- 1170s BC
Events and trends
* 1178 BC,
April 16 — Asolar eclipse occurs. This may have marked the return ofOdysseus , legendary King ofIthaca , to his kingdom after theTrojan War . He discovers a number of suitors competing to marry his wifePenelope , whom they believe to be a widow, in order to succeed him on the throne. He organizes their slaying and re-establishes himself on the throne. The date is surmised from a passage inHomer 's "Odyssey ", which reads, "The Sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world." This happens in the context of a new moon and at noon, both necessary preconditions for a full solar eclipse. [cite news |first=John |last=Wilford |title=Homecoming of Odysseus May Have Been in Eclipse |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/science/24home.html?ref=science |publisher="The New York Times " |date=2008-06-25 |accessdate=2008-06-25 ] In2008 , to investigate, Dr Marcelo O. Magnasco, an astronomer atRockefeller University , and Constantino Baikouzis, of the Observatorio Astrónomico de La Plata in Argentina, looked for more clues. Within the text, they interpreted three definitive astronomical events: there was a new moon on the day of the slaughter (as required for a solar eclipse); Venus was visible and high in the sky six days before; and the constellations Pleiades and Boötes were both visible at sunset 29 days before. Since these events recur at different intervals, this particular sequence should be unique: the doctors found only one occurrence of this sequence while searching between 1250 and 1115 BC, the 135-year spread around the putative date for the fall of Troy. It coincided with the eclipse of April 16, 1178 BC.
*1180–1178 BC — Collapse of theHittite Empire . Their capital,Hattusa , falls around or slightly after 1180 BC.ignificant people
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References
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