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

Akkadian language 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 was an East Semitic language that is attested ...

, 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 A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun appears directly above the equator, rather than to its north or south. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise directly east and set directly west. This occurs twice each year, arou ...

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: Dingir, ᵈAMAR.UTU; Sumerian language, Sumerian: "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) is a god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of Babylon who eventually rose to prominence in the 1st millennium BC. In B ...

. 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, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, 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 t ...

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 a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

s and

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

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 an alternative ...

, and

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

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

celestial coordinates In astronomy, coordinate systems are used for specifying positions of celestial objects (satellites, planets, stars, galaxies, etc.) relative to a given reference frame, based on physical reference points available to a situated observer (e. ...

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 Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

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