AD -188 (X201880)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
Open in the reader & map →See it among all tablets
| Designation | AD -188 |
|---|---|
| ID | X201880 |
| Museum no. | BM 40067 |
| 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 123, kings Antiochus and Seleucus. |
| Obverse [1:2] o 22–o 22 | Month I, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), sunset to moonset: 20°; it was bright, measured; the moon stood 1? cubit behind Mercury |
| Obverse [2:3] o 33–o 33 | to the east, the moon being 1 1/2 cubits high to the north. |
| Obverse [3:4] o 44–o 44 | The 1st, Mercury’s first appearance in the west in the beginning of Taurus; it was bright (and) high, |
| Obverse [4:5] o 55–o 55 | sunset to setting of Mercury: ⸢x⸣; clouds were in the sky; (ideal) first appearance on the 20+[xth] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 66–o 66 | of month XII. Night of the 2nd, the moon was [...] behind α Tau[ri, the moon being ...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 77–o 77 | high to the north. The 2nd, clouds were in the sky. Ni[ght of the 3rd, the moon was] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 88–o 88 | 2 cubits behind β Tauri, [it stood ...] behind Ven[us to the east,] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 99–o 99 | the moon being 1 1/2 cubits high to the north ... [...] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 1010–o 1010 | Night of the 4th, clouds were in the sky ... [...] |
| Obverse [10:12] o 1111– | the moon [having passed] 1/2 cubit to the east [...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | in front of ... [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | back to the west; clouds were in the sky [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | The 6th?, very overcast. Night of the xth, [...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | all? night slow rain ... [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 55–r 55 | clouds crossed the sky ... [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 66–r 66 | [...] beginning of the night, the moon was 1/2? cubit above α Leonis, the moon |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | having passed? [... to the east?;] first part of the night, Venus was [...] above ζ Tauri; |
| Reverse [7:8] r 88–r 88 | [in the after]noon?, clouds were in the sky, the south wind blew. |
| Reverse [8:9] r 99–r 99 | Night of the 9th, the moon was 2 1/2 cubits below ϑ Leonis, |
| Reverse [9:10] r 1010–r 1010 | the moon being 1/2 cubit back to the west. |
| Reverse [10:11] r 1111–r 1111 | The river level receded 6? fingers on the 1st, total: 8 was the na na-gauge; |
| Reverse [11:13] r 1212– | until the 8th?, it rose 1 cubit, total: 1 was the na na-gauge; |
| Top [0:2] t.e. 1t.e. 1– | the 9th (and) 10th, it receded 8 fingers, total: 3 was the na na-gauge. |
| Left [0:1] l.e. 1l.e. 1–l.e. 1l.e. 1 | Night of the 10th, the moon was 5/6 cubit in front of β Virginis. |
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 23.KAM₂ {m}an u {m}se-lu-ku LUGAL{meš} | |
| 2 | {itu}BAR 1 20 na KUR₄ muš sin ar₂ GU₄.UD | |
| 3 | 1 KUŠ₃ ana NIM GUB sin 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana SI NIM | |
| 4 | 1 GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ ina SAG MUL₂.MUL₂ IGI KUR NIM-a | |
| 5 | ⸢x⸣ na-su DIR AN ZA in 20+[x] | |
| 6 | ša₂ {itu}ŠE IGI GE₆ 2 sin ar₂ is-⸢le₁₀⸣ [N N sin N N] | |
| 7 | ana SI NIM 2 DIR AN ZA ⸢GE₆⸣ 3 sin] | |
| 8 | ar₂ ŠUR-SI 2 KUŠ₃ ar₂ dele-[bat N N ana NIM GUB] | |
| 9 | sin 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana SI NIM ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 10 | GE₆ 4 DIR AN ZA ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 11 | sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM [DIB ...] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ⸢ina IGI x x⸣ [...] | |
| 2 | ana ŠU₂ LAL DIR AN ZA [...] | |
| 3 | 6 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ GE₆ ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 4 | kal GE₆ ⸢AN ne₂-hi x⸣ [...] | |
| 5 | DIR AN DIB [x] [...] | |
| 6 | [x (x)] SAG GE₆ sin e LUGAL 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin [N N] | |
| 7 | [ana NIM] DIB USAN dele-bat e ŠUR-⸢ULU₃⸣ [N N] | |
| 8 | [ina] ⸢KIN⸣.SIG DIR AN ZA ULU₃ GIN | |
| 9 | GE₆ 9 sin SIG GIŠ.KUN 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ | |
| 10 | sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL | |
| 11 | ILLU 1 6 SI LAL PAP 8 na | |
| 12 | EN 8 1 KUŠ₃⸣ GIN PAP 1 na | |
| t.e. | ||
| 1 | 9 10 8 U LAL PAP 3 na | |
| l.e. | ||
| 1 | GE₆ 10 sin ina IGI GIR₃-ar₂ 5/6 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.