riori_ more likely that they should have
taught astronomy to their neighbours, than have learnt it even from the
most advanced.

There must have been numberless eclipses of the moon seen in the ages
during which the Canon of Holy Scripture was written. Of eclipses of the
sun, total or very nearly total over the regions of Palestine or
Mesopotamia, in the times of the Old Testament, we know of four that
were actually seen, whose record is preserved in contemporaneous
history, and a fifth that was nearly total in Judaea about midday.

The first of the four is recorded on a tablet from Babylon, lately
deciphered, in which it states that on "the 26th day of Sivan, day was
turned into night, and fire appeared in the midst of heaven." This has
been identified with the eclipse of July 31, 1063 B.C., and we do not
find any reference to it in Scripture.

The second is that of Aug. 15, 831 B.C. No specific record of this
eclipse has been found as yet, but it took place during the lifetime of
the prophets Joel and Amos, and may have been seen by them, and their
recollection of it may have influenced the wording of their prophecies.

The third eclipse is recorded on a tablet from Nineveh, stating the
coincidence of an eclipse in Sivan with a revolt in the city of Assur.
This has been identified with the eclipse of June 15, 763 B.C.

The fourth is that known as the eclipse of Larissa on May 18, 603 B.C.,
which was coincident with the final overthrow of the Assyrian Empire,
and the fifth is that of Thales on May 28, 585 B.C.

The earth goes round the sun once in a year, the moon goes round the
earth once in a month, and sometimes the three bodies are in one
straight line. In this case the intermediate body--earth or
moon--deprives the other, wholly or partially of the light from the sun,
thus causing an eclipse. If the orbits of the earth and moon were in the
same plane, an eclipse would happen every time the moon was new or full;
that is to say, at every conjunction and every opposition, or about
twenty-five times a year. But the plane of the moon's orbit is inclined
to the plane of the earth's orbit at an angle of about 5 deg., and so an
eclipse only occurs when the moon is in conjunction or opposition and is
at the same time at or very near one of the nodes--that is, one of the
two points where the plane of the earth's orbit intersects the moon's
orbit. If the moon is in opposition, or "full," then, under these
conditions, a