TUR₃
tarbaṣu

Akkadian noun

Last edited: 2023-06-26
Primary meaning halo
Literal translation cattle pen
Variants
TUR₃ tarbaṣu
Edited by
halo astronomical term

around moon or sun, attested in astronomical diaries and omen texts

21 GENNA ana ME E-a DIR NU PAP AN.BAR₇ šamaš₂ TUR₃ NIGIN₂ ma-diš iq-tur₇

‘(Day) 21, Saturn’s rising to daylight; clouds, I did not watch. Middle part of the day, the sun was surrounded by a cattle pen, it billowed very much.’

— BM 34651+ (ADRT I No. -342A) obv. 12

Genre: astronomical diary
Provenance: Babylon
Date: 343 BCE

Sachs, A. J., Hunger, H. 1988. Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Vol. I: Diaries from 652 B.C. to 262 B.C. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 158-159

sin TUR3 NU KAD2 NIGIN

‘The moon was surrounded by a halo that was not closed.’

— BM 45850 A 12'

Genre: astronomical diary
Provenance: Babylon
Date: 125 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. 264-265

30 ina še-ri3 šamaš2 TUR3 NIGIN2

‘The 30th, in the morning, the sun was surrounded by a halo.’

— BM 46229 (ADRT I No. -346) 12

Genre: astronomical diary
Provenance: Babylon
Date: 347 BCE

Sachs, A. J., Hunger, H. 1988. Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Vol. I: Diaries from 652 B.C. to 262 B.C. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 144-145

pen, enclosure, courtyard
(a part of the liver) extispicy
(an ornament)

from OB on

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Pilloni, A., & Ossendrijver, M. (2023). TUR₃ (Lemma #490). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/490/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Pilloni, A., & Ossendrijver, M. (2023). TUR₃ (Lemma #490). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/490/
MLA (9th)
Pilloni, A., & Ossendrijver, M. (2023). TUR₃ (Lemma #490). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/490/
Harvard
Pilloni, A. and Ossendrijver, M. (2023) TUR₃ (Lemma #490), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/490/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac490,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Pilloni, Alessia and Ossendrijver, Mathieu},
	year = {2023},
	title = {TUR₃ ({Lemma} #490)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/490/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/490/},
}