A solar eclipse during the reign of Ramesses II
For almost two hundred years, Egyptologists have been writing down ancient Egyptian texts and translating them. There are also many less valued hieroglyphs written on papyrus. David G. Smith has collected in his short documentary "Total solar eclipses in Ancient Egypt – a new interpretation of some New Kingdom texts.”79 a few texts that have been estimated to be related to solar eclipses.
He lists several different text fragments that seem to be related to the same event.
Bankes Steela No. 6 & TT 1. This stela refers to tomb TT1 at Deir el-Medina. The owner of the tomb was Sennedjem. Steela was dedicated to Iy-nefert, wife of Sennedjem. Egyptologist Jaroslav Ĉerný translated this as follows: "For you show me darkness by day"80 Sennedjem and Iy-neferti lived Seti I and Ramesses II reign and Sennedjem himself probably died earlier in that period. Egyptologist Mahmoud believed that Iy-neferti was over 75 years old when she died, which would mean that it is likely that she lived until the middle of Ramesses II's reign. Several of their sons were also buried in the same grave (TT1) and it is entirely possible that the decoration of the tomb continued after Sennedjem's death by his widow and possibly his sons. This stele and tomb may well refer to a total solar eclipse.
Steela BM 374 & TT 218. This stela concerns the tomb of Deir el-Medina TT 218. The steela represents Amennakhte as kneeling before the goddess Meretseger. This stela contains a very similar text, as the Egyptologist Battiscombe Gunn translates it: "For you show me darkness by day".81 The Amennakhte mentioned here cannot be identified with certainty, but the Egyptologist B.G. Davies82 identifies him as the son of Nebenmaat, whose own tomb chapel dates from the first half of the reign of Ramesses II.
It seems that both of these grave texts may be telling about the same event. Thus, researchers estimate that an impressive solar eclipse would have occurred in the first half of Ramses II's reign.
In this new chronology presented earlier, it fits on December 25, 1332 BCE. a solar eclipse occurred.
Tutankhamun's solar eclipse
The aforementioned source of information also suggests that a solar eclipse occurred during the time of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Steela JE 37463 / TT40 in Cairo Museum. This Stela belonged to Huy, Viceroy of Nubia. He served under Pharaoh Tutankhamun, and thus can be fairly accurately dated to his reign. Assyriologist Alain Rowe translates the text on the stela: "I see the darkness of the day you have made."83 Huy could have been in Karnak or Nubia, probably in the provincial capital of Aniba, and could have been in either place during the eclipse.
In this new chronology, it appears that this solar eclipse did not occur during Tutankhamun's reign. Tutankhamun died quite young, his servants who lived longer possibly saw August 15, 1352 BCE. of the solar eclipse that occurred.
References
79 egiptomania.com/EEF/Blindness.pdf
80 Jaroslav Ĉerný: ”Egyptian Stelae in the Bankes Collection”, Oxford, 1958
81 Battiscombe Gunn: ”The Religion of the Poor in Ancient Egypt”, 1916
82 B.G. Davies: ”Who’s who at Deir el-Medina, Egyptologische Uitgaven. Leiden”, 1999
83 Alain Rowe: ”Newly identified Monuments in the Egyptian Museum Showing the Deification of the Dead together with Brief Details of Similar Objects elsewhere”, ASAE 40, 1940
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