Front - Line 11

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Hand drawing below by Ernst F. Weidner (1952)


U5ZIIRU8AŠBADELUGALDIŠU24ULAL2U.U6U.U3U.U.UNUPAPU.U7


Transliteration:

15 ZI IR 18 dil-bat e LUGAL 1 KUŠ3 4 u LAL2 26 23 sin NU PAP 27 20[...]

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

The 15th, ZI IR. The 18th, Venus was balanced 1 cubit 4 fingers above α Leonis. The 26th, (moonrise to sunrise ?) 23°; I did not observe the moon. The 27th, 20+x [...]

Note

"The 18th, Venus was balanced 1 cubit 4 fingers above α Leonis"

Venus is only 7 fingers or 01°30'01" above α Leonis instead of the 02°34'00" indicated on the tablet. A good question, is Venus ever 02°34'00" above α Leonis?

Note A

"The 18th, Venus was balanced 1 cubit 4 fingers above α Leonis"

The symbol LUGAL has many meanings

LUGAL Can mean: Jupiter; one of the Seven Twin Stars; α Centauri; α Leonis - P. Felix Gössman; Planetarium Babylonicum (1950) pg 89

There are other stars that have LUGAL in their names

mulDAR.LUGAL: The rooster

This is associated with Orion, specifically β Orionis.

There are also stars that have very similar looking names

LU2.LAL3: Lulal

Lulal is one of the Twins which stand before the True Shepherd of Anu: Lulal and Latarak.
True Shepherd of Anu refers to Orion also. The location of the twin stars is not certain.

When the scribe was copying the original tablet, he may have misread or confused Sullat & Hanis with Lulal and Latarak since they are both twin stars and have very similar symbols

In 588 BC Venus is above Orion


  • BC588-06-19 03h45m00s ( +03 )
  • Venus: L: +56°11'31" B:-00°50'43"
  • χ2 Orionis: L: +54°59'25" B:-03°38'17"
  • Venus is 02°47'33" (2.79°) 1 Cubit 6 fingers above χ2 Orionis

Note B

"(moonrise to sunrise) 23°; I did not observe the moon"

See article Timed Events

Note C

SymbolSyllablesMeanings
15 fifteen
ZI.IR ZI.IR
18 eighteen
DILI.BAD
DILI.BAT		 nebû: shining, bright, flaring; denoting the brightest star of a constellation - The Assyrian Dictionary, Volume 11, N Part II (1980) pg 148
Venus
E above
LUGAL Jupiter; one of the Seven Twin Stars; α Centauri; α Leonis - P. Felix Gössman; Planetarium Babylonicum (1950) pg 89
šarru: king
DIŠ Constantly, always, one, sixty,
if
U2
kuš3
 load, horn
unit
4 4
U
bur3
šu4
ge14
 Earth, finger, ten, totality
Unit
Cover
Blow
and
LAL2 šaqālu: to be equal, in balance; planets said to be in opposition or in conjunction
hang
small
26 twenty-six
23 twenty-three
ušu3
ba3
es2
sin		 šalāšā: thirty, 30
half

the moon
NU.PAP translated as: did not watch
27 twenty-seven

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