List of solar eclipses in antiquity

This is a list of selected solar eclipses from antiquity, in particular those with particular historical significance. Eclipses on this list were not only recorded, but sometimes would have large effects such as ending a war.

Lists of solar eclipses
Geometry of a total solar eclipse
(not to scale)
Centuries BC
Centuries AD
Eclipses seen from
See also Lists of lunar eclipses

List
Date of
eclipse		 Time (UTC) Type Central Duration Eclipse Path Notes
StartMidEnd
June 24, 1312 BC -10:44- total 04m33s Anatolia Known as Mursili's eclipse, could provide an absolute chronology of the ancient Near East[1][2][3]
June 15, 763 BC -08:23- total 04m59s Attested in Assyrian sources and providing an absolute chronology of the ancient Near East [4]
May 28, 585 BC -14:28- total 06m05s Predicted by Thales; occurred during the Battle of the Eclipse[5][6]
February 17, 478 BC --- total Greece eclipse occurring prior to Xerxes' first march against Greece
August 3, 430 BC --- total Greece, Mediterranean Sea Pericles shows his Greek Army that the eclipse was not much more than a covering of the sun by something bigger than his cloak.
July 19, 418 --- total total eclipse in Portugal reported by Hydatius
December 23, 447 --- total total eclipse in Portugal reported by Hydatius

Longest total eclipses
Date of
eclipse		 Central Duration Notes
April 7, 3736 BC 07m12s between 3999 BC and 3000 BC[7]
May 17, 2231 BC 07m21s between 2999 BC and 2000 BC[8]
July 3, 1443 BC 07m05s between 1999 BC and 1000 BC[9]
June 15, 744 BC 07m28s between 999 BC and 0 AD[10]
June 27, 363 07m24s between 1 AD and 1000 AD[11]
June 9, 1062 07m20s between 1001 AD and 2000 AD[12]
July 16, 2186 07m29s between 3999 BC and 6000 AD[13][14][15][16]

Longest annular eclipses
Date of
eclipse		 Central Duration Notes
November 24, 3125 BC 11m36s between 3999 BC and 3000 BC[17]
December 16, 2001 BC 11m36s between 2999 BC and 2000 BC[18]
December 12, 1656 BC 12m07s between 1999 BC and 1000 BC[19]
December 22, 178 BC 12m08s between 999 BC and 0 AD[20]
December 7, 150 AD 12m23s between 3999 BC and 6000 AD[21]

Historically significant Solar Eclipses

There were 12 solar eclipses observed from 2137 BC to 424 BC. all have a historical basis, because some old historical scriptures provide us details of these solar eclipses. Firstly, in writing sources of ancient China, we found a solar eclipse of 22 October, 2137 BC, but mostly Chinese ancient records shows details about comets, constellations, and fixed stars.

Solar eclipse of 3 May 1375 BC

It was early observed in Mesopotamian records. The Greatest eclipses were on 13:52:19 TD (04:51:04 UT).

Partial eclipse began before sunrise,02 hr 27 minutes 54 seconds (UT) and end after sunrise, 7 hr 14 minutes and 9 seconds (UT).

Historical solar eclipses (2000 BC- 1 AD)
Year

(BC)

 Date Eclipse

Type

 Saros

Series

 Eclipse

Magnitude

 Gamma Ecliptic

Conjunction

(UT)

 Geatest

Eclipse

(UT)

 Duration

(Min & Sec)

 Description
2137 22 Oct Annular 09 0.9736 0.3842 03:29:45 03:25:29 00:02:52 Ho and Hi, the Drunk Astronomers.
1375 3 May Total 16 1.0295 0.7755 04:42:56 04:51:04 00:02:07 Early Mesopotamian records.
1302 5 June Total 26 1.0805 0.2982 02:07:46 02:10:48 00:06:25 Early Chinese eclipse.
1178 16 Apr Total 39 1.0599 0.5187 10:06:17 10:00:58 00:04:33 Odyssey Eclipse.
899 21 Apr Annular 53 0.9591 0.8964 22:32:15 22:21:56 00:03:04 China's 'Double-Dawn' Eclipse
763 15 Jun Total 44 1.0596 0.2715 08:11:13 08:14:01 00:05:00 Assyrian Eclipse
648 6 Apr Total 38 1.0689 0.6898 08:24:05 08:31:03 00:05:02 Archilochus' Eclipse
585 28 May Total 57 1.0798 0.3201 14:25:41 14:22:26 00:06:04 Thales Eclipse (Medes vs. Lydians), firstly recorded in Herodotus History.
557 19 May Total 48 1.0258 0.3145 12:49:02 12:52:26 00:02:22 The Siege of Larisa, firstly recorded by Xenophon.
480 2 Oct Annular 65 0.9324 0.4951 11:56:54 11:51:01 00:07:57 Xerxes' Eclipse. recorded by Herodotus History.
431 3 Aug Annular 48 0.9843 0.8388 14:45:34 14:54:52 00:01:05 Peloponnesian War.
424 21 Mar Annular 42 0.9430 0.9433 07:43:30 07:54:29 00:04:39 8th Year of Peloponnesian War.

Visible Maps of Historical solar eclipses (Gallery)

References
  1. KUB XIV 4.24: [ma-a-an I-NA KUR A]zi-ma i-ia-ah-at nu dUTU-us sa-ki-ya-ah-ta "[When] I marched [to the land of A]zzi, the Sungod gave a sign." Theo P. J. Van Den Hout, The Purity of Kingship: An Edition of CTH 569 and Related Hittite Oracle Inquiries of Tutẖaliya (1998), 42f.
  2. Trevor R. Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Clarendon Oxford University Press, (1998)
  3. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-2/SEatlas-1319.GIF
  4. Rawlinson, Henry Creswicke, "The Assyrian Canon Verified by the Record of a Solar Eclipse, B.C. 763", The Athenaeum: Journal of Literature, Science and the Fine Arts, nr. 2064, 660-661 [18 May 1867].
  5. Stephenson, F. Richard, and Louay J. Fatoohi. "Thale's Prediction of a Solar Eclipse." Journal for the History of Astronomy 28 (1997): 279
  6. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-1/SEatlas-0599.GIF
  7. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE-3999--3000MaxT.html
  8. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE-2999--2000MaxT.html
  9. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE-1999--1000MaxT.html
  10. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE-0999-0000MaxT.html
  11. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE0001-1000MaxT.html
  12. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE1001-2000MaxT.html
  13. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE2001-3000MaxT.html
  14. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE3001-4000MaxT.html
  15. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE4001-5000MaxT.html
  16. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE5001-6000MaxT.html
  17. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE-3999--3000MaxA.html
  18. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE-2999--000MaxA.html%5B%5D
  19. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE-1999--1000MaxA.html
  20. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE-0999-0000MaxA.html
  21. http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEcatmax/SE0001-1000MaxA.html
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