Scholar:
Utter nonsense. The clay tablet notwithstanding its provenance is open to interpretation and to translation. There are at least four translations in English from the original German article and this tablet has been rigorously examined by Dr Rolf Furuli who is an expert in the Akkadian language
using several different astro programs concluded that Neb's 37th year was in 588 BCE rather than the widely accepted date of 568 BCE which of course validates 607 BCE as the only possible date for the Fall of Jerusalem.
Jeffro on his blogs simply provides his interpretation of the astronomical data in the tablet and there is another website that also provides an alternative interpretation -www. VAT 4956. com
Yes, this tablet could be a 'smoking gun' in that it affirms 607 BCE rather than the controversial 587 or 586 BCE for the Fall but the 'jury is out' on this matter.
One of my hobbies is amateur astronomy. I have been interested in it for 40 years. Does that make me a world expert on anything? No. But I am fairly confident in this area and sometimes the simplest answer is the right answer.
There is a reason the WT over-complicates this subject. Read the 2 part article they wrote about the fall of jerusalem and you will see what I mean. It is designed to make the average person feel that it is a subject that is difficult to understand and its better just to trust that the org has done its research and 607 is right, therefore 1914 is right.
Forget about lunar eclipses, retrograde motions of planets, full moons in slightly wrong positions. It is all white noise to distract from the obvious. The planet Saturn was in a particular part of the sky in a certain year. It doesnt even matter if it was a little bit in front- or behind. That wont make a difference for the purpose of dating the year. That only happens once every 29.4 years. Its a basic concept and its freely available for anyone to observe. All you have to do is go outside at night and look up. (Except for right now because Saturn is behind the Sun :) )
The rest of the planetary observations, which are all accurate, are just extra nails in the coffin of the 607 date. The reason its great that Saturn was visible that year is that it is the best planet to use for dating a certain year because of its slow movement through the zodiac.
Sorry, I said that VAT 4956 casually dismantles 607. I should have said it 'effortlessly' dismantles it.
As for the website vat4956.com, it agrees with the software I am using. Saturn is in the same positon, slightly behind the swallow (Pisces). When it first became visible, in the morning, earlier in the year it was lined up with Pisces. Here is vat4956.com:
Here is Sky View Cafe- I have marked the date, the position of Saturn and the co-ordinates of ancient Babylon:
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