MUL.APIN

One of the two clay tablets on which the text is written. This exemplar shows that the tablet is unusually huge (as large as a sheet of paper) and the text is written in two columns.
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MUL.APIN (𒀯𒀳) is the conventional title given to a Babylonian compendium that deals with many diverse aspects of Babylonian astronomy and astrology. It is in the tradition of earlier star catalogues, the so-called Three Stars Each lists, but represents an expanded version based on more accurate observation, likely compiled around 1000 BCE.[1] The text lists the names of 66 stars and constellations and further gives a number of indications, such as rising, setting and culmination dates, that help to map out the basic structure of the Babylonian star map.

The text is preserved in a 7th-century BCE copy on a pair of tablets, named for their incipit, corresponding to the first constellation of the year, MULAPIN "The Plough", identified with stars in the area of the modern constellations of Cassiopeia, Andromeda and Triangulum according to the compilation of suggestions by Gössmann[2] and Kurtik.[3] Recently, it has been suggested to identify with Cassiopeia only.[4]

  1. ^ John H. Rogers, "Origins of the ancient constellations: I. The Mesopotamian traditions", Journal of the British Astronomical Association 108 (1998) 9–28
  2. ^ Gössmann, Felix (1950). Planetarium babylonicum oder die sumerisch-babylonischen Stern-Namen (in German). Rom: Verlag des Päpstl. Bibelinstituts. OCLC 64870219.
  3. ^ Kurtik, Gennadiĭ.; Куртик, Геннадий. (2007). Zvezdnoe nebo drevneĭ Mesopotamii : shumero-akkadskie nazvanii︠a︡ sozvezdiĭ i drugikh svetil. Sankt-Peterburg: Aleteĭi︠a︡. ISBN 978-5-903354-36-8. OCLC 233980223.
  4. ^ Wolfschmidt, Gudrun (2022). Astronomy in Culture -- Cultures of Astronomy. Astronomie in der Kultur -- Kulturen der Astronomie. Featuring the Proceedings of the Splinter Meeting at the Annual Conference of the Astronomische Gesellschaft, Sept. 14-16, 2021. Nuncius Hamburgensis; Vol. 57. Susanne M. Hoffmann, Susanne M. Hoffmann, Gudrun Wolfschmidt, Tredition GmbH Hamburg (1. Auflage ed.). Ahrensburg. ISBN 978-3-347-71288-1. OCLC 1354779312.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)