Post by starofbethlehem on Apr 12, 2017 9:08:45 GMT -6
I have written a book where I use the Babylonian manual for divination with events on the night skies in the years 3 BC and 2 BC. Many believe the Star of Bethlehem documentary, by Rick Larson, contains the solution to what made the magi came. My conclusion is that the events he mentions (Jupiter passing Regulus and Venus coming close to Jupiter) means that the King of Akkad (i.e. Mesopotamia) will die. The last omen shall be interpreted in this way, according to the manual:
If Venus reaches Sulpae [Jupiter] and they follow upon each other: high water will carry off the land. If Venus reaches ditto and passes it: a mighty high water will come. If Venus and ditto come close: reign of destruction (concerning) the king of Amurru. If Venus comes near ditto: the land altogether – brother will become hostile to his brother. If Venus enters Jupiter (UD.AL.Tar): the king of Akkad [i.e. Mesopotamia] will die, the dynasty will change, either a soldier will go out or the enemy will send a message (asking for peace) to the land.
(Reiner, Erica and Pingree, David “Babylonian Planetary Omens Part Three, page 45)
The first omen Larson mentions simply means that the dynasty will change. So, there are two signs telling that the dynasty will change. Since the Akkadian king at this time was an occupant (The Parthian king) and since his politics were not good for Babylonia, it was actually a positive sign that the king would die.
The agent of the change is "the King of Amurru", and Amurru is the same as Amorite. The area in question is Syria down to Israel and Jordan, so the magi actually would have expected a new king from a smaller area, who would rise to power and win over the mighty king of Parthia, just as Alexander the Great did three hundred years earlier.
Since the royal house of Herod was the dominant royal house, it would be natural to expect the new king to come from Israel.
So, it is true that the signs point to Israel and a new king, but not in the way Larson thinks. Nothing is said about a birth. The birth could be seen as the nine months between the signs, but that is a guess without support in the manual. However, Revelation says that a woman cried in pain of giving birth. This we do find in the manual. In September 3 BC, when Jupiter is closest to Regulus, Venus is signalling that women will have great difficulties giving birth.
Larson also claims that the Lion is a crown of twelve stars together with some planets. This is false too. The asterism (pattern of the Lion) is not 100% clear, but in my book I point out that the Lion to the Babylonians had feet, stars called left front foot, rear foot and so forth. This is not in Larson's asterism, which is a modern construction.
Further, Larson does not even try to explain who the woman is that is hiding from the snake for 1260 days. I argue that is Venus going to her secret place, as the divination manual calls it, to seek strength. This place is important because from the signal that there will be a "reign of destruction (concerning) the king of Amurru" (see above) to the time when Venus leaves her hiding place after having signalled peace (and victory) to Amurru, this distance in time between the events is about 1260 days. The calculation is best performed if one looks at the last time when Venus signalled peace and then calculate forward, which probably was what the magi did. At any rate, the differens between the calculated time for peace and the actual time of peace is only a few days.
Finally, Larson claims that the star Jupiter lead the magi to Bethlehem, where it stopped, but he really does not explain how. I suggest that anyone can be lead by a star from Jerusalem to Bethlehem if he or she a) sticks to the road Derech Beit Lehem, and b) travel at the same speed as a horse walk, i.e. travel the distance of 8-9 km in about 1 hour and twenty minutes. The reason is that the natural road to Bethlehem starts south and bends gently more and more to the west. During the travel the sky will go west in the same way and fashion since the earth spins to the east. Thus the magi could let their horses (Babylonians did not use camels) pick the speed while the magi looked at the stars. They would find that in late December 2 BC Jupiter would be infront of them, leading them to Bethlehem. Jupiter stopped in the morning. The magi regularly noticed when stars stopped. That was one of their main task. A stop means that the planet stops going in one direction and will turn in the opposite direction. This happened the 25th of December.
That is my theory, and I develop it at www.starofbethlehem.com
Is this theory acceptable to the Christian faith? Is it possible that the magi came and kneeled before Christ, not as kneeling before God but as kneeling in front of a great future king.
If Venus reaches Sulpae [Jupiter] and they follow upon each other: high water will carry off the land. If Venus reaches ditto and passes it: a mighty high water will come. If Venus and ditto come close: reign of destruction (concerning) the king of Amurru. If Venus comes near ditto: the land altogether – brother will become hostile to his brother. If Venus enters Jupiter (UD.AL.Tar): the king of Akkad [i.e. Mesopotamia] will die, the dynasty will change, either a soldier will go out or the enemy will send a message (asking for peace) to the land.
(Reiner, Erica and Pingree, David “Babylonian Planetary Omens Part Three, page 45)
The first omen Larson mentions simply means that the dynasty will change. So, there are two signs telling that the dynasty will change. Since the Akkadian king at this time was an occupant (The Parthian king) and since his politics were not good for Babylonia, it was actually a positive sign that the king would die.
The agent of the change is "the King of Amurru", and Amurru is the same as Amorite. The area in question is Syria down to Israel and Jordan, so the magi actually would have expected a new king from a smaller area, who would rise to power and win over the mighty king of Parthia, just as Alexander the Great did three hundred years earlier.
Since the royal house of Herod was the dominant royal house, it would be natural to expect the new king to come from Israel.
So, it is true that the signs point to Israel and a new king, but not in the way Larson thinks. Nothing is said about a birth. The birth could be seen as the nine months between the signs, but that is a guess without support in the manual. However, Revelation says that a woman cried in pain of giving birth. This we do find in the manual. In September 3 BC, when Jupiter is closest to Regulus, Venus is signalling that women will have great difficulties giving birth.
Larson also claims that the Lion is a crown of twelve stars together with some planets. This is false too. The asterism (pattern of the Lion) is not 100% clear, but in my book I point out that the Lion to the Babylonians had feet, stars called left front foot, rear foot and so forth. This is not in Larson's asterism, which is a modern construction.
Further, Larson does not even try to explain who the woman is that is hiding from the snake for 1260 days. I argue that is Venus going to her secret place, as the divination manual calls it, to seek strength. This place is important because from the signal that there will be a "reign of destruction (concerning) the king of Amurru" (see above) to the time when Venus leaves her hiding place after having signalled peace (and victory) to Amurru, this distance in time between the events is about 1260 days. The calculation is best performed if one looks at the last time when Venus signalled peace and then calculate forward, which probably was what the magi did. At any rate, the differens between the calculated time for peace and the actual time of peace is only a few days.
Finally, Larson claims that the star Jupiter lead the magi to Bethlehem, where it stopped, but he really does not explain how. I suggest that anyone can be lead by a star from Jerusalem to Bethlehem if he or she a) sticks to the road Derech Beit Lehem, and b) travel at the same speed as a horse walk, i.e. travel the distance of 8-9 km in about 1 hour and twenty minutes. The reason is that the natural road to Bethlehem starts south and bends gently more and more to the west. During the travel the sky will go west in the same way and fashion since the earth spins to the east. Thus the magi could let their horses (Babylonians did not use camels) pick the speed while the magi looked at the stars. They would find that in late December 2 BC Jupiter would be infront of them, leading them to Bethlehem. Jupiter stopped in the morning. The magi regularly noticed when stars stopped. That was one of their main task. A stop means that the planet stops going in one direction and will turn in the opposite direction. This happened the 25th of December.
That is my theory, and I develop it at www.starofbethlehem.com
Is this theory acceptable to the Christian faith? Is it possible that the magi came and kneeled before Christ, not as kneeling before God but as kneeling in front of a great future king.
