ubānu

ŠU.SI

Akkadian · noun

variants SI : ubānu , u : ubānu

Edited by: Mathieu Ossendrijver
Last edited: 2024-11-03

Meanings

1. finger

Literal translation

finger

1. finger

1.a finger unit of celestial position

for distance to ecliptic or measure of eclipse magnitude

⸢ana⸣ tar-ṣa 1 ŠU.SI ḪAB-rat ḫe-pi-ti 1.⸢38.24⸣ [GAR-an]

‘Opposite 1 finger of the "broken disk" [you put down] 1,38;24 (barleycorns).’

— BM 34079 (BMAPT No. 65) obv. 20'

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

Ossendrijver, M. 2012. Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts. New York: Springer. 426-427

a-na 1 DANNA 8 u NIM u SIG

‘For 1 bēru it (Jupiter) ascends and descends 8 fingers.’

— BM 37266 (BMAPT No. 47) obv. 4

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

Ossendrijver, M. 2012. Babylonian Mathematical Astronomy: Procedure Texts. New York: Springer. 334

1.b finger unit of length

Cite this entry

APA (7th)

Ossendrijver, M. (2024). ŠU.SI (Lemma #249). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/249/

Chicago (Author-Date)

Ossendrijver, M. (2024). ŠU.SI (Lemma #249). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/249/

MLA (9th)

Ossendrijver, M. (2024). ŠU.SI (Lemma #249). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/249/

Harvard

Ossendrijver, M. (2024) ŠU.SI (Lemma #249), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/249/ (Accessed: July 4, 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{zodiac249,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-07-04]},
	author = {Ossendrijver, Mathieu},
	year = {2024},
	title = {Š{U}.{SI} ({Lemma} #249)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/249/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/249/},
}