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Astronomical Dating of the Rising Star List in MUL.APIN

Article in Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes · January 2007

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Astronomical dating of the rising star list in
MUL.APIN

By TEIJE DE JONG (Amsterdam)

One
of the most frequently consulted books in my personal library is
MUL.APIN. An Astronomical Compendium in Cuneiform published in 1989
by Hermann Hunger and the late David Pingree. On the first page it carries
the date I received it from the publisher: 28 April 1990. At that time one of my
students Frank Inklaar (1989) had just finished a master thesis in which he had
developed a new method to compute dates of first and last appearance of stars
and planets based on a physical model of stellar visibility. In his thesis he ap
plied this method to an interprétation of the observations of rising stars in
MUL.APIN inspired by the earlier work of our compatriot Bartel van der
Waerden (1949).
Since then Hermann has edited and published four volumes of the Astro
nomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylon (Sachs and Hunger 1988,
1989, 1996; Hunger, Sachs and Steele 2001) and in collaboration with David
Pingree he wrote the monumental monograph Astral Sciences in Mesopota
mia (1999). Reading and enjoying these works has been influential in my déci
sion in 2001 to turn Babylonian. I will always be grateful to Hermann for play
ing such a séminal role in making the ancient cuneiform texts available to the
non-Akkadian speaking Student.
I first encountered Hermann in person in June 2001 in London at the
meeting „Under One Sky" organized by Annette Imhausen, John Steele and
Christopher Walker at the British Museum. Here I presented a paper in which
I analyzed observations of Saturn from Uruk during the reign of Nebuchad
nezzar published by Hermann a few years before (Hunger 1999). Since then
we have met at several occasions and each time I have greatly profited from his
eminent scholarship. Babylonian astronomy is a strongly interdisciplinary area
of research. Therefore I look upon my encounter with Hermann - the meeting
of an „astronomer turned Babylonian" with a „Babylonian turned astrono
mer" - as a fortunate omen.

The date of the composition of MUL.APIN

According to Hunger and Pingree (1989; henceforth referred to as MA)

MUL.APIN is a composite text with many différent sources (MA, p. 10). Their
édition of MUL.APIN is based on about 40 (fragments of) copies of the text.
The oldest copy dates from 687 BC which provides a firm „terminus ante
quem". Hunger and Pingree favour a date around 1000 BC for the composi

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108 τ. de Jong

tion of the text of MUL.APIN but allow for the possibility that certain parts of
the text may be several centuries older (MA; see also Hunger and Pingree
1999).
The most quantitative attempt to date one particular part of the text of
MUL.APIN is by van der Waerden (1949). He based his dating on an analysis
of the calendar dates of the first appearance
of 34 stars and/or constellations in
MUL.APIN. By comparing with computed dates of first appearances he con
cluded that these observations must have been carried out somewhere be
tween 1400 and 900 BC. In this paper I follow van der Waerden's approach in
a new attempt to date the observations underlying the rising star list in MUL.
APIN.

Babylonian observational practice

Central in Babylonian astronomical observing practice is the recording of
the dates of first appearance and/or disappearance of stars and planets in the
morning or evening twilight sky close to the horizon. The first appearance of a
star or planet is sometimes also referred to as first visibility, heliacal rising or
morning first (MF). The oldest known Babylonian planetary observations
known so far are those of Venus during he reign of the Old Babylonian king
Ammisaduqa (—1650 BC). The oldest known stellar observations are the ones
listed in MUL.APIN.
Collections of observations of first appearance and disappearance of the

planets were probably routinely done already early in the 2nd millennium BC
and were systematically recorded from about 750 BC onwards in the Astrono
mical Diaries (oldest extant copy dating from 652 BC). On the basis of this
kind of observations planetary periods were derived by the Babylonian astro
nomers in the 6th and 5(h centuries BC. These periods were used in the so
called „goal-year" texts to compute future planetary positions (see Hunger
and Pingree 1999). They also form the basis for the development of the ingeni
ous arithmetical schemes to compute planetary ephemerides known from the
Seleucid era.
The Astronomical Diaries contain no observations of the first or last visibi
lity of stars apart from Sirius. Only two of these appear to be actually observed
{Diaries for 325 BC and 290 BC). As has been shown by Sachs (1952) ail later
recorded dates of first appearance of Sirius in the Diaries are computed rather
than observed. Thus the observation of first and last visibilities of stars appar
ently belongs to an older tradition.

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 Astronomical of the rising star list in MUL.APIN 109
dating

The MUL.APIN star lists

Hunger and Pingree (1989) in the Astronomical Commentary to MUL.

APIN identify six lists of stars in the text, indicated as lists I - VI. Following
van der Waerden (1949) I discuss in this paper only those two star lists that
contain sufficiently quantitative information to allow an attempt to astronomi
cally date the observations on which they are based. Star list II contains dates
of the first appearances of 34 stars and/or constellations in an ideal lunar cal
endar containing 12 months of 30 days each (Tablet I, column ii, line 36 - col
umn iii, line 12). Star list IV contains intervais in days between dates of first
appearance of 16 stars or constellations (Tablet I, column iii, lines 34-48). The
stars in list IV are a subset of those in list II and the intervais given are con
sistent with the dates in list II.
In Table 11 show the stars/constellations of list II and the associated dates
of first appearance in the Babylonian lunar calendar according to the text. In
the first two columns I give the Babylonian name of the star and its translation
according to MA, in column 3 the ideal calendar date, converted to sequential
days in column 4, and in the last two columns I give the star suggested by van
der Waerden (1949) as the one (in that constellation) becoming visible for the
first time on that date. With KAK.SI.SA (Sirius) rising on day 15 of month IV
list II may have been used for the purpose of determining the amount by which
the lunar calendar was out of pace with the solar year. It was one of the main
goals of early Babylonian sky watching to determine when an additional month
had to be intercalated in order to keep the lunar calendar lined up with the so
lar year (seasons). This préoccupation with the calendar is reflected by the fact
that MUL.APIN contains a long section (31 lines on Tablet II) with concrète
recipes when to intercalate an additional month based on a variety of astrono
mical observations. Whatever the purpose of star lists II and IV may have been

it is clear that the data they contain can only be the result of at least several dé
cades of regulär stellar observations.

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110 T. deJong

Table 1. MUL.APIN star list II

Babylonian star name Translation mm dd d# Rising star vdW

lu HUN.GA Hired Man 1 1 0 a Ari

α
GAM Crook 1 20 20 Capelia aα Aur
MUL.MUL Stars II 1 30 Pleiades η Tau
r|
is le-e Jaw of the Bull II 20 50 Aldebaran aα Tau
SIPA.ZI.AN.NA Τ rue Sepherd
True of Anu III 10 70 Bellatrix γ Ori
y
MAS.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL Great Twins Castor aα Gem
Gern
MAS.TAB.
MAS.TAB.BA.TUR.TUR
BA.TUR.TUR Little Twins IV 5 95 iι Gem
Gern
AL.LUL Crab Procyon aα CMi
KAK.SI.SA Arrow IV 15 105 a CMa
α
MUS Snake β Can
(3
UR.GU.LA Lion eε Leo
BAN Bow V 5 125 δ Cma
5
LUGAL King Regulus aα Leo
NUN ki Eridu VI 10 160 Canopus aα Car
UGA musen Raven γ Crv
y
SU.PA VI 15 165 Arcturus aα Boo
AB.SIN Furrow VI 25 175 Spica aα Vir
zi-ba-ni-tu4 Scales VII 15 195 aα Lib
UR.IDIM Mad Dog δ Ser
5
EN.TE. NA. BAR. HUM
EN.TE.NA.BAR.HUM Y
γ Cen
UR.KU Dog Her
η
H
GIR.TAB Scorpion VIII 5 215 γ
Y Sco
UZ She-Goat VIII 15 225 Vega aα Lyr
GAB.GIR.TAB Breast of Scorpion Antares aα Sco
UD.KAH.DUH.A Panther IX 15 255 δ
6
Cyg
Tl8 musen
Tla Eagle Ç Aql
S
Pabllsag
Pabilsag V Sag
SIM.MAH
SIM.ΜΑΗ Swallow X 15 285 eε Peg
GU.LA Great One XI 5 305 β Aqu
(3
AS.IKU Field β Peg
P
lu-lim Stag γ Cas
Y
A-nu-ni-tu4 XI 25 325 β And
P
KU6
ku6 Fish XII 15 345 Fomalhaut aα PsA
SU.Gl
SU.GI Old Man γ Per
Y

Using the text édition of Tablet I by King, stellar identifications of Bezold,

Kopff, Kugler, Schaumberger and Weidner (references in his paper) and val
ues of the arcus visionis taken from Schoch (1924b) van der Waerden (1949)
computed dates of first appearance of the stars/constellations in Table 1 for
différent epochs. Since the orientation of the sky with respect to the horizon
slowly varies due to precession a comparison between observed and computed
dates in principle allows a détermination of the epoch of observation. Van der
Waerden (1949) concluded that the observations were most probably carried
out between 1400 and 900 BC, and in Babylon rather than in Niniveh. The ré
sulte of this study were republished in two monographs published 20 years
later (van der Waerden 1965, 1974). Note that the rising dates adopted by van
der Waerden from lù HUN.GA to AL.LUL systematically differ by five days
from the ones in the text because he fitted a solar year of 365 days into the Ba
bylonian ideal lunar calendar of 360 days.

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 Astronomical of the rising star list in MUL.APIN 111
dating

A new attempt to astronomically date the observations in star lists II and IV

In this paper I présent a new attempt to astronomically date the observa

tions in star lists II and IV. It improves on the earlier study of van der Waer
den (1949) in four respects:
- it is based on the most recent édition of the text (MA),
dates of first appearance of stars are computed based on a physical model
of stellar visibility,
-
only those stars/constellations are used in the analysis for which the identi
fication with known stars is secure, and
- time intervais between dates of first appearance of stars (list IV) are fitted
rather than the dates in the ideal lunar calendar (list II).
The main ingrédients of the physical model of stellar and planetary visibility
are as follows (cf. Inklaar 1989, de Jong 2002, de Jong 2007, de Jong and
Inklaar 2007):
-
computation of the ancient sky based on recent théories of the precession
of the equinoxes and of the changing obliquity of the ecliptic, and on re
cent values of the proper motions of stars,
-
computation of the brightness distribution of the sky at dawn and dusk
including atmospheric extinction and refraction, and
-
computation of stellar visibility based on the response of the human eye
under twilight conditions.
The model is fully characterized by three parameters: the geographical co
ordinates of the place of observation, the epoch of observation and keXt,the
extinction of the earth atmosphère.
For my analysis I have selected 19 bright stars/constellations whose identifi
cation is beyond suspicion. To illustrate the method employed in this paper I
présent in Table 2 observed and computed data for the first appearance of

these stars/constellations. The observed data are taken from MUL.APIN and
the computed data are for the location of Babylon, at epoch -1200 (1201 BC)
and for an atmosphère characterized by keXt= 0.25 magnitudes per air mass.
One air mass is a measure of the amount of air along a path through the at
mosphère at zenith and an extinction of 0.25 magnitudes corresponds to an
atténuation of the light of the star by a factor 0.78.
In the first two columns of Table 2 I give the Babylonian star names and
the intervais between the date of first appearance and that of the previous star/
constellation in the Table. I have chosen to fit the intervais between dates of
first appearance rather than the dates themselves because it avoids the prob
lem mentioned above of having to accommodate a solar year of 365 days into a
schematic lunar calendar of 360 days. All intervais listed in Table 2 are directly
taken from star list IV in MUL.APIN except for MAS.TAB.BA. TUR. TUR
for which the interval is constructed from the data in star list II (see Table 1).
There are only 18 independent observed intervais between the 19 stars/con
stellations listed in Table 2.

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 112 T. deJong

Table 2. Observed and computed first visibility dates for selected stars from
MUL.APIN
starname Ad First star Μν
Mv Alt AV Empty sky Date Time Ad Dif
Babylonian
obs rising
rising mag deg deg at horizon -1200 rih:mm calc c-o

KAK.SI.SA aα CMa -1.46 2.1 8.9 50 x

χ 15 19-Jul 04:17
LUGAL 20 aα Leo 1.35 3.3 14.4 15 x
χ 7 6-Aug 04:07 18 -2
NUN ki 35 aα Car -0.72 1.5 11.1 35 x
χ 10 13-Sep 04:50 38 3
UGA musen 0 γY Crv 2.59 5.6 17.3 30 x
χ 15 21-Sep 04:48 8 8
SUPA 5 aα Boo
Βοο -0.04 2.0 12.5 35 x
χ 12 19-Sep 04:51 -2 -7

AB.SIN 10 aα Vir 0.98 3.4 13.2 χ 11

25 x 27-Sep 05:01 8 -2
zi-ba-ni-tu4 20 aα Lib 2.64 (2) 6.2 17.8 30 x
χ 10 22-Oct 05:12 25 5
UZ 30 αa Lyr 0.03 2.0 12.0 10 x
χ 11 19-Nov 05:45 28 -2
GAB.GIR.TAB 0 aα Sco 0.96 3.2 13.4 20 x
χ 12 12-Nov 05:38 -7 -7
Tl8 musen 30 Ç Aql
?Aql 2.99 6.8 18.9 35 x
χ 12 12-Dec 05:56 30 0

AS.IKU 50 β Peg
P 2.42 5.1 16.8 25 x
χ 10 5-Feb 06:11 55 5
lu-lim 0 βP Cas 2.27 4.8 15.5 30 x
χ 13 28-Jan 06:18 -8 -8
KU6
ku6 40 aα PsA 1.16 COo 13.7
3.0 20 x
χ 12 16-Mar 05:37 47 7
lu HUN.GA 15 aα Ari 2.00 4.3 15.6 10 x
χ 10 8-Apr 05:01 23 8
GAM 20 aα Aur 0.08 2.5 11.8 25 x
χ 13 23-Apr 04:50 15 -5

is le-e 30 aα Tau 0.85 3.3 12.7 30 x

χ 11 28-May 04:07 35 5
SIPA.ZI.AN.NA 20 y Ori
γ 1.64 3.9 14.1 χ 11 21-Jun
15 x 03:50 24 4
MAS.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL 0 aα Gem
Gern 0.83 (2) 3.5 13.0 50 x
χ 12 18-Jun 03:55 -3 -3
MAS.TAB.BA.TUR.TUR 25 aCMi 0.38 2.8 13.1. 60 x
χ 17 14-Jul 04:00 26 1

In columns 3 and 4 of Table 21 give the stellar identification of the first vi

sible star of each constellation and its visual magnitude taken from the Yale
Catalogue of Bright Stars (Hoffleit 1982).
Column 5 displays the apparent altitude above the horizon (including the
effect of atmospheric refraction) at which the star first becomes visible. Note
that on the date of first appearance a star usually remains visible for about 10
15 minutes so that it will have risen by another 3° to 4° by the time it disappears
in the brightening morning twilight sky. Also note that for an extinction coeffi
cient of 0.25 magnitudes per air mass the light path through the atmosphère
for a star at an altitude of 4° above the horizon is about 15 times larger than at
zénith corresponding to atténuation of star light by about a factor 1/30.
In column 6 I give computed values of the so-called arcus visionis, the dis
tance in degrees between the true position of the star above and that of the
Sun below the horizon, measured perpendicular to the horizon at the moment
of first appearance. The method of computation is illustrated in Figure 1 in
which I have plotted the apparent altitude of stars above the horizon and the
dépression of the Sun below the horizon on their date of first appearance as a
function of stellar magnitude for an atmosphère characterized by keXt= 0.25
magnitudes per air mass. The data points represent averages of values com
puted for 12 theoretical stars of the same magnitude positioned at 30° intervais

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 Astronomical of the rising star list in MUL.APIN 113
dating

along the celestial equator. Since the brightness of the twilight sky dépends on
the distance of the star from the Sun measured along the horizon (called
Elongation) one expects the computed values of the arcus visionis to show
some dependence on Elongation which ranges from 0° to 60° for the 12 theo
retical stars. Apparently this effect is weak because the r.m.s errors in the data
points resulting from the averaging process are of the order of the size of the
data points (< 1.0°) in Figure 1.

20.0

10.0

0.0
ω
■ö
3

< -10.0

-20.0
-6.0 -4.0 -2.0 0.0 2.0 4.0 6.0
Visual magnitude

Figure 1. Apparent stellar altitude above the horizon (stars) and true solar
dépression below the horizon (circles) at the first appearance of stars as a
function of stellar magnitude for an atmosphère characterized by kext= 0.25
magnitudes per airmass. The data points represent averages of values com
puted for 12 stars distributed evenly along the celestial equator. The r.m.s.
errors resulting from the averaging process are of the order of the size of the
data points (< 1.0°).

In column 7 of Table 2 I give the area of empty sky surrounding the star
measured in azimuth (parallel to the horizon) χ altitude (perpendicular to the
horizon) at the moment that it first appears. Keeping in mind that the large
constellation Orion Covers about 20° χ 15° it is clear from the numbers in col
umn 7 that a large area of sky around the first visible star is completely devoid
of other stars so that the firstvisible star can indeed be uniquely identified.
Columns 8 and 9 show the Julian date and the local time of first appear
ance of each star and in column 10 the interval in days between the dates of
first appearance of successive stars in column 8.
The différences in days between the computed intervais in column 10 and
the observed intervais in column 2 are displayed in the last column of Table 2.

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114 T. deJong

Given the fact that the atmospheric extinction may vary from day-to-day by
more than a factor of 2 and that the size of the observational grid equals 5 days
the range of values in column 11 is in agreement with expectation. Note that
the epoch, geographical location and atmospheric extinction of the computa
tion in Table 2 are close to the best fit to be discussed below.

Stellar identifications

Not all stars/constellations in star list II are securely identified. Some of the
identifications in Table 1 suggested by van der Waerden (1949) are uncertain
and in disagreement with later work (e.g. Reiner and Pingree 1981, see also
Hunger and Pingree 1999). For the identification process it is essential to re
alize that the first visibility of a stellar group or constellation always must refer
to one star in that constellation, usually (but not always) the brightest. This is
due to the fact that the first appearance by définition happens during twilight
and close to the horizon so that ail other stars in the neighborhood are still
invisible. This cannot be sufficiently emphasized and is something that has
often been forgotten or simply not been realized by scholars trying to interpret
the Babylonian records of stellar and planetary observations.
I believe that the stellar identifications of the 19 stars/constellations in Ta
ble 2 used for my analysis are secure because they are indeed the first stars
becoming visible of their constellation and on that date there is no other star
visible in that area of sky within the boundaries given in column 7 of Table 2.
Note that 14 of the 19 stars in Table 2 have a Greek désignation „a" reserved
for the brightest star in a constellation and that the fainter stars in Table 2 are
the most north-western star in their constellation expected to become visible
before the brightest star of that constellation. Also note that α Gern and α Lib
are double stars but seen as one star by the human eye. Together they are
brighter than each of them separately. This increase in brightness moves the
date at which they first appear backwards. For Castor this différence amounts
to about 3 days. Further note that I have excluded MUL.MUL from the list in
spite of its secure identification with the Pleiades because it is a star Cluster
covering several square degrees of sky so that the date of its first appearance is
affected by the chance to see more than one star.
The only new identification in Table 2 is the pair of stars α CMi and β CMi
for MAS.TAB.BA.TUR.TUR, the Little Twins, of which α CMi (Procyon) is
the brightest and the one rising first. Van der Waerden suggested ι Gern and
Reiner and Pingree (1981) suggest ζ Gern and λ Gem. Both identifications are
rather improbable because they involve faint 4th magnitude stars in a densely
populated area of the sky. The identification of MAS.TAB.BA.TUR.TUR
with α CMi and β CMi was earlier suggested by Koch (1993).

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 Astronomical dating of the rising star list in MUL.APIN 115

Model Atting

I have computed dates of first appearance of the 19 stars in Table 2 for 30

différent combinations of epoch and atmospheric extinction in Babylon. To be
able to choose the best fitting model from these 30 I have computed a Statisti
cal quantity known as χ2 for each of these models, defined as

X = Z[(date0bS -datecomp) / ο ].

For the dispersion I have adopted a value of σ = 5 days, consistent with the
observational grid size of 5 days and with a typical uncertainty of 3 days in the
date of first appearance due to atmospheric variations.

Table 3. x2-values for fits to observations of MUL.APIN stars

Epoch -1100 -1200 -1300 -1400 -1500

k(ext)
0.15 25.8 20.8 19.7 22.0 20.7

0.20 21.5 22.2 19.8 19.4

19.4 20.5

0.25 20.2 19.4 19.0 18.5 19.3

'
0.30 20.1 18.7 18.5 19.0 20.4
(
0.35 ■1 19.2
19.2 19.0 19.1 21.1 22.6

0.40 20.7 21.0 20.9 24.3 26,6

The results are summarized in Table 3 where I have shaded models char
acterized by χ2 < 19.5. The best solution corresponds to the minimum in χ2
and is characterized by χ2 = 18.5, about equal to the number of independent
data points (19 - 1) in Table 2, as statistically expected. This implies that our
choice of σ = 5 days is indeed a reasonable estimate.
From this analysis I conclude that the observations underlying star lists II
and IV in MA can be dated to an epoch of 1300 ± 150 BC and that the aver
age extinction of the atmosphère in Babylon may be characterized by kext =
0.30 ± 0.05 magnitudes per airmass. The quoted uncertainties have been de
rived from the Statistical result that the r.m.s. error in each of the parameters
corresponds to δ[χ^] = 1.
It is reassuring that the extinction value found is equal within the uncer
tainties to the value kext= 0.25 ± 0.05 magnitudes per airmass found earlier

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116 T. deJong

from an analysis of Babylonian observations of Saturn in the 7th Century BC

(de Jong 2002).

Table 4. %2-values for différent Geographie Latitudes

Geographic
Geographie χ2
X2
Latitude
30 30.4
31 21.2
32 19.0
33 21.4
34 31.1
35 54.6
36 no solution

I next turn to an attempt to détermine the approximate geographical loca

tion of the observing site of star lists II and IV. In Table 4 I show χ -values for
sets of dates of first appearance computed for différent geographical latitudes
at epoch -1300 for an atmosphère characterized by kex, = 0.25 ± 0.05 magni
tudes per airmass. The results show that the value of χ2 is quite sensitive to
where the observations have been carried out. This sensitivity is caused by
those stars that lie far out of the equator like α Car (Canopus), β Cas and α
Lyr (Vega). In fact Table 4 shows that at a geographical latitude above 35° no
solution is possible because Canopus never becomes visible (for kext= 0.25 ±
0.05 magnitudes per airmass). Thus I conclude that Babylon (geographical
latitude 32° 33') is a probable observing site and that Niniveh (36° 16') is ruled
out.

Discussion

The results of my analysis basically confirm the earlier conclusions of van

der Waerden (1949). However, the présent resuit is considerably more robust
because of the better treatment of the visibility criterion and the greater rigour
of the Statistical fitting procédure.
In his calculations van der Waerden used values of the arcus visionis com
puted from algorithms provided by Schoch (1924b). The concept of the arcus
visionis, probably introduced into Greek Astronomy at the time of Eudoxos in
the 4th Century BC, was first properly treated by Ptolemy in about 150 AD
(Almagest VIII,6 and XIII,7; Toomer 1984).
Values of the arcus visionis in Alexandria for the brightest stars may be de
rived from the dates of first/lastappearance given in the remaining part of an
other work of Ptolemy (Φάσεισ απλανών αστέρων και συναγωγή
επισημασιων = Phases of the fixed stars and collection of weather changes).
From the dates given in the ,,Φάσεισ" Heinrich Vogt (1920) showed that

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 Astronomical of the rising star list in MUL.APIN H7
dating

Ptolemy in his theoretical treatment takes account of the dependence of the

arcus visionis on stellar magnitude and apparently also on Elongation of the
star from the sun (measured along the horizon in Azimuth). The dependence
on Elongation is expected to be most pronounced for stars far above or below
the ecliptic.
Carl Schoch (1924b) used Babylonian observations of stars and planets and
the theoretical formulation of Vogt (1920) to come up with the following algo
rithme for the arcus visionis at the first appearance of stars in Babylon as a
function of stellar magnitude and Elongation (E):

Magnitude Arcus visionis (h)

-1.0 6.9® + 2.5® cos (E)
0.0 7.8® + 2.6® cos (E)
+ 1.0 8.9® + 2.7® cos (E)
+2.0 10.6® + 2.9® cos (E)
+3.0 12.8® + 3.3® cos (E)

These algorithme were used by van der Waerden (1949) in his analysis of
the MUL.APIN star list.
In Table 5 I show the results of a calculation for the same epoch (-1200)
and observing site (Babylon) as those presented in Table 2 but now based on
arcus visionis values (column 8) computed with the algorithms above proposed
by Schoch (1924b), using the values of the Elongation Ε given in column 7.
From the différences shown in the last column it is clear that the set of com
puted dates of first appearance in Table 5 provides a much poorer fit to the
observations than those in Table 2. The fit in Table 5 results in a y2-value of
29.1 compared to 19.4 for the fit in Table 2.
Schoch based his algorithms on the analysis of about 70 Babylonian obser
vations of planets (Schoch 1924a) and a handful of observations of Sirius
(Schoch 1924b). The average arcus visionis values that he (Schoch 1924a) de
rives from the planetary observations range from 5.8° at magnitude -3.3 for
Venus in superior conjunction to 15.5° at magnitude 1.8 for Mars, roughly in
agreement with the results that I obtain with the new method of de Jong and
Inklaar (2007; see Figure 1). As we now know all Sirius dates after about 300
BC quoted in the Astronomical Diaries and Almanacs were computed rather
than observed (Sachs 1952) so that the arcus visionis derived by Schoch
(1924a,b) for Sirius is unreliable.

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 118 T. deJong

Table 5. Same as Table 2 but based on arcus visionis values of Schoch

Babylonian starname Date Ad First star Mv
My Ε
E AV Date Ad Dif
(obs) obs rising mag deg deg -1200 calc c-o

KAK.SI.SA 0 aα CMa -1.46 56 7.6 18-Jul

LUGAL 20 20 aα Leo 1.35 7 12.3 4-Aug 17 -3
NUN ki 55 35 aα Car -0.72 92 7.1 5-Sep 32 -3
UGA musen 55 0 Y Crv
γ 2.59 18 14.9 19-Sep 14 14
SUPA 60 5 aα Boo -0.04 -31 10.0 16-Sep -3 -8

AB.SIN 70 10 α Vir
aVir 0.98 4 11.6 25-Sep 9 -1

zi-ba-ni-tu4 90 20 aα Lib
Lib 2.64 (2) 2 15.2 19-Oct 24 4
UZ 120 30 aα Lyr 0.03 -62 9.0 15-Nov 27 -3
GAB.GIR.TAB 120 0 aα Sco 0.96 7 11.6 10-Nov -5 -5

Tl8 musen
Tla 150 30 çAql
C Aql 2.99 -32 15.6 9-Dec 29 -1

AS.IKU 200 50 P Peg

ßPeg 2.42 28 14.3 2-Feb 55 5
lu-lim 200 0 (3 Cas
β 2.27 -67 12.3 22-Jan -11 -11

KUe
ku6 240 40 aα PsA 1.16 57 10.7 8-Mar 45 5
lu HUN.GA 255 15 aα Ari 2.00 6 13.5 4-Apr 27 12
GAM 275 20 aα Aur 0.08 -25 10.3 19-Apr 15 -5

is le-e 305 30 aα Tau 0.85 27 11.1 25-May 36 6

SIPA.ZI.AN.NA 325 20 Ori
yOri
γ 1.64 42 12.1 18-Jun 24 4
MAS.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL 325 0 aα Gem
Gern 0.83 (2) 2 11.4 16-Jun -2 -2
MAS.TAB.BA.TUR.TUR 350 25 aα CMi
CMi 0.38 29 10.6 12-Jul 26 1

For reasons that do not become clear from his papers Schoch recommends
to use the algorithms listed above for the arcus visionis of fixed stars at Baby
lon, in spite of the fact that they resuit in values that are smaller than the ones
derived from the Babylonian observations, increasingly so for fainter objects.
It can also be shown that the dependence on Elongation proposed by Schoch is
too strong. I conclude that the arcus visionis values derived from our new me
thod are to be preferred over the ones advocated by Schoch and used by van
der Waerden. In our forthcoming paper (de Jong and Inklaar 2007) we will
présent a more detailed discussion and a more comprehensive comparison of
Babylonian observations with the results from our new method.

Conclusions
- The observations underlying the dates of the first appearance of stars and
constellations in star lists II and IV of MUL.APIN date from ~1300 ±
150 BC.
The observations were carried out in Babylon or at some other location
with géographie latitude ~32fi.
- The list is based on compétent astronomical observations carried out over
a time span of at least about one génération to obtain sufficient observa

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 Astronomical of the rising star list in MUL.APIN 119
dating

tions for each star and to average out the effects of atmospheric variabil
ity.
The State of the atmosphère (extinction) in Babylon did not change sig
nificantly over a period of 600 years.
A future more detailed analysis may improve the identifications of
stars/constellations in the MUL.APIN star lists II and IV.

Références

D. Hoffleit 1982, The Bright Star Catalogue, New Häven

H. Hunger 1999, „Saturnbeobachtungen aus der Zeit Nebukadnezars II", Al
ter Orient und Altes Testament 252,189-192
H. Hunger & D. Pingree 1989, MUL.APIN: An Astronomical Compendium in
Cuneiform, Archiv für Orientforschung, Beiheft 24, Horn
H. Hunger and D. Pingree 1999, Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia, Leiden
H. Hunger, AJ. Sachs, and J.M. Steele 2001, Astronomical Diaries and Rela
ted Texts from Babylonia, Vol. V, Vienna
F. Inklaar 1989, Een Nieuwe Methode voor de Berekening van Heliakische
Opkomsten, doctoraalscriptie, Universiteit van Amsterdam
T. de Jong 2002, "Early Babylonian Observations of Saturn: Astronomical
Considérations", Alter Orient und Altes Testament291,175-192
T. de Jong 2007, "The Heliacal
Rising of Sirius", in Handbook of Ancient
Egyptian Chronology, Leiden, in press
T. de Jong and F. Inklaar 2007, A New Method to Compute First and Last Vi
sibilities of Stars andPlanets, in préparation
mui
J. Koch 1993, „Das Sternbild mas-tab-ba-tur-tur", in Die Rolle der Astro
nomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens, Grazer Morgenländische Studien,
Band 3, H.D. Galter ed., 185-198
E. Reiner and D. Pingree 1981, Babylonian Planetary Omens, Part Two: Enu
ma Anu Enlil, Tablets 50-51, Bibliotheca Mesopotamica, Malibu
A. J. Sachs 1952, "Sirius Dates in Babylonian Astronomical Tablets of the Se
leucid Period", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 6,105-114
A.J. Sachs and H. Hunger 1988,1989,1996, Astronomical Diaries and Related
Texts from Babylon, Volumes I-III, Vienna
C. Schoch 1924a, The Arcus Visionis of the Planets in the Babylonian Obser
vations, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 84, 731
734
C. Schoch 1924b, The Arcus Visionis in the Babylonian Observations, London
G.J. Toomer 1984, Ptolemy's Almagest, London
H. Vogt 1920, Griechische Kalender V Der Kalender des Claudius Ptole
mäus, Sitzungsberichte der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften,
Phil.-Hist. klasse, 15. Abh.

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 120 T. de Jong

Β. L. van der Waerden, "Babylonian Astronomy II, The Thirty-Six Stars",

Journal οf Near Eastem Stu dies 8, 6-26
B. L. van der Waerden 1965, Die Anfänge der Astronomie, Groningen
B. L. van der Waerden 1974, Science Awakening II. The Birth of Astronomy,
Leiden

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