AD -256 (X202560)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -256 |
|---|---|
| ID | X202560 |
| Museum no. | BM 45763 + 45960 |
| 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' | [...;] wool, 1 mina [were sold] for 1 shekel of sil[ver ...] |
| Obverse [1:3] o 2'2'–o 3'3' | [... cubi]ts; [nn] was the na (gauge). |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [Month II, ...] ... dense clouds, I did not watch. Night of the 2nd, clouds were in the sky. The 2nd, locusts [...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [... Night of the 4th, be]ginning of the night, the moon was 2 cubits below α Leonis, the moon being 1/2 cubit back to the west [...] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [... Ma]rs’ acronychal rising; very overcast, gusty wind, rain [...] ... [...] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [...] ... strong gusty wind. Night of the 12th, clouds were in the sky [...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [...] measured. Night of the 14th, last part of the night, Venus was [...] below η Tauri [...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [... nn] cubits. The 18th, in the afternoon, very overcast, gusty wind [...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [... Sat]urn became stationary in the end of Virgo. Night of the 20+[xth, ...] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | [...] Night of the 29th, last part of the night, Venus was [...] above α Tau[ri ...] |
| Obverse [10:12] o 11'11'–o 12'12' | [... At that time, Jupiter was in Aquarius;] Venus was in Aries, in the middle of the month, in Taurus; Mercu[ry ...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | [Month III, ...] 15°? 30' [...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | [... Night of the 7th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 2 [fingers ...] α Virginis, [the moon being ...] back to the west; ... [...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | [... Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the moon was] 4 fingers [...] β Scorpii. The 10th, Jupiter became stationary in Aquarius. [...] |
| Obverse [14:15] o 15'15'–o 15'15' | [... Mercury’s] last appearance in the west in Cancer. The 14th, sunrise to moonset: 10° 30'. Night of the 15th, [...:] 6? [...] |
| Obverse [15:16] o 16'16'–o 16'16' | [... Venus was] 4 fingers [... η/μ ] Geminorum. Night of the 20th, last part of the night, Venus was [...] above γ Geminorum. [...] |
| Obverse [16:17] o 17'17'–o 17'17' | [... Night of the 25th, last part of the night, the moon was] 2/3? behind α Tauri. The 25th, solstice; I did not watch. Night of the 26th, last [part of the night, ...] |
| Obverse [17:18] o 18'18'–o 18'18' | [... the equivalent was: bar]ley, 1 pānu; dates, 1 pānu 2 sūtu 3 qa; mustard, 3 pānu; cress, ... [...] |
| Obverse [18:19] o 19'19'–o 19'19' | [...] That month, the river level receded 1/2 cubit; 16 was the na (gauge). That month, night of the 1st, [...] |
| Obverse [19:21] o 20'20'–o 21'21' | [...] the ritual of "When Adad to the palace [..." ...] |
| Obverse [20:21] o 21'21'–o 21'21' | [Month IV, ...] mist, when I watched I did not see it. Night of the 4th?, ... [...] |
| Obverse [21:22] o 22'22'–o 22'22' | [... begin]ning of the night, the moon was be[hind? ...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'r 1'–r 1'r 1' | [... clouds, I did not watch. Night of the 15th, sunset to moonrise: [...;] clouds?, I did n[ot watch? ...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | [... Night of the 18th, last part of the night,] the moon was 1 1/2 cubits in front of α Virginis [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | [... Ni]ght of the 22nd, last part of the night, the moon was 2 1/2 cubits behind α Scorpii [...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | [...] The 28th, clouds were in the sky. The 29th, clouds [...] the sk[y ...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [...] ... [... At that] time, Jupiter was in Aquarius; Venus was in Cancer, at the end [of the month, ...] |
| Reverse [5:7] r 6'6'–r 7'7' | [... the river level] rose 1/2 cubit [...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | [Month XI, (the 1st of which was identical with) the 30th (of the preceding month); ...] sunset to moonset: 10°; clouds [...] clouds crossed the sky, rain, PISAN DIB. The 1st, Mercury’s [last appearance] in the west [in Aquarius; ...] clouds crossed the sky, rain DUL. Night of the 3rd, the moon was [...] in front of [Venus ... Night of the 5th, beginning of the night, the moon was] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | 1 2/3 cubits [behind η Pis]cium, it stood 3 [cubits] behind Mars to the east. Night of the 7th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] below η Tauri, the moon being 1/2 cubit back to the west. Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the mo[on ...] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | [Night of the 11th, first part of the night,] Mars was [nn] cubits below η Piscium. The 11th (and) 12th, cold. Night of the 13th, begin[ning of the night, the moon was] 1 cubit behind ε Leonis. The 13th, cold. Night of the 14th, [...] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | [...] Night of the 15th, sunset to moonrise: 5° 20'; measured (despite) clouds; last part of the night, the moon was 2/3 cubit in front of β Virginis. The 15th, sunrise to moonset: 9°, measured. The 15th, Saturn became stationary in Libra. Night of the 16th, first part of the night, Venus was [...] below [η Piscium ...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | [The 16th?, Mercury’s] first appearance [in the ea]st in Aquarius. Night of the 17th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits behind α Virginis. Night of the 18th, last part of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits [in front of] α Librae, [it stood] ... in front of Saturn [to the west ...] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | [The 19th?, Jupiter]’s last appearance in the beginning of Pisces. Night of the 20th, last part of the night, the moon was 2/3 cubit behind α Scorpii. Night of the 21st, clouds were in the sky. [Night] of the 22nd, first part of the night, Mars was [...] below α [Arietis ...] |
| Reverse [12:13] r 13'13'–r 13'13' | [... first part of the night, Venus was] 3 cubits below β Arietis. The 23rd, clouds crossed the sky, rain DUL. Night of the 24th, [...] ... [...] |
| Reverse [13:14] r 14'14'–r 14'14' | [... Venus was] 4 cubits [below] α Arietis; first part of the night, Venus was 4 fingers above Mars. Night of the 27th, gusty wind. The 27th, cold. Ni[ght ...] |
| Reverse [14:15] r 15'15'–r 15'15' | [...] the equivalent (for 1 shekel of silver was): barley, 4 sūtu; dates, 1 pānu 2 sūtu 3 qa, at the end of the month, 1 pānu 1 sūtu 3 qa [...] |
| Reverse [15:16] r 16'16'–r 16'16' | [... Mercury’s] first appearance in the east in Aquarius; Saturn was in Libra; Mars was in Pisces, in the middle of the month in [Aries ...] |
| Reverse [16:18] r 17'17'–r 18'18' | [...] occurred in the district of TE.E. |
| Reverse [17:18] r 18'18'–r 18'18' | [Month XII, ...] the moon was ⸢x⸣ cubits [...] η Piscium [...] |
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' | [...] ⸢SIG₂⸣{hi.a} 1 ⸢MA⸣.NA a-na 1 GIN₂ ⸢KU₃⸣.[BABBAR ...] | |
| 2' | [...] ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ [N] na | |
| 3' | [GU₄ ...] [x] DIR KALAG NU PAP GE₆ 2 DIR AN ZA 2 BURU₅{hi.a} [...] | |
| 4' | [... GE₆ 4 ⸢SAG⸣ GE₆ sin SIG ⸢LUGAL⸣ 2 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ⸢ŠU₂ LAL⸣ [...] | |
| 5' | [...] ⸢AN⸣ ana ME E-a ŠU₂.ŠU₂ IM ŠAR₂ AN [...] [x] [...] | |
| 6' | [...] [x] IM ŠAR₂ KALAG GE₆ 12 DIR AN ZA [...] | |
| 7' | [...] muš GE₆ 14 ina ZALAG₂ dele-bat SIG MUL₂.[MUL₂ N N ...] | |
| 8' | [... N] KUŠ₃ 18 ina KIN.SIG ŠU₂.ŠU₂ IM ŠAR₂ [...] | |
| 9' | [...] ⸢GENNA⸣ ina TIL ABSIN UŠ GE₆ 20+[x ...] | |
| 10' | [...] GE₆ 29 ina ZALAG₂ dele-bat e is-⸢le₁₀⸣ [N N ...] | |
| 11' | [... i-nu-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR ina GU] dele-bat ina HUN ina MURUB₄ ITU ina MUL₂.MUL₂ GU₄.⸢UD⸣ [...] | |
| 12' | [SIG ...] 15.30 [...] | |
| 13' | [... GE₆ 7 SAG GE₆ sin x] ⸢SA₄⸣-ša₂-ABSIN 2 [SI sin N N] ana ŠU₂ LAL ŠU₂ [x] [...] | |
| 14' | [... GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆ sin x] ⸢MUL₂⸣-e-ša₂-SAG-GIR₂.TAB 4 SI 10 MUL₂.BABBAR ina GU ⸢UŠ⸣ [...] | |
| 15' | [... GU₄.UD ina] ŠU₂ ina ALLA ŠU₂ 14 10.30 na GE₆ 15 6 [...] | |
| 16' | [... dele-bat x MUL₂-x-ša₂]-še-pit₂-MAŠ.MAŠ 4 U GE₆ 20 ina ZALAG₂ dele-bat e MAŠ.MAŠ-ša₂-⸢SIPA⸣ [N N ...] | |
| 17' | [... GE₆ 25 ina ZALAG₂ sin] ⸢ar₂⸣ is-le₁₀ 2/3 KUŠ₃ 25 šamaš₂ GUB NU PAP GE₆ 26 ina [ZALAG₂ ...] | |
| 18' | [... KI.LAM še]-im 1 PI ZU₂ 1(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) 3 qa kas₃ 3(BARIG) PI sah [...] | |
| 19' | [...] ⸢ITU⸣ BI ILLU 1/2 KUŠ₃ LAL 16 na ITU BI GE₆ 1 [...] | |
| 20' | [...] ne₂-pe-šu₂ ša₂ e-nu-ma {d}IM ana E₂.GAL [...] | |
| 21' | [ŠU ...] a-kam₂ ki PAP NU IGI GE₆ [x x] [...] | |
| 22' | [...] ⸢SAG⸣ GE₆ sin ⸢ar₂⸣ [...] | |
| 23' | [...] [x x] [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [...] ⸢DIR⸣ NU PAP GE₆ 15 [x] ⸢GE₆⸣ DIR ⸢NU⸣ [PAP ...] | |
| 2' | [... GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂] sin ina IGI SA₄-ša₂-ABSIN 1 1/2 ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ [...] | |
| 3' | [...] ⸢GE₆⸣ 22 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ SI₄ 2 1/2 ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ [...] | |
| 4' | [...] 28 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 29 DIR ⸢AN⸣ [...] | |
| 5' | [...] [x x] [... i-nu]-šu₂ MUL₂.BABBAR ina GU dele-bat ina ALLA ina TIL [ITU ...] | |
| 6' | [...] 1/2 KUŠ₃ GIN [...] | |
| 7' | [ZIZ₂ 30 ...] 10 na-su DIR [x x] DIR AN DIB ⸢AN⸣ PISAN DIB 1 GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ [ina GU ŠU₂ ...] DIR AN DIB AN DUL-hat GE₆ 3 sin ina IGI [dele-bat N N ... GE₆ 5 SAG GE₆ sin ar₂] | |
| 8' | [MUL₂-KUR-ša₂]-⸢DUR⸣-nu-nu 1 2/3 KUŠ₃ ar₂ AN 3 [KUŠ₃ ana] ⸢NIM⸣ GUB GE₆ 7 SAG GE₆ sin SIG ⸢MUL₂⸣.[MUL₂ N N] sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆ ⸢sin⸣ [...] | |
| 9' | [GE₆ 11 USAN] AN SIG MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu [N] ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ 11 12 ŠED₇ GE₆ 13 ⸢SAG⸣ [GE₆ sin] ar₂ SAG-A 1 KUŠ₃ 13 ŠED₇ GE₆ 14 [...] | |
| 10' | [...] GE₆ 15 5.20 GE₆ DIR muš ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI GIR₃-ar₂-ša₂-A 2/3 KUŠ₃ 15 9 na ⸢muš 15 GENNA ina RIN₂ UŠ GE₆ 16 USAN dele-bat SIG [MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu N N ...] | |
| 11' | 16 GU₄.UD ina] ⸢NIM⸣ ina GU IGI GE₆ 17 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ SA₄-ša₂-ABSIN 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin [ina IGI] RIN₂-ša₂-ULU₃ 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ ina IGI GENNA ⸢x⸣ [N ana ŠU₂ GUB ...] | |
| 12' | 19 MUL₂].⸢BABBAR⸣ ina SAG zib{me} ŠU₂ GE₆ 20 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ SI₄ 2/3 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 21 DIR AN ZA [GE₆] 22 USAN AN SIG MUL₂-[ar₂-ša₂-SAG-HUN N N ...] | |
| 13' | [... USAN dele-bat] SIG MUL₂-IGI-ša₂-SAG-HUN 3 KUŠ₃ 23 DIR AN DIB AN DUL-hat GE₆ 24 [x x] ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 14' | [... dele-bat SIG] ⸢MUL₂⸣-ar₂-ša₂-SAG-HUN 4 KUŠ₃ USAN dele-bat e AN 4 U GE₆ 27 IM ŠAR₂ 27 ŠED₇ ⸢GE₆⸣ [...] | |
| 15' | [...] KI.LAM še-im 4(BAN₂) ZU₂ 1(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) 3 qa ina TIL ITU 1(BARIG) 1(BAN₂) 3 qa [...] | |
| 16' | [... GU₄.UD ina] ⸢NIM⸣ ina GU IGI GENNA ina RIN₂ AN ina zib{me} ina MURUB₄ ⸢ITU⸣ ina [HUN ...] | |
| 17' | [... IZI.ŠUB] ina KI TE.E{ki} GAL₂-ši | |
| 18' | [ŠE ...] ⸢sin⸣ [x] ⸢MUL₂⸣-KUR-ša₂-⸢DUR-nu-nu x KUŠ₃⸣ [...] | |
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.