Happy Eclipse Day! Some quotes from historic eclipse dates >

"Here lie the bodies of Ho and Hi,
Whose fate, though sad, is risible;
Being slain because they could not spy
Th' eclipse which was invisible."


Author unknown
Said to refer to the Chinese eclipse of 2136 BC or 2159 BC.


"On day kuei-yu (the 10th day of a 60-day cycle), it was inquired (by divination): 'The Sun was eclipsed in the evening; is it good?' On day kuei-yu it was inquired: 'The Sun was eclipsed in the evening; is it bad?'"

From: the An-yang oracle bones of the Shang dynasty, China (c. 1550-1050 BC).
Quoted in Encyclopaedia Britannica CD 98.



"On the day of the new moon, in the month of Hiyar, the Sun was put to shame, and went down in the daytime, with Mars in attendance."

One of the earliest written records of an eclipse of the Sun, on 3 May 1375 BC, found in the city of Ugarit in Mesopotamia.
(Reprinted, from Chasing the Shadow, copyright 1994 by Joel K Harris and Richard L Talcott, by permission of Kalmbach Publishing Co. Also appears in Total Eclipses of the Sun by Zirker. In Guide to the Sun, Phillips says that this might refer to the eclipse of 1223 BC.)



". . . and the Sun has perished
out of heaven,
and an evil mist hovers over all."

Said to refer to a total solar eclipse of 16 April 1178 BC.
From: Homer (Greek), The Odyssey (8th century BC).




"Insurrection in the city of Ashur. In the month Sivan, the Sun was eclipsed."

Refers to the solar eclipse of 15 June 763 BC.
From: The Assyrian Chronicles.
Quoted in Encyclopaedia Britannica CD 98, and in Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, by F Richard Stephenson, Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 125.
Click here for Fred Espenak's map of this eclipse.



"On that day, says the Lord God,
I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight."

Said to refer to the solar eclipse of 15 June 763 BC.
From: Amos, Chapter 8, verse 9 (Old Testament)
Quoted in Encyclopaedia Britannica CD 98.
Click here for Fred Espenak's map of this eclipse.



"The Sun was eclipsed, a thing of very evil omen. Then the Moon became small, and now the Sun became small. . . . For the Moon to be eclipsed is but an ordinary matter. Now that the Sun has been eclipsed - how bad it is!"

Refers to successive eclipses (one lunar, one solar) in the 8th century BC. The solar eclipse is said to have occurred on the day hsin-mao, which was the first day of the 10th lunar month. This may have been in 735 BC.
From: the Shih-ching ("Book of Odes") (China, 8th century BC).
Quoted in Encyclopaedia Britannica CD 98, and in Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, by F Richard Stephenson, Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 222.



"Duke Huan, 3rd year, 7th month, day jen-ch'en, the first day (of the month). The Sun was eclipsed and it was total."

Refers to a total solar eclipse of 17 July 709 BC.
From: Ch'un-ch'iu, book I (Chinese). Quoted in Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, by F Richard Stephenson, Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 226.
Stephenson says: "This is the earliest direct allusion to a complete obscuration of the Sun in any civilisation. The recorded date, when reduced to the Julian calendar, agrees exactly with that of a computed solar eclipse." Reference to the same eclipse appears in the Han-shu ('History of the Former Han Dynasty') (Chinese, 1st century AD): ". . . the eclipse threaded centrally through the Sun; above and below it was yellow."



"yar (month II) . . . the night of the 14th day, is the y of the watch (to be held), and there will be no eclipse. I guarantee it seven times, an eclipse will not take place. I am writing a definitive word to the king."

Tab-silli-Marduk (Babylonian astrologer), nephew of Bel-nasir. Period 709 to 649 BC.
Quoted in Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, by F Richard Stephenson, Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 124.



"The eclipse of the Moon which took place in Marchesvan (month VIII) began . That is bad for Subartu. What ? After it, Jupiter ent the Moon three times. What is being done to (make) its evil pass? . . ."

Refers to a lunar eclipse of 675 BC.
Bel-suma-iskun (Babylonian scribe).
Quoted in Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, by F Richard Stephenson, Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 125.



"If the Sun at its rising is like a crescent and wears a crown like the Moon: the king wll capture his enemy's land; evil will leave the land, and (the land) will experience good . . . "

Refers to a solar eclipse of 27 May 669 BC.
Rasil the older, Babylonian scribe to the king.
Quoted in Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, by F Richard Stephenson, Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 125.



"Zeus, the father of the
Olympic Gods, turned
mid-day into night, hiding the light
of the dazzling Sun;
and sore fear came upon men."

Archilochus (c680-c640 BC), Greek poet
Refers to the total solar eclipse of 6 April 648 BC.
Click here for Fred Espenak's map of this eclipse.



"Nothing can be surprising any more or impossible or miraculous, now that Zeus, father of the Olympians has made night out of noonday, hiding the bright sunlight, and . . . fear has come upon mankind. After this, men can believe anything, expect anything. Don't any of you be surprised in future if land beasts change places with dolphins and go to live in their salty pastures, and get to like the sounding waves of the sea more than the land, while the dolphins prefer the mountains."

May refer to a total solar eclipse of 6 April 648 BC.
Archilochus, Greek poet (c680-640 BC)
Quoted in Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, by F Richard Stephenson, Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 338. Partly quoted in Encyclopaedia Britannica CD 98.

". . . there was war between the Lydians and the Medes five years. . . . They were still warring with equal success, when it chanced, at an encounter which happened in the sixth year, that during the battle the day turned to night. Thales of Miletus had foretold this loss of daylight to the Ionians, fixing it within the year in which the change did indeed happen. So when the Lydians and Medes saw the day turned to night, they ceased from fighting, and both were the more zealous to make peace."

Probably refers to the total solar eclipse of 28 May 585 BC in Asia Minor.
Herodotus, (c485-c420 BC) History I, 74.
Quoted in Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, by F Richard Stephenson, Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 242. Also in Greek Astronomy by Heath, and in Total Eclipses of the Sun, by Zirker, and referred to in The Fontana History of Astronomy and Cosmology by North. The Encyclopaedia Britannica CD 98 says that this eclipse must have been predicted by means of the Saros and the eclipse of 18 May 603 BC.
Click here for Fred Espenak's map of this eclipse.



"Duke Hsiang, 24th year, 7th month, day chia-tzu, the first day of the Moon. The Sun was eclipsed and it was total."

Refers to a total solar eclipse of 19 June 549 BC.
From: Ch'un-ch'iu, book IX (Chinese).
Quoted in Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, by F Richard Stephenson, Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 226.



"Beam of the Sun! O thou that seest from afar, what wilt thou be devising? O mother of mine eyes! O star supreme, reft from us in the daytime! Why has thou perplexed the power of man and the way of wisdom by rushing forth on a darksome track? Art thou bringing a sign of some war, or wasting of produce, or an unspeakably violent snow-storm, or fatal faction, or again, some overflowing of the sea on the plain, or frost to bind the earth, or heat of the south wind streaming with raging rain? Or wilt thou, by deluging the land, cause the race of men to begin anew? I in no wise lament whate'er I shall suffer with the rest!"

"God can cause unsullied light to spring out of black night. He can also shroud in a dark cloud of gloom the pure light of day"

Both these quotation probably refer to the solar eclipse of 30 April 463 BC, which was nearly total at Thebes.
Pinder (Greek poet) Ninth Paean, addressed to the Thebans.
Quoted in Historical Eclipses and Earth's Rotation, by F Richard Stephenson, Cambridge University Press, 1997, page 344, and, in part, in Encyclopedia Britannica CD 98.


"At midday a darkness fell over the whole land, which lasted till three in the afternoon; and at three Jesus cried aloud, 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?', which means, 'My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'"

The Gospel According to Mark (New Testament)


"By now it was about midday and a darkness fell over the whole land, which lasted until three in the afternoon; the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus gave a loud cry and said, 'Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit'; and with these words he died."

The Gospel According to Luke (New Testament)
(The Gospel According to John does not mention the midday darkness.)


"High on her speculative tower
Stood Science waiting for the hour
When Sol was destined to endure
That darkening of his radiant face
Which Superstition strove to chase,
Erewhile, with rites impure."

William Wordsworth The Eclipse of the Sun, 1820





http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/quotes.html

God will continue his wrath of taking the Sun from us. REPENT!

country and not ours.

an amazing event -- I saw it in the Libyan desert with about 2,000 other nerds. Now I'm already thinking about going to another one in 2008!