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Hand drawing below by Ernst F. Weidner (1952)


7NANUPAPU.UNUNLAGARLAGABTA4ENU5DIŠMAŠU2AKALDUU6LALGI6U8U8AANGADIB


Transliteration:

7 NA NU PAP šamaš2 TUR3 NIGIN2 TA 4 EN 15 1 12 KUŠ2 ILLU DU 16 LA2 GI6 18 18 ŠEG3 PISAN DI[B ...]

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

sunrise to moonset: 17°; I did not watch. The sun was surrounded by a halo. From the 4th to the 15th, the river level rose ½ cubits. On the 16th, it receded. Night of the 18th (and) the 18th, rain PISAN DIB [...]

Note

sunrise to moonset: 17°


From the image above you can see that the tablet only has the symbol for 7 present, The translators added 10 to make the time fit the "Sunrise to Moonset" time on this day in 567 BC.

See article Timed Events


Note A

SymbolSyllablesMeanings
7 7
NA do, sky, be, heaven, man, not, lie,
NU.PAP translated as: did not watch
niš
MAN
šamaš2
twenty
Mars
Sun
NUN.LAGAR
TUR3
animal stall
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
TA issu: from , out of , since , after
what
ṭehû. approach, come near to; - The Assyrian Dictionary. Volume 19, Ṭ (2006) pg 71
ištu: from (a point in space or time), out of (a place, an object, a quantity), since, after, by; - The Assyrian Dictionary. Volume 7, I & J (2004) pg 286
4 4
EN bēlu: boss, chief, master, lord ; owner
adi: until, as far as, together with, including, plus
15 fifteen
DIŠ Constantly, always, one, sixty,
if
MAŠ
BA7
BAR
ḫuzālu: gazelle kid; ṣerru: snake, possible name for Hydra constellation; Māšu: twin, Gemini; bīru: goat
half
Nissan, first month - on VAT4956 there seems to be no distinction between BAR and MAŠ
U2
kuš3
load, horn
unit
A.KAL
ILLU
Water
DU
DE6
GUB
TUM6
go
bring
stand, sheep
16 Sixteen
LAL naḫāsu: to recede
maṭû: to become less, diminish
tarṣu: extent , duration
šaqû : to become high, elevated, to rise repeatedly , to raise up
pašāṭu: be invisible
GI6
ĝi6
ku10
mi
mūšu: night
ṣalāmu: cause to become dark, darkened, obscured
18 eighteen
18 eighteen
A.AN
ŠEG3
zanānu: rain
GA2
PISAN
DIB
UDU
LU
TIP
etāqu: to go past , to pass by , to go through , to cross over ; to proceed along , to advance , to go ahead , to move on / onward , to continue , to proceed further ;
etēqu: to pass, go along, go past ; to go through, cross over
immeru: sheep;

Note B

A. The moon observations.

13. [On the 15th of Sebat full moon.] 28m Time between sunrise and moonset next morning (Rs. 7 f.).
Full Moon February 25, 9h early. The 15th of Sebat begins February 26 in the evening. The specification of the visibility period must be incorrect, as the following calculation shows:

February 27 early: ☉ A - ☾ U = 84m.

There is probably a typographical error here. If instead of 7 (UŠ) one writes 17 (UŠ), So if you read 68m, you get a value that comes extraordinarily close to that of the text. The correction should therefore be justified.

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

Modern Results

SkyCharts
  • Full moon: -566 Feb 25 06:53 (UT); -566 Feb 25 09:53 (+3) (astropixels.com )
  • Sunrise: -566 Feb 27 06:42 ( +3 )
  • Moonset: -566 Feb 27 08:12 (+3)
  • Sunset to moonset = 90 mins

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