A Critical Evaluation of the Assyrian Solar Eclipse

Scholars have applied in June 763 BCE. from the solar eclipse that occurred in the 9th year of the Assyrian king Ashur-Dan III's reign. Amazingly, no researcher has presented a carefully crafted paper on what strong scientific basis there is for this assumption.

Let's deal with it here in a critical way. Looking at the officially accepted Assyrian chronology, does this solar eclipse fit into the 9th year of Ashur-Dan III's reign? Looking at the limmu list, it could also have been his 8th year of reign, because kings used to have a year of rising to power that sometimes lasted several months.

Scholars date Asur-Dan III's reign to begin in 773 BCE. Some have suggested, as if in passing, that his reign began in 772 BCE.

The appropriateness of this solar eclipse is also tested by the fact that it happened in the summer, i.e. at the beginning of the government year. Therefore, this solar eclipse occurred about 8 years after Ashur-Dan III's reign began. It is possible that in the Limmu list the first 8 lines of the reign of Ashur-Dan III were only about 7.5 years. In that case, his reign would have started in the fall.

The reign years of the Assyrian kings began in the spring, around the beginning of April.

Examining the reign of Ashur-Dan III in the Limmu list, you will notice that a solar eclipse is mentioned in the ninth line. It is a regnal year that began in the spring of 765 BCE. Note that it was two years too early. Some have attempted to remedy this by shortening the reign of Ashur-Dan III's successor, Ashur-nirari V. However, that option has not received widespread support. Rather, some researchers doubt the reliability of the limmu list. However, it is very inconsistent. It reflects the following attitude: "If we can't make history fit the thesis we're making, we have to change history to fit us."

Of course, one can understand why researchers have their "backs against the wall" with this problem: No other sufficiently covering solar eclipses can be found from that time.

However, the solution to the problem is not to try to falsify history.

There is a real solution to this, it is presented in the previous blog posts about the new thesis.