Nibiru (also transliterated ''Neberu'', ''Nebiru'') is a term in the

Akkadian language Akkadian (, Akkadian: )John Huehnergard & Christopher Woods, "Akkadian and Eblaite", ''The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages''. Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge) Pages 218-280 is an extinct East Semitic language th ...

, translating to "crossing" or "point of transition", especially of rivers, i.e., river crossings or ferry-boats. While the nature of the "crossing" in astronomy has "long been a source of confusion in scholarly and popular opinion", in a 2015 report for the Cuneiform Digital Library Bulletin,Freedman, Immanuel "The Marduk Star Nēbiru"
Retrieved 2015-10-11 (Cuneiform Digital Library Bulletin 2015:3) Immanuel Freedman analyzed the extant cuneiform evidence and concluded that the hypothesis that the name ''Nēbiru'' may be assigned to any visible astronomical object that marks an equinox is supported by cuneiform evidence.

Role in Babylonian cosmology

Nibiru was considered the seat of the ''summus deus'' who shepherds the stars like sheep, in Babylon identified with

Marduk Marduk (Cuneiform: dAMAR.UTU; Sumerian: ''amar utu.k'' "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) was a god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon. When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of ...

. The establishment of the nibiru point is described in tablet 5 of the creation epic '' Enûma Eliš'': “When Marduk fixed the locations (manzazu) of Nibiru,

Enlil Enlil, , "Lord f theWind" later known as Elil, is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by the Akkadians, Bab ...

and Ea in the sky". Ernst Weidner in: '' Reallexikon der Assyriologie'', vol. 2, de Gruyter, Berlin 1978, p. 381 The ''Enûma Eliš'' states: Nibiru is described more closely on a complete cuneiform tablet: Böhl calls the text "objectively the most difficult passage, although it has been handed down in its entirety. The Nibiru tablet does not provide any essential help for the clarification." F.M.T. Böhl in: ''Die 50 Namen des Marduk'', Archiv für Orientforschung (AfO) no. 11, 1936, p. 210. In the enumerations, Nibiru is mentioned at different astronomical locations in conjunction with the positions of

star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

s and

planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

s, mostly as the "star of Marduk", however, the various stars or planets were not subject to any fixed interpretation. For example, the "star of Ea" was described at various "revelation spots" including Vela,

Fomalhaut Fomalhaut is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Piscis Austrinus, the "Southern Fish", and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. It has the Bayer designation Alpha Piscis Austrini, which is Latinized from � ...

, and

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

. Similar interpretations were made for the other "stars of the gods", so multiple

celestial coordinates Astronomical coordinate systems are organized arrangements for specifying positions of satellites, planets, stars, galaxies, and other celestial objects relative to physical reference points available to a situated observer (e.g. the true hor ...

must be considered. Nibiru has been associated with the area of

Libra Libra generally refers to: * Libra (constellation), a constellation * Libra (astrology), an astrological sign based on the star constellation Libra may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Libra'' (novel), a 1988 novel by Don DeLillo Musi ...

. The Nibiru constellation rose in the month of Tišritum, around autumnal equinox. However Nibiru was also a name for the planet

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

(Volume 11, N, part 2 / page 145 / 34MB PDF)
/ref> when observed in the month of Tišritum. In the

MUL.APIN MUL.APIN () is the conventional title given to a Babylonian compendium that deals with many diverse aspects of Babylonian astronomy and astrology. It is in the tradition of earlier star catalogues, the so-called ''Three Stars Each'' lists, but ...

, Nibiru is identified as Jupiter: Conversely, Tablets K.6174:9’ and K.12769:6’ refer to it as Mercury: "If Mercury (^MULUDU.IDIM.GU₄) divides the sky and stands there, ts nameis Nibiru."

References

;Literature * A. Schott,
Marduk und sein Stern
', Zeitschrift für Assyriologie 43 (1936), 124-145. * {{in lang, de Johannes Koch,
Der Mardukstern Neberu
', Die Welt des Orients 22 (1991), 48-72. Babylonian astronomy Enūma Eliš Mesopotamian deities