BM 47886+47914, a Babylonian astral compendium with possible implications for the origin of the “year of the Sun”

Abstract

The previously unpublished cuneiform fragment BM 47886+47914 belongs to an astral compendium written no later than 140/139 BCE. It contains a rare combination of procedures connected to mathematical astronomy, including a previously unknown one for Mercury’s daily motion, and what appear to be astrological procedures. It is argued that the fragment is an indirect join to BM 55555+55562 (ACT No. 210 = BMAPT No. 95), a similar, undated compendium of planetary and lunar procedures, including one mentioning a “year of the Sun,” for which a Greek origin has been proposed. BM 47886+47914 preserves a date of writing, with possible implications for the origin of the “year of the Sun.”