Lunar eclipse from 5th / 6th April 397 BC Chr.

In Babylonian quoted sources lunar eclipse on 5-6. April 397 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 35115 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 on the Babylonian calendar ; the leap month Addaru II had on 23  March started. The lunar eclipse occurred in the evening hours of April 5  ,  397 BC. Chr. A. The scribe of the Babylonian cuneiform text noted the exact time of the lunar eclipse:

"[Artaxerxes II. 7th year]: On the night of the 14th Addaru II (March 31st ^greg. ), The moon began to be covered 48 deg after sunset . The south wind was blowing. "

- BM 35115

See also

• Lunar eclipse from 16./17. July 523 BC Chr.
• Lunar eclipse from 28/29. September 424 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 of April 5, 397 BC Chr.

Remarks

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Date in the proleptic Julian calendar .
2. ^ Francis Richard Stephenson: Historical Eclipses and Earth's rotation . P. 169.