Great Events Connected With Historic Comets in Antiquity
The earliest Comet of which there is any historic record was a Comet mentioned in the oldest cuneiform inscriptions of Babylonia several thousand years before our Christian era, recently found on the north bank of Nahr-al-Kalb, near Beyrut in Syria. This Comet is recorded to have been visible to the naked eye for 29 nights.
At the time Lubienitius wrote his big “History of all the Comets” the exact date of this Comet had not been fixed. Lubienitius, though, had a record of this same Comet, the date of which he fixes at the year 2312 before Christ, the date computed by him and other writers for the beginning of the deluge.
In modern times the great French astronomer Laplace credited a Comet with causing huge floods at the time of the great Deluge.
Two hundred and eighty-eight years after the great Deluge, according to the records of the Chaldean star gazers, there appeared another Comet. This is the date, computed by Lubienitius, for the building of the Tower of Babel and the confusion of tongues.
Two thousand and sixty-four years before Christ, another Comet appeared, as recorded by the Chaldeans. This is the date given for the birth of Abraham.
When Abraham was seventy years old, in the year 1949 B. C., a Comet was seen shining over the Valley of Siddim for twenty-two nights. This is the date given by Bible historians for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the two cities of iniquity which lay in the Vale of Siddim.
Jewish annalists record a Comet in Egypt in the year corresponding to B. C. 1841. This Comet shone at the time of the bitter persecution of the Jews by the Egyptians.
Arabian star gazers have recorded a Comet shining over Arabia 1732 B. C. In that year there was a terrible famine, of which mention is made in the Old Testament.
The ancient Chinese year books record the appearance of a Comet over northern China and Manchuria in the year corresponding to 1537 B. C. The appearance of the Comet, so the Chinese chronicles tell, was followed by a great flood and disastrous famine.
The next Comet of which we have any record, appeared 1515 B. C. This was at the time of the expulsion of the Jews from Egypt.
In the year B. C. 1194, we are told by Hyginus that “On the fall of Troy, one of the Pleiades group of stars rushed along the Heavens toward the Arctic pole, where the star remained visible with dishevelled hair, to which the name of Comet is applied.”
We are informed by Pliny, the Roman historian, that in B. C. 975, the “Egyptians and Ethiopians suffered from a terrible famine, the dire effects of a Comet. It appeared all on fire, and was twisted in the form of a wreath, and had a hideous aspect. It seemed not to be a star, but rather a knot of fire.”
Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions tell us that about 575 B. C., when Nebuchadnezzar overran Elam, “a star arose whose head was bright as day, while from its luminous body a tail extended like the sting of a scorpion.”
According to Pliny, again, a Comet in the form of a horn was seen in the year B. C. 480, just before the great invasion of Greece by Xerxes ending in the bloody sea fight of Salamis.
The next Comet mentioned by Lubienitius appeared in B. C. 466, when it was seen for 75 nights all over Greece. In that year Greece was ravaged by war between the Spartans and Athenians, and the city of Sparta was all but destroyed by an earthquake.
The next Comet appeared one generation later in 431 B. C., and was seen through 60 nights all over the ancient world. This Comet was followed by a terrible pestilence which swept over Aethiopia, Egypt, Athens, and Rome. War broke out all over Greece. It was the beginning of the great Peloponnesian War, which devastated Greece for a generation to follow.
In the year 394 B. C., there was another Comet seen in Greece, followed by the great Corinthian War with the bloody battles of Knidus and Koronea.
Aristotle records a Comet seen by him in his fifteenth year, 371 B. C. The sight of it inspired the youth to a special study of astronomy. The Comet was visible until the end of the first week of July. On July eighth was fought the great battle between the Thebans and Spartans, when Epaminondas, one of the greatest generals of antiquity, overthrew the Spartans.
The next Comet, that of 338 B. C., which was likewise observed by Aristotle, who had then become the teacher of Alexander the Great, marked Alexander’s first public entry into the history of the world. The Comet blazed its brightest on the eve of the bloody battle of Chaeronea, Alexander’s first victory and achievement in war.
In the year 344 B. C., there was another Comet, followed by another war in Greece and Sicily. Diodorus of Sicily wrote of this Comet: “On the departure of the expedition of Timoleon from Corinth for Sicily with all his war ships, the Gods foretold success by an extraordinary prodigy: A burning torch appeared in the Heavens for an entire night and went before the fleet into Sicily.”
The Comets of Carthage
Nearly a hundred years passed before the appearance of another Comet in 240 B. C. This is the first recorded appearance of Halley’s Comet. By the light of this Comet, Hamilcar, the great Carthaginian general, made his young son Hannibal swear eternal enmity to the Romans. Hamilcar was then in the midst of preparations for the war against Rome, which broke out soon afterward.
Comets appear to have been stars of special omen to Hannibal and to his native city, Carthage. Twenty years later, appeared another Comet which shone over Carthage for 22 nights. Its appearance was followed by the outbreak of the great war between Hannibal and the Romans, and by a terrible earthquake in Greece.
The next Comet shone in 204 B. C., when Hannibal suffered his first bloody defeat by Sempronius, while Scipio, Hannibal’s arch enemy, was crossing over to Africa, for the first attack upon Carthage.
The appearance of the next Comet, twenty years later, 184 B. C., which shone through 88 nights over Asia Minor “with a horrible lustre” was followed by the death of Hannibal. Soothsayers at the court of King Prusias of Bithynia, in Asia Minor, whither Hannibal had fled from the Romans, told the King that the Comet betokened Hannibal’s early death. This so wrought on Hannibal’s spirit that he ended his life with poison.
In the year 150 B. C., appeared another Comet “of horrible size.” It was seen for many nights running all over the Mediterranean Sea. Its appearance was followed by the outbreak of the third great Punic War between Rome and Carthage.
Within four years another Comet, blazing over northern Africa in 146 B. C., was followed by the fall of Carthage, which was stormed and utterly destroyed by the Romans.
Mithridates’ Star
Mithridates, King of Pontus, and conqueror of Asia Minor, another arch foe of the Romans, having been born under a Comet, seems to have fallen under the bane of Comets.
During the Winter of 134-135 B. C., preceding Mithridates’ birth, a Comet of unusual lustre flared over Asia Minor through 72 days. This Comet was so bright that its long, flaming tail was plainly visible even in day time. The ancient historian Justinus thus described it:
“Its splendour eclipsed that of the midday sun and occupied the fourth part of Heaven.”
The next Comet, burning through 72 nights again, preceded Mithridates’ accession to the throne of Pontus, 119 B. C.
Mithridates’ fourth Comet, now identified as Halley’s Comet, was seen over Asia Minor through the Winter months of 87-88 B. C., just before the horrible massacre of 150,000 Italians ordered by Mithridates.
Twenty-five years later, 63 B. C., Mithridates saw his Comet for the last time when his own son rose up in arms against him. The omen of the Comet so wrought on Mithridates that he first poisoned himself and then had one of his own soldiers despatch him with his sword.
No other Comet is recorded in ancient history during this century, except the one which was seen shining over Italy preceding the birth (July 11, 100 B. C.) of Julius Caesar, destined to become “The foremost man of all this world,” as Shakespeare calls him.
“Caesar’s Comet” as it came to be known (now identified as Halley’s Comet) appeared again over Italy during the great Civil War between Marius and Sylla, when Caesar was first entering into public affairs and earned his spurs as a warrior.
“Caesar’s Comet” shone again over Rome in the year 60 B. C., when Julius Caesar, together with Pompey and Crassus, took charge of the government of Rome and presently seized supreme power as Consul of Rome.
Ten years later “Caesar’s Comet” was seen once more in Italy in the Winter months of 49-50 B. C., when Caesar, returning from his conquest of Gaul, crossed the Rubicon and began the great Civil War against his rival for power, Pompey.
The last appearance of “Caesar’s Comet,” was in 44 B. C., on the death of Caesar. Its coming was foreseen in a dream by Caesar’s wife Calpurnia, who warned him of the omen, as immortalized in Shakespeare’s lines, put into the mouth of Caesar’s wife:
“When beggars die, there are no Comets seen,
The Heavens themselves blaze forth the death of Princes”;
followed by Caesar’s famous answer, as culled from Plutarch by Shakespeare:
“What can be avoided,
Whose end is purposed by the mighty gods?
Yet Caesar shall go forth; for these predictions
Are to the world in general as to Caesar.”
On the following morning Caesar was murdered at the foot of Pompey’s statue in the Curia.
Immediately after Caesar’s death, records the Roman historian Suetonius in his “Life of Caesar”: “A Comet blazed for seven nights together, rising always about eleven o’clock, visible to all in Rome. It was taken by all to be the soul of Caesar, now received into Heaven; for which reason, accordingly, Caesar is represented in his statue with a star on his brow.”
Only one more Comet is recorded in ancient history before the birth of Christ. This was the Comet, now identified as Halley’s Comet, which shone over the dense forests of Germany, eleven years before the birth of Christ, when Drusus, the brother of Tiberius, was warring against the ancient Germans and robbing them of their last vestige of liberty. At the same time fell the death of Agrippa, who ruled over the Roman Empire in the absence of Augustus.
The Star of Bethlehem
The coming of the Messia, according to the sacred legends of the Jews, was to be foretold by a flaming star.
Many sacred writers have held, and many still hold, as did the distinguished American astronomer R. A. Proctor, that the “Star of Bethlehem,” whose shining trail guided the Wise Men from The East, was a Comet. Lubienitius in his “History of Comets” expressly mentions the Star of Bethlehem as the most important Comet of history.
As a matter of fact our modern astronomical computations prove that a Comet appeared in that year so as to be visible to the naked eye over Arabia, Syria, and the Holy Land.
When this Comet appeared Herod was King of Judea. On the appearance of the Comet, Herod consulted the oracle of the Sibyl in Rome. She told him that the Comet shone in token of a boy destined to be far greater than he.
Herod grew so afraid at this that he caused to be murdered his own two infant sons, Aristobolus and Alexander, and after that his eldest son, the boy Antipater. Herod further ordered the massacre of all male infants born in Judea under this Comet, as told in the Gospel of Matthew (Chap. II., Verse 1). As the Comet kept on blazing in the sky, Herod, becoming desperate, tried to kill himself. Five days after this he died of a loathsome disease.
Christian painters and writers from olden times until now, accordingly have pictured the Star of Bethlehem as a Comet.
Take for instance this description of “The Light in the Sky” as given by Lew Wallace in his “Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ”:
“About midnight some one on the roof cried out: ‘What light is that in the sky? Awake, brethren, awake and see!’
The people, half asleep, sat up and looked; then they became wide awake, though wonder struck.... Soon the entire tenantry of the house and court and enclosure were out gazing at the sky.
And this is what they saw: A ray of light, beginning at a height immeasurably beyond the nearest stars, and dropping obliquely to the earth; at its top, a diminishing point; at its base, many furlongs in width; its sides blending softly with the darkness of night; its core a roseate electrical splendour. The apparition seemed to rest on the nearest mountain southeast of the town, making a pale corona along the line of the summit. The khan was touched luminously so that those upon the roof saw each others’ faces all filled with wonder.
Steadily the ray lingered....
‘Saw you ever the like?’ asked one.
‘Can it be that a star has burst and fallen?’ asked another, his tongue faltering.
‘When a star falls its light goes out.’
After that there was silence on the housetop, broken but once again while the mystery continued.
‘Brethren!’ exclaimed a Jew of venerable mien, ‘what we see is the ladder our father Jacob saw in his dream. Blessed be the Lord God of Our Fathers!’”
Meanwhile the Wise Men from the East, as described in the same story, were travelling over the desert, on the alert for the apparition of the star, whose coming had been revealed to them.
“Suddenly, in the air before them, not farther up than a low hill-top,” writes Lew Wallace, “flared a lambent flame; as they looked at it, the apparition contracted into a focus of dazzling lustre. Their hearts beat fast; their souls thrilled; and they shouted as with one voice: ‘The Star! the Star! God is with us!’”