Rear - Line 12

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Hand drawing below by Ernst F. Weidner (1952)


ŠEDIŠU.U.UAŠU.UDUEGIRAB2HUNGAIGIU.U5NAMUŠMIRAUDLAGABDUINUŠU2ANSAGMEŠA2


Transliteration:

ŠE 1 sin ina šamaš2 GUB EGIR mulxḪUN.GA2 IGI 25 NA MUŠ AGA a-pir SI DU i-nu-šu2 dSAG.ME.GAR [... GU4.UD u dSAG.UŠ ša2 ŠU2]

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

Month XII (the 1st of which followed the 30th of the preceding month), the moon became visible behind Aries while the sun stood there; sunset to moonset: 25°, measured; earth shine; the north wind blew. At that time, Jupiter [...Mercury and Saturn, which had set]

Note B

sunset to moonset: 25°, measured

See the article Timed Events

Note D

Moon position 11

the moon became visible behind Aries

If by behind they mean sets afterwards (Like in Month III) then the year 588 BC is a match

The position of the Moon in 588 BC is where "behind" usually means

The position of the Moon in 568 BC is where "in front of" meant in Moon position 8

Position 10 | Position 11 | Position 12

588 BC #11 | 568 BC #11

Note E

SymbolSyllablesMeanings
ŠE Addaru: Adar, the twelfth month
barley
DIŠ Constantly, always, one, sixty,
if
ušu3
ba3
es2
sin		 šalāšā: thirty, 30
half

the moon
AŠ
DIL
DILI
RUM
ina
 one

single
niš
MAN
šamaš2		 twenty
Mars
Sun
DU
DE6
GUB
TUM6
 go
bring
stand, sheep
EGIR warkatu: backside, rear
warkānu: later, afterwards
AB2 arḫu: cow
cattle
kakkabu: a star
HUN.GA2 Aries
Could be a code-name or alias for Mars - P. Felix Gössman; Planetarium Babylonicum (1950) pg 91
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
25 twenty-five
NA do, sky, be, heaven, man, not, lie,
MUŠ MUŠ
MIR MIR
A A
UD
šamaš
U4		 when, that, day, at that time, the sun, white, clear, now.
Sun
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.

Note F

A. The moon observations.

14. On the 1 of Adar, while the sun was still there, the moon became visible behind Aries, 1h 40m was its period of visibility after sunset (Rs. 12).

New moon March 12, 10h at night. The 1. Adar begins March 14 evening. The moon was wide enough (age c. 44h), at the steep position of the ecliptic at this time to be recognized in the sunshine.

March 14, 6h evening:

  • Moon λ= 10°.4 ß = -4°.4
  • a Arietis λ = 2°.0 ß = +9°.9

☉ U 6h.07, ☾ U 7h.80; time between sunset and moonset 1h 44m.
Zu kakkabKU-MAL = Aries see Epping, Astrononisches aus Babylon, p. 119; KUGLER, Sternkunde, p. 260.

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

Modern Results

SkyCharts
  • BC567-03-14 18h00m00s ( +03 )
  • Moon: L: +09°21'36" (+09.36°) B:-04°34'15" (-04.57°)
  • a Arietis: L: +01°58'39" (+01.97°) B:+09°54'27" (+09.90°)
  • ΔT 18194.5s ( 05h03m14.5s )
  • New moon: -566 Mar 12 19:58 (UT); -566 Mar 12 22:58 (+3) (astropixels.com )
  • Sunset: -566 Mar 14 18:06 ( +3 )
  • Moonset: -566 Mar 14 19:50 (+3)
  • Sunset to moonset = 1h 44m
  • Age of moon @ sunset: 43h 8m

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