Description

From the 7th to the 1st century BC, daily observations of the sky were performed and their results written down on clay tablets in some Babylonian cities, especially in Babylon. The observations concern the moon and the planets and their phenomena, as well as the weather, the level of the River Euphrates and the prices of important commodities. While these "Astronomical Diaries" are mostly fragmentary and cover only a small part of the period concerned, they nevertheless provide important insights into an observational program that was carried out over seven centuries and contains valuable material even for modern astronomers. Volume IV contains all Astronomical Diaries that were too fragmentary to be dated and, in an Addenda section, those that it was only possible to date after the publication of volumes I-III. Together, volumes I-IV provide the complete edition of this group of cuneiform texts. It can be expected that the newly dated Diaries in particular will prove interesting for astronomers and historians, and will contribute new details to the history of Babylonia in the Hellenistic and Parthian periods.