The Mul Apin Tablets

Path of the Moon, Mul Apin: Part Eight

Definition: Definition: [Mul.Apin Tablets] The Mul.Apin [i.e. Mul and Apin] tablets contain the most comprehensive surviving Babylonian star and constellation catalogue from before 600 BC.

The Path of the Moon in Mul.Apin is the first known attempt to produce a zodiac in the sense of a circle of constellations which formed the background to the movement of celestial object. For more information compare this with a modern derivation of the lunar zodiac.

The Path of the Moon from the text from Mul.Apin: Mul.Apin: Column IV, Lines 31 - 39.

C IV	Textual line	Interpretation
31	The gods which stand on the Path of the Moon d.SIN, through which the Moon passes in the course of a month and which it touches are:
32	- reads together with line 2 -
33	The Star Cluster MUL.MUL The Steer of Heaven GU4.AN.NA The Loyal Shepherd of Heaven SIPA.ZI.AN.NA The Old One SHU.GI
34	The Crooked Staff GAM The Great Twins MASH.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL The Crayfish AL.LUL The Lion UR.GU.LA	GAM: [Camelopardalis runs down to Taurus]
35	The Seed-Furrow AB.SIN The Scales zibanitum The Scorpion GIR.TAB The Fire-Arrow-Sagittarian PA.BIL.SAG
36	The Goat-Fish SUCHUR.MASH The Great GU.LA The "tail" of the Swallow SIM.MACH	{Noted by Hinckley "a scholiast on Aratos ... said that the "Chaldeans" called the northernmost fish Chelidonias ichthus ... shown with the head of a swallow.}
37	Anunitum and the agrarian worker LU.CHUN.GA
38	Those are the gods on the Path of the Moon, through which the Moon passes within a month, and which it touches.
39	- reads together with line 38 -

where d. is used as the abbreviation for the Sumerian determinative DINGIR "god".

Comments in parenthesis by [ ] Werner Papke, and { } Andis Kaulins;

() indicates the cuneiform syllables. ©

Further Information: The table below summarises the list of constellations.

	Textual line	Cuneiform Syllables	C IV Line	Modern Constellation Interpretation*
1	The Star Cluster	MUL.MUL	33	Pleiades, in Taurus
2	The Steer of Heaven	GU4.AN.NA	33	Taurus
3	The Loyal Shepherd of Heaven	SIPA.ZI.AN.NA	33	Orion
4	The Old One	SHU.GI	33	Auriga
5	The Crooked Staff	GAM	34	Camelopardalis
6	The Great Twins	MASH.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL	34	Gemini
7	The Crayfish	AL.LUL	34	Cancer
8	The Lion	UR.GU.LA	34	Leo
9	The Seed-Furrow	AB.SIN	35	Virgo
10	The Scales zibanitum		35	Libra
11	The Scorpion	GIR.TAB	35	Scorpius
12	The Fire-Arrow-Sagittarian	PA.BIL.SAG	35	Sagittarius
13	The Goat-Fish	SUCHUR.MASH	36	Capricorn
14	The Great	GU.LA	36	Capricorn?
15	The "tail" of the Swallow	SIM.MACH	36	Pisces
16	Anunitum		37	Andromeda
17	The Agrarian Worker	LU.CHUN.GA	37	Perseus

* Peter Whitfield in the History of Astrology [2001] differs in the following 4: Perseus, 5: Auriga, 14:Aquarius; 17: Aries. He does not give his sources for interpretation.

Translations of the Cuneiform Inscription: The translations linked below are separated out into the subject areas of the tablets.

One:	The 33 Stars on the Path of Enlil	[Mul.Apin: Column I, Lines 1 - 39]
Two:	The 23 Stars on the Path of Anu	[Mul.Apin: Column I, Lines 39 - 44; Column II, Lines 1 - 18]
Three:	The 15 Stars on the Path of Ea	[Mul.Apin: Column II Lines 19 - 35 ]
Four:	The Heliacal Risings of 34 Stars by Month	[Mul.Apin: Column II, Lines 36 - 47, Column III, Lines 1 - 12]
Five:	Heliacal Node Stars Rising and Setting	[Mul.Apin: Column III, Lines 13 - 33]
Six:	Day Differences in the Rising of 15 Stars	[Mul.Apin: Column III, Lines 34 - 50]
Seven:	The Ziqpu Stars	[Mul.Apin: Column IV, Lines 1 - 30]
Eight:	Stars on the Path of the Moon	[Mul.Apin: Column IV, Lines 31 - 39]

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