EGYPTIAN COSMOLOGY

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by Aymen Ibrahem
 aymoib@mailer.scu.eun.eg

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ABSTRACT

1    The author demonstrates the influence of solar eclipses in the Hittite myths.

2    The author proves that the eclipse recorded by the Hittite King Mursilis II in Year 10 of his reign as that of 06/24/-1311 (Julian).

3    The author introduces an absolute Hittite chronology (the Empire) in which Year 10 of King Mursilis II is 1312 BC.

4    The author checks his eclipse-based Hittite chronology against his eclipse-based Egyptian chronology of the New Kingdom.

5    The author uses his eclipse-based Hittite chronology to prove that:

            Year 8 of King Ramesses II was 1270 BC.

            King Tutankhamun died in 1327 BC.

            The reign of King Akhenaten was 18 years long (max.),
                including the co-regency with King Amenhotep III.

            The reign of King Smenkhkare was 3 years (max.),
                with possibly a co-regency with King Akhenaten that lasted under a year.

            The length of the reign of King Horemheb was 27 years (max.).

            The Hittite chronology may be used to produce an absolute Babylonian chronology.

6    The author provides the following absolute dates:

            Year 1 of King Kadashman-Turgu = 1266 BC.

            Year 1 of King Shalmanser I = 1261 BC.

            Collapse of Hanigalbat = 1260 BC.

            Year 1 of King Kadashman Enlil = 1248 BC.
 

The dates in the ancient Near East are becoming more firm.
 

SUMMARY

ECLIPSES IN THE HITTITE MYTHS

 A famous Hittite legend says that, one day, the Sun god was MISSING, the
Weather God sent messengers: "Go! Bring the Sun God" (1). In the end of the
myth, the Sun God returns back to the temple, and food and drink were
offered to him (2). I believe this myth was inspired by the total eclipse of
the Sun. Also, in the Hittite myths, the Sun god "comes from the sea" (3).
This is much similar to the Egyptian concept, which was depicted from solar
eclipses (4). Also, the Hittite Sun-god was depicted with fish on his head
(5). This could have been the way the Hittites interpreted the solar
prominences seen through totality.
 

THE ECLIPSE

About 1920, Forrer discovered on a clay tablet from Boghazkoi, the
description of a solar eclipse observed in the tenth year of King Mursilis
II when he was breaking up a winter camp preparing for a spring campaign
(6). This provides a golden chance to extract a dating of the eclipse and
hence obtain an absolute Hittite chronology for at least the Empire Period
and check it against the Egyptian chronology.

The Hittite and Egyptian annals provide valuable information for
constructing an absolute Hittite chronology! From these annals, it is known
that the collapse of he first Babylonian dynasty came shortly before the
death of King Mursilis I, and King Suplilioma died 4 years after the death
of King Tutankhamun (7). Also, King Mawtalis (King Mursilis II's successor)
died in Year 8/9 of King Ramesses II (1279-1213 BC) (8).
 
 

DATING THE ECLIPSE

The eclipse record enables us to extract an absolute date for Year 10 of
King Mursilis II. The text does not require totality (9). Forrer asked
astronomer V. Neugebauer to inform him of the solar eclipses visible in Asia
Minor in the period between 1335 and 1313 BC (10). This choice was made
according to the Sothic dating of the Egyptian chronology (11). Two eclipses
were found: 1332 BC December 18 and 1328 BC October 17. Both dates were
rejected since they do not fit the text: "breaking up a WINTER camp
preparing for a SPRING campaign" (12). Forrer later considered the period
from 1373 BC to 1335 BC (13). Astronomer C. Schoch carried out the
calculations and found four eclipses in that period (The dates given are
Julian):

(a) 1340 BC Jan 5
(b) 1335 BC March 13
(c) 1360 BC July 15
(d) 1362 BC March 12

Eclipse (b) seemed to fit the text, and in Cambridge Ancient History (14)
the year 1335 BC became known as the ". . . . . probably the only exact date
in Hittite chronology, . . ."

I totally disagree with this . . . the date is inconsistent with the
Sothic-based and eclipse-based (15) of the Egyptian New Kingdom chronology.
Also, the eclipse occurred 20 days before the vernal equinox. The Hittite
campaigns had been always carried out during the spring and the summer
because of the cold weather in Asia Minor (16). The Hittite army remains in
the camps through the entire winter, as the snow prevents motion (17). There
is snow in Anatolia till mid-April (18). Thus, the eclipse must have
occurred in the period from late April to the summer solstice.

 My eclipse-based Egyptian chronology gives 1352 BC as Year 4 of King
Akhenaten (19 ). However, the length of the reign of King Akhenaten is
uncertain. The Egyptologists estimate it as 16 (20) to 18  years (21). Also,
it is not known whether King Smenkhkare, King Akhenaten's successor,
governed Egypt in a co-regency or solely (22). In either case, his reign was
2 to 3 years long (23).

Thus, Year 10 of Mursilis II must be  either 1316 BC, 1314 BC or 1312 BC,
due to the uncertainty in the determination of the length of the reign of
King Akhenaten. Thus, my eclipse-based chronology predicts a solar eclipse
visible in Asia Minor in the spring of a year between 1317 BC to 1311 BC.
Actually, it is 1312 BC . . . Using an eclipse-software, I found a solar
eclipse was visible in Asia Minor on 06/24/-1311 (Julian), there were no
solar eclipses in the period defined above.

This is the Mursilis II's eclipse! It is quite consistent with both the
Sothic and the eclipse-based dating of the Egyptian New Kingdom chronology.
It occurs in the spring when it was about time to begin the campaign. We now
have an absolute Hittite chronology in which Year 10 of King Mursilis II is
1312 BC.
 

PHARAOH SMENKHKARE: THE PUZZLE OF A CO-REGENCY

There has been a controversy over a co-regency period between kings
Akhenaten and Smenkhkare. Since Year 10 of King Mursilis II is now 1312 BC,
then King Tutankhamun's death was, definitely, in 1327 BC. This might help
the police to determine the murderer! Since Year 4 of King Akhenaten was
1352 BC, with a reign of 16 to 18 years long, an independent sole rule of
King Smenkhkare of 2 to 3 years must have existed. However, my view is an 18
years-long reign of King Akhenaten with a short co-regency with King
Smenkhkare for under a year, followed by 2 years of sole rule of the latter
King.
 

THE LENGTH OF THE REIGN OF PHARAOH HOREMHEB

The Egyptian annals mention dates in the reign of Pharaoh Horemheb up to as
high as Year 59, incorporating the reigns of the heretic kings of Amarna,
Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun, and Ay (24). The Mursilis II eclipse
made it clear that the Amarna kings governed Egypt for 33 years. This
defines an upper limit to the reign of Horemheb as 27 years. This is another
success of my eclipse-based Egyptian chronology, which predicts that Year 9
of King Seti I was 1286 BC. In this year a total solar eclipse occurred and
was seen from Egypt as a deep partial eclipse. For this eclipse the king
gave obelisks as offerings to the solar gods and erected many other
religious structures (25).
 

THE REIGN OF PHARAOH SETI I

It is known that King Mawtalis died in Year 8/9 of King Ramesses the Great,
after a reign of 24 years. With Year 10 of King Mursilis II fixed as 1312
BC, this implies that King Mawtalis died in 1270 BC, which is exactly
consistent with the author's eclipse-based New Kingdom chronology and that
provided by Professor K. A. Kitchen in his wonderful book 'Ramesses II, the
Triumphant Pharaoh' (26). My chronology  succeeded in this critical test! We
can now determine the exact length of the reign of Pharaoh Seti I.

The length of the reign of Pharaoh Seti I has been uncertain. It could be
15, 19, or 20 years long (27). Now, with an exact length of Pharaoh
Horemheb's reign, and with 1270 BC as Year 8 of King Ramesses II, we
conclude that King Seti I died in 1278 BC. Thus, the reign of King Seti I
was 16 years long.
 

THE BABYLONIAN CHRONOLOGY

It is known that the collapse of the first Babylonian Dynasty came shortly
before the death of King Mursilis I. With absolute Hittite dates, we can
construct an absolute Babylonian chronology. We now have Year 10 of King
Mursilis II = 1312 BC, we can construct an absolute Babylonian chronology if
the reigns of the kings between Mursilis II and Mursilis I are of fixed
length.
 

OTHER NEAR EASTERN DATES

The 'Amarna Letters' provide valuable information about the Near Eastern
kings contemporary to King Amenhotep III and King Akhenaten. The Ramesseid
Period is even more valuable. The following events are known with respect to
the reign of King Ramesses II (28):

1.      King Kadashman Turgu's (Babylon) accession was in Year 12.
2.      King Shalmanser I's (Assyria) accession was in Year 17.
3.      The demise of Hanigalbat (Metanni) was in Year 18.
4.      King Kadashman Enlil became King in Babylon in Year 30.

The absolute dates corresponding to the four events are respectively:
1266 BC, 1261 BC, 1260 BC, and 1248 BC.
 
 

RESULTS

1.      The Hittites observed total solar eclipses. This is apparent in heir myths.

2.      The Hittite Sun God comes from the sea, much like the Egyptian counterpart, and this both were depicted from solar eclipses.

3.      The fish on the head of the Hittite Sun God might have been depicted from the solar prominences visible through totality of an eclipse.

4.      In the reign of King Mursilis II, Year 10 = 1312 BC.

5.      King Tutankhamun died in 1327 BC.

6.      King Suplioluma died in 1323 BC.

7.      King Akhenaten's reign was 18 years long.

8.      King Smenkhkare governed Egypt solely for two years.

9.      Very possibly, there was a co-regency of under a year between King Akhanaten and King Smenkhkare.

10.     The accession of King Kadashman-Turgu was in 1266 BC.

11.     The accession of King Shalmanser I was in 1261.

12.     The collapse of Hanigalbat was in 1260 BC.

13.     The accession of King Kadashman Enlil was in 1248 BC.
 
 

REFERENCES

1.      Garny, The Hittites, Arabic Translation, p. 224, The Egyptian Book Organization, 1997.
2.      Ibid., p. 225.
3.      Ibid., p.172.
4.      Aymen Ibrahem, The Heliopolitan Cosmogony, 2000.
5.      Garny, The Hittites, Arabic Translation, p. 172, The Egyptian Book Organization, 1997.
6.      G. van Oosterhaut, The Solar Eclipses of the Amarna Period and their Chronological Implications, p. 4.
7.      Garny, The Hittites, Arabic Translation, p. 255, The Egyptian Book Organization, 1997.
8.      Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant, The Life and Times of Ramesses II, p. 68,  The American University in Cairo Press, 1990.
9.      G. van Oosterhaut, The Solar Eclipses of the Amarna Period and their Chronological Implications, p. 4.
10.     Ibid.
11.     Ibid.
12.     Ibid.
13.     Ibid.
14.     Ibid.
15.     Aymen Ibrahem, The Dream that Has Come True, Astronomy Digest, July issue, 2000.
16.     Garny, The Hittites, Arabic Translation, p. 138, The Egyptian Book Organization, 1997.
17.     Ibid.
18.     van Oosterhaut, The Solar Eclipses of the Amarna Period and their Chronological Implications, p. 4.
19.     Aymen Ibrahem, An Astronomical Approach to the Puzzle of Co-Regency, www.infis.org/, 2000.
20.     Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant, The Life and Times ofRamesses II, p. 238, The American University in Cairo Press, 1990.
21.     C. Aldred, Akhenaten King of Egypt, p.11, Thames and Hudson LTD, 1988.
22.     Kitchen, Ramesses II, The Triumphant Pharaoh, Arabic Translation, p. 336, The Egyptian Book Organization, 1997.
23.     Ibid.
24.     P. Clayton, The Chronicle of the Pharaohs, p. 138, Thames and Hudson LTD, 1994.
25.     Aymen Ibrahem, The Charioteer and the Total Solar Eclipse, 2000, (www.jas.org.jo/, or contact the author).
26.     Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant, The Life and Times ofRamesses II, p. 238, The American University in Cairo Press, 1990.
27.     Ibid., p. 239.
28.     Ibid., p. 241.
 

       Aymen Ibrahem
       Copyright: Aymen Ibrahem, 2000.

Want more information on this subject?  Please contact the author -  aymoib@mailer.scu.eun.eg