AD -212A (X202121)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -212A |
|---|---|
| ID | X202121 |
| Museum no. | BM 31799 |
| 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' | [...] ... Night of the 6th, ... [...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [...] ... solstice; I did not watch. Night of the 9th, clouds were in the sky; beginning of the night, the moon was |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [...] ... slow rain, much PISAN DIB. Night of the 10th, clouds crossed the sky. The 10th, all day clouds crossed <the sky>. |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [...] ... The 11th, very overcast. Night of the 12th, clouds were in the sky; beginning of the night, the moon was 2 cubits behind γ Geminorum, |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [the moon] being 4? cubits high to the north. The 12th, moonset to sunrise: 17° 30'; clouds, I did not watch; in the afternoon, clouds were in the sky. |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [Night] of the 13th, clouds crossed the sky, all night slow rain, much PISAN DIB. The 13th, sunrise to moonset: 20'; clouds, I did not watch. |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [...] ... The 13th, Sirius’ acronychal rising; I did not watch. [...] cold. Night of the 14th, moonrise to sunset: 2°; clouds, I did not watch; |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [last part of the night,] the moon was 2 cubits below ε Leonis. Night of the 15th, sunset to moonrise: 13° 40'; clouds, I did not watch; last part of the night, the moon was 2 cubits behind α Leonis. |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [The 15th,] very overcast. Night of the 16th, last part of the night, the moon was 3? cubits in front of β Virginis. The 16th, very overcast; in the morning, |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | [clouds] crossed? the sky?. Night of the 17th, last part of the night, the moon was 3? cubits in front of γ Virginis, the moon being ... 1/2 cubit? back to the west. |
| Obverse [10:12] o 11'11'– | The 17th, Mercury’s last appearance in the east in Capricorn; I did not watch. Night of the 18th, last part of the night, the moon was [2?] 1/2 cubits in front of α [Virginis,] |
| Bottom [0:1] b.e. 1b.e. 1–b.e. 1b.e. 1 | it stood 2 1/2 cubits in front of Mars to the west; Mars was 1 5/6 cubit above α Virginis. |
| Bottom [1:2] b.e. 22–b.e. 22 | [Night of the 1]9th, last part of the night, clouds crossed the sky; the moon was ... in front of ... Librae. Night of the 20th, overcast; last part of the night, clouds crossed the sky. |
| Bottom [2:4] b.e. 33– | [The 20th, clouds] were [in the sky]; in the afternoon, rain and hail shower; it thundered twice. |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | [Night of the 2]1st, beginning of the night, clouds crossed the sky; rain but the sandal was not removed; last part of the night, the moon was |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | 1 1/2 cubits [...] β Scorpii. Night of the 22nd, last part of the night, the moon was 1 cubit behind α Scorpii. |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | [Night of the 2]3rd, last part of the night, the moon was 1 cubit behind ϑ Ophiuchi. Night of the 25th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] below Venus, |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | the moon having passed a little to the east. Night of the 26th, very overcast. The 26th, moonrise to sunrise: 21°; I did not watch. |
| Reverse [4:5] r 55–r 55 | [...] 7? ... clouds, when I watched I did not see it. Night of the 28th, last part of the night, Jupiter was 20 fingers above ϑ Ophiuchi. |
| Reverse [5:6] r 66–r 66 | [... very] overcast; in the afternoon, clouds crossed the sky, gusty north wind blew. That month, [the equivalent] was: [barl]ey, |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | [...] 2 sūtu; mustard, 2 kurru; cress, 1 pānu 1 sūtu; s[esame,] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 88–r 88 | [...] were sold for 1 shekel of silver. At that time, [Jupi]ter was |
| Reverse [8:9] r 99–r 99 | [...] ..., at the end of the month, in Sagittarius; the 9th, Venus reached Sagittarius; |
| Reverse [9:10] r 1010–r 1010 | [...] ...; Mars was in Virgo. |
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] GE₆ 6 ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [...] ⸢x⸣ [x] šamaš₂ GUB NU PAP GE₆ 9 DIR AN ZA SAG GE₆ sin | |
| 3' | [...] ⸢x⸣ [x] ⸢x⸣ AN ne₂ PISAN MAH DIB GE₆ 10 DIR AN ⸢DIB⸣ 10 kal ME DIR <AN> DIB | |
| 4' | [...] [x x] 11 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ GE₆ 12 DIR AN ZA SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ MAŠ.MAŠ-ša₂-SIPA 2 KUŠ₃ | |
| 5' | [sin] 4 KUŠ₃ ana SI NIM 12 17.30 ŠU₂ DIR NU PAP ina KIN.SIG DIR AN ZA | |
| 6' | [GE₆] 13 DIR AN DIB kal GE₆ AN ne₂-hi ⸢PISAN⸣ MAH DIB 13 20 NINDA na DIR NU PAP | |
| 7' | [x x] 13 KAK.BAN ana ME E-a NU PAP [x x] ŠED₇ GE₆ 14 2 ME DIR NU PAP | |
| 8' | [ina ZALAG₂] sin SIG SAG-A 2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 15 13.40 GE₆ DIR NU PAP ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ LUGAL 2 KUŠ₃ | |
| 9' | 15 ⸢ŠU₂⸣.ŠU₂ GE₆ 16 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI GIR₃-ar₂-ša₂-A 3 KUŠ₃ 16 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ ina še-ri₃ | |
| 10' | [DIR] AN DIB GE₆ 17 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI DELE 3 KUŠ₃ sin [x x] 1/2 KUŠ₃ [ana] SI NIM | |
| 11' | 17 GU₄.UD ina NIM ina MAŠ₂ ŠU₂ NU PAP GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI ⸢SA₄⸣ | |
| b.e. | ||
| 1 | 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ina IGI AN 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ GUB AN e SA₄ 1 5/6 KUŠ₃ | |
| 2 | [GE₆] 19 ina ZALAG₂ DIR AN DIB sin ina IGI RIN₂ x x GE₆ 20 ŠU₂ ina ZALAG₂ DIR AN DIB | |
| 3 | 20 DIR AN] ZA ina KIN.SIG AN u NA₄ UTAH {d}IM 2-šu₂ GU₃-šu₂ ŠUB-di | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [GE₆] 21 SAG GE₆ DIR AN DIB AN E.SIR₂ NU TUH ina ZALAG₂ sin | |
| 2 | [x MUL₂]-⸢e⸣-ša₂-SAG-GIR₂.TAB 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 22 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ SI₄ 1 KUŠ₃ | |
| 3 | [GE₆] 23 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ šil-PA 1 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 25 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG dele-bat | |
| 4 | [N N] i-ṣa sin ana NIM DIB GE₆ 26 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ 26 21 KUR NU PAP | |
| 5 | [x x] BIR DIR ki PAP NU IGI GE₆ 28 ina ZALAG₂ MUL₂.BABBAR ⸢e šil-PA 20 SI⸣ | |
| 6 | [x] ⸢ŠU₂⸣.ŠU₂ ina KIN.SIG DIR AN DIB SI ŠAR₂ GIN ITU BI [KI.LAM še]-⸢im⸣ | |
| 7 | [...] 2(BAN₂) kas₃ 2(GUR) GUR sah-le₁₀ 1(BARIG) 1(BAN₂) ⸢ŠE⸣.[GIŠ.I₃] | |
| 8 | [...] ⸢a-na⸣ 1 GIN₂ KU₃.BABBAR ep₂-šu₂ i-nu-šu₂ [MUL₂].⸢BABBAR⸣ | |
| 9 | [...] ⸢x ina TIL ITU⸣ ina PA U₄.9 dele-bat PA KUR | |
| 10 | [... GENNA ina] ⸢zib⸣{me} AN ina ABSIN | |
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.