lumāšu

Akkadian · noun

Edited by: Mathieu Ossendrijver
Last edited: 2024-09-23

Meanings

1. constellation

2. zodiac sign

3. zodiacal position

Literal translation

constellation

1. constellation

1.a constellation astronomical term, celestial object

2. zodiac sign

2.a zodiac sign astronomical term, astrological concept, spatial concept

TA ŠU₂ ana IGI ki IGI-im-ma ina lu-maš.MEŠ DU₃-uš

‘From setting to (first) appearance you compute as before in (all) zodiac signs.’

— BM 34676 (BMAPT No. 13) rev. 32'

Genre: mathematical astronomy: procedure text Provenance: Babylon Date: ca. 350-50 BCE

Ossendrijver, M. 2012. Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts. New York: Springer.

(6) KI sin u KI šamaš₂ ša₂ al-la 10 lu-maš DIRI GAM0 16 DU KI BAR.NUN ša₂ l[u-maš] (7) ša₂-šu₂ ki TAB TAB ki LA₂ LA₂

‘The position of Sin and the position of Šamaš: that which exceeds 10 (UŠ) of the zodiac sign you multiply times 0;16, add with the ṣiliptu-coefficient for the zodiac sign if it is increasing, subtract if it is decreasing.’

— BM 35399 (BMAPT No. 61A) obv. 6-7

Genre: mathematical astronomy: procedure text Provenance: Babylon Date: ca. 350-50 BCE

Ossendrijver, M. 2012. Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts. New York: Springer.

3. zodiacal position

3.a zodiacal position astronomical quantity

in mathematical astronomy

(11') [... TA 10] ⸢ABSIN₀⸣ EN 10 GIR₂ lu-maš A.RA₂ ⸢20⸣ [x] LA₂ ša₂ u₄-me DU

‘(11') [... From 10] Vir until 10 Sco you multiply the zodiacal position by (0);20 [...] the length of daylight.’

— BM 35564+ (BMAPT No. 79) obv. i' 11'

Genre: mathematical astronomy: procedure text Provenance: Babylon Date: ca. 350-50 BCE

Ossendrijver, M. 2012. Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts. New York: Springer 458

šum-ma lu-maš 13 RIN₂

‘If the zodiacal position is 13 Libra.’

— BM 32167+ (BMAPT No. 53) obv. i 26'

Genre: mathematical astronomy: procedure text Provenance: Babylon Date: ca. 350-250 BCE

Ossendrijver, M. 2012. Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts. New York: Springer. 360-361

Cite this entry

APA (7th)

Ossendrijver, M. (2024). lu-maš (Lemma #121). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/121/

Chicago (Author-Date)

Ossendrijver, M. (2024). lu-maš (Lemma #121). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/121/

MLA (9th)

Ossendrijver, M. (2024). lu-maš (Lemma #121). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/121/

Harvard

Ossendrijver, M. (2024) lu-maš (Lemma #121), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/121/ (Accessed: July 4, 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{zodiac121,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-07-04]},
	author = {Ossendrijver, Mathieu},
	year = {2024},
	title = {lu-maš ({Lemma} #121)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/121/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/121/},
}