Oldest recorded solar eclipse helps date the Egyptian pharaohs

Science Daily ^ | October 29, 2017 | University of Cambridge

[Twotone]

Researchers have pinpointed the date of what could be the oldest solar eclipse yet recorded. The event, which occurred on 30 October 1207 BC, is mentioned in the Bible, and could have consequences for the chronology of the ancient world.

Using a combination of the biblical text and an ancient Egyptian text, the researchers were then able to refine the dates of the Egyptian pharaohs, in particular the dates of the reign of Ramesses the Great. The results are published in the Royal Astronomical Society journal Astronomy & Geophysics.

The biblical text in question comes from the Old Testament book of Joshua and has puzzled biblical scholars for centuries. It records that after Joshua led the people of Israel into Canaan -- a region of the ancient Near East that covered modern-day Israel and Palestine -- he prayed: "Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon. And the Sun stood still, and the Moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies."

"If these words are describing a real observation, then a major astronomical event was taking place -- the question for us to figure out is what the text actually means," said paper co-author Professor Sir Colin Humphreys from the University of Cambridge's Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy, who is also interested in relating scientific knowledge to the Bible.

[ml/nj]

So how many total eclipses has the great expert experienced directly? (You know, without some sort of camera between you and the sun.)

ML/NJ

[RegulatorCountry]

It doesn’t appear as if you’ve experienced totality. If you’ve seen a total eclipse, and I mean in the path of totality, 95% doesn’t do it, then you know it’s absolutely astonishing. It does look like a ring of fire around black. During the few minutes of total eclipse, it’s perfectly safe to look at with the naked eye. It goes dark enough that the stars come out, it’s darker than a moonlit night. I drove up to the Smokies this past August to see it and I’m glad I did. Now I know why people chase them all over the world, it’s like being on another planet for those few minutes.

[discostu]

I’ve looked straight at 2. Not for long, but looked at them. They’re cool.

And really one just needs to bother to check the fables to know 3 things about primitive man and eclipses:
1 - they clearly DID notice the sun getting dimmer
2 - they looked
and 3 - they were scared

Sorry but your whole jaded pose is a modern man not bothering to understand that things were different.

[ml/nj]

I’ve looked straight at 2. Not for long, but looked at them.

Another demonstration that you don't know what you're talking about. How old are you, 12?

You can look straight at a total eclipse for as long as it lasts. The sun when totally eclipsed gives off about as might light as a full moon.

Keep posting. You're amusing me.

ML/NJ

[discostu]

And now you advanced all the way to LYING:
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2017/08/a_history_of_eclipse_glasses_and_injuries.html

I’m sure you find being a liar quite amusing.

[ml/nj]

Guess you missed this in your article:

And this is why eclipses are uniquely dangerous—when the sun is partially covered

Or maybe you fail to understand the difference between total and partial?

But thanks for playing.

ML/NJ

[discostu]

Of course by your insistence that “safe” period is only 10 seconds long (another LIE on your part). Meanwhile the sun is partly covered for over an hour and should not be stared at for long. Those are the facts, you are a liar. I’ll let your next lie go unread.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Red Badger. Not an eclipse, doesn't help date pharaohs.

• Solar eclipse of 1207 BC helps to date pharaohs

[ml/nj]

I'm not sure what "safe" period you think I talked about. The only time I mentioned ten seconds was in post #13:

It doesn't get "twilight dark" until 98% of the sun is obscured. If that's the maximum totality you experience, you experience it for ten seconds and then it's daylight again. Throughout the sun is too bright to look at."

I certainly never said it was safe to look at the sun during this period. Do you have difficulty with the English language?

It would appear that I have been talking about total eclipses and you have been talking about partial eclipses; and you do not understand the difference.

ML/NJ

[SunkenCiv]

Whoops, and it's one of *those* topics.

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