Category: Blood Moons

The Prophet Daniel, the Magi and King Cyrus.

The Prophet Daniel, the Magi and King Cyrus.

It has been a true blessing and honor to provide this monthly research blog for the believers, and in recognition of the 9th year Anniversary of our try-god.org research blog this month, we are looking into more history of the Prophet Daniel, especially during the time of King Cyrus. A number of recent blog topics have tracked with Jon Nessle’s OT History class, and while last month’s blog focus was on Daniel’s potential impact on the appearance of the technology found in the Antikythera device, this month’s blog sights are set on Daniel’s times with King Cyrus, and how the impact of these two singular men of God is still evident today. The Prophet Daniel was strategically placed as a top official in the administrations of a number of kings, along with his friends and fellow Magi, as agents to ensure God’s plan would be enacted. The subject of this blog will be to uncover certain specifics not only regarding the history of the Magi, but also pertaining to Daniel’s relationship with King Cyrus, that would have not only made Daniel privy to the detailed plans to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple, but also how aspects of these architectural plans are found in other examples of cultural architecture in the ancient middle east.

For centuries Jerusalem has played a central role in the spiritual perspective of the three major monotheistic religions. For Israel and Judaism throughout the world it is the focus of ancient yearnings, a living proof of archaic grandeur of the Golden age of Kings David and Solomon, and a center of national renaissance; for Christians it is the scene of both Jesus‘ triumphant entries into Jerusalem offset by the agony and victory of his perfect sacrifice. For Islam it is the goal of the Muhammad’s mystic night Journey and site for Muslims most sacred shrines. For all three faiths it is a holy city, a center of pilgrimmage, and an object of devotion. As the center of Jewish religious reverence, the most sacred spot in Jerusalem is the Temple Mount, where once stood the most sacred Holy of the Holies. Jerusalem’s oldest architectural remains show that Jewish life was centered around the Temple. As the Temple was the center of religion for the Jewish people and the focus of their life, both spiritually and physically, when the temple was destroyed, so was a part of the Jewish people. Ever since, the Jews have been waiting for a re-establishment of the Temple in Jerusalem. Jews and non-Jews alike travel from all over the world to visit the Western Wall, the only remains from the Temple. Thus, in modern Jerusalem the Western Wall is the most important center of prayer and pilgrimage, while other holy places include the King David’s Tomb on Mount Zion, and the Mount of Olives with its ancient Jewish cemetery, and the tombs of priestly families in the Valley of Kidron.

Central to God’s plan for humanity is Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and his birth was connected with and prophesied in the stars. The Star Gospel as found in the Old Testament, or for Judaism in the Tanakh, long foretold his birth, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension. Following the rise of ancient Babylon, the forces of king Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel in 604 BC, and deported most of its key people. Among the exiles was a group of gifted and intelligent young men with their leader named Daniel. After distinguishing himself by first accurately revealing king Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and then interpreting it for him, he was rewarded with a high position in Babylon’s royal court, which included key governmental authority, where he was made chief over all the magicians, soothsayers, and wise men of Babylon. This is a central aspect of the narrative as it placed Daniel and his friends in key positions to influence many of the royal decrees that would come down, not only from Nebuchadnezzar, but many of the subsequent kings including Cyrus, during their lifetimes. As we have recently seen, the Babylonians were already renown in history for their study of the stars both from the perspective of science and symbolism. But with the rise of Daniel and his team of gifted geeks, they were able to bring a positive spiritual perspective to these studies in light of the prophecies of the coming Christ. Having the Babylonian Star Diaries, the cuneiform clay tablets at his disposal, provided a valuable resource for his work in identifying and accurately teaching the Magi the celestial signs to look for, leading to the birth of Christ.

Daniel’s knowledge of the Gospel in the Stars not only enlightened his view of the OT Prophecies of Christ, but also provided the key insight needed to teach these critical keys to the Zoroastrian Magi, whose monotheistic religion also influenced King Cyrus, as one of the most enlightened leaders in history. As seen in the principles of the Cyrus Cylinder– his example of leadership was the first true model of diversity, that included successful rule over nations with different languages, belief systems and Religions. Since a number of Persian Kings were of Zoroastrian Faith including Cyrus, this most likely provided a source of religious tolerance exhibited in his rulership. Cyrus’ influence in ruling conquered nations impacted many other kingdoms in history including the Roman Empire, who applied similar principles in their rule of conquered nations.

Daniel’s knowledge of the Gospel in the Stars was closer to the original, because the initial revelation of what was originally given, became corrupted in the practices of astrology and divination much of which was rooted and further developed in Babylon. As in modern times, astrologers will cast their horoscopes, while many believe that the stars fatalistically control one’s destiny. Daniel, however, preserved the Tanakh, and developed his own order of scholar-disciples committed to his teaching, based on the truth of Scripture, not to include astrology or other kinds of divination, as they were strictly forbidden in the Hebrew Scriptures. Daniel spent all his adult life in Babylon and later in Persia as a high official of the kings he served, while never wavering from his true service for the One true God. When the Prophet Daniel was carried off in captivity to Babylon, it was the result of one of 27 sieges of Jerusalem and its Temple, the first destroy it by Nebuchadnezzar, who burnt the Temple in 587-586 BC, [2 Chron. 36:17-20], the 2nd in 69-70 AD, by Titus and his Roman legions who also burnt the Temple. In both cases Jerusalem lay desolate for the next 50 years on the Jubilee Calendar. Daniel had the occasion to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the large statue of 4 beasts in Daniel 7, as Nebuchadnezzar was the first king of the first golden kingdom of Babylon, the golden head of this statue. It was Daniel’s privilege to also serve the King of the 2nd kingdom of Persia in this statue, of 4 beasts who embody the four beasts of the king’s dream. 

Daniel 7:17
These great beasts, which are four, {are} four kings, {which} shall arise out of the earth.

This was where the co-regent king Belshazzar hosted a big banquet during which a hand appeared and wrote on the wall the words, “Mene, mene, tekel, upharsin.” Daniel was called to provide the interpretation that was, “God has numbered your days; you have been weighed in the balance and found wanting; and your kingdom has been given over to the Medes and the Persians.”

That night the Medo-Persian army conquered the city, but Daniel was retained as a government minister. He also had several dreams,  described in chapters 8 – 12 of the book of Daniel, one of these dealt with the coming of Christ: “Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in ever-lasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.” [Dan. 9:24-26, Zech. 9:9] We have a detailed study on this important prophecy in Daniel 9 in the preceding link that you can refer to for further analysis.

The above prophesy indicated that the Messiah would be “cut off” and “the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.” This was fulfilled in the crucifixion of Jesus and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the armies of the Roman general Titus in 70 AD, In addition to writing his account in the book named after him, Daniel had occasion to teach this information to his inner circle of adherents. Their descendants centuries later-the Magi, based on Daniel’s teachings, were enlightened of the General time when Jesus was to be born. A series of celestial signs were given to them described in the Bible as a “star” as in the OT Biblical prophecy: “I see him, but not now, I behold him, but not near. A star shall come forth from Jacob…”  Numbers 24:17

Sometime in the first half of 3 BC a Jewish girl named Mary in Nazareth, a town in northern Israel, became pregnant. Later that year when she was expecting, her betrothed Joseph and Mary left their hometown, in response to a Roman census for their area. They, along with their countrymen, were obliged by the Romans to register in this census ordered by the Roman emperor Augustus. As a result, they returned to their ancestral city or town in that year-3 BC. This couple Joseph and Mary, being from the tribe of Judah, had to register in Bethlehem, the ancestral town of King David. With an abundance of travelers on the road, the inns and guesthouses were full, so when they reached Bethlehem, accommodations were in short supply, but they were able to secure lodgings with some of their extended family. With Mary nearing her birthing time, in the late summer weeks, on the eve of 11 Sept. 3 BC, on Rosh Hashanah, the 1st day of the Judean New Year and the “feast of trumpets,” their son was born.

As this series of unique celestial signs continued, a month or so before, in August 12, 3BC the planet Jupiter, the King Planet, with Venus, the bright and Morning Star, had risen together in the east. Then on Sept. 14th, Jupiter joined with Regulus, the “king star” of the constellation Leo the Lion, of the tribe of Judah. These unusual conjunctions proceeded through the winter into the following year, culminating with the union of Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and Mercury in late summer of 2 BC. The planets then went their separate ways, with Jupiter continuing in its path until Dec. 25th, on the winter solstice, it moved into the constellation Virgo, the virgin, appearing to stand still in retrograde motion. Prior to this period, an even more eye-opening celestial event took place. A bright star appeared in a decan of Virgo called Coma, the virgin, long considered the symbol of Israel and later of Christianity. This brilliant star-the Coma supernova outshone and dimmed all the other stars in same region of the sky. As indicated above, celestial signs were carefully studied by many in the ancient world, especially in Persia, when the kings had long employed court astronomers, like Daniel. The Romans themselves were aware of Biblical prophecies– of a new-born king even as scripture records of King Herod, who consulted the Jewish priests to find out where Jesus was to be born.

As followers of the Prophet Daniel, the Magi star-researchers were well versed in the Hebrew Scriptures and especially those from Daniel in addition to the doctrines of Zoroaster. They knew that a branch would grow out of the tribe of David, who would be Messiah or Savior as their own prophets foretold. The Magi’s two main branches consisted first of those who followed and remained faithful to the teachings of Daniel, versus those who followed the corrupted ways of astrology, divination and magic. The Magi who found the child Jesus were the genuine, while the “magicians” were those, as Scripture mentions; Simon the Sorcerer in [Acts. 8:9-24] and Bar-jesus in [Acts. 13:6] also originally called Magi, who departing-followed a corrupt path. This is evidence that at the time the Magi represented those respected of Persian culture and religion. The term is often translated as “magician.” However, most likely the Magi (priests) in the sense of Zoroastrianism are meant here, rather than sorcerers in the Bible records of Acts above.

The word “Magi” should not be equated with the word “magician“, but according to Herodotus, it refers to people from the tribe of the Magi. In the realm of the Parthians this was the priestly class, like the Levites in Israel. The Medes were an ethnic group, from Media, which was west of Parthia (Persia/Iran). Most Magi resided in and around Ecbatana, near modern Hamadan in Iran. Noting that there were seven cities called Ecbatana, four of them in Persia, suggests that the name simply designated a capital or royal city. From classical and other sources, the name variously occurs: Greek: Ekbátana, Agbátana (reading Apobátana in Isidore of Charax, 6, should be Agbátana), Ecbatana, Ecbatanas, Partiorum (Tabula Peutingeriana), Bible; Acḥmeta, Arm. Aḥmatan, Hamatan, Ekbatan, Mid. Pers. Hamadān, etc. The citadel of Ecbatana is also mentioned in the Bible in Ezra 6:2, in the time of Darius I, as part of the national archives. 1#

In the inscription of Darius I at Behistun the name of the city appears in Old Persian: Hamgmatāna, Elamite-Ag-ma-da-na; Akkadian-A-ga-ma-ta-nu. It is usually interpreted as derived from *hangmata- the “[place of] gathering” and the summary that, prior to the formation of the Median state, some kind of popular assembly met there (Herodotus, 1.97, does mention a Median assembly that appointed Deioces king, but does not specify its location). 2#

Figure 1. The Behistun Rock with inscriptions. [pinterest.com] 3.

Persia /Iran Bsotun / Darius the Great legacy carved in stone | Persia ...

E.W. Bullinger in his Companion Bible Appendices #57 on The Genealogy of the Persian Kings, states “Sir Henry Rawlinson published a complete translation of the trilingual Persian text on the isolated rock of Behistun [or Bahistun] which rises 1700 feet out of the plain on the High Road from Babylonia to the east; in which Darius Hystaspis gives his own genealogy. The famous rock derives its name from the village of Bisitun or Bisutun, near its foot. It is on the High Road from Baghdad to Tehran about 65 miles from Hamadan on the site of the ancient Ecbatana.” On this rock on which Darius Hystaspis had the principal events of his reign carved, commences with an account of his Genealogy. “Darius Hystaspis is thus called to denote him as Darius the Son of HYSTASPES; and to distinguish him from Darius the Mede, who was ASTAYGES, his grandfather. According to Herodotus; ASTAYGES was the son of Cyaxares, the son of Phraortes [II], who was the son of Deiokes, who again was the son of Phraortes [I]. Consequently, we have under these three names, titles, or appellatives, from Greek, Median, and Persian sources, three persons, called by Herodotus-ASTAYGES, by Darius-ARSAMES, and by Cyrus-Cambyses, who are in reality one and the same. Thus, in all these identifications from independent sources and authorities; ASTAYGES=Ahasuerus of Esther 1:1, Arsames= Artaxerxes of Ezra 6: 14, Neh. 2:1, and Cambyses=Darius the Mede of Dan. 5:31. 4#

According to Herodotus (1.98), Ecbatana was chosen as the Median capital in the late 8th century B.C. by Deioces, founder of the Median dynasty which ruled Media for one and a half centuries. Herodotus describes the royal complex as a palace, treasury, and military quarters built on a hill and encircled by seven rings of walls so that each out-topped the one beyond it, by the height of the battlements. Such a citadel on a prominence surrounded by concentric rings of walls corresponds to representations of Median strongholds in Neo-Assyrian reliefs.5

Figure 2. A. Ecbatana Plan [pinterest.com] side by side with the Plan for Jerusalem. B. [pinterest.com] 6.

Bolivia and the Sumerian Connection | Sumerian, Ancient persia, Ancient near eastPlan of the city in biblical times : the City of David upper left, Solomon's Temple lower centre ...

According to Herodotus, Ecbatana was chosen as the Medes‘ capital in 678 BC by Deioces, the first ruler of the Medes.[4] The Neo-Assyrians do not seem to mention Ecbatana, and it is likely they never penetrated east of the Alvand despite two centuries of involvement in Median areas of the central Zagros.[7] Ecbatana was captured by Cyrus II in 550 BC, under the Achaemenid Persian kings and transferred its treasury to Anshan.[8] Ecbatana, situated at the foot of Mount Alvand, is mentioned in several sources, the city was used as a royal archive as evidenced by the fact that Cyrus’s order for the rebuilding of the Jerusalem temple was found in the city.[10] In ancient times, Ecbatana was renowned for its wealth and splendid architecture. [7] [11]

In the Histories of the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus, Ecbatana was founded by Deioces, the legendary first king of the Medes. Herodotus names Deiokes (or Dioces), grandfather of Cyaxares, as the king who eventually united the nomadic Median tribes, forming a single kingship that is centered on Ecbatana. The six Median tribes he dominates are named: the Arizanti, Budii, Busae, Paretaceni, and Struchates, plus the independent, priestly tribe of the Magi (Maggai) which serves them all. 8a He writes:

Deioces bade them build for him a palace worthy of the royal dignity and strengthen him with a guard of spearmen. And the Medes did so: for they built him a large and strong palace in that part of the land which he told them […]. He built large and strong walls, those which are now called Ecbatana, standing in circles one within the other. And this wall is so contrived that one circle is higher than the next by the height of the battlements alone. The nature of the landscape, seeing that it is on a hill, lent itself towards this end; but much more was it produced by architecture, since the circles are in all seven in number. And within the last circle are the royal palace and the treasure-houses. The largest of these walls is in size about equal to the circuit of the wall round Athens; and of the first circle the battlements are white, of the second black, of the third crimson, of the fourth blue, of the fifth red: thus are the battlements of all the circles colored with various tints, and the two last have their battlements one of them overlaid with silver and the other with gold. These walls then Deioces built for himself and round his own palace, and the people he commanded to dwell round about the wall. 8b#

This ostensibly fantastic description above, likely based on elements of truth: the seven walls may in fact be a ziggurat, a multi-storied temple tower that was common in the ancient Near East. Ecbatana is also the supposed capital of Astyages (Istuvegü), that was taken by the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great in the sixth year of Nabonidus (550/549 BC). Perhaps only archaeology is able to offer a reliable description of ancient Ecbatana. Ecbatana was the Greek name of the capital of the empire of the Medes, and later one of the capitals of the Persian and Parthian empires, the Old Persian name of which was Hangmátana, “the place of assembly.” The city is mentioned several times in the apocryphal books. In Tobit it was the home of Reguel and Sara his daughter (Tobit 3:7; 7:1; 14:13). It was fortified by the Median king Arphaxad in his war against “King Nebuchadnezzar of Assyria” (Judg. 1:1, 2, 14), and to it Antiochus Epiphanes IV fled shortly before his death (2 Macc. 9:1-3). #9

Henry Rawlinson noted that Persian king Cyrus (a descendant of Deioces) with the temple-shaped tomb placed on a series of six plinths was like a miniature seven-tiered ziggurat. [see Fig. 4 below], Thus, he thought it legitimate to compare the seven colors given by Herodotus for the battlements of Ecbatana to the seven-colored stages of ziggurats. 10 I refer to this citation to introduce the idea that these seven colored stages of both the ziggurats in the historic kingdoms of the middle east and in this tomb of King Cyrus had a color scheme [documented below], that appeared to correspond to the five naked eye planets, with the Sun and Moon.

The Seven-Tiered Ziggurats

Gadd countered Rawlinson’s planetary theory with the objection that ziggurats often had less than seven stages, commonly three or four. Indeed they did, but this does not preclude the possibility that ziggurats with seven stages may have exemplified an idealized prototype. No intact types of ziggurats have been found, and, as we have seen, their poor condition typically does not permit confidence about the original number of stages. 11a Nonetheless, in some excavated examples of the first millennium BC, it has been surmised that seven was the original number of tiers. At Borsippa, for example, Allinger-Csollich counted seven stages in the ruins of Nebuchadrezzar’s restoration, but allowed for the possibility of two added top stages with no archaeological remains. 11b At Ur, Woolley discovered 3-4 stages (depending on whether the white court is included in the count), but, based on architectural projections, he suggested that Nabonidus’s intention had been to transform the existing structure into one of seven stages. At Khorsabad only four stages were discerned, but Frankfort thought it reasonable that there had been three further stages, as the height of the structure would then match the base “and this was, according to Strabo, the case in Babylon.” 11a,b,c.

Figure 3. Ziggurat of Susa. 11d.

Chogha Zanbil [ Dūr Untash Ziggurat ] | Chiyakotravel

Reconstructions aside, what do iconography and texts tell us about the number of stages? Parrot’s survey includes numerous illustrations, for example, a three-tiered structure on an Old Babylonian cylinder seal, four-to five-tiered towers on Assyrian cylinder seals, and the five-tiered ziggurat of Susa on a relief sculpture shows Assurbanipal’s Elamite campaign. 12a In addition, a considerable body of literary and pictorial evidence documents the concept of a ziggurat with seven stages: 1. The so-called Esagila tablet from Uruk (AO 6555), first noticed by George Smith in 1876, dates to 229 BC, 12b. and is now also known from a partial duplication the British Museum (BM 40813), they are thought to be copies of an original no later than the early-seventh century BC. 12c. This displays the dimensions of the temple-tower Etemenanki (é.temen.an.ki) part of the Esagila-complex in Babylon, completed by Nebuchadrezzar II. Seven stages are described, with their respective dimensions (AO 6555 ll. 36–42). The height of the structure is equal to the base, a fact supporting Strabo’s input,  and Frankfort’s deduction regarding the original height of the ziggurat at Khorsabad.

At Khorsabad only four stages were discerned, but Frankfort thought it reasonable that there had been three further stages, as the height of the structure would then match the base “and this was, according to Strabo, the case in Babylon.” 13

The Ziggurat at Ur.

Sümerler, Mezopotamya’ya yaklaşık olarak M.Ö. 3500’lerden sonra gelmeye başlamıştır.

This sets out dimensions of the temple tower Etemenanki (é.temen.an.ki) of the Esagila complex in Babylon, which was completed by Nebuchadrezzar II. Seven stages are described, with their respective dimensions (AO 6555 ll. 36–42). The height of the structure is equal to the base, a fact supporting Strabo’s words and Frankfort’s deduction regarding the original height of the ziggurat at Khorsabad. George regards it as “an ideal of how the tower was meant to look,” not “a physical survey of a built structure.”2. A broken Neo-Babylonian stele (MS 2063) in the Schøyen Collection depicts a king, apparently Nebuchadrezzar II, “standing before a seven-story ziggurrat drawn in outline & labelled [é].tem[en] .an.ki [ziqúra-at ba-bili (ká.dingir.ra)ki  ‘E-temen-anki, ziqqurrat of Babylon.’ The tower is as high as it is wide.” 14

Ziggurat models of Ur and Babylon. 14a

What is a Ziggurat? - Amazing Facts, History & Information

 

Woolley’s considerations included the distinct changes made by Nabonidus’s builders to the lower levels, calculations from the amount of debris covering the ruins, suggesting that it originally stood to a considerable height, the layout of the flights of stairs and their angles, plus an idealized plan providing the best symmetry possible, where the “(Belou táphos)” is described as a quadrangular structure a stadion both in length and height. #15.

With regard to the remaining colors in the Ecbatana sequence (light red, silver, and gold), one should not be too skeptical given that Place and Thomas reported the discovery of glazed tiles around the Khorsabad ruin sporting these very colors. Further, the restriction of silver and gold decoration to the topmost stages is credible enough, for purely practical considerations. As it happens, silver and gold are mentioned in characters drawn at the center of the seven-staged ziggurat plan on the Jena tablet. #16

A hundred and fifty years of further archaeological research have produced a very telling result. We have seen that Rawlinson’s color scheme at Borsippa was largely imaginary. By contrast, the Ecbatana tradition has been partly confirmed by the evidence from other sites (Khorsabad and Ur). A reexamination of the possible meaning of this color sequence (hereafter “the Ecbatana/ziggurat sequence”), especially where it has been confirmed by excavation, is thus long overdue. Aside from the placement of precious metals on the topmost levels and the protective function of the bitumen at the base, it is hard to imagine any practical reason for the positioning of the other (better-attested) colors, namely, white, red, and blue. All the more since they appear to have occurred in a fixed sequence. One understandably turns, therefore, to the likelihood that their arrangement had some religious or cosmological significance. 17

According to H.G. Wood: “the ziggurat of Jupiter Belus at Babylon had an ideal basis in the number 360. He describes a 7-staged pyramid in which each of the six upper stages is 360 inches shorter than the one next below it: the base side was 3,600 inches, and the total height of the structure was 3,600 inches. Wood therefore concludes that: the entire system of ancient Babylonian metrology appears to have been derived from 360 x 360 x 100 or, 12,960,000.” 17b

Based on this quote above, H.G. Wood not only confirms the equal height and width of the Ziggurat of Belus at Babylon, but also shows how the base 60 number system employed in Babylon, that is still used today, provides a universal key to the sacred geometry of Creation in a standard world measure. When we divide the sun’s orbital speed of 43,200 mph, by the 12 houses of the ecliptic, we get 3600, or the number of arc-minutes in a solar day. This matches the 36 decans of the zodiac’s 360 degrees, the same celestial and numeric standard manifested at increasing powers of 10, showing the Creator’s signature of Symmetry throughout His Creation. The sun’s orbital speed; of 43,200 mph, is also 10% of half of its circumference in miles (864,000 miles or 2/3 of 12,960,000). This is undeniably the signature of the divine Hand of the Creator, or the Great Geometer as the Pythagoreans called Him, exhibiting the dominion of His divine measure of Light, His own essence ruling over all kingdoms of terrestrial and temporal life. [John 1:3-4] For an extended discussion on this topic, please click this link for Noah’s Calendar.

As the ancients expressed this potential cosmological significance in Ziggurats, whose earliest examples seem to be found in the “tower of Babel,” I think it would be more fruitful to recognize the geometry at the basis of this planetary order, that the ancients were describing in their architecture. In this following link to our 2019 blog, on Solar System Symmetry we show how the relative planetary distances average to the pattern of the Phi ratio.

Relative planetary distances average to Phi

Beginning with Neptune and moving inward toward the sun, the ratios are 1/2 (Uranus: 30,688 earth days to Neptune: 60,193 earth days), 1/3 (Saturn: 10,670 to Uranus: 30,688), 2/5 (Jupiter:4,332 to Saturn:10,670), 3/8 (Ceres: 1,681 to Jupiter: 4,332), 5/13 (Mars: 687 to Ceres: 1,681), 8/21 (Venus: 225 to Mars: 687) and 13/34 (Mercury:88 to Venus: 225). These are all Fibonacci numbers in proper sequence, skipping Earth, as if the Designer of this system had foreknowledge that Earth was the vantage point from which this pattern would be observed. The influence of the Fibonacci series in the order of our Solar System, reflects how the orbital distances of the planets approximate the phi ratio.

The average of the mean orbital distances of each successive planet in relation to the one prior approximates phi: #18

Planet Mean
distance
in million
kilometers
per NASA		 Relative
mean
distance
where
Mercury=1
Mercury 57.91 1.00000
Venus 108.21 1.86859
Earth 149.60 1.38250
Mars 227.92 1.52353
Ceres 413.79 1.81552
Jupiter 778.57 1.88154
Saturn 1,433.53 1.84123
Uranus 2,872.46 2.00377
Neptune 4,495.06 1.56488
Pluto 5,869.66 1.30580
Total 16.18736
Average 1.61874
Phi 1.61803
Degree of variance (0.00043)

At times we forget about the asteroids when thinking of the planets in our solar system. Ceres, the largest asteroid, is nearly spherical, comprises over one-third the total mass of all the asteroids and is thus the best of these minor planets to represent the asteroid belt. (Insight on mean orbital distances contributed by Robert Bartlett.)

The Fibonacci number series of; 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144,… But this doesn’t mean Earth is haphazard. It also has an intermediate set of Fibonacci ratios of 8/13 (Earth: 365 to Mars: 687) and 13/21 (Venus: 225 to Earth: 365). There is no way arbitrary haphazard chance that can account for the precision behind this kind of mathematical and geometric order and design. This kind of design demands an Intelligent DESIGNER, also known as the Father of Lights.

Rom. 1:18-20
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who [d]suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is [e]manifest [f]in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and [g]Godhead, so that they are without excuse. The truth however of the cosmological significance of God’s order and Symmetry in how He organized our Solar System, is not only evident, but has been obscured and indeed suppressed in the idolatry of mankind, in the worship of his various mythological pantheons, that have ignored the eternal power and Godhead of our Almighty Creator.

The concept of “seven heavens” and “seven earths” could well have found its architectural expression in the seven-tiered ziggurats. In the annual Akitu ritual, Marduk was symbolically imprisoned in Etemenanki, as explicitly stated in Marduk’s Ordeal (VAT 9555+9538; ND 812(a), l. 13;) “[That which] they do [on] the ziggurat: Since the gods imprisoned him he disappeared and was held captive inside.” He was released from captivity by Nabû  (ll. 8–9), the tutelary deity of astronomy to whom the Borsippa ziggurat was dedicated. This, in combination with Strabo’s reference (16.1.5) to the ziggurat of Babylon as the [Belou táphos], the “tomb of Belus [Marduk],” indicated to many scholars, though not all, that Marduk’s enacted imprisonment can be seen in terms of a ritual death scheme, suggesting that the ziggurat acted as a representation of the underworld. #19

Since the Great Pyramid embodies the ideal conception of the cosmic “world mountain” as its passage system of star shafts are noted first, for their very telling star alignments, that relate a specific and significant story. The Descending Passage of the Pyramid was aligned on the archaic pole star Thuban, of Draco the dragon, whose shaft realized its dark destination in the pit of the Pyramid’s base. This symbolized the fall of Lucifer [Isa. 14:12] as a result of his failed coup attempt to overthrow the Almighty. This also embodies the “underworld” of fallen 1/3 of spirit angels that he deceived in his defeated revolt [Rev. 12:4], where some of these angels are imprisoned in the bottomless pit, [Rev. 9:1-11], where the future dragon-the Devil and Satan himself will be imprisoned for a thousand years, [Rev. 20:1-6]. The Great Pyramid thus not only symbolized God’s Holy Mountain wherein He called Moses in [Ex. 3:1-12, 15:17, 19:3, 20:18-21], but also tells the story of redemption through Christ.

From the references above by leading authorities of ancient archaeology, I find it intriguing that these ancient ziggurat structures were built and designed with equal height and length, that conforms to the plans of the Jerusalem temple as stated in Ezra 6:3 below. Furthermore, the record in v. 2 tells us that copies of King Cyrus’ decree were found at Achmetha, which many authorities above as Herodotus, Josephus etc. acknowledge as being Ecbatana, including E.W. Bullinger. This seems to support the notion not only, that King Cyrus’ tomb was built with these blueprints in mind, as with the tomb of Belus (Belou táphos) above, and attested to by its ziggurat form and matching colors of its seven levels.

Figure 4. The Tomb of King Cyrus. 20a

Image result for King Cyrus' Tomb-images

The Tomb of Cyrus is located in the south corner of the site, which was once the royal park of Pasargadae, was built of yellowish-white limestone, probably from the Sivand mine. The tomb building has been resistant to natural and unnatural factors for 2500 years and is still standing in Pasargade plain. Its main base/foundation is a stone platform whose design forms a rectangular square with a length of 13.35 meters and a width of 12.30 meters. This building consists of two completely separate parts: a six-step stone platform, and a room with a gabled roof on the 7th step. 20b[11]

According to Josephus in Antiquities; “Now when Daniel was become so illustrious and famous, on account of the opinion men had that he was beloved of God, he built a tower of Ecbatana, in Media: it was the most elegant building and wonderfully made and still remains […] Now they bury the kings of Media, of Persia and Parthia, in this tower to this day; and he who was entrusted with the care of it was a Jewish Priest also observed unto this day.” #21

Daniel’s potential influence and strategic placement in the courts of Babylon and later in Ecbatana would have followed King Cyrus’ take-over, and their doubtless cooperation in rebuilding the city and temple of Jerusalem. We find this not only in the good reputation of the Magi, but also in archaeological evidence that shows an active Jewish community in Ecbatana. Daniel’s key contributions may have helped the rise of Ecbatana with the resulting decline of the ancient city of Babylon in importance. As Ecbatana ascended to claim its royal position: “The actual seat of the Persian government, where renown and Great-kings wrote their decrees, received foreign ambassadors, was not in Persepolis, but in Susa and Ecbatana.” 22 If Daniel did indeed help to build this tower as part of Ecbatana, in recognition and honor of the Median, Persian, and Parthian Kings it most likely would have been spared by King Cyrus in his later

According to Pliny, he also did much to restore its former importance, and in the time of Antiochus III (222-187 B.C.), the temple of Anāhitā still had gilded pillars, some silver tiles piled up inside, a few gold bricks and many silver bricks (Polybius, 10.27.11). Out of this material, Antiochus minted royal coinage to the value of nearly 4k talents to fill his depleted treasury. In the course of his program to hellenize the kingdom, Antiochus IV Epiphanius (175-64 BC.) renamed the city Epiphania after himself. This may be the Seleucid refounding of the city to which Pliny refers. 23

In the time of Jesus’ birth, the explorers in Ecbatana were better known and more influential in the royal court than those of Babylon, where a probable rivalry existed between the cities. In summary it is logical that the wise men came from Ecbatana and not from Babylon. For further study on this subject see: “Die Magoi von Ekbatana [The Magi of Ecbatana]”.

Babylon versus Ecbatana

Babylon was for a long time the most important city in the Middle East, but lost to Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. in validity. Among the Seleucids and Parthians, other cities besides their new capital, Ctesiphon, were significant as a winter residence for the royalty, with its sister city Seleucia, on the other side of the Tigris and Ecbatana, where the summer residence of the Parthian kings was, due to the coolness of the 1800m elevation. Ecbatana was not only an economic and political center, since coins were minted mainly there, but also a royal archive as Cyrus’s order to rebuild the Jerusalem temple was found there. Strategically its location on a crucial crossroads made it a staging post on the main east–west highway called High-Road. Ecbatana was the capital of Media, called in Chaldee Achmetha (Ezra 6:2). It is situated at the foot of Mount Orontes, and was surrounded by seven walls, each overtopping the one before it, from the outer to the inner, crowned with battlements of different colors. Its citadel was used as a royal treasury. Below it stood a splendid palace, with silver tiles, and adorned with wainscotings, capitals, and entablatures of gold and silver. These treasures, to the value of 4,000 talents, were coined into money by Antiochus the Great of Syria. 24#

Secondly, if as Josephus holds, that Daniel himself may have been an influential source for the design and building of such a tower as part of the Ecbatana complex which may have been designed to fit into a similar plan, influenced by the first Jerusalem temple, of David and Solomon-especially with a structure of equal base and height, it makes more sense that the design of Ecbatana could have been based more-so on religious or cosmological significance, as the rebuilding of Jerusalem under King Cyrus would have afforded Daniel, rich details to build this “tower” as part of the plan referred to above. Also, in light of the blueprints for King Cyrus’ separate tomb are concerned, the tower at Ecbatana may have been a secondary monument to Cyrus. The tomb of King Cyrus also provides a smaller scale example of an ancient intact seven-stage ziggurat, which exhibits this type of architecture, as part of similar middle eastern cultural traditions during this important period in history.

The Cyrus Cylinder, [Bing.com] 25

Isaiah 1 3, Gods Discipline And Our Response

Ezra 6:1-3
6:1 Then Darius the king made a decree, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.
2 And there was found at Achmetha; [Ecbatana] in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a roll, and therein was a record thus written: 3 In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be [re]-built, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits; 4 With three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber: and let the expenses be given out of the king’s house: 5 And also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple which is at Jerusalem, and brought unto Babylon, be restored, and brought again unto the temple which is at Jerusalem, everyone to his place, and place them in the house of God. Another similarity between the structure of Ecbatana and the Jerusalem Temple is also found in the cedar walls and ceiling of God’s House, that in turn was overlaid in Gold: [I Kgs. 6:13-22] The design of the Jerusalem Temple, whose stone walls were covered with cedar wood and then over laid with gold, according to E.W. Bullinger was symbolic of the “saved sinner who was covered both with Christ’s human and divine righteousness imputed unto him” by God’s Grace. [I Kgs. 6:15-16] #26 As described by Bullinger above, the design of Ecbatana seems to share certain aspects with Jerusalem’s Temple, not only in its opulence, but also its potential spiritual symbolism. We find some of these details also in Polybius’ description below.

Polybius of Megalopolis’ description 

In the 2nd Century BC, Polybius writes about Ecbatana. He mentioned that the wealth and magnificence of its buildings make it stand out among all other cities. It has no walls but an artificial citadel with amazing fortifications. Underneath this is the palace which is about seven stories in circumference, and its magnificence shows the wealth of its founders. During his time, no parts of the woodwork were left exposed. There were silver or gold-plated rafters, compartments in the ceiling, and columns in the porticos and colonnades, and silver tiles were used throughout the structure. In the invasion by Alexander, most precious metals were stripped, while the remainder were stripped during Antigonus‘ and Seleucus‘ reigns. However, Antiochus found that the columns of the temple of Aene were still gilded and that several silver tiles were piled up around the temple along with some gold bricks. 27

The Polybius offers probably the best available description of the city. He writes that the city was richer and more beautiful than all other cities in the world; although it had no town wall, the citadel had impressive fortifications. This confirms Herodotus‘ words that the Medes were ‘to dwell round about the wall’, but Polybius offers more plausible dimensions: the circumference of the citadel was 1,300 meters. He also states that the builders used cedar and cypress wood, which was covered with silver and gold. The roof tiles, columns and ceilings were plated with silver and gold. This not only sounds like a credible description of an eastern palace, like Persepolis, but also resembles the construction of the Jerusalem Temple. 28

When the Persian king Cyrus the Great, a member of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty, had overthrown the Median empire in 550 BC, he captured Ecbatana. The tablet the Chronicle of Nabonidus records Cyrus’s conquering of Ecbatana, the capital of the Median king Astyages, in the sixth year of the reign of Nabonidus. This chronicle describes in several entries the self-imposed exile of Nabonidus in the Arabian oasis of Tema (mentioned as Teiman in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls known as the Testimony of Nebonidus dated to 150 BC)[10][11] and the disruption that this caused to the Akitu (New Year) festival for a period of ten years.  The king spent ten years in Arabia and left Babylonia administered by his son, Bel-shar-usur (Belshazzar of the Book of Daniel in the OT). The celebration of the Akitu festival is recorded, indicating Nabonidus’s return to Babylon. The text describes of the Battle of Opis, in which the Persians decisively defeated Nabonidus’s army, massacred the retreating Babylonians and took a great haul of loot. The Persian army went on to capture the cities of Sippar and Babylon [Isa. 45:2] itself without further conflict.[12] Cyrus is reported to have been received with joy by the city’s inhabitants and appointed local governors. The idol gods that had previously been brought to Babylon by Nabonidus, were returned to their home cities on the orders of Cyrus. 29#

The Lion of Ecabtana, Hephaestion’s tomb

The stone lion of Hamadan, Hellenistic sculpture, Ecbatana… | Flickr

In December 522 BC, the Median rebel Phraortes reoccupied Ecbatana and made it his capital; but he was defeated, by the Persian king Darius I the Great (May 521 BC). He celebrated this event with a large relief and an inscription along the road between Babylon and Ecbatana (the famous Behistun inscription). In 1923, two foundation plaques of silver and gold were found, inscribed with the name of Darius I, and also column bases of Artaxerxes II. These indicate that Darius I and Artaxerxes II built palaces in Ecbatana. 30

Greek sources mention temples dedicated to the goddess Aenê (probably Anahita) and the goddess of healing, which the Greeks called Asclepius. This shrine was destroyed by the Macedonian king Alexander the Great, who overthrew the Achaemenid empire, because the god had allowed his friend Hephaestion to die in Ecbatana (324 BC). Hephaestion’s sepulcral monument, a lion, is still visible [above]. Earlier, Alexander had had his general Parmenion killed in the capital of Media (330 BC). Later, Ecbatana was one of the capitals of the Seleucid and the Parthian empire, sometimes called Epiphaneia. #31

Another critical aspect of the rebuilding of the Temple at Jerusalem involved laying the foundation [H3245] of the House of God. The word for foundation is [yacad] to establish, set, found, build up, appoint, be settled, ordain, or fix firmly. #32 It can be literal as here, where the physical foundations of the Temple are referred to, or metaphorical as in the popular usage of Isa. 28, in the Messianic Prophecy of the Chief Cornerstone in v. 14-16. #33 In this context we find the in v. 6 that the physical foundations of the temple were not yet laid, until the builders of v.10, laying the physical foundations of the temple had been set, could the spiritual aspects of the temple foundations in Israel be set in motion, with the priesthood carrying forward their ministries, with trumpets, and the Levite sons of Asaph with cymbals, as King David had done with the first temple.

As the record in Ezra depicts in Chapter 6:6-12;

6 From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. But the foundation of the temple of the Lord was not yet laid. 7 They gave money also unto the masons, and to the carpenters; and meat, and drink, and oil, unto them of Zidon, and to them of Tyre, to bring cedar trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia. 8 Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord. 9 Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites. 10 And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel.  11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because He is good, for his mercy endures forever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.  12 But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:

In spite of formidable opposition, it was by the decrees and provision of the reign of King Cyrus that much of this activity in Jerusalem was allowed to go forward. Why was King Cyrus singled out by the Hand of the Almighty, and what was so unique about him? According to 2 Chron. 36:22-23, Cyrus was a singular OT Gentile who had the spirit [ruach] of God dwelling on him, that God stirred up in him to proclaim the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple. Perhaps the fact that Cyrus was of Zoroastrian descent as were the Magi, plays a part in this scenario, as Zoroastrianism was essentially the only monotheistic religion other than Judaism at the time. The Almighty speaking of Cyrus [Isa. 44: 28] called him “My shepherd,” to bring Israel back to a rebuilt Jerusalem with a restored Temple.

Isa. 45:1-5 “Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have [a]held—To subdue nations before him, And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: 2 ‘I will go before you and[b] make the [c]crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. 5 I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me.

Verse 1 calls the Gentile king Cyrus “His Anointed,” a Messianic title reserved for Christ. Only Jesus was the Biblical Messiah, but God called King Cyrus, His Anointed as the only Gentile in history, naming him from before his birth as He had only done with 3 other Bible figures; Isaac, [Gen. 17:19] Solomon, [I Chron. 22:9], and Josiah [I Kgs 13:2]. How could King Cyrus be the only “anointed” OT Gentile for Israel? Only because as 2 Chron. 36:23- Tells us as “the Lord God of Heaven” had given Cyrus all the kingdoms of the earth, and He hath charged me to build God a House in Jerusalem which is in Judah. As E.W. Bullinger notes; this is the first usage of the phrase the ‘Lord God of Heaven’ in the Bible, now used because His people were [Lo Ammi=not My people], and Jehovah had withdrawn from their midst. It is a title applied only in the times of the Gentiles, while God acts from heaven, and not from between the Cherubim as Jehovah the God of Israel, or as “the Lord of all the Earth”-His millennial title.#34 God’s plan included Israel ‘s protection by King Cyrus during the 70-year Babylonian captivity of Israel, so they could return under God’s protection once the captivity period was fulfilled, to a city of Jerusalem restored and the temple rebuilt, according to God’s specifications.

Figure 5a. New Jerusalem, Stonehenge, the Great Pyramid     5b.The Molten Sea of the OT Jerusalem Temple. #35
A.                                                                                           B.
Stonehenge 27

The New Jerusalem represents the true Jerusalem, NOT the one in bondage, but the heavenly Jerusalem, [Gal. 4:25-26, 29-31, Heb. 12:22, James 1:17]. As the Square of New Jerusalem also embodies the Holy Mt. Zion, it includes the Lord Jesus Christ who said in Matt. 16:18; And I also say to you that you are Peter, [G4074-petros] and on this rock [G4073-petra]36, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Peter–petros was a small chunk of rock, but Jesus is the massive mountain, the Rock-petra, in reference to himself, the foundation upon which he builds his Church. Jesus surpasses the OT Temple, as he fulfilled all the OT sacrifices linked to the former Covenant, which will be back in effect during the 6th spiritual administration of the Millennial Kingdom, when Christ rules over the earth, with a rod of iron. Thus, Jesus embodies the foundation of the Church, as he is our peace who has broken down the middle wall of partition [OT law] between us, [Eph. 2:14] enacting our unity. Here we not only see the difference between the three groups of people signified in God’s Word; Jews, Gentiles and the Church of God, but the unity of both the Jews and the Gentiles related to the NT Church of Grace, in the spiritual body of Christ.

In summary, the Bible does not tell us the extant of the relationship between Daniel and King Cyrus, only that Daniel prospered in his reign, [Dan. 6:28]. This study has investigated some historical details in an effort to explore the truth of the Scripture Narrative, and build up to shine its light on areas that may not have been enlightened previously. I trust it this will help you consider how these aspects of the Word including history, science and archaeology can assist us in our research efforts. As we recognize our true foundation who is Jesus Christ, we are building an impregnable foundation for our lives and for our family and loved ones in the body of Christ.

Agape’

Rene’

 

Footnotes

  1. ZIGGURATS, COLORS, AND PLANETS: RAWLINSON REVISITED; Peter James and Marinus Anthony van der Sluijs (London) (Weissbach, col. 2155; Ezra 6.2).
    2.(DB 2.76 ff.; Kent, Old Persian, p. 122) & (Kent, Old Persian, pp. 183, 212)
    3. Figure 3 picture credit; The Behistun Rock with inscriptions. [pinterest.com]
    4. Companion Bible Appendix #57, E.W. Bullinger [ppg. 79-82]
    5. (Gunter, pp. 103 ff., and pls. II-III, IVa).
    6. Figure 2 picture credits on Ecbatana plan compared to the Plan for Jerusalem. [pinterest.com]
    7. wikipedia.org on Ecbatana.
    8a. [Herodotus, Histories 1.98-99] 1858 The History of Herodotus. London: John Murray
    8b. IBID
    9. Biblegateway.com
    10. (Parrot 1949: 50–51) Ziggurats et Tour de Babel. Paris: Albin Michel.
    11a. (Woolley 1925: 14 n. 1 and 1939: 142 n. 1) Ur Excavations, Vol. V: The Ziggurat and Its Surroundings. Publications of the Joint Expedition of the
    British Museum and of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia to Mesopotamia. London: Oxford University Press.
    11b. (Allinger-Csollich, 1998: 103) Birs Nimrud II. “Tieftempel”—“Hochtempel”: Vergleichende Studien Babylon—Borsippa. BaM 29: 95–330.
    11c. (Frankford 1970: 79) The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient. 4th edition. Harmondsworth: Penguin
    11d. Fig. 3 picture credit. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chogha_Zanbil#/media/File:jpg]
    12a. (Parrot 1949: 37–50)  Ziggurats et Tour de Babel. Paris: Albin Michel.
    12b. (Parrot 1949: 22–24.; Wiseman 1991: 71) Nebuchadrezzar and Babylon. The Schweich Lectures of the British Academy. Oxford: Oxford University
    Press
    12c. (George 2005/2006: 75, 78; The Tower of Babel: Archaeology, History and Cuneiform Texts. AfOr 51: 75–95. (Allinger-Csollich 1998: 290–94).
    13. (Frankford 1970: 79) The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient. 4th edition. Harmondsworth: Penguin
    14. (George 2005/2006: 75, 77, 78, 79, 86; Allinger-Csollich 1998: 290–94). The Tower of Babel: Archaeology, History and Cuneiform Texts. AfOr 51: 75–95.
    14a. Picture credit from Iransafar.com
    15. (Wolley 1939: 137–41) Ur Excavations, Vol. V: The Ziggurat and Its Surroundings. Publications of the Joint Expedition of the
    British Museum and of the University Museum, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia to Mesopotamia. London: Oxford University Press. and See Strabo, Geog., 16.1.5,
    16. (Suter 1997: 5) Gudeas vermeintliche Segnungen des Eninnu. ZA 87: 1–10
    17. ZIGGURATS, COLORS, AND PLANETS: RAWLINSON REVISITED; Peter James and Marinus Anthony van der Sluijs (London)
    17b. Ancient Metrology, H.G Wood
    18. [https://www.goldennumber.net/solar-system/]
    19. (Livingstone 1986: 236–37, also 212–13, 230–31 l. 40; Mystical and Mythological Explanatory Works of Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars. Oxford: Clarendon.; Naydler 2005: Shamanic Wisdom in the Pyramid Texts; The Mystical Tradition of Ancient Egypt. Rochester, VT: Inner
    Traditions. 56; see Bidmead 2002: 87, 2002 The Akÿtu Festival; Religious Continuity and Royal Legitimation in Mesopotamia. Gorgias Dissertations: Near Eastern Studies 2. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Frankfort 1948: 322–23) Kingship and the Gods. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
    20a. Figure 4 picture credit; https://fineartamerica.com
    20b. en.wikipedia.org/tomb of Cyrus
    21. Josephus in Antiquities [p. 284; 264]
    22. “Nouruz in Persepolis?” 2009 page 1, Josef Wiesehöfer
    23. Pliny (Naturalis Historia 6.17, 43) (Stephanus Byzantinus, Deurbibus, s.v. Agbatana; Morkholm, pp. 117, 171-72. n. 22).
    [https://iranicaonline.org/articles/Ecbatana]
    24. [Herodotus, i. 98; Polybius, x. 27]. 1858 The History of Herodotus. London: John Murray
    25. The Cyrus Cylinder, [Bing.com]
    26. Companion Bible; marginal note, [I Kgs. 6:15-16] E.W. Bullinger
    27.     (Polybius, 10.27).
    28. (World history 10.27. 5-13)
    29. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabonidus_Chronicle
    30. Ecbatana (Achmetha) – Encyclopedia of The Bible – Bible Gateway
    31. [https://www.iranchamber.com/history/ecbatana/ecbatana.php]
    32. Strong’s Concordance [H3245-yacad] James Strong.
    33. IBID, notes on [H3245-yacad] on Isa. 28:14-16.
    34. Companion Bible; marginal note, [2 Chron. 36:23]
    35. Picture credit-Figure 5a. The Mystery of Stonehenge… Revealed | Truth Seekers Ministries. 5b. [pinterest.com]
    36. Strong’s Concordance; [G4074-petros, vs. G4073-petra], James Strong.

Daniel, the Antikythera Device and the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions of the Celestial Prelude.

Daniel, the Antikythera Device and the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions of the Celestial Prelude.

We have reached a stage in our OT History Class of completing the last OT Prophets. In looking back on what we have covered, it has been a singular impact milestone of a summary coverage of the OT Prophets & Kings; from Adam to Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Job, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, to the none so “Minor Prophets,” we come upon the Prophet Daniel. Daniel has a special place in my heart, due to his key position over the astronomers in the king’s court in Babylon/Medo–Persia, leading to the birth of Christ, in the key historical period prior to Christ’s birth that I have termed the Celestial Prelude.

Daniel was part of the group of Israelites taken into captivity by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, who ascended to power in the year prior to the Battle of Carchemish in 604 BC. In Dan. 1:3-4 The King took the choicest of the children of Israel to train in the courts of Babylon, for three years correlating with the first 3 years of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. It was also in the third year of this period when Daniel and his 3 fellow students Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego were found “10x better than all the magicians and astrologers in all the king’s realm,” [Dan. 1:19-21]. According to Bible history, Daniel lead the group of stargazers that came to be known as the Magi beginning early during the Babylonian Captivity. As the king made Daniel master of the Magicians, [Dan. 4:9] Daniel was put in charge of the Magi Wise men… including Shadrach, Meshach & Abednego [over astrologers, Chaldeans, and magicians; [Dan. 1:20, 2:2, 27, 4:7] The Chaldeans were renown astronomers who were known for, among other things, their ability to predict eclipses. The Chaldeans were also known for keeping of their Star Diaries, or the records of their astronomical observations. Daniel’s direction & production of this collection of Babylonian Cuneiform
texts containing the systematic records of astronomical observations and predictions in Babylon, first fell under Daniel’s purview, starting with Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. Many Babylonian Tablets, currently held in the British Museum, included the Saros tables- a catalogue of 19-year eclipse records, that provided the Babylonian astronomers the ability to predict eclipses accurately. These star diaries of Babylon also correlated to Ptolemy’s Calendar/King’s list, that was the primary authority as a common dating system in converting the Greek to the Roman calendars. #1 The Greeks were not only a key influence regarding the New Testament Scriptures, but their philosophy and science also carried much weight during this period of the ancient world. The Greek philosophers like not only Plato and Aristotle, but also the following key figures in Greek history-are noteworthy to name a few;

Thales of Miletus – The First Greek Philosopher and key Astronomer

Image result for thales of miletus astronomy and eclipse

Archimedes of Syracuse -Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor.

Archimedes

Pythagoras – The Father of Mathematics

Socrates – The Father of Western Thought

Thales of Miletus; a Pre-Socratic Philosopher [c. 624-545 BC] engineer, mathematician, astronomer and statesman, studied in Egypt for mathematics, and astronomy, and used Babylonian celestial charts to predict a solar eclipse in 585 BC. If Herodotus‘ account is accurate, this eclipse is the earliest recorded as being known in advance of its occurrence. While doubts have swirled on the truth of this story, there are other accounts of it besides that of Herodotus. Diogenes Laërtius says that Xenophanes, who lived at the same time as Thales, was impressed with the prediction, and he also gives additional testimonies from the pre-Socratics Democritus and Heraclitus.[1a] Cicero mentions that Thales was the first man to successfully predict a solar eclipse during the reign of Astyages, last king of the Median empire.[1b] Pliny the Elder mentions as well that Thales had predicted a solar eclipse during the reign of Alyattes of Lydia.[1c] “History records that the “The Battle of the Solar Eclipse” was concluded with an astronomical event of a Solar eclipse, which he predicted. The war described in the opening paragraph, after 15 years of fighting, on 28 May 585 BC, the armies of King Aylattes of Lydia were in battle with the forces of King Cyaxares of Medes, near the River Halys in what is today central Turkey. In 585 BC, the war between these two Kings had started 6 years earlier with neither side making significant progress. Their war was particularly bitter because a group of hunters working for the Medes had killed one of Cyaxares’s sons and served him up as a meal (yikes). This fight was personal. Chroniclers noted the “heavens darkening” and soldiers on both sides laying down their weapons in awe of the spectacle and this event ended both the battle and the war. The kings of Cilicia and Babylon intervened, and a peace treaty was negotiated and the River Halys, where the “Battle of the Eclipse” was fought, became the border between the Lydians and the Medes.”[1d]

Figure 1. The 585 Eclipse of May 28, 585 BC. [584 BC shown below due to the lack of a zero year on the timeline.] #2

Another reason this eclipse is of interest is that it seems to be one of the nearest to the first destruction of the Jerusalem Temple when King Nebuchadnezzar’s second siege of Jerusalem took place. Historians agree that Jerusalem fell the second time in the summer month of Tammuz (as recorded in Jeremiah 52:6). However, some scholars disagree as to whether this dates to 586 BC or 587 BC.

While most astronomers would agree that May 28, 585 BC, is the most likely candidate date for Thales’ predicted eclipse, a Wired article says this famous astronomical event has been debated by hundreds of scholars for nearly two millennia and that some authorities believe Thales’ eclipse may have occurred 25 years earlier in 610 BC. But the reason most agree with the 585 BC date is the record of the famous battle in Asia Minor ending when “the day was suddenly turned to night.” #3

An added reason for interest in this period is the potential influence of Babylonian astronomy on the astronomy of the period under the  supervision of the prophet Daniel, who not only had great personal influence in the interpretation of dreams in the King’s court, but also related to the influence of Babylonian astronomy during this period in the middle east. This period also witnessed the rise of Greek influence in philosophy and astronomy, witnessed not only in figures like Thales of Miletus, but also Archimedes of Syracuse, who were both linked to types of astronomical devices that played a key role in a transition from the ancient technological dominance of Babylonian astronomy to that of the Greeks.

The Roman figure Cicero mentions two machines that modern scholars consider as some kind of planetarium or orrery, predicting movements of the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets known at that time. The first built by Thales while the second by Archimedes, was brought to Rome by the Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus after Archimedes death at the siege of Syracuse in 212 BC. Marcellus had great respect for Archimedes and one of these machines was the only item he kept from the siege (the second was placed in the Temple of Virtue). The device was kept as a family heirloom, and Cicero had Philus (a participant in a conversation that Cicero said occurred in the villa of Scipio Aemilianus in 129 BC), saying that Gaius Sulpicius Gallus (consul with Marcellus’s nephew in 166 BC, and credited by Pliny the Elder as the first Roman to have written a book explaining solar and lunar eclipses) gave both a “learned explanation” and a working demonstration of this device. These planetarium or orrery devices, also called “spheres“, are also referenced in a treatise, “On Sphere-Making”—by Archimedes, a rare item since all of Archimedes‘ known works were of a theoretical character, yet his interest in mechanics nonetheless deeply influenced his mathematical thinking. The reference below is from “THE PLANETARIUM OF ARCHIMEDES” by Antikythera device researcher Michael Wright.

Archimedes’ Sphere-Making

Physics Lover: The 10 Greatest Physicists in History

“Though I had heard this globe mentioned quite frequently on account of the fame of Archimedes, when I actually saw it, I did not particularly admire it; for that other celestial globe, also constructed by Archimedes, which the same Marcellus placed in the
temple of Virtue, is more beautiful as well as more widely known among the people. But when Gallus began to give a very learned explanation of the device, I concluded that the famous Sicilian had been endowed with greater genius than one would imagine it possible for a human being to possess. For Gallus told us that the other kind of celestial globe, which was solid and contained no hollow space, was a very early invention, the first one of that kind was constructed by Thales of Miletus, and later marked by Eudoxus of Cnidus, (a disciple of Plato, it was claimed) with the constellations and stars which are fixed in the sky. He also said that many years later Aratus, borrowing this whole [geocentric] plan from Eudoxus, had described it in verse, without any knowledge of astronomy, but with considerable poetic talent. But this newer kind of globe, he said, on which were delineated the motions of the sun and moon and of those five stars which are called wanderers [five visible planets], or, as we might say, rovers, contained more than could be shown on the solid globe, and the invention of Archimedes deserved special admiration because he had thought out a way to represent accurately by a single device for turning the globe those various and divergent movements with their different rates of speed. And when Gallus moved the globe, it showed the relationship of the Moon with the Sun, and there were exactly the same number of turns on the bronze device as the number of days in the real globe of the sky. Thus, it showed the same eclipse of the Sun as in the globe [of the sky], as well as showing the Moon entering the area of the Earth’s shadow when the Sun is in line … (missing text) (i.e. It showed both solar and lunar eclipses.”) #4 [brackets addition mine]

Due to the unique technology employed in the Antikythera device, the first evidence of an analog computer in the ancient world, stunned historians and caused the total rewriting of ancient history of astronomy for this period. This astronomical calculator used know-how from ancient Babylonian expertise of the Saros cycle to predict eclipses, and applied it in a device that could dial-up eclipses in the past, present or future. Of course, these were not the only two sphere’s in ancient history, but they were two types of sphere’s referred to by Cicero in the quote above, linked to this historical chain of events accounting for this type of device that modern science had not encountered the likes of this advanced technology in ancient Greece (circa 212 BC) heretofore.

People have wondered if Archimedes could have built something like the Antikythera device, but history and what we know of his work certainly seems to support this idea. As the discussion of the historical commentary as the discussion from Michael Wright’s “The Planetarium of Archimedes” states; “Archimedes himself is credited with the endless screw or worm-and-wheel gear, and so we must suppose that he was aware of other configurations of toothed gearing also. Therefore, we have no difficulty in accepting that the planetarium instrument, which tradition in late antiquity so insistently ascribed to him, depended on the use of toothed gearing.”#5

In his description Cicero refers to the first “sphere” as “solid” telling us that it had an unbroken spherical surface, “but the point he seems to make is that it contained no mechanism; and in this respect he contrasts it to the other instrument.” #6 

Lactantius (c. A.D. 240 – 320), compares the technology of Archimedes’ Sphere to what “God Himself is unable to fashion…” #7
“Could Archimedes the Sicilian have devised from hollow brass a likeness and figure of the world, in which he so arranged the sun and moon that they should effect unequal motions and those like to the celestial changes for each day as it were, and display or exhibit, not only the risings and settings of the sun and the waxing and waning of the moon, but even the unequal courses of revolutions of the heavens, and that sphere, while it revolved, exhibited not only the approaches and the wandering of the stars as that sphere turned, and yet God Himself be unable to fashion and accomplish what the skill of a man could simulate by imitation?”

From these historical accounts, it seems plausible that since there were two devices in Cicero’s account, the first very ancient solid compact globe built by Thales was perhaps an eclipse predictor. The second sphere built by Archimedes was improved by him, not only able to predict eclipses, but also to present the variable motion of the planets-a more difficult problem to solve which the genius of Archimedes solved, present in the second machine, able to predict not only eclipses but also Planetary motions of the 5 naked-eye planets of our solar system. Below in Figure 2 we find the front face of the Antikythera device as proposed by Freeth and Jones.

Figure 2. Frontal face of the Antikythera Mechanism. #8

Front Face of the Antikythera Mechanism | The Shamblog

The initial discovery of the Antikythera device after its underwater recovery, in the early 20th cent. was by German Philologist Albert Rehm, the first to understand this device as an astronomical calculator. The new x-ray CT scans also unexpectedly revealed thousands of new text characters hidden inside the fragments of the device, unread for 2000+ years. In his earlier research Rehm had proposed the Sun and planets were displayed in concentric rings on the device’s frontal display, that included extensive inscriptions. The back dial inscriptions seen in Figure 3 below, amounted to a user manual for the device. In 2022 researchers proposed its initial calibration date, not its construction date, that may have been Dec. 23, 178 BC. Other experts have proposed 204 BC as a more likely calibration date for this 2nd device by Archimedes.

Figure 3. Antikythera Device inscriptions. #9

The Greek word saros apparently comes from the Babylonian word “sāru” that refers to the number 3600[10a] or the Greek verb “saro” (σαρῶ) that means sweep (the sky with the series of eclipses). The Saros is a period of almost exactly 19 years after which the lunar phases recur at the same time of the year. The recurrence is not perfect, and by precise observation the Metonic cycle defined as 235 synodic months is just 2 hours, 4 minutes and 58 seconds longer than 19 tropical years. Meton of Athens, in the 5th cent. BC, judged the cycle to be a whole number of days; 6,940. Using these whole numbers facilitates the construction of a lunisolar calendar. 10b#

Figure 4. Interlocking gears on the rear side of the Antikythera Device. #11

Omnilingual - Antikythera Mechanism Revealed

The Antikythera Mechanism refers to the Saros cycle to predict eclipses ΣΚΓ′, in the Fig. 3, red rectangle, and means 223 months. The Saros period of 223 lunar months (in Greek numerals, ΣΚΓ′) is in the Antikythera Mechanism user manual for this instrument, which relied on the expertise of earlier middle-eastern science. The Babylonians recorded the daily positions of astronomical bodies on clay tablets, revealing that the sun, moon and planets moved in repeating cycles-knowledge critical in their prediction making ability. The Antikythera device utilized several celestial period relations from Babylon, represented on its rear face on two large dials. The top dial was a calendar of 235 lunar phases recuring against the backdrop of the stars every 19 years, in reference to the ‘Metonic cycle,’ named after the Greek astronomer Meton, but discovered far earlier in Babylon. This upper dial was a Metonic/Callippic calendar [76 yr. cycle] that reconciled the lunar month with the solar year. 12# The number 19 was found inscribed on one of the fragments of the Antikythera device, with the 223 months of the saros–Babylonian eclipse prediction cycle, represented on the lower dial on the back of this device. This lower dial predicting solar and lunar eclipses via the Saros cycle, was a saros/exeligmos calendar-[The exeligmos being a period of 54 years, 33 days used to predict successive eclipses with similar properties and location].

A hypothetical schematic representation of the gearing of the Antikythera Mechanism, including the 2012 published interpretation of existing gearing, added to complete known functions, and proposed gearing to accomplish additional functions, namely true sun pointer and pointers for the five then-known planets, as proposed by Freeth & Jones, 2012.[5] Based also upon similar drawing in the Freeth 2006 Supplement[15] and Wright 2005, Epicycles Part 2.[66] Proposed (as opposed to known from the artifact) gearing crosshatched. #13

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Daniel’s supervision of the Babylonian Star Diaries during this key historical period contributed greatly to the astronomical expertise utilized in Babylon, and later in Greece, that found it’s way into the Antikythera device, which also included dials of key planetary movements and conjunctions tied to the eclipse information, providing added anchor points of historical events. This advanced ancient celestial computer contained gears specifically to display the cycles of the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn mounted on a circular plate linked to the main drive wheel by pillars. 14#

As advanced as the Babylonian Star diaries were, the information on their planetary cycles required higher degrees of accuracy to be used in a celestial instrument like the Antikythera Mechanism. To correlate specific astronomical events in this period of Bible history, we are presenting the following information on Solar and lunar eclipses, with Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions.

Fig. 5. Timeline of the Babylonian Captivity. #15

The Nazaroo Zone: February 2015

The Triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn was and remains, the Great Conjunction series that outlines key points in Biblical history. Daniel lived in or near two of these triple conjunctions in his lifetime in 563-562 in Taurus, and 523-522 BC. In the Fig. 5 above we find the start of the Babylonian Captivity with king Nebuchadnezzar’s attack on Jerusalem, where he carried away Daniel and his companions captive. Daniel and his friends were teenagers or in their early 20’s and Daniel lived into his mid 90’s, as he sat in the King’s gate, he influenced the reigns of King Cyrus and his son Cambyses also known as Darius the Mede, during this time. Here 561 BC is marked as a transition year of the kings Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar in Babylon, as Ren Manetti taught us in our OT History class, [Dan. 7:1] as Belshazzar was the son of Nebuchadnezzar, [Dan. 5:11, 22, 8:1]. This would have been a prominent marker in the minds of Daniel, and his companions, that their Babylonian captivity ruled by Nebuchadnezzar was marked by a triple union of Jupiter-Saturn in Taurus, as seen in Fig. 7 below.

Figure 6. Transition to the Persian Empire rule over Jerusalem under King Cambyses and Cyrus. #16

The Nazaroo Zone: Excursion into Daniel (2): Persian Period

The Lunar Eclipses of the 7th Year of Cambyses

The British Museum text #33066 (78-11-7, 4 = Strm. Kambys. 400 = LBAT 1477) mentions two lunar eclipses (on 16 July 523 BC & 10 Jan. 522 BC) that occurred during the 7th year of the Persian king Cambyses. The first lunar eclipse is also mentioned in Ptolemy’s Almagest. (book V, chapter 14). As Jon Nessle taught us, Cambyses was the son of Cyrus, and viceroy as Cyrus’ provincial governor of the city of Babylon, in the first year of King Cyrus’ decree to free the Jews in c. 538 BC. King Cyrus was a likely follower
of the Zoroastrian faith that may have contributed to Cyrus‘ religious tolerance that he exercised as part of the tenets of the Cyrus Cylinder. King Cambyses’ reign opened c. 530 BC, seen on the left-side in Figure 6 above. 17#

Figure 7 below depicts Jupiter-Saturn Conjunctions just prior to, during and after this transition period to Belshazzar.

Figure 7. Jupiter-Saturn Triple Conjunctions #18

THE JUPITER-SATURN CONJUNCTION
(GEOCENTRIC TROPICAL ZODIAC)
600 BCE to 2400 CE copyright 1998-1999 by Richard Nolle 
all rights reserved http://www.astropro.com - rnolle@astropro.com

Date                   Time                Jupiter     Saturn

SEP 10, –581 | 06:56 AM | 000 | 16VI47 | 16VI47 |
|JUL 27, –562 | 12:09 PM | 000 | 07TA33 | 07TA33 |
|NOV 01, -562 | 02:11 PM | 000 | 05TA05R | 05TA05R|
|FEB 10, –561 | 01:21 AM | 000 | 02TA29 | 02TA29 |
|DEC 13, –542 | 10:49 PM | 000 | 03CP51 | 03CP51 |
|DEC 16, –522 | 11:46 PM | 000 | 27VI59 | 27VI59 |
|MAR 14, -521 | 02:10 PM | 000 | 25VI54R | 25VI54R|
|JUL 10, –521 | 05:24 PM | 000 | 23VI07 | 23VI07 

SEP 16, –164 | 02:16 AM | 000 | 08SC49 | 08SC49 |
|OCT 18, –145 | 11:50 AM | 000 | 16CA44 | 16CA44 |
|DEC 10, -145 | 12:56 PM | 000 | 15CA33R | 15CA33R|
|MAY 04, –144 | 03:15 PM | 000 | 12CA11 | 12CA11 |

|APR 24, –125 | 08:15 PM | 000 | 02PI14 | 02PI14

The Chart above from Richard Nolle, reflects both “normal” and triple conjunctions of Jupiter-Saturn over the last 600 years leading to the birth of Christ. According to the extended version of this Chart, there were Jupiter-Saturn triple conjunctions in Pisces in 861/860 BC and in 981/980 BC, marking the Temple of Solomon, where both times the proximity of Jupiter-Saturn was closer than 7 BC. Triple unions of Jupiter and Saturn are rare enough to be regarded as indicators of major cultural change. It was just such a triple conjunction in Pisces – anciently regarded as the sign of the Jews – that led the Magi to search for “The King of the Jews” in 3BC. The triple conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn marked above in 522-521 BC, actually took place in 523-522 BC due to the lack of a year zero.

Plate 1. The Rev. 12:1-2 Sign and Great Wonder as seen from Jerusalem at sunset on 9-11-3 BC. 19#

Virgo Clothed with the Sun on 9-11-3BC

This triple conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn in Virgo would have provided excellent advance cases for Daniel to teach the Magi the signs that would lead them to the birth of Christ, to clearly identify the location of the Rev. 12 signs in Virgo and Leo that provided the exact timing of the moments of Christ’s birth as the star Spica set between the setting Sun and Moon in Virgo as Rev. 12 describes it. Even though the NT record of Rev. 12 was still future, it provided the Magi an advance notice to frame the celestial signs marking Christ’s birth. The Jupiter-Regulus triple union in Leo told the Magi the King of Juda-Leo [Gen. 49] had been born! [Matt. 2:2] with the same king planet that set them on their trek to Jerusalem and Bethlehem at the outset. They also noted Jupiter in Retrograde with these triple unions, including on Tishri 1, 3BC. According to Nolle’s chart in Fig. 7, this triple union of Jupiter-Saturn took place on the following 3 dates in 523-522 BC, correlated with the two lunar eclipses during that time;

A. July 16, 523 BC lunar eclipse
1. Dec. 16th, 523 BC-the 1st union of Jupiter-Saturn in Virgo

B. 10 Jan. 522 BC lunar eclipse
2. Mar. 14th, 522 BC-the 2nd union of Jupiter-Saturn Virgo

3. July 10th, 522 BC-the 3rd union of Jupiter-Saturn Virgo

This is also the case with the spectacular Jupiter-Saturn triple union in the constellation Cancer that occurred in 146/145 BC, was marked above as -145 and -144 as the others, due to the lack of a zero year on the timeline. The dates and planetary activity of this 146-145 BC triple union that are not supplied in Figure 8, fit in the gap between the 185 BC and 126 BC Jupiter-Saturn signs as follows:

1. Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Cancer on Oct. 18th, 146 BC, in the Crab’s lower pincer, with the Sun in Libra, Moon in Gemini, Venus at the feet of Virgo, Mars in Capricorn and Mercury in Scorpius.

2. Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Cancer on Dec. 10th, 146 BC, Sun & Mercury in Sagittarius, Moon in the Horns of Taurus, Venus in Libra & Mars in Aquarius.

3. Jupiter-Saturn union in Cancer- May 4th, 145 BC, Sun and Mercury in Taurus, Moon in Virgo, Venus in Aries, Mars in Gemini.


Plate 2. The Decan Coma adjacent from Virgo, in the Dendera Zodiac.

sun of righteousness

This countdown of Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions led the Magi first to the Coma Supernova in the decan of Virgo, as the General Sign or prevailing period when the Messiah was expected to appear. This alerted the Magi to the general historical period c. 128 BC to 3 BC when the bright light of the supernova shined during daytime in the head of the infant in the woman’s lap associated with Virgo as a primary decan. The “normal” Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Pisces on April 24th, 126 BC is unique to our purpose due to its proximity to the appearance of the Coma Supernova. Since Hipparchus about one hundred twenty-five years before Christ, who saw this supernova
in Coma as a new star, puts this sighting close to 128 BC. This sighting was confirmed by Church Father Ignatius in 69 AD. After the Coma Supernova first appeared, this notable Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in Pisces on April 24th, 126 BC, took place. This Jupiter-Saturn union was one in a series on the ecliptic paralleling the Band of Pisces holding the horizontal fishtail of Pisces. Figure 7 below shows 7 Jupiter-Saturn Conjunctions in Pisces from 185 BC to 54 AD, leading to Jesus’ birth. During this Jupiter-Saturn union, Venus also appears in the loop of the Band located at the future location of the June 8th, 7 BC union of Jupiter-Saturn nearly 120 years in advance. The Band with the horizontal fish of Pisces, here embodies a countdown not only to the opening of the Piscean Age marked by this triple union of Jupiter-Saturn, but also marking the Jupiter-Regulus triple union in Leo of 3-2 BC for the Magi, as the signs marking the birth of Christ.

When any two planets outside earth’s orbit enter a conjunction, it has the potential for a triple conjunction, where instead of only one flyby the pair of planets can form a triple union over the space of a few months, based on the planet’s retrograde motion. Jupiter and Saturn had “normal” unions or conjunction phases nearly every 20 [19.85] years. Jupiter-Saturn triple unions have a rich astronomical cross-cultural history going back into ancient times.

Figure 8. Seven Jupiter-Saturn Conjunctions in Pisces from 185 to 54 AD. #20

185BC-54AD

According to Bullinger, the Fish of Pisces reflect “the multitude of Abraham’s seed where God compares his future posterity to the stars of the sky, and the sand upon the seashore. This very great multitude of fish [Ezek 47:9] also recalls Jesus with his disciples during his resurrection appearance to them by the sea [John 21:5ff], and the miracle of the 153 fish in the unbroken net. Figure 8 depicts the triple union of Jupiter-Saturn in 7 BC in white letters with the June 8th, 7 BC union in the loop of the Band as Jupiter initiates its retrograde loop with Saturn. In 7 BC in the constellation Pisces, this Jupiter-Saturn triple Conjunction also coincided with the dawn of a new Precessional Age, the Age of Pisces, with a new age every 2160 years. After these Jupiter-Saturn triple Conjunctions, there was a planetary massing of Jupiter-Saturn and Mars, followed by a key Conjunction involving Mars. This unique Feb. 25th, 6 BC, trianglar massing of planets Jupiter-Saturn and Mars, was referred to by Kepler; as the “decisive Conjunction of 6 BC that opened our precessional age of Pisces.”
As we have noted, Kepler also advanced the idea that the Magi were guided to Judea by the appearance of this series of Conjunctions.

According to Peter Thompkins, the Mayans also; “calculated the orbit of the Earth about the Sun as 365.2420 days, and marked the close of the year by the erection of a stone they called a “tun.” They did likewise for a 20-year cycle or “Katun,” a period they considered governed by the
Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.” 21

Thompkins continues by saying; “The Maya had a very special sacred year of 260 days called tzolkin, that the Aztecs called tonalamatl.” This 260-day sacred calendar was “divided into 13 months of 20 days and the multiples of 13 and 20 became the heart of a chronological computation, stunning in its simplicity and exactness. A greater cycle of 260 years was 13 consecutive Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction cycles of 20 years.”22 [emphasis mine]

A Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction

Related image

This greater 260-year cycle based on the cycle of Jupiter-Saturn Conjunctions, was also a tool anciently utilized by the Mayans to break down the very long cycle of the precession of the equinoxes. Thompkins states that: the “Maya also had a cycle of 942,890 days, or 2,582 years, that turned out to be 130 Jupiter-Saturn Conjunctions.”23 [10 x 13] Twice this 2,582 year cycle [5,163 years], not only gave the equivalent of the greater 260-year cycle of Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions, but 100 of these greater 260-year cycles was equal to 26,000 years, often reckoned the length of the precession by the ancients. With Kepler’s recognition of the pattern of Jupiter-Saturn Conjunctions and the Mayan tzolkin, we have two culturally distinct and seemingly independent views of how Jupiter-Saturn Conjunctions subdivided the precession. Similarities not only in planetary and star names, but also in their symbolism, among widely removed nations in both space and time is a feature so common in the study of Astronomy, that it discounts any idea of mere coincidence. This adds to the mound of evidence favoring what Joseph Campbell called the world monomyth which is the idea that all world mythology is rooted in one Great Epic narrative based on stellar truths, which we contend is preserved in the ancient star names God first gave to Adam and the Biblical Patriarchs [Ps. 147:4] known as the Celestial Gospel. This age-old system was organized around the continual nesting of shorter celestial cycles, like the precession of the poles, nested as gears within the larger stellar wheels of the precession of the equinoxes, a strategy we find utilized in the construction of the Antikythera Device. This provided the framework within which the truths of the celestial gospel were first unveiled to Biblical Patriarchs, and later corrupted forming the basis of astrology and mythology the world over.

Although the 523-522 BC triple union of Jupiter-Saturn was only a few years after Daniel fell asleep, his supervision of the Babylonian Star Diaries along with his knowledge of eclipses would have informed him of these coming planetary unions, as he was aware of the coming eclipses accompanying this planetary activity. This not only allowed Daniel to teach these Messianic truths to his fellow Magi, but also to establish the impact of their occurrences in history, in reference to the Celestial Prelude, leading to the Birth of Christ.

During the time of the rise of ancient Israel, in last millennium BC, there were 43 “normal” conjunctions between the two planets, with at least 7 Jupiter-Saturn triple conjunctions taking place, with varying intervals from 40 years (as from 861 to 821 BC and again between 563 BC-
523BC) to 377 years (as between 523 to 146 BC), as seen above. The events following the 7 BC triple union of Jupiter-Saturn are depicted in the chart below [Fig. 6], including other key celestial events leading to the birth of Christ.

The intervening period between 563-62 BC Jupiter-Saturn triple union leading to the decisive triple conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn in 7 BC to open the precessional Age of Pisces, reveals some key historical references from British Physicist Derek De Solla Price, who after 20 years of research on the Antikythera device published an important paper; “Gears from the Greeks,” in which he references a key quote from the Roman lawyer and politician Cicero (106-43BC), who not only mentions that Marcellus brought to Rome the planetarium Thales of Miletus built, but also refers to a second machine made by renown Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes (287-212 BC), “on which were delineated the motions of the Sun, Moon and of those five stars which are called wanderers-(the 5 planets). The device seems to fit the description of the Antikythera mechanism, whose origins may have overlapped the latter years of Archimedes’ life. Price was able to get a more detailed peek inside this device when he arranged x-ray images, to identify 30 distinct gears, in enough detail to count/estimate gear teeth on specific device wheels. Driven by the main drive wheel on the frontal display of the device the gear train starts with a 38-tooth gear (2 x 19), which in turn drives a 127–tooth gear or half the 254 sidereal rotations in the 19-year Metonic cycle. Its precision gears with 1mm-long teeth, allowed the device to predict the positions of the Sun, Moon and planets on any specific day in the past, present or future, was unique in the ancient world. The device also showed the star positions in relation to the 12 signs of a zodiac dial that divided the ecliptic into 12-30 degree sections of the ecliptic constellations. More detailed x-ray CT imagery was produced in the early 2000’s by Dr. Tony Freeth and his research team, revealed in detail the 223 teeth of the device’s Saros gear, uncovering added gears that beautifully calculated lunar variable motion, related to the Moon’s elliptical orbit. Translated, this means the Moon moves slower against the stars, the farther away it is from earth, but moves faster the closer it is. This is especially interesting since the Greeks were not aware of elliptical orbits, yet they explained this subtle Lunar motion by combining two circular motions in their theory of epicycles.#24 Based on an observation by device researcher; Michael Wright, who saw a link between two gears where “one gear has a pin on its face that engages a slot in the other gear.” But these two gears turned on different axes separated by over a millimeter,” thus incorporated variable motion.” Dr. Freeth noted; “Calculating the Epicyclic theory of the Moon with the epicylic pin and slot gears in this subtle and indirect way was an extraordinary conception by the ancient Greeks. This ingenuity reinforces the idea that the device was designed by Archimedes.”#25

The x-ray CT of the front-cover inscription shows it is divided into sections for each of the five planets. In the Venus section, Jones found the number 462; in the Saturn section, he found the number 442. Since no previous research hinted any ancient knowledge of these numbers, they  astonished the research team, especially because they embody more accurate period relations than the ones found by the Babylonians. It seems that the makers of the Antikythera device discovered their own improved period relations for two of the planets: 289 synodic cycles in 462 years for Venus, and 427 synodic cycles in 442 years for Saturn. #26

The Freeth research team assembled a detailed list of the planetary period relations and their estimated errors from Babylonian astronomy. Were combinations of these earlier relations the key to the more accurate Antikythera period relations? They found a process, developed by philosopher Parmenides of Elea (6th to 5th cent. B.C.) and reported by Plato (5th to 4th cent. B.C.), for combining known period relations for  better ones. Their method was accurate to match the known period relations for Venus and Saturn, factorizable so planets were reckoned with gears small enough to fit the mechanism with economy, so different planets could share gears if their period relations shared prime factors, reducing the number of gears needed. Such economy is a key feature of the surviving gear trains. Based on these criteria, Freeth’s team derived the periods 462 and 442 using the idea from Parmenides employing the same methods to discover missing periods for the other planets where the inscriptions were lost or damaged. Freeth’s team “proved that these indirect gearing system from the variable motion of the moon were not only adaptable to these planets, but also could be extended to incorporate the new period relations for the planets. This system allowed the Antikythera makers to mount several gears on the same plate and design them to precisely match the period relations.” #27 This evidence is supportive not only of the idea that Archimedes was able to improve on the accuracy of Babylonian eclipse data, but also how he was able
to do so, in his building of the Antikythera device.

The preliminary signs from 7-5 BC provided the Magi with the blueprints they would need to recognize the celestial signs identifying the time frame of the birth of Christ. The fact that the signs of this dress rehearsal unfolded over a period in excess of two years was also a clue of what to expect, when the curtain actually arose on the celestial pageantry of the birth of Christ. These heavenly signs exactly 2 years apart; [5-3 BC] enlightened the Magi that they should be on the lookout for heavenly signs marking the birth of Christ, in the next 2-years in Sept. of 3 BC. The fact that these 7-5 BC signs almost all occur in Pisces, is interesting due in part to ancient eastern tradition, that the influence of the sign Pisces, the fishes presided over the land of Israel, likely linked to God’s promise to Abraham. This included Pisces symbolism of the House of Jacob, with the obvious presence of the King planet Jupiter, detailing why the Magi came to Jerusalem looking for the King of Israel. [Num. 24:17]

Figure. 6 The Celestial Prelude of 7 BC to 5 BC

Date Conjunction of Planets Constellation
May 27th, 7 BC Jupiter-Saturn Pisces
Sept. 15th, 7 BC Jupiter, Saturn; [ring cycle], Sun & Earth aligned Pisces
Oct. 5th, 7 BC Jupiter-Saturn Pisces
Dec. 1st , 7 BC Jupiter-Saturn Pisces
Feb. 25th 6 BC Triangular massing of Jupiter, Saturn & Mars Pisces
Mar. 5th , 6 BC Jupiter-Mars Conjunction Pisces
April 15-20, 6 BC Lunar Occultation   Series
Mar. 23rd, 5 BC Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse/Nova  Virgo
Sept. 15th, 5 BC Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse Pisces

Finally, on the heels of this Feb. 25th, 6 BC Conjunction including Mars, in the next month came a remarkable series of lunar occultations, followed by two total lunar eclipses in 5 BC. As we have noted, the importance of Jupiter-Saturn Conjunctions is recognized in close relation to the precession of the equinoxes in the Hebrew cosmology evident in Genesis 1:6-10, and the world-views of ancient cultures including, Sumeria, Babylon, Egypt and in Greece. According to this pattern, Jupiter-Saturn triple unions occur in Pisces only once every 800 years. This exhibits how the Conjunction series subdivides the precession, which totals a period of about 25,920 years, since every 30 cycles of Jupiter-Saturn triple unions that take place in Pisces totals the period of 24,000 years, a time close to the full cycle of precession.

The Triple Conjunction of Jupiter-Saturn in 7 BC marked the first time that the Sun arose in the Sign of Pisces, on the Spring equinox, signifying a new Precessional Age, the Age of Pisces. Over 2000 years has already passed since this opening of the Piscean Age, and the Birth of Christ that occurred 4 years after its opening. This Sign of Pisces is marked by two fish, one swimming vertically towards the North Pole and the other horizontally along the ecliptic. These fish represent the houses of Israel and Juda, further disclosing that the Promised Seed had to come from the Royal House of Judah. Jesus Christ had to be the Son of Adam, Abraham and David to fulfill all righteousness. The fullness of the gap between the sufferings of the Lord, seen in his first coming, and his glorious return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, continues to take place in the Piscean Age. Finally, this 7 BC triple Conjunction gave the Magi key info required to identify the signs marking the birth of Christ in 3-2 BC when the triple Conjunction of Jupiter-Regulus occurred in Leo, the Lion of the tribe of Juda. This panoramic view of Biblical and Celestial history, beautifully encapsulates how God utilized the witness of the Celestial Gospel in the heavens, coordinated with Divine Scripture, to disclose in increasing detail, the identity of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ.

Another sign that took place around the same time as this Lunar Occultation in Aries was a Nova most likely in Capricorn. Similarly, in mid-March of 5 BC there were Chinese reports that an object described as a Nova was stationary and seen for 2.5 months. Despite its longevity
of visibility, the object was not a supernova, which was concluded from the lack of a visible remnant, or radio source. This bright Nova
 seen in northern Capricorn or southern Aquila in mid-March 5 BC was chronicled by the Chinese and Koreans. The date (March 5 BC), date falls into the Celestial Prelude period leading to the birth of Jesus, its position in the sky (in the east at dawn) and long duration of visibility (70+ days), make it a key contribution to the Celestial Prelude before the Star of Bethlehem. Being another Nova sign while the Coma Supernova was still visible to the naked eye, only lends added emphasis to our thesis, given that the Magi must surely have observed the critical nature of this Nova in this celestial context including this Lunar Occultation. This would have alerted the Magi to the importance of the lunar activity during the Rev. 12 sign when it took place in 3 BC.

Daniel was able to forewarn the Magi to watch for the star, not only from Biblical prophecy, but also due to his unique position as the curator of the Babylonian Star Diaries, which augmented what he learned from both direct and written revelation, even as the Magi said they were taught to look for a specific star (Matt. 2:2). Many scholars have agreed on the Biblical prophecy, of this star in
Numbers 24:17, and Daniel 9:24-27 which not only disclosed the 70 weeks prophecy from Gabriel, but combined with their notice of Jupiter the King star, the wise men as part of this exclusive group of Babylonian priests and astronomers under the supervision
of the prophet Daniel who had charge over them from over 500 years earlier.

History tells us their origin was a religious group in the Medo-Persian empire in the time of Zoroaster. The Zoroastrian religion is noted as the only other monotheistic religion of the middle east other than Judaism. The Magi represented the priesthood of Zoroastrianism in the Parthian empire, which embodied a main adversary and rival to Rome. They also believed their supreme God and Creator, to be the author of all that is good, would send a prophet and coming redeemer to save mankind. They were not idolators as the other nations of the world, but followed a strict code of ethical laws to uphold a system of moral conduct. This tradition of the religious caste of the Zoroastrian Magi allowed them to pass the vital information from one generation to the next until the time when they witnessed the star; Jupiter in triple conjunction with Saturn in 7 BC, that alerted them to the impending triple union of Jupiter and Regulus that initiated their 800+mile long journey to Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Due to Daniel’s devotion to God, he retained his position as master of the Magi when the Persians took over the Babylonian empire, under Darius. He would not defile himself (1:8). Daniel honored Jehovah God his entire life. As Daniel, had charge over all the wise men (Magi) of Babylon, he made sure he taught them the doctrine of Jehovah & the coming Messiah, according to the prophecy written in the stars.

Num 24:17…I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. To interpret the king’s dream he needed to know the details of the dream itself, that the king had forgotten [Dan. 2:5-6], which goes back to the Scripture of the God of Secrets [Dan. 2:18-23, 28-29, 47-48, Deut. 29:29] along with its interpretation!

Daniel’s teachings were passed down to generations of Magi until what Daniel taught came true in the star [planet Jupiter] the Magi followed from Babylon to Jerusalem and to a house in Bethlehem! The Magi’s arrival from the east was no cosmic coincidence… it was the fruit of God working in Daniel! The Magi were men of faith who followed the teachings Daniel consistently adhering to these truths in the five+ centuries between Daniel and their quest to the holy land in search of the promised Messiah. These events and related celestial signs have been thoroughly documented on my website and blog, found in the links of this post. The correct timing of Christ’s birth is based on the death of Herod being properly understood as taking place Jan. 9th, 1 BC Not Mar. 13th, 4 BC! This further evidence provides strong support for the thesis of the Celestial Prelude, giving us a firm footing for the Sept. 11th, 3 BC, Tishri 1 birthday of Jesus Christ!

God warned his people of the coming captivity, but during this challenging time of Daniel’s life (Exile) he was able to take the message of salvation to the Babylonian’s who otherwise would not have heard it. Due to Daniel’s ministry in Babylon the king became a believer who worshiped Jehovah-God (Dan 4:34-37). The Prophet Daniel was a great example of a man devoted to the true God regardless of the circumstances. As a spiritual leader, astronomer, and statesman in king’s courts of two prominent kingdom’s in world history, he witnessed the captivity of Israel starting as a teenager, through King Cyrus’ decree to free the Jews. As other heroes of faith he embodies the witness of Hebrews 11 from v. 32-33 below…Daniel made an impact that reverberates down through the ages.

Heb. 11:32-33 “And what shall I say more? Time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, and of Samson, and Jepthae, of David, and Samuel and of the Prophets. Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth’s of lions…

As we follow the example of this great cloud of witnesses, we too will do great exploits…

God Bless!

Rene’


Footnotes

1. OT History Class by Jon Nessle & Ren Manetti, Chapter 4 Session 17a.
1. [a,b,c,d/en. wikipedia.org/wiki/eclipse of Thales]
2. Five Millennium canon of Solar eclipses, Fred Espenak
3. [Ancient-origins.net] UPDATED 28 MAY, 2020 – 18:57 ASHLEY COWIE
4. THE PLANETARIUM OF ARCHIMEDES, Michael Wright
5. IBID
6. IBID [Commentary on “De Re Publica, Book I.]
7. IBID. [Commentary on “The Divine Institutes,” Book II, Chapter 5, 18]
8. Frontal face of the Antikythera Mechanism. Proposed by Tony Freeth and Alex Jones.
9. Figure 3 picture credit. [en.wikipedia.org]
10a/b. [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/meton of athens]
11. Figure 4 picture credit, [daynews.com]
12. Tony Freeth and Jones’ reconstruction of Antikythera Mechanism.
13. IBID, Freeth & Jones, 2012
14. An Ancient Greek Astronomical Calculation Machine Reveals New Secrets – Scientific American- Tony Freeth
15. Figure 5 picture credit, [Timeline for Ezekiel and Daniel – Saferbrowser Yahoo Image Search Results pinterest.espinterest.es]
16. Figure 6 picture credit, IBID.
17. Late Babylonian Astronomy texts-British Museum text #33066 (78-11-7, 4 = Strm. Kambys. 400 = LBAT 1477)
18. THE JUPITER-SATURN CONJUNCTION (GEOCENTRIC TROPICAL ZODIAC) 600 BCE to 2400 CE copyright 1998-1999 by Richard Nolle,
http://www.astropro.com – rnolle@astropro.com
19. Picture credit, Jesus Christ our Promised Seed, V.P. Wierwille, p.71,
20. Figure 8, Picture credit, [http://uofgts.com/Magi.html]
21. Mysteries of the Mexican Pyramids. Peter Thompkins. p.289.
22. IBID
23. IBID
24. THE PLANETARIUM OF ARCHIMEDES, Michael Wright
25. [2006 Nature Magazine]
26. An Ancient Greek Astronomical Calculation Machine Reveals New Secrets – Scientific American- Tony Freeth
27. IBID

 

 

Expanded Light on The Coma Supernova and The Celestial Prelude

Birth of Jesus Christ
Biblical Astronomy of the Birth of Christ

This month’s blog shines more light on the subject of the Celestial Prelude as it relates to the Coma Supernova. There has been a lack of tangible historical evidence surrounding this Supernova in the decans of Virgo, which is the aim of this study to generally remedy. By using mostly ancient sources like the Scriptures of the Bible, and artifacts of ancient archaeology like the Dendera Zodiac, the Great Sphinx and the Great Pyramid, two mainstays of ancient Egyptian Megalithic Architecture, unified using the principles of Biblical Astronomy, we can show how these wonders of the ancients can reveal more of their secrets in answer these questions. Along the way we will continue to unmask the errors of a main critic of the Celestial Gospels; Dr. David Faulkner.

To begin with, Faulkner makes numerous false claims, one of which is “If the Gospel in the Stars was antediluvian as claimed, then there were two millennia to garble the message before any sources that we have regarding the names of stars and constellations.”1 Here Faulkner has his dates confused since historical sources for star names in ancient Egypt are not only found related to the star shafts of the Great Pyramid, but stars named in decans in the Dendera Zodiac, and the Pyramid texts that are all pre-flood references. “Even if the message was kept intact by a remnant unto Abraham and down to Moses, that still leaves a gap of 1000 years. Not only are there no texts preserving the original knowledge of the Gospel in the Stars, but we know of no sources before Rolleston claiming that there ever were such texts, or that any ever lived who believed such things. The first source
we know of to make this claim is Rolleston’s book. To be clear-it’s obvious from Rolleston’s book that she had no texts that clearly taught her thesis. Instead, she created the meanings to support her thesis without reliance upon any older texts. The evidence we have is most consistent with the Gospel in the Stars thesis not being an ancient idea at all, but entirely the invention of Frances Rolleston less than 200 years ago.”2 Contrary to this, studies on the Egyptian star names and their Decans, in the Dendera Zodiac show bonafide historical sources for the existence of these star names and their meanings over 3,500+ years before Rolleston. Biblical sources alone provide extensive evidence in this category, that Rolleston herself referenced in her extensive charts on Hebrew Star names in God’s Word. [Job 9:9, 26:13, 38:31-33, Gen. 37:9-11, 43:33–Joseph, Gen. 49:1-28, Num. 2, 24:5-20 Deut. 33: 5-29, Ps. 19, 147:4 Song of Deborah, Judg. 5:12-20] 

Excerpts from “A Further Examination of the Gospel in the Stars” 3

“Rolleston (1865, part 2, pp.104–106) included a section on the Star of Bethlehem. She stated that in about 125 BC a bright star appeared, so bright it was visible to the naked eye during the day. Rolleston also said that this event induced Hipparchus to make his star catalog about the same time. In his work called the Almagest, Ptolemy said it was Hipparchus’ discovery of the precession of the equinoxes that provided the impetus for Hipparchus to produce his Star Catalogue.” 4 We need to take a moment here to recognize the powerful influence that Hipparchus and Ptolemy had on ancient Astronomy, and the involvement of both of these historical stalwarts speaks volumes to the legitimacy of the Coma Supernova.

Both of these giants where eyewitnesses to the Coma Supernova, and if there were two ancient astronomers one could choose to have as witnesses of this event, these two all-stars would surely be on the guest list. Probably one of the greatest (and underrated) astronomers that ever lived, was Hipparchus of Rhodes. He is known to have been active at least from 147 –127BC, making him contemporary to the explosion of the Coma Supernova, as he was a recorded eyewitness to its appearance in c. 134 BC.

Hipparchus of Nicea

Hipparchus of Nicea by Raphael (by Dryoldscholar, Public Domain)

“Hipparchus is considered the greatest astronomical observer, and by some the greatest astronomer of classical antiquity. Most textbooks laud the accomplishments of Aristotle and Ptolemy, yet Hipparchus probably did more for the subject than any other Greek. Most of Ptolemy’s works were based on his ideas, yet Ptolemy is generally given credit because he perfected many of Hipparchus‘ concepts. Below is a short list of some of the accomplishments of Hipparchus:

* Hipparchus invented/developed trigonometry, a branch of mathematics which he used to determine geometric relationships between the earth, moon and sun. The word “tri” (meaning 3) comes from the reference to these three celestial bodies.

* Hipparchus made elaborate sky charts which included 1080 stars.  On these maps he invented a coordinate system similar to longitude and latitude on a globe.  Each star was given a number (1- 6) based on its brightness.  The brightest stars were 1 and the naked eye limit were 6. Our modern magnitude scale is a slight modification of this original brightness scale.

* Hipparchus used data on eclipses to determine that the moon’s distance from us was 59 times the earth’s radius (actual value is 60).  This involved clever use of logic and intricate mathematics, beyond the scope of this project. Ptolemy used a different (more direct) technique and arrived at the same number. Most text-books give all the credit to Ptolemy.

Claudius Ptolemy

Image result for where do hipparchus and ptolemy rank as figures in ancient astronomy?

* Hipparchus determined the motions of the sun and the moon so well that he could predict eclipses within a few hours. He also detected the precession of the equinoxes, by studying sky maps made generations earlier.

* He perfected the sun’s motion along the ecliptic so well that he observed slight irregularities in its speed.  At one time of the year it seemed to go slightly faster, at other times slightly slower.  Use your SC001 sky charts and pick out a few 10 day intervals along the ecliptic throughout the year. With careful measurements, you are able to see this effect.  Why is this important?  As we can see how Hipparchus solved this mystery, we will understand how Ptolemy used the same techniques to construct his model for the entire solar system.

*Hipparchus had to account for the irregular speed of the sun along the ecliptic that he discovered.  At this time, it was believed that all heavenly bodies were perfect spheres.  Not only that, but any sphere in motion must revolve with uniform speed. This is just the opposite to what Hipparchus discovered. He needed to mend this inconsistency, and he did.

Over 200 years pass in Greek astronomy between Hipparchus and Claudius Ptolemy of Alexandria. Ptolemy basically took all of Greek astronomy and summarized it in his great book – The Almagest (meaning The Greatest), consisting of 13 volumes, that became the “astronomical Bible” for centuries. In it, he expanded on all the great works of earlier astronomers and added some “finishing touches” to the geocentric model.” 5

Needless to say, these two stalwarts of ancient astronomy had an incalculable influence on the science of astronomy, and the fact that both of these scientific pillars led the science to opening the recognition of the Coma Supernova, in light of Christ’s birth speaks volumes in history, facts mostly ignored by Dr. Faulkner, who alleges a lack of modern sources.

Faulkner points out, “by Rolleston’s comparison with much later events, such as the “new stars” seen by Brahe in 1572, and with Kepler’s Nova in 1604, today we would recognize the 125 BC event as a nova or supernova. “Indeed, many modern astronomers think that it was a supernova, though not much credence was given to it, because mentions of it come from much later, secondary sources. Rolleston went on to suggest, in an oblique manner as a series of questions, that this star remained bright for many years (into the 2nd century AD), and may have been in Coma (alleged constellation of “the Desired”), and hence was the star that alerted the Magi that the Messiah was born. I find it interesting that she did not clearly state these as facts.”6 [Coma is a decan of Virgo, not a “constellation,” see below. Dr. Danny Faulkner citing problems with Rolleston’s hypothesis in his article continues as follows;

“She [Rolleston] also brought in legends about the star which are attributed to Zoroaster. Rolleston  cited Arabian astronomer Albumazar describing the signs and “decans of Virgo with Virgo having two parts and 3 forms, saying in the first decan as the Persians and Egyptians teach-a young maiden arose, a pure and immaculate virgin in Arabic named Adrenedefa, holding in her hand two ears of corn, seated on a throne, nourishing an infant, whose Hebrew name was Ihesus, meaning to save, that the Greeks called Christos, or Christ, rising with the virgin. These figures, found in the Egyptian Planisphere [Dendera Zodiac-Plate 3] with the Virgin holding the ear of corn as Virgo, while Koma may be the original name seen in Coma, marking the Head of the infant, the Desired seed of the Woman. It was said Zoroaster predicted that this star would appear in the figures of the Virgin.” 7

Faulkner also refers to a legend that the Magi came to a well wherein they saw a reflection the star in the well-water, suggests that since this occurred around midnight on the winter solstice, this must have been when the Magi arrived. Notice the endorsement of the traditional date of December 25 for Christ’s birth, something that Rolleston endorses elsewhere, but almost no scholars today believe was the correct date.”8

Here are historic roots for some of the “legends” Faulkner refers to in his criticism of Rolleston’s Mazzaroth.

According to Hislop, the Chaldean version of the word; “Zer,” that mean “to encompass” gives us not only the English basis for: “Zero signified by a circle among the Chaldeans,” but also Zero; “the seed.”9 Further, it relates to the Hebrew word zera [H2233] used referring to the promised seed in Gen. 3:15. 10 To this end the Chaldean word for the “woman’s promised seed” was “Zero-ashta,” that also formed the basis of the name Zoroaster. We take note in Zoroastrian writing in the Zend-Avesta, the predicted return of Zoroaster as a savior who would renew all existence in preparation for the Last Judgment, was prophesied. These references to the woman’s promised seed point directly to what I’ve termed as the General sign of the Celestial Prelude. To sketch this “legend” out further, Hislop also notes:

“In almost all nations, not only was a great god known under the name of Zero or Zer; the seed, and a great goddess under the name of Ashta or Ishta; the woman, but the great god Zero is frequently characterized by some epithet which implies that he is The only One.” 11

This evidence provides a basis for a direct correlation to the decan Coma, the seed who was the desired of the nations, [Hag. 2:7] especially in context of the Coma supernova in the child’s head [pictured in Plate 1. below from the Dendera Zodiac] the promised seed, as the general sign of the Celestial Prelude. The implication that the promised seed of the woman as the only man, who could be the perfect sacrifice for the redemption of mankind, speaks to the truth that Christ is the Alpha and Omega, or the first and last way God made available to redeem humanity. Hislop goes on to say:

“As he who by the Chaldeans was regarded as the great Seed was looked upon as the Sun incarnate, [Ps. 19] and as the emblem of the Sun was a circle, a hieroglyph relating between zero; “the circle,” and zero; “the seed” was easily established.”12 The Biblical references to Christ associated with the Sun incarnate as the “light of the world,” the “Sun of Righteousness” [Mal. 4:2] and in Psalm 19:4-6, are only a few of many such references. Thus, the case of the promised seed, Zero-ashta, the religion of the Magi served as a vessel for numerous principles and astronomical precepts, that led Mankind to the realization of the Promised Seed.

This part of Faulkner’s criticism exposes his lack of knowledge on the birth of Christ, opposed to its traditions. He equates the time of the Magi’s arrival in Jerusalem, with Christ’s birth, when in truth the Magi arrived in Jerusalem, and just after that in Bethlehem, about 15 months after Christ’s birth. This of course is the same error found in the traditions of all the Christmas “manger scenes” showing the wise men at the birth of Christ, no where found in scripture, or true historical records. This fits with our date for the birth of Christ on 9/11/3 BC, for the Jerusalem arrival and afterwards in Bethlehem, in Dec. of 2 BC. The Magi did not find a “babe” [brephos-Lk. 2:12, 16] in a “manger,” but a young child [paidon] in a house [Matt. 2:8-11]. There were also no shepherds present as December was too cold for sheep to be in pasture. Our thesis is confirmed in the research of Dr. Ernest Martin in his book; “The Star that Astonished the World.”13 Faulkner notes that “Rolleston did not cite her sources for some of her work, but did quote from Trench (1850). RC Trench spoke of “this star as so many of the ancients and moderns have done, to have been a new star in the heavens.”14 Rolleston also quoted Trench on the early church fathers, like Ignatius, on the appearance of this star; Coma Supernova. Both Seiss (1882, pp.161—162) and Bullinger (1893, pp.36—39) included like passages about this alleged “new star” as the star of Bethlehem. From their descriptions, it is clear that Seiss and Bullinger solely and uncritically relied on Rolleston in this matter.”15 Fortunately, many other sources have come to the fore since then, on this topic, which we will review below. Back in the late 1990’s when I first broached my ideas on the Celestial Prelude I built on some of Rolleston’s concepts as a basis of the celestial events leading to the Birth of Christ. In the last 21 years my views also developed, improving on the science and Biblical verities that inform this topic of research.

The premise of a Celestial Prelude is based on the simple fact that God would not ordain the long awaited birth of His only begotten son, the eternal purpose of the ages, without a little advanced notice in the sky. This Celestial Prelude has 2 key parts, the first is general the second specific. The entanglement of these two separate parts of the Celestial Prelude has caused much of the confusion surrounding the “Star of Bethlehem.” A good place to start thinking about the first part of the Celestial Prelude is:

Where did the popular idea of a single bright star, obvious to everyone, marking the birth of Christ originate? To answer this question we look to what I’ve termed as the General Sign of the Celestial Prelude, that alerted the Magi to the broad period of time [200+ yrs.] when the promised seed would appear. We will distinguish the General sign of the Coma Supernova, that was unpredictable for astronomers, from the specific signs of astronomy marking the birth of Christ, like planetary unions, alignments, solar and lunar eclipses, meteor showers, comets etc. that are predictable in the context of the science of astronomy. Dr. Henry Morris has marked some of these differences between the predictable scientific basis of astronomy as opposed to astrology.

Their knowledge and conviction that the birth of a Jewish Prince had occurred, that they came to honor and recognize with their best gifts and adoration, showed much more than the expectant masses of the time. Their unique revelation which was established in the appearance of the star over Bethlehem, and in dreams from God showing them the way home to avoid Herod, took place after the fact. Since astrology is strictly forbidden in God’s Word, there is no way God would talk to the Magi if they were astrologers. [Dan. 1:20, 2:2, 27]

As Dr. Morris states; “There is also the very realistic possibility that this new star occurred in one of the constellations which had been associated with God’s primeval promise of the coming Savior. This “protevangel” (that is, “1st Gospel“) prophesied the age-long conflict between the Serpent (or Satan) and the Seed of the Woman (that is, Christ). The Gospel in the Stars began in (Gen. 3:15), with the first prophecy of Christ. This promise reflected in many of the star-pictures of the constellations, especially the twelve signs of the Zodiac and their decans. While these stellar messages have been badly corrupted by astrology, they do predate any astrological meanings later imposed on them. In fact, the Scriptures themselves imply that these pictures and their primeval meanings were established originally by God Himself, through the ancient patriarchs (Seth in particular, according to the Jewish historian Josephus). He wanted to imprint His purposes and promises on the very heavens themselves, so they could be seen in all times and nations, especially before His written Word would become available. Thus, “the heavens declare the glory of God” and have been uttering speech and showing knowledge day and night throughout the world” (Psalm 19:1, 2), ever since the beginning.

In this regard we find references to a prophecy of Seth–Adam’s righteous son, that at the birth of the Promised Seed, a very bright singular star would herald his arrival. This new star that manifested in the decans of Virgo, was so bright as to be visible to the naked eye in the daytime, was seen by the Church Fathers of the period. The Magi’s faith in the true God of creation and the promises in His Word, undoubtedly familiarized them with the original signs and symbols God had imposed on the stars, and thus were able to recognize that this new star that had suddenly blazed forth in the sky must indeed be “His Star,” announcing the birth of the promised King.” 16

As Dr. Morris tells us; “There does remain one special type of star which is free from astrological associations, these are the novas (formerly called “new stars“) or, still more intriguingly, the rare supernovas. These real stars, are separate and apart from conjunctions of stars [planets], or comets, certainly not atmospheric phenomena. Supernovas, are sudden, rare, entirely unpredictable explosions of existing stars that had been originally created on Day Four of Creation Week.”
Somehow what seems to be an ordinary star suddenly increases tremendously in brilliance, continuing so for varying periods until it finally fades out of telescopic or naked eye visibility. “As a matter of fact, there may well be certain other hazy records of such a star. In the Bible, the only mention of the star is in Matt. 2:1-12. However, a number of the early Christian writers were fascinated with the account, and apparently did some contemporary research of their own, in extra-Biblical sources. Here is Dr. Morris’ recognition of the Coma Supernova by Ignatius; 17

“For example, Ignatius, who was the apostolic father closest in time to the New Testament writers (died 107 A.D.) wrote of the star as follows: “(It was) a star which so shone in heaven beyond all the stars, its newness caused excitement.”18

Rolleston’s reference to Ignatius, one of the Church Fathers and the Bishop of Antioch, in about 69 AD, records that, “At the appearance of the Lord a star shone forth brighter than all other stars.”19 If we are careful not to confuse this Coma supernova reference with the planet Jupiter, we find evidence of a supernova still visible over 200 years after it was first seen as a celestial marker of the general timeframe of Jesus’ birth. Seiss has some viable historical references on this point:

“Hipparchus about a hundred twenty-five years before Christ, [c. 128BC] observed it [Coma supernova] as a new star, and was led by it to draw up his catalogue of stars. Ptolemy, about one hundred and fifty years after Christ, refers to it as having been observed by Hipparchus, but as having become so faint [c. 147 AD] as hardly to be any more discernible.”20 

Pliny the Elder wrote in 79 AD that Hipparchus suspected the fixed stars were not as fixed as other people thought. After all, Hipparchus had seen a new star in Coma appear from nowhere. He first recorded precession of about 1 degree a century. 21 A point of interest here regarding Hipparchus is that he is generally credited with the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes, by modern science said to be c. 134 BC. He reportedly came upon his discovery studying the star Spica, on a celestial map from his predecessor, Timocharis. He noticed that Spica was about 2 degrees away from its location on the star map, and decided that it was moving an average of 1 degree every 75 years: [close to the actual 72 years]. “Hipparchus began to wonder if the ‘fixed’ stars might move relative to one another. If so, constellations may change their shapes over time, a fact he hoped his star catalog would help future astronomers discover if true. This is a well-known fact in modern astronomy, called the proper motion of stars, that was discovered by Edmund Halley in 1718 of Halley’s Comet fame, when he noted the movement of the stars Sirius, Arcturus, and Aldebaran compared to the positions in Ptolemy’s catalog. This stellar movement was independent of precession.” 22

 The decan of Coma is pictured below as the three bright stars forming the inverted “L” shape, which significantly contains the North Galactic Pole, located 5 degrees west of Beta Coma. This bears a closer look in light of the original star picture associated with this decan, as seen in the Dendera zodiac, of a mother holding her Son in her lap, known as “the Desired of the Nations,” [Plate 1 below]. The close proximity of the Northern Galatic Pole, recalls the imagery of Cepheus “the crowned king” regally seated astride the Celestial Pole star polaris, picturing Christ seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of the Heavenly Father, [Eph. 1:20-23].

new star shining brightly in coma
 The Stars of the “L” shaped Decan Coma. 23

During this proposed 250 year period between c. 128 BC-147 AD referred to by Ptolemy above, shekels from Judea struck during the period of the second revolt, [132 AD.] bear the image of a bright star over the Jerusalem Temple, called Bar Kaukab, or Son of the Star. As this star was seen to be vertical over the Temple in Jerusalem, and Bethlehem, as Coma was known to be, so it was recalled on this temple coin. This could have also been a logical reference to a supernova appearing in the head of the woman’s son in Coma‘s lap, the desired of the nations, that would still have been visible to the naked eye, perhaps even a celestial reference to Jesus as the true temple.

The Magi would have witnessed both this new star shining brightly in Coma, a decan of Virgo, while Jupiter was in retrograde, standing still on the Meridian in Virgo, in December of 2 BC. The General sign of our Celestial Prelude thus overlaps the Specific planet signs, as the Magi headed south from Jerusalem, their visit with Herod just concluded, towards Bethlehem in search of the promised seed. This also explains why the Magi were the only group to recognize these specific celestial signs of the Messiah’s birth, because the General sign was a fixture in Coma for over a century prior to this period. The typical person wouldn’t have noticed anything out of the ordinary in the heavens, since it would not stand out unless coupled with the knowledge of the specific signs, which brought the Magi to Israel in the first place. This is another reason why the Magi were so joyful when they saw “his star,” Jupiter over Bethlehem. This scenario of what the Magi beheld in the skies over Bethlehem in December of 2 BC, is depicted in the title banner of this article above. In Num. 24:17, when Jacob is referred to in Balaam’s prophecy, it bears reference not only for the seed of Jacob, but also in the land promised to him as an inheritance, in his covenant with God [Gen. 15:18]. Rolleston has a noted remark regarding this:

“The Magi forewarned that the star must appear over Jacob, over his inheritance, would see that star in Coma passed over the center of that inheritance: but as it would also appear to pass vertically over every part of it that was nearly in the Latitude of Jerusalem, they could not at once fix on the spot of the Messiah’s birth, therefore they went to inquire; the Latitude, as it were, being given by the star, the longitude by the prophecy.“24

Here we see the witness of the stars, and the Scriptures, working together to bring the Magi to the toddler Jesus, because their alert observation of “his star” brought them to Jerusalem and the scribes declaration from Micah 5:2, when Herod questioned them, sent the Magi to Bethlehem. While en route they witnessed the heavens come alive with the proof that their historic journey was not in vain, because they saw both the Coma supernova, and Jupiter in Virgo in the same skies over Bethlehem, marking the savior’s location.

In Faulkner’s criticism of Rolleston, he fails to acknowledge Dr. Ernest Martin ‘s and other’s extensive research on this topic, showing his short-sited approach to this important history. Although the key contributions of Seiss and Bullinger to the topic of the Gospel in the Stars are important, they are not the sole authorities referred to in this area. Based on this faulty and myopic view of history, Faulkner questions the credibility of this explanation of the Star of Bethlehem, as follows; “Unfortunately, it is not credible. First, a nova or supernova is not readily visible for years. A nova is bright for a few days, but then quickly fades away.”25

Here Faulkner also overlooks or discounts a very real probability, as presented by Dr. Hugh Ross of the various types of nova’s/supernova’s including Recurrent Supernova’s, which we will see more on below.

Dr. Henry Morris refers to some extra-Biblical references as the writings called The Protoevangelium of James, quoting the wise men as saying to Herod: “We saw how an indescribably great star shone among these stars and dimmed them so that they no longer shone, and so we knew that a King was born for Israel. Eusebius, a scholarly church historian of the early fourth century, evidently made a considerable study of literature available from the centuries before him, and came to this conclusion about the star.”26

“Let us now learn the reason why the star appeared, according to the agreement of prophetic prediction with Gospel fulfilment. Moses says, that all the stars were set in the firmament by God “for signs and for seasons.” But this was a strange and unusual star, not (d) one of the many known stars, but being new and fresh by its appearance here it portended a new luminary that should shine on all the Universe, the Christ of God, a great and a new Star, whose likeness the star that appeared |153 to the wise men symbolically shewed. For since in all the holy and inspired Scriptures the leading object of the meaning is to give mystic and divine instruction, while preserving as well the obvious meaning in its own sphere of historical facts, so the prediction before us was properly and literally fulfilled in the matter of the star that was prophesied to appear at our Saviour’s Birth.

In the case of other remarkable and famous men we (420) know that strange stars have appeared, what some call comets, or meteors, or tails of fire, or similar phenomena that are seen in connection with great unusual events. But what event could be greater or more important for the whole Universe than the spiritual light coming to all (b) men through the Saviour’s Advent, bringing to human souls the gift of holiness and true knowledge of God? Wherefore the herald star gave the great sign, telling in symbol that the Christ of God would shine as a great new light on all the world.

And the prophecy foretells a man as well as a star, for it says: “A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall spring from Israel,” naming first the heavenly light, the Word of God, and next the Humanity. And He is called, as I have shown in my former books, in other places by the varying names of Rising, Light, &  Sun of Righteousness.

And here, by applying to Him the verb from “Rising,” “a star shall rise out of Jacob,” it shews his divine aspect, as “giving light to every man that comes into the world“; while it shews the Humanity, by the suffering that comes to him, where it foretells that He will fall to rise again, in words like what Isaiah says of Him: “And there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to rule the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles |154 trust.” And we see how true it is that the light of our (d) Saviour, which rose from Jacob, that is from the Jews, has shone on all nations but Jacob, from whence it came forth.

And while this can be found in many prophecies, which say as it were to Christ himself: “Behold, I have set thee for a light to the Gentiles, for a covenant of thy race,” it is especially obvious in the words of Balaam, when he says: “A man shall come from his seed, and shall rule many nations.” Whose seed but Israel’s, as the context shews?” 27

A recent writer, Robert McIver, has spent 3 decades researching this subject. In his book, Star of Bethlehem-Star of Messiah, published 1998, he cites star records from ancient Chinese and Korean astronomers who both noted such an unusual new star about the time of Christ’s birth. He also discusses paintings in the Roman catacombs, as well as coins from various countries which depict an unusual star about this time. He even notes possible sightings of the star in the Americas. Much of his evidence is open to other possible interpretations, but it is an interesting coincidence, if nothing else, that such indications of an unusual new star about the time of Christ’s birth are found all over the world.

“In any case, it does seem that the most feasible explanation for the Christmas star is that it was a real star, other than either a conjunction of two or more stars or a special moving light of some kind in the lower atmosphere. After all, the Magi called it a star, and they would surely know the difference.”28 Of course the ancients during the times of the Magi and later referred to planets as “stars” also, not making the distinction of “wandering stars” until much later.

They were almost certainly acquainted with the of the Old Testament, especially Balaam’s prophecy of a new Star which would signal the rising of a great King in Israel. Balaam himself was probably a member of the Magi, perhaps even the founder of their caste. Zoroaster also was probably one of the earlier Magi, between the times of Balaam and Christ.

Thus it is significant that both Balaam’s divinely inspired prophecy and Matthew’s divinely inspired history recognized it as a star? In fact as “His” Star! Unless God created a brand new star at this time, which is possible, of course, the most realistic explanation is that it was either a nova, or (more probably) a supernova? A gigantic explosion of an existing star. 29

As noted before, this was the conclusion of the late British astronomer, E. W. Maunder. He simply called it a “new star,” the terms nova and supernova not yet having come into use in his day. In a more recent scientific article, “The Star of Bethlehem,” published in Science Digest in Dec. 1976, James Mullaney says: “The considered opinion of nearly all who have studied the question that a nova or supernova seems most likely explanation for the Christmas star of all those put forth to date” (p.65). 30

Mullaney makes the cogent observation: “Truly, here is a celestial announcement card above all others worthy the birth of a king“.) 31 A supernova explosion radiates more energy at its peak than all the stars in our own galaxy combined! The entrance of God’s only begotten Son into God’s creation, the perfect man among men would surely warrant the most majestic announcement possible in His creation. An angelic host announced it at the scene? A mighty star to the rest of the world!

Dr. Henry Morris continues; “The later Magi, especially those in Babylon and Persia (where Daniel’s influence, as well as Mordecai and Esther) was profound and enduring, was surely familiar with this prophecy as with the various prophecies of Daniel (who was a most highly respected “wise man” in Nebuchadnezzar’s courts, [Dan. 2:45; 6:28]. The Persian Magi in particular were known as very competent observational astronomers, not astrologists. If they were not Jews or Jewish proselytes (both good possibilities), they were Zoroastrians, and the Zoroastrian religion was similar to Judaism in many ways, among which was an aversion to astrology.

At the time of God’s great deliverance of the Jews in Persia during the days of Queen Esther, it was recorded “many of the people of the land became Jews” (Esth. 8:17). This event in itself would constrain many of the Persian members of the Magi at that time to study the Jewish sacred books, like the Messianic prophecies of Daniel. This history would have been a basis of the Magi’s required learning, handed down through the generations, to the time of Christ.

Among the prophecies of Daniel, during the reign of Darius the Mede, was the great prophecy of the “seventy weeks,” which revealed that the Messiah would come as Prince of Israel 483 years after the Persian emperor gave a commandment to the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem (Dan. 9:24,25). It was a distinct possibility that the Persian Magi, as the date approached, put these prophecies of Balaam and Daniel together, as they watched for “His star” to appear.” 32

Since supernovas are very rare and generally unpredictable, they bear no astrological import. There have only been a few visible supernovas reported in our galaxy, Some of the oldest of which includes Supernova RCW 86, seen below.

Supernova RCW 86: The oldest recorded Supernova

supernovaRCW86

Supernova RCW 86.
In 185 A.D., Chinese astronomers saw a strange “guest star” suddenly appear in the night sky. It was visible for a staggering eight months. That was enough time for ancient sky-watchers to take notice and make the first-known observation of a supernova in human history. The appearance of this supernova in 185 AD, puts it in the general time frame of the Coma Supernova, that reportedly began to fade from naked eye visibility by 150 AD. There’s also some evidence that Roman astronomers witnessed the event.

In modern times, astronomers have rediscovered the remains of this dead star. Their studies have revealed Supernova RCW 86 happened after a neighboring star offloaded huge amounts of its own matter onto a white dwarf; essentially a stellar corpse. This led to what astronomers call a Type Ia Supernova exploding some 8,000 light-years from Earth. 33

SN 1054: The Crab Nebula

 SN1054
SN 1054, the Crab Nebula. Credit: ESO

On July 4, 1054 A.D., as reported by Chinese astronomers all of Earth was treated to celestial fireworks as a new star appeared in the constellation Taurus the Bull. The supernova – initially brighter than the Moon–slowly faded away over the course of two years.

Today, amateur astronomers still regularly view the supernova remnant, now known as the Crab Nebula. Researchers suspect it most likely formed from a Type II supernova, which happens when a lone massive star explodes. 34 But there is a great disparity in detecting these Supernova remnants from the total number of Supernovae that have taken place in history, a category that includes the Coma Supernova.

Faulkner states, “in 1975 I independently “discovered” Nova 1975 (V1500 Cygni). For one night, it was one of the brightest stars in the sky, but it faded from view within a week. A supernova stays bright longer than a nova, but it too fades. For instance, the 1054 supernova that produced the Crab Nebula was visible during the day for a few weeks, but it completely faded from naked-eye view after 14 months. Therefore, I seriously doubt that an alleged nova or supernova could have been visible for as long as Rolleston claimed (over a century).35 Faulkner here, overlooks the likelihood of a Recurrent Novae. Recurrent novae – are “defined as systems with more than one recorded nova outburst. There are few members of the Recurrent novae subclass: at this point in research, just ten,” one of which [RS Oph] has a documented history of at least eight multiple outbursts, from 1898 to 2021, a 123 year period.36  Recurrent novae repeat the nova process approximately every 10 to 100 years, while nova outbursts are thought to repeat on much longer timescales of potentially over 1000+ years.

Figure 1. The Recurrent Nova RS Oph. 37

Recurrent Nova RS Ophiuchi Just Blew its Top! - Sky & Telescope - Sky & Telescope

RS Oph about 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Ophiuchus. In its quiet phase it has an apparent magnitude of about 12.5. It has been observed to erupt in 1898, 1933, 58′, 67′, 1985, 2006 and 2021, reaching a magnitude of about 5 on average. 38

If the Coma Supernova was recurrent for a period of about 250+ years, from c. 128 BC to about 147 AD, it would explain the sequence of events described in history according to modern scientific evidence, with the reputable references we have cited.  Ancient records only record naked eye-visibility of the Coma Supernova, not potential fluctuation due to multiple eruptions of a Recurrent Supernova, that I’m aware of. As we find in Figure 1 above, the effect of the supernova eruption described in the extra-biblical source attributed to James, as “a great star shone among these stars and dimmed them so that they no longer shone…” is indeed evident resulting from the Oph Recurrent Supernova, adding weight to this hypothesis.

What were the history and traditions that brought the Persian wise men/Magi to Jerusalem in recognition of the birth of Christ?  In the modern world, the details of what causes new stars to appear, or stellar explosions of supernova’s with their after-effects are obviously not as obscure scientifically as they once were, and these star explosions are much better understood than even in the recent past. The Coma Supernova would have been evident to many in the head of the young child in the woman’s lap in the Zodiac of Dendera.

Plate 1. The Decan Coma adjacent from Virgo, in the Dendera Zodiac. 39

sun of righteousness
Since the graphic of Virgo’s Decan of Coma from Bullinger, is documented from the ancient Egyptian Dendera Zodiac, we find some of the ancient source texts that not only far predate Rolleston by over three thousand years, but also predate the Greek corruption of this decan of Virgo, to what we have found pictured in this decan for the last 2000+ years into modern times, that the Greeks erroneously called Berniece’s Hair, in their mythology. “The Hebrew word for “Coma the desired” related to the Greek word for hair; “Co’-me,” so her wig [Plate 2.] replaced the longed for, the image of he who was the “desired of all nations,” seen also in the Egyptian name-Shesnu for Coma, meaning the desired son!” [Ps. 19: 10, Isa. 53:2, Hag. 2:7]. 40

Plate 2. Berniece’s Hair adjacent to Virgo replaced Dendera Zodiac Decan of the Woman with her son, seen in the Rev. 12 sign on August 27th, 70 AD: with a Jupiter-Venus union in Leo’s hind paw. 41

How, then, did Balaam know about the Coma sign that would occur at the time to mark the Messiah’s birth, some 1400 years in the future? As all prophets previous and since, reluctant or not, are moved by divine revelation, [Num. 24: 16] which is God making Himself known to His people. Balaam’s reluctant, but divinely inspired prophecy, revealed that a unique Star out of Jacob-linked with Israel would accompany the future Sceptre (King planet Jupiter], Num. 24:17-19), as the redeemer of the world. This is a first usage of the word for “sceptre” in Gen. 49: 8-10, in the prophecies of Judah. These verses of the Celestial Sphinx refer to the Alpha & Omega signs of the Mazzaroth; Virgo the virgin & Leo the Lion of the tribe of Judah. [Lk. 1: 78 dayspring=anatole] With Berniece’s wig/ Coma set between and above Virgo and Leo, in Plate 2 above it calls attention to this key section of the ecliptic.

Gen. 49:8-10 breaks down the maturation of the Lion of Judah, from lion cub, to adult Lion, to aged Lion. The specific relationship of this prophecy with the triple conjunction of Jupiter-Regulus in 3-2 BC was first presented as part of my DVD Seminar on the Biblical Astronomy of the Birth of Christ, in the segment provided below.

As we just saw in the video above, the prophecies of Balaam in Num. 24:16-19 corresponding to the Jacob’s prophecies in Genesis 49, because they not only both deal with Jacob’s star in Israel in general, but they prophesy of the man and Promised Seed-man Jesus Christ specifically.

As we note in the relief from the ceiling of the Temple of Esneh [Plate 3 below], the stellar figures of Virgo and Leo unified in the Great Sphinx, pictured with the solar disk crowning the head of the woman– “sun clothing Virgo,” who is joined with the body of the Lion’s extended claws, above the serpent Hydra. This stellar image seen in the same temple site housing the Dendera zodiac, provides archaeological evidence, for the union of Virgo and Leo affirmed in the two stellar aspects of the earth’s oldest carved monument of the Great Sphinx.

Virgo is seen at the far right below, prominently holding her grain stalk, or branch as shown in the zodiac of Dendera symbolizing her bearing the promised seed and the light of the world. Her branch represents the Alpha Star of Virgo-Spica-Al Zemach, the branch or offspring of God the Father, [Jer. 23:5].

Plate 3. Sun in Virgo, in the Temple of Esneh in Egypt. 42

great sphinx

The union of the ends of the ecliptic in the Great Sphinx, with the Sun in Virgo, as seen in Egypt’s Temple of Esneh.

This sets the basic context of the original function of the Great Sphinx, including:

  • The unity of the Biblical zodiac which starts at Virgo and ends in Leo.
  • The original role of the Sun in this context of “clothing Virgo,” along with embodying the solar aspects of the Sphinx as the Sun of Righteousness, as it moves through the 12 Mazzaroth signs during the year, [Ps. 19].
  • A Stone monument bearing parallel witness to the coming redeemer found both in the Stars and in Scripture.

With this in mind, lets look at some specific stellar aspects of the Great Sphinx. A key indicator of the central importance of these stellar traits of the Great Sphinx, is our recognition of the Celestial Sphinx, seen below, in Virgo and Leo the lion providing the basis of signs of the triple union of Jupiter-Regulus in Leo, in 3 BC linked to Gen. 49. This also ties the Great Sphinx both to the Celestial Gospel and Scripture, in their unified testimony of the Coming Promised Seed, starting with the 1st Jupiter-Regulus union, 3 days after Christ’s birth on Sept. 14th, 3 BC.

Plate 4. The Celestial Sphinx. The Head of the Woman and the Body of the Lion as seen on Sept. 14th, 3 BC, 3 days after Christ’s birth on 9/11/3 BC on the eastern horizon from Jerusalem forming the Great Sphinx, marking the first Jupiter-Regulus Conjunction in Leo. 43

head of a woman and body of a lion

In addition to marking the Alpha and Omega of celestial canon, these signs of the Great Sphinx not only mirror the binding of Scripture together from Genesis to Revelation, presenting Her Promised Seed as the unifying subject in every book of the Bible, starting with Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah in both Gen. 49:8–10, and Rev. 5:5, and Rev. 12, the first and last books of the Bible, but they also prophesy of the Age of Pisces seen in Axis E of the Dendera Zodiac, [Plate. 5] wherein we dwell today, extending from the star Spica-the branch and offspring of God through the sign of both fish of Pisces, that opened the Piscean Age with the Jupiter–Saturn triple union in Pisces in 7 BC.

Plate 5. Axis E on the Dendera Zodiac. 44

The heavens declared Jesus’ arrival with the setting of the star Spica, Virgo’s branch on our Sept. 11th, of 3 BC, between the setting Sun and Moon in Virgo. This established in the 5th Axis of the Dendera zodiac, Axis E in Plate 5, above, dividing the zodiac while extending below the standing woman–Virgo, holding her grain stalk mirrored in the seated woman, with her child Coma, [Fig. 2 below]. The color-coded image of the Dendera Zodiac in Fig. 2 below, shows how the decans of the middle yellow and outer tan ring of this zodiac, match up with the 12 main constellations in magenta, orange, blue, and Yellow. Specifically, as we view the magenta signs, we find Virgo in the sky blue band, the 2nd ring from the center of this target above Coma in the yellow middle band seated below Virgo’s grain stalk, between Virgo and Leo, the lion’s tail, being one of four main signs of the zodiac of the Cherubim. These 4 Cardinal Directions, of the Hebrew Mazzaroth are a template for the 12 major constellations of the zodiac both in Egypt and Israel. [Num. 24:7–9]

Figure 2. A color-coded image of the Dendera Zodiac. 45

Sun, Stand Thou Still Upon Gibeon; And Thou, Moon, In The Valley ...

This color coded image of Dendera’s Zodiac adds to our understanding of Axis E in the Plate 5 graphic above, since the location of Axis E labelled below Virgo’s erect standing image in the sky blue band, fits the place where Coma is found on the yellow band under Virgo, aligned with Axis E. Thus we can see how Axis E links Coma and her Son with Virgo’s branch, prophesied to appear near the opening of the Piscean Age, seen in Axis E extending through both fish of Pisces, at one end of the Axis E, to Coma with the supernova appearing in the head of the child in her lap, at the other end of Axis E. See [Plate 5, above].

The image consistent with the path of Axis E on the Dendera Zodiac matches the image in [Fig. 3] below focused on the Great Pyramid embodied in the small white triangle at the center of this graphic. This image shows two Pyramid shaft alignments, one [dotted line] from the Pyramid’s Ascending Passage that aligned with the Conjunction of Venus and Regulus, king star-in the heart of Leo, on Sept. 20th, 2017. The 2nd alignment [solid line] from the Pyramid’s base with the Sun in Virgo, on Sept. 20th, 2017 extends through and beyond Virgo’s body, unites in her first decan Coma, like the image found above in Fig. 2 with Axis E on the Dendera Zodiac. This image of the 2nd alignment with the base of the Great Pyramid, shows the horizon from the Giza Plateau aligned with sunset in Virgo, and Coma, where the General sign of the supernova was bright shining, while the Specific signs of the Jupiter-Regulus conjunctions followed by the Jupiter-Venus conjunctions occurred in 3-2 BC.

Figure 3. The Blood Moon Tetrad and the signs of 2017. 46

Robert Breaker Exposed false prophet | What will happen on September 23 2017

Jesus as the Seed of the Woman was the perfect sacrifice for all mankind on Passover. He was the ear of grain that had to die so that life would abound. The Brightest star in Virgo– Spica in Hebrew is Zerah, meaning “seed”–the off-spring of God, the same word found in Gen. 3:15 as the first prophecy of the Promised Seed. Thus, with the Jupiter-Spica triple union that took place in Virgo’s womb in 2017, leading to the birthing of Jupiter, was a sign warning of Jesus’ return when this Great Pyramid sign occurs again in 2028, [or 2047] the 2000-year anniversary of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. This graphic of Great Pyramid alignments is enlarged below in Fig. 4, to include a 3rd Pyramid shaft alignment at the Christ angle of the Descending Passage, with Jupiter lower in Virgo’s womb in 2017.

Figure 4. Kings Chamber Star Shaft and Descending Passage Star alignments on Sept. 20-21, 2017. 47

On Rosh Hashanah leading to the Rev. 12 sign on 9-23-17, these shafts and passages built in the Great Pyramid exhibit astronomical alignments on the date prophesying, and witnessing to Jesus Christ. As these Pyramid alignments take place in the signs of Virgo and Leo, they qualify as signs of the Celestial Sphinx as seen in Plate 4 above. These are a special class of star signs that speak to the birth and return of Jesus Christ, as separate confirmation, of both the Celestial Sphinx and the astronomy of the Great Pyramid shaft system. We also find the horizon alignment of the Great Pyramid extending through Virgo, to the Coma decan on Rosh Hashanah. This reveals back in the time of inspired construction of the Pyramid, that its unique shaft system, found only in the Great Pyramid had a special purpose, that unified the Coma Supernova leading to the Bethlehem star. Even as the birth of Christ was prophesied by the Great Sphinx, and the Dendera Zodiac, so also the Great Pyramid provides an even greater witness to Christ, as Isaiah prophesied in [Isa. 19:19-21, Jer. 32:20-23]

God included a special heavenly sign linked to the Great Wonder of Rev. 12, in our day. If we back-track, 1260 days from the Rev. 12 sign, we conspicuously arrive at the day of the 1st Blood Moon lunar eclipse in the 2014-2015 Tetrad, [Joel 2:30-32]. This Passover lunar eclipse of April 15, 2014 occurred at a key locale in the heavens near the star Spica in Virgo. This is a celestial warning that the Tribulation is close, not that it is here yet as is implied in Fig. 3. 

Two separate aspects of the stars of Christ’s birth include the General sign linked to Coma’s Supernova, with specific signs tied to the planetary unions of the King Planet Jupiter, and sceptre prophecies. The context of the Celestial Prelude holds the General sign of the Coma Supernova, marking the time frame to expect Christ’s first Advent. Then the specific time of his birth was marked by the series of Planetary conjunctions starting with the Jupiter-Saturn triple union in 7 BC, as a precursor for the Jupiter-Regulus triple coronation in 3-2BC, along with the Jupiter-Venus unions of the same time frame, with and eye towards Celestial Sphinx signs.

These key Jupiter planetary conjunction series leading to and surrounding the Birth of Christ, show how the Specific signs of the Celestial Prelude differ from the General sign of the Coma Supernova, that was designed to alert the Magi to the coming period of the Birth of Christ. The key to a clear understanding of these celestial signs of Christ, is to distinguish them, so as not to confuse them. The 12 Traits of the Celestial Prelude, help to do this from the Magi’s perspective. These are found in the links supplied in the blog [like Kepler’s Supernova]. We can also see what prompted the Magi to make their Jerusalem journey, when we see the series Jupiter planetary unions leading up to and following it.

We have also seen evidence of why astronomical records of the Coma Supernova are questioned. Its not that they don’t exist, since we have cited multiple records from ancient and modern science of astronomy, of their appearance, and not just from Christian writers. We have also presented key Archaeo-Astronomical evidence which agrees with various authorities in this field like; Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, John Anthony West and others. But many in atheistic modern science still generally discounted it.

It is my hope and belief that we have presented enough in this study, combined with the body of work on this blog and website, that those interested will consider the evidence here on a scientific and biblical level to be aided in their understanding, of what the Heavenly Father has done for them, in His only begotten Son-Jesus Christ. To this end that people activate their faith, which has been evident in the world-wide revival that we are currently seeing take place across the globe!

God’s Blessings to you all!! 

Agape’
Rene’

Footnotes

1. A Further Examination of the Gospel in the Stars. Faulkner [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
2. IBID
3. IBID
4. The Mazzaroth, Frances Rolleston, (1865, part 2, pp.104–106).
5. A History of Hipparchus & Ptolemy.        [https://ecampus.matc.edu/mihalj/astronomy/test1/history_of_ast_the_universe.htm]
6. [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
7. The Mazzaroth, Frances Rolleston, (1865, Notes on Zoroaster)
8. [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
9. The Two Babylons, p.59 Alexander Hislop
10. Strong’s Concordance [H2233-zera] James Strong
11. The Two Babylons, p.59 Alexander Hislop
12. IBID, p. 18
13. The Star that astonished the World, Dr. Ernest Martin
14. The Mazzaroth, Frances Rolleston, 1865.
15. A Further Examination of the Gospel in the Stars. Faulkner [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
16. [https://icr.edu/when-they-saw-star] Dr. Henry Morris
17. IBID
18. IBID
19. The Mazzaroth, Frances Rolleston.
20. The Gospel in the Stars, Joseph Seiss, 1882.
21. [https://ecampus.matc.edu/mihalj/astronomy/test1/history_of_ast_the_universe.htm].
22. IBID
23. Coma Decan Picture Credit
24. The Mazzaroth, Frances Rolleston.
25. A Further Examination of the Gospel in the Stars. Faulkner [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
26.  [https://icr.edu/when-they-saw-star] Dr. Henry Morris
27. [Eusebius of Caesarea: Demonstratio Evangelica. Tr. W.J. Ferrar (1920) — Book 9, Chapt. 1]
28. [https://icr.edu/when-they-saw-star] Dr. Henry Morris
29. IBID
30. Science Digest in December 1976, p. 65
31.IBID
32. [https://icr.edu/when-they-saw-star] Dr. Henry Morris
33. Supernova RCW 86. X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO & ESA; Infared: NASA/JPL-Caltech/B. Williams (NCSU)
34. SN 1054, the Crab Nebula. Credit: ESO
35. A Further Examination of the Gospel in the Stars. Faulkner [https://assets.answersingenesis.org/…/gospel_stars.pdf]
36. [https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/physics-and-astronomy/recurrent-novae]
37. Figure 1 picture credit [https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/recurrent-nova-rs-ophiuchi-just-blew-its-top/]
38. IBID
39. Plate 1, picture credit, Witness of the Stars, p. 34 E.W. Bullinger.
40. IBID p. 35
41. Plate 2, picture credit, Berniece’s Hair.
42. Plate 3, picture credit, Witness of the Stars, p. 21 E.W. Bullinger.
43. Plate 4 picture credit, Jesus Christ our Promised Seed. p.45 American Christian Press
44. The Skies in Memory, John Lash in The Atlantis Blueprint, ppg. 168-172. Wilson and Flem-Ath.
45. Figure 2. picture credit for The color-coded image of the Dendera Zodiac.
46. Figure 3. Picture credit for The Blood Moon Tetrad and the signs of 2017. [Watchfortheday.org]
47. Figure 4. Picture credit for Kings Chamber Star Shaft and Descending Passage Star alignments on Sept. 20-21, 2017. [Watchfortheday.org]


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The Biblical Astronomy of the Miracle of Joshua’s Long Day

The Biblical Astronomy of the Miracle of Joshua’s Long Day

In Jon Nessle’s current OT History class, we have learned of key errors linked to the dating of the conventional chronologies, of history, and the assumptions that accompany their popularized time placement, that have caused no end of confusion for archaeology, Bible historians, and students. We will see how Courville’s redating of Bible History has provided much-needed answers to the numerous problems linked to the conventional chronology. We will also note some modern historians and Bible Archaeologists that not only agree with Courville’s redating, but provided key evidences in support of it. The following quotes from Courville provide the context of this position along with the benefits that come with their acceptance. This provides an important backdrop for the subject of this month’s blog, an astronomical event known as Joshua’s Long Day. The focus of this study is an alternative timeline to the conventional chronology, along with some existing and newer research connected to Joshua’s Long Day. The first reference from Courville addresses certain cultural innovations that the Hebrews brought in their invasion and conquest of Palestine, led by Joshua.

“The pottery of the period is exceptionally fine… At Megiddo there is a complicated succession of building periods …. Early in the sequence comes a very fine town wall… and is a most impressive example of the town walls of this period. This phase can be taken as representative of the fully developed culture of Canaanite [sic] Palestine, a culture of prosperous city-states. Against the background of the revised chronology, the ancient Hebrews were far from being a cipher culturally. It was the Hebrews who introduced the use of bronze into Palestine; it was the Hebrews who introduced the use of the fast wheel in making pottery; it was the Hebrews who introduced the high level of culture to be observed in Palestine at the beginning of Middle Bronze and which was never exceeded; it was the Hebrews who introduced the use of drainage systems and the use of cisterns as a means of preserving water from the rainy season; it was the Hebrews who introduced improvements in the architecture of dwellings and defense walls; it was very probably the Hebrews who introduced the technique for obtaining iron from its ores in quantity. These and other contributions to the culture of Middle Bronze Age in Palestine should be credited to the Hebrews and not to their pagan
contemporaries, the Canaanites or the Amorites. However, all this is true only if it is possible to erect a satisfactory chronological structure of the ancient world on the foundations laid by a redating of the end of Early Bronze to c. 1400 B.C., some 600 years later than dates currently attributed to this change of culture. This is an exceedingly large IF. While it has already been shown that a number of large problems in archaeology are provided solutions by this alteration, this is only a start. It must also be shown that every significant synchronism which has been used to support the conventional structure is either ill-founded or else, that it continues to hold for
the revised structure; it must be shown that the almost infinite bits of information gleaned archaeologically can be rationally interpreted against this revised background; it must be shown that all of the chronologies of other ancient nations can be revised as necessary to fit into this revised scheme; it must be shown that the various methods of dating that have been used in arriving at the presently accepted structure are not valid, including the so-called astronomical dating methods.”

“And finally, it must be explained why most scholars in the field for the last half-century and more have fallen into the same errors of fallacious reasoning without being able to recognize the nature of their mistakes which have led them to the currently accepted views. Not only is this possible, it can be done with the continued elimination of numerous added difficulties characterizing the conventional structure and with the appearance of a number of noteworthy synchronisms that have not been previously recognized. The writer does not ask the reader to accept these claims per se. He only asks that the reader follow carefully and critically the developments outlined in the subsequent chapters of this work, evaluating for them the evidence which are presented in support of a revised chronology of Egypt which agrees with Bible chronology and with Bible history without an appreciable flaw.” [HEBREW CULTURE p. 113-114 THE EXODUS PROBLEM] 1

At this point, we are content to note that the same shift in dating at the end of Early Bronze which provides solutions to anomalies at Jericho, and at Ai, as well as providing a ready solution to the enigmas of Hittite chronology, also provides the proper setting for the events of the Exodus, the Conquest of Joshua, and the era of the Judges. A major issue with the Conventional Chronology where the history of ancient Egypt is concerned, is the lack of precise evidence to delineate epochal divisions between Stone, Bronze & Iron ages, to mark the transitions between these epochs. Courville is one of the very few who has aligned the layers of the archaeological digs starting in Jericho, as documented by Kenyon, from the end of the Jews 40-year wilderness wandering after the Exodus, with Joshua’s conquest and displacement of the Canaanites, Amorites, et al. in Palestine.

On the basis of the multiplicity of synchronisms indicating that the Conquest should properly be set at the end of Earlv Bronze IV, it was concluded that the Exodus occurred at the point of the fall of the Old Kingdom, approximately marked by the end of Dynasty VI. This point is marked by a similar eclipse of power in Egypt which lasted for a pluralitv of centuries. [3] On the basis of the demands of the redating of the end of Early Bronze, it was necessary to recognize both these periods as one and the same. 2

The identification of the line of Pharaoh’s just before the Hyksos kings, puts us in the proper position to reveal the pharaoh of the Oppression, which provides confirmation of this general structure. Thus, it will be possible also to show clearly the identity of the Pharaoh of the Oppression who carried out an extensive building program in brick in the eastern Delta region where the Israelites lived. A famine inscription appears, dated almost exactly at the point required by Old Testament Chronology relative to the Exodus, dated c. 1445 B.C., with a multiple of confirming evidences for the proposed setting of the Exodus. This scenario put forward by Courville in THE EXODUS PROBLEM, is the setting of my Nov. 2022 blog, that handles details of Joshua’s Conquest, to agree with the Scriptural and historical account of events as seen in Joshua 10. 3

Joshua 10:1-6
1 Now it came to pass when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it—as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king—and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, 2 that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. 3 Therefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, 4 “Come up to me and help me, that we may attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.” 5 Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon and made war against it. 6 And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, “Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us.”

This Biblical record begins in verse 1 by recounting how “Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it—as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king—and
how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them.” This is in general agreement with Courville’s redating of the conventional chronology, to a time when Joshua was conquering the cities of Jericho, and Ai, as we find in the following reference from Courville.

XII. “Other Peoples Migrated out of Palestine at the End of Early Bronze age, in line with Scripture, as it was not alone the Hittites who were to be displaced by the incoming Israelites. If the proposed redating of the Conquest is correct, then there should be evidence of the settlement of other peoples in areas outside Palestine that previously had resided within this territory. The Phoenicians who settled along the northern coast of the Mediterranean refer to themselves as the Canaanites, [60] people also displaced from Palestine by the Israelites. The Mitannians appear to be a remnant of one branch of the Hurrians who similarly dwelt in Palestine previously. [61] The Amorites were in the Palestine area from the time of Abraham. They were displaced at the time of the Conquest, and appear in the area north of Palestine as the Amurru, a name associated with the Amorites. [62]
A consistent picture results from the recognition that Early Bronze represents the era just prior to the conquest of Joshua and the following transition period is that of the Conquest itself.”  [p. 98 THE EXODUS PROBLEM.] 4

As this Biblical record agrees with Courville’s redating of Joshua’s Conquest at the End of Early Bronze age, confirmed by the displacement of the men of Jericho, Ai, and the Amorites, many other thorny historical problems associated with the Conventional Chronology find solutions also.

Joshua 10:7-11 7 So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. 8 And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.” 9 Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. 10 So the Lord routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon,
and struck them down as far as Azekeh and Makkedah. 11 And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the Lord cast down large hail-stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword.  

This was a singular battle in world military history because as verse 11 above recounts; it was  the Lord who cast down large hailstones from heaven on the fleeing Amorites. The Lord of Hosts was fighting from Heaven for Israel against their enemies in Palestine, and the large hail-stones God sent raining down in a meteor shower on them, killed more of the enemy than the Israelites themselves. This harmonizes with Josh. 10:8 above, which says “I [God] have delivered them into your hand,” but this miracle, that recalls the signs from heaven akin to the destruction of Sodom and Gommorah, [Gen. 18:17-32] to a lesser degree, was only an astronomical foretaste of what was in store for these enemies of God’s people.

Joshua 10:12-15 12 Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon; And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 14 And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel. 15 Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.

The locations of Gibeon, Beth Horon and the Valley of Aijalon, Azekah and Makkedah as Joshua pursued the Amorites, are shown in figure 1. 5

Map of ancient Canaan showing the route taken by the Israelites, starting at Gilgal, according to Joshua 10:9–10.

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This Map of ancient Canaan shows the route taken by the Israelites, starting at Gilgal, then to the great slaughter @ Gibeon, to pursue them unto Beth Horon, where the large hail-stones started falling, then Aijalon over which the Moon stood, [Josh. 10:12], then unto Azekah and Makkedah according to Joshua 10:9–11. The book of Joshua continues in the Old Testament, after an all-night march from Gilgal, the Israelites attacked the Amorites at Gibeon, and then pursued them to Azekah and then to Makkedah (fig. 1). As evidence from historical geography shows the locations of these sites: Gibeon was about 10 km northwest of Jerusalem, Azekah about 30 km southwest of Gibeon, and Makkedah about 20 km south of Azekah. 6

Prior research into this topic by Humphreys and Waddington aids the conventional chronology of astronomy, with related data in the fields of Egyptology and Hebrew studies. So how did these two physicists proceed in their research regarding an event that’s only obliquely referred to in an ancient Bible text? Their multidisciplinary task according to them, required a foray into ancient Hebrew, a rethinking of Egypt’s royal history, and some complex calculations about the Earth’s rotation. Their inquiry began with the translation of the Hebrew word “dôm,” from Joshua 10. In English versions of the Bible, it’s usually translated as “stopped,” as in the sun “stopped moving.” When discussing the word with Alan Millard, a professor of Hebrew and ancient Semitic languages, Humphreys pondered whether it could actually mean the sun “stopped shining”—that may suggest an eclipse. In order to date the eclipse, the Cambridge researchers included a new “eclipse code” which examined variations in the Earth’s rotation over time. 7

Earlier researchers also only looked at total eclipses, failing to consider that the text may refer to an annular eclipse, in which the moon passes directly in front of the sun, but is too far away to cover the disc completely, they said. From their calculations, the Cambridge researchers found that the only annular eclipse visible from Canaan between 1500 and 1050 BC was on Oct. 30, 1207 BC, in the afternoon.

Historical evidence from the Merneptah Stele, a text from the reign of the Pharaoh Merneptah, shows that the Israelites were in Canaan between 1500 and 1050 BC. This large granite block held in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo says that it was carved in the 5th year of Merneptah’s reign and mentions a campaign in Canaan in which he defeated the people of Israel. If correct, it enables academics to date the reigns of Ramesses the Great and his son Merneptah, to within a year.

Figure 2. The Merneptah Stele. 8 

The Merneptah Stele (ca. 1208 BC) is a 10-foot tall, granite victory monument, which names Israel as a nation in Canaan.

The most famous, and arguably the most important discovery related to Moses and the Exodus is the Merneptah Stele. In ca. 1208 B.C. Pharaoh Merneptah erected a 10-foot tall victory monument (called a stele) in a temple at Thebes to boast of his claims of victory in both Libya and Canaan. It was discovered in 1896 by Sir Flinders Petrie. On it, Merneptah boasts, “Israel is wasted, its seed is not; And Hurru (Canaan) is become a widow because of Egypt.”9

Most scholars agree that this is the oldest definitive reference to Israel as a nation outside of the Bible, and certainly the clearest Egyptian reference to Israel. It is also important because it points towards an early date for the Exodus (ca. 1446 B.C. agreeing with Courville) and not the late date that some scholars hold to (ca. 1270 B.C.). It is doubtful that there would be enough time from 1270 B.C. to 1208 B.C. to account for the Exodus, the 40 years of wandering in the desert, the seven-year conquest of Canaan, the settlement of the tribes in their territories, and the establishment of a national presence in the land, all before Merneptah claims to have conquered them. Merneptah’s Canaanite campaign instead likely dates to the time of the Judges, when the nation of Israel was already settled in Canaan. The Merneptah Stele is evidence that the Exodus from Egypt, led by Moses, took place in the 15th century BC, as the biblical data indicates. 10

The later dates from mainstream Egyptologists for the reign of Ramesses II are c. 1279–1213 BC, with his son Merneptah reigning from c. 1213–1203 BC (Shaw 2003, Horning et al. 2006, Kitchen 2013). These dates are subject to some uncertainty, with the latest possible dates for Ramesses II being 1270–1204 BC, and for Merneptah 1204–1194 BC (Kitchen 2013). Some other researchers, most notably Rohl (1995), have proposed an alternative chronology for ancient Egypt in which these dates are advanced by several hundred years. Their “New Chronology” has achieved widespread publicity alongside widespread criticism from mainstream Egyptologists. In this “New Chronology,” the 5th year of Merneptah is 867 BC. 11

Changes to Egyptian history that Humphreys suggests pertain to the ruling period of each pharaoh, including Merneptah, during whose reign the Merneptah Stele was carved. Merneptah was the son of Rameses the Great, one of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs, and there’s been considerable debate over the years about when Rameses was in power. With the combination of a date from the solar eclipse, and the carving of the Stele, Humphreys and Waddington have proposed years for the pharaohs’ reigns that narrow their reigns down to plus or minus one year. They argue Rameses the Great ruled from 1276 to 1210 BC, while Merneptah was in power from 1210 to 1200 BC.

Prof. Humphreys added: “Solar eclipses are often used as a fixed point to date events in the ancient world. Eclipses have also shaped human events, says Duncan Steel, author of Eclipse: The Celestial Phenomenon That Changed the Course of History. “Historically, they have been pivotal in deciding battles,” including the 585 BC eclipse that stopped a battle between the Medes and the Lydians. The Greek philosopher Thales had predicted the eclipse, and when darkness did fall, the warring sides viewed it as an omen and hurried to come to a peaceful agreement. 12

The Bible puts the Israelites in Canaan from the beginning of the Conquest through the destruction of the Temple in about 586-5 BC, so this gives a span of many centuries for a potential conflict between Egypt and Israel. Why choose the first year of that span as the date, when Merneptah’s reference on the stele must have occurred? A primary reason to link Merneptah’s stele with Israel’s conquest of Canaan seems to be first based on tradition, that the Exodus occurred during the reign of Ramesses II. Second, that the Merneptah Stele is the consensus among Egyptologists and historians as the oldest reference to Israel in the history of ancient Egypt, providing an anchor point for their thesis, with this eclipse linked to it. Thus the conclusions of their research are grounded, assuming the conquest happened congruently with Merneptah, as proof that Merneptah reigned during the time of the conquest in 1207 BC, near the possible Joshua eclipse date of the same year. Also if the idea of an exclusive annular eclipse is correct, as the only eclipse candidate to suffice in the situation, eliminating the possibility of other partial eclipses, it would seemingly strengthen their position.

Previous claims of the earliest recorded eclipse include images carved into stone cairns at Loughcrew in Co Meath, Ireland, over 5,000 years ago, while Greek astronomer Ptolemy claimed that the first recorded eclipse was observed by the Babylonians in March 721 BC. The results are published in the Royal Astronomical Society Journal of Astronomy & Geophysics. 13

Were Humphrey’s & Waddington the first to propose an eclipse interpretation for Joshua’s Long Day? In fact, another linguist named Robert Wilson came to the same conclusion of an eclipse interpretation of Joshua 10, nearly 100 years earlier. And while previous scientists had attempted to find solar eclipses for that period and failed, they’d never thought to look for an annular eclipse, which occurs when the moon only partially covers the sun, leaving a ring of light visible at the edges. “That convinced me that ‘eclipse’ was the right translation,” Humphreys says.

Humphreys looked to the giant stone inscription on the Merneptah Stele, as corroboration that the Israelites really were in Canaan during the time of a supposed eclipse. He referenced the Egyptian text believed to be the earliest textual reference to Israel, specifically its final few lines of hieroglyphics that refer to a battle with the Israelites in Canaan, correlated to the Old Testament.

If these words are describing a real observation, then a major astronomical event was being reported (“There has been no day like it, before or since”, Joshua 10:14), but what does the text mean? The Hebrew word dôm means to be silent, dumb or still. The term ‘amad is a broader word meaning to stop or stand. Modern English translations of this passage, such as the NRSV quoted above, have all followed the King James Authorized Version (of 1611), and assumed that the Hebrew text means the Sun and Moon stopped moving. However, a plausible alternative meaning is that the Sun and Moon stopped doing what they normally do: they stopped shining. In other words, the text is referring to a solar eclipse, when the Sun stops shining. As a solar eclipse can only occur with the Moon directly between the Earth and the Sun, the Moon itself is not visible and so it is not reflecting sunlight to the Earth – like the Sun, it has “stopped shining” as well. 14

As the first person to suggest that Joshua 10:12–14 was referring to a solar eclipse, the linguist Robert Wilson (1918), who over 100 years ago gave the following translation:

Be eclipsed, O sun, in Gibeon, And the moon in the valley of Aijalon! And the sun was eclipsed and the moon turned back, while the nation was avenged on its enemies.

Wilson claimed that in Babylonian cuneiform texts there are words with the same root as the Hebrew dôm that are used in Babylonian astronomical tablets in connection with eclipses, meaning “to be dark”. However, at that time, 100 years ago, it was not deemed possible to investigate this further because of the laborious nature of the calculations required. 15 (Russell 1918).

As we check the Hebrew words used in Joshua 10:12–13, from the same Hebrew root as dôm, they  generally agree with the Babylonian meaning “to be dark.” The related Hebrew words included from Strong’s Concordance [H1820, H1826 and H1724]. H1820– “damah= to cease, rest, silenced, be quiet, make an end, destroyed, laid waste, desolate, cut off, to perish.” The Hebrew verb refers to violent ends, seen in Isa. 15:1, Jer. 14:17, Hos. 4:5–6. All 3 of these references include the word “night“ [H3915] with the darkness linked to it, as in Gen. 1:5 where God divided the day from the night, and Gen. 1:14, where the heavenly lights of the firmament divide the day from the night, for signs, seasons, days and years. See also [Ps. 19:2, Ex. 13:21-22]. Solar and Lunar eclipses surely qualify as key heavenly signs, in the Creator’s celestial order, so this favors a Scriptural view of an eclipse interpretation for Josh. 10:12-14.  16

Sawyer (1972) followed up the suggestion of Wilson (1918) that Joshua 10:12–14 refers to a solar eclipse and considered the dates of all total solar eclipses visible from Gibeon between 1500 and 1050 BC (giving generous limits to the possible dates of the entry of Joshua into Canaan). He found that there were only two such eclipses, on 19 Aug. 1157 BC and on 30 Sept. 1131 BC. However, both these dates are significantly later than the latest date that Humphreys and Waddington‘ calculations allow for Joshua to have entered Canaan, as the latest possible date for the fifth year of Merneptah, 1200/ 1199 BC, using the Merneptah Stele as their anchor for this claim. Historians and Bible scholars in agreement with their calculations have therefore, to date ruled out a solar eclipse interpretation of Joshua 10:12–14. 17 

However, as we will see below, there are other eclipses visible from Gibeon between 1500 and 1050 BC, within these “generous limits” for the possible dates of the entry of Joshua into Canaan, but much earlier, c. 1400 BC than 1207 BC, which we will discuss presently.

People in the ancient world did not distinguish between total and annular solar eclipses. It is not until as late as 1292AD, that we find a separate expression in the Chinese eclipse records to describe an annular eclipse; both of the annular eclipses of 7 August 198 BC and 27 July AD 306, were recorded by the Chinese as being total. Thus they revisited the solar eclipse interpretation of Josh. 10:12–14 to see if there was an annular eclipse visible in the same time frame as was used by Sawyer. [18]

The calculations of the Cambridge researchers found the only annular eclipse visible from Gibeon between 1500 and 1050 BC (using the same limits to the possible dates of entry of Joshua into Canaan as did Sawyer [1972]) was on 30 October 1207 BC, in the afternoon. The calculated track of the annular eclipse of 30 October 1207 BC is shown below in figure 2, which passed directly over the land of Canaan. 19

Figure 2. The path of the Annular Solar Eclipse of 30 October 1207 BC. 20

The path of the annular solar eclipse of 30 October 1207 BC, which passed directly over the land of Canaan in the afternoon. The shadow leaves the Earth's surface at sunset over modern day Iraq. The map is centred on Azekah, which is marked with a circle.

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The path of the annular solar eclipse of 30 October 1207 BC, over-shadowed the land of Canaan in the afternoon. The shadow left the Earth’s surface at sunset over modern-day Iraq. The map is centered on Azekah, which is marked by a circle. 21

Solar eclipse of 1207 BC

 Because the eclipse occurred in the afternoon, it was probably seen from near Azekah, from where the annular eclipse would have started at 15:27 (local apparent time as given by a sundial), with annularity occurring between 16:48 and 16:53. The Sun would still have been partially eclipsed at sunset, which occurred at 17:38. During annularity, 86% of the solar disc’s area was covered by the Moon. 22

An interesting feature of the Joshua text is the observation that not only did the Sun stop (shining) but the Moon also stopped (shining). As the Moon is in conjunction at the time of a solar eclipse it is effectively absent from the sky for a couple of days (it has “stopped shining”). As the Israelites used an observationally based lunar calendar they would have been well aware of this monthly period of lunar invisibility and so could have timed their surprise night-time attack at Gibeon to take advantage of the lack of natural night-time illumination at this time.

After reporting that the Sun stopped (shining), the book of Joshua states further that “The Sun did not hurry to set for about a whole day” (Joshua 10:13, NRSV), which has given rise to the term “Joshua’s Long Day.” What did the writer mean? Figure 3 shows the level of illumination on the ground at Azekah during the annular eclipse and Figure 4 shows the appearance of the Sun as viewed from Azekah at three-minute intervals. 23

Figure 3. The level of illumination on the ground at Azekah during the annular eclipse of 30 October 1207 BC, as a function of the local apparent time as given by a sundial. The thin line shows the normal illumination in the absence of an eclipse. The red line gives the illumination during the eclipse, showing the double-dusk effect. 24

The level of illumination on the ground at Azekah during the annular eclipse of 30 October 1207 BC, as a function of the local apparent time as given by a sundial. The thin line shows the normal illumination in the absence of an eclipse. The red line gives the illumination during the eclipse, showing the double-dusk effect.

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Figure 4. The appearance of the Sun viewed from Azekah on 30 October 1207 BC, at three-minute intervals. The Sun was still partially eclipsed at sunset. 25

The appearance of the Sun viewed from Azekah on 30 October 1207 BC at three-minute intervals. The Sun was still partially eclipsed at sunset.

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All ancient civilizations would have been accustomed to the Sun going down in the afternoon, leading to daylight turning into dusk, and then turning into night. However, on this occasion, in the afternoon the light from the Sun on Canaan started decreasing from its normal level at about 15:30 until at about 16:50, it was approximately ten times less intense than normal, and dusk set in (notice that figure 3 is plotted on a logarithmic scale to match the approximate response of the human visual system). However, by around 17:10 the level of illumination would have been somewhat restored before dusk fell again, and then the Sun finally set at about 17:38. What the Israelites would have witnessed was a double dusk. 26

In attempting to describe this double dusk it is only natural that the Israelites would have done so in terms of their normal experience of the diurnal cycle. Although aware that on this occasion the time interval between the two dusks was less than the normal day, the book of Joshua records “about a whole day” (NRSV) for this period of time. In fact, the Hebrew text here is “like a whole day”, the preposition like also means as, and so the phrase can mean “as on a whole day” (Millard, private communication). 27

The appearance of the annular eclipse of 30 Oct. 1207 BC we are considering is shown in figure 4. Both before and after annularity, the eclipse takes on the appearance of a crescent, mimicking the form [crescent] of the Moon around both the end and beginning of a lunar month.

What Humphrey’s and Waddington have failed to mention in their proposed annular eclipse of Oct. 1207 BC, as seen in Figure 4 above, is that their thesis rests upon the exclusivity of an annular eclipse, separate from a solar eclipse. However, with annularity occurring only between 16:48 and 16:53 pm, briefly for 5 min, the rest of this event falls into the category of a Partial Lunar eclipse, as the Crescent Moon covers increasing parts of the Sun for 81 min. leading up to annularity from the east, after which the Moon uncovers the Sun for 45 added minutes till dusk, as the Sun would still have been partially eclipsed at sunset, which occurred at 17:38. So for the entire eclipse period of 131 minutes duration of this annular solar eclipse, it was a Partial Lunar eclipse for 126 minutes.

The article by Humphreys and Waddington prompted rabbinic scholar Eli Gurevich to contact David Rohl with this idea of a partial eclipse fitting the requirements just as much as an annular eclipse. He referenced the NASA eclipse tables, which show partial eclipses typically crossing Canaan several times in every decade. Remarkably, a total eclipse passed just north of Canaan on July 14, 1405 BC
(one year needs to be added to the NASA numbers to arrive at the correct BC date). This lines up perfectly with a common early date proposed for the Exodus of 1446 BC, with the Conquest starting in 1405 BC. 28

Figure 5. Total Solar Eclipse North of Canaan on July 14th, 1405. 29

The solar eclipse of 1405 BC with the blue band showing the zone of totality. 

A Total Solar Eclipse most likely is better suited to fit the Biblical context of Joshua 10, more than an annular eclipse because the darkness experienced in a total solar eclipse is greater than the annular eclipse, especially if both the Sun and Moon stood still during totality. This would have increased the shock and awe on the Amorites, not only making them easier prey for the attacking Israelites, but also agreeing with details of the Biblical text. In the comparison of the Hebrew text with the Babylonian cuneiform above, we looked at the Hebrew word H1820–damah, a prime root for the related Hebrew word H1826–damam, meaning to be dumb, astonished, put to silence, or to stop, stand still. If the eclipse stood still, stopping in its tracks during totality, the Israelites were allotted the extra time needed to complete the destruction of the Amorites, that Joshua had prayed for [Josh. 10:12] during this Long Day. 30

According to some critics, Humphrey’s and Waddington paper is a watered-down analysis of the Biblical account that is a consistent pattern for Colin Humphreys. He wrote a book on the Exodus that attempts to explain its occurrences as having been fulfilled by natural events rather than outright miracles, that he seems to discount here. Critics also call into question, how and why the paper Humphrey’s published in October 2017 with W. Graeme Waddington, is practically identical to, but did not credit a January 2017 published work by three Israelis: physicist Ḥezi Yitzḥak, Bible scholar Daniel Weinstaub, and archeologist Uzi Avner, in  Hebrew journal Beyt Mikra requires further clarification. Despite the fact that this Israeli journal is in Hebrew, does Humphreys‘ claim independent inspiration for his thesis? 31

Critics also point out an even bigger problem, that Joshua’s long day couldn’t possibly have taken place in 1207 BC, according to the biblical account, since 1 Kings 6:1 states that building the First Temple began 480 years after the Exodus. It is evident that Joshua’s battle occurred soon after the 40 years of the Exodus. Advancing the date of 1207 BC, an additional 440 years into the future puts the building of the First Temple at 767 BC, which is 200 yrs after the traditionally accepted date of 970 BC. Historians have encountered difficulties in accounting for the detailed Biblical history of Israel in Canaan, listing each Judge and King, with the lack of time to compress every event in the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and Samuel to fit between the 237 odd years from 1207 BC to 970 BC.

Added reasons to question the designation of the eclipse of 1207 BC as the only candidate to date the conquest, are the 20 factors from archaeology and the Bible that demonstrate that Ramesses II just does not fit with as the pharaoh of the Exodus. Some of these are highlighted in the documentary film and more are found in the book, both with the title Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus. The Biblical example from I Kings 6:1 above, also includes the fact that 1 Kings 6:1 has the Exodus occurring in the 480th year before Solomon began building the Temple, which puts it in the 1400s BC not the 1200s. Many attempt to dismiss this verse as merely being figurative of an abbreviated period, but a reference from Jephthah, of Israel’s judges, supports a more literal interpretation of the 1 Kings 6:1 chronology. It puts Israel already in the land for 300 years, long before the time that the House of David ascended to the throne and began to reign. 32

“While Israel lived 300 years in Heshbon and its villages, in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, why didn’t you take them back at that time?”

– Judges 11:26 (ESV)

Speaking of this history, Courville says “the critical area of the structure is that from Jephthah to Saul. Jephthah stated that 300 years had elapsed from the conquest of Heshbon under Joshua to his own day. 25 Since the figure is a round number, it is evident that the figure was intended to be only approximate. It is here assumed that the actual period was closer to 290 years and this figure is here used in setting up the tentative chronology of [Figure 1]. On the late end of the 480-year period, we must allow 3 years in the reign of Solomon, 40 years for David, and 40 years for Saul. With the 40 years between the Exodus and the Conquest, 413 of the 480 years are accounted for. This leaves 67 years for the period from the victory over the Ammonites by Jephthah to the reign of Saul.” 33

In a new publication by Egyptologists and Biblical scholars Manfred Görg, Peter van der Veen and Christoffer Theis suggest that there may be an even earlier reference to Israel in Egyptian records. Manfred Görg discovered a broken statue pedestal containing hieroglyphic name-rings in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin and, after studying it with colleagues Peter van der Veen and Christoffer Theis, they suggest that one of the name-rings should be read as “Israel.” Not all scholars agree with their reading because of slight differences in spelling, but Görg, van der Veen and Theis offer strong arguments, including supportive parallels in the Merneptah Stele itself. This newly rediscovered inscription is dated to around 1400 B.C.—about 200 years earlier than the Merneptah Stele. If Görg, van der Veen and Theis are right, their discovery will shed important light on the beginnings of ancient Israel. 34

Figure 6. The Berlin Pedestal. 35

Berlin Pedestal

The Berlin Pedestal from the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. It has three name rings; the one on the far right has been reconstructed to read, “Ishrael.” Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain. Reconstructed Drawing: Peter van der Veen, Christoffer Theis, and Manfred Gorg, “Israel in Canaan (Long) Before Pharaoh Merenptah? A Fresh Look at Berlin Statue Pedestal Relief 21687.” Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2.4 (2010), 21.

The Berlin Pedestal is an Egyptian inscription housed in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin that almost certainly refers to Israel as a nation in Canaan. The inscription has three name rings, two of which clearly read “Ashkelon” and “Canaan,” and a third that has been reconstructed to read, “Ishrael.”43  In a recent re-examination of the inscription, Peter van der Veen, Christoffer Theis, and Manfred Gorg noted that names Ashkelon and Canaan largely were written consonantally and better reflecting examples from the reigns of Tuthmosis III and Amenhotep II (15th cent. BC), than those from the times of Rameses II and Merenptah (13th cent. BC).44 While the inscription reads “Ishrael” instead of “Israel,” there is no other candidate near Canaan and Ashkelon, other than biblical Israel. It may be that the “sh” spelling is an older way Egyptians spelled Israel, or perhaps borrowed from the cuneiform version.45 If this interpretation is correct, it would indicate that the Israelites had migrated to Canaan sometime in the middle of the second millennium BC,46 exactly at the time the Bible says they did.

Figure 7. Granodiorite head of the 19th Dynasty pharaoh, Amenhotep. 36

Evidence for Amenhotep II as the Pharaoh of the Exodus

This granodiorite head of the 19th Dynasty pharaoh, Amenhotep, was once part of a sphinx. It is currently housed in the State Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich, Germany. Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0

Numerous scholars have identified Amenhotep II as the Pharaoh of the Exodus31; he was reigning in 1446 BC when the Israelites left Egypt. Amenhotep II is known to have spent considerable time in the delta region, likely in the 18th-Dynasty palace at Avaris where he would have met with Moses. According to Egyptologist, Charles Aling, “Amenhotep II was born and raised in this area [the Nile delta region], built there, had estates there, and in all probability resided there at times, at least in his early regonal years.”32 Interestingly, (and in keeping with the 10th plague – the death of the first-born), Amenhotep II was not the firstborn son of his predecessor, Thutmose III, nor was his successor, Thutmose IV his firstborn son, as implied by the Dream Stele on the Great Sphinx.33 

Another piece of evidence for identifying Amenhotep II as the pharaoh of the Exodus is found by comparing the military campaigns of Amenhotep II and those of his father. While Thutmose III led 17 known military campaigns into the Levant, Amenhotep II led only two or three.34

 Thutmose III boasted of having taken 5903 captives on his first campaign, while Amenhotep II claims to have taken 2214 captives on his first. However, Amenhotep II’s final campaign in the ninth year of his reign (ca. 1446 BC) appears to have been a hasty and limited excursion into Palestine to take 101,128 captives. One plausible explanation for this campaign and its dramatic number of captives is that he was seeking to replace a large portion of his slave labor base that had just left Egypt. Moreover, Amenhotep II never took another campaign into Canaan, and the 18th dynasty began to decline in power. 37

In fact, there is strong evidence that the Bible shows the Judges period covered many centuries (not the 150 years allotted by the Ramesses Exodus Theory), that dictates the Exodus be pushed out 2 centuries before a 1207 BC dating of the Conquest. Additionally, The Bible has Moses being born around the time of the building of the city Rameses (Exodus chap. 1), which is the main basis of the Ramesses Exodus Theory. But the conquest happens 120 years later, after Moses’ death. For a 1207 BC Conquest that would mean the city of Ramesses was being built around 1327 BC, 27 years before Ramesses was born in Humphreys’ system. The Bible says in two places that the pharaoh who sought Moses’ life (40 years after Moses’ birth) died before the Exodus (when Moses was 80). Therefore the builder of the store city of Rameses could not possibly also be the pharaoh of the Exodus. 38

Now in Midian the Lord told Moses, “Return to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”

– Exodus 4:19 (ESV)

Then there is the archaeological evidence that shows no sign of massive numbers of Semites in Goshen during his reign, no sign of a collapse of Egypt as would be expected at the time of Exodus, and no pattern matching the Conquest of Canaan after his reign. That is why mainstream scholars are so skeptical of the Exodus account. These are just a few of the evidences that show that Ramesses was not the pharaoh of the Exodus and that Merneptah was not the pharaoh at the time of the conquest. When does the conquest account speak of a confrontation with Egypt anyway? For the Humphreys model to be factual, Egypt would have to have defeated Israel at a time when the Bible has the Israelites conquering city after city on their way to controlling most of Canaan. Nothing in this scenario adds up. 39

It is plausible that the Book of Joshua was describing a solar eclipse, but even if one agrees, there is no reason to confine this event to an annular eclipse strictly in 1207 BC. It has been shown that other total or partial eclipses over Canaan in the 1400s BC fit these data just as well, matching the Bible’s own context and timeline much better. Furthermore, evidence of an eclipse in Canaan in 1207 BC (whether or not it is related to the Israelites’ Conquest) gives no reason to connect that event to the reign of Merneptah, who in no other way (except by tradition) is connected to the Exodus or Conquest time period.

As Habakkuk memorably recounts the language of Joshua 10:12-13

Habakkuk 3:8-15

8 Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Was your wrath against the streams?
Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory?
9 You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows. You split the earth with rivers;
10  the mountains saw you and writhed. Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high.
11 Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows,
    at the lightning of your flashing spear.
12 In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.
13 You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one.
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot.
14 With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,
gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters.


This month’s blog study favors an eclipse interpretation of Joshua 10:10-13, with the best candidate  being the Total Solar Eclipse North of Canaan on July 14th, 1405, for the extended celestial sign of Joshua’s Long Day. This shows the lengths the Heavenly Father went to, in answer to Joshua’s prayer when he spoke to the Lord, in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel. Joshua had the great example of Moses to follow, from the Believer’s Hall of Fame in Heb. 11:23-30. As Jon Nessle has encouraged us, we would do well to follow Moses‘ example by working and believing his acts of faith. What will God do for you?!! 

If God be for you, who can be against you?

Agape’

Rene’


Footnotes

1. THE EXODUS PROBLEM and its Ramifications p. 113-114, Donovan Courville.
2. IBID, p. 121.
3. IBID, p.
4. IBID, p. 98
5. Colin Humphreys, Graeme Waddington, Astronomy & Geophysics, Volume 58, Issue 5, October 2017, Pages 5.39–5.42, https://doi.org/10.1093/astrogeo/atx178
6. (Notley & Rainey, 2014)
7. Colin Humphreys and Graeme Waddington. ‘Solar eclipse of 1207 BC helps to date pharaohs.’ Astronomy & Geophysics (2017). DOI: 10.1093/astrogeo/atx178.
8. Photo: Todd Bolen, BiblePlaces.com https://www.bibleplaces.com/2014/01/artifact-of-month-merneptah-stela/Patterns of Evidence. [Picture credit]
9. Digging for Truth.
10. Patterns of Evidence
11. Kitchen 2013, Rohl 1995.
12. Colin Humphreys and Graeme Waddington. ‘Solar eclipse of 1207 BC helps to date pharaohs.’ Astronomy & Geophysics (2017). DOI: 10.1093/astrogeo/atx178.
13. IBID
14. https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/oldest-recorded-solar-eclipse-helps-date-the-egyptian-pharaohs.
15. IBID
16. Strong’s Concordance [H1820], James Strong.
17. Sawyer (1972), (Walton 1994).
18. https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/oldest-recorded-solar-eclipse-helps-date-the-egyptian-pharaohs.
19. IBID
20. IBID, Figure 2. picture credit.
21. https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/oldest-recorded-solar-eclipse-helps-date-the-egyptian-pharaohs.
22. IBID
23. IBID
24. IBID, Figure 3. picture credit.
25. IBID, Figure 4. picture credit.
26. https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/oldest-recorded-solar-eclipse-helps-date-the-egyptian-pharaohs.
27. IBID,
28. https://www.patternsofevidence.com/2017/11/10/is-this-solar-eclipse-really-joshuas-miracle/
29. IBID, Figure 5 Picture Credit, (courtesy of the NASA website)
30. Strong’s Concordance [H1826], James Strong.
31.  Patterns of Evidence: The Exodus
32. IBID, https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/does-the-merneptah-stele-contain-the-first-mention-of-israel/
33. THE EXODUS PROBLEM and its Ramifications p. 12, Donovan Courville.
34. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/does-the-merneptah-stele-contain-the-first-mention-of-israel/
35. Figure 6, picture credit. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections, 2.4 (2010), 21.
36. Figure 7 picture credit, Photo: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
37. https://biblearchaeologyreport.com/2021/09/24/top-ten-discoveries-related-to-moses-and-the-exodus/
38. IBID
39. IBID

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