AD -240 (X202400)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -240 |
|---|---|
| ID | X202400 |
| Museum no. | Rm 720 + 732 + BM 41522 + AT 883 |
| 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 [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [... Night of the 26th, last part of the night, the moon was] 3 1/2 cubits [behind β/δ Scorp]ii. Night [...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [...] ... [...] cleared; 30° onset and clearing; during the eclip[se, ...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [...] ... 1 pānu, at the end of the month, [...] 3 sūtu 3 qa; sesame, 5 sūtu; w[ool, nn minas.] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [At that time, ... M]ercury’s first appearance in the west in Capricorn; Saturn was [in Aries; Mars, in the beginning of the month?, was in Virgo, in the midd]le of the month, in Libra. That month, [...] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [...] the [...] of Ištar of Babylon by theft [...] ... to Babylon [...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [...] they entered the Juniper Garden. When they interrogated and convicted him ... [...] ... |
| Obverse [7:9] o 8'8'–o 9'9' | [...] ... [...] were killed. |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [Month IX, ... Night of the 2nd, the moon was nn] cubits [... β Capricorni,] it stood 1 1/2 cubits behind Mercury [to the ea]st. Night of the 3rd, clouds [... the sky. Night] of the 4th, clouds were in the sky; beginning of the night, the moon was |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | [... δ Capricorni ... clou]ds were in the sky. Night of the 8th, [beginn]ing of the night, the moon was 4 1/2 cubits in front of η Piscium; during the middle watch, overcast. |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | [Night of the 9th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 1 1/2? [cubits in front of β ] Arietis. Night of the 10th, overcast; beginning [of the night, the moon was] 1 1/2 cubits behind α Arietis, |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | [it stood ...] behind Saturn [to the east. Night of the 11th, beginning of the night, the moo]n was 6 fingers below η Tauri; last part of the night, Mars was 4 fingers above α [Librae]. Night of the 12th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] behind α Tauri. |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | [...] ... moonrise to sunset?: ⸢6°?⸣, measured. [...] The 14th, sunrise to moonset: 3° 20'; clouds, I did not watch. Night of the 15th, sunset to moonrise: 11° 50'; I did not watch. |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | [... Night of the 1]7th, clouds crossed the sky; first part of the night, Venus was 2 fingers above γ Capricorni. |
| Obverse [14:15] o 15'15'–o 15'15' | [... Night of the 18th, last part of the night, the moon was] 5 cubits [below ϑ] Leonis. The 18th, clouds crossed the sky, heavy fog |
| Obverse [15:16] o 16'16'–o 16'16' | [... Night of the 20th, last part of the night, the moon was] 2 1/2 cubits [behind γ] Virginis. Night of the 21st, last part of the night, the moon was 2 1/2 cubits behind α Virginis. |
| Obverse [16:17] o 17'17'–o 17'17' | [... Night of the 23rd, last part of the night, the moon was] 1 5/6 cubits below Mars. Night [of the 24th?, last part of the night, ...] |
| Obverse [17:18] o 18'18'–o 18'18' | [... Night of the 27th, last part of the night, the m]oon was 1 [mm] above Mercury [...] |
| Obverse [18:20] o 19'19'– | [...] 5 sūtu 3 qa; mustard, 1 kurru [...] |
| Reverse [0:2] r 1r 1–r 22 | [... Saturn was in] Aries; Mars was in Libra. [That] mon[th, ...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | [Month X, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), ...] rain DUL. The 7th, overcast [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | [...] Night of the 11th, beginning of the ni[ght, ...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | [...] having passed [...] to the east [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 55–r 55 | [... Ju]piter was inside the halo [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 66–r 66 | [...] 1/2 cubit ... Saturn. Night of the 15th?, last part of the night, the moon was in fr[ont of ...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | [... x]+1 cubit 4 fingers. Night of the 21st, last part of the night, the moon was [...] in front of δ Scorpii. [...] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 88–r 88 | [... first] part of the night, Saturn was 5 cubits below β Arietis. Night of the 25th, last part of the night, Ve[nus? ...] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 99–r 99 | [...] 1 pānu 2 sūtu, in the middle of the month, 1 pānu 1 sūtu 3 qa; dates, 2 pānu; mustard, 1 kurru 2 pānu 3 sūtu; cress, 4 sūtu; sesame, 4 sūtu [...] |
| Reverse [9:11] r 1010–r 1111 | [... M]ercury was in Capricorn; Saturn was in Aries; Mars was in Scorpius. That month, the river level receded 1 cubit, 21 was the na na-gauge. That month, [...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 1111–r 1111 | [Month XI, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), ... in the mor]ning, very overcast, strong gusty wind. Night of the 3rd, clouds crossed the sky. The 3rd, very cold. Night of the 4th, beginning of the night, [...] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 1212–r 1212 | [... Mercury’s] last appearance [in the east in Capri]corn. The 5th?, cold. Night of the 6th, the moon was surrounded by a halo; beginning of the night, the moon was 2 1/2 cubits in [front of] η Tauri. Ni[ght ...] |
| Reverse [12:13] r 1313–r 1313 | [... Night of the 8th, beginning of the night, the moon was nn] cubits ...] η Geminorum. Night of the 9th, beginning of the night, the moon was [x]+1/2 cubits below [α] Geminorum, the moon being 1/2 cubit [back to the west ...] |
| Reverse [13:14] r 1414–r 1414 | [...] clouds were in the sky. Night of the 11+[xth, ... Venus was [... below] η Piscium [...] |
| Reverse [14:15] r 1515–r 1515 | [...] ... 5/6 cubit. The 13th, [moonset to sunrise:] 1° [... The 14th,] sunrise to moonset: [nn°,] measured. Night of the 15th, last part of the ni[ght, ...] |
| Reverse [15:16] r 1616–r 1616 | [...] ... [...] ... 3 cubits. Night of the 18th, last part of the night, [...] |
| Reverse [16:18] r 1717– | [...] ... in front of ... [...] |
| Bottom [0:1] b.e. 1b.e. 1–b.e. 1b.e. 1 | Dia[ry ...] |
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 x⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [... GE₆ 26 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ MUL₂-x-ša₂-SAG-GIR₂].⸢TAB⸣ 3 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ [...] | |
| 3' | [...] [x x] [...] ZALAG₂ 30 GAR u ZALAG₂ ina AN.[KU₁₀ ...] | |
| 4' | [...] ⸢ITU⸣ 1 PI ⸢ina TIL ITU⸣ [...] 3(BAN₂) 3 qa ŠE.GIŠ 5(BAN₂) ⸢SIG₂⸣ [N MA.NA] | |
| 5' | [i-nu-šu₂ ...] ⸢GU₄⸣.UD ina ŠU₂ ina MAŠ₂ ⸢IGI GENNA⸣ [ina HUN AN ina SAG ITU ina ABSIN ina] ⸢MURUB₄⸣ ITU ina RIN₂ ITU BI [...] | |
| 6' | [...]-tu₄ ša₂ {d}INNIN TIN.TIR{ki} ina šur-qa [x x x] ⸢x⸣ ana E{ki} ku [x] [...] | |
| 7' | [... {giš]}⸢KIRI₆⸣ ŠIM.LI KU₄-uʾ ki ⸢i⸣-[ša₂-lu]-uš uk-⸢tin-nu⸣-[uš ...] [x] | |
| 8' | [...] E₂-gu-ra-a šu-ṣu [x x x x x x x x x x] di-i-ku | |
| 9' | [GAN ... GE₆ 2 sin x SI-MAŠ₂ N] KUŠ₃ ar₂ GU₄.UD 1 1/2 ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ [ana] ⸢NIM⸣ GUB GE₆ 3 DIR [AN x (x) GE₆] 4 DIR AN ZA SAG GE₆ sin | |
| 10' | [x MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-SUHUR-MAŠ₂ N N ...] ⸢DIR⸣ AN ZA GE₆ 8 SAG⸣ GE₆ sin ina IGI MUL₂-⸢KUR⸣-[ša₂-DUR]-nu-nu 4 1/2 KUŠ₃ EN.NUN.MURUB₄ ŠU₂ | |
| 11' | [GE₆ 9 SAG GE₆ sin ina IGI MUL₂-IGI]-⸢ša₂⸣-SAG-HUN 1 1/2 [KUŠ₃] GE₆ 10 ŠU₂ SAG [GE₆ sin] ⸢ar₂⸣ MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-SAG-HUN 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ar₂ GENNA | |
| 12' | [N N ana NIM GUB GE₆ 11 SAG GE₆] ⸢sin⸣ SIG MUL₂.[MUL₂] 6 U ina ZALAG₂ AN e [RIN₂-ša₂]-ULU₃ 4 U GE₆ 12 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ is-le₁₀ | |
| 13' | [N N ...] ⸢x x 6 ME⸣ muš ⸢x⸣ [x x] 14 3.20 na DIR NU PAP GE₆ 15 11.50 GE₆ NU PAP | |
| 14' | [... GE₆] 17 DIR AN DIB USAN dele-bat e MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SUHUR-MAŠ₂ 2 U | |
| 15' | [... GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG GIŠ.KUN]-A 5 KUŠ₃ 18 DIR AN DIB IM.DUGUD.DUGUD | |
| 16' | [... GE₆ 20 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ DELE]-⸢ša₂⸣-IGI-ABSIN 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 21 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ SA₄-ša₂-ABSIN 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ | |
| 17' | [... GE₆ 23 ina ZALAG₂ sin] SIG AN 1 5/6 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 24 ina ZALAG₂ x x x] | |
| 18' | [... GE₆ 27 ina ZALAG₂] ⸢sin⸣ e GU₄.UD 1 [...] | |
| 19' | [...] 5(BAN₂) 3 qa kas₃ 1(GUR) [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [... GENNA ina] HUN AN ina RIN₂ ⸢ITU⸣ [BI ...] | |
| 2 | AB 1 [...] AN DUL 7 ŠU₂ [...] | |
| 3 | [...] ⸢GE₆ 11 SAG ⸢GE₆⸣ [...] | |
| 4 | [...] ana ⸢NIM⸣ DIB [...] | |
| 5 | [...] ⸢MUL₂⸣.BABBAR ina ŠA₃ TUR₃ [...] | |
| 6 | [...] [x] GENNA 1/2 KUŠ₃⸣ GE₆ 15 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina ⸢IGI⸣ [...] | |
| 7 | [... x]+1 KUŠ₃ 4 SI GE₆ 21 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI MUL₂-MURUB₄-ša₂-SAG-GIR₂.TAB [N N ...] | |
| 8 | [...] ⸢USAN⸣ GENNA SIG MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SAG-HUN 5 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 25 ina ZALAG₂ ⸢dele-bat⸣ [...] | |
| 9 | [...] 1(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) ina MURUB₄ ITU 1(BARIG) 1(BAN₂) 3 qa ZU₂ 2(BARIG) PI kas₃ 1(GUR) 2(BARIG) 3(BAN₂) sah 4(BAN₂) ŠE.GIŠ 4(BAN₂) [...] | |
| 10 | [...] ⸢GU₄⸣.UD ina MAŠ₂ GENNA ina HUN AN ina GIR₂.TAB ITU BI ILLU 1 KUŠ₃ LAL 21 na ITU BI [...] | |
| 11 | [ZIZ₂ 1 ... ina] ⸢še⸣-ri₃ ŠU₂.ŠU₂ IM ŠAR₂ KALAG GE₆ 3 DIR AN DIB 3 ma-diš ŠED₇ GE₆ 4 SAG GE₆ [...] | |
| 12 | [... GU₄.UD ina NIM ina] ⸢MAŠ₂⸣ ŠU₂ 5 ŠED₇ GE₆ 6 sin TUR₃ NIGIN SAG GE₆ sin ⸢ina⸣ [IGI] MUL₂.MUL₂ 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ ⸢GE₆⸣ [...] | |
| 13 | [... GE₆ 8 SAG GE₆ sin x] MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-še-pit₂-MAŠ.MAŠ [N] ⸢KUŠ₃ GE₆ 9 SAG⸣ GE₆ sin SIG MAŠ.[MAŠ-IGI x]+1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana [ŠU₂ LAL ...] | |
| 14 | [...] DIR AN ZA GE₆ 11+[x ... dele-bat SIG MUL₂]-KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu [N N ...] | |
| 15 | [...] [x] 5/6 KUŠ₃ 13 1 [ŠU₂ ... 14 N] na muš GE₆ 15 ⸢ina ZALAG₂⸣ [...] | |
| 16 | [...] ⸢x⸣ [...] [x] 3 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ [...] | |
| 17 | [...] ⸢x⸣ ina IGI ⸢x x⸣ [...] | |
| b.e. | ||
| 1 | na-ṣar ša₂ ⸢gi⸣-[ne₂-e ...] | |
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.