List of solar eclipses in antiquity

This is a list of selected solar eclipses from antiquity, in particular those with historical significance. Eclipses on this list were not only recorded, but sometimes would have large effects such as ending a war.

Historically significant solar eclipses

Date of eclipse	Type	Saros	Magnitude	Gamma	Time (UTC)			Central Duration	Eclipse Path	Notes
					Start	Mid	End
22 Oct 2137 BC	Annular	9	0.9736	0.3842	–	03:25:29		02m52s		It is said that Ho and Hi, the Drunk Astronomers failed to predict this eclipse. (story may be fictitious or misinterpreted)
3 May 1375 BC	Total	16	1.0295	0.7755	–	04:51:04		02m07s		Ugarit eclipse.
June 24, 1312 BC	Total	35			–	10:44	–	04m33s	Anatolia	Known as Mursili's eclipse, could provide an absolute chronology of the ancient Near East.[1][2][3]
5 June 1302 BC	Total	26	1.0805	0.2982		02:10:48		00:06:25		Early Chinese eclipse.
16 Apr 1178 BC	Total	39	1.0599	0.5187		10:00:58		00:04:33		Odyssey Eclipse.
21 Apr 899 BC	Annular	53	0.9591	0.8964		22:21:56		00:03:04		China's 'Double-Dawn' Eclipse.
June 15, 763 BC	Total	44			–	08:23	–	04m59s		Attested in Assyrian sources and providing an absolute chronology of the ancient Near East.[4]
6 Apr 648 BC	Total	38	1.0689	0.6898		08:31:03		00:05:02		Archilochus' Eclipse.
May 28, 585 BC	Total	57			–	14:28	–	06m05s		Allegedly predicted by Thales; occurred during the Battle of the Eclipse.[5][6]
19 May 557 BC	Total	48	1.0258	0.3145		12:52:26		00:02:22		The Siege of Larisa, firstly recorded by Xenophon.
February 17, 478 BC or October 2, 480 BC	Annular	42/65			–	9:58:51/11:51:0	–	06m00s/07m57s	Greece	Eclipse occurring prior to Xerxes' first march against Greece. The exact dating has been debated, as the writings of Herodotus (who chronicled the eclipse) give a date for which there was no eclipse visible in that area of the world.[7]
August 3, 431 BC	Annular	48			–	14:54:51:8	–	01m04.5s	Greece, Mediterranean Sea	Recorded by Thucydides;[8] Pericles shows his Greek Army that the eclipse was not much more than a covering of the sun by something bigger than his cloak.[9]
21 Mar 424 BC	Annular	42	0.9430	0.9433		07:54:29		00:04:39		8th year of the Peloponnesian War.
May 6, 319	Total	72			–	14:24:49	–	03m56s	Georgia, Europe, Mexico, United States	Thought by astronomers to be the eclipse preceding the Christianization of Iberia by Mirian III of Iberia.[10]
July 17, 334	Annular	80	0.9759	0.3268	–	11:21:41	–	02m23s	Rome, Mediterranean Sea	Recorded by Firmicus Maternus in his Mathesos.[11]

Statistics

Longest total eclipses

Below is a list of the 10 longest total eclipses between the 30th century BC and the 4th century.

Date of eclipse	Central Duration	Reference
30 May 2585 BC	07m17s	[12]
10 June 2567 BC	07m21s	[12]
6 May 2249 BC	07m20s	[12]
17 May 2231 BC	07m21s	[12]
5 June 762 BC	07m25s	[13]
15 June 744 BC	07m28s	[13]
26 June 726 BC	07m18s	[13]
16 June 345	07m17s	[14]
27 June 363	07m24s	[14]
8 July 381	07m22s	[14]

Solar eclipses by century

Century	No.	Eclipse type				Longest eclipse[lower-alpha 1]		Two-eclipse months[lower-alpha 2]	Ref.
		Partial (P)	Annular (A)	Total (T)	Hybrid (H)	Length	Date
20th BC	239	84	71	62	22	11m38s	28 December 1983 BC	March 1958 BC	[15]
19th BC	253	93	80	63	17	08m57s	28 October 1896 BC	January 1806 BC	[16]
18th BC	254	95	74	64	21	11m10s	10 November 1710 BC		[17]
17th BC	230	75	71	60	24	12m07s	12 December 1656 BC	July 1611 BC	[18]
16th BC	225	78	67	59	21	10m07s	25 January 1583 BC	June 1535 BC, May 1524 BC	[19]
15th BC	226	77	69	62	18	10m00s	25 September 1410 BC	April 1448 BC	[20]
14th BC	234	76	84	68	6	11m29s	18 November 1320 BC		[21]
13th BC	250	93	86	64	7	11m11s	9 December 1284 BC	December 1210 BC	[22]
12th BC	252	93	89	63	7	10m27s	14 December 1108 BC	October 1123 BC, September 1112 BC	[23]
11th BC	238	79	91	68	0	10m34s	25 December 1090 BC	August 1036 BC, July 1025 BC, June 1014 BC	[24]
10th BC	226	84	75	61	6	09m01s	24 October 984 BC		[25]
9th BC	225	80	75	66	4	10m21s	7 November 817 BC		[26]
8th BC	234	79	88	64	3	11m29s	10 December 763 BC		[13]
7th BC	253	96	87	63	7	10m06s	22 November 604 BC	December 689 BC, November 678 BC, October 602 BC	[27]
6th BC	255	96	86	65	8	10m50s	4 January 531 BC	September 591 BC, August 515 BC, July 504 BC	[28]
5th BC	241	84	78	62	17	10m24s	26 January 495 BC	May 417 BC	[29]
4th BC	225	83	63	56	23	10m16s	7 December 391 BC		[30]
3rd BC	226	83	62	57	24	11m47s	30 November 214 BC		[31]
2nd BC	237	80	73	63	21	12m08s	22 December 178 BC		[32]
1st BC	251	92	77	65	17	08m51s	14 February 87 BC		[33]
1st AD	248	90	75	58	25	11m18s	4 November 96	August 7, July 18, April 97	[34]
2nd AD	237	80	77	64	16	12m23s[lower-alpha 3]	7 December 150		[36]
3rd AD	227	79	74	69	5	11m09s	8 January 205		[37]
4th AD	222	73	76	66	7	10m44s	2 January 363		[14]

1. All eclipses listed are annular. See § Longest total eclipses above for longest total eclipses
2. Months listed in this column had two eclipses occur during that time period
3. This is the longest annular eclipse in the five-millennium period between the 20th century BC and 30th century.^[35]

References

1. KUB XIV 4.24: [ma-a-an I-NA KUR A]zi-ma i-ia-ah-at nu ^dUTU-us sa-ki-ya-ah-ta "[When] I marched [to the land of A]zzi, the Sungod gave a sign." Theo P. J. Van Den Hout, The Purity of Kingship: An Edition of CTH 569 and Related Hittite Oracle Inquiries of Tutẖaliya (1998), 42f. Archived 2020-01-30 at the Wayback Machine
2. Trevor R. Bryce, The Kingdom of the Hittites, Clarendon Oxford University Press, (1998)
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-09-15. Retrieved 2009-12-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. Rawlinson, Henry Creswicke, "The Assyrian Canon Verified by the Record of a Solar Eclipse, B.C. 763", The Athenaeum: Journal of Literature, Science and the Fine Arts, nr. 2064, 660-661 [18 May 1867].
5. Stephenson, F. Richard; Fatoohi, Louay J. (1997). "Stephenson, F. Richard, and Louay J. Fatoohi. "Thale's Prediction of a Solar Eclipse." Journal for the History of Astronomy 28 (1997): 279". Journal for the History of Astronomy. 28: 279. Bibcode:1997JHA....28..279S. doi:10.1177/002182869702800401. S2CID 118345852. Archived from the original on 2019-07-15. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2009-12-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. Lynn, W.T. (1884). "Eclipses during the war of Xerxes with the Greeks". The Observatory. 7: 138–140. Bibcode:1884Obs.....7..138L. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
8. "Eclipse – Assyrian". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 12 August 2020. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
9. "The Eclipse of Pericles • An Exchange in 'The Observatory' (1884)". penelope.uchicago.edu. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
10. Sauter, J. Simonia, I. Stephenson, F. R. & Orchiston, W. (2015) The Legendary Fourth-Century Total Solar Eclipse in Georgia: Fact or Fantasy? Springer Publishing p. 24, 42
11. Maternus, Mathesos libri octo, I.iv.10.
12. "Catalog of Long Total Solar Eclipses: -2999 to -2000". Archived from the original on 2014-11-19. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
13. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −0799 to −0700". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
14. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: 0301 to 0400". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
15. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −1999 to −1900". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
16. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −1899 to −1800". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
17. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −1799 to −1700". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
18. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −1699 to −1600". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
19. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −1599 to −1500". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
20. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −1499 to −1400". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
21. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −1399 to −1300". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
22. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −1299 to −1200". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
23. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −1199 to −1100". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
24. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −1099 to −1000". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
25. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −0999 to −0900". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
26. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −0899 to −0800". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
27. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −0699 to −0600". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
28. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −0599 to −0500". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
29. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −0499 to −0400". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
30. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −0399 to −0300". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
31. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −0299 to −0200". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
32. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −0199 to −0100". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
33. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: −0099 to 0000". NASA. Archived from the original on October 18, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
34. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: 0001 to 0100". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
35. "NASA – Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses". eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on 9 October 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
36. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: 0101 to 0200". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.
37. "Catalog of Solar Eclipses: 0201 to 0300". NASA. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2019.