AD -185B (X201852)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
Open in the reader & map →See it among all tablets
| Designation | AD -185B |
|---|---|
| ID | X201852 |
| Museum no. | BM 46051 |
| 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' | [... ar]ound the 30th, Saturn’s first appearance be[low Mars,] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [it stood 2 cubits in fro]nt of Jupiter to the west, 3 1/2 cubits behind Mercury to the east; rising of Saturn to sunrise: 16°; |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | (ideal) first appearance [on the xth]. That month, the equivalent was: barley, 2 pānu 2 sūtu; dates, 4 pānu 3 sūtu; mustard, |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [...] ...; cress, 1 pānu 2 sūtu; sesame, 4 sūtu; wool, 4 minas |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | were sold for 1 shekel of silver. At that time, around the 22nd, Jupiter’s first appearance, it stood 2 cubits behind Saturn |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [to the east;] rising of Jupiter to sunrise: 10°; (ideal) first appearance on the 21st; the 22nd, Saturn’s first appearance in the beginning of Pisces |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [2 cubits in] front of Jupiter to the west; rising of Saturn to sunrise: 14°; (ideal) first appearance on the 21st; Venus |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [...] reached Aquarius; around the 30th, Saturn’s first appearance 1/2 cubit below Mars, it stood 2 cubits |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [in front of Jupiter to] the west, 3 1/2 cubits behind Mercury to the east; rising of Saturn to sunrise: 16°?; |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'r 1'–r 1'r 1' | [...] having passed [...] to the east. Night of the 5th, the m[oon was ...] 8 fingers below? γ Geminorum; |
| Reverse [1:3] r 2'2'–r 3'3' | last part of the night, Mars was 3 fingers in front of Jupiter, 3' [...] The 5th, in the morning, very overcast, rain shower. Night of the 6th, the moon was [...] in front of |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | [α/β Geminorum,] the moon being 3 cubits low to the south. Night of the 7th, the moon was 1 cubit in front of δ |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [Cancri], the moon being 2/3 cubit low to the south. Night of the 8th, the moon was [nn] cubits below |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | [ε Leonis], the moon having passed a little to the east. [Ni]ght of the 9th, the moon was [...] in front of ρ Leonis, |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | [the moon being nn] cubits low to the south. Night of the 10th, the moon was 2 cubits in front of α Leonis (error for: β Virginis). |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | [... Night] of the 11th, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits in front of γ Virginis, the moon being 3 cubits |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | [low to the south. Night of the 12th, the moon was] 1 cubit in front of α Virginis, the moon being 1/2 cubit |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | [to ...] were in the sky, the south wind blew; last part of the night, |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | [...] (the river level) rose 20? fingers, total: 28 was the na na-gauge. |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | [...] ⸢x⸣ was the na na-gauge. |
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' | [...] ⸢in⸣ 30 GENNA ⸢SIG⸣ [AN] | |
| 2' | 2 KUŠ₃ ina] ⸢IGI⸣ MUL₂.BABBAR ana ŠU₂ 3 1/2 ⸢KUŠ₃ ar₂ GU₄.UD⸣ ana NIM GUB IGI 16 na-su | |
| 3' | [in x x] IGI ITU BI KI.LAM še-im 2(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) ZU₂ 4(BARIG) 3(BAN₂) kas₃ | |
| 4' | [x] ⸢x⸣ sah-le₁₀ 1(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) ŠE.GIŠ.I₃ 4(BAN₂) SIG₂{hi.a} 4 MA.NA a-na | |
| 5' | 1 ⸢GIN₂⸣ KU₃.BABBAR ep-šu₂ i-nu-šu₂ in 22 MUL₂.BABBAR 2 KUŠ₃ ar₂ GENNA | |
| 6' | [ana NIM] ⸢GUB⸣ IGI 10 UŠ na-su in 21 IGI 22 GENNA ina SAG zib{me} | |
| 7' | 2 KUŠ₃ ina] IGI MUL₂.BABBAR ana ŠU₂ IGI 14 na-su in 21 IGI dele-bat | |
| 8' | [...] GU KUR-ad₂ in 30 GENNA 1/2 KUŠ₃ SIG AN 2 KUŠ₃ | |
| 9' | [ina IGI MUL₂.BABBAR ana] ⸢ŠU₂⸣ GUB 3 1/2 KUŠ₃⸣ ar₂ GU₄.UD ana NIM IGI 16 na-su | |
| 10' | [...] [x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [...] NIM DIB GE₆ 5 ⸢sin SIG MAŠ.MAŠ-ša₂-SIPA⸣ | |
| 2' | [...] [x] 8 SI ina ZALAG₂ AN ina ⸢IGI⸣ MUL₂.BABBAR 3 SI | |
| 3' | [...] 5 ina še-ri₃ ŠU₂.ŠU₂ AN UTAH GE₆ 6 sin ina IGI | |
| 4' | [MAŠ.MAŠ x N N] sin 3 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG GE₆ 7 sin ina IGI | |
| 5' | MUL₂-ar₂-[ša₂-ALLA-ša₂]-⸢ULU₃⸣ 1 KUŠ₃ sin 2/3 KUŠ₃ ana ⸢ULU₃ SIG⸣ GE₆ 8 sin SIG | |
| 6' | [SAG-A N] KUŠ₃ sin i-ṣa ana NIM ⸢DIB GE₆⸣ 9 sin ina IGI MUL₂-TUR | |
| 7' | [N N sin N] ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ ana ULU₃ SIG GE₆ 10 sin ina IGI LUGAL 2 KUŠ₃ | |
| 8' | [... GE₆] 11 sin ina IGI DELE 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 3 KUŠ₃ | |
| 9' | [ana ULU₃ SIG GE₆ 12 sin ina] IGI SA₄ 1 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ | |
| 10' | [ana x x ...] ⸢AN⸣ ZA ULU₃ GIN ina ZALAG₂ | |
| 11' | [...] 20 SI GIN PAP 28 na | |
| 12' | [...] [x] na | |
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.