šitadallu

mul.SIPA.ZI.AN.NA

Akkadian · noun

variants SIPA : šitadallu , mul.SIPA : šitadallu , mul₂.SIPA.ZI.NA : šitadallu , mul.SIPA.AN.NA : šitadallu , : šitaddaru , : šidallu

Edited by: Marvin Schreiber
Last edited: 2024-06-02

Meanings

1. Gemini

2. The-True-Shepherd-of-Heaven-star

Literal translation

the one who is smiten with the weapon (popular etymology, see quotation 5)

1. Gemini

1.a Gemini zodiac sign

Alternative name for the third zodiacal sign Gemini.

ana SIG3.ḫi.a ina ŠA3 mul.lu2.ḪUN.GA2 mul.giš.RIN2 u [mu]l.SIPA.ZI.AN.NA

‘For wool: within Aries, Libra, and Gemini.’

— BM 47494 obv. 27

Genre: astrological compendium Provenance: Babylon Date: 464-337 BCE

Hunger, H. 2004. Stars, Cities, and Predictions. Pp. 16–32 in Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences in Honour of David Pingree, eds. Charles Burnett, Jan Hogendijk, Kim Plofker and Michio Yano. Leiden: Brill. 18

1.b Gemini micro sign

mul.MAŠ.MAŠ mul.SIPA

‘'The Twins', 'The True Shepherd of Heaven' (=Mirco-Gemini)’

— VAT 7847+AO 6448 Micro-zodiac row: Gemini

Genre: microzodiac text Provenance: Uruk Date: early 2nd cent BCE

Weidner, E., 1967. Gestirn-Darstellungen auf babylonischen Tontafeln. Wien: Hermann Böhlaus Nachf. 29

2. The-True-Shepherd-of-Heaven-star

2.a The-True-Shepherd-of-Heaven-star constellation, constellation: 3 x 12 constellations

Approx. corresponding to Orion.

DIŠ mul.SIPA.ZI.AN.NA d.Pap-sukal SUK[AL d.A-nim u INNIN]

‘¶ The True Shepherd of Heaven, Papsukal, the minis[ter of Anu and Ištar].’

— BM 86378 ii 2

Genre: schematic astronomy: mulapin Provenance: ? Date: ca. 626-539 BCE

Hunger, H. and Steele, J., 2019. The Babylonian Astronomical Compendium MUL.APIN. London and New York: Routledge. 39

[iti.S]IG4 4 mul2.SIPA.ZI.NA

‘[Mon]th III, 4, 'The True Shepherd of Heaven'.’

— BM 34713 (LBAT 1499) obv. ii 3

Genre: schematic astronomy: 'three stars each' + rising times Provenance: Babylon Date: 4th-2nd cent BCE

Horowitz, W., 2014. The Three Stars Each: The Astrolabes and Related Texts (Archiv für Orientforschung, Beiheft 33). Horn/Wien: Berger & Söhne/Institut für Orientalistik der Universität Wien. 126

[mu]l.SIPA.ZI.AN.NA : ŠITA2 .DAR : ša2 ina kak-ki maḫ-ṣu

‘The True-Shepherd-of Heaven-star : ŠITA2 .DAR (=šitaddaru) : the one who is smiten with the weapon.’

— K 260+ obv. 20

Genre: star list Provenance: Nineveh Date: 7th century BCE

Reiner, E., Civil, M. 1974. The Series HAR-ra = hubullu: Tablets XX-XXIV (Materials for the Sumerian Lexicon XI). Pontificium Institutum Biblicum: Rome. 41: 44

15 SIPA ina ŠU₂ ŠU₂

‘(Day) 15, the Shepherd sets (= last appearance) in the west.’

— BM 35149 (ADRT VII No. 187) obv. 1'

Genre: astronomical diaries and related texts: almanac Provenance: Babylon Date: 92 BCE

Hunger, H. 2014. Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Vol. VII: Almanacs and Normal Star Almanacs. Vienna, Austria: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 359

Cite this entry

APA (7th)

Schreiber, M. (2024). mul.SIPA.ZI.AN.NA (Lemma #1078). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1078/

Chicago (Author-Date)

Schreiber, M. (2024). mul.SIPA.ZI.AN.NA (Lemma #1078). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1078/

MLA (9th)

Schreiber, M. (2024). mul.SIPA.ZI.AN.NA (Lemma #1078). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1078/

Harvard

Schreiber, M. (2024) mul.SIPA.ZI.AN.NA (Lemma #1078), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1078/ (Accessed: July 4, 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{zodiac1078,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-07-04]},
	author = {Schreiber, Marvin},
	year = {2024},
	title = {mul.{SIPA}.{ZI}.{AN}.{NA} ({Lemma} #1078)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1078/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1078/},
}