mašāḫu

Akkadian · verb

variant im-šuḫ : imšuḫ

Edited by: Mathieu Ossendrijver
Last edited: 2024-03-24

Meanings

1. to compute?

2. to measure

Literal translation

to measure

1. to compute?

1.a to compute? mathematical operation, mathematical expression

meaning attested in mathematical astronomy connected to production of tables. Since the subject is the scribe's hand, the conventional meaning "to compute" is inaccurate.

[... A] ⸢ša₂ md.EN-A-URU₃⸣-šu₂ A md.A₂.GAL₂-d.TU.TU qat₃-šu₂ im-šuḫ-ma ana TIL GAR-un

‘[... son] of Bel-apla-uṣuršu, descendant of Ile”i-Marduk. His hand "measured" it, and he finished it.’

— BM 34789+ (BMAPT No. 36) rev. 1 (colophon)

Genre: mathematical astronomy: synodic table Provenance: Babylon Date: 2nd century BCE

Ossendrijver, M. 2012. Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts. New York: Springer 296

2. to measure

2.a to measure

literal meaning

Cite this entry

APA (7th)

Ossendrijver, M. (2024). - (Lemma #1306). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1306/

Chicago (Author-Date)

Ossendrijver, M. (2024). - (Lemma #1306). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1306/

MLA (9th)

Ossendrijver, M. (2024). - (Lemma #1306). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1306/

Harvard

Ossendrijver, M. (2024) - (Lemma #1306), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1306/ (Accessed: July 4, 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{zodiac1306,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-07-04]},
	author = {Ossendrijver, Mathieu},
	year = {2024},
	title = {- ({Lemma} #1306)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1306/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/1306/},
}