AD -248 (X202480)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -248 |
|---|---|
| ID | X202480 |
| Museum no. | BM 45723 |
| 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' | [... Mercury’s first appearance in the west in ..., sunset to setting of Mercury: nn°]; I did not watch; (ideal) first appearance on the 6th. Night of the 8th, beginning [of the night, ...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [... Mer]cury was 4 cubits above α Tauri; very overcast. The 12th, moonset to sunrise: 6° 10'; clouds, I did not [watch ...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [... around] noon, rain DUL; lunar eclipse, (at) five months (distance), ... omitted; at 39° before sunset. Night [...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [... Night of the 15th, last part of the night, the moon was] 1 2/3 cubits [... ϑ] Ophiuchi. Night of the 17th, last part of the night, Venus was [...] below η Pis[cium ...] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [... Night of the 19th, last part of the night, the moon was ... β Capricorni,] it stood 1 1/2 cubits [behind] Saturn to the east. Night of the 20th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] in front of γ Capricorni [...] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [... first part of the night,] Mercury was 2 cubits above ζ Tauri; last part of the night, Venus was [...] below β Arie[tis ...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [... Ni]ght of the 27th, clouds crossed the sky; middle of the night, rain DUL; last part of the night, Venus was [...] below α Arie[tis ...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [... Mercury was] 1 cubit 6? fingers [...] η Geminorum. The 28th, clouds were in the sky; 90° daytime [... solar eclipse ...] |
| Obverse [8:10] o 9'9'– | [...] ... [...] onset and clearing; during its eclipse, [...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'r 1'–r 1'r 1' | [...] ... Night of the 28th, last part of the night? [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | [...] Night of the 29th, solar eclipse, ..., omitted [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | [... were] sold [for 1 shekel of silver.] At that time, Jupiter, in the beginning of the month, was in Virgo, at the end [of the month, ...] |
| Reverse [3:5] r 4'4'–r 5'5' | [...] That [month,] pregnant women died in childbirth ... [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [Month VIII, ... Jupiter’s first appearance in Libra, rising of Jupiter to sun]rise: [nn°]; (ideal) first appearance on the 29th of month VII [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | [...] The 7th?, Mercury [...] |
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' | [... GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ ina x IGI N na]-⸢su⸣ NU ⸢PAP⸣ in 6 IGI GE₆ 8 SAG [GE₆ ...] | |
| 2' | [...] ⸢GU₄⸣.UD e is-le₁₀ 4 KUŠ₃ ŠU₂.ŠU₂ 12 6.10 ŠU₂ DIR ⸢NU⸣ [PAP ...] | |
| 3' | [... AN].BAR₇ AN DUL AN.KU₁₀ sin 5 AB₂ BAR DIB in 39 ME ana ŠU₂ ⸢šamaš₂ GE₆⸣ [...] | |
| 4' | [... GE₆ 15 ina ZALAG₂ sin x MUL₂-KUR]-⸢ša₂⸣-KIR₄-šil-PA 1 2/3 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 17 ina ZALAG₂ dele-bat SIG MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-DUR-⸢nu⸣-[nu N N ...] | |
| 5' | [... GE₆ 19 ina ZALAG₂ sin x SI-MAŠ₂ N N ar₂] GENNA 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM GUB GE₆ 20 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-⸢SUHUR⸣-[MAŠ₂ N N ...] | |
| 6' | [... USAN] GU₄.UD e ŠUR-GIGIR-ša₂-ULU₃ 2 KUŠ₃ ina ZALAG₂ dele-bat SIG MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-[SAG-HUN N N ...] | |
| 7' | [...] ⸢GE₆⸣ 27 DIR AN DIB MURUB₄ AN DUL [ina] ⸢ZALAG₂⸣ dele-bat SIG MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-[SAG-HUN N N ...] | |
| 8' | [... GU₄.UD x MUL₂]-⸢IGI⸣-ša₂-še-pit₂-MAŠ.MAŠ 1 KUŠ₃ 6 SI 28 DIR AN ZA 1.30 ME [... AN.KU₁₀ šamaš₂ ...] | |
| 9' | [...] [x x] ⸢GAR⸣ u ZALAG₂ ina AN.KU₁₀-šu₂ [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [...] [x] ⸢GE₆ 28 ina ZALAG₂⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [...] ⸢GE₆⸣ 29 AN.KU₁₀ šamaš₂ ⸢BAR DIB⸣ [...] | |
| 3' | [... a-na 1 GIN₂ KU₃.BABBAR] ⸢ep₂⸣-šu₂ i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR ina SAG ITU ina ABSIN ina TIL [ITU ...] | |
| 4' | [... ITU] BI {sal}PEŠ₄{meš} ina U₃.TU UŠ₂{meš}⸢ma⸣ [...] | |
| 5' | [APIN ... MUL₂.BABBAR ina RIN₂ IGI N na]-⸢su⸣ in 29 ša₂ ⸢DU₆ IGI⸣ [...] | |
| 6' | [...] 7 GU₄.UD [...] | |
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.