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104 OVn ANCESTORS CAME FROM OUTER SPACE
on the latter. Whether or not these events will occur at all or
whether there will be total or partial eclipses depends on complicated
movements within the celestial vault that are well understood
and present no problems to astronomers. I will sldp the
procedure of these calculations here because this book has too
many numbers and ciphers already.
Astronomers who specialize in calculating eclipses have made
up tables for thousands of years in the past and the future, showing
the dates, hours, and zones of visibility for all eclipses all
around the world. These modem tables are very useful to archaeologists
and historians for checking the dates of certain past
events described as having occurred during eclipses. For instance,
it is one way to confirm that King Herod died on March
13, in the year 4 B.C., since historical documents mention a lunar
eclipse on the day when he passed away.
Some eclipses have a history of their own. Such is
the oldest
recorded darkening of the sun, in China about 4,000 years ago on
April 26, 2137 B.C. Two official astrologers of Emperor Chung
Kang, who were paid mainly to predict eclipses so that the population
could be told in advance not to panic, got stone drunk on
rice wine on this day and forgot to give the warning. Neither
could they, as the custom required, stand up to shoot arrows at
the monster devouring the sun. So the two culprits. Ho and
Hsi, were decapitated on the spot, and since that time Chinese
astrologers drink nothing but water on days when eclipses
expected.
Another famous solar eclipse took place on a battlefield in
Lydia where, on October 9, 583 B.C., the Medes and the Lydians
after five years of war had lined up for the final attack at sunset.
The sun rose in a blue sky and disappeared in a black shadow.
The combatants laid their swords aside and promised each other
never to fight again. To make sure that the promise would be
kept, each king married the other's daughter. Peace was kept for
several generations or as long as this historic echpse was remembered.
The knowledge of precise dates for eclipses of the past has advantages
for scientists who study the biblical events and try to
rectify obvious errors. For example, we read in Amos 8: "I will
make the Sun disappear at noon and I will cover the earth with
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