bm32234.md

BM 32234

Origin: Acquired by the British Museum in 1876 [1].

First Published: 1955 by T G Pinches as LBAT 1419 [2].

Also known as ADT V Lunar Text No.4.

Translation

'Obv.'
I'
1' [Year 17 (of Nabopolassar). month VI. the 1]4th?. ....
2' [....] .... in 20°
3' [....x]+4°? maximal phase:
4' [.... it cleared from] east to west
5' [....] night
6' [....] was visible
7' [.... re]mainder?
8' [.... after sun]set?.

II'
1' [ .... Vir]go?
2' [At] 30° before sunset.
3' (Year) 14 of Nebukadnezar
4' month VI, (eclipse) which was omitted.
5' With sunrise.
6' [Mon]th XII, the 14th, (eclipse) which was omitted.
7' .... after? sunrise?.

III'
1'  [Month XII, ....]
2'  [....] ....
3'  it cleared [from] east to north.
4'  The south wind blew. I cubit
5'  in front of Libra it was eclipsed.
6'  Saturn rose in Capricorn; Mars
7'  was 2 cubits in front of α Scorpii.
8'  At 1,30° after sunset.
9'  (Year) 32 of Nebukadnezar,
10' month VI, (eclipse) which was omitted.
11' At 35° before sunset.
12' Month XII, the 15th?, ....
13' .... [....]

IV'
1' [....] .... [....]
2' Month VII, the 13th, in 17° on the east side'
3' all was covered; 28° maximal phase.
4' In 20° it cleared from east to west.
5' Its eclipse was red.
6' Behind the rump of Aries it was eclipsed.
7' During onset, the north wind blew, during clearing. the west wind.
8' At 55° before sunrise.
9' Month XII₂, the 15th [....]

V'
1'  cleared [....]
2'  to .... [....]
3'  eclipsed .... [....]
4'  Month VII, the 11+[xth, ....]
5'  ⅔ of the disk to tota[lity ....]
6'  not total, it set eclipsed.
7'  The north wind which was set to the west side
8'  blew. 5°
9'  in front of η Tauri it was eclipsed.
10' At 14° before [sunrise].

'Rev.'
I'
1' [....] night? to?
2' [....] ....
3' [.... before?] sunset?.
4' [When I watched? I did not?] see (it).

II'
1' Month VIII, the 13th, in O;15 bēru
2' all was covered; 25° maximal phase.
3' In 25° it cleared from east to west;
4' it was red. During onset, the north wind <blew>.
5' [during] clearing, the south wind. At 1?,17°
6' after sunset.

III'
1' Month VIII. the 13th. it began on the south side;
2' I did not watch the maximal phase; it set eclipsed.
3' In the eclipse. Venus stood there:
4' the remainder of the planets
5' did not stand there.
6' At 10° before sunrise.

IV'
1' at 18°? [....]
2' 40° onset, ma[ximal phase. and clearing]. The "garment of the sky" was there.
3' In the area of the 4 rear stars of Sagittarius, it was eclipsed. Month VI was intercalary.
4' Month V, the 14th?, Xerxes - his son killed him.
5' Month VIII, the 14th, 13° after
6' sunset, (the moon) came out of a cloud,
7' one-fourth of the disk on the [....]
8' and west side was covered. 8°? [onset? and]
9' clearing .... [....]

V'
1' Month IX, the xth, [....]
2' .... [....]

[3, p. 16]

Observations

Obv. Col II
VI/14 Nebuchadnezzar

3' (Year) 14 of Nebukadnezar
4' month VI, (eclipse) which was omitted.
5' With sunrise.

Obv. Col II
14/XII/14 Nebuchadnezzar

6' [Mon]th XII, the 14th, (eclipse) which was omitted.
7' .... after? sunrise?.

Obv. Col III
31 Nebuchadnezzar

1'  [Month XII, ....]
2'  [....] ....
3'  it cleared [from] east to north.
4'  The south wind blew. I cubit
5'  in front of Libra it was eclipsed.
6'  Saturn rose in Capricorn; Mars
7'  was 2 cubits in front of α Scorpii.
8'  At 1,30° after sunset.

Obv. Col III
VI/32 Nebuchadnezzar

9'  (Year) 32 of Nebukadnezar,
10' month VI, (eclipse) which was omitted.
11' At 35° before sunset.

Obv. Col III
15/XII/32 Nebuchadnezzar

12' Month XII, the 15th?, ....
13' .... [....]

Obv. Col IV
13/VII/(Nebuchadnezzar 50)

2' Month VII, the 13th, in 17° on the east side'
3' all was covered; 28° maximal phase.
4' In 20° it cleared from east to west.
5' Its eclipse was red.
6' Behind the rump of Aries it was eclipsed.
7' During onset, the north wind blew, during clearing. the west wind.
8' At 55° before sunrise.

Obv. Col IV
15/XII₂/(Nebuchadnezzar 50)

9' Month XII₂, the 15th [....]

Obv. Col V
11+/VII/(Nebuchadnezzar 68)

4'  Month VII, the 11+[xth, ....]
5'  ⅔ of the disk to tota[lity ....]
6'  not total, it set eclipsed.
7'  The north wind which was set to the west side
8'  blew. 5°
9'  in front of η Tauri it was eclipsed.
10' At 14° before [sunrise].

Chronology

According to H Hunger [3, p. 391] this tablet is part of a series that are:

arranged in columns such that each entry in a column is separated from the entry in the preceding column by one Saros of 18 years

So although the regnal names are missing in columns IV and V, for the purposes of computation they can just be computed as continuations of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (under the standard chronology 50 Nebuchadnezzar = 1 Nabonidus, and 68 Nebuchadnezzar = 2 Cyrus).

Results

When testing years in the range -640 to -490 the best match for Nebuchadnezzar’s 14th year is -590.

Year   Score
-590 8.311192835161815
-589 7.839695479566099
-561 6.942502337339994
-562 6.920448475821876
-617 6.629757318425229
...
-609 4.99578090338148
-610 2.0926191452519016
-611 0.750063227261292

Calendar

Calendar Date	Event	Matched UT	Comment
1/I/14 Nebuchadnezzar	Calendar: First day of year	-590 April 07	Equinox on March 27
1/VI/14 Nebuchadnezzar	Calendar: Lunar Visibility	-590 Sept 02	Earliest visibility Sept 02
?/VI/14 Nebuchadnezzar	Predicted Eclipse, with sunrise	-590 Sept 15	Total, 3.7° after sunrise
1/XII/14 Nebuchadnezzar	Calendar: Lunar Visibility	-589 Feb 26	Earliest visibility Feb 26
14/XII/14 Nebuchadnezzar	Predicted Eclipse, after sunrise?	-589 March 12	Partial, 40.0° after sunrise
1/I/31 Nebuchadnezzar	Calendar: First day of year	-573 March 31	Equinox on March 27
1/[XII]/31 Nebuchadnezzar	Calendar: Lunar Visibility	-572 March 19	Earliest visibility March 19
?/[XII]/31 Nebuchadnezzar	Lunar Eclipse, in Libra, 90° after sunset	-572 April 02	Total, 7.9° ahead of Nu Librae, 89.0° after sunset
?/[XII]/31 Nebuchadnezzar	Saturn rose in Capricorn	-572 April 02	Saturn 10.5° ahead of η Capricorni
?/[XII]/31 Nebuchadnezzar	Mars 2 cubits in front of α Scorpii	-572 April 02	Mars 5.5° above α Scorpii
1/I/32 Nebuchadnezzar	Calendar: First day of year	-572 April 17	Equinox on March 27
1/VI/32 Nebuchadnezzar	Calendar: Lunar Visibility	-572 Sept 12	Earliest visibility Sept 12
?/VI/32 Nebuchadnezzar	Predicted Eclipse, 35° before sunset	-572 Sept 25	Total, 66.8° before sunset
1/XII/32 Nebuchadnezzar	Calendar: Lunar Visibility	-571 March 08	Earliest visibility March 08
15/XII/32 Nebuchadnezzar	Lunar Eclipse	-571 March 22	Partial
1/I/(50 Nebuchadnezzar)	Calendar: First day of year	-554 March 30	Equinox on March 27
1/VII/(50 Nebuchadnezzar)	Calendar: Lunar Visibility	-554 Sept 24	Earliest visibility Sept 24
13/VII/(50 Nebuchadnezzar)	Total Eclipse, in Aries, 55° before sunrise, 17°:28°:20° duration	-554 Oct 06	Total, in Aries, 127.6° before sunrise, 16°:25°:17° duration
1/XII₂/(50 Nebuchadnezzar)	Calendar: Lunar Visibility	-553 March 19	Earliest visibility March 19
15/XII₂/(50 Nebuchadnezzar)	Lunar Eclipse	-553 April 03	Partial
1/I/(68 Nebuchadnezzar)	Calendar: First day of year	-536 April 09	Equinox on March 26
1/VII/(68 Nebuchadnezzar)	Calendar: Lunar Visibility	-536 Oct 04	Earliest visibility Oct 04
11+/VII/(68 Nebuchadnezzar)	Eclipse, in front of Alcyone, 14° before sunrise	-536 Oct 17	Total, 8.2° ahead of Alcyone, 9.8 before sunrise

My eclipse results match those of H Hunger [3, p. 395].

References

[1] “BM32234,” The British Museum. [Online]. Available: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1876-1117-1961.

[2] T. G. Pinches, A. J. Sachs, and J. N. Strassmaier, Late Babylonian Astronomical and Related Texts: Copied by T.G. Pinches and J.N. Strassmaier. Brown University Press, 1955.

[3] H. Hunger, Astronomical diaries and related texts from Babylonia. Volume V, Lunar and Planetary Texts. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2001.