Assyria's early list of eponym reads as follows.
The time is determined by the fact that the solar eclipse occurred a year after the birth of Shamsi-Adad I. Further information has been obtained in this dissertation that this eclipse was probably observed in Mari of the Syria.
Scientists generally estimate that this solar eclipse would have occurred in 1838 BCE. In the past, scholars have also suggested it in the summer of 1833 BCE. solar eclipse, which is also applied in the NCUSES.
From the above-mentioned list of eponym, it can be concluded that this solar eclipse occurred during the 24th reign of reign of King Naram-Suen. Naram-Suen is estimated to have ruled for 44 or 54 years. However, the length of his reign is uncertain. Some scholars estimate it to have been only 15 years. This treatise applies this short option to the length of his reign. This assumption brings with it a new assessment of this solar eclipse. According to it, it would have happened in the 4th year of the reign of Puzur-Ashur III. However, there are many shortcomings from that time.
Secondly, this may be further complicated by the fact that several different chronological models are used for that ancient period, the most common of which is the so-called "medium chronology", also referred to in this thesis as the "general chronology".
This thesis also examines the short and ultra low chronology.
Some of the related alternative solar eclipses can already be identified by their timing, whether they can be applied to a short or general chronology.
Solar eclipse of Joshua
Israeli scholars of Hebrew are of the opinion that a eclipse occurred during the battle of Joshua in the Bible.19-2 If so, can the eclipse be found? And did something else happen at the same time? The Bible says that "the sun did not hurry to set for about a whole day". This gives the impression that the earth's rotation stopped for several hours. Let's do a check calculation based on this.
But first we need to know at what point in history the conquest of Canaan under Joshua took place.
Since these are only events described in the Bible, it is wisest to use biblical timing for it. According to it, Joshua began the conquest of the land of Canaan in 1473 BCE.
Here you have to take into account that the time zone has already been changed to CHA 17°, but it needs to be changed a lot more. It is assumed that the “whole day” mentioned in the description of the event in that report meant a period of about 6-8 hours. We change the time zone 137°, ie 9 hours and 8 minutes west, time zone 137°, ie 9 hours and 8 minutes west.
On July 22nd 1472 BCE. there was a solar eclipse. With that change, it can be seen directly over Israel. Subtracting the "change in the days of Hezekiah" CHA 17° from that number of degrees, there would have been a 120° "delay" in the days of Joshua, meaning the earth's rotation stopped for about 8 hours.
The mention “the moon remained in the valley of Ayalon” and the sun was “above Gideon” may give the impression that the sun and the moon were in different directions. However, this interpretation presupposes that Joshua and his forces fought that battle in the terrain between the valley of Ayalon and Gibeon. When we look at the terrain of that area a little more closely, we find that it is a very difficult mountain terrain. In addition, the distance between those places was only about 10 kilometers. The Canaanites had fled to the area from Gibeon where the battle had begun.
Indeed, scholars of biblical history generally assume that the Canaanites and Joshua and his army circled that mountain north of it and were west of the valley of Ayalon. If this assumption by the researchers is true, it could add an interesting nuance to that account. The sun and moon would have been in the same direction. This is pretty amazing information, for how very small the sickle of the moon could have been observed near the sun if we assumed that there was no solar eclipse? Thus, under this assumption, that the site of observation was to the west of the Ayalon Valley could strongly indicate the likelihood of solar eclipse. Another important piece of information in this regard is that the sun was east or southeast of the point of observation.
That latter assumption is problematic. Described above in the summer of 1472 BCE. the solar eclipse would have appeared at that change at about 16:20 above Gibeon. In other words, the sun would have been southwest of the place of observation at that time.
Thus, if we were to use this solar eclipse, it would be assumed that the mentions of Gibeon and the Valley of Ayalon in it are illustrative and are not intended to assess the direction in which the sun and moon were at that time. Instead, they illustrate the place where that battle took place. Gibeon was the starting point of the battle and the battle had moved to the vicinity of the valley of Ayalon.
Another detail could relate to the mention of "the moon remained in place" until that battle was over for the victory of the Israelites. If this literally happened, the moon stopped in its orbit and remained between the earth and the sun all the time the earth's rotation was stopped. This, in turn, could cause a particular distortion in the ancient movements of the moon preceding that event. Even if there had been the 137º change in the Earth's rotation, the change in the Moon's orbit would only be 120º using the longitude of the Earth's surface. However, it is uncertain how the event of the time of Hezekiah, King of Judah, would have affected the moon's movements. It may be that it did not change it, but it did change the position of the Moon over the Earth by 17º. Some calculation may be in order here. According to this, in the case of lunar eclipses, there would be a difference of 8 hours, or 120º, in how the counters designed for this purpose count it.
Instead, there would be a difference of just over 9 hours in the position of the earth. This would seem that a 137º change would also have to be made at the location of the lunar eclipses so that the eclipse would settle at the point on the earth where it occurred. However, there is a small oddity involved. As mentioned above, the position of the moon in relation to the earth remained constant at the same time as there were major changes in the rotation of the earth. So this causes an error of 8 or 9 hours to the time. Although only the CHA 17º change should be made to the position of the moon in relation to the position of the earth (because the moon stopped in its orbit for about 8 hours), the calculator makes an 8-hour error at this point in the position of the lunar eclipse, because it naturally does not count that stoppage of the moon.
Here, however, it should be noted that with respect to this solar eclipse, the maximum change in the position of the earth could have been about 142°. Even then, it would have been very coverage. Mentioned this in 1472 BCE. there has been an solar eclipse of the only thing that could suit the time of that struggle.
At present, however, it may not be possible to say with absolute certainty whether there was an solar eclipse at that time and whether the Earth's rotation stopped. The main source of uncertainty for this could be the double eclipse of Babylonia, which will be considered later.
What if the movement of the earth did not stop in the days of Joshua, but only the change of Hezekiah CHA 17º took place? Although the Supreme can perform all kinds of miracles, those descriptions of this event are truly special if nothing different happened in the movements of the moon and earth.
Naturally, this also influenced the way in which time should be measured. The day mentioned above, July 22nd 1472 BCE., was about 32 hours long.
Solar eclipse 1843 BCE. and 1827 BCE.
Applying an estimated CHA 142° change during the time of Shamsi-Adad I, it can be seen that on January 6th 1843 BCE. there was a total solar eclipse. This is also much better suited for its timing.
Using this solar eclipse, Shamsi-Adad I would have become king of Assyria in 1822 BCE. Another suitable option was August 16th, 1827 BCE. when using general chronology. This may be very much too late, as the reign of Shamsi-Adad I would not have ended until 1761 BCE.
There is a problem with this option that conflicts with the purpose of this thesis. In this treatise, the Bible's chronology is used as an aid to the extent that the timing of events is told in it. This option would cause the beginning of the Akkadian kingdom to move even to the 24th century BCE, an assumption not supported by the Bible's chronology.
Solar eclipse 1786 BCE.
Using a long 137° change and a short chronology, this December 9th, 1786 BCE. had been a solar eclipse seems to be the only possible one. It was well visible in Mari in Syria and also as far as Babylon.
No solar eclipse is found for the short chronology if only the short 17º change is used.
Since according to current knowledge, the Assyrian king Ishme-Dagan I only ruled for about 11 years, it may also slightly affect the length of the Assyrian chronology.
There seems to be a great need for shortening it, as will be shown later. The chronology of Old Assyria would be correct if there were enough such reductions of more than ten years to the length of the reigns.
Solar eclipses 1746 BCE. and 1735 BCE.
Applying the same CHA 137º displacement, in a ultra low chronology we find two very covering solar eclipses every 11 years.
The first was a very good annular solar eclipse on October 19th, 1746 BCE. Another good option is March 25th, 1735 BCE. a total solar eclipse occurred.
The latter option was significantly better in terms of coverage. Nevertheless, in this treatise, the year 1746 BCE. is applied to this, as it fits better with the following estimate of the researchers.
This is accompanied by an event that can be used to time the aforementioned solar eclipse quite accurately.
Shamsi-Adad I had installed his son Yasmah-Adad as king of Mari after defeating the Lim dynasty there.
However, Zimri-Lim managed to escape from Shamsi-Adad's attack. According to the general estimate of scholars, immediately after the death of Shamsi-Adad I, Zimri-Lim attacked Mari and violently became its king.19-3
It can be well estimated that this could have happened within a year after Shamsi-Adad's end of reign.
And can the date of Zimri-Lim's reign be ascertained?
This seems to be influenced by the time when the Babylonian king Hammurabi defeated the king of Larsa, Rim-Sin I, and became the king of Larsa himself. He is said, apparently in that same year, to have robbed Mari, although Mari had surrendered without a fight. At this point Zimri-Lim disappears from history.19-4 Scholars generally estimate that his reign ended about a year after the destruction of Larsa. This would have been 11 years before the end of Hammurabi's reign.
This treatise tries to follow the Assyrian limmu list from that time as well as possible. From this it can be calculated that the solar eclipse discussed in this chapter occurred 66 years before the death of Shamsi-Adad I.
Based on this, a slightly simpler calculation can be made, i.e. this solar eclipse should be found 50 years before the start of Hammurabi's reign. If you want to look at the Babylonian 1st dynasty king list, then it would have been the 2nd year of King Sabium’s reign. It can also be said to be the accession year of Larsa’s king Sin Eribam.
Based on that, a calculation can be made on how well these solar eclipses in this chapter can be found in different alternative chronologies. Let's make it a small table.
Here these are reviewed according to chronology, row 1 means middle chronology, row 2 short chronology and row 3 means ultra low chronology. Those mentions of "Short/Long CHA" options refer to whether the roughly 8-hour change in Joshua's time is applied when calculating the time of solar eclipses, or only the shorter shift that occurred during King Hezekiah's time.
First of all, let's note the feature that in the short chronology, there is no solar eclipse from a time that could fit this point in history. It is unlikely that Zimri-Lim would have waited several years after the death of Shamsi-Adad I before attacking Mari.
In common chronology, the difference is two years (the January 1843 BCE. eclipse occurred in a calendar year that had begun in the spring of 1844 BCE.). Clearly, the ultra low chronology with a long offset, where the eclipse is found in the year in which it is calculated to have occurred, seems the best. Which of these options is ultimately the better one will only become clear later when we look at the solar and lunar eclipses of the Ur III dynasty.
Instead, the year 1847 BCE. when applied, the time difference is 5 years and 1753 BCE.E in this case the time difference is 7 years. Such long time differences wseeaken their suitability. The latter is also affected by the drawback that the solar eclipse of the Babylonian king Shimbar-Shipak cannot be found with such a large change, even more than CHA 25º.
Instead, in March 1744 BCE. had been a solar eclipse was perhaps a little too late. The length of Zimri-Lim's reign should be shortened by about 2 years from how its length is currently estimated.
Lunar eclipse of Mari
Clay tablet HC-A.25-115 tells of a lunar eclipse that occurred during the time of the king's servant Asqudum.
The Eponym of Asqudum has also been associated with the timing of this lunar eclipse.19-5 The Eponym in question was 64 years after the solar eclipse mentioned in the Assyrian limmu list.19-6 It can be noted that this Eponym of Asqudum was at most two years before the end of Shamsi-Adad I's reign. However, Asqudum served as the king's astrologer for several years and finally for eight years as an advisor to King Zimri-Lim.19-7 It is likely that Asqudum wrote the attached letter before he became the king's advisor. A related discovery was made in Mari.19-5
In ancient times, lunar eclipses were generally considered to be a bad omen for a certain king. That feature is also examined here.
In between, let's take a small table of when the last two kings of Mari reigned, so that we can better understand the course of that time.
In this table, the different chronologies are listed in the same way as what was said a little earlier.
If it is estimated that the lunar eclipse described here occurred at the earliest in the year of Asqudum's Eponym, the alternatives for it are the following periods: 1780-1770 BCE., 1722-1706 BCE. and 1682-1674 BCE.
There is one alternative to the middle chronology, the lunar eclipse on June 19th, 1777 BCE. This would be two years before King Yashman-Adad of Mar fell. There are two options for a short chronology. On November 14th, 1720 BCE. there was a lunar eclipse. This dates to the same year as the end of the reign of Shamsi-Adad I, but it already targets roughly the 10th month of the year. The second is the lunar eclipse of June 22nd, 1712 BCE., a year before Yashman-Adad fell. However, this short cchronology has the previously mentioned drawback.
A ultra low chronology includes a lunar eclipse in the spring of 1679 BCE., March 21th. This happened in the same year that Yashman-Adad fell and Zimri-Lim took the kingship.
References
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