Mursili's eclipse

The solar eclipse mentioned in a text dating to the reign of Mursili II could be of great importance for the absolute chronology of the Hittite Empire within the chronology of the Ancient Near East. The text records an "omen of the sun," linked to the tenth year of Mursili's reign, which appeared just as he was about to launch a campaign against the Kaskas of northern Anatolia. According to the current debate, there are two possible candidates for the eclipse: 13 April 1308 BC or 24 June 1312 BC. The 1312 BC date is accepted by most Hittitologists, e.g. Trevor Bryce (1998), while Paul Åström (1993) has suggested the 1308 BC date.

The 1312 eclipse occurred over northern Anatolia in the early afternoon, and its effects would have been quite spectacular for Mursili and his men at their base in Hattusa:

24 June 1312 BC, total eclipse, maximum at 10:44 UTC, 38°12′N 13°42′E / 38.2°N 13.7°E / 38.2; 13.7 (Sicily).

In contrast, the 1308 eclipse was annular, and began very early in the morning over Arabia (and only penumbral over Anatolia and Syria), reaching its height over Central Asia:

13 April 1308 BC, annular eclipse (94.8%), maximum at 04:16 UTC, 44°54′N 85°42′E / 44.9°N 85.7°E / 44.9; 85.7 (Tian Shan).

Therefore, the 1312 eclipse would seem to best suit the eclipse mentioned. This means that Mursili would have begun his reign in either 1322 or 1321 BC. This date would be roughly that usually proposed for the death of Tutankhamun. It is known that Suppiluliuma I was besieging Carchemish when he received a letter from the widow of a Pharaoh (who is called Dakhamunzu in the annals). Suppiluliuma died shortly thereafter and his successor was Mursili II (whose brother would have been Prince Zannanza sent to Egypt where he died). Thus this appears to be a chronological anchor. However, there are other views, asserting for example that the dead Pharaoh was Akhenaten or that Tutankhamun died later.

References

• Paul Astrom, 'The Omen of the Sun in the Tenth Year of the Reign of Mursilis II', in Horizons and Styles: Studies in Early Art and Archaeology in Honour of Professor Homer L. Thomas, (1993)
• Trevor R. Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Clarendon Oxford University Press, (1998)

External links

• path map (NASA)

v t e Solar eclipses Lists of eclipses Antiquity 20th century BC 19th century BC 18th century BC 17th century BC 16th century BC 15th century BC 14th century BC 13th century BC 12th century BC 11th century BC 10th century BC 9th century BC 8th century BC 7th century BC 6th century BC 5th century BC 4th century BC 3rd century BC 2nd century BC 1st century BC 1st century 2nd century 3rd century 4th century 5th century 6th century 7th century 8th century 9th century 10th century 11th century 12th century 13th century 14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century 21st century 22nd century 23rd century 24th century 25th century 26th century 27th century 28th century 29th century 30th century Eclipses seen from: China the United Kingdom Philippines Saros series: 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 Historical eclipses Mursili's eclipse (1312 BC) Assyrian eclipse (763 BC) Battle of Halys (585 BC) Crucifixion darkness Past total/hybrid eclipses 1560 Aug 21 1598 Mar 7 1652 Apr 8 1654 Aug 12 1699 Sep 23 1715 May 3 1724 May 22 1766 Feb 9 1778 Jun 24 1780 Oct 27 1806 Jun 16 1816 Nov 19 1820 Sep 7 1824 Jun 26 1842 Jul 8 1851 Jul 28 1853 Nov 30 1857 Mar 25 1858 Sep 7 1860 Jul 18 1865 Apr 25 1867 Aug 29 1868 Aug 18 1869 Aug 7 1870 Dec 22 1871 Dec 12 1874 Apr 16 1875 Apr 6 1878 Jul 29 1882 May 17 1883 May 6 1885 Sep 8 1886 Aug 29 1887 Aug 19 1889 Jan 1 1889 Dec 22 1893 Apr 16 1896 Aug 9 1898 Jan 22 1900 May 28 1901 May 18 1903 Sep 21 1904 Sep 9 1905 Aug 30 1907 Jan 14 1908 Jan 3 1908 Dec 23 1909 Jun 17 1910 May 9 1911 Apr 28 1912 Apr 17 1912 Oct 10 1914 Aug 21 1916 Feb 3 1918 Jun 8 1919 May 29 1921 Oct 1 1922 Sep 21 1923 Sep 10 1925 Jan 24 1926 Jan 14 1927 Jun 29 1928 May 19 1929 May 9 1930 Apr 28 1930 Oct 21 1932 Aug 31 1934 Feb 14 1936 Jun 19 1937 Jun 8 1938 May 29 1939 Oct 12 1940 Oct 1 1941 Sep 21 1943 Feb 4 1944 Jan 25 1944 Jul 20 1945 Jul 9 1947 May 20 1948 Nov 1 1950 Sep 12 1952 Feb 25 1954 Jun 30 1955 Jun 20 1956 Jun 8 1957 Oct 23 1958 Oct 12 1959 Oct 2 1961 Feb 15 1962 Feb 5 1963 Jul 20 1965 May 30 1966 Nov 12 1967 Nov 2 1968 Sep 22 1970 Mar 7 1972 Jul 10 1973 Jun 30 1974 Jun 20 1976 Oct 23 1977 Oct 12 1979 Feb 26 1980 Feb 16 1981 Jul 31 1983 Jun 11 1984 Nov 22 1985 Nov 12 1986 Oct 3 1987 Mar 29 1988 Mar 18 1990 Jul 22 1991 Jul 11 1992 Jun 30 1994 Nov 3 1995 Oct 24 1997 Mar 9 1998 Feb 26 1999 Aug 11 2001 Jun 21 2002 Dec 4 2003 Nov 23 2005 Apr 8 2006 Mar 29 2008 Aug 1 2009 Jul 22 2010 Jul 11 2012 Nov 13 2013 Nov 3 Future total/hybrid eclipses 2015 Mar 20 2016 Mar 9 2017 Aug 21 2019 Jul 2 2020 Dec 14 2021 Dec 4 2023 Apr 20 2024 Apr 8 2026 Aug 12 2027 Aug 2 2028 Jul 22 2030 Nov 25 2031 Nov 14 2033 Mar 30 2034 Mar 20 2035 Sep 2 2037 Jul 13 2038 Dec 26 2039 Dec 15 2041 Apr 30 2042 Apr 20 2043 Apr 9 2044 Aug 23 2045 Aug 12 2046 Aug 2 2048 Dec 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1951 Mar 7 1951 Sep 1 1952 Aug 20 1954 Jan 5 1954 Dec 25 1955 Dec 14 1957 Apr 30 1958 Apr 19 1959 Apr 8 1961 Aug 11 1962 Jul 31 1963 Jan 25 1965 Nov 23 1966 May 20 1969 Mar 18 1969 Sep 11 1970 Aug 31 1972 Jan 16 1973 Jan 4 1973 Dec 24 1976 Apr 29 1977 Apr 18 1979 Aug 22 1980 Aug 10 1981 Feb 4 1983 Dec 4 1984 May 30 1987 Sep 23 1988 Sep 11 1990 Jan 26 1991 Jan 15 1992 Jan 4 1994 May 10 1995 Apr 29 1998 Aug 22 1999 Feb 16 2001 Dec 14 2002 Jun 10 2003 May 31 2005 Oct 3 2006 Sep 22 2008 Feb 7 2009 Jan 26 2010 Jan 15 2012 May 20 2013 May 10 Future annular eclipses 2014 Apr 29 2016 Sep 1 2017 Feb 26 2019 Dec 26 2020 Jun 21 2021 Jun 10 2023 Oct 14 2024 Oct 2 2026 Feb 17 2027 Feb 6 2028 Jan 26 2030 Jun 1 2031 May 21 2032 May 9 2034 Sep 12 2035 Mar 9 2038 Jan 5 2038 Jul 2 2039 Jun 21 2041 Oct 25 2042 Oct 14 2043 Oct 3 2044 Feb 28 2045 Feb 16 2046 Feb 5 2048 Jun 11 2049 May 31 2052 Sep 22 2053 Mar 20 2056 Jan 16 2056 Jul 12 2057 Jul 1 2059 Nov 5 2060 Oct 24 2061 Oct 13 2063 Feb 28 2064 Feb 17 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