The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

Furuli’s Second Book 493
In passing, Hunger’s translation of the obv.´ line 18 should be corrected. It says: “[…. the
moon was be]low the bright star at the end of the [Lion’s] foot [….]”
The signs within brackets are illegible and the text had to be restored by Hunger. But as he
himself later explained, the word “moon” was just a guess that he had not checked. Modern
calculations show that, if the day number (which is lost, too) was the 16 th (July 5/6), the
heavenly body that was below “the bright star at the end of the Lion’s foot” (= β Virginis)
must have been Venus, not the moon. This was later pointed out also by Johannes Koch
(JCS 49, 1997, p. 84, n. 7, and p. 89). However, Koch calculates that Venus in the first part
of the night of July 5 was 0 o 02´above and 1 o 06´ behind β Virginis, while the SkyMap Pro
11 program shows that Venus at that time was not 0 o 02´above but about 0 o 64´ below and
about 0 o 89´ behind β Virginis. These results are in closer agreement with the tablet.
(9) ´Rev. line 5: “Month XI, (the 1 st of which was identical with) the 30 th (of the preceding
month), the moon became visible in the Swallow; sunset to moonset: 14 o 30´ [58 minutes];
the north wind blew. At that time, Jupiter was 1 cubit behind the elbow of Sagittarius [….]”
Shabatu 1 = 12/13 February 567 BCE:
In 568/567 BCE the first day of month XI (Shabatu) fell on 12/13 February 567 BCE. On
day 12 the distance between sunset (at c. 17:44) and moonset (c. 18:53) was 69 minutes (17 o
15´), or 11 minutes (2 o 45´) more than those given on the tablet, 58 minutes. According to
the tablet, the new moon became visible after sunset “in the Swallow.”
The “Swallow” covered or included a part of the constellation of Pisces. The exact
extension of the “Swallow” is not quite clear. But it included a band of stars called “DUR
SIM-MAH (ribbon of the swallow)” which included at least δ, ε, and ζ Pisces, perhaps also
some other stars. The “ribbon of the swallow” is referred to in over a dozen astronomical
reports dating from 567 to 78 BCE, and these have been helpful in locating at least some
stars in the group. (Alexander Jones, “A Study of Babylonian Observations of Planets Near
Normal Stars,” Archive for History of Exact Sciences, Vol. 58, 2004, pp. 483, 490) The
“Swallow”, then, comprised at least the “ribbon of the swallow” and then extended
westward along the Pisces.
Furuli’s discussion of SIM and SIM-MAH on page 296 is thoroughly misleading, as he tries
to confuse the issue by referring to some older views without telling that they were
abandoned long ago. This is true of Kugler’s suggestion back in 1914 that SIM-MAH
applies to the northwest of Aquarius. To be sure, Furuli states that two modern scholars, E.
Kasak and R. Veede, in an article published in 2001 applies SIM to “the Bull of Heaven”
(Taurus). They do not! In their article (available on the web:
http:/folklore.ee/folklore/vol16/planets.pdf) they do not mention SIM at all! Furuli also
refers to the conclusion of van der Waerden (1974) that it applies to “the south-west part of
Pisces” – as if this would be yet another view. The fact is that his conclusion does not
conflict with that of other modern scholars, including that of Jones, Hunger, and Pingree.
The impression Furuli tries to give, that modern experts widely disagree about the identity
of SIM and SIM-MAH, is false. All agree that it covered or included a part of the
constellation of Pisces.
My astro-program shows that in the evening after sunset on February 12, 567 BCE, the new
moon became visible in the Pisces, about half-way between α Pisces in the south and γ
Pisces in the west and c. 8.5 o below the centre of the western bow of the Pisces. Furuli’s
statement that the moon at this time was “13 o below the central part of Pisces” is not
correct. His claim that the position is “a somewhat inaccurate fit” is totally uncalled-for, in
particular in view of his statement that “the fit is excellent” when he finds the lunar position
on his own preferred date (February 22, 587) to have been “9 o below the central part of
Pisces.”
There can be no doubt that the moon on February 12, 567 BCE was “in the Swallow,” just
as is stated on the tablet. At that time Jupiter could also be seen in Sagittarius as the tablet
says.