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Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Solar eclipse of Mursili II

 Chapter 17 already revealed the effect on Babylonian chronology of the solar eclipse applied to the history of Assyria. The change would also affect the chronology of Egypt and thus of the Hittites.

The solar eclipse that took place during Mursili II is important when the chronology of Egypt is timed to its rightful place.

Date of Mursili II's reign

As one finds out how the chronology of the Hittites overlaps with the chronology of Egypt, this solar eclipse can also be used to help put the chronology of Egypt in its proper place. The NCUSES addressed this and outlines the main points:

“King Suppiluliuma I was well into Egypt, and Amarna sent a letter to Pharaoh Ekhnaton.21-1 It is clear that Suppiluliuma I had also been in correspondence with Pharaoh Amenhotep III, the father of Ekhnaton.”
”It is noteworthy that archeology says that the reign of Suppiluliuma I, the predecessor of Mursili II, ended fairly soon after the death of an unnamed pharaoh.”21-2
“[Suppiluliuma] has been estimated to have ruled for 22 years.21-3 In the current old chronology, his reign is estimated to have ended about two years after the death of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. This seems to be an erroneous estimate, as Ekhnaton and Tutankhamun seem to have ruled for a total of at least 25 years.21-4 Given the short reign of Smenkhare and the years that Suppiluliuma I ruled at the same time as Pharaoh Amenhotep III, he should have ruled for at least about 30 years.”

Based on this, the NCUSES concludes that Suppiluliuma I died fairly soon after the death of Pharaoh Ekhnaton.

When considering CHA 50° and CHA 25° changes HERE, it should be noted that the year 791 BCE. has been applied to both solar eclipse in the history of Assyria. This also affects the timing of the chronology of Egypt and the Hittites.

Indeed, major problems can be observed in finding suitable solar eclipses for a given period of time. An important date from which the eclipse of Mursili II should be found when applying the year 791 BCE. the solar eclipse of Assyrian history, is the years 1349-1342 BCE.(if it is assumed that the length of the reigns of the kings remained approximately the same as in the old

chronology) However, no eclipses can be found during that time.

Solar eclipse 1340 BCE.

This solar eclipse was discussed earlier in Chapter 14.

This solar eclipse of January 8th, 1340 BCE., was seen as complete in northeastern Anatolia, even if a CHA 25° were applied. This would be appropriate, at least in some way, since the reign of Ekhnaton could have begun as early as 1368 BCE.

However, he would have ruled for an estimated four years at the same time as Burna-Buriash II. This estimate is based on the fact this is used the Assyrian solar eclipse of year 791 BCE. The chronology of Babylon is over-lapping with chronology of Assyria. That four years may be a little too short.

Solar eclipses 1328 BCE. and 1352 BCE.

The October 17th, 1328 BCE. there was an solar eclipse that appeared almost total in northeastern Anatolia when a CHA 25° change was applied. In this alternative, the reign of Ekhnaton would have ended around 1338 BCE. or 1340 BCE., if we consider the possible reign of Neferneferuaten.

According to this method of calculation, the reign of Ekhnaton would have begun in 1356-1354 BCE. It is noted that on August 15th, 1352 BCE. the solar eclipse that would have occurred would have been well visible in Egypt even with this CHA 25°. That could suit his 4th year of reign. The problem with applying these is that the chronology of Babylonia and Assyria would have to be shortened extra, as the reign of Burna-Burialish II would have ended about 8 years before the beginning of the reign of Ekhnaton. Thus, this is considered unlikely, even in 1352 BCE. the solar eclipse that occurred is the earliest that can be applied to the reign of Ekhnaton.

Solar eclipse 1360 BCE. and 1375 BCE.

The July 15th, 1360 BCE. there was a solar eclipse that was well visible in northeastern Anatolia using the CHA 17° change. The NCUSES applies this eclipse.

The advantage of this application is that it is timed at a good time close to midday. The downside of this new edition is its poor fit with the Babylonian and Assyrian chronology.

On May 3rd 1375 BCE. there was also a solar eclipse, which was visible in north-eastern Anatolia. It had the disadvantage of occurring early in the morning.

The very good thing about this is that this would fit well with the previously mentioned 1078 BCE. to the solar eclipse and to the history of Assyria and Syria. This also brings liveliness to other parts of the chronology. An alternative chronology has been added to this treatise, in which the Babylonian and Assyrian chronologies have been shortened so that 1360 BCE. can be used. from the solar eclipse that occurred to the reign of Mursili II. (However, this shortening is mostly theoretical. The author does not have exact information whether chronologies can be shortened, and if so, at what point the shortening should be implemented.)

Tutankhamun and Ramesses II

Tutankhamun’s solar eclipse is an interpretation based on the burial of his servants. When the year 1340 BCE. applied earlier is applied. By the 10th year of Mursili II's reign, Tutankahmun's reign would have ended in about 1339 BCE. There are no good solar eclipses in it from that time. It would seem best in January 1340 BCE. solar eclipse occurred when subjected to the CHA 25° change and the Nile Delta as an observation point.

But if we apply the CHA 17° change, then the August 1352 BCE. eclipse would have been visible in Egypt.

That would have been eight years after the end of Tutankhamun's reign, if we apply 1360 BCE. This would have been 1360 BCE. in the 10th year of Mursili II's reign.

And is there an solar eclipse that fits the estimated lifetime of Ramesses II servants? If his reign would have Begun around 1329 BCE., when an attempt was made to apply the CHA 25° change described above.

Applying the CHA 25° change, the solar eclipse of February 10th 1286 BCE. would have been very coverage.

If the CHA 17° change were used, then the December 1332 BCE. eclipse could be used. That would have been the 12th year of the reign of Ramses II according to this

new edition, using 1375 BCE. as above.

The solar eclipse of Ugarit 

Take for this point the solar eclipse of the city of Ugarit in Syria, which is one of the earliest ancient mentions of solar eclipses.

This has been applied for several years in May 1375 BCE. solar eclipse that occurred. This has recently been updated to March 5th, 1223 BCE. solar eclipse that occurred. The reason for this is the text mentioned in the description of this solar eclipse, which is estimated to refer to the planet Mars. This means that the planet Mars was visible to the naked eye during the solar eclipse.

In this treatise, April 16th, 1178 BCE. is applied to this, solar eclipse that occurred. At that time, no less than four planets, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Venus, were visible during the solar eclipse. This also fits better with the Ajaru-month in which this eclipse is described to have occurred.21-5 An CHA 18º change has been used here to apply this solar eclipse.

If the researchers have correctly interpreted the mention of the planet Mars in the description of this solar eclipse, this solar eclipse can provide additional information about ancient events. It tells how much the earth rotated backwards during the time of King Hezekiah of Judah.

The solar eclipse had to be complete so that the planet Mars could be seen with the naked eye quite close to the sun. In this solar eclipse, a change of CHA 19º and CHA 20º is best suited for it. The CHA 18º used here is the shortest change suitable for this, but in that the full phase of the solar eclipse was visible in Ugarit for only a short time.

References

21-1 touregypt.net/amarna11.htm
21-2 Bill Price: Tutankhamun: Egypt's most famous Pharaoh AmarnaLetters.pdf
21-3 ancient.eu/Suppiluliuma_I/
21-4 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighteenth_Dynasty_of _Egypt
21-5 forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2018/03/05/people-recorded-a-total-solar-eclipse-for-the-first-time-3241-years-ago/?sh=2ca95e47a55e




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