AD -230A (X202300)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -230A |
|---|---|
| ID | X202300 |
| Museum no. | BM 41647 + 41853 |
| 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 AB1o AB1–o AB1o AB1 | [...] having passed to the east. Night of the 2nd, the moon was [...] behind β/ζ Tauri [...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o AB2AB2–o AB2AB2 | [... the disc] of the sun looked like that of the moon. Night of the 4th, the m[oon ...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o AB3AB3–o AB3AB3 | [...] stood [to] the west. Night of the 7th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] behind ρ [Leonis ...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o AB4AB4–o AB4AB4 | [... Night of the 9th, beginning of the night,] the moon was 2 cubits in front of γ Virginis. Night [...] |
| Obverse [4:5] o AB5AB5–o AB5AB5 | [... Ni]ght of the 12th, clouds crossed the sky, lightning flashed [...] |
| Obverse [5:6] o AB6AB6–o AB6AB6 | [...] The 13th, Venus’ first appearance in the west in Taurus; sunset to setting of Venus: 9° [...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o AB7AB7–o AB7AB7 | [...] ... Night of the 10+[xth, ...] after sunset, lunar eclipse (of) 5 months (distance), ..., omitted; last part of the night, [...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o AB8AB8–o AB8AB8 | [...] shower. Night of the 18th?, [...] the disc of the sun looked like that of the moon. Night of the 18th?, last part of the night, [...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o AB9AB9–o AB9AB9 | Night [of the 20th,] last part of the night, the moon was [...] in front of γ Capri[corni ... Jupiter's] first appearance in Taurus; rising of Jupiter to sunrise: 11°, (ideal) first appearance on the 18th; the north wind blew [...] |
| Obverse [9:10] o AB10AB10–o AB10AB10 | The 21st, in the afternoon, very overcast, gusty wind. Night of the 2[2nd, ... clou]ds were in the sky. Night of the 23rd, beginning of the night, mud covered the land. The 24th, Mer[cury's] |
| Obverse [10:11] o AB11AB11–o AB11AB11 | first appearance [in the west in (the beginning of) Gemini,] 1 1/2 cubits behind Venus to the east; it was bright [(and) high?, ... The 2]5th, first part of the night, Mars was 1/2 cubit above ρ Leonis; last part of the night, the m[oon ...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o AB12AB12–o AB12AB12 | Night of the 26th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] behind α Arietis [...] very overcast, strong gusty wind, rain shower. The 27th, moonrise to sunrise: 12° 20'; clouds, I did not watch; clouds were in the sky, rain [... Night of the 29th?, first part of the night, Mercury] |
| Obverse [12:13] o AB13AB13–o AB13AB13 | was 3 1/2 cubits above γ Geminorum; 5° af[ter sunset?, solar eclipse wh]ich was omitted. The 29th, Sirius’ last appearance; I did not watch. That month, the equivalent was: barley, [...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o AB14AB14–o AB14AB14 | dates, 3 pānu; mustard, 1 kurru; cress, 2 pānu 1 sūtu; se[same, ...] minas were sold for 1 shekel of silver which was given in the land. [...] |
| Obverse [14:15] o AB15AB15–o AB15AB15 | first appearance. Around the 18th, Jupiter’s first appearance in the beginning of Taurus; 30+[x ... Mercury's] first appearance [in the west ...;] Saturn was in Leo [...] ... in Leo. [That] mo[nth, ...] |
| Obverse [15:16] o AB16AB16–o AB16AB16 | [...] ... king of [...] ... [...] |
| Obverse [16:17] o C1'C1'–o C1'C1' | [...] stood to the east. Night of the 2nd, the moon was [...] above α [Leonis? ...] |
| Obverse [17:18] o C2'C2'–o C2'C2' | [... Night of the 4th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 1 1/2 cubits behind β Virginis, [it stood] 1 1/2 cubits behind Mars [to the east ...] |
| Obverse [18:19] o C3'C3'–o C3'C3' | [... Night] of the 5th, beginning of the night, the moon was 2/3 cubit behind γ Virginis. Night [...] |
| Obverse [19:20] o C4'C4'–o C4'C4' | [... Night of the 9th, beginning of the night,] the moon came close to β Scorpii; first part of the night, Venus was [...] below [ε Leonis ...] |
| Obverse [20:21] o C5'C5'–o C5'C5' | [... Night of the 11th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 2 1/2 cubits [behind ϑ Ophiu]chi. The 13th, moonset to sunrise: 8° 30'. The 13th, solstice. ... [...] |
| Obverse [21:22] o C6'C6'–o C6'C6' | [... Night of the 15th, ..., the moon was] 2 cubits in front of γ Capricorni. Night of the 16th, first part [of the night?, ...] |
| Obverse [22:23] o C7'C7'–o C7'C7' | [... The 1]9th, strong gusty north wind. Night of the 20th, gusty wind [...] |
| Obverse [23:24] o C8'C8'–o C8'C8' | [...] ... Night of the 22nd, first part of the night, Venus was [...] above ρ [Leonis ...] |
| Obverse [24:25] o C9'C9'–o C9'C9' | [...] the north wind blew. Night of the 24th, last part of the night, [...] |
| Obverse [25:26] o C10'C10'–o C10'C10' | [... Night of the 25th, last part of the night, the moon was] 1 1/2 cubits behind] ζ Tauri [...] |
| Obverse [26:27] o C11'C11'–o C11'C11' | [...] ... The 26th, around noon, mist and? [...] |
| Obverse [27:28] o C12'C12'–o C12'C12' | [... first] part of the night, Saturn was [...] below ϑ Leonis [...] |
| Obverse [28:29] o C13'C13'–o C13'C13' | [...] minas [were sold] for 1 sh[ekel of silver ...] |
| Obverse [29:30] o C14'C14'–o C14'C14' | [...] ... Month [...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r A1'r A1'–r A1'r A1' | [... Night of the 9th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] in fr[ont of? γ/δ Capricorni ...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r A2'A2'–r A2'A2' | [...] first part of the night, Venus was 1 cubit 4 fingers above α Scorpii. Night of the 10+[xth, ...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r A3'A3'–r A3'A3' | [... Night of the 15th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 5 cubits [below β Arietis.] The 15th, sunrise to moonset: 9° 30', measured (despite) clouds; around noon, ... [...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r A4'A4'–r A4'A4' | [...] crossed. Night of the 16th, clouds were in the sky, rain shower. The 16th, equinox; I did not watch; clouds crossed the sky [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r A5'A5'–r A5'A5' | [... Night of the 18th, last part of the night, the moon] stood 2 1/2 cubits [behind Ju]piter to the east. Night of the 19th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] in front of η Geminorum [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r A6'A6'–r A6'A6' | [...] ... Night of the 22nd, last part of the night, the moon was 2 1/2 cubits in front of ε Leonis. Night of the 23rd, last part of the night, the moon was [...] above [a Leonis ...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r A7'A7'–r A7'A7' | [... Night of the 2]4th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 cubit 8 fingers below ϑ Leonis, the moon being 2/3 cubit back to the west. Ni[ght of the 25th, last part of the night, the moon was ... β Virginis,] |
| Reverse [7:8] r A8'A8'–r A8'A8' | [the moon being ...] high [to the no]rth. Night of the 26th, last part of the night, the moon was 8 fingers above γ Virginis. The 26th, Mercury’s [last appearance] in the west, [omitted ...] |
| Reverse [8:9] r A9'A9'–r A9'A9' | [...] The 27th, moonrise to sunrise: 18°. Night of the 28th, first part of the night, Mars was 2 cubits above α Scorpii. That month, the equivalent was: barley, 4 pānu [...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r A10'A10'–r A10'A10' | [... were sold for 1 shekel of silver] which was given in the land. At that time, Jupiter was in Taurus; Venus was in Scorpius; around the 12th, Mercury’s first appearance in the west, om[itted; ...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r A11'A11'–r A11'A11' | [... Mars was in Libra, in the midd]le of the month, in Scorpius. That month, on the 30th, troops of ... [...] |
| Reverse [11:13] r A12'A12'–r A13'A13' | [...] the west wind blew. |
| Reverse [12:14] r A13'A13'– | [... y]ear 81, king Seleucus. |
| Top [0:1] t.e. 1t.e. 1–t.e. 1t.e. 1 | [... o]f year 81, king Seleucus. |
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 | ||
| AB1 | [... ana] NIM DIB GE₆ 2 sin ar₂ ŠUR-GIGIR-[ša₂-x N N ...] | |
| AB2 | [... HAB-rat] šamaš₂ ki-ma ša₂ sin IGI.LA₂ GE₆ 4 ⸢sin⸣ [...] | |
| AB3 | [... ana] ⸢ŠU₂⸣ GUB GE₆ 7 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ MUL₂-[TUR-ša₂-4-KUŠ₃-ar₂-LUGAL N N ...] | |
| AB4 | [... GE₆ 9 SAG GE₆] sin ina IGI DELE-ša₂-IGI-ABSIN 2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ [...] | |
| AB5 | [...] ⸢GE₆⸣ 12 DIR AN DIB NIM.GIR₂ NIM.⸢GIR₂⸣ [...] | |
| AB6 | [...] 13 dele-bat ina ŠU₂ ina MUL₂.MUL₂ IGI 9 na-su [...] | |
| AB7 | [...] ⸢x⸣ GE₆ 10+[x ...] ⸢GE₆ GIN⸣ AN.KU₁₀ sin 5 ITU BAR DIB ina ZALAG₂ [...] | |
| AB8 | [...] UTAH GE₆ 18 [...] ⸢HAB-rat šamaš₂ ki-ma ša₂ sin IGI⸣.LA₂ GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂⸣ [...] | |
| AB9 | ⸢GE₆⸣ 20 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-[SUHUR-MAŠ₂ N N ... MUL₂.BABBAR ina] ⸢MUL₂⸣.MUL₂ IGI 11 na-su in 18 IGI {im}SI GIN [...] | |
| AB10 | 21 ina KIN.SIG ŠU₂.ŠU₂ IM ŠAR₂ GE₆ 22 [...] ⸢DIR⸣ AN ZA GE₆ 23 SAG GE₆ IM.GU₂ KUR ŠU₂-ap 24 ⸢GU₄⸣.[UD ina ŠU₂ ina (SAG) MAŠ.MAŠ] | |
| AB11 | 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ar₂ dele-bat ana NIM IGI KUR [NIM-a ...] 25 USAN AN e MUL₂-TUR-ša₂-4-KUŠ₃-ar₂-LUGAL 1/2 KUŠ₃ ina ZALAG₂ ⸢sin⸣ [...] | |
| AB12 | GE₆ 26 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-SAG-HUN [N N ...] ŠU₂.ŠU₂ IM ŠAR₂ KALAG AN UTAH 27 12.20 KUR DIR NU PAP DIR AN ZA AN [... GE₆ 29 USAN GU₄.UD] | |
| AB13 | e MAŠ.MAŠ-ša₂-SIPA 3 1/2 KUŠ₃ 5 UŠ ⸢GE₆⸣ [GIN AN.KU₁₀ šamaš₂] ⸢ša₂⸣ DIB 29 {mul₂}KAK.BAN ŠU₂ NU PAP ITU BI KI.LAM še-im [...] | |
| AB14 | ZU₂ 3(BARIG) PI kas₃ 1(GUR) GUR sah 2(BARIG) 1(BAN₂) ŠE.[GIŠ ...] MA.NA a-na 1 GIN₂ KU₃.BABBAR ep₂-šu₂ ša₂ ina KUR SUM-in [...] | |
| AB15 | IGI in 18 MUL₂.BABBAR ina SAG ⸢MUL₂.MUL₂ IGI⸣ 30+[x ... GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ ina MUL₂.MUL₂] IGI GENNA ina A [...] ⸢x⸣ 4 ina A ⸢ITU⸣ [BI ...] | |
| AB16 | [x] {⸢m}se-lu-ku⸣ LUGAL ⸢ša₂⸣ [...] ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| C1' | [...] NIM GUB GE₆ 2 sin e ⸢LUGAL⸣ [N N ...] | |
| C2' | [... GE₆ 4 SAG GE₆ sin] ar₂ GIR₃{ii}ar₂-ša₂-A 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ar₂ AN 1 1/2 [KUŠ₃ ana NIM GUB ...] | |
| C3' | [... GE₆] 5 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ DELE-ša₂-IGI-ABSIN 2/3 KUŠ₃ GE₆ [...] | |
| C4' | [... GE₆ 9 SAG GE₆] sin ana MUL₂-e-ša₂-SAG-GIR₂.TAB TE USAN dele-bat SIG [SAG-A N N ...] | |
| C5' | [... GE₆ 11 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-KIR₄]-⸢šil⸣-PA 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ 13 8.30 ŠU₂ 13 šamaš₂ GUB ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| C6' | [... GE₆ 15 x x sin ina] ⸢IGI⸣ MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SUHUR-MAŠ₂ 2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 16 ⸢USAN⸣ [...] | |
| C7' | [...] 19 {im}SI ŠAR₂ KALAG GE₆ 20 IM ŠAR₂ [...] | |
| C8' | [...] [x] GE₆ 22 USAN dele-bat e ⸢MUL₂⸣-[TUR-ša₂-4-KUŠ₃-ar₂-LUGAL N N ...] | |
| C9' | [...] {⸢im⸣}SI GIN GE₆ 24 ina ZALAG₂ [...] | |
| C10' | [... GE₆ 25 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂] ⸢ŠUR⸣-GIGIR-ša₂-ULU₃ 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ [...] | |
| C11' | [...] [x] 26 AN.BAR₇ a-kam₂ u [...] | |
| C12' | [...] ⸢USAN⸣ GENNA SIG GIŠ.KUN-A [N N ...] | |
| C13' | [...] MA.NA a-na 1 ⸢GIN₂⸣ [KU₃.BABBAR ...] | |
| C14' | [...] [x] ŠU₂ ITU [...] | |
| C15' | [...] [x] [...] | |
| r | ||
| A1' | [...] ⸢GE₆⸣ 9 SAG GE₆ sin ⸢ina IGI⸣ [MUL₂-x-ša₂-SUHUR-MAŠ₂ N N ...] | |
| A2' | [...] USAN dele-bat e SI₄ 1 KUŠ₃ 4 SI GE₆ 10+[x ...] | |
| A3' | [... GE₆ 15 SAG GE₆ sin SIG MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SAG]-HUN 5 KUŠ₃ 15 9.30 na DIR muš AN.BAR₇ [x] [...] | |
| A4' | [...] DIB GE₆ 16 DIR AN ZA AN UTAH 16 LAL₂-ti₃ NU PAP DIR AN DIB [...] | |
| A5' | [... GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ MUL₂].⸢BABBAR⸣ 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM GUB GE₆ 19 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-še-pit₂-MAŠ.MAŠ [N N ...] | |
| A6' | [...] ⸢x⸣ GE₆ 22 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI SAG-A 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 23 ina ZALAG₂ sin e [LUGAL N N ...] | |
| A7' | [... GE₆] 24 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG GIŠ.KUN-A 1 KUŠ₃ 8 SI sin 2/3 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL ⸢GE₆⸣ 25 ina ZALAG₂ sin x GIR₃-ar₂-ša₂-A N N] | |
| A8' | [sin N N ana] ⸢SI⸣ NIM GE₆ 26 ina ZALAG₂ sin e DELE-ša₂-IGI-ABSIN 8 SI 26 GU₄.UD ina ⸢ŠU₂⸣ [ŠU₂ DIB ...] | |
| A9' | [...] 27 18 KUR GE₆ 28 USAN AN e SI₄ 2 KUŠ₃ ITU BI KI.LAM še-im 4(BARIG) [...] | |
| A10' | [... ep₂]-⸢šu₂⸣ ša₂ ina KUR SUM i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR ina MUL₂.MUL₂ dele-bat ina GIR₂.TAB in 12 GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ IGI ⸢DIB⸣ [...] | |
| A11' | [... AN ina RIN₂ ina] ⸢MURUB₄⸣ ITU ina GIR₂.TAB ITU BI U₄ 30.KAM₂ ERIN₂{meš} ša₂ ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| A12' | [...] MAR GIN | |
| A13' | [...] ⸢MU⸣ 60+21.KAM₂ {m}se-lu-ku LUGAL | |
| t.e. | ||
| 1 | [...] ⸢ša₂⸣ MU 60+21.KAM₂ {m}se-lu-ku LUGAL | |
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.