Venus tablets of Ammi-saduqa

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Venus tablet of Ammi-saduqa in the British Museum , London
Venus captured by the Mariner 10 spacecraft

The Venus tablets of Ammi-saduqa (also Ammisaduqa, Ammi-zaduqa, Ammizaduqa ) represent the oldest written document to date for planetary observation . The cuneiform texts of the Babylonian King Ammi-saduqa , discovered in the library of Aššurbanipal in Nineveh , contain in particular observations of Venus , who was considered the star of the goddess Ninsianna in Mesopotamian mythology and assumed the leading position in the Sumerian pantheon as the female deity of love and fertility. The synodic 584-day period of Venus documented in this context is also considered to be the first written record of a planetary time interval in the field of astronomy .

The early chronologies of ancient oriental historiography were created on the basis of these astronomical data and allow the chronological classification of the reigns of Mesopotamian kings. The modern research could meanwhile due to the observed solar eclipse in the reign of Aššur-dan III. as well as existing king synchronicities of Assyrian and Babylonian rulers, the Assyrian Adasi dynasty to the years around 1680 BC. To date.

The Adasi dynasty was in chronological proximity to Ammi-saduqa, which is why the Adasi appointment in this context also made it possible to assign the Ammi-saduqa more precisely. The previously discussed possibility of ultra-short chronology is therefore ruled out. Corresponding confirmations are also provided by the astronomical evaluations of the Venus tables of Ammi-saduqa.

The Venus tablets

The cuneiform tablets from the library of Assurbanipal are copies of earlier texts that have repeatedly been copied from the originals from the reign of Ammi-saduqas (1646 to 1626 BC according to the middle chronology), the penultimate king of the first ancient Babylonian dynasty copied and redistributed. The last copies are dated to about 800 BC. BC.

The great historical importance of the Venus tables can be seen in the seamless 21-year data collection of Venus visibilities, which are available in tabular form. The Venus observations carried out are provided with omens and naming of the most important events. The most famous plate (63) from the Enuma Anu Enlil Collection (EAE) is on display in the British Museum in London .

The contents of the Venus tablets were first published in 1870 by Henry Creswicke Rawlinson and George Smith under the title Tablet of Movements of the Planet Venus and their Influences in the series The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia Vol. 3 . The assignment of astronomical data was further specified in 1912 by the Assyriologist Johann Strassmaier in cooperation with the two astronomers Josef Epping and Franz-Xaver Kugler .

Basics

Babylonian lunar calendar

The old light of the crescent moon, which is barely visible with the naked eyes, at the end of the morning a good day before the new moon in the eastern morning sky

The documented visibility data on the Venus tablets of the Ammi-saduqa are based on the information from the Babylonian lunar calendar . The time of the sighted new light is decisive for the first day of a month . In ancient Egypt , on the other hand, the last visibility of the old light was used for the beginning of the two Egyptian lunar calendars .

The city of Babylon and the Nile Delta only show a difference of about 1 ° to 2 ° in latitude . There are therefore almost identical visibility conditions for observing the old and new light. Since Egyptian records of the old light, which go back to the beginnings of the Middle Kingdom , and Babylonian new light moon dates are available for the same time periods, it was possible to coordinate both calendars. The result confirmed the assumption that there were only minimal deviations if the visibility conditions were restricted due to a flatter course of Venus near the horizon ( ecliptic ).

In the Babylonian region, the new light comes on between 18 and 42 hours after the new moon , depending on the season . Depending on the moonset data , with the temporal determination of the new moon, the first visibility of the new light crescent moon back to antiquity can be precisely determined with calculation programs such as those from NASA and MPIA .

Statistical investigations of the Babylonian new light records showed an agreement of 98% with the Babylonian data for the period of the sightings. The majority of the deviations were also here for the observations under extremely difficult viewing conditions. An initial visibility of the new light that was therefore not perceived did not affect the next observations, as the daily difference was automatically compensated for in the following months when the viewing conditions were better.

584 day interval

Konjunction.png

Because Venus, as the lower planet, orbits the sun at a shorter distance than the earth, it can never move far from the sun when viewed from the earth . In particular, in contrast to the planets above, Venus can never be in opposition to the sun on the celestial sphere . Instead, instead of the conjunction of the outer planets, a distinction is made between the upper conjunction (Venus behind the sun) and the lower conjunction , in which Venus is in front of the sun.

The period between two consecutive identical positions of Venus (with respect to earth and sun) averages 583,924 days and is called the synodic period of Venus. In the ideal case, the closest approximations occur in precisely circular orbits, which are distributed exactly evenly over five different orbit points and form the Venus pentagram .

The lower conjunction occurs at intervals of 579 to 589 days, when Venus “overtakes” the earth on its orbit closer to the sun. She changes from the role of the evening star to that of the morning star. Nine months later she is then behind the sun (upper conjunction). In order to be able to observe the first visibility of Venus in the evening twilight , Venus must have a horizon height of at least 5 ° at sunset . Conversely, for the first sighting in the morning twilight, this means that Venus must also have reached about 5 ° at sunrise.

After 157 synodic periods of Venus, 251 tropical solar years have passed exactly to one minute (that is 91,676 days).

Interval dates of the Ammi-saduqa

After five 584-day intervals, Venus returned to its starting position about 2.32 days before the end of eight mean solar years . The beginning of the next Venus interval is about 2.32 days before the beginning of the five 584 day intervals that have elapsed. After 40 intervals, the difference in 64 years is 18.54 days. In the chronologies of ancient oriental historiography, the middle chronology was first chosen as the starting point. Since the possible calendar entries only allowed a narrow variable time frame, which is tied to the Babylonian lunar calendar, the further approaches of the long and short chronology were made 64 years before and after the middle chronology. A wider range of eligible observation times, by the coupling of the month Nisanu with the equinox in spring are excluded.

All previous chronologies of ancient oriental historiography could so far only be viewed as cornerstones, as further possibilities were given in the course of the 8-year cycle. The difference of 128 years between the long and short chronology of ancient oriental historiography, taking into account the reconstructed lists of rulers, allowed 16 dating approaches. Classification criteria with regard to the Venus tables represent the synchronisms of ruler dates. Hattušili III are mostly considered to be parallel kings. and Kadašman-Enlil II , although the chronological evaluation of the underlying correspondence is not certain.

On the other hand, the dating of the year of accession of Kadašman-Enlil II in the 14th to 16th year of Ramses II's reign (1266 to 1264 BC) is beyond doubt . Another equation could for the accession year of Burna-buriaš II and the 31st to 36th year of Amenhotep III's reign . (1358 to 1353 BC) can be determined. The ultrashort chronology proposed only recently, with a 32-year difference to the short chronology, is therefore ruled out. The same applies to the long chronology. Due to the occasional lack of government data in the Assyrian king list, there is a fluctuation range of around 20 years for the appointment of the Adasi dynasty.

In the further course, the end of the reign of Išme-Dagan I could due to the possible fluctuation range with regard to missing government data at the latest in 1710 BC. Be set. He came to the throne of his assumed 40-year rule in the 18th year of Hammurapi's reign. In the same back calculation, the beginning of Hammurapi's reign can be traced back to around 1750 BC. Determine. For Ammi-saduqa's first year of rulership, the limit could be extended to around 1604 BC. Be drawn.

The following interval data of the Ammi-saduqa refer to the middle chronology and show that the sightings in the Babylonian lunar calendar and the actual astronomical conditions in the Gregorian calendar correspond to the day.

Venus cycle with 12 intervals (1st to 21st year of Ammi-saduqa reign)
interval Duration
lunar calendar
Number of days in the
lunar calendar
Duration
Greg. calendar
Number of days
Greg. calendar
Venus Altitude
01 18th Sabatu to 15th Tašritu 587 02/23/1645 to 10/3/1644 587 5.1 °
02 15th Tašritu to 11th Ajaru 585 10/03/1644 to 05/11/1642 585 5.8 °
03 11. Ajaru to 1. Kislimu 583 May 11, 1642 to December 14, 1641 583 5.5 °
04 01 Kislimu to 26 Dumuzi 584 12/14/1641 to 07/21/1639 584 5.2 °
05 26. Dumuzi to 14. Addaru 581 07/21/1639 to 02/21/1637 581 5.1 °
06 14th Adaru to 11th Ululu II 587 02/21/1637 to 09/30/1636 587 5.2 °
07 11. Ululu II to 07. Ajaru 585 09/30/1636 to 05/08/1634 585 5.0 °
08 07. Ajaru to 27. Araḫsamna 583 May 8, 1634 to December 11, 1633 583 5.2 °
09 27. Araḫsamna to 21. Dumuzi 584 12/11/1633 to 07/18/1631 584 5.0 °
10 21st Dumuzi to 11th Addaru 581 07/18/1631 to 02/18/1629 581 5.0 °
11 11. Addaru to 8. Tašritu 587 02/18/1629 to 09/28/1628 587 5.2 °
12 8th Tašritu to 3rd Ajaru 586 09/28/1628 to 05/07/1626 586 5.1 °
The minimal deviations in the individual intervals result in an average of exactly 584 days and correspond to the lunar calendar.

Leap months in the Babylonian lunar calendar

The beginning dates of the 1st Nisanu, which belong to the Venus cycle, show that the Babylonian New Year was mostly connected with the first full moon at the beginning of spring . A schematic switching cycle is not recognizable because the switching was carried out irregularly and was also linked to star visibility at the time of sunrise and sunset . These circumstances can be clearly seen from the beginning dates of the month Tašritu, which followed the leap month Ululu.

Start dates of the months of Nisanu and Tašritu
year 1. Nisanu 1. Tašritu
1645 BC Chr. 4. April September 28th
1644 BC Chr. March 24th September 18
1643 BC Chr. 12. April October 6th
1642 BC Chr. 2nd of April September 26th
1641 BC Chr. March 21st 15th October
1640 BC Chr. 9th April October 3
1639 BC Chr. March 30 September 22
1638 BC Chr. March, 20th September 11
1637 BC Chr. 7th of April September 29th
1636 BC Chr. 26th of March October 19th
1635 BC Chr. April 14th October 6th
1634 BC Chr. 3rd of April September 27th
1633 BC Chr. March 22 15th October
1632 BC Chr. 10th of April 5th October
1631 BC Chr. March 31 September 24th
1630 BC Chr. March, 20th 13.september
1629 BC Chr. 9th March October 1

literature

  • Lis Brack-Bernsen: On the emergence of the Babylonian moon theory - observation and theoretical calculation of moon phases . Steiner, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-515-07089-3 .
  • Peter J. Huber: Astronomical dating of Babylon I and Ur III . Undena Publications, Malibu, California 1982, ISBN 0-89003-045-6 .
  • Franz-Xaver Kugler: Astronomy and star service in Babel - Assyriological, astronomical and astral mythological investigations . Munster 1912.
  • Rolf Krauss: Sothis and moon dates: studies on the astronomical and technical chronology of ancient Egypt . Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1985, ISBN 3-8067-8086-X .
  • Stephen Langdon, JK Fortheringham: The Venus tablets of Ammizaduga - A solution of Babylonian chronology by means of the Venus observations of the first dynasty - with tables for computation by Carl Schoch . Oxford University Press, H. Milford, London 1928.
  • Bartel Leendert van der Waerden : The calculation of the first and last visibility of the moon and planets and the tables of Venus of Ammisaduqa - reports of the mathematical-physical class of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig 94 . 1943, pp. 23-56.
  • Jean Meeus : Astronomical Algorithms - Applications for Ephemeris Tool 4,5 . Barth Leipzig 2nd edition 2000, ISBN 3-335-00400-0 .
  • Jean Meeus: Astronomical Tables of the Sun, Moon and Planets . 2nd Edition. Willmann-Bell, Richmond 1995, ISBN 0-943396-02-6 .
  • Otto Neugebauer : A history of ancient mathematical astronomy I-III - Studies in the history of mathematics and physical sciences , ISBN 3-540-06995-X .
  • Paul-Viktor Neugebauer: Tables for Astronomical Chronology I - Star Tables from 4000 BC Until the present . de Gruyter, Berlin 1929.
  • Henry-Creswicke Rawlinson, Theophilus Goldridge Pinches: The cuneiform inscriptions of Western Asia - Prepared under the direction of the trustees of the British Museum by Henry Creswicke Rawlinson. Vol. 5, A selection from the miscellaneous inscriptions of Assyria and Babylonia . Harrison (British Museum London), London 1909.
  • Carl Schoch: The Venus tablet Ammizaduga . In: Astronomische Nachrichten Nr. 222, 27-30 , 1924, online .
  • John D. Weir: The Venus Tablets: A Fresh Approach . Journal for the History of Astronomy No. 13, 1982, pp. 23-49.

Web links

Hints

  1. a b Date information in the Gregorian calendar: in the Julian calendar system , 15 days are to be added to the Gregorian date; 16 days to date Venus in the morning. The date is based on NASA information ( memento from March 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) taking into account the T-Delta. For Babylonia, the time zone surcharge of 3 hours must be taken into account for Universal Time (UT); according to Jean Meeus : Astronomical Algorithms - Applications for Ephemeris Tool 4,5 - , Barth, Leipzig 2000 for: Ephemeris Tool 4,5 according to Jean Meeus, conversion program, 2001 .

Remarks

  1. 5 Venus intervals multiplied by 583.924 days compared to 8 mean solar years of 365.2422 days each.
  2. Cf. Rolf Krauss: Sothis and Moon Data: Studies on the Astronomical and Technical Chronology of Ancient Egypt , Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1985, p. 125.
  3. The Venus Altitude refers to the first day of visibility as the morning star of the new 584-day interval. The altitude increases with each additional day, as the rise of Venus occurs a few minutes earlier each additional day.
  4. a b c With additional month Addaru 2.
  5. a b c With additional month Ululu 2.