Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa
Encyclopedia
The Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa (Enuma Anu Enlil
Tablet 63) refers to the record of astronomical observations of Venus
, as preserved in numerous cuneiform
tablet
s dating from the first millennium BCE. It is believed that this astronomical record was first compiled during the reign of King Ammisaduqa (or Ammizaduga), the fourth ruler after Hammurabi
. Thus, the origins of this text should probably be dated to around the mid-seventeenth century BCE.
The tablet recorded the rise times of Venus
and its first and last visibility on the horizon before or after sunrise and sunset (the heliacal risings and settings of Venus) in the form of lunar dates. These observations are recorded for a period of 21 years.
("In the days of Anu and Enlil"), a long text dealing with Babylonian astrology
, which mostly consists of omen
s interpreting celestial phenomena.
The earliest copy of this tablet to be published, a 7th century BC
cuneiform
, part of the British Museum
collections, was recovered from the library at Nineveh
. It was first published in 1870 by Henry Creswicke Rawlinson and George Smith as Enuma Anu Enlil Tablet 63, in "Tablet of Movements of the Planet Venus and their Influences" (The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, volume III).
As many as 20 copies of this text are currently on record, many of them fragmentary, falling into 6 groups. The oldest of these copies is believed to be Source "B", found at Kish
in 1924. It was copied from a tablet written at Babylon while Sargon II
was King of Assyria
between 720 and 704 BCE.
and Low Chronologies
, were inferred for the beginning of the lunar observations: 1702, 1646 and 1582.
The tablet's significance for corroborating Babylonia
n chronology was first recognised by Franz Xaver Kugler
in 1912, when he could identify the enigmatic "Year of the Golden Throne" ("Venus" tablet K.160) with the 8th year of the reign of Ammisaduqa. Since then, this 7th-century BC copy has been variously interpreted to support several chronologies in the 2nd millennium BC
.
Most assumptions link a fixed lunar calendar to 8-year Venus as a 56 or 64 year cycle of the visibility of Venus. [The staggered intercalary month positions however prove it was not a fixed system] A fixed system, unveils these lunar dates for Venus as 1646-1625 BC (Middle Chronology); they had been miscalculated in our early 20th century as 275 years earlier, 243-year Venus plus 32 years (4 × 8 years), implying that the Biblical Patriarch Abram knew Hammurabi
as Amraphel (42 years 2067-2025 BC). Hammurabi was subsequently corrected to 1792-1750 BC, but this is now under challenge by the various Ultra-Low Chronologies. Possibly the Biblical Amraphel matches the 9-year reign of AmarSin of 3rd dynasty Ur (1943-1934 BC) and since the Ur III dynasty ended 25 lunar years later (IbbiSin 1925-1900 BC) the Hindu and Nordic concepts of 1900 BC as Chaldea's year 3600 are understandable.
Many uncertainties remain about the interpretation of the record of astronomical observations of Venus, as preserved in these surviving tablets. Some copying corruptions are probable. Problems of atmospheric refraction were addressed by V.G. Gurzadyan in a 2003 publication.
Year 2 superior Venus vanishes E on Arahsamnu 21 and after 1 month 25 days appears W on Tebetu 16
Year 3 inferior Venus sets on Ululu 29 and after 16 days rises on Tashritu 15
Year 4 superior Venus vanishes E on Dumuzi 3 and after 2 months 6 days appears W on Ululu 9
Year 5 inferior Venus sets on Nisan 29 and after 12 days rises on Ayar 11
Year 5 superior Venus vanishes E on Kislimu 27 and after 2 months 3 days appears W on Shabatu 30
Year 6 inferior Venus sets on Arahsamnu 28 and after 3 days rises on Kislimu 1
Year 7 superior Venus vanishes E on Abu 30 and after 2 months appears W on Tashritu 30
Year 8 inferior Venus sets on Dumuzi 9 and after 17 days rises on Dumuzi 26
Year 8 superior Venus vanishes E on Adar 27 and after 2 months 16 days appears W on Simanu 13
Year 9 inferior Venus sets on Adar 12 and after 2 days rises on Adar 14
Year 10 superior Venus vanishes E on Arahsamnu 17 and after 1 month 25 days appears W on Tebetu 12
Year 11 inferior Venus sets on Ululu 25 and after 16 days rises on II Ululu 11
Year 12 superior Venus vanishes E on Ayar 29 and after 2 months 6 days appears W on Abu 5
Year 13 inferior Venus sets on Nisan 25 and after 12 days rises on Ayar 7
Year 13 superior Venus vanishes E on Tebetu 23 and after 2 months 3 days appears W on Adar 26
Year 14 inferior Venus sets on Arahsamnu 24 and after 3 days rises on Arahsamnu 27
Year 15 superior Venus vanishes E on Abu 26 and after 2 months appears W on Tashritu 26
Year 16 inferior Venus sets on Dumuzi 5 and after 16 days rises on Dumuzi 21
Year 16 superior Venus vanishes E on Adar 24 and after 2 months 15 days appears W on Simanu 9
Year 17 inferior Venus sets on Adar 8 and after 3 days rises on Adar 11
Year 18 superior Venus vanishes E on Arahsamnu 13 and after 1 month 25 days appears W on Tebetu 8
Year 19 inferior Venus sets on II Ululu 20 and after 17 days rises on Tashritu 8
Year 20 superior Venus vanishes E on Simanu 25 and after 2 months 6 days appears W on Ululu 1
Year 21 inferior Venus sets on Nisan 22 and after 11 days rises on Ayar 3
Year 21 superior Venus vanishes E on Tebetu 19 and after 2 months 3 days appears W on Adar 22
Enuma anu enlil
Enuma Anu Enlil is a major series of 68 or 70 tablets dealing with Babylonian astrology...
Tablet 63) refers to the record of astronomical observations of Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
, as preserved in numerous cuneiform
Cuneiform
Cuneiform can refer to:*Cuneiform script, an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC*Cuneiform , three bones in the human foot*Cuneiform Records, a music record label...
tablet
Clay tablet
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age....
s dating from the first millennium BCE. It is believed that this astronomical record was first compiled during the reign of King Ammisaduqa (or Ammizaduga), the fourth ruler after Hammurabi
Hammurabi
Hammurabi Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ʻAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from ʻAmmu, "paternal kinsman", and Rāpi, "healer"; (died c...
. Thus, the origins of this text should probably be dated to around the mid-seventeenth century BCE.
The tablet recorded the rise times of Venus
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
and its first and last visibility on the horizon before or after sunrise and sunset (the heliacal risings and settings of Venus) in the form of lunar dates. These observations are recorded for a period of 21 years.
The sources
This Venus tablet is part of Enuma anu enlilEnuma anu enlil
Enuma Anu Enlil is a major series of 68 or 70 tablets dealing with Babylonian astrology...
("In the days of Anu and Enlil"), a long text dealing with Babylonian astrology
Babylonian astrology
In Babylon as well as in Assyria as a direct offshoot of Babylonian culture, astrology takes its place in theofficial cult as one of the two chief means at the disposal of the priests for ascertaining the will and intention of the gods, the other being through the inspection of the liver of the...
, which mostly consists of omen
Omen
An omen is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change...
s interpreting celestial phenomena.
The earliest copy of this tablet to be published, a 7th century BC
7th century BC
The 7th century BC started the first day of 700 BC and ended the last day of 601 BC.The Assyrian Empire continued to dominate the Near East during this century, exercising formidable power over neighbors like Babylon and Egypt. In the last two decades of the century, however, the empire began to...
cuneiform
Cuneiform script
Cuneiform script )) is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. Emerging in Sumer around the 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching into the late 4th millennium , cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs...
, part of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
collections, was recovered from the library at Nineveh
Library of Ashurbanipal
-External links:. In our time discussion programme. 45 minutes....
. It was first published in 1870 by Henry Creswicke Rawlinson and George Smith as Enuma Anu Enlil Tablet 63, in "Tablet of Movements of the Planet Venus and their Influences" (The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, volume III).
As many as 20 copies of this text are currently on record, many of them fragmentary, falling into 6 groups. The oldest of these copies is believed to be Source "B", found at Kish
Kish (Sumer)
Kish is modern Tell al-Uhaymir , and was an ancient city of Sumer. Kish is located some 12 km east of Babylon, and 80 km south of Baghdad ....
in 1924. It was copied from a tablet written at Babylon while Sargon II
Sargon II
Sargon II was an Assyrian king. Sargon II became co-regent with Shalmaneser V in 722 BC, and became the sole ruler of the kingdom of Assyria in 722 BC after the death of Shalmaneser V. It is not clear whether he was the son of Tiglath-Pileser III or a usurper unrelated to the royal family...
was King of Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
between 720 and 704 BCE.
Interpretation
Several dates for the original observations, as contained in the tablet, were proposed early in the 20th century. The following dates, corresponding to the High, MiddleChronology of the ancient Near East
The chronology of the Ancient Near East provides a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Individual inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers, taking forms like "in the year X of king Y". Thus by piecing together many...
and Low Chronologies
Short chronology timeline
The short chronology is one chronology of the Near Eastern Bronze and Early Iron Age, which fixes the reign of Hammurabi to 1728 BC – 1686 BC and the sack of Babylon to 1531 BC....
, were inferred for the beginning of the lunar observations: 1702, 1646 and 1582.
The tablet's significance for corroborating Babylonia
Babylonia
Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
n chronology was first recognised by Franz Xaver Kugler
Franz Xaver Kugler
Franz Xaver Kugler was a German chemist, mathematician, Assyriologist, and Jesuit priest.Kugler was born in Königsbach, Palatinate, then part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. He earned a Ph.D. in chemistry in 1885, and the following year he entered the Jesuits. By 1893 he had been ordained as a priest...
in 1912, when he could identify the enigmatic "Year of the Golden Throne" ("Venus" tablet K.160) with the 8th year of the reign of Ammisaduqa. Since then, this 7th-century BC copy has been variously interpreted to support several chronologies in the 2nd millennium BC
2nd millennium BC
The 2nd millennium BC marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age.Its first half is dominated by the Middle Kingdom of Egypt and Babylonia. The alphabet develops. Indo-Iranian migration onto the Iranian plateau and onto the Indian subcontinent propagates the use of the chariot...
.
Most assumptions link a fixed lunar calendar to 8-year Venus as a 56 or 64 year cycle of the visibility of Venus. [The staggered intercalary month positions however prove it was not a fixed system] A fixed system, unveils these lunar dates for Venus as 1646-1625 BC (Middle Chronology); they had been miscalculated in our early 20th century as 275 years earlier, 243-year Venus plus 32 years (4 × 8 years), implying that the Biblical Patriarch Abram knew Hammurabi
Hammurabi
Hammurabi Hammurabi Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite ʻAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer", from ʻAmmu, "paternal kinsman", and Rāpi, "healer"; (died c...
as Amraphel (42 years 2067-2025 BC). Hammurabi was subsequently corrected to 1792-1750 BC, but this is now under challenge by the various Ultra-Low Chronologies. Possibly the Biblical Amraphel matches the 9-year reign of AmarSin of 3rd dynasty Ur (1943-1934 BC) and since the Ur III dynasty ended 25 lunar years later (IbbiSin 1925-1900 BC) the Hindu and Nordic concepts of 1900 BC as Chaldea's year 3600 are understandable.
Many uncertainties remain about the interpretation of the record of astronomical observations of Venus, as preserved in these surviving tablets. Some copying corruptions are probable. Problems of atmospheric refraction were addressed by V.G. Gurzadyan in a 2003 publication.
Observations
Year 1 inferior Venus sets on Shabatu 15 and after 3 days rises on Shabatu 18Year 2 superior Venus vanishes E on Arahsamnu 21 and after 1 month 25 days appears W on Tebetu 16
Year 3 inferior Venus sets on Ululu 29 and after 16 days rises on Tashritu 15
Year 4 superior Venus vanishes E on Dumuzi 3 and after 2 months 6 days appears W on Ululu 9
Year 5 inferior Venus sets on Nisan 29 and after 12 days rises on Ayar 11
Year 5 superior Venus vanishes E on Kislimu 27 and after 2 months 3 days appears W on Shabatu 30
Year 6 inferior Venus sets on Arahsamnu 28 and after 3 days rises on Kislimu 1
Year 7 superior Venus vanishes E on Abu 30 and after 2 months appears W on Tashritu 30
Year 8 inferior Venus sets on Dumuzi 9 and after 17 days rises on Dumuzi 26
Year 8 superior Venus vanishes E on Adar 27 and after 2 months 16 days appears W on Simanu 13
Year 9 inferior Venus sets on Adar 12 and after 2 days rises on Adar 14
Year 10 superior Venus vanishes E on Arahsamnu 17 and after 1 month 25 days appears W on Tebetu 12
Year 11 inferior Venus sets on Ululu 25 and after 16 days rises on II Ululu 11
Year 12 superior Venus vanishes E on Ayar 29 and after 2 months 6 days appears W on Abu 5
Year 13 inferior Venus sets on Nisan 25 and after 12 days rises on Ayar 7
Year 13 superior Venus vanishes E on Tebetu 23 and after 2 months 3 days appears W on Adar 26
Year 14 inferior Venus sets on Arahsamnu 24 and after 3 days rises on Arahsamnu 27
Year 15 superior Venus vanishes E on Abu 26 and after 2 months appears W on Tashritu 26
Year 16 inferior Venus sets on Dumuzi 5 and after 16 days rises on Dumuzi 21
Year 16 superior Venus vanishes E on Adar 24 and after 2 months 15 days appears W on Simanu 9
Year 17 inferior Venus sets on Adar 8 and after 3 days rises on Adar 11
Year 18 superior Venus vanishes E on Arahsamnu 13 and after 1 month 25 days appears W on Tebetu 8
Year 19 inferior Venus sets on II Ululu 20 and after 17 days rises on Tashritu 8
Year 20 superior Venus vanishes E on Simanu 25 and after 2 months 6 days appears W on Ululu 1
Year 21 inferior Venus sets on Nisan 22 and after 11 days rises on Ayar 3
Year 21 superior Venus vanishes E on Tebetu 19 and after 2 months 3 days appears W on Adar 22
See also
- Chronology of the ancient Near EastChronology of the ancient Near EastThe chronology of the Ancient Near East provides a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Individual inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers, taking forms like "in the year X of king Y". Thus by piecing together many...
- Short chronology timelineShort chronology timelineThe short chronology is one chronology of the Near Eastern Bronze and Early Iron Age, which fixes the reign of Hammurabi to 1728 BC – 1686 BC and the sack of Babylon to 1531 BC....
- Babylonian astronomy
Further reading
- Reiner, Erica and David Pingree 1975. Babylonian Planetary Omens. Part 1. The Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa, (Malibu: Getty). The "fundamental edition", superseding Langdon et al. 1928 (Walker 1984). ISBN 0-890030103
- Walker, C.B.F. 1984. "Notes on the Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 36.1 pp. 64–66.
- Gurzadyan, V.G. 2000. "On the Astronomical Records and Babylonian Chronology", Akkadica, vol.119-120, p. 175.