LAL₂-ti₃
šitqultu

Akkadian noun

Last edited: 2024-06-25
Primary meaning equinox
Literal translation balancing
Variants
LAL₂-ti₃ šitqultu
LAL₂-tu₂ šitqultu
LAL₂ šitqultu
Edited by
equinox astronomical event

14 LAL₂-ti₃ NU PAP

‘(Day) 14, balancing, I did not watch.’

— BM 40574 (ADRT II -171E) obv. 9

Genre: astronomical diary
Provenance: Babylon
Date: 172 BCE

Sachs, A. J., Hunger, H. 1989. Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Vol. II: Diaries from 261 B.C. to 165 B.C. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 444-445

conjunction astronomical event

šum-ma mul₂.BABBAR SIG lu-u₂ šu-pul ṣa-bit u₃ lu-u₂ | TUM₃ u₃ d.ṣal-bat-an KUR₄ lu-u₂ NIM DAB u₃ lu-u₂ AN mul₂.BABBAR LAL₂ | GANBA ma-gal TUR-ma UN.MEŠ SU.GU₇ dan-nu IGI.MEŠ | d.ṣal-bat-an KI SAG.UŠ ŠU.BI.AŠ.AM₃

‘If Jupiter is faint or it takes up a low position or | it disappears, and Mars is bright or takes up a high position or Mars (and) Jupiter are balanced: | the market rate will strongly decrease and the people will experience a severe famine. | (If) Mars with Saturn, ditto.’

— W 22246a (SpTU I 94) 12-15

Genre: astrological compendium
Provenance: Uruk
Date: ca. 320 BCE

Hunger, H. 1976. Spätbabylonische Texte aus Uruk I. Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Uruk-Warka 9. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag. 96

MO 6/12/2023: modified translation to "balanced" from "in conjunction"
opposition astronomical event

ana la-tak u₄-me ki-nu-ti₃ šit-qul-ti MUL.MUL u d.30 ina ŠU.II-ka tu-kal

‘To predict the "correct" days you study the "opposition" of the Pleiades and the Moon’

— K 2848 68-69

Genre: handbook
Provenance: Nineveh
Date: Neo-Assyrian

Oppenheim, A. L. 1974. A Babylonian Diviner’s Manual. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 33(2), 197–220. 200, 205

I am not sure "opposition" is correct.
Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2024). LAL₂-ti₃ (Lemma #356). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/356/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Ossendrijver, M. (2024). LAL₂-ti₃ (Lemma #356). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/356/
MLA (9th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2024). LAL₂-ti₃ (Lemma #356). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/356/
Harvard
Ossendrijver, M. (2024) LAL₂-ti₃ (Lemma #356), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/356/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac356,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Ossendrijver, Mathieu},
	year = {2024},
	title = {LAL₂-ti₃ ({Lemma} #356)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/356/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/356/},
}