Lunar eclipse from 1st / 2nd May 668 BC Chr.

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The observation details of the lunar eclipse of 1./2. May 668 BC BC (−667 according to the astronomical calendar , Saros period  30) were recorded on a cuneiform tablet by a Babylonian astronomer . The record (BM 35115) belonging to the genre of ACT texts is currently in the British Museum in London . The 1st / 2nd indicated in the Julian calendar system . April 668 BC When converted to the present Gregorian calendar , BC corresponds to the 24th / 25th. April 668 BC Chr.

This record gained particular importance through its reference to the Babylonian king Šamaš-šuma-ukin . The lunar eclipse could not be observed directly in Babylonia because it began there only after sunrise . The Babylonian astronomers therefore calculated the probable time of the eclipse based on their experience.

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 BM 35115

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 Babylon began about 7:30 am the 2nd  May  (25 '  April ) 668 v. And reached its maximum around 10:00 o'clock. The extrapolation shows great accuracy regarding the actual occurrence of the lunar eclipse:

"Šamaš-šuma-ukin, accession year : second month (Ajaru) , (beginning) 40 UŠ (40 deg; about 160 minutes) after sunrise ."

- BM 35115 Obv. III, lines 1-4

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 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c Date in the Julian calendar ; in the Gregorian calendar , 7 days are subtracted from the Julian date. The date is based on NASA information ( Memento from November 8, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) taking into account the T-Delta. For Babylonia, the time zone surcharge of 3 hours must be taken into account compared to Universal Time (UT); according to 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 .
  2. ^ A b Hermann Hunger: Lunar and Planetary Texts . P. 395.
  3. ↑ 5 hours and 29 minutes.
  4. ↑ Sunrise took place at around 5:20 a.m. local time.