Assyrian eclipse
The Assyrian eclipse, also known as the Bur-Sagale eclipse, is a solar eclipse recorded in Assyrian eponym lists, most likely dating the ninth year of the reign of king Ashur-dan III. The eclipse is identified with the one that occurred on 15 June 763 BC.
The entry is short and reads:
The phrase used — shamash akallu — has been interpreted as a reference to a solar eclipse since the first decipherment of cuneiform in the mid 19th century.
The name Bur-Sagale is the name of the limmu official
in the eponymous year.
In 1867, Henry Rawlinson identified near-total eclipse of 15 June 763 BC as the most likely candidate, visible in northern Assyria just before noon.
This date has been widely accepted ever since; the identification is also substantiated by other astronomical observations from the same period.
This record is one of the crucial pieces of evidence providing an absolute chronology of the Ancient Near East for the Assyrian period.
