GU4.AN
is lê

Akkadian noun

Last edited: 2025-11-03
Primary meaning Taurus
Literal translation Bull of Heaven
Variants
GU4.AN is lê
GU4.AN.NA is lê
is le10(DA) is lê In astronomical diaries
Edited by
Jaw of the Bull
Taurus zodiac sign

⸢1-me.2⸣1 ⸢A⸣ BAR 1⸢6.30⸣ dil-bat ŠU2 ⸢6 MUL2 IGI⸣

‘(Year) 1 hundred 21, (which has a month) XII2, (month) I, (day) 16;30, Dilbat (Venus), west, 6 Taurus, appearance (Evening First).’

— A 3415 (ACT No. 400) obv. 7

Genre: mathematical astronomy: synodic table
Provenance: Uruk
Date: ca. 201 BCE

Neugebauer ACT

Bull of Heaven constellation

ana bu-lim ina ŠA3 mul.SUḪUR.MAŠ2 mul.AL.LUL u mul.GU4.AN.NA

‘For cattle: in the Goat-Fish, the Crab, and the Bull of Heaven (or: Jaw of the Bull)’

— BM 47494 obv. 22

Genre: astrological compendium
Provenance: Babylon?
Date: 464-337 BCE

Hunger, H. 2004. Stars, Cities, and Predictions. Pp. 16–32 in Studies in the History of the Exact Sciences in Honour of David Pingree, eds. Charles Burnett, Jan Hogendijk, Kim Plofker and Michio Yano. Leiden: Brill.

α Tauri star: normal star

Jones (2004) c5. In astronomical diaries and related texts

SAG GI6 sin ina IGI is le10 4 SI LA2 USAN is le10 ana ŠA3 sin KU4

‘Beginning of the night, Sin was balanced 4 fingers in front of the jaw of the bull; first part of the night, the jaw of the bull entered Sin.’

— BM 34105+ (ADRT 2 No. -253B1) obv. 9'

Genre: astronomical diary
Provenance: Babylon
Date: Seleucid Era 58 month VIII (254 BCE)

Hunger & Sachs ADRT 1

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2025). GU4.AN (Lemma #71). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/71/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Ossendrijver, M. (2025). GU4.AN (Lemma #71). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/71/
MLA (9th)
Ossendrijver, M. (2025). GU4.AN (Lemma #71). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/71/
Harvard
Ossendrijver, M. (2025) GU4.AN (Lemma #71), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/71/ (Accessed: December 1, 2025).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac71,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-12-01]},
	author = {Ossendrijver, Mathieu},
	year = {2025},
	title = {GU4.{AN} ({Lemma} #71)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/71/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/71/},
}