USAN ⸢GU₄.UD e⸣ dele-bat 1/2 KUŠ₃ USAN GU₄.UD e MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-še-pit₂-[MAŠ.MAŠ N N] | |
| 4 | [x] GIN 1 DIR SAL AN ZA SI GIN GE₆ 2 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ SI GIN 2 ina še-ri₃ ŠU₂.ŠU₂ AN ⸢UTAH⸣ | |
| 5 | [x x] DIR AN ZA GE₆ 3 sin SIG MAŠ.MAŠ-ar₂ 4 KUŠ₃ USAN GU₄.UD e MAŠ.MAŠ-ša₂-⸢SIPA⸣ [N N] | |
| 6 | [x x] ⸢DIR⸣ AN ZA 3 kal ME ŠU₂.ŠU₂ GE₆ 4 sin SIG MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-ALLA-ša₂-ULU₃ 1 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 [KUŠ₃] | |
| 7 | [ana x x] 4 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ GE₆ 5 DIR AN ZA SAG GE₆ sin SIG SAG-A 6 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin i-ṣa ana NIM DIB | |
| 8 | [x x x] ⸢x⸣ ŠU₂.ŠU₂ kal ME DIR AN ZA GE₆ 6 sin ar₂ LUGAL 2 KUŠ₃ sin 2 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG | |
| 9 | [x x x] ŠU₂ kal ME DIR AN ZA GE₆ 7 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ GIŠ.KUN-A 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ⸢sin x⸣ [x ana] ULU₃ SIG | |
| 10 | [x x x] AN ZA GE₆ 8 DIR AN ZA sin ar₂ GIR₃ ar₂ 3 KUŠ₃ sin 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ⸢ULU₃⸣ [SIG] | |
| 11 | [x x x] 8 KAK.BAN ŠU₂ kal ME ŠU₂.ŠU₂ AN.BAR₇ AN UTAH GE₆ 9 DIR AN ZA ⸢sin⸣ [...] | |
| 12 | [sin N N] ⸢ana ULU₃ SIG⸣ 9 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 10 DIR AN ZA sin TUR₃ NIGIN [...] | |
| 13 | [...] kal GE₆ ŠU₂.ŠU₂ 11 ina še-ri₃ [...] | |
| 14 | [...] ⸢x⸣ x AN rad ⸢PISAN⸣ [...] | |
| 15 | [...] ⸢USAN⸣ sin [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [...] ⸢x x⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [...] ⸢x⸣ 3(BARIG) 4(BAN₂) ZU₂ ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 3' | [...] ⸢x⸣ SIG₂{hi.a} 4 MA.NA a-⸢na⸣ 1 GIN₂] | |
| 4' | [...] ⸢x⸣ in 13 dele-bat ina MAŠ.MAŠ ŠU₂ NU PAP GU₄.UD ina ⸢MAŠ⸣.[MAŠ ...] | |
| 5' | [... GENNA] ina zib{me} AN ina A 30 dele-bat ina NIM ina SAG MAŠ.MAŠ IGI | |
| 6' | [... N] ⸢na⸣-su ⸢in⸣ 25 IGI ITU BI ILLU 1 2 4 SI LAL [x] | |
| 7' | [...] ⸢x⸣ SI LAL PAP 16 na ITU BI 1-en {lu₂}ia-a-⸢man-na⸣-a-a | |
| 8' | [... KU₃.BABBAR] ⸢ša₂⸣ SAG.DU{meš} TA {itu}BAR ana E{ki} | |
| 9' | [...] x ri-ig-im-mu il-ta-[kan] | |
| 10' | [...] ⸢x⸣ ša₂ KU₃.BABBAR ša₂ ⸢SAG.DU⸣{meš} 1 e-du LU₂ 1/2 GIN₂ [x] | |
| 11' | [...] gab-bi ul uš IŠ [x] ⸢ITU⸣ BI al-te-me um-ma | |
| 12' | {[lu₂}GAL].ERIN₂{meš} ša₂ {uru}su-ša₂-an {lu₂}E-[lam]-mu-u₂ {lu₂}KUR₂ uk x [x] | |
| 13' | [x] ⸢x⸣-šu₂ ana ta-hu-šu₂ šal-ṭa-niš GIN{⸢meš⸣} | |
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.