Friday, January 29, 2010

The Star of Bethlehem 32 B.C. as the "Sparkling Star" Comet Recorded in Chinese Records - LexiLine Journal 533

The book review New Book on the Star of Bethlehem and Birth Chart of Jesus » The Horoscopic Astrology Blog is by Chris Brennan who writes:
"A book just came out in which the author proposes a new theory about the Star of Bethlehem and the birth chart of Jesus.The book is aptly titled The Star of Bethlehem. It was written by a Swiss astrologer named Dieter Koch, who is primarily known for his work with the company Astrodienst, as a co-author of the widely used Swiss Ephemeris....He rightly emphasizes the importance that was ascribed to planets making a helical rising in ancient astrology, and then later adds another dimension to the argument when he takes the statement that the star “stopped” over the place of Jesus’ birth as an indication that the relevant star stationed around the time the Magi arrived in Bethlehem. (pg. 57)

Eventually he unveils the crux of his argument, which is essentially that:“Jesus was born at a heliacal rising of Venus!” (pg. 59)"

In our opinion, that theory of Koch is without substance. As Nigel Henbest writes in What was the Star of Bethlehem?
"Was Venus the Star of Bethlehem? Almost certainly not - Venus makes such regular appearances as the "Morning Star" and the "Evening Star" that people observing the heavens even thousands of years ago would have been familiar with it. The Christmas Star must have been a celestial event that was truly out-of-the-ordinary....Chinese astronomers were logging their own observations of the sky at the time, and reported no brilliant supernovae. They did, however, record two bright comets. The first was Halley's Comet, which swings close by the Sun roughly every 76 years.... But the ancient Chinese saw Halley swinging by in 12 BC - too early for the birth of Jesus.The Chinese reported another celestial visitor early in 5 BC - a"broom star" on the borders of the constellations Aquarius and Capricornus. Though some astronomers think this was a nova - an explosion on a dwarf star - Colin Humphreys, a scientist at Cambridge University, argues that it was a comet. And Humphreys is convinced that this tailed wonder was the Star of Bethlehem. The Chinese records show that the celestial visitor was visible for 70 days - long enough to guide the Magi to Bethlehem. In this case, Jesus was born in the spring of 5 BC. "
Postings by others on the topic of the Star of Bethlehem discuss yet other theories:

The Star of Bethlehem, again
at Bad Astronomy discusses a theory that the Star of Bethlehem was the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus - we do not buy that at all.

Colin Humphreys, The Star of Bethlehem, Science and Christian Belief , Vol 5, (October 1995): 83-101, suggests that the Star of Bethlehem was a comet - and that is the theory which we regard to be correct - but which comet and when?

All previous efforts to identify a comet around the era currently assigned to Christ are for naught, because there is a ca. 28-year error in current chronology - see the links below - so that what we regard as the "birth" of Christ was actually his death:

The Era of Jesus: Questions in Modern Calendration
Law, Evidence and Archaeology: Errors in Biblical Chronology
Law, Evidence and Archaeology: Errors in Biblical Chronology II

The result is then that we are looking for a comet around ca. 30 B.C. rather than 0 B.C. and there is indeed such a comet which fits the Biblical account perfectly, having appeared in February in 32 BC and appearing in the heaven's at Ying Shih, which extends into Capricorn, the traditional area of Christ's birth.

See John Williams, Observations of comets, from B. C. 611 to A. D. 1640 (1871), where he writes about the Chinese observation of a comet that appears 50th in his list and was observed in February 32 B.C.:
50 B.C. 32. February.In the reign of Ching Te, the 1st year of the epoch Keen Che, the 1st moon, there was a comet in Ying Shih : its colour was a bluish white. It was from 60 to 70 cubits in length, and about i cubit in width. [emphasis added]
As written in a review of Williams work, Ying Shih is described as follows:
"Ying Shih, or as it is more usually denominated Shih, is one of the 28 stellar divisions determined by [alpha], [beta] and other stars in Pegasus, extending north and south from Cygnus to Piscis Australis, and east and west 17 degrees, and comprising parts of our signs Capricornus and Aquarius."
David Seargent in The greatest comets in history: broom stars and celestial scimitars, Volume 725, writes:
"There seems ... to have been a comet with an exceptionally long tail in the year 32 BC., but it is mentioned - and then only briefly - in just one Chinese record. Moreover, despite noting a tail of at least 70 degrees in length, the object is described as a sparkling star, a designation more normally reserved for comets with no conspicuous tail. Maybe the tail was faint....[emphasis added]
In our view, that "sparkling star" was the Star of Bethlehem.

Aristeo Canlas Fernando writes in his REVELATION AND PROOFS - based on the Bible, accounts of the respected Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, eclipse table prepared by Fred Espanek, Jewish calendars, Jewish festivals and fasts, calendar converter of Timothy James Forsythe, moon phases by Stellafane, Pasiong Mahal (Holy Passion), and the Aristean Cycle - that JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN ON MAY 23, 33 B.C.

We agree that the birth of Jesus occurred in this era ca. 33-32 B.C.l and that the Star of Bethlehem was the Comet of 32 B.C.

It may or may not be coincidence, by the way, but the oldest surviving date for the Maya Long Count also falls "in 32 BC at Chiapa de Corzo, between the Olmec and Maya zones," Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube, Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens, p.13.
______________

Update:

The possible date of 32 B.C. must be considered in light of my previous postings.

Useful for the discussion below is this graphic of the Lion of Nemrut Dagh (Nimrud Dag) linked from the pages of the International Nemrud Foundation:

"

Here is my previous posting on this subject at LexiLine.com :

" For the best material and graphics on Nemrud Dag see the International Nemrud Foundation. The historical background and presentation is excellent but their dating of the lion's horoscope to 109 BC is simply wrong, erroneously using a feast which is dated in the old style calendar, whereas the accepted date of ca. July 5 (new style), 62 BC is correct for the astronomy, which is shown in graphic form below.

Nimrud Dag in Anatolia
(also written as Nemrut or Nemrud)

earthgif
Planets, July 5, 62 B.C. Graphic created using Starry Night Pro.

The LION of NIMRUD DAG (NEMRUT, NEMRUD)

The collar (Sun Moon and Regulus) and stars on the Lion's body (Leo) at Nemrud Dag represent the conjunction of planets near the Summer Solstice in 62 BC (including the Moon this conjunction calculates to exactly July 5, 62 BC, using the software Starry Night Pro). Tradition and a still existing feast "LOOS" at July 14 (old style calendar) states this was the date of the crowning of Antiochus, so that in new style this would be July 5. At that time, MARS, MERCURY, and JUPITER (the later three wise men) whose "gifts" are actually the colors of these 3 planets) were all in conjunction around the star of kings "Regulus" and all the rest of the planets were nearby in Cancer (Sun, Neptune, Uranus, Moon [Summer Solstice point], Venus, Pluto - only Saturn is at Aldebaran) - so that this was a fairly rare MAGNA-conjuction of planets, a REGAL Star (Cluster) of Bethlehem, occurring near the star Beth-el, "Beth-le-hem", ancient name of the star Betelgeuse, below Gemini, which was seen in ancient days as the antipode to Rasalhague (El Hai).

This massive stone relief at Nimrud Dag near Eski Kale in Anatolia is still standing today, near the greatest tumulus mound in all of Europe, perhaps erected to commemorate the then ruling Seleucid King Antiochus Theus (Antiochus of Commagene). We think that Antiochus had a son who was the later Jesus, as the son of Laodike, who, along with her children were allegedly all killed by the Parthian king after Mithradates, Antiochus' successor died. Antiochus ruled from 69-34 BC. We are sure Laodike gave one of her children (the newborn) away for safekeeping, as written in Luke. That would have been 33 BC.

Antiochus viz. Antiochos was King of Commagene, a kingdom north of Antioch, modern Antakya. Antiochus called himself Theus viz. Deus or God. He was a Seleucid king. Seleucid kings took the following titles:
They called themselves
"Epiphanes" - God manifest
and also "Savior", titles later used by Jesus. The people of Commagene had been exiled from their lands by Sargon II - these were the Jews. Jesus was the King of the Jews. According to our analysis, he was a human descendant of Antiochus (we do not discuss his divine nature).

Antiochus claimed to be a "King of Kings"
who traced his lineage back to Zeus on the Greek Side
and to Xerxes and the great Persian kings on the Persian side. He was the first human ever to try to merge the religions of both sides into one universal religion, incurring the wrath of the Roman legions, who invaded Commagene, but were at first repelled, since Antiochus was the first "Western" king to apparently use gunpowder, imported from China. It was only when Julius Caesar invaded Commagene, that the kingdom was doomed and it was this campaign which led to Julius Caesar's famous saying: "veni, vidi, vici" - "I came, I saw, I conquered".

Antioch was the first Christian city and home of the Biblical Luke,
who wrote about the life of Jesus.
Is this a clue to who Jesus was?

GO TO
WHO WAS JESUS?"

or read the material from that link below

"Who was Jesus as a Human ?
Jesus was clearly a human, perhaps divinely inspired.
There is no great doubt that he actually lived on Earth
and started Christianity according to his Father's Wishes.

But who was his father "human" father?



King Antiochus (Antiochos) of Commagene

King Antiochus Theos (God) of Commagene was a Seleucid king.
The Seleucids were kings who called themselves "God" and "Savior".
Antiochus Theos (God) ruled from about 69 B.C. to 34 B.C.

What did Antiochus have to do with Jesus?
Let us look into the evidence.


The Three Kings or Wise Men

Who were the three Zoroastrian "Wise Men" who allegedly
visited the Christ child? Here we find a significant clue.
The THREE Wise Men allegedly gave gifts of gold,
frankincense (milky white) and myrrh (yellow to reddish-brown).
Could these colors be "THREE" planets of conjunction on July 5, 62 BC

shown on a stone relief at Nimrud Dag, temple of Antiochus
(also written as Nemrud, Nemrut and Dagh) in Commagene?



Nimrud Dag (Nemrut Dag) in Commagene

Link to Nimrud Dag.

The large stone monument of a Lion at Nimrud Dag is a "relief"
1.75 meters high and 2.4 meters broad. IT IS STILL STANDING,
virtually unscathed, on the western terrace at Nimrud Dag
in the Commagene (ancient Assyrian KUMMUH) north of Antioch.

Nimrud Dag is a fantastic place. The earth mound tumulus
at Nimrud Dag
is the largest in the world, having a diameter of 150
meters, a height of 49.8 meters West and 39.45 meters East.

KUMMUH is the city from which the original inhabitants
were deported by the imposter
Sargon II to the south from the
Mesopotamian city of Bit-Yakin (looks like a Hebrew name),
whose OWN residents in turn were deported in the other
direction to Kummuh - which accounts for the presence
of the Hebrews there. The Babylonian Captivity?

This large stone relief at Nimrud Dag is the relief of a maned LION
surrounded by and covered with stars. In addition to these stars,
there are three LARGER star-like symbols above the back of the lion,
identified clearly by inscriptions above them as
Jupiter, Mars and Mercury (identification by Otto Puchstein,
an archaeologist who excavated the site).
The three planets correspond in their colors
to the 3 gifts of the wise men.



The Three "Wise Kings"

Puchstein called the stone relief the "first" historical horoscope.
(Vergangene Welten, Faszinierende Funde, Verlag Das Beste,
1986, "Zwischen Zeus und Zarathustra [Zoroaster]".)

It can be dated by astronomy to circa July 5, 62 BC.

The planets at Nimrud Dag represent 3 wise "god kings"
according to archaeologist Friedrich Carl Doerner as follows:

1st planet - Zeus and Ahura Mazda
(LexiLine note: = Jupiter, heavenly father)
2nd planet - Apollo, Mithras, Helios, Hermes
(LexiLine note: the Sun, to which Mercury belonged)
3rd planet - Artagnes, Herakles, Ares
(LexiLine note: Aries, March, to which Mars belonged)

Moreover, on the breast of the lion, there is a horizontal crescent
moon with the Star Regulus inside it (signifying Antiochus).



nimrud

Above is the concentration of planets near the Summer Solstice 62 BC.
It was a MAGNA-conjunction.



Antioch and Christianity

The significance of this relief, the entire Nimrud Dag complex,
and its East and West altar terraces
to Biblical matters has been overlooked for millennia.

Antioch (Turkish Antakya) was the FIRST Christian city
- anywhere. Moreover, it was the "School of Antioch"
- as opposed to the "School of Alexandria"... -
"which stressed the literal interpretation of the Bible
and the completeness of Christ's humanity."
(Encyclopaedia Britannica)

The Western world has followed the School of Alexandria,
"which emphasized the allegorical interpretation of the Bible
and stressed Christ's divinity". This has led to consequent
historical, calendric and religious errors.



The "Kings of Kings"

Antiochus called himself a "king of kings"
much as Jesus was called a king of kings in the Bible.

As the inscriptions at Nimrud Dag show, Antiochus traced

1) his father's lineage through the Achaemenids
(the famous kings Cambyses, Darius, Xerxes, Artaxerxes)
to the Persian godking Ahura Mazda and Zarathustra (Zoroaster), and
2) his mother's lineage through the Seleucid Kings to
Alexander the Great and to the godking Zeus.
Such a "king of kings" was unprecedented in history.



"Given of Mithra"

Moreover, the father of Antiochus was King Mithradates
(the name Mithra-dates means "gift of Mithra",
but in the sense of "given of, born of Mithra").

This corresponds to a planet on the Nimrud Dag relief
Mithras or Mercury/Sun (son of the sun),
just as in the Pharaonic Egyptian tradition
since Mercury belonged to the sun.

Hence, when the Bible speaks of the "gifts" of the 3 Kings,
there has occurred an ancient mistranslation of names
such as Mithradates ("gift of Mithra").
It is a NAME of the king as "given or born of a god or
goddess" and not "that the king has given a gift".



The Birth of Christianity

Antiochus' downfall came when he tried, as the first person ever,
TO UNITE THE RELIGIONS OF EAST AND WEST.
This is monumentally recorded at Nimrud Dag.

This was the birth of "Christianity"
which his "son" of Theos (God)
carried on in his life and preaching
(for what else was Christianity but this idea?).
It was the "cross" or the blend of religions into one idea.

The efforts of Antiochus to unite all religions under one house
brought on the wrath of the Romans
(King Herodus also sided with Rome against the Parthians)
and meant the ultimate forced loss of the Kingdom
of Commagene to Roman rule.



Saviors, Galatia, Nazareth

After Antiochus passed away, and his son Mithradates II proved too weak to withstand the Parthians (Persians), the Parthian king had Antiochus' wife Laodike and allegedly all her children killed. But did Laodike save one of her sons by giving him to a foster couple?

It was the "pagan" regions of Anatolia, such as Commagene,
which were called "Galatia" in ancient times
(see also Biblical Acts, Galatians, Paul and Luke),
much as "Galilae" of the Bible was also called the region
of the pagans after the Syrian conquest, so that when the Bible
speaks of Galilee as the origin of Jesus, this means "to the North"
or "the Black Sea region" or "to the end of the land".

It was only Mary who originally came from Nazareth, and it was
an "Angel" (i.e. a "courier" of the "God" Antiochus) who came to the
virgin Mary in Nazareth "in the sixth month"
[in the sixth month of something...but what?]
Once we read the Bible carefully, it is all very clear.



Luke in the Bible

From reading Luke (and Luke, not coincidentally, was "a man from
Antioch, Syria" see Enc. Brit.) we will come to the likely
conclusion that Antiochus' wife Laodike - in order to save a newborn
son from being killed by the Parthians (a legend retained in the Bible)
had thus given the [presumed] newborn son to Joseph and Mary
to keep and raise incognito.



"In the Sixth Month"

Luke 1, 26 states that in the "sixth month" [of the pregnancy]
Gabriel (the word means courier), in the days of Herodes,
king of Judaea (Herodes ruled from 37 BC to 4 BC
came to the virgin Mary and Joseph in Nazareth.
But what had happened before that visit?

Gabriel had first come to the aged and barren
Zacharias and Elisabeth and had promised them a son.
He had also gotten a vow from Zacharias that he would
not talk about the matter to anyone. Why the secrecy?

Thereupon, Elisabeth, allegedly pregnant, did not permit herself
to be seen for 5 months - obviously pretending to be pregnant.
Then, "in the sixth month" Gabriel went to the virgin Mary
and Joseph, promising Mary even more than Elisabeth,
a "virgin birth" of a "king of kings".

The virgin Mary at this time then went
to the house of Zacharias and Elisabeth, and
- as Elisabeth hears Mary's greeting -
the child of Elisabeth "passes" into Mary's body.
This is all straight from Luke in the Bible.


"Plus Three Months"

Mary remains another "THREE months" (this makes nine
months total) - and returns home only after Elisabeth allegedly
gives birth to a son, who is baptized Johannes by the courier's decree,
- contrary to established family custom, since there had been
no Johannes in the family of Elisabeth or Zacharias -
and THEN the baby "lives in the desert" (under what identity?)
until he is ready to appear before the folk of Israel.

Obviously, Mary has taken the baby, not Elisabeth's baby anyway,
with her. On the order of Gabriel, the baby Johannes is
called Jesus at the circumcision , so that Jesus and
John (Johannes) the Baptist ARE in fact surely the same.

Indeed, before Judas gives Jesus the kiss of death,
the identity of Jesus - as the son of the king of kings -
is not known to the masses, so that he must have been known
as someone else during most of his life, and this can
only be as John the Baptist. In Matthew 16, 14, there is in
fact the phrase that many say that Jesus "is" John the Baptist.



When was the Census ?

In discussing the early life of Jesus - there is mention of the
census during the reign of Augustus Caesar in Luke 2,
which is thought to have occurred ca. 28 BC.

Moreover, in the same context, it talks
about a census in SYRIA ("to the North") under Quirinius.
There is no census anywhere in this region - as related
in the Bible - for the period around 0 B.C. Indeed, this has been
one of the arguments some have raised to claim that the story
of Jesus is a fiction. But the story is true - from a human perspective.
The chronology is just 30 years removed from reality.
This does not mean that the man Jesus may not
have been possessed of "divine grace", however each of us
wants to define that term.



Jesus Did Live and
Did Start the Christian Faith

Jesus did live as a man, and he did start Christianity,
pursuant to this father wishes. The story is true.
The "Divinity" of Jesus, however, is a Question of Faith.

"

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