The solar eclipse mentioned in the annals of Mursili II is of great importance for the absolute dating of the Hittite Empire within the chronology of the Ancient Near East. The annals record an "omen of the sun," for the tenth year of Mursili's reign, which appeared just as he was about to launch a campaign against the Kaskas of northern Anatolia. There are only two possible dates for the eclipse: 13 April 1308 BC or 24 June 1312 BC. The 1312 date is accepted by most Hittitologists, e.g. Trevor Bryce (1998), while Paul Astrom (1993) suggested the 1308 date. Photo taken during the 1999 eclipse. ... Mursili II was a king of the Hittite empire (New kingdom) from 1322 BC–1295/92 BC. He was the younger son of Suppiluliuma I and unexpectedly assumed the throne after the premature death of his elder brother Arnuwanda II. He faced numerous rebellions early in his reign most seriously... Hittites is the conventional English-language term for an ancient people who spoke an Indo-European language and established a kingdom centered in Hattusa (the modern village of Boğazköy in todayss north-central Turkey), through most of the second millennium BC. The Hittite kingdom, which at its height controlled... The Chronology of the Ancient Orient deals with the notoriously difficult task of assigning years of the Common Era to various events, rulers and dynasties of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC. The chronology of this region is based on five sets of primary materials. ... The Kaskas (also Kaskians or Gasgas) are an ancient people of Anatolia, known from Hittite sources. ... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... Centuries: 15th century BC - 14th century BC - 13th century BC Decades: 1350s BC 1340s BC 1330s BC 1320s BC 1310s BC - 1300s BC - 1290s BC 1280s BC 1270s BC 1260s BC 1250s BC Events and trends Cecrops II, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 40 years and... June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... (Redirected from 1312 BC) Centuries: 15th century BC - 14th century BC - 13th century BC Decades: 1360s BC 1350s BC 1340s BC 1330s BC 1320s BC - 1310s BC - 1300s BC 1290s BC 1280s BC 1270s BC 1260s BC Events and Trends The Bhagavad Gita is written, according to some Hindu traditions. ...

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: The Lion Gate in the south-west Hattusa (also known as Hattusas or Khattushash) was the capital of the Hittite Empire. ...

24 June 1312 BC, total eclipse, maximum at 10:44 UTC, 38.2° N 13.7° E (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: Sicily (Sicilia in Italian and Sicilian, Σικελία in Greek) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,700 sq. ... The Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula is a mainly desert peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia and an important part of the greater Middle East. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia (Russian: Средняя Азия/Srednyaya Azia for Middle Asia or Центральная Азия/Tsentralnaya Azia for Central Asia; in Turkic languages Orta Asya; in Persian آسياى مرکزی; (Urdu: وسطى ايشيا)Wasti Asia; Standard Mandarin Chinese...

13 April 1308 BC, annular eclipse (94.8%), maximum at 04:16 UTC, 44.9° N 85.7° E (Tian Shan)

Therefore, the 1312 eclipse would seem to best suit the eclipse mentioned in the annals. This means that Mursili would have begun his reign in either 1322 or 1321 BC. The Tian Shan (Chinese: 天山; Pinyin: Tiān Shān; celestial mountains) mountain range is located in Central Asia, in the border region of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of western China. ...

Note that the dates given are in the Julian calendar; this means that the 24 June eclipse was shortly before, not after, summer solstice of 1312 BC. The Julian calendar was introduced in 46 BC by Julius Caesar and took force in 45 BC (709 ab urbe condita). ...

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 Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites (1998)

External links

• solar eclipses of the 14th century BC (NASA)
• path map (NASA)