The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

498 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED
The text of lines 3 and 4:
3´ [Ye]ar 2, month 4, day 10+[x, …, last appearance.]
4´ [Year 2, mon]th 5, broken, in the head of the Lion, first appearance; not [observed?.]
Comments:
YEAR 2 = 646 BCE:
Line 3: As is seen, both dates are damaged. But if the 2 nd regnal year was 646, as is
conventionally held, the last visibility of Saturn that year occurred in the evening of June 28.
According to the program, the previous first lunar visibility occurred in the evening of June
13, which thus corresponded to the 1 st day of the Babylonian month 4. The last Saturn
visibility on June 28, then, would be month 4, day 16 (= the damaged “day 10+”) in the
Babylonian calendar.
Line 4: As stated above, the first visibility of Saturn in 646 occurred in the morning July 31
and the previous first lunar visibility fell in the evening of July 13. If July 13 was the 1 st day
of month 5 in the lunar calendar, July 31 should have been day 18 (the “broken” day
number) in the lunar calendar.
We cannot know for sure if these restorations of the damaged day numbers are quite
correct, but there is nothing in the text that contradicts them.
Saturn is stated to have been “in the head of the Lion [SAG UR-A]”, which “in the Diaries
from -380 onward … designates ε Leonis.” (Walker, op. cit., p. 72) My astro-program shows
that Saturn at this time was almost on the same ecliptic longitude (104.5 o ) as ε Leonis
(104.0 o ), but its latitude was about 9 o below (south of) the star. If the restoration of the last
part of the line is correct (“not [observed?]”), the position was not observed but had to be
calculated by the Babylonian scholar. This would explain the inexact latitudinal position.
FURULI: YEAR 2 = 645 BCE:
Line 3: “Year 2” in Furuli’s revised chronology is 645 BCE. The last visibility of Saturn in
645 fell according to our program in the evening of July 10 and the previous first lunar
visibility occurred in the evening of July 1. As July 1 was day 1 in the lunar calendar, July 10
would have been lunar day 10. The damaged day number of the text (“10+”), however,
shows that more than 10 days had passed from day 1 until the last visibility of Saturn. If the
restored day number was “16” as argued above, this would be a deviation of 6 days from the
true date.
Line 4: The first visibility of Saturn in 645 took place in the morning of August 12. If that
was day 18 of month 5 in the lunar calendar (as argued above), the previous first lunar
visibility in the evening of lunar day 1 would have occurred in the evening of July 25. But
the program shows that the first lunar visibility occurred in the evening of July 31. If the
restored day number, 18, is correct, this is a deviation of 7 days. Besides, the position of
Saturn does not tally with the text, either. While the difference in latitude between Saturn
and ε Leonis was the same as in the previous year (about 9 o ), the ecliptic longitude of Saturn
in the morning of August 12 was 117.5 o , which was 12.5 o behind (east of) the star (104.0 o ).
This alone shows that Furuli’s alternative date for “year 2” is impossible.
The text of lines 5 and 6:
5´ [Ye]ar 3, month 4, day 7, [last appearance.]
6´ [Year 3] month 5, day 16, in the Lion behind the King (= α Leonis), [first appearance];
´high´.