Redating the Ugarit eclipse to April 29, 1011 BC requires lowering Egyptian chronology by 169 years

 

The Ugaritic texts are a corpus of ancient cuneiform texts discovered since 1928 in Ugarit in Syria. Approximately 1,500 texts and fragments have been found to date. One of the tablets found is named KTU 1.78 astronomical text which records a solar eclipse with the following description:

SIX.DAY.NEW MOON.HIYYARU

ENTER.SUN.HER GATE.RESHEP

This astro-shorthand is believed to be written by an Egyptian and should be interpreted as hour six, day of the new moon (in the month of) Hiyyaru when the sun entered into her (Shapash’s) Gate in Reshep (Taurus). Now what is hour six in ancient Egypt? It actually refers to the 6th Decan. The ancient Egyptians conveniently divided the 360 degree ecliptic into 36 parts of 10 degrees each, and the decans each appeared, geocentrically, to rise consecutively on the horizon throughout each daily earth rotation. The rising of each decan marked the beginning of a new decanal "hour". 

Reshep was a god associated with war and plague, and this is why many who interpreted this tablet conclude that it must be the planet Mars. However, Mars the deity is a Roman god, not Egyptian, and was identified with the Greek god Ares. It was also the ancient Romans, not the Egyptians, who named the planet Mars for their god of war because its reddish color was reminiscent of blood. 

Other civilizations also named the planet for this reddish attribute – for example, the Egyptians called it "Har Desher" meaning "the red one." But, for the Egyptians, the planet Mars is just a red planet, and it will be an assumption to say that they also associate this planet with war or their god of war because of its color. 

Reshep  is best attested in texts from Ugarit, Syria where he was one of the most popular deities. An omen text describes Reshep as the doorkeeper of the Canaanite sun goddess, Shapash. Now the Egyptian equivalent of Reshep was Montu. While the Egyptian equivalent of Shapash was Hathor, one of the consorts of the Egyptian sun god Ra. Hathor is represented by a celestial cow.

Montu was a falcon-god of war in ancient Egyptian religion. A very ancient god, Montu was originally a manifestation of the scorching effect of Ra, the sun. Because of the association of raging bulls with strength and war, the Egyptians also believed that Montu manifested himself as a white, black-snouted bull named Buchis to the point that Montu was depicted with a bull's head too and not just a falcon’s head. 

The constellation Taurus is Latin for “the Bull”. Therefore, instead of the planet Mars, Reshep is best represented in the sky by Taurus who guards the gate of a goddess represented by a celestial cow. Now the Sun is visible in Taurus during the Hebrew month of Iyar and the Babylonian month of Aru, from which the Ugarit month of Hiyyaru (an amalgamation of “Iyar” and “Aru”) was derived. Iyar, and therefore Hiyyaru, usually falls in April up to May on the Gregorian calendar. With this in mind, the KTU 1.78 astronomical tablet is basically saying that a solar eclipse was observed in Ugarit sometime late April to early May during the 6th decanal hour at the constellation Taurus. 

Earlier, I mentioned that ancient Egyptians used decanal hours to divide one Earth rotation into 36 units. During the New Kingdom, which lasted from 1550 to 1070 BC, a new 24 hour time system was introduced which utilized 24 stars, 12 of which were used to mark the passage of the night. 

However, while the Romans start their day at midnight, the Egyptians start their day in the morning. And unfortunately, the exact time of morning considered to begin the Egyptian day remains uncertain. Some say it was sunrise, others say it was dawn. Astronomical dawn begins when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon in the morning, and at Ugarit, it is about 1 hour 30 minutes earlier from sunrise which is when the Sun's midpoint reaches the horizon.

Now unlike the 24 hour time system which is only used for timekeeping, the Decan is also used for theurgical purposes or divine magic. Theurgy describes the ritual practices associated with the invocation or evocation of the presence of deities, especially with the goal of achieving henosis (uniting with the divine). On the reverse side of the KTU 1.78 tablet, the theurgical inscription notes, “Two livers were examined: danger”. Clearly, the Decan was used instead of the 24 hour time system for this divination purposes.

The solar eclipse described in KTU 1.78 tablet, according to generally accepted calculations, occurred on May 3, 1375 BC. Using Stellarium and setting the Algorithm of delta T to JPL Horizons, the location to Ugarit with coordinates 35° 36' 07.2" N, 35° 46' 55.2" E, the date to May 3, 1375 BC (or -1374 in astronomical year numbering) and at 3:51:45 UTC, one can see a solar eclipse in Taurus with maximum solar obscuration of 95.81% occurring 55 minutes after sunrise, or 2 hours 25 minutes after dawn.

Now using Stellarium and setting the Algorithm of delta T to JPL Horizons, the location to Ugarit with coordinates 35° 36' 07.2" N, 35° 46' 55.2" E, but the date to April 29, 1011 BC (or -1010 in astronomical year numbering) and at 5:09:30 UTC instead, one can see a solar eclipse also in Taurus with maximum solar obscuration of 73.71% occurring 2 hours 11 minutes after sunrise, or 3 hours 41 minutes after dawn. 

May 3, 1375 BC and April 29, 1011 BC were both Nisan 30 of their corresponding years. Except that the April 29, 1011 BC eclipse happened 364 years after the May 3, 1375 BC eclipse. Also, on the May 3, 1375 BC eclipse, the last decanal hour to fully rise above the horizon during the eclipse was the 4th Decan corresponding to 30° - 39° Right Ascension as measured from the First Point of Aries. 

During the April 29, 1011 BC eclipse, the last decanal hour to fully rise above the horizon during the eclipse was the 6th Decan corresponding to 50° - 59° Right Ascension. And the KTU 1.78 astronomical text specifically said that it was during the 6th Decan, not the 4th, that the recorded eclipse was observed. Thus, there can be no doubt about it, the April 29, 1011 BC eclipse was the one described in the KTU 1.78 astronomical text.

Ammurapi was the last king (circa 1215 BC to 1180 BC) of the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit who saw its destruction. He was a contemporary of Chancellor Bay of Egypt who rose to prominence and high office under Seti II, the fifth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. 

For quite an obvious reason, the KTU 1.78 astronomical text must have been written on or before the final year of the last king of Ugarit in 1180 BC and before the destruction of this city. However, the correct date of the Ugarit eclipse was April 29, 1011 BC, or 169 years later than 1180 BC. This means the regnal years of Ugarit kings were dated at least 169 years too early. And since Seti II was a contemporary of Ammurapi, it also means that the pharaohs of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and possibly before and onwards were dated at least 169 years too early as well.

Not far from the reign of Seti II of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, was the reign of Shoshenq I, the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt, whose reign must have been at least 169 years too early. Now this error on Shoshenq I’s reign has a colossal effect on the dating of the Egyptian chronology, or parts of it. Let me show you why.

Shoshenq I is conventionally identified with the Egyptian king Shishak referred to in the Bible at 1 Kings 11: 40 & 14: 25 and 2 Chronicles 12: 2–9. According to these passages, Jeroboam fled from Solomon and stayed with Shishak until Solomon died. And that Shishak invaded Judah during the fifth year of the reign of its king Rehoboam, taking with him most of the treasures of the Temple and royal palace built by Solomon. 

Quite obviously from this Biblical account, Shishak considered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and its first king Jeroboam as his ally, while he considered the Kingdom of Judah and its king Rehoboam as his enemy. Because Shoshenq I is identified with the Biblical king Shishak, he has been ascribed a date relative to Rehoboam’s reign circa 931 to 913 BC, with Shoshenq I’s reign dated circa 943 to 922 BC.

In other words, the regnal years of pharaohs sometime before and sometime after and including Shoshenq I were dated based on the false assumption that Shoshenq I was the Biblical Shishak. I said “false assumption” because I have just shown that the current dating of Shoshenq I’s reign is at least 169 years too early, proving beyond any doubt that he was not a contemporary of Solomon or Rehoboam. 

Shoshenq I left behind explicit records of a campaign into Canaan. The names of captured towns are located primarily in the territory of the northern Kingdom of Israel (including Megiddo), with a few listed in the Negeb, and perhaps Philistia. Some of these include a few of the towns that Rehoboam, king of Judah, had fortified according to Chronicles.  However, the inscription makes no mention of Jerusalem itself. And this is a big problem, since Shishak according to 2 Chronicles 12: 2–9 specifically attacked Jerusalem and took away the treasures of the Temple and the royal palace.

Furthermore, why would Shishak attack the northern kingdom of Israel in Samaria, when its first king Jeroboam was his ally? So all this further casts doubt about identifying Shoshenq I with the Biblical Shishak. But if Shoshenq I was not the Biblical pharaoh Shishak, then who is? I will answer this important question in my next video.