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217 ing the year. The debate over the identity of the celestial bod- ies (at the root of which lurks the notion of “nothing beyond Saturn’) and the meaning of the numbers has yet to end. Also unresolved is the issue of dating—in what year was the astrolabe made, and if it was a copy of an earlier tablet, what was the time shown? Dating opinions ranged from before the twelfth century to the third century B.c.E.; most agreed, how- ever, that the astrolabe belonged to the era of Nebuchadnez- zar or his successor Nabuna’id. The astrolabe presented by Pinches was identified in the ensuing debates as “P,” but has been later renamed “‘Astro- labe A” because another one has since been pieced together and is known as “Astrolabe B.” Though the two astrolabes at first glance look identical, they are different—and for our analysis, the key difference is that in “B” the planet identified as mul Neberu deity Mar- duk—*Planet Nibiru of the god Marduk”—is shown in the Way of Anu, the central-ecliptic band (Fig. 98), whereas in “A” the planet identified as mul Marduk—the “Planet of Marduk”—is shown in the Way of Enlil, in the northern skies (Fig. 99). The change in name and position is absolutely correct if the two astrolabes depict a moving planet—“Marduk” as it was called by the Babylonians—that, after having come into view high in the northern skies (as in “A”), curves down to cross the ecliptic and becomes NIBIRU (“Crossing”) when it crosses the ecliptic in the Way of Anu (as in “B”). The two- stage documentation by the two astrolabes depicts precisely what we have been asserting all along! The texts (known as KAV 218, columns B and C) accom- panying the circular depictions remove any shadow of doubt regarding the Marduk/Nibiru identity: [Month] Adar: Planet Marduk in the Way of Anu: The radiant Kakkabu which rises in the south after the gods of the night finished their tasks, and divides the heavens. This kakkabu is Nibiru =god Marduk. Darkness at Noon