AD -186C (X201863)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -186C |
|---|---|
| ID | X201863 |
| Museum no. | BM 31474 |
| 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 125, king Seleucus, month XI, [the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), ...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 22–o 22 | the moon stood 3 cubits behind Venus to the east, the moon being 1 cubit low to the south. [Night of the 4th, the moon was] 2 cubits [in front of β] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 33–o 33 | Arietis, the moon being 1 1/2 cubits low to the south. Night of the 5th, the moon was 2? cubits behind α Arietis, |
| Obverse [3:4] o 44–o 44 | the moon being 2 1/2 cubits low to the south; last part of the night, clouds were in the sky, the south wind blew; all day very overcast, rain DUL; in the afternoon, |
| Obverse [4:5] o 55–o 55 | much thunder, lightning flashed, the south wind blew, rain shower. Night of the 6th (and) the 6th, very overcast, the south wind blew. |
| Obverse [5:6] o 66–o 66 | Night of the 7th, beginning of the night, clouds crossed the sky, all night very overcast, lightning flashed, much thunder, hail fell, |
| Obverse [6:7] o 77–o 77 | rain PISAN DIB, the south wind blew. The 7th, in the morning, very overcast; all day clouds were in the sky, the south wind blew. Night of the 8th, |
| Obverse [7:8] o 88–o 88 | the moon was 2 1/2 cubits above ζ Tauri, the moon being 1/2 cubit back to the west. The 8th, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 9th, the moon was 4 cubits above γ Geminorum, |
| Obverse [8:9] o 99–o 99 | it stood 1 cubit behind Mars to the east; first part of the night, Mars was 1 1/2 cubits above μ Geminorum. The 9th, |
| Obverse [9:10] o 1010–o 1010 | Jupiter’s first appearance in Aquarius; it was bright (and) high, rising of Jupiter to sunrise: 15°; (ideal) first appearance on the 3rd. Night of the 10th, the moon was 1 1/2? cubits behind α Geminorum, |
| Obverse [10:11] o 1111–o 1111 | the moon having passedsic 1 cubit to the east; all night clouds were in the sky. The 10th, clouds crossed the sky, the north wind blew. Night of the 11th, the moon was 1/2 cubit in front of |
| Obverse [11:12] o 1212–o 1212 | δ Cancri, the moon being 1/2 cubit low to the south. Night of the 12th, the moon was 4? cubits below ε Leonis, |
| Obverse [12:13] o 1313–o 1313 | the moon having passed 1/2 cubit to the east; last part of the night, clouds were in the sky. The 12th, all day very overcast; in the afternoon, rain shower. Night of the 13th, |
| Obverse [13:14] o 1414–o 1414 | moonrise to sunset: 10° 40'; clouds, I did not watch; all night very ???. The 13th, moonset to sunrise: 8° 10'; clouds, I did not watch. Night of the 14th, sunset to moonrise: 30'; measured (despite) clouds; |
| Obverse [14:15] o 1515–o 1515 | beginning of the night, the moon was 3 cubits behind ϑ Leonis. The 14th, sunrise to moonset: 3° 40'; measured (despite) clouds; Mercury’s first appearance in the west in [Virgo,] |
| Obverse [15:16] o 1616–o 1616 | it stood 2 1/2 cubits behind Venus to the westsic; it was bright (and) high, sunset to setting of Mercury: 16°; (ideal) first appearance on the 12th. Night [of the 15th,] |
| Obverse [16:17] o 1717–o 1717 | last part of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits behind γ Virginis, the moon being 2 1/2 cubits low to the south; clouds were in the sky. Night of the 1[6th, last part of the] night, the m[oon was ... behind α Virginis,] |
| Obverse [17:18] o 1818–o 1818 | the moon being 1 cubit low to the south. Night of the 17th, last part of the night, the moon was 1+[x ...] in front of α Librae [...] |
| Obverse [18:20] o 1919– | thin clouds were in the sky. Night of the 18th, very overcast, rain shower, the east wind blew ... [...] |
| Bottom [0:1] b.e. 1b.e. 1–b.e. 1b.e. 1 | [...] ... it thundered slowly, rain DUL, all [... Night of the 20th, last part of the night, the moon was] |
| Bottom [1:3] b.e. 22– | 1/2 cubit below ϑ Ophiuchi, the moon being 1/2 cubit back to the west; clouds were in the sky. The 2[0th ...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | Night of the 21st, first part of the night, Mars was 3 1/2 cubits above γ Geminorum; last part of the night, [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | thin clouds were in the sky. The 22nd, thin clouds were in the sky. Night of the 24th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] behind [β Capricorni, the moon being ...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | low to the south. The 24th, thin clouds were in the sky. Night of the 25th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 cubit in front of γ Cap[ricorni.] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | The 25th, thin clouds were in the sky. Night of the 26th, last part of the night, the moon was 2 1/2 cubits above Jupiter, the moon having passed 1/2 [cubit] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 55–r 55 | to the east. The 26th, thin clouds were in the sky. Night of the 27th, last part of the night, clouds were in the sky. <The 27th,> moonrise to sunrise: 17° 50'; clouds, I did not watch; |
| Reverse [5:6] r 66–r 66 | all day very overcast, the south wind blew. Night of the 28th, middle part of the night, overcast, a little rain shower. The 28th, clouds were in the sky. |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | Night of the 29th, last part of the night, thin clouds were in the sky. ???, thin clouds were in the sky. Night of the 30th, last part of the night, thin clouds were in the sky. |
| Reverse [7:8] r 88–r 88 | That month, the equivalent was: barley, 4 pānu 2 sūtu; dates, 2 kurru; mustard, 2 kurru; cress, 1 pānu 4 sūtu; |
| Reverse [8:9] r 99–r 99 | sesame, 4 sūtu 3 qa; wool, 5 minas were sold for 1 shekel of silver. |
| Reverse [9:10] r 1010–r 1010 | At that time, on the 9th, Jupiter’s first appearance in Aquarius; rising of Jupiter to sunrise: 16°, (ideal) first appearance on the 3rd; Venus, in the <beginning> of the month, was in Aquarius; |
| Reverse [10:11] r 1111–r 1111 | on the 5th, Venus reached Pisces; the 14th, Mercury’s first appearance in the west in Virgo, it stood 2 1/2 cubits behind Venus to the westsic; it was bright (and) high, |
| Reverse [11:12] r 1212–r 1212 | sunset to setting of Mercury: 16°, (ideal) first appearance on the 12th; Mars was in Gemini. That month, the river level from the 1st to the 18th |
| Reverse [12:13] r 1313–r 1313 | receded 8 fingers, total: 36 was the na na-gauge; from the 19th to the 22nd, it rose 1/2 cubit, total: 33 was the na na-gauge; |
| Reverse [13:15] r 1414–r 1515 | from the 25th to the end of the month, it receded 4 fingers, total: 34 was the na na-gauge. |
| Reverse [14:15] r 1515–r 1515 | Month XII, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), sunset to moonset: 22°; it was bright, it could be seen while the sun stood there; measured (despite) clouds; (the moon) stood 1 1/2 cubits behind Venus to the east, |
| Reverse [15:16] r 1616–r 1616 | the moon being 2 1/2 cubits high to the north; all night clouds were in the sky. The 1st, very overcast, rain DUL, the east wind blew; Mercury’s [last appearance] in the west in Pisces; [I did not watch?.] |
| Reverse [16:18] r 1717– | Night of the 2nd, the moon was 2 1/2 cubits below α Arietis, the moon having passed a little to the east [...] |
| Top [0:1] t.e. 1t.e. 1–t.e. 1t.e. 1 | The 2nd, Saturn’s first appearance in Aquarius; it was small, rising of Saturn to sunrise: 14°, (ideal) first appearance on the 1st; all d[ay ...] |
| Top [1:3] t.e. 22– | Night of the 3rd, very overcast. The 3rd, in the morning, clouds were in the sky. |
| Left [0:1] l.e. 1l.e. 1–l.e. 1l.e. 1 | Night of the 4th, the moon was 2 cubits in front of α Tauri, the moon being 4 cubits high to the north; last part of the night, |
| Left [1:2] l.e. 22–l.e. 22 | clouds were in the sky. The 4th, all day very overcast. |
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 25.KAM₂ {m}se-lu-ku LUGAL {itu}ZIZ₂ 1 ...] | |
| 2 | sin ar₂ dele-bat 3 KUŠ₃ ana NIM GUB sin 1 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG [GE₆ 4 sin ina IGI] | |
| 3 | [MUL₂-IGI]-ša₂-SAG-HUN 2 KUŠ₃ sin 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG GE₆ 5 sin ⸢ar₂ MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂⸣-SAG-HUN 2 KUŠ₃ | |
| 4 | sin 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG ina ZALAG₂ DIR AN ZA ULU₃ GIN kal ME ŠU₂.ŠU₂ AN DUL ina KIN.SIG | |
| 5 | GU₃ U MAH NIM.GIR₂ NIM.GIR₂ ULU₃ GIN AN UTAH GE₆ 6 6 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ ULU₃ GIN | |
| 6 | GE₆ 7 SAG GE₆ DIR AN DIB kal GE₆ ŠU₂.ŠU₂ NIM.GIR₂ NIM.GIR₂ GU₃ U MAH NA₄ ŠUR | |
| 7 | AN PISAN DIB ULU₃ GIN 7 ina še-ri₃ ŠU₂.ŠU₂ kal ME DIR AN ZA ULU₃ GIN GE₆ 8 | |
| 8 | sin e ŠUR-ULU₃ 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL 8 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 9 sin e MAŠ.MAŠ-ša₂-SIPA | |
| 9 | 4 KUŠ₃ ar₂ AN 1 KUŠ₃ ana NIM GUB USAN AN e MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-še-pit₂-MAŠ.MAŠ 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ 9 | |
| 10 | ⸢MUL₂⸣.BABBAR ina GU IGI KUR NIM-a 15 na-su in 3 IGI GE₆ 10 sin ar₂ MAŠ.MAŠ-IGI 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ | |
| 11 | sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM DIB kal GE₆ DIR AN ZA 10 DIR AN DIB SI GIN GE₆ 11 sin ina IGI | |
| 12 | MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-ALLA-ša₂-ULU₃ 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG GE₆ 12 sin SIG SAG-A 4 KUŠ₃ | |
| 13 | sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM DIB ina ZALAG₂ DIR AN ZA 12 kal ME ŠU₂.ŠU₂ ina KIN.SIG AN UTAH GE₆ 13 | |
| 14 | 10.40 ME DIR NU PAP kal GE₆ ŠU₂.ŠU₂ 13 8.10 ŠU₂ DIR NU PAP GE₆ 14 30 NINDA GE₆ DIR ⸢muš⸣ | |
| 15 | SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ GIŠ.KUN-A 3 KUŠ₃ 14 3.40 na DIR muš GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ ina [ABSIN] | |
| 16 | 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ar₂ dele-bat ana ŠU₂ GUB IGI KUR NIM-a 16 na-su in 12 IGI GE₆ 15 | |
| 17 | ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ DELE 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG DIR AN ZA GE₆ 16 [ina] ⸢ZALAG₂ sin⸣ [ar₂ SA₄ N N] | |
| 18 | sin 1 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ SIG GE₆ 17 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI RIN₂-ša₂-ULU₃ 1+[x N ...] | |
| 19 | ⸢DIR⸣ SAL AN ZA GE₆ 18 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ AN UTAH KUR GIN ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| b.e. | ||
| 1 | [x] ⸢x⸣ U GU₃-šu₂ ne₂-hi ŠUB-di AN DUL kal [... GE₆ 20 ina ZALAG₂ sin] | |
| 2 | ⸢SIG⸣ šil-PA 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL DIR AN ZA 20 [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | GE₆ 21 USAN AN e MAŠ.MAŠ-ša₂-SIPA 3 1/2 KUŠ₃ ina ZALAG₂ [...] | |
| 2 | DIR SAL AN ZA 22 DIR SAL AN ZA GE₆ 24 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ [SI-MAŠ₂ N N sin N N] | |
| 3 | ana ULU₃ SIG 24 DIR SAL AN ZA GE₆ 25 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI ⸢SUHUR⸣-[IGI] | |
| 4 | 1 KUŠ₃ 25 DIR SAL AN ZA GE₆ 26 ina ZALAG₂ sin e MUL₂.BABBAR 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 [KUŠ₃] | |
| 5 | ana NIM DIB 26 DIR SAL AN ZA GE₆ 27 ina ZALAG₂ DIR AN ZA 27 17.50 KUR DIR ⸢NU PAP⸣ | |
| 6 | kal ME ŠU₂.ŠU₂ ULU₃ GIN GE₆ 28 MURUB₄-ti₃ ŠU₂ AN UTAH i-ṣa 28 DIR AN ZA | |
| 7 | GE₆ 29 ina ZALAG₂ DIR SAL AN ZA 29 DIR SAL AN ZA GE₆ 30 ina ZALAG₂ DIR SAL AN ZA | |
| 8 | ITU BI KI.LAM še-im 4(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) ZU₂ 2(GUR) GUR kas₃ 2(GUR) GUR sah-le₁₀ 1(BARIG) 4(BAN₂) | |
| 9 | ŠE.GIŠ.I₃ 4(BAN₂) 3 qa SIG₂{hi.a} 5 MA.NA a-na 1 GIN₂ KU₃.BABBAR ep-šu₂ | |
| 10 | i-nu-šu₂ 9 MUL₂.BABBAR ina GU IGI 16 na-su in 3 IGI dele-bat ina <SAG> ITU ina GU | |
| 11 | 5 dele-bat zib{me} KUR-ad₂ 14 GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ ina ABSIN 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ar₂ dele-bat ana ŠU₂ GUB IGI KUR NIM-a | |
| 12 | 16 na-su in 12 IGI AN ina MAŠ.MAŠ ITU BI ILLU TA 1 EN 18 | |
| 13 | 8 SI LAL PAP 36 na TA 19 EN 22 1/2 KUŠ₃ GIN PAP 33 na | |
| 14 | TA 25 EN TIL ITU 4 SI LAL PAP 34 na | |
| 15 | {itu}ŠE 1 22 na-su KUR₄ ina GUB IGI DIR muš ar₂ dele-bat 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM GUB | |
| 16 | sin 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana SI NIM kal GE₆ DIR AN ZA 1 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ AN DUL-hat KUR GIN GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ ina zib{me} [ŠU₂ (NU PAP)] | |
| 17 | GE₆ 2 sin SIG MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-SAG-HUN 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin i-ṣa ana NIM ⸢DIB⸣ [...] | |
| t.e. | ||
| 1 | 2 GENNA ina ⸢GU⸣ IGI TUR 14 na-su in 1 IGI kal ⸢ME⸣ [...] | |
| 2 | GE₆ 3 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ 3 ina še-ri₃ DIR AN ZA | |
| l.e. | ||
| 1 | GE₆ 4 sin ina IGI is-le₁₀ 2 KUŠ₃ sin 4 KUŠ₃ ana SI NIM ina ZALAG₂ | |
| 2 | DIR AN ZA 4 kal ME ŠU₂.ŠU₂ | |
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.