This is the transcript of my Youtube video with the same

title.

The Ugaritic texts are a corpus of ancient cuneiform texts

discovered since 1928 in Ugarit in Syria. Approximately
1,500 texts and fragments have been found to date. One
of the tablets found is named KTU 1.78 astronomical text
which records a solar eclipse with the following
description:

SIX.DAY.NEW MOON.HIYYARU
ENTER.SUN.HER GATE.RESHEP

This astro-shorthand is believed to be written by an

Egyptian and should be interpreted as hour six, day of the
new moon (in the month of) Hiyyaru when the sun entered
into her (Shapash’s) Gate in Reshep (Taurus). Now what
is hour six in ancient Egypt? It actually refers to the 6th
Decan. The ancient Egyptians conveniently divided the
360 degree ecliptic into 36 parts of 10 degrees each, and
the decans each appeared, geocentrically, to rise
consecutively on the horizon throughout each daily earth
rotation. The rising of each decan marked the beginning of
a new decanal "hour".

Reshep was a god associated with war and plague, and

this is why many who interpreted this tablet conclude that
it must be the planet Mars. However, Mars the deity is a
Roman god, not Egyptian, and was identified with the
Greek god Ares. It was also the ancient Romans, not the
Egyptians, who named the planet Mars for their god of war
because its reddish color was reminiscent of blood.

Other civilizations also named the planet for this reddish

attribute – for example, the Egyptians called it "Har
Desher" meaning "the red one." But, for the Egyptians, the
planet Mars is just a red planet, and it will be an
assumption to say that they also associate this planet with
war or their god of war because of its color.

Reshep is best attested in texts from Ugarit, Syria where

he was one of the most popular deities. An omen text
describes Reshep as the doorkeeper of the Canaanite sun
goddess, Shapash. Now the Egyptian equivalent of
Reshep was Montu. While the Egyptian equivalent of
Shapash was Hathor, one of the consorts of the Egyptian
sun god Ra. Hathor is represented by a celestial cow.

Montu was a falcon-god of war in ancient Egyptian

religion. A very ancient god, Montu was originally a
manifestation of the scorching effect of Ra, the sun.
Because of the association of raging bulls with strength
and war, the Egyptians also believed that Montu
manifested himself as a white, black-snouted bull named
Buchis to the point that Montu was depicted with a bull's
head too and not just a falcon’s head.

The constellation Taurus is Latin for “the Bull”. Therefore,

instead of the planet Mars, Reshep is best represented in
the sky by Taurus who guards the gate of a goddess
represented by a celestial cow. Now the Sun is visible in
Taurus during the Hebrew month of Iyar and the
Babylonian month of Aru, from which the Ugarit month of
Hiyyaru (an amalgamation of “Iyar” and “Aru”) was
derived. Iyar, and therefore Hiyyaru, usually falls in April
up to May on the Gregorian calendar. With this in mind,
the KTU 1.78 astronomical tablet is basically saying that a
solar eclipse was observed in Ugarit sometime late April to
early May during the 6th decanal hour at the constellation
Taurus.

Earlier, I mentioned that ancient Egyptians used decanal

hours to divide one Earth rotation into 36 units. During the
New Kingdom, which lasted from 1550 to 1070 BC, a new
24 hour time system was introduced which utilized 24
stars, 12 of which were used to mark the passage of the
night.

However, while the Romans start their day at midnight, the

Egyptians start their day in the morning. And
unfortunately, the exact time of morning considered to
begin the Egyptian day remains uncertain. Some say it
was sunrise, others say it was dawn. Astronomical dawn
begins when the Sun is 18 degrees below the horizon in
the morning, and at Ugarit, it is about 1 hour 30 minutes
earlier from sunrise which is when the Sun's midpoint
reaches the horizon.

Now unlike the 24 hour time system which is only used for
timekeeping, the Decan is also used for theurgical
purposes or divine magic. Theurgy describes the ritual
practices associated with the invocation or evocation of
the presence of deities, especially with the goal of
achieving henosis (uniting with the divine). On the reverse
side of the KTU 1.78 tablet, the theurgical inscription
notes, “Two livers were examined: danger”. Clearly, the
Decan was used instead of the 24 hour time system for
this divination purposes.

The solar eclipse described in KTU 1.78 tablet, according

to generally accepted calculations, occurred on May 3,
1375 BC. Using Stellarium and setting the Algorithm of
delta T to JPL Horizons, the location to Ugarit with
coordinates 35° 36' 07.2" N, 35° 46' 55.2" E, the date to
May 3, 1375 BC (or -1374 in astronomical year
numbering) and at 3:51:45 UTC, one can see a solar
eclipse in Taurus with maximum solar obscuration of
95.81% occurring 55 minutes after sunrise, or 2 hours 25
minutes after dawn.

Now using Stellarium and setting the Algorithm of delta T

to JPL Horizons, the location to Ugarit with coordinates
35° 36' 07.2" N, 35° 46' 55.2" E, but the date to April 29,
1011 BC (or -1010 in astronomical year numbering) and at
5:09:30 UTC instead, one can see a solar eclipse also in
Taurus with maximum solar obscuration of 73.71%
occurring 2 hours 11 minutes after sunrise, or 3 hours 41
minutes after dawn.
May 3, 1375 BC and April 29, 1011 BC were both Nisan
30 of their corresponding years. Except that the April 29,
1011 BC eclipse happened 364 years after the May 3,
1375 BC eclipse. Also, on the May 3, 1375 BC eclipse, the
last decanal hour to fully rise above the horizon during the
eclipse was the 4th Decan corresponding to 30° - 39°
Right Ascension as measured from the First Point of Aries.

During the April 29, 1011 BC eclipse, the last decanal hour
to fully rise above the horizon during the eclipse was the
6th Decan corresponding to 50° - 59° Right Ascension.
And the KTU 1.78 astronomical text specifically said that it
was during the 6th Decan, not the 4th, that the recorded
eclipse was observed. Thus, there can be no doubt about
it, the April 29, 1011 BC eclipse was the one described in
the KTU 1.78 astronomical text.

Ammurapi was the last king (circa 1215 BC to 1180 BC) of

the ancient Syrian city of Ugarit who saw its destruction.
He was a contemporary of Chancellor Bay of Egypt who
rose to prominence and high office under Seti II, the fifth
pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt.

For quite an obvious reason, the KTU 1.78 astronomical

text must have been written on or before the final year of
the last king of Ugarit in 1180 BC and before the
destruction of this city. However, the correct date of the
Ugarit eclipse was April 29, 1011 BC, or 169 years later
than 1180 BC. This means the regnal years of Ugarit kings
were dated at least 169 years too early. And since Seti II
was a contemporary of Ammurapi, it also means that the
pharaohs of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and possibly
before and onwards were dated at least 169 years too
early as well.

Not far from the reign of Seti II of the Nineteenth Dynasty

of Egypt, was the reign of Shoshenq I, the founder of the
Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt, whose reign must have
been at least 169 years too early. Now this error on
Shoshenq I’s reign has a colossal effect on the dating of
the Egyptian chronology, or parts of it. Let me show you
why.

Shoshenq I is conventionally identified with the Egyptian

king Shishak referred to in the Bible at 1 Kings 11: 40 &
14: 25 and 2 Chronicles 12: 2–9. According to these
passages, Jeroboam fled from Solomon and stayed with
Shishak until Solomon died. And that Shishak invaded
Judah during the fifth year of the reign of its king
Rehoboam, taking with him most of the treasures of the
Temple and royal palace built by Solomon.

Quite obviously from this Biblical account, Shishak

considered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and its first
king Jeroboam as his ally, while he considered the
Kingdom of Judah and its king Rehoboam as his enemy.
Because Shoshenq I is identified with the Biblical king
Shishak, he has been ascribed a date relative to
Rehoboam’s reign circa 931 to 913 BC, with Shoshenq I’s
reign dated circa 943 to 922 BC.

In other words, the regnal years of pharaohs sometime

before and sometime after and including Shoshenq I were
dated based on the false assumption that Shoshenq I was
the Biblical Shishak. I said “false assumption” because I
have just shown that the current dating of Shoshenq I’s
reign is at least 169 years too early, proving beyond any
doubt that he was not a contemporary of Solomon or
Rehoboam.

Shoshenq I left behind explicit records of a campaign into

Canaan. The names of captured towns are located
primarily in the territory of the northern Kingdom of Israel
(including Megiddo), with a few listed in the Negeb, and
perhaps Philistia. Some of these include a few of the
towns that Rehoboam, king of Judah, had fortified
according to Chronicles. However, the inscription makes
no mention of Jerusalem itself. And this is a big problem,
since Shishak according to 2 Chronicles 12: 2–9
specifically attacked Jerusalem and took away the
treasures of the Temple and the royal palace.

Furthermore, why would Shishak attack the northern

kingdom of Israel in Samaria, when its first king Jeroboam
was his ally? So all this further casts doubt about
identifying Shoshenq I with the Biblical Shishak. But if
Shoshenq I was not the Biblical pharaoh Shishak, then
who is? I will answer this important question in my next
video.