UR.A

an ancient Mesopotamian constellation.

Brief Etymology

= nēšu "Lion," abbreviation of ^mulUR.GU.LA in astronomical and astrological texts of the first millennium BCE. [AHw, 425a, 783a; CAD N/2, 197; G. 160; Weidner 1963, 118, note 45],

see

(u20) UR.GU.LA, and also

(a01) A,

(u16) UR,

(u22) UR.MAḪ.

Dictionaries of Mesopotamian Astral Science

Kurtik, Horowitz, Hoffmann

Sources Kurtik & Horowitz	Identifications Hoffmann
Lexical texts. [ur?].a = ne2-e-šu2 [CT 18, 43 ii 39]. "Astrolabes." BM 34713. The month of duuzu, stars of Anu [LBAT, 1499:4], see k10KAK.SI.SA2. GU text. (F) 2 mul ˹ša2˺ sag.du mul˹ur.a˺ "2 stars on the Lion's head." (G4 ˹mul˺.meš ša2 gaba mulur.a kimin gir3II imittu(15) igi-tum ša2 mulur.a / murub4 mul˹muš?˺ u mulnunki gu "4 stars on the chest of the Lion (ziqpu XXII: ζ, γ, η, α Leo) or the frontal right hand side paw of the Lion (π Leo), the middle of the Serpent (κ Hydr) and (constellation) Eridu (λ Vel) : rope". (H) ½ danna egir 4 ša2 gaba-šu2 kimin / gir3II murub4-˹tu2 ša2˺ mulur.a u šu mulnin.maḫ ša2 ugu ka.kešda gu "(The point corresponding to) half of bēru(150) behind the 4 (stars) on its (i.e. the Lion’s) chest, or the paw on the middle section of the Lion (ρ Leo) and the hand of Ninmah, which is on the knot (φ Vel), – rope." (I) 2 ˹mul˺.meš ša2 giš.kun mulur.a kimin kun muluga u ni-˹šik˺ / ša2 mul gišgan2.ur3 gu "2 stars on the thigh of the Lion (ziqpu XXIII: δ, θ Leo) or the tail of the Raven (α Crt) and the bite(?) of the Harrow (μ Vel) : rope". (J) ēdu(AŠ) ša2 kun mulur.a kimin murub4 muluga u3 šu mulen.te.na.bar.ḫum gu "The separate star on the tail of the Leo (ziqpu XXIV: β Leo) or the middle part of the Raven (γ Crv) and the arm of Entenabarhum (δ Cen) : rope" [Pingree-Walker 1988, BM 78161:9, 11-16]. According to [Koch 1992, 57-58], gir3II imittu(15) igi-tum ša2 mulur.a — ο Leo, murub4 mul˹muš?˺ — ζ, θ Hya, mulnunki — α Car, šu mulNin-maḫ ša2 ugu KA.kešda — 196G. PupQ, kun muluga — Pi 140, ni-˹šik˺ ša2 mul gišgan2.ur3 — ε Cen, murub4 muluga — β Crv, šu mulen.te.na.bar.ḫum — CenM. Observation Diaries. UR.A was used during the pre-Seleucid period for the designation of the Leo constellation and zodiac, see, for example: mulxUR.A u mulxALLA ina ŠA3 TUR3 "Leo and Crab (standing) in the lunar halo " [AD I, No.-567 rev. 7′, 15′], Dele-bat <u> GU4.UD ina UR.A "Venus (and) Mercury in Leo" [AD I, No.-463:3′], AN ina qi2-it UR.A "Mars (standing) at the end of Leo " [AD I, No.-418:10′], GU4.UD ina ŠU2 ina UR.A IGI "First appearance of Mercury in the west in Leo" [AD I, No.-418:18], as well as individual stars (e.g., MULx KUR4 ša2 TIL GIR3 UR.A "Brilliant star at the end of Leo's paw" [AD I, no.-567 :14]), including three "normal stars": (1) SAG UR.A "Lion's head" (ε Leonis); (2) GIŠ.KUN UR.A "Lion's thigh" (q Leonis); (3) GIR3 ar2 ša2 UR.A "Lion's hind paw" (b Virginis) [AD I, passim], see m39MUL2.ŠID.MEŠ, nos. 17, 20, 21, as well as a01A. "Anaphora". BM 36609+: (a) [TA...] a-na SA4 ša2 múlŠU.GI / [EN...] SA4 KI ša2 múlUR.A "[From...] – the Brilliant Star of the Old Man / [to...] The Brilliant Star: the place of the Lion" [Roughton-Steele-Walker 2004, 543, Section 4: obv. ii 17-18]. (b) ˹TA˺ 5 [U]Š ar2 um-mu-lut / [E]N 5 UŠ ar2 GAM3 / [UR.A]? ˹TA SAG˺-šu2 EN TIL-šu2 KUR "From (a point located) 50 behind the Dull (stars) / [t]o (a point located) 50 behind the Staff. / [The Lion], rises from its beginning to its end." [Roughton-Steele-Walker 2004, 548, Section 7: obv. iii 26-28]; time of rising: 400 [ibid., 549]. Late astrology, magic and the calendar. (1) "Horoscopes." In one of the earliest horoscopes (-287) UR.A is the designation of the zodiac sign Leo [BH, 61, 4 r. 1]. (2) "Lunaries." (a) BRM IV, 20: ki mulur.a "Region of Leo," that has the following astrological meaning attached to it: a change of attitude, whay you see is nice to look at [Ungnad 1941-44, 258-259:1, 16; Emelyanov 1999, 194-195]. (b) BRM IV, 19: UR.A is the zodiac sign Leo in the zodiacal scheme known as "dodecatemoria" [Ungnad 1941-44, 274-275: a, i, k, 3, 25; Neugeb.-Sachs 1952-53]. (3) "Microzodiac". (a) Division of the sign of the zodiac Leo into 12 parts: the 1st part is mulur.a [Weidner 1967, Taf. 6: VAT 7847]. (b) The division of the zodiac sign Mercenary (=Aries) into 12 parts: [5-i-t]um ḫa.la múlur.a šum3-šu2 "[5th] part, her name is Leo" [TU, 14:16; Sachs 1952, 66]. (4) Calendar and ritual texts. W 22704 (recipe for making ointments + "dodecatemoria"): MIN(=ŠU) 8 // UR.A 26 // dām(UŠ2) nēši(UR.MAḪ) lipî(I3.UDU) nēši(UR.MAḪ) lu šārat(SIG2) nēši(UR.MAḪ) MIN(= tapaššaš)"Duuzu 8 // Lev 260 // You put the lion's blood, lion's fat, or lion's hair on" [SpTU III, 104:8, and also 104:21]; parallel for the month of arahsamnu W22619/9+ [SpTU III, 105: 1(NE), 14(<UR>.A), 27(UR.A)]. (5) Zodiacal astrology. KI UR.ME? a-lid ... "In the region of Leo, was born..." [LBAT, 1593 rev. 4′; Reiner 2000]. (6) Prediction of grain prices based on observations of the positions of the planets in relation to zodiacal constellations and other phenomena: mul4UR.A [SpTU I, 94:5, 29]. (7) Predictions of lunar eclipses based on the culminations of the stars and the positions of the Sun relative to the constellations [SpTU III, 102:10, 11]. (8) Prediction on izbu: iz-bu ša2 TA UGU <mul>UR.A u2-šar-ru-u2 / ina ŠA3 ša2 <mul>UR.A ina IGI múl dA.EDIN " izbu, which begins with the Leo, within (the constellation) Leo and before the constellation Erua" [Biggs 1968, 54:12-13]. See also U.197 obv. 1': mul2.me ša2 múlur.a [...] "The stars of Leo" [Sachs 1952, 74]; KA2 mulxUR.A "Gates of the Lion" [NSAM 2, 38, Text Ii:4].
See also [LBAT, 1595:3, 5; SpTU I, 96:5; SpTU V, 268:17]. For the symbol, identification, and individual parts of the constellation Leo, see (u20) UR.GU.LA.

Historical Dictionaries

Kurtik (2022)	Gössmann (1950)