Position in chronology
SAA 08 283. Regulus Near Moon (RMA 199) [planetary]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) A sign which is unfavorable for the king is favorable for the land; a sign which is favorable for the land is unfav[orable] for the king. (3) The king will say, "From what shall I see (that)?" (4) If Regulus comes close to the front of the moon and stands there: the days of the ruler will come to an end; a confusing word will be solved in the land; for the land, favorable. (6) If Regulus [comes close] to the top of the moon and stands there: the king will live for many days; the land will not pros[per] [...] bad. (8) ...... [......] ... (Break) (r.e. 1) From Nergal-eṭir.
Source: Hunger, H. 1992. Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings. SAA 8. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa08/P238332/
Why it matters
Transliteration
GISKIM šá a-na LUGAL lem-né-ti a-na KUR dam-qat* / GISKIM šá a-na KUR dam-qa-ti a-na LUGAL lem-⸢né⸣-[et] / i-na mi-ni-i lu-mur LUGAL i-qab-bi-ma / 1 MUL.LUGAL ana IGI 30 TE-ma GUB UD-MEŠ NUN TIL-MEŠ / a-mat te-še-e* ina KUR DU₈-ár ana KUR SIG₅ / 1 MUL.LUGAL ana UGU 30 [SI₄]-⸢ma⸣ GUB LUGAL UD-MEŠ ma-aʾ-du-tú DIN-uṭ / KUR NU SI.[SÁ x x x x x x x] ḪUL / [x x x x x x x x x x x x x] na du? / šá ⸢mdU.GUR—KAR⸣-[ir]
Scholarly note
Astrological report from a court scholar to an Assyrian king, edited by Hermann Hunger (SAA 8, 1992). Celestial and meteorological observation correlated with omens. ORACC text P238332.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238332). source
Translation excerpted from Hunger, H. 1992. Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings. SAA 8. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa08/P238332/.
Related tablets
Related sources
Whatever its purpose, this single tablet shows that Babylonian mathematicians, working in base-60, had an arithmetic understanding of right triangles a millennium before Pythagoras was born.
The single most important literary discovery of the 19th century. It rewired the understanding of the Bible's literary context and proved that the Mesopotamian flood tradition is older. It is the oldest surviving epic poetry in human history.
The literary tradition is no longer anonymous from this point. Authorship — the idea that a specific human voice composes a specific work — enters the historical record with her.