In what way, then, could these great findings in the previous chapters affect the study of long-term history?
In the very distant history, the time zone can move up to 9 hours east.
As already mentioned somewhere, there are preserved mentions of ancient lunar eclipses, which occurred e.g.
During the reign of Ur. They must take into account the position of the moon during the lunar eclipse. For example, in a case where NASA's counter shows that the lunar eclipse was best seen over Europe and the Middle East, it may be very likely that that lunar eclipse was not visible in the Middle East during that distant time. In contrast, lunar eclipses, which seem to have been well seen in the United States, were well visible in the Middle East.
However, let's begin by looking at a pair of eclipses that some researchers have suggested fit into distant history.
The double eclipse of the month of Sabatu
One double eclipse that has been suggested here occurred in February 1659 BCE. At that time there was a lunar eclipse on February 9th and two weeks later there was a solar eclipse.25-1 How convincing is that pair of eclipses? First, the note involved is not necessarily real-time, but was written a few years, maybe even decades later.
An ancient inscription related to this tells of the fall of Babylon by Mursili I, king of the Hittites.
When the eclipses are examined more closely, it can be noticed that that solar eclipse was of poor quality. Its quality does not meet the high criteria presented in this dissertation. The author experienced an almost similar solar eclipse in Finland in June 2021 and it really cannot be seen with the naked eye in any way. This is a matter of weight here. In order for the solar eclipse to be noticeable in nature, it had to be of very good quality.
It can also be observed that the lunar eclipse that occurred two weeks earlier was of low quality, but perhaps still sufficient. Therefore, in this treatise, these eclipses are not considered conclusive evidence in any way.
However, scholars generally assume that the double eclipse in question occurred shortly before the fall of the Babylonian 1st Dynasty.
This might make you wonder, when exactly did that double eclipse happen? Have researchers had any misconceptions about its timing?
It is time to take a closer look at what the archaeological texts tell us about this double eclipse. This second eclipse is described in the clay tablet EAE 20-XI.
Scholars often stop quoting this description with the text “the destruction of Babylon is near”. However, the mention of Ur at the end of the description may be surprising.
In this treatise, a completely new conclusion is presented about the timing of this double eclipse. Probably, the previous clay tablet inscription does not refer to the Babylonian 1st dynasty. The reason for this is that there is no double eclipse in the month of Sabatu that could fit it. This second eclipse is not found even if the time zone change presented in this treatise is applied in some way.
This treatise considers it likely that this double eclipse occurred during or near the Ur III dynasty. How then is the mention of Babylon in it to be understood?
The city of Babylon was part of the ancient Akkadian Empire from the days of Sargon. If the biblical Nimrod is a different person from Sargon of Akkad, then Babylon existed before the kingdom of Sargon, since it is said to have been the "beginning of Nimrod's kingdom".25-3
According to this treatise, the last king of the Akkadian kingdom had fallen about 15 or 18 years before the beginning of the Ur III dynasty, depending on which chronology is applied. Akkad is thought to have fallen after the defeat of the Gutians. On this basis, it may be that Uruk's forces conquered Babylon.
What then is to be understood from the mention on the clay tablet that Ur received the kingdom? It does not mean the beginning of the Ur III dynasty, but what the clay tablet says: they conquered the city of Babylon. This may suggest that the Ur III dynasty, or other soldiers who were active in the city of Ur, extended their empire into ancient Babylon.
Let's take a closer look at the description of that double eclipse. The mentions of 'south' and 'west' may give the impression that this happened early in the morning (if it said 'north' and not 'west', one would assume the moon was in the west). When the moon sets, the moon and the sun manage to appear for a while at the same time as the sun rises.
The options listed below all use the long CHA 137º change. The following chapter will explain why it is not considered necessary to examine the old chronology in this context.
Double eclipse 2049 BCE. This double eclipse took place in February. The lunar eclipse was on February 1st and the solar eclipse was on February 15th. This lunar eclipse took place in the late morning, it was still quite weak in its coverage when the moon was setting. The solar eclipse could be seen in Nineveh, where it was quite obscure. However, it was at its best in the northern parts of Turkey and Armenia. The moon and the sun were briefly visible at the same time as the moon set.
One problem with this observation is that we do not currently know the exact location from which this observation was made. This double eclipse of 2049 BCE. may have occurred at a time when the Akkadian Empire was still standing. In that case, it could be at the end of the reign of one of the Akkadian kings, if a ultra low chronology is applied.
Double eclipse 1995 BCE. At that time, such a double eclipse took place during the month of Sabatu. This double eclipse will also be considered in the next chapter.
Double eclipse 1898 BCE. If the calendar had flowed far back, then this option could also come into question.
In this option, the lunar eclipse started in the evening and ended around 01.00. the solar eclipse happened in the morning. The moon was mostly in the south during the lunar eclipse. However, in this option, after the lunar eclipse, the moon was not visible at the same time as the sun when the moon was setting. The moon would have been visible together with the sun only a day later, which would have been normal, since more than a day had already passed since the time of the full moon. If this mention in the description could have such interpretations, then this or the next option could be good.
Double eclipse 1843 BCE. The lunar eclipse was on January 4th, in this option too the lunar eclipse had time to start at the end of the previous day. In this option, the lunar eclipse ended around 01.30. The moon was in the south and southwest at the time of the lunar eclipse, which fits this description. The solar eclipse took place on January 19th in the afternoon. In this option too, the moon was not visible at the same time as the sun.
However, it appears that there was another double eclipse later in Babylon that has received less attention.
The double eclipse of the month of Simanu
The clay tablet RMA 272 contains some interesting details about the phenomena of the starry sky, which the old chronology is completely unable to trace. In it, line 12 mentions a person named Bel-usežib who wrote down the related information. He is estimated to have been a contemporary of King Esarhaddon,25-4 so it is likely that his writing is a copy. Researchers have somewhat applied this to April 1532 BCE. to the double eclipse.
Starting from line r7, a few notable mentions appear, saying:
This would seem to clearly mention that there was a double eclipse during the month of Sivan or Simanu.
There are a few of these double eclipses in the month of Simanu. However, it is rarer that such a double eclipse would fall close to the end of a king or a ruling family or dynasty.
This statement may be a little surprising. It talks about the plundering of Babylon, nothing is mentioned about the change of power that happened. This suggests that the conquerors of Babylon had something else in mind than conquering it so that they could rule there. Could this be related to the end of the Babylonian 1st Dynasty, as Some researchers assume?
In connection with the mention of this solar eclipse, we are told about another lunar eclipse that happened in the month of Kislev. It corresponds to the Babylonian month of Kislimu, which was the 9th month in November-December. It mentions the planet Jupiter. It is uncertain how long it was between this lunar eclipse and the double eclipse. I'll look at the options available for this.
But who would have been the 'Akkadian nobles' mentioned in line r13? However, it seems very likely that they were the kind of people who lived quite close to the ancient city of Babylon. Second, they or their leaders had some sort of higher official status, it wasn't just a robbery spree by criminals.
Double eclipse 1514 BCE. When using a long CHA 137º, a somewhat surprising result is found. May 10th, 1514 BCE. there was a total eclipse of the sun, which appeared very coverage. If the biggest estimate, CHA 142°, is applied to the change in the Earth's position, this would have been total seen in Babylon. Two weeks earlier, on April 25th, there was a lunar eclipse with about 50% coverage. In a way, this time can be estimated to correspond to the month of Simanu.
When looking for a double eclipse of Simanu, one should find a lunar eclipse where Jupiter was relatively close to the moon when the lunar eclipse occurred.
However, a suitable lunar eclipse is not found until September 7th, 1502 BCE. In it Jupiter was within a few cubits of the moon.
The good thing about this option would be that it dates to the end of the Babylonian 1st Dynasty. The downside would also be that in 1502 BCE. the calendar would have slipped back up to three months.
Double Eclipse 2057 BCE. In this case, there was a lunar eclipse on June 25th and a solar eclipse on July 10th. In December of the following year, there was a total lunar eclipse, when Jupiter was close to the moon. The notable weakness of this is that in June 2057 BCE. the previous lunar eclipse was weak in coverage, estimated at around 15%. Since at that time the calendar could often have rolled back several months, these months do not necessarily correspond exactly to the months of Simanu and Kislimu.
Double eclipse 2035 BCE. At that time, such a lunar eclipse took place in April-May. This may correspond to the ancient month of Simanu.The solar eclipse was on May 10th and the lunar eclipse two weeks before that.
The following year, in October 2034 BCE. there was a total lunar eclipse on the evening of October 8th. At that time, the distance of Jupiter from the moon was approximately the same as in the earlier option in 1502 BCE.
The downside of this could be that the eclipse was not directly over Babylon, but was a little further south, over Saudi Arabia. However, we currently do not know the exact location of its observation, nor the exact scale of how many solar eclipses should be moved to match the original observation. This could be seen, especially in the ancient city of Uruk, in the brightness of a good annular eclipse.
The better side of this option is that the calendar had flowed back only about two months during the month of Kislimu.
This would also reveal that the fall of the Akkadian Empire was by Uruk and Ur. Probably 'Nobles of Akkad' means exactly these. This paper applies this 2035 BCE. double eclipse to this observation.
Double eclipse 1532 BCE. When looking for eclipses with a short CHA 17º, a good double eclipse is found in April 1532 BCE. At that time, on April 29th, there was a total solar eclipse. Two weeks earlier there was a good quality lunar eclipse.
However, the lunar eclipse, where Jupiter was described as being close to the moon, already happened on September 16th, 1549 BCE.
The upside of this may be that this double eclipse could have occurred a year before the destruction of the Babylonian 1st dynasty as it is dated in the short chronology.
The big downside to this is that Jupiter was close to the moon long before the penumbral eclipse. Another very big drawback is that when you fill in the short CHA 17º, you can't find a suitable solar eclipse from the old Assyrian period for the short chronology, as discussed earlier.
Double eclipse 1478 BCE. If it were considered that the earth has remained stable in its movements all along, then Babylon had a good double eclipse that year. However, it is uncertain whether the old chronology can be applied back from 1472 BCE. Another drawback to this is that you cannot find a lunar eclipse within a reasonable time where Jupiter was close to the moon at the time of the lunar eclipse.
Double eclipse 881 BCE. In this case, the lunar eclipse occurred on the morning of April 17th, and the solar eclipse was on the morning of May 1st. This solar eclipse is found using a short CHA 17º. The problem with this is that the lunar eclipse of the month of Kislimu, when Jupiter was close to the moon, is not found in the near ones.
Double eclipse 791 BCE. This is connected to the already familiar solar eclipse on June 24th. There was a lunar eclipse two weeks earlier, but it only happened with 26% coverage. In the Kislimu month of the same year, there was a good-quality lunar eclipse on December 4th.
At that time, however, Jupiter was far away in the constellation of Aquarius. As a reminder, we repeat here:
For this to be good, Jupiter would have had to be close to the moon during this lunar eclipse.
Summary
The above may even offer a completely new perspective on these two Babylonian double eclipses.
Based on the above, in February 2049 BCE. The previous meridian eclipse seems at this moment to be the only suitable alternative to the meridian eclipse of the month of Sabatu, despite the shortcomings associated with it. However, the biggest flaw with this may be only apparent: We don't know where the viewer was when they saw the associated solar eclipse.
Looking at all those double eclipses of the month of Simanu that have been found, the best option is in 2035 BCE. the second eclipse occurred, because it was sufficiently covering and the lunar eclipse of the month of Kislimu is close to a double eclipse. This treatise applies this option while extending the Akkadian chronology from its end by one year.
References
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