Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa

Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa
Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa
Material	Clay
Size	Length: 17.14 cm (6.75 in); Width: 9.2 cm (3.6 in); Thickness: 2.22 cm (0.87 in)
Writing	Cuneiform
Period/culture	Neo-Assyrian
Place	Kouyunjik (Nineveh)
Present location	Room 55, British Museum, London
Registration	K.160

The Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa (Enuma Anu Enlil Tablet 63) is the record of astronomical positions for Venus, as preserved in numerous cuneiform tablets dating from the first millennium BC. It is believed that this astronomical record was first compiled during the reign of King Ammisaduqa (or Ammizaduga), the fourth ruler after Hammurabi. Thus, the origins of this text could probably be dated to around the mid-seventeenth century BC^[1] (according to the Middle Chronology) despite allowing two possible dates.

The tablet gives the rise times of Venus and its first and last visibility on the horizon before or after sunrise and sunset (the heliacal risings and settings of Venus) in the form of lunar dates. These positions are given for a period of 21 years.^[2]

^ Hobson, Russell (2009). The Exact Transmission of Texts in the First Millennium B.C. (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Sydney.
^ North, John David (2008). Cosmos: An Illustrated History of Astronomy and Cosmology. University of Chicago Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-226-59441-5.

[1] Hobson, Russell (2009). The Exact Transmission of Texts in the First Millennium B.C. (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Sydney.

[2] North, John David (2008). Cosmos: An Illustrated History of Astronomy and Cosmology. University of Chicago Press. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-226-59441-5.

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