The Path of the Sun in Mul-Apin

The apparent position of the Sun in the sky changes with the seasons. In the northern hemisphere, the Sun describes a more northerly arc during spring and summer, and a more southerly arc during the autumn and winter. At the spring and vernal equinoxes, the Sun describes and arc along the celestial equator. The Sun reaches its northernmost and southernmost locations at the summer and winter solstices, which occur in Mul-Apin on the fifteenth of Tammuz and Tebet (Mul-Apin II 22 25, 35). At the latitude of Babylon, the Sun rises and sets approximately 30° north of due east and west at the summer solstice and approximately 30° south of due east and west at the winter solstice. At the equinoxes, the fifteenth of Nisan and Tishreh (Mul-Apin II ii 21, 32), the Sun appears to rise and set due east and west. Mul-Apin II explains this apparent motion of the Sun in terms of the stellar paths:

. . .

1. From the 1st of Adair to the 30th of Iyar, the Sun

travels in the Path of Anu; breeze and warm weat[her].

3 From the 1st of Sivan to the 30th of Ab, the Sun travels

in the Path of Enlil harvest and heat.

5. [Fr]om the 1st of Elul to the 40th of Arahsamnu, the Sun

travels in the Path of Anu; breeze and warm weather.

7. [From the 1s]t of Kislev to the 30th of Shevat, the Sun

travels in the Path of Ea; cold weather.

In this passage, the Sun is said to cross from one stellar path to another every 90 days. The equinoxes and solstices fall midway through these periods, on the 45th day. The Sun travels in the Path of Anu for 45 days before and after the equinoxes; the Sun travels in the Path of Enlil for 45 days before and after the summer solstice; and the Sun travels in the Path of Ea for 45 days before and after the winter solstice: