A 3405: An unusual astronomical text from Uruk (Q1593671)

The text in question was described by Neugebauer as ``exceedingly interesting in many respects.'' The discussion here is based on a transcription by H. Hunger for the forthcoming vol. 5 of Astronomical Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. The text contains lunar and planetary data from about Sel. 60 to Sel. 70 but was written some 50 years later. The surviving planetary data are most numerous for Mercury and permit the determination of the computational scheme from Neugebauer's Astronomical Cuneiform Texts. The other data are not so plentiful but still in several cases allow identification of the ACT method behind the numbers. It is also shown that the data express results of computations, not observations. The author speculates that the tablet, from a known astronomer of Uruk, could have been used in preparing horoscopes.