AD -254 (X202540)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -254 |
|---|---|
| ID | X202540 |
| Museum no. | BM 34728 + 35418 |
| 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' | [...] (blank) [...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [...] stood [to the ea]st?. Ni[ght of the nnth, beginning of the ni]ght, the moon was |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [... the moon ...] stood 2 cubits behind Jupiter? to the east |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [...] rain, PISAN DIB. The 12th, very overcast, heavy fog |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [...] moonset to sunrise: [nn°] 40'; dense clouds, I did not watch. The 15th, very overcast. |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [...] heavy fog. Night of the 17th, last part of the night, the moon was 3 cubits in front of α Leonis. |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [... Night of the 21st, last part of the night, the moon was] 2 cubits 8 fingers in front of α Virginis |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [... the disc of the sun] looked like that of the moon. The 24th, solstice; heavy fog |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [...] rain DUL. The 28th, moonrise to sunrise: 12° 30'; clouds, I did not watch. The 29th, Sirius’ acronychal rising. |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | [...] 1 pānu 4 sūtu; mustard, 1 kurru 2 pānu 3 sūtu; cress, 3 sūtu 3 qa; |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | [sesame, ...; wool, nn minas] were sold [f]or 1 shekel of silver. At that time, Jupiter was in the end of Aries; Venus was in Aquarius; around the 20th, Mercury’s last appearance in the west in Capricorn; |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | [around] the 29th, Mercury’s first appearance in the east in the end of Sagittarius; Saturn was in Scorpius; Mars was in Pisces?. That month, the river level rose 4 fingers, 24 was the na na-gauge. That month, the thieves |
| Obverse [12:14] o 13'13'– | [...] ... [...] ... and had taken things away from the property of Zababa and Ninlil in Babylon, |
| Bottom [0:3] b.e. 1b.e. 1– | were burned in Babylon. That month, there was heavy fog from the 12th to the end of the month. |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | Month X, the 1st (of which followed the 30th of the preceding month, sunset to moonset): 27° 30'; clouds, I did not watch. Night of the 1st, last part of the night, Saturn was 8 fingers above β Scorpii. Night of the 3rd, first part of the night, Mars was 1 5/6 cubits below η Piscium. Night of the 5th, beginning of the night, the moon |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | stood 1 cubit 8 fingers in front of Mars to the west, 1 cubit in front of η Piscium. Night of the 6th, beginning of the night, the moon was 5 1/2 cubits below α Arietis, the moon having passed a littleto the east. Night of the 7th, clouds were in the sky; |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | beginning of the night, the moon stood 2 cubits in front of Jupiter to the west. The 7th, clouds crossed the sky, rain, PISAN DIB. Night of the 8th, clouds crossed the sky, rain, PISAN DIB; beginning of the night, the moon was 1 cubit behind η Tauri. The 8th, clouds crossed the sky, |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | rain, PISAN DIB. Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the moon was 1 cubit below ζ Tauri. Night of the 11th, beginning of the night, the moon was 5/6 cubit behind μ Geminorum. Night of the 12th, clouds crossed the sky, cloudburst, PISAN DIB; |
| Reverse [4:5] r 55–r 55 | beginning of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits in front of β Geminorum. Night of the 13th, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 14th, moonrise to sunset: 12°, measured; beginning of the night, the moon was 2 1/2 cubits in front of ε Leonis. The 14th, moonset to sunrise: 3° 40'. Night of the 15th, sunset to moonrise: 2° 20'; |
| Reverse [5:6] r 66–r 66 | beginning of the night, the moon was 1 cubit below α Leonis, the moon being 1/2 cubit back to the west; first part of the night, Mars was 4 1/2 cubits below β Arietis. The 15th, sunrise to moonset: 8° 40', measured. Night of the 16th, the moon was surrounded by a halo; |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | last part of the night, the moon was 4 cubits below ϑ Leonis. Night of the 17th, clouds were in the sky. The 17th, gusty south storm. Night of the 18th, very overcast. The 18th, strong gusty south storm, rain DUL, |
| Reverse [7:8] r 88–r 88 | it thundered once. The 18th, Venus’ last appearance in the west in Aquarius. Night of the 19th, clouds were in the sky; last part of the night, the moon was 2 5/6 cubits behind α Virginis. The 19th, Venus’ first appearance in the east in Aquarius; clouds, I did not watch. |
| Reverse [8:9] r 99–r 99 | Night of the 20th, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 21st, clouds crossed the sky. Night of the 22nd, clouds were in the sky; last part of the night, the moon was 3 1/2 cubits above α Scorpii, the moon having passed 1/2 cubit to the east; last part of the night, Mercury was [...] below β Capricorni. |
| Reverse [9:10] r 1010–r 1010 | [... Night] of the 23rd, clouds were in the sky, gusty wind; last part of the night, the moon was 1 5/6 cubits behind ϑ Ophiuchi. Night of the 25th, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 26th, clouds crossed the sky. |
| Reverse [10:11] r 1111–r 1111 | [Night of the 27th, first part of the night, Mars was] 4 cubits [below? α] Arietis. The 27th, moonrise to sunrise: 13° 20'. The 28th, 56° before sunset, solar eclipse; when it began, in 12° daytime |
| Reverse [11:12] r 1212–r 1212 | [...] when it began [to cl]ear, it cleared from south to north in 11° daytime; 23° onset and clearing; during its eclipse blew the west wind which was slanted to the north. |
| Reverse [12:13] r 1313–r 1313 | [...] ... [... mustard, 1 kurru] 2 pānu 3 sūtu; cress, 3 sūtu 3 qa; sesame, 4 sūtu 3 qa; wool, 3 minas were sold for 1 shekel of silver. |
| Reverse [13:15] r 1414–r 1515 | [At that time, Jupiter and Mars were in Aries ... Venus’] last appearance [in the west] in Aquarius; Mercury was in Capricorn; Saturn was in Scorpius. That month, the river level rose 1/2 cubit, 21 was the na na-gauge. |
| Reverse [14:15] r 1515–r 1515 | [Month XI, (the 1st of which was identical with) the 30th (of the preceding month), ... Night of the 5th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 2 1/2 cubits [below?] Mars. Night of the 6th, beginning of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits below Jupiter, 1 cubit in front of η Tauri. |
| Reverse [15:16] r 1616–r 1616 | [... Night of] the 8th?, the moon was surrounded by a halo. Night of the 9th, very overcast, gusty wind. The 9th, clouds crossed the sky, rain, PISAN DIB. |
| Reverse [16:17] r 1717–r 1717 | [...] cubits?. The 13th, Mercury’s last appearance in the east in Aquarius. Night of the 14th, monrise to sunset?: 8°; I did not? [watch.] |
| Left [0:1] l.e. 1l.e. 1–l.e. 1l.e. 1 | [Diary from month ...] |
| Left [1:2] l.e. 22–l.e. 22 | to [the end of month ... of year 57, ...] |
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' | [...] [...] | |
| 2' | [... ana] ⸢NIM⸣ GUB ⸢GE₆⸣ [N SAG] ⸢GE₆⸣ sin | |
| 3' | [...] ana NIM GUB ⸢ar₂ MUL₂.BABBAR⸣ 2 KUŠ₃ | |
| 4' | [...] AN PISAN DIB 12 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ IM.DUGUD.DUGUD | |
| 5' | [...]+40 ŠU₂ DIR KALAG NU PAP 15 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ | |
| 6' | [... IM].DUGUD.DUGUD GE₆ 17 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI LUGAL 3 KUŠ₃ | |
| 7' | [... GE₆ 21 ina ZALAG₂ sin] ⸢ina⸣ IGI SA₄-ša₂-ABSIN 2 KUŠ₃ 8 SI | |
| 8' | [... HAB-rat šamaš₂ GIM] ⸢ša₂ sin⸣ ina-an-ṭal 24 šamaš₂ GUB IM.DUGUD IDIM | |
| 9' | [...] AN DUL 28 12.30 ⸢KUR⸣ DIR NU PAP 29 {mul₂}KAK.BAN ana ME E-a | |
| 10' | [...] 1(BARIG) 4(BAN₂) kas₃ 1(GUR) 2(BARIG) 3(BAN₂) ⸢sah-le₁₀⸣ 3(BAN₂) 3 qa | |
| 11' | [ŠE.GIŠ.I₃ ... SIG₂{hi.a} N MA.NA a]-na 1 GIN₂ ⸢KU₃.BABBAR⸣ ep₂-šu₂ i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR ina TIL HUN dele-bat ina GU in 20 GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ ina MAŠ₂ ŠU₂ | |
| 12' | [in] 29 GU₄.⸢UD⸣ ina NIM ina TIL PA IGI ⸢GENNA⸣ ina GIR₂.TAB AN ina zib{me} ITU BI ILLU 4 SI GIN 24 na ITU BI {lu₂}šar-ra-qu | |
| 13' | [x x] ⸢x⸣ [x MU] IGI-ri-⸢it⸣ in-[x]-ši-ma ina NIG₂.GA {d}za-ba₄-ba₄ u {d}NIN.LIL₂ ša₂ ina E{ki} ta-bal | |
| b.e. | ||
| 1 | it-bal-lu-uʾ ina E{ki} ina IZI qa-lu-u₂ ITU BI TA 12 EN TIL ITU IM.DUGUD.DUGUD | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ⸢AB⸣ 1 27.30 DIR NU PAP GE₆ 1 ina ZALAG₂ GENNA e MUL₂-e-ša₂-SAG-GIR₂.TAB 8 SI GE₆ 3 USAN AN SIG MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu 1 5/6 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 5 SAG GE₆ sin ina IGI | |
| 2 | AN 1 KUŠ₃ 8 SI ana ŠU₂ GUB ina IGI MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu 1 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 6 SAG GE₆ sin SIG MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-SAG-HUN 5 1/2 KUŠ₃ i-ṣa sin ana NIM DIB GE₆ 7 DIR AN ZA | |
| 3 | SAG GE₆ sin ina IGI MUL₂.BABBAR 2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ GUB 7 DIR AN DIB AN PISAN DIB GE₆ 8 DIR AN DIB AN PISAN DIB SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ MUL₂.MUL₂ 1 KUŠ₃ 8 DIR AN DIB | |
| 4 | AN ⸢PISAN DIB⸣ GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆ sin SIG ŠUR-GIGIR-ša₂-ULU₃ 1 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 11 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂ MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-še-pit₂-MAŠ.MAŠ 5/6 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 12 DIR AN DIB AN rad PISAN DIB | |
| 5 | SAG GE₆ sin ina IGI MAŠ.MAŠ-ar₂ 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 13 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 14 12 ME muš SAG GE₆ sin ina IGI SAG-A 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ 14 3.40 ŠU₂ GE₆ 15 2.20 GE₆ | |
| 6 | SAG GE₆ sin SIG LUGAL 1 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ ⸢LAL⸣ USAN AN SIG MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SAG-HUN 4 1/2 KUŠ₃ 15 8.40 na muš GE₆ 16 sin TUR₃ NIGIN | |
| 7 | ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG GIŠ.KUN-A 4 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 17 DIR AN ZA 17 me-hu-u₂ ULU₃ ŠAR₂ GE₆ 18 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ 18 me-hu-u₂ ULU₃ ŠAR₂ KALAG AN DUL-hat | |
| 8 | U 1-en-šu₂ GU₃-šu₂ ŠUB-di 18 dele-bat ina ŠU₂ [ina] GU ŠU₂ GE₆ 19 DIR AN ZA ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ SA₄-ša₂-ABSIN 2 5/6 KUŠ₃ 19 dele-bat ina NIM ina GU IGI DIR NU PAP | |
| 9 | ⸢GE₆⸣ 20 DIR AN ZA ⸢GE₆ 21 DIR⸣ AN DIB GE₆ 22 DIR AN ZA ina ⸢ZALAG₂⸣ sin e SI₄ 3 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM DIB ina ZALAG₂ GU₄.UD SIG SI-MAŠ₂ | |
| 10 | [N N ... GE₆] 23 DIR AN ZA IM ŠAR₂ ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-KIR₄-šil-PA 1 5/6 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 25 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 26 DIR AN DIB | |
| 11 | [GE₆ 27 USAN AN SIG MUL₂-ar₂]-ša₂-SAG-HUN 4 KUŠ₃ 27 13.20 KUR 28 56 ME ana ŠU₂ šamaš₂ šamaš₂ AN.KU₁₀ ki TAB-u₂ ina 12 ME | |
| 12 | [...] ⸢ZALAG₂ ki⸣ TAB-u₂ ina 11 ME TA ULU₃ ana SI ZALAG₂-ir 23 GAR u ZALAG₂-ru ina AN.KU₁₀-šu₂ MAR ša₂ ana SI ṣal-pu GIN | |
| 13 | [...] ⸢x⸣ [x kas₃ 1(GUR) 2(BARIG) 3(BAN₂) sah-le₁₀ 3(BAN₂) 3 qa ŠE.GIŠ.I₃ 4(BAN₂) 3 qa SIG₂{hi.a} 3 MA.NA a-na 1 GIN₂ KU₃.BABBAR ep₂-šu₂ | |
| 14 | [i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR u AN ina HUN ... dele-bat ina ŠU₂] ina GU ŠU₂ GU₄.UD ina MAŠ₂ GENNA ina GIR₂.TAB ITU BI ILLU 1/2 KUŠ₃ GIN 21 na | |
| 15 | [ZIZ₂ 30 ... GE₆ 5 SAG GE₆ sin SIG] ⸢AN⸣ 2 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 6 SAG GE₆ sin SIG MUL₂.BABBAR 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ina IGI MUL₂.MUL₂ 1 KUŠ₃ | |
| 16 | [... GE₆] 8 sin TUR₃ NIGIN GE₆ 9 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ IM ŠAR₂ 9 DIR AN DIB AN PISAN DIB | |
| 17 | [...] ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ 13 GU₄.UD ina NIM ina GU ŠU₂ GE₆ 14 8 ⸢ME⸣ NU [PAP] | |
| 18 | [...] ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| l.e. | ||
| 1 | [EN.NUN ša₂ gi-ne₂-e ša₂ TA x] | |
| 2 | EN [TIL x ša₂ MU.57.KAM₂ ...] | |
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.