GUR
târu

Akkadian verb

Last edited: 2023-06-26
Primary meaning to move in retrograde direction
Literal translation to turn back
Variants
GUR târu
ZI-ma GUR inassaḫma itâr hendiadys construction
Edited by
to retrograde verb of motion

said of planets in connection with motion along ecliptic

(9) 52.30 ME ša₂ ME 5.4.24 GUR-ma ana ME A (10) 1-šu ME ša₂ ME 4 ZI-ma GUR-ma UŠ ar₂

‘(9) 52;30 days it turns back (0);5,4,24 per day, then it (Saturn) rises to daylight. (10) sixty days it moves backward (0);4 per day, then the second station.’

— AO 6477 (BMAPT No. 42) rev. 9-10

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

Ossendrijver 2012 No. 42 312-313

to turn back prediction: operational step

in Goal Year procedure texts

ME u GI₆ ana DU₃-ka 18 MU.MEŠ ana ⸢EGIR-ka GUR⸣

‘(In order) for you to compute ME and GI₆ you turn back 18 years.’

— BM 42282+ rev. 19'

Genre: goal year procedure
Provenance: Babylon
Date: ca. 350-50 BCE

Brack-Bernsen L., Hunger H., 2008, "BM 42282+42294 and the Goal-Year Method." SCIAMVS 9, 3-23.

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2023). GUR (Lemma #321). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/321/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Ossendrijver, M. (2023). GUR (Lemma #321). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/321/
MLA (9th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2023). GUR (Lemma #321). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/321/
Harvard
Ossendrijver, M. (2023) GUR (Lemma #321), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/321/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac321,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Ossendrijver, Mathieu},
	year = {2023},
	title = {GUR ({Lemma} #321)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/321/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/321/},
}