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Are solar eclipses bad omens?
Did ancient Mesopotamian astronomers see eclipses as bad omens?
Are eclipses a sign of omens?
Are solar eclipses omens of Doom?
Mar 11, 2024 · Several cultures held different rituals surrounding the prediction of solar eclipses and the Mesopotamians were particularly good at predicting the events. Most people thought the solar eclipses were omens of ill things to come. The rulers of Assyria seemed to be superstitious themselves, or at least paranoid.
- Joshua Rapp Learn
Apr 7, 2024 · Unsurprisingly eclipses were often seen as bad omens. That was true in Mesopotamia, the region that today includes Iraq, Syria, Kuwait and Turkey. But even then, ancient Mesopotamian...
- Solar and Lunar Eclipses
- Eclipses as Omens
- Rituals to Preempt Royal Fate
- Saving The King
- A Legend
- Looking For Meaning in The Skies
For an eclipse to take place, three celestial bodies must find themselves in a straight line within their elliptic orbits. This is called a syzygy, from the Greek word “súzugos,” meaning yoked or paired. From our viewpoint on Earth, there are two kinds of eclipses: solar and lunar. In a solar eclipse, the moon passes in between the sun and Earth, w...
More than two thousand years ago, the Babylonians were able to calculate that there were 38 possible eclipses or syzygys within a period of 223 months: that is, about 18 years. This period of 223 months is called a Saros cycleby modern astronomers, and a sequence of eclipses separated by a Saros cycle constitutes a Saros series. Although scientists...
According to Babylonian scholars, eclipses could foretell the death of the king. The conditions for an omen to be considered as such were not simple. For instance, according to a famous astronomical work known by its initial words, “Enūma Anu Enlil” – “When (the gods) Anu and Enlil” – if Jupiter was visible during the eclipse, the king was safe. Lu...
In this ritual, a person would be chosen to replace the king. He would be dressed like the king and placed on the throne. To avoid confusion with a real coronation, all this would occur alongside the recitation of the negative omen triggered by the observation of the eclipse. The real king would keep a low profile and avoid being seen. If no additi...
Although omens predicting the death of the king are already known for this earlierperiod, the truth is that the main basis for such an assumption is an interesting story preserved only in a much later, first-millennium composition known by modern scholars as the “Chronicle of Early Kings.” According to this late chronicle, a king of the city of Isi...
Mesopotamia was not unique in this regard. For instance, a chronicle of early China known as the “Bamboo Annals” (竹書紀年 Zhúshū Jìnián) refers to a total lunar eclipse that took place in 1059 B.C., during the reign of the last king of the Shang dynasty. This eclipse was regarded as a sign by a vassal king, Wen of the Zhou dynasty, to challenge his Sh...
- Gonzalo Rubio
Mar 28, 2024 · Myth 1. Eclipses Are an Omen of Misfortune. Many of the beliefs that an eclipse is a negative event stem from ancient folklore. Some examples include the ancient Greeks, who thought that an eclipse was a sign that the gods were displeased and would bring misfortune upon humans.
Solar eclipses have caused fear, inspired curiosity, and have been associated with myths, legends, and superstitions throughout history. Even today, solar eclipses are considered bad omens in many cultures.
- Ancient Explanation For Solar EclipseAncient cultures tried to understand why the Sun temporarily vanished from the sky, so they came up with various reasons for what caused a solar ec...
- Hungry Demons, Thieving DogsIn Vietnam, people believed that a solar eclipse was caused by a giant frog devouring the Sun, while Norse cultures blamed wolves for eating the Su...
- Native American Solar Eclipse Myths and LegendsThe Pomo, an indigenous group of people who live in the northwestern United States, tell a story of a bear who started a fight with the Sun and too...
- Modern Day Sun SuperstitionsFear of solar eclipses still exists today. Many people around the world still see eclipses as evil omens that bring death, destruction, and disaste...
Apr 7, 2024 · According to NASA, the belief that an eclipse brings bad omens remains pervasive and whenever something bad happens around an eclipse, it contributes to confirmation bias.
Solar eclipse© Paul Morley/Fotolia. Without a scientific explanation, the darkening of the Sun (or Moon) during an eclipse would be a startling event, to say the least. Throughout history, eclipses have been seen as a disruption of the natural order, and many groups have believed them to be bad omens.
