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The Mandala

                Wikidata reference: Q5734
                Commons Category: 1312

                The solar eclipse mentioned in a text dating to the reign of Mursili II could be of great importance for the absolute chronology of the Hittite Empire within the chronology of the Ancient Near East. The text records that in the tenth year of Mursili's reign, "the Sun gave a sign" (istanus sakiyahta), just as the king was about to launch a campaign against the Kingdom of Azzi-Hayasa in north-eastern Anatolia.The reference in the annals was first interpreted as describing an eclipse by Emil Forrer (1926), Schorr (1928) identified it as the eclipse of the 13 March 1335 BC, visible as annular in Anatolia in the afternoon.It is now more commonly identified as the one of 24 June 1312 BC, which was visible in totality in northern Anatolia in the afternoon. Paul Åström (1993) proposes the alternative date of 13 April 1308 BC, which would have been visible as a partial eclipse at sunrise. Peter J. Huber has suggested a date of 8 January 1340 BC.

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