-86B (X300862)
Astronomical Diary, Parthian, Babylon · c. 141 BCE–224 CE
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| Designation | -86B |
|---|---|
| ID | X300862 |
| Museum no. | BM 132273 |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Parthian · c. 141 BCE–224 CE |
| Genre | Astronomical Diary |
| Find spot | Babylon |
| Coordinates | 32.5434, 44.4222 |
English translation
By ORACC project adsd/adart3 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [...] were in the sky; last part of the ni[ght ...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [...] last part of the night, the moon was [...] below [...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 4'4'–o 4'4' | [...] 1/2 qa one-fourth ... [...] |
| Obverse [4:5] o 5'5'–o 5'5' | [...] 1/2 i{qa}; new ones, the 1st, 2nd, (and) 3rd, 5 i{sūtu}; the 4th ... [...] |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [...] one-fourth (and) half of one-fourth; mustard, 1 i{kurru}; cress, [...] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | [... x]+1/2 i{qa} one-fourth (and) half of one-fourth; wool, 2/3 mina. At [that time, ...] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | [... Mercury’s] first appearance [in the east in the beg]inning of Scorpius; Mars was in Leo. That month, the river level rose 8 fingers, total: 29 was the na (gauge). [That] month, [...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | [... the x]+3rd, the administrator of the Esangila and the Babylonians [provided] one [bull ...] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | [...] went out to the province of Media. That month, [...] |
| Obverse [10:12] o 11'11'–o 12'12' | [...] which? is above the Apadāna in Seleucia, as before. Day [...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | [Month VIII, ...], sunset to moonset: x° 30', measured. The 1st, Mercury’s first appearance in the east in the beginning of Scorpius; it was bright, rising of Mercury to sunrise: 16°, [(ideal) first appearance] on the 28th [of month VII ...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | [being nn cu]bits low to the south; last part of the night, Mars was 8 fingers above β Virginis. The 4th, very overcast. Night of the 5th, beginning of the night, the moon was [...] above [δ Capricorni ...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | [...] became stationary. Night of the 10th, beginning of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits in front of η Piscium, the moon being 4 cubits [low] to the south [... last part of the night,] |
| Obverse [14:15] o 15'15'–o 15'15' | [Mercury] was 20 fingers above β Scorpii. The 12th, gusty south and east winds blew; in the afternoon, very overcast. Night of the 13th, [...] |
| Obverse [15:16] o 16'16'–o 16'16' | [moonrise to sunset: nn°;] clouds, I did not watch; clouds were in the sky; first part of the night, a little rain shower. The 14th, moonset to sunrise: 5° 20'; I did not watch. Night of the 15th, sunset to moonrise: 1°; last part of the night, [...] |
| Obverse [16:17] o 17'17'–o 17'17' | [...] last part of the night, the moon was 1 1/2 cubits behind γ Geminorum, the moon being 1 cubit high to the north. Night of the 17th, last part of the night, the moon was [...] below β Geminorum [... Night of the 18th, last part of the night, the moon was (...)] |
| Obverse [17:18] o 18'18'–o 18'18' | it stood [nn] cubits [behind Jupiter] to the east. The 18th, sunset to setting of Venus: 8°. Night of the 19th, last part of the night, the moon was 5 cubits below ε Leonis, the moon having passed 1/2 cubit to the east ... [...] |
| Obverse [18:19] o 19'19'–o 19'19' | [Night of the 2]1st, last part of the night, the moon was 3 cubits in front of β Virginis. Night of the 22nd, last part of the night, the moon stood 1 cubit? in front of Mars to the west. Night of the 23rd, [...] |
| Obverse [19:20] o 20'20'–o 20'20' | [...] moonrise to sunrise: [x]+5°; it was bright, measured. The 28th, Venus’ first appearance in the east in Sagittarius; it was bright, rising of Venus to sunrise: 10°, (ideal) first appearance on the 24th. The 30th, clouds [...] the sky [...] |
| Obverse [20:21] o 21'21'–o 21'21' | [...] until the 6th, 5 sūtu 2 1/2 qa one-fourth; until the 15th, 5 sūtu 4 qa half of one-fourth; the 16th (and) 17th, 1 pānu; from the 18th [until ...] |
| Obverse [21:22] o 22'22'–o 22'22' | [...] one-fourth (and) half of one-fourth; from the 9th to the end? of the month? [...] wool, 2/3 mina [...] |
| Obverse [22:23] o 23'23'–o 23'23' | [... in] Scorpius; Mars ... [...] ... [...] rose 20? fingers, total: 20+[x was the na (gauge) ...] |
| Obverse [23:24] o 24'24'–o 24'24' | [...] ... [...] went and to ... [...] |
| Obverse [24:25] o 25'25'–o 25'25' | [...] ... unhappi[ness ...] |
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⸣ [...] | |
| 2' | [...] AN ZA ina ⸢ZALAG₂⸣ [...] | |
| 3' | [...] ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG ⸢MUL₂⸣ [...] | |
| 4' | [...] 1/2 qa 4-ʾu-u₂ ⸢x x⸣ [...] | |
| 5' | [...] 1/2 qa GIBIL{meš} 1 2 3 5(BAN₂) 4 x⸣ [...] | |
| 6' | [...] 4-ʾu-u₂ mi-šil 4-ʾu-u₂ kas₃ 1 ⸢GUR sah-le₁₀⸣ [...] | |
| 7' | [... n]+1/2 qa 4-ʾu-u₂ mi-šil 4-ʾu-u₂ SIG₂{hi.a} 2/3 MA.NA i-⸢nu⸣-[šu₂ ...] | |
| 8' | [... GU₄.UD ina NIM ina] ⸢SAG⸣ GIR₂.TAB IGI AN ina A ITU BI ILLU 8 SI GIN PAP 29 na ⸢ITU⸣ [BI ...] | |
| 9' | [... n]+3.KAM₂ {lu₂}ŠA₃.TAM E₂.SAG.IL₂ u {lu₂}E{ki}{meš} 1-⸢en⸣ [GU₄ ...] | |
| 10' | [...] ki ana {uru}mad-di-na-at ša₂ KUR ma-da-a-a E₃-a ITU BI I [...] | |
| 11' | [...] ⸢ša₂⸣ UGU E₂-ap-pa-dan ina {uru}se-lu-ke-ʾa-a GIM IGI-u₂ ⸢U₄⸣ [...] | |
| 12' | {[itu}APIN x] ⸢x⸣.30 na-su muš 1 GU₄.UD ina NIM ina SAG GIR₂.TAB IGI KUR 16 na-su in 28 [ša₂ {itu}DU₆ IGI ...] | |
| 13' | [x n ⸢KUŠ₃⸣ ana ULU₃ SIG ina ZALAG₂ AN e GIR₃-ar₂-ša₂-A 8 SI 4 ŠU₂.ŠU₂ GE₆ 5 SAG GE₆ sin e ⸢MUL₂⸣-[ar₂-ša₂-SUHUR-MAŠ₂ n n ...] | |
| 14' | [...] UŠ GE₆ 10 SAG GE₆ sin ina IGI MUL₂-KUR-ša₂-DUR-nu-nu 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 4 KUŠ₃ ana ULU₃ [SIG ... ina ZALAG₂] | |
| 15' | [GU₄.UD] ⸢e⸣ MUL₂-e-ša₂-SAG-GIR₂.TAB 20 SI 12 ULU₃ u KUR ŠAR₂{meš} GIN-uʾ ina KIN.SIG ŠU₂.ŠU₂ GE₆ 13 [...] | |
| 16' | n ME] DIR NU PAP DIR AN ZA USAN AN UTAH i-ṣa 14 5.20 ŠU₂ NU PAP GE₆ 15 1 GE₆ ina ⸢ZALAG₂⸣ [...] | |
| 17' | [x (x)] ina ZALAG₂ sin ar₂ MAŠ.MAŠ-ša₂-SIPA 1 1/2 KUŠ₃ sin 1 KUŠ₃ ana SI NIM GE₆ 17 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG MAŠ.MAŠ-⸢ar₂⸣ n n ... GE₆ 18 ina ZALAG₂ sin (...)] | |
| 18' | [ar₂ MUL₂.BABBAR n] KUŠ₃ ana NIM GUB 18 8 na dele-bat GE₆ 19 ina ZALAG₂ sin SIG SAG-A 5 KUŠ₃ sin 1/2 KUŠ₃ ana NIM DIB ⸢x⸣ [...] | |
| 19' | [GE₆] 21 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI GIR₃-ar₂-ša₂-A 3 KUŠ₃ GE₆ 22 ina ZALAG₂ sin ina IGI AN 1 KUŠ₃ ana ŠU₂ GUB GE₆ 23 [...] | |
| 20' | [x x x]+5 KUR KUR₄ ⸢muš⸣ 28 dele-bat ina NIM ina PA IGI KUR 10 UŠ na-su in 24 IGI 30 DIR AN [...] | |
| 21' | [...] EN 6 5(BAN₂) 2 1/2 qa 4-u₂ EN 15 5(BAN₂) 4 qa mi-šil 4-u₂ 16 17 1 PI TA 18 [EN ...] | |
| 22' | [...] 4-u₂ mi-šil 4-⸢u₂⸣ TA 9 EN ⸢TIL ITU⸣ [...] ⸢SIG₂⸣{hi.a} 2/3 MA.NA [...] | |
| 23' | [... ina] GIR₂.TAB AN ⸢x x⸣ [x x] ⸢x x x⸣ [...] 20 SI GIN PAP 20+[x na ...] | |
| 24' | [...] ⸢x⸣ [...] ⸢GIN⸣-am-ma ana x [...] | |
| 25' | [...] la ṭu-ub ⸢ŠA₃⸣ [...] | |
| 26' | [...] ⸢x x x⸣ [...] | |
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.