[The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 4. (of 7): Babylon by George Rawlinson]@TWC D-Link bookThe Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 4. (of 7): Babylon CHAPTER V 47/53
The others were partial, the portion of the moon obscured varying from one digit to seven. There is no reason to think that the observation of eclipses by the Babylonians commenced with Nabonassar.
Ptolemy indeed implies that the series extant in his day went no higher; but this is to be accounted for by the fact, which Berosus mentioned, that Nabonassar destroyed, as far as he was able, the previously existing observations, in order that exact chronology might commence with his own reign. Other astronomical achievements of the Babylonians were the following. They accomplished a catalogue of the fixed stars, of which the Greeks made use in compiling their stellar tables.
They observed and recorded their observations upon occultations of the planets by the sun and moon. They invented the _gnomon_ and the _polos_, two kinds of sundial, by means of which they were able to measure time during the day, and to fix the true length of the solar day, with sufficient accuracy.
They determined correctly within a small fraction the length of the synodic revolution of the moon.
They knew that the true length of the solar year was 365 days and a quarter, nearly.
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