The Solar Eclipse That Rewrites History: Biblical Mention Of When The ‘Sun Stood Still And The Moon Stopped’ Gives New Dates For Egypt’s Pharaohs

It's an event that happens once every two to four years, and now scientists believe they may have pinpointed the date of the oldest solar eclipse ever recorded (stock image)

●A solar eclipse is mentioned in the Old Testament book of Joshua ●The researchers also studied the Merneptah Stele, an ancient Egyptian text  ●By comparing the two texts, the researchers developed a 'solar eclipse code' ●The code suggests that an annual eclipse occurred on 30 October 1,207 BC ●If this is right, it could be used to date ancient Pharaohs including Rameses II 

It's an event that happens once every two to four years, and now scientists believe they may have pinpointed the date of the oldest solar eclipse ever recorded.

The solar eclipse is mentioned in the Old Testament book of Joshua, in which it states: 'Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon. And the Sun stood still, and the Moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies'

Mail Online report continues:

The event is mentioned in the Bible, and occurred on 30 October 1,207 BC – exactly 3,224 years ago today.

Scientists believe the findings could have consequences for dating events in the ancient world, including the rules of Egypt's Pharaohs.

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Researchers from the University of Cambridge used a combination of biblical text and ancient Egyptian text to understand the date of the solar eclipse.

The solar eclipse is mentioned in the Old Testament book of Joshua, which states: 'Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.

'And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies.'

Professor Sir Colin Humphreys, co-author of the study, said: 'If these words are describing a real observation, then a major astronomical event was taking place - the question for us to figure out is what the text actually means.

'Modern English translations, which follow the King James translation of 1611, usually interpret this text to mean that the sun and moon stopped moving.

'But going back to the original Hebrew text, we determined that an alternative meaning could be that the sun and moon just stopped doing what they normally do: they stopped shining.

'In this context, the Hebrew words could be referring to a solar eclipse, when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, and the sun appears to stop shining.

'This interpretation is supported by the fact that the Hebrew word translated "stand still" has the same root as a Babylonian word used in ancient astronomical texts to describe eclipses.'

As well as the Bible, the researchers also analysed the Merneptah Stele, an Egyptian text dating from the reign of the Pharaoh Merneptah, son of the well-known Rameses the Great.

The researchers also analyzed the Merneptah Stele,

an Egyptian text dating from the reign of the Pharaoh

Merneptah, son of the well-known Rameses the Great

The text contains evidence that the Israelites were in Canaan between 1500 and 1050 BC during the date of the solar eclipse.

'The Stele states on it that it was erected in the fifth year of Pharaoh Merneptah,' Sir Colin told MailOnline.

'It also states that he defeated the people of Israel in a campaign in Canaan. 

'The dates agreed by Egyptologists for the reign of Merneptah are about 1213-1203 BC. 

'The annular solar eclipse we have calculated is the only one visible from Canaan in the period 1500-1050 BC. 

'The calculated date of this solar eclipse is 30 October 1207 BC. This is in the reign of Merneptah, when we know from his Stele that the Israelites were in Canaan. So we have a consistent story.' 

While earlier studies have used these two texts to try to date the possible eclipse, they weren't successful as they only looked at total eclipses.

What they failed to consider was that it was instead an annular eclipse, in which the moon passes directly in front of the sun, but is too far away to cover the disc completely, leading to the characteristic 'ring of fire' appearance.

The researchers developed a new 'eclipse code', which takes into account variations in Earth's rotation over time.

'The eclipse code is a computer code written to calculate the dates of past and future eclipses,' explained Sir Colin. 

'We used the latest astronomical data to input into our specially written eclipse code. We believe it is accurate because it agrees with an eclipse code written by NASA scientists.'

From their calculations, the researchers determined that the only annular eclipse visible from Canaan between 1,500 and 1,050 BC was on 30 October 1,207 BC, in the afternoon.

If this is correct, it would not only be the oldest solar eclipse yet recorded, it would also allow researchers to date the reigns of Rameses the Great and his son Merneptah to within a year.

Professor Sir Humphreys added: 'Solar eclipses are often used as a fixed point to date events in the ancient world.'