ŠU₂
rabû

Akkadian noun

Last edited: 2023-10-11
Primary meaning west
Literal translation setting
Variants
ŠU₂ rabû
GIŠ.ŠU₂ Only used in meaning "West"; rare variant attested in early Seleucid astronomical procedure text BM 41004 ("atypical astronomical Text E")
Edited by
west cardinal direction

ina ZALAG₂ dil-bat e LUGAL 2 SI dil-bat 4 SI ana ŠU₂ LA₂

‘Last part of the night, Venus was 2 fingers above the King (α Leonis), Venus being 4 fingers behind to the west.’

— BM 33850 (ADRT III No. -162) obv. 13

Genre: astronomical diary
Provenance: Babylon
Date: 163 BCE

Sachs, A. J., Hunger, H. 1996. Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Vol. III. Diaries from 164 B.C. to 61 B.C. Vienna, Austria: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

(8) ina 16 MU.MEŠ (9) dil-bat 2 UŠ KI-šu₂ ana GIŠ.ŠU₂ LA₂-is

‘(8) In 16 years the position of Dilbat (Venus) retrogrades (by) 2 UŠ to the West.’

— BM 41004 rev. 8-9

Genre: mathematical astronomy: procedure text
Provenance: Babylon

Brack-Bernsen & Hunger 2005/6, AfO 51, 96-107

setting astronomical event
last appearance synodic phenomenon

30 ME ina IGI-at ŠU₂-šu₂ ša₂ ME 5 ZI-ma ŠU₂

‘30 days before its setting it (Saturn) moves (0);5 per day, then it sets.’

— AO 6477 (BMAPT No. 42) rev. 4

Genre: mathematical astronomy: procedure text
Provenance: Uruk
Date: ca. 250-150 BCE

Ossendrijver 2012 No. 42

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2023). ŠU₂ (Lemma #252). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/252/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Ossendrijver, M. (2023). ŠU₂ (Lemma #252). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/252/
MLA (9th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2023). ŠU₂ (Lemma #252). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/252/
Harvard
Ossendrijver, M. (2023) ŠU₂ (Lemma #252), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/252/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac252,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Ossendrijver, Mathieu},
	year = {2023},
	title = {Š{U}₂ ({Lemma} #252)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/252/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/252/},
}