Rear - Line 5

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Hand drawing below by Ernst F. Weidner (1952)


ZIZ2U.U.UU.U.UNAMMAHIGIU4U.U.UNALAGABDUINUŠU2ANSAGMEŠA2UBKIMUŠDIŠU2ŠA2PA??


Transliteration:

ZIZ2 30 sin ina SIM.MAḪ IGI 14.30 NA SI DU i-nu-šu2 dSAG.ME.GAR ar2 ki-ṣir DIŠ.KUŠ3 ša2 PA.BI[L.SAG ...]

Translation - by P.V. Neugebauer and E. F. Weidner (1915) edited by Hermann Hunger (1988)

Month XI, (the 1st of which was identical with) the 30th (of the preceding month), the moon became visible in the Swallow; sunset to moonset: 14° 30'; the north wind blew. At that time, Jupiter was 1 cubit behind the elbow of Sagittarius [...]

Note A

sunset to moonset: 14°30'

See the article Timed Events

Note B

At that time Jupiter was 1 cubit behind

Remember the last time At that time was used? It was translated to refer to something that was visible at the time of Moon set.
On this day in 567 BC "at that time" Jupiter was well below the horizon. It became visible at 3:15am.

In 588 BC where the observer is using an alias for Mars, it can be seen "at that time" as you would expect it to mean.

Note C

"the elbow of"

ki-ṣirkiṣru - This word has multiple meanings:
Knot (for magical purposes);
Rent (payment), hire of persons;
Joint of the human or animal body, finger joints, elbows;
Anger, wrath of gods;
Section or region, "the middle star of the first section of Sagittarius";
NOTE: the only time in Astronomical Diaries the meaning "the middle star of the first section of Sagittarius" is used is on VAT 4956.
Meteorite;
(an astron. term) the amount above/below the point in a linear zigzag function;
pasāsu , pašāṭu (pāšittu) - mulKA.MUŠ.NI.KU2.E - Alias for Venus, Saturn or Mars - P. Felix Gössman; Planetarium Babylonicum (1950) pg 85-86

The word kiṣru could be referring to a section of a constellation rather than the elbow specifically.

Note D

Sagittarius [ ... ]

Does the tablet say Sagittarius? Below is a picture of the end of line 5, followed by the other two occurrences of the NE symbol on the tablet

This is a photo of the end of line 5
The red x marks where the missing horizontal wedge should be. These are indicated by the red arrows on the following photos.
The purple arrow shows a mark which could have been left by a vertical wedge, it is not expected to be there if the symbol was BIL
Note: The horizontal wedge that appears lower is part of the symbol below.
This is a photo of the BIL symbol found on line 3.
The red arrow indicated where the horizontal wedge is that is missing on line 5.
This is a photo of the same symbol (translated as NE) found on Front line 5 of the tablet

Photo credit: Olaf M. Teßmer, Vorderasiatisches Museum

The red arrow on the two other occurrences show what appears to be missing on the end of line 5 to make it read (BIL).
It could be the start of the name mulSIBA.ZI.AN.NA

This can refer to the Pleiades (P. Felix Gössman; Planetarium Babylonicum (1950) pg 130-131) which is above Mars on the day indicated on the dairy in 587 BC

Note E

Moon position 8

the moon became visible in the Swallow


in the Swallow Moon Swallow
BC587-02-22 18:00 1507074.12500 in
BC567-02-12 18:10 1514369.13194 in

Position 7 | Position 8 | Position 9

588 BC #8 | 568 BC #8

Note F

SymbolSyllablesMeanings
ZIZ2 Šabāṭu: Shebat, eleventh month
ušu3
ba3
es2
sin
šalāšā: thirty, 30
half

the moon
ušu3
ba3
es2
sin
šalāšā: thirty, 30
half

the moon

DIL
DILI
RUM
ina
one

single
SIM.MAH identified as:
Capricornus E
Aquarius W
Andromeda
β η ξ Cetus
ε ζ ξ Pegasus & α Aquarius
Northern fish
Southern fish
Alias or code-name for Mars
- P. Felix Gössman; Planetarium Babylonicum (1950) pg 213-214
IGI naṭālu: (to be able) to see , to look at, to gaze ; to observe (the sky); to be visible;
ina maḫar: before (someone), in the presence, in front of - The Assyrian Dictionary, Volume 10, M, Part I, (1977) pg 106
14 fourteen
ušu3
ba3
es2
sin
šalāšā: thirty, 30
half

the moon
NA do, sky, be, heaven, man, not, lie,
LAGAB
RI3
GUR4
niĝin2
ellag
KUR4
block; excess

thick
encircle, total
bibbu: Mercury
KUR4 = ba'lu which means either ba'ālu: to be abnormally large, to become bright or shine brightly;
or ba'ūlu: great, important; - The Assyrian Dictionary, Volume 2, B (1965) pg 1, 184
DU
DE6
GUB
TUM6
go
bring
stand, sheep
I.NU.SU2 translated as: At that time
AN
DINGIR
ILU
Sky, Heaven, Mars
Deity, Determinative for a deity
God
SAG.ME.GAR Usual name for Jupiter - used in 588 BC to conceal the identity of Mars.
UB Translated as: behind;
tubqu: a corner.
KI.MUS
ki.şir
kiṣru - This word has multiple meanings:
Knot (for magical purposes);
Rent (payment), hire of persons;
Joint of the human or animal body, finger joints, elbows;
Anger, wrath of gods;
Section or region, "the middle star of the first section of Sagittarius";
NOTE: the only time in Astronomical Diaries the meaning "the middle star of the first section of Sagittarius" is used is on VAT 4956.
Meteorite;
(an astron. term) the amount above/below the point in a linear zigzag function;
pasāsu , pašāṭu (pāšittu) - mulKA.MUŠ.NI.KU2.E - Alias for Venus, Saturn or Mars - P. Felix Gössman; Planetarium Babylonicum (1950) pg 85-86
DIŠ Constantly, always, one, sixty,
if
U2
kuš3
load, horn
unit
ĝar
niĝ2
ša2
Place
Thing
of
PA PA
?? ??

Note G

A. The moon observations.

11. On I Sebat the moon became visible in southern Pisces of the zodiac. 58m visibility duration after sunset (Rs. 5).
New Moon — 566 February 11, 8h morning. the 1 Sebat begins February 12, evening.
— 566 February 12, 6h evening:

  • Moon λ = 334°.0 ß = -5°.0
  • Southern Fish λ = 318° ß = +7°

The western part of Pisces, bordering on Aquarius, bounded by the stars ω, ϑ, ß, γ, λ piscium, is located at α = 350°, δ = +3° (1900). The approximate location for -567 is λ = 318°, ß = +7°.

☉ U 5h.66,- ☾ U = 6h.86; time difference between setting of the sun and setting of the moon 72m.
Zu kakkabSIM-MAḪ = Southern Pisces of the Zodiac s. Weidxee, Älter und Bedeutung der Babylon. Astronotnie, p. 43ff. and below p. 85.

TRANSLATION FROM: Paul V. Neugebauer und Ernst F. Weidner (1915) Ein astronomischer Beobachtungstext aus dem 37. Jahre Nebukadnezars II (- 567/66).

Modern Results

SkyCharts
  • BC567-02-12 18h00m00s ( +03 )
  • Moon: L: +332°59'07" (+332.98°) B:-05°13'07" (-05.21°)
  • γ Piscium: L: +315°20'51" (+315.34°) B:+07°31'06" (+07.51°)
  • ΔT 18195.85s ( 05h03m15.85s )
  • γ Piscium (1900): L: +350°02'29" (+350.04°) B:+07°15'59" (+07.26°)
  • New moon: -566 Feb 11 06:48 (UT); -566 Feb 11 09:48 (+3) (astropixels.com )
  • Sunset: -566 Feb 12 17:46 ( +3 )
  • Moonset: -566 Feb 12 18:53 (+3)
  • Sunset to moonset = 67 mins

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