Ivory prism from Nineveh

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The ivory prism of Nineveh contained astronomical information on four sides regarding the division of day and night into seasonal hours . The prism one is only fragment obtained, with the inventory designation BM 122340 in the British Museum to London is.

Coordinates: 36 ° 22 ′ 0 ″  N , 43 ° 9 ′ 0 ″  E

Map: Iraq
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Location of the ivory prism from Nineveh​
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Iraq

Find history and publications

The ivory prism was discovered by William-Kenneth Loftus in Nineveh in 1855 , who carried out excavation campaigns on behalf of the British Museum and the Assyrian Excavation Fund . The age of the prism could be at least 612 BC. BC, as the city was destroyed by Babylonians and Medes in that year .

It was first published in 1873 by François Lenormant in Choix de textes cunéiformes inédits on incomplétement publiés jusqu 'à ce jour under the title Rules of a Game . In 1935, Stephen Langdon revised the texts in Babylonian Menologies and the Semitic Calendars in another translation . Bartel-Leendert van der Waerden dealt again in 1950 with the subject of the ivory prism.

The assumption by Otto Neugebauer from 1947 that the content is information on shadow lines was refuted in 1969 by Smith, who was able to determine an allocation for the purpose of dividing the times of day into seasonal hours.

Calculation bases

BERU is the original Sumerian name for a measure of length that was first used around 2400 BC. Is occupied. A BERU corresponds to around 10.5 km, which could be covered on foot in around two hours. Since BERU was also used as a time unit , the BERU time unit is therefore often mistakenly called double hour in the literature .

The UŠ was also originally used as a measure of length in Sumer. At the latest in the first millennium BC It was used as an astronomical unit of time in celestial mechanics . 30 UŠ now corresponded to a BERU (Danna) , which in turn was defined as a distance measure with a length of 120 minutes as an equivalent hour , which is why one UŠ corresponds to four minutes.

Contents of the ivory prism

The inscriptions indicate that the length of hours of a day was determined for the months of the Babylonian calendar . Each hour of a month was given an individual duration that was based on the seasonal fluctuations.

The calculations involved the construction of an ideal annual calendar , whereby the equinoxes for the months of Nisanu and Tašritu were fixed. The ratio of the longest day to the shortest night (and vice versa) was set at 2: 1 according to the calculation specifications, which however does not correspond to the actual conditions in Nineveh. This conversion is very unusual for the entire Mesopotamian region, as the usual ratio is around 3: 2, for which there are correspondingly numerous documents in the late Babylonian period. In contrast, no later tradition could be proven for the 2: 1 calculation.

Hourly schedule

Based on the Sumerian units BERU and UŠ, the 24-hour day was divided into twelve seasonal hours each for the day and the night in order to more precisely design the old astronomical system of the equivalent double hour.

Lesson schedule (ivory prism of Nineveh)
Babyl. month Calendar month
Hour of the day Babyl. month 		Hour of the day
Real duration
Night hour Babyl. month 		Night hour
Real duration
Nisanu March April 15.00 UŠ = 60 min 15.00 UŠ = 60 min 15.00 UŠ = 60 min 15.00 UŠ = 60 min
Ajaru April May 16.67 UŠ = 67 min 16.67 UŠ = 67 min 13.33 UŠ = 53 min 13.33 UŠ = 53 min
Simanu May June 18.33 UŠ = 73 min 18.00 UŠ = 72 min 11.67 UŠ = 47 min 12.00 UŠ = 48 min
You'uzu June July 20.00 UŠ = 80 min 18.33 UŠ = 73 min 10.00 UŠ = 40 min 11.67 UŠ = 47 min
Abu July August 18.33 UŠ = 73 min 16.67 UŠ = 67 min 11.67 UŠ = 47 min 13.33 UŠ = 53 min
Ululu August September 16.67 UŠ = 67 min 16.33 UŠ = 65 min 13.33 UŠ = 53 min 13.67 UŠ = 55 min
Tašritu September October 15.00 UŠ = 60 min 15.00 UŠ = 60 min 15.00 UŠ = 60 min 15.00 UŠ = 60 min
Arahsamnu October November 13.33 UŠ = 53 min 13.67 UŠ = 55 min 16.67 UŠ = 67 min 16.33 UŠ = 65 min
Kislimu November December 11.67 UŠ = 47 min 13.33 UŠ = 53 min 18.33 UŠ = 73 min 16.67 UŠ = 67 min
Tebetu December January 10.00 UŠ = 40 min 11.67 UŠ = 47 min 20.00 UŠ = 80 min 18.33 UŠ = 73 min
Sabatu January February 11.67 UŠ = 47 min 13.33 UŠ = 53 min 18.33 UŠ = 73 min 16.67 UŠ = 67 min
Adaru February March 13.33 UŠ = 53 min 13.67 UŠ = 55 min 16.67 UŠ = 67 min 16.33 UŠ = 65 min
The hours of the Babylonian months correspond to the indications in the ivory prism; the real duration of the day / night hour reflects the actual conditions in Nineveh.

Day night scheme

The length of the day night was listed on the basis of the old double-hour system, which only divides a 24-hour day into twelve. The conversion was therefore made in BERU units.

Day night scheme (ivory prism of Nineveh)
Babyl. month Calendar month
Day length Babyl. month 		Day length
Real duration
Night length Babyl. month 		Night length
Real duration
Nisanu March April 6.00 BERU = 720 min 6.00 BERU = 720 min 6.00 BERU = 720 min 6.00 BERU = 720 min
Ajaru April May 6.67 BERU = 800 min 6.67 BERU = 800 min 5.33 BERU = 640 min 5.33 BERU = 640 min
Simanu May June 7.33 BERU = 880 min 7.15 BERU = 860 min 4.67 BERU = 560 min 4.85 BERU = 580 min
You'uzu June July 8.00 BERU = 960 min 7.33 BERU = 880 min 4.00 BERU = 480 min 4.67 BERU = 560 min
Abu July August 7.33 BERU = 880 min 6.67 BERU = 800 min 4.67 BERU = 560 min 5.33 BERU = 640 min
Ululu August September 6.67 BERU = 800 min 6.50 BERU = 780 min 5.33 BERU = 640 min 5.50 BERU = 660 min
Tašritu September October 6.00 BERU = 720 min 6.00 BERU = 720 min 6.00 BERU = 720 min 6.00 BERU = 720 min
Arahsamnu October November 5.33 BERU = 640 min 5.50 BERU = 660 min 6.67 BERU = 800 min 6.50 BERU = 780 min
Kislimu November December 4.67 BERU = 560 min 5.33 BERU = 640 min 7.33 BERU = 880 min 6.67 BERU = 800 min
Tebetu December January 4.00 BERU = 480 min 4.67 BERU = 560 min 8.00 BERU = 960 min 7.33 BERU = 880 min
Sabatu January February 4.67 BERU = 560 min 5.33 BERU = 640 min 7.33 BERU = 880 min 6.67 BERU = 800 min
Adaru February March 5.33 BERU = 640 min 5.50 BERU = 660 min 6.67 BERU = 800 min 6.50 BERU = 780 min
The day and night lengths of the Babylonian months correspond to the indications in the ivory prism; the real duration of the day / night hour reflects the actual conditions in Nineveh.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ François Thureau-Dangin: Textes de l'époque d'Agadé ‹Fouilles d'Ernest de Sarzec en 1895› - Inventaire des tablettes de Tello (Part 1) -. Leroux, Paris 1910, 11, p. 1175.
    Otto Neugebauer: Astronomy and history - Selected essays -. Springer, New York 1983, p. 8.
  2. ^ A b c Jean Meeus: Astronomical Algorithms - Applications for Ephemeris Tool 4,5 . Barth Leipzig 2nd edition 2000, ISBN 3-335-00400-0 .
  3. ^ A b John M. Stele: Observations and predictions of eclipse times by early Astronomers. Kluwer Academic Publications, Dordrecht 2000, p. 97.
  4. ↑ Bartel-Leendert van der Waerden: Science awakening - Vol. 2: The birth of Astronomy - . International Publishing, Nordhoff 1974, pp. 87-88.