Lunar eclipse from 5th / 6th September 563 BC Chr.

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Course of the lunar eclipse (Source: NASA )

The lunar eclipse of 5./6. September 563 BC Chr. (-562 according to astronomical time calculation ) is handed down in a Babylonian cuneiform note , which belongs to the genre of the ACT texts . The 5th / 6th indicated in the Julian calendar system . September 563 BC When converted to the current Gregorian calendar, this corresponds to August 31/1. September of the year 563 BC Today the cuneiform tablet BM 41536 (LBAT 1421) is in the British Museum in London .

This record acquired special significance, among other things, due to its reference to the 42nd year of reign of the Babylonian king Nabu-kudurri-usur II. The lunar eclipse could only be partially observed in Babylonia, as it ended there in the early evening. In North America , the lunar eclipse was invisible to the naked eye as it began shortly after sunrise on September 5th; on the other hand, it could be observed in full in Indonesia in the late evening hours of September 5th and ended there shortly after midnight on September 6th.

First translations

The Assyriologist Johann Strassmaier and the astronomers Josef Epping and Franz-Xaver Kugler first began to translate the Babylonian-astronomical cuneiform text.

The outstanding research achievements of the time were continued by Otto Neugebauer , among others . In 1955 the three-volume standard work Astronomical cuneiform Texts - Babylonian ephemerides of the Seleucid period for the motion of the sun, the moon, and the planets , which still forms the basis of Babylonian astronomical history to this day, was published.

Babylonian text

The astronomical event mentioned was a partial lunar eclipse , which had to be dated precisely based on the information in the cuneiform text. By checking with other historical eclipses, it was found that the historical dates deviate from the back-calculated values. The corresponding time difference is referred to as " Δ T ".

Taking into account the Δ T , the lunar eclipse in Babylonia began around 3:45 p.m. on September 5  ,  563 BC. And reached its maximum around 6:10 pm. The Babylonian cuneiform tablet is partially damaged, which is why not all data have been preserved:

“[Nabu-kudurri-usur] 42nd year: 14. Ululu , he (the moon) wandered into the shadows [...] and became bright. (After) 6 UŠ (6 deg; about 24 minutes) it became brighter . (Start) 35 UŠ (35 deg; about 140 minutes) before sunset . "

- BM 41536 (LBAT 1421)

See also

literature

  • Josef Epping, Johann-Nepomuk Strassmeier: Astronomical things from Babylon or the knowledge of the Chaldeans about the starry sky . Herder, Freiburg 1889, ( parts from Maria-Laach supplementary books 44).
  • Franz-Xaver Kugler : astronomy and star service in Babel . Volume 1: Development of Babylonian Planetary Studies from its Beginnings to Christ. According to mostly unpublished sources from the British Museum . Aschendorff, Münster 1907.
  • Otto Neugebauer : The exact sciences in antiquity . Unabridged, slightly corrected reprint of the 2nd edition, Brown University Press, 1957. Dover Publications, New York NY 2004, ISBN 0-486-22332-9 , ( Dover classics of science and mathematics ).
  • Otto Neugebauer (Ed.): Astronomical cuneiform Texts. Babylonian ephemerides of the Seleucid period for the motion of the sun, the moon, and the planets . Reprint edition. 3 volumes. Springer, New York NY et al. 1983, ISBN 0-387-90812-9 , ( Sources in the history of mathematics and physical sciences 5), (the original edition appeared: Humphries, London 1955).
  • Abraham J. Sachs: Astronomical Diaries and related Texts from Babylonia . Volume 5: Hermann Hunger (Ed.): Lunar and Planetary Texts . Including materials by Abraham J. Sachs. With an appendix by John M. Steele. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-7001-3028-7 , ( Austrian Academy of Sciences - Philosophical-Historical Class - Memoranda 299).
  • Francis Richard Stephenson : Historical Eclipses and Earth's rotation . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1997, ISBN 0-521-46194-4 .

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Date in the proleptic Julian calendar .
  2. ^ Jean Meeus : Astronomical Algorithms - Applications for Ephemeris Tool 4,5 - , Barth, Leipzig 2000 for: Ephemeris Tool 4,5 according to Jean Meeus, conversion program, 2001 .
  3. ↑ 4 hours and 42 minutes on average.
  4. ↑ The sunset was around 6:30 p.m. local time.
  5. ^ Francis Richard Stephenson: Historical Eclipses and Earth's rotation . P. 197.