Lunar eclipse from 17./18. May 371 BC Chr.

The lunar eclipse of the 17th / 18th centuries noted in Babylonian sources . May 371 BC Chr. Belongs to the genus of ACT texts . This record acquired special significance through reference to the Achaemenid King Artaxerxes II. Today the cuneiform tablet BM 32238 is in the British Museum in London .

Babylonian mention

The astronomical event mentioned was a partial lunar eclipse , which had to be dated precisely based on the information in the cuneiform text. The lunar eclipse fell in a leap year of the Babylonian calendar and began in the late evening hours of May 17  ,  371 BC. The scribe of the Babylonian cuneiform text noted the exact time of the lunar eclipse:

"[Artaxerxes II. 34th year]: On the night of [...] the second month ( Ajaru ), 1.6 BERU (66 deg; about 190 minutes) after sunset, the moon was covered . During the lunar eclipse, Saturn stood above (the constellation ) Scorpio . "

- BM 32238

See also

• Lunar eclipse from 16./17. July 523 BC Chr.
• Lunar eclipse from 28/29. September 424 BC Chr.
• Lunar eclipse from 5th / 6th April 397 BC Chr.
• Lunar eclipse of August 30th 367 BC Chr.
• Ivory prism from Nineveh

literature

• Francis Richard Stephenson : Historical Eclipses and Earth's rotation . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1997, ISBN 0-521-46194-4

Web links

• NASA: lunar eclipse from 17./18. May 371 BC Chr.

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b} Date in the proleptic Julian calendar .
2. ↑ The 1st Ajaru fell on May 4th, 371 BC. Chr .; 1st Nisannu on April 5th, 371 BC The leap month Addaru II began on March 25, 370 BC. Chr.
3. ↑ The sunset was around 7:00 p.m. local time.
4. ^ Francis Richard Stephenson: Historical Eclipses and Earth's rotation . P. 153.