Babylonian astronomical diaries

The Babylonian astronomical diaries are a collection of Babyloniancuneiform texts written in Akkadian language that contain systematic records of astronomical observations and political events, predictions based on astronomical observations, weather reports, and commodity prices, kept for about 600 years, from around 652 BC to 61 BC.

The commodity prices are included for six items (barley, dates, mustard (cuscuta), cress (cardamom), sesame, and wool) for particular dates.

Currently, most of the surviving several hundred clay tablets are stored in the British Museum.

These are classified as the third category of Babylonian astronomical texts, alongside the Astronomical Cuneiform Texts published by Otto Neugebauer and Abraham Sachs and , sometimes called “non-ACT” by Neugebauer.

It is suggested that the diaries were used as sources for the Babylonian Chronicles.