Narrowing down some historical dates with astronomy
Marcelo Magnasco and Constantino Baikouzis identified four astronomical events in the epic poem [The Odyssey] and calculated dates within 100 years of the fall of Troy that would fit in with the events described around Odysseus’s return home and the ensuing slaughter of men propositioning his wife. April 16, 1178 BCE was what they came up with
I hope that the language tutors prepositioning his wife were spared, but Homer was silent about that. Anyway, there’s also a correction to the dates for Caesar’s invasion of England, based on the tides.
And last week, Matt explained more over at Built on Facts
On June 15, 763 BC a total eclipse appeared in Assyria. Mentioned both in Assyrian records and (possibly) the Biblical book of Amos, it’s the oldest specific date of which I’m aware in ancient near eastern history. More spectacularly but later, an eclipse on May 28, 585 BC ended a battle between the Medes and the Lydians by terrifying the combatants into an immediate peace agreement. If you don’t count an eclipse by itself as being a historical event, I believe this is the single oldest event which can be pinned to a specific date.