Lunar Three

Definition

The Lunar Three is the modern term, coined by A. J. Sachs (JCS 2, 1948), for the reduced subset of the Lunar Six that appears in Babylonian horoscopes, almanacs, and certain Normal Star Almanacs. Two scholarly definitions of the trio coexist: Rochberg specifies month-length (full/30 or hollow/29) + NA (= nanmurtu, around full moon) + KUR (last lunar visibility); Hunger and Pingree, treating the earlier Normal Star Almanacs, specify NA + ŠÚ + KUR. The shared core is that the Lunar Three is the Almanac-and-horoscope subset of the full Lunar Six.

In Tradition

Sachs (1948) is universally cited as the source of the term. Rochberg, Hunger, and Pingree concur in treating the Lunar Three as the lunar-synodic data subset that the late Babylonian Almanac and horoscopic genres carry, in contrast to the full Lunar Six recorded in the Astronomical Diaries. Rochberg uses it to argue continuity of lunar-omen hermeneutics from Enūma Anu Enlil into horoscopy.

In Practice

For the student of Babylonian horoscopy, the Lunar Three names the lunar-data line that the scribe records alongside the planetary positions on the birth-date. In Rochberg's edition, every Babylon-tradition horoscope includes the Lunar Three for the birth-month (the Uruk-tradition horoscopes omit lunar data entirely). Sachs's observation that horoscopes and almanacs share the Lunar Three while the Diaries carry the Lunar Six places the horoscope inside the Almanac genre rather than the Diary genre — the horoscope is a derivative of pre-computed data, not a direct observation log. The two-trio scholarly variation (Rochberg's month-length-plus-NA-plus-KUR vs. Hunger-Pingree's NA-plus-ŠÚ-plus-KUR) reflects a real difference in which lunar-interval subset earlier vs. later Normal Star Almanacs preserve; both readings remain in circulation in current scholarship.

Historical Origin

Attested as a textual phenomenon in the late Babylonian Almanacs, Normal Star Almanacs, and Babylonian Horoscopes (~410 BCE to ~50 BCE); the modern term "Lunar Three" introduced by A. J. Sachs, JCS 2 (1948), pp. 273, 281. Modern critical treatments: Rochberg, *Babylonian Horoscopes* (1998), Introduction §3 p. 11; Rochberg, *The Heavenly Writing* (2004), pp. 140-142, Ch. 3 §3.1; Hunger & Pingree, *Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia* (1999), Ch. II §B.3 p. 179.

Further Reading

• Francesca Rochberg, The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture
• Hermann Hunger & David Pingree, Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia