bi-rit
birītu

Akkadian noun

Last edited: 2023-08-20
Primary meaning distance
Literal translation distance
Variants
bi-rit birītu
Edited by
distance spatial concept

in mathematical astronomy: usually measured along ecliptic

(14) bi-rit IGI ana IGI GIŠ.GIŠ.ḪI-ma (15) 3.30.39.4.20 KI-šu₂ TAB-ma ME.MEŠ E-bi

‘(14) The distance from appearance to appearance you compute, and (15) 3;30,39,4,20 you add to it, and you predict the ‘days’.’

— AO 6477 (BMAPT No. 42) obv. 14-15

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

Ossendrijver 2012 No. 42 312-313

difference mathematical quantity

(31) [zib 18 ZI] (32) ḪUN 22 ZI bi-rit 18 u₃ 22 4

‘(31) [Psc, the subtraction is 18,] (32) Ari, the subtraction is 22, the distance between 18 and 22 is 4.’

— BM 36722 (BMAPT No. 52) obv. 31-32

Genre: mathematical astronomy: procedure text
Provenance: Babylon
Date: Seleucid

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

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2023). bi-rit (Lemma #591). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/591/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Ossendrijver, M. (2023). bi-rit (Lemma #591). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/591/
MLA (9th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2023). bi-rit (Lemma #591). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/591/
Harvard
Ossendrijver, M. (2023) bi-rit (Lemma #591), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/591/ (Accessed: February 2, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac591,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-02-02]},
	author = {Ossendrijver, Mathieu},
	year = {2023},
	title = {bi-rit ({Lemma} #591)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/591/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/591/},
}