AD -257A (X202571)
Astronomical Diary, Hellenistic, Babylon · c. 330 BCE–141 BCE
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| Designation | AD -257A |
|---|---|
| ID | X202571 |
| Museum no. | BM 41851 |
| 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 24th, clouds crossed the sky [...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [...] passed?. The 27th, <moonrise to sunrise>: 9° 30'; clouds, I did not watch. Night of the 28th, [...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [...] 1 pānu 2 sūtu 4 1/2 qa, at the end of the month, pānu 2 i{sūtu}; mustard, [...] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [..., Venus was in] Gemini; Saturn was in Virgo; Mercury and Mars, which had set, [were not visible ...] |
| Obverse [5:7] o 6'6'–o 7'7' | [... That mon]th, the river level rose 1/2 cubit; 3 was the na na-gauge [...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [Month II, ... sou]th 6 cubits. The 4th, Mercury’s first appearance in the west in Gemini. Ni[ght ...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [...] rain DUL. Night of the 7th, clouds were in the sky. Night of the 8th, [...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [...] clouds were in the sky, gusty wind. Night of the 11th, clouds were in the sky, wind [...] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | [... Night of the 14th ...] 1 2/3 cubits; last part of the night, the moon was 1/2 cubit in front of ϑ Ophiuchi. Ni[ght ...] |
| Obverse [10:11] o 11'11'–o 11'11' | [... Night of the 16th, first part of the night, Venus was] 2/3 cubit [in front of] δ Cancri. Night of the 17th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] behind β [Capricorni ...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | [... Night of the 18th, last part of the night, the moon was ... above δ Capricorni,] the moon being 8 fingers back to the west. Night of the 23rd, last part of the night, the moon was [...] below η Pis[cium ...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | [... rain] shower. Night of the 26th, first part of the night, Venus was [...] below ε Leonis [...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | [...] 3 pānu 2 sūtu 4 qa; mustard, 1 kurru 3 sūtu [...] |
| Obverse [14:16] o 15'15'– | [...] ... That month, ... [...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'r 1'–r 1'r 1' | [...] That month, ZI IR [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | [... the moon?] being 1 cubit back to the west; Venus was [...] below [β/δ Scorpii ...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | [...] 1? cubit. Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | [... Night of the 14th, the moon was] 1 1/2 cubits [... η Piscium.] The 14th, moonset to sunrise: 1°. Night of the 1[5th, ...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [...] sunset to moonrise: [x]+1°. Night of the 17th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] in front of [α Tauri ...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | [...] 4 cubits. Night of the 19th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] |
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' | [...] [x] GE₆ 24 DIR ⸢AN DIB⸣ [...] | |
| 3' | [...] DIB 27 9.30 <KUR> DIR NU PAP GE₆ 28 [...] | |
| 4' | [...] 1(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) 4 1/2 qa ina TIL ITU 2(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) kas₃ [...] | |
| 5' | [... dele-bat ina] MAŠ.MAŠ GENNA ina ABSIN GU₄.UD u AN ša₂ ŠU₂-⸢u₂⸣ [NU IGI{meš} ...] | |
| 6' | [... ITU] ⸢BI⸣ ILLU 1/2 KUŠ₃ GIN 3 na [...] | |
| 7' | [GU₄ ...] ⸢ULU₃⸣ 6 KUŠ₃ 4 GU₄.UD ina ŠU₂ ina MAŠ.MAŠ IGI ⸢GE₆⸣ [...] | |
| 8' | [...] AN DUL-ha GE₆ 7 DIR AN ZA GE₆ 8 [...] | |
| 9' | [...] DIR AN ZA IM ŠAR₂ GE₆ 11 DIR AN ZA IM [...] | |
| 10' | [... GE₆ 14 ...] 1 2/3 KUŠ₃ ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-KIR₄-šil-PA 1/2 KUŠ₃ ⸢GE₆⸣ [...] | |
| 11' | [... GE₆ 16 USAN dele-bat ina IGI] ša₂ MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-ALLA-ša₂-ULU₃ 2/3 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 17 ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ ⸢SI⸣-[MAŠ₂ N N ...] | |
| 12' | [... GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin e MUL₂-ar₂-ša₂-SUHUR-MAŠ₂ N N] sin 8 U ana ŠU₂ LAL GE₆ 23 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-⸢DUR⸣-[nu-nu N N ...] | |
| 13' | [...] ⸢UTAH⸣ GE₆ 26 USAN dele-bat SIG SAG-[A N N ...] | |
| 14' | [...] 3(BARIG) 2(BAN₂) 4 qa kas₃ 1(GUR) 3(BAN₂) [...] | |
| 15' | [...] ⸢x⸣ ITU ⸢BI x⸣ [...] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [...] ITU BI ZI ⸢IR⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [... sin] 1 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ LAL dele-bat SIG MUL₂-[x-ša₂-SAG-GIR₂.TAB N N ...] | |
| 3' | [...] 1 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆ sin [...] | |
| 4' | [... GE₆ 14 sin x MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu] 1 1/2 KUŠ₃⸣ 14 1 ŠU₂ GE₆ 15 [...] | |
| 5' | [... x]+1 ⸢GE₆ GE₆⸣ 17 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI [is-le₁₀ N N ...] | |
| 6' | [...] 4 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 19 ina ZALAG₂ sin [...] | |
| 7' | [...] [...] | |
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.