Revelation and Babylonian Astrology

With appendix: Communications with professor XXX

Dag Kihlman www.starofbethlehem.com

Abstract

Hermann Gunkel claimed that Revelation 12 is a chapter with a different origin than the rest of Revelation. He argued that the author built Revelation 12 on a Babylonian myth about the birth of a new king who would grow up and defeat the dragon.

In this paper, a new and different theory is put forward. It is suggested that Revelation 12 is connected to the Babylonian divination manual, Enuma Anu Enlil. In it we find possible omens behind the woman screaming in pain, we find a demon trying to catch children, we find a woman with a secret place where she gains nourishment and we find several omens about floods.

The seven headed dragon is a well-known Babylonian creature, but it is neither red nor crowned. But red and crowned is a technical term in the manual.

In this paper it is suggested that Revelation 12 is the interpretation of three real celestial scenes, the first in September of 3 BC. Combined they announce the birth of “the king of Amurru” (i.e. Amorite) who will defeat the Parthian king, visualized on the sky as the dragon. The second scene was seen nine months after the first, and the third was seen 1260 days after the second. The second omen contains a suggestion to send a delegation to the new king. The third tells when Amurru will win peace.

The Parthian king continues as the dragon in Revelation 13, who had to pass the authority over Armenia to the beast, Emperor Nero, who won the authority to install a Parthian prince, the little beast with the dragons tongue, as king of Armenia.

Revelation 6 can also be linked to Babylonian astrology and shows that the author has gained some knowledge in the subject, partly through the Hebrew bible.

This paper was submitted to British New Testament Conference 2018, but rejected with a kind reply.

Acknowledgments

Image on front page: Photograph of door portal at St Trophime in Arles, France. © Keith Hall; used with permission obtained on 25th October 2016.

Image of seven headed dragon: Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

Dag Kihlman [email protected] © 2018-05-12

Version 2018-05-22 17:00

Introduction In this paper, the connections between Revelation and Babylonian divination will be examined. It will focus on Revelation 12 and examine if Revelation 12 could be seen as the remnants of a protocol of the magi visiting Christ in Bethlehem. If this can be demonstrated, we have a better understanding why the author of Revelation is so interested in heavenly scenes. We also understand why he is interested in the four creatures of Ezekiel 1 and the four horses of Zechariah 6. The creatures of Ezekiel could be seen as representations of the four cardinal points and the faces could be linked to the four major male Babylonian gods. 1 The horses in Zechariah might be connected to the four cardinal points too, if they are connected to Babylonian divination. The colours as such are used in Babylonian divination 2 and are connected to planets 3, and these planets are in turn related to the same male gods.

The main god, Marduk is connected to the constellation Taurus and to the planet Jupiter, seen as the white planet. Bull and white represents east. Three months earlier in the zodiac we see Aquarius, the (water)man/angel who represents the main war god of late Babylonian time: Nabu. He is related to Mercury, seen as red. According to Revelation 6, the white rider comes with the bow, but the bow is not a bow for war. It is the red rider who arrives with war.

Another three months earlier we find Scorpio, which is related to the god Ninurta, who in turn is also related to Saturn, which is seen as the black planet in divination. According to Revelation 6, the black rider is holding a scale. This fits well with ancient view on the constellations. Until the early 20th century, the constellations shared stars. To the ancient astronomers, the balances of Libra were The claws of Scorpio 4. Scorpio is connected to nourishment in Babylonia, and prices of food is his weapon in Revelation 6. Ninurta is represented by Scorpio in the zodiac, but he is also represented by the Eagle. In the four creature pattern, Eagle replaces Scorpio.

The fourth male god is Nergal, who is the king of the dead, of pestilence and wild animals, just as the fourth rider in Revelation 6. He is connected to the constellation Leo and the planet Mars. In divination, the colour of Mars varies, and in the colour pattern this fourth colour varies.

A critical reader will say that the number of basic colours is limited and that the connections could be seen as coincidental. Other readers might feel that the connections suggested are too many too be coincidental, but at the same time feel that the arguments are new and that further examinations by others are necessary to see if several researchers reach the same conclusions.

The aim of this paper is not to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that Revelation 6 is connected to Babylonian divination. The aim is to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that Revelation 12 is connected to Babylonian divination and the birth of Christ.

In doing so, probability calculations will be used, probability calculations that certain events will be seen on the sky on certain dates. The evidence is thus the fact that Revelation 12 can be connected to events in the sky on three different dates and that these events will be interpreted, according to the Babylonian divination manual, in such a way that the events are the reason why the magi travelled to Jerusalem and that their interpretation has been preserved as Revelation 12.

1 Peterson (2012). p. 119 2 Koch-Westenholz (1995: 91, 97) 3 Frequently in Enuma Anu Enlil, the Babylonian divination manual 4 White (2014), p. 229 1

Probability calculations examine the probability that certain events will occur. For instance, the likelihood to throw one six when throwing one dice is 1 to 6. To throw two sixes when throwing two dices is (1/6) * (1/6) = 1 to 36. In other word, probability for two unrelated events to happen is the probability of the first event multiplied with the probability of the second event.

A critical reader will of course be careful and wonder if each probability in itself is correct. If the probability for each event is calculated too high or too low, it will greatly influence the final probability for all events. Since the probability concerns events on the sky, some readers might feel that they are not able to verify that the probability is correct. That is of course true, but eventually the calculations will be examined and be considered reasonable.

Until experts examine my calculations, I expect my theory to be met with caution. I have actually assumed that it will take about ten years for my proof to be accepted. In Popper’s terms, the theory is falsifiable and thus scientific, but the effort needed to falsify the theory means that the theory will not be accepted at first. However, I challenge my readers to falsify the theory.

A particular point of interest is the death year of Herod, and most scholars accept that it happened around the year 4 BC. I consider this date to be very poorly researched. It is primarily based on Josephus’ writings and other “facts” based only or partly on Josephus. The idea that Josephus is a reliable witness concerning Herod’s death is actually an idea contrary to what Josephus himself writes.

He tells us his sources for Herod, two of which clearly wrote well before the death of Herod. The third, Nicolaus of Damascus worked for Herod and wrote a history about Herod. He is thus a perfect first hand witness, near in time and place, if he wrote after the death of Herod. However, Josephus clearly states that Nicolaus “wrote in Herod’s lifetime, and under his reign, and so as to please him”. This suggests that Nicolaus’ text ended before the death of Herod. The fact that Josephus is reliable concerning Herod’s life does not mean that he is reliable for the years around the death of Herod.

I have seen no historian addressing the problem that Josephus’ reliability drops around the year of Herod’s death. I have examined the dates in Josephus’ writings and come to the conclusion that the reason why scholars offer different dates for the death of Herod simply is because the information about the death does not match the earlier dates in Herod’s life. If we say that the year when Herod died is unknown, then the earlier dates can easily be put in to a coherent and logical framework. 5 The Babylonian Divination manual, Enuma Anu Enlil We have access to the manual used by the magi in Babylonia. It is reasonably easy to follow, and the omens are precise, for instance: “If Venus reaches Sulpae [Jupiter] and they follow upon each other: high water will carry off the land.“ 6 This omen is easy to understand if we are aware that all planets, the moon and the sun appear to be travelling on the same path among the constellations. The constellations they pass are the same as the twelve star signs in the zodiac.

Venus travels at a larger speed, but depending on her position in relation to the Earth, she might seem to slow down, stop or even reverse. It is thus possible for Venus to catch up with Jupiter and then slow down and appear to follow it.

Most of the rules are as clear as this, and it is necessarily so. The reason is that the diviners are working for the king and must reach approximately the same conclusions. Greek and Roman

5 I develop this in chapter 9 in my book: Kihlman (2017) 6 Reiner and Pingree (1998), p. 45 2 astrology focuses on the positive or negative influence of planets and their relationship to each other. This is considerably more open to interpretation and differences in results.

The nature of the omens and the connection to events in the sky mean that we are not free to imagine any interpretation we want. On the contrary, our hands are bound by what really happens and can be seen in a planetary software and how the same events are interpreted by the omen series. If Revelation 12 is mere fantasies, the probability is very high that it can be shown not to comply with real events in the sky and their interpretation according to the manual. Methodology To better explain the methodology used, I have taken an example from a completely different case, which is the image below of a fire place.

At first glance it seems as just another fireplace, but the location is in the middle of nowhere, a shady place not suitable for a picnic. Some things suggest this fire might be connected to a murder case. First of all, it is fifteen minutes’ walk from the home of someone who is in custody suspected of protecting the murderer, who is wanted by the police. If you look carefully at the image you will notice some strange things. What is strange? The strange thing is that the fireplace has been cleaned. Pieces of burnt material can only be found outside the place where it burnt. This suggests that someone has cleaned the place carefully at night, and thus missed the pieces of lump around the fire.

Someone might argue that the pieces of lump could belong to anyone and that it would be impossible to piece together such small fragments and bind it to the suspected murderer. The police were not interested in this place, at first. But at the scene there were three pieces of text, obviously belonging together, being an extended label, perhaps a laundry label. Due to the lack of interest, the images of the label found their way to social media, where the murder was discussed heavily, since the murdered woman had not been found at this stage. Two hours later a shirt was identified and three images of the suspected murder in this very shirt was on public display on the Internet.

The police went out and fetched the evidence the following day, and doing so they passed shops with newspaper posts with the image of their suspected murderer wearing the shirt they were out to

3 fetch. The police were later able to recover surveillance photos of the murderer and the murdered woman taken some hours before the murder, where the murderer had the shirt, and where his other clothes could be seen. Surveillance photos served as the physical proof to compare the pieces found at the fireplace.

While it is true that the pieces of lump in themselves are hard to identify and link to the murderer, the photos serves as the image on the box of a puzzle. The murderer was eventually convicted and sentenced.

The murderer was not convinced because the shirt "could" be his. He was not convinced because a piece of plastic "might" be his rucksack. He was not convicted because the "possibility" that some pages from a book "perhaps" belonged to him. But the theory is formed using "could", "might" and "perhaps" and "possibility". If the burnt things do not belong to the murderer, it will quickly be falsified and the "could", "might", "perhaps" and "possibility" are proved to be false assumptions.

When reading this paper, the reader should keep in mind that all the assumptions made about Revelation is a house of cards. The "could", "might" and "perhaps" and "possibility" will be checked using natural sciences and a manual translated by persons who did not have the Star of Bethlehem in mind. Thus the falsifiability is high.

The fireplace could be seen as just another fireplace and the evidence might never have been found and examined. In the same way, Revelation 12 can be said to be just another ordinary chapter in the Bible, with no link to Babylonian divination. If we are able to see some links, we might start to explore the possibility that it is linked to divination. If that is the case, the three scenes described in Revelation 12 must be matched against the terminology and scenes in the divination manual.

Some might think that this is easily done and proves nothing. I agree! The first step is to identify the scenes, but the scenes must also fit the story. If the first scene is about death of cattle, the second about failure of crop and the third is about an attack of the enemy, well then we can prove definitely that the scenes in Revelation 12 have nothing to do with Babylonian divination. Every assumption carries its own seed of death, since it must be validated against reality.

But if the scenes fit, this is not enough either. The scenes must also be seen on the sky, and Revelation 12 actually contains some criteria that must be met, when finding the dates.

But even if the dates fit and the scenes are actually seen on the sky, the scenes must form a coherent picture. We must be able to explain why the magi would connect the three scenes.

All these steps are repeatable and the probability that any of these steps will fail is rather high. If a theory is falsifiable and if the probability is very high that it will be falsified if it is not true, then the theory is scientific and very strong if it is found to match the empirical data.

Anyone can understand that it is very likely that the murderer's disappeared clothes were burnt at the fire place, since everyone understands that pieces of lump can be compared with the originals as pieces of a puzzle. That the same is the case with real events on the sky and their interpretation according to the divination manual is also a puzzle is not equally evident. We must understand both astronomy and the divination manual to see that it is a puzzle. However, since most persons do not have the time to examine this amount of data, the evidence will be met with silence until someone else confirms my conclusions.

4

The reader can test probability through a little experiment. Try to guess in which star sign Venus is today! You have a probability of 1 to 12 to guess right since Venus moves around the twelve signs and they are one twelfth of her path. Try to guess where Mars is too. It has a probability of 1 to 12, and the probability you have located Venus and Mars correctly is 1 to 144. Do you believe your guess is correct? Guess the location of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The chance is 1 to 248 832. You realize that your guess probably is wrong.

If you found an ancient document where the planets are correctly located, you know that the probability is 1 to 248 832 that someone might accidentally guess correctly – would you conclude that the ancient document is a guess or a text written by someone who has observed or calculated the locations of the planets? Is 1 to 248 832 a probability so low that you find it very reasonable to assume that the ancient document is not a guesswork?

Try instead to pick a date when Venus enters Leo the next time. It ought to be seen in a single day, but it happens more than once in a year. Thhus, the chance of picking the right date is roughly 1/120. The probability to pick five right dates for Venus is then 1 to 24 832 000 000.

This shows how probability decreases rapidly for each independent fact which shall fit. Revelation 12 might be connected to the divination manual. If that is the case, certain things shall be seen on three dates. You are yourself a witness of how difficult it is to make up a description of the sky and make it fit, and you logically understand that if it fits, it is probably due to observation or calculation.

In hope to avoid any misunderstandings I want to stress: The hypothesis is not the proof. The hypothesis is assumptions. The proof is that the hypothesis can be tested against reality and stands the test while the probability is extremely high that it will fail the test if the theory it is false. Revelation 12 and Enuma Anu Enlil In this paper, we are going to examine the connection between Revelation 12 and the birth of Christ. Revelation 12 claims to be omens seen, we do not know by whom, in the sky. The author of John does not use "I saw" at all in this chapter, as he so commonly does in the other chapters of Revelation. So nothing contradicts that the scenes actually were seen by someone else.

These are the three scenes: In the first one a woman is clothed by the sun and has the moon under her feet. She screams in agony of childbirth. In the second scene a seven headed dragon is cast down to Earth by an angel. The dragon is red and has crowns on his heads. In the last scene, 1260 days after the second, the woman leaves a place where she has been nourished. The woman gives birth to a child, which the dragon tries to catch. The child is going to rule with an iron sceptre and rule all nations.

If we have read the manual, we notice that some elements of the story can easily be connected to the divination manual. For instance, red crown is a technical term in the manual. It means that Mercury is above the dragon’s heads. The omens also contain a daemoness who tries to devour newly born. The seven headed dragon with horns is also a solid Babylonian concept.

5

Figure 1, The seven headed dragon. Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.

These connections could be explained by saying that the author of Revelation is living in the same cultural context and thus have access to certain myths and concepts. The connections need not imply a direct connection to Babylonia or to Babylonian divination.

The description in Revelation 12 is about the birth of someone, but the signs mentioned are not about a birth of a king, according to the manual. First of all, the woman which can be clothed by the sun is the constellation Virgo. She is clothed by the sun every autumn, and then she is the active star sign, according to ancient astrology. During her time as active star sign, the moon will travel along the zodiac. This means that the moon will be at the woman’s feet a few days every year. This is not a sign. Mercury above the dragon is not a sign either. There is a hiding place in Scorpio, but Virgo cannot hide in Scorpio. However, the star signs and the planets represents the gods, so Virgo is the Queen of Heaven, but the Queen of Heaven is also represented by Venus. As Venus she could leave her hiding place, but the omens connected to Venus and her hiding place are not immediately connectable to the birth of Christ. As Venus, she can also signal difficult births.

Finally, the things described in Revelation 12 does not contain any date which can serve as a starting point. We are only told that the two last signs are 1260 days apart. From an astronomical point of view, Venus will occasionally be seen leaving her hiding place 1260 days after Mercury has been over the heads of the dragon, assuming constellation Hydra is meant. It occasionally happens 1260 days apart, but without a proper date for any of the two last events, we cannot easily check if this happened in connection with the birth of Christ.

We will shortly return to the omens and try to connect it with real events in the sky at three specific dates, but first we will examine other arguments for connecting Revelation 12 to Babylonia. Hermann Gunkel’s view Hermann Gunkel has written Schöpfung und Chaos , and in it he examines Revelation 12. First of all, he assumes that the story originally is a Babylonian myth about someone who will be born and as grown up will kill the dragon. 7 He sees the fight between the dragon and the angel as a representation of the primeval fight between good and bad, but he finds no “adequate explanation” 8 to why the dragon casts down stars. Gunkel was convinced that the woman crying in pain and agony did not come from a Jewish tradition, but from a Babylonian source. One of his reasons is that the woman’s excruciating pain does not play any role in the text as we have received it. 9 Gunkel also comments the fact that the woman is seeking nourishment in a deserted area. As Gunkel pointed

7 Gunkel (2006: 240) 8 Gunkel (2006: 156) 9 Gunkel (2006: 155) 6 out, a desert is no place to find food.10 Gunkel also believed that the eagle of Revelation 12: 14 originally was her protector. He sees the eagle too as coming from a Babylonian tradition. 11 Gunkel also considers Revelation 12 to be “very strongly Hebraized”, and that the language used suggest that Revelation 12 comes from another source than the rest of Revelation. 12

Gunkel’s view has not gained acceptance, but the things he points out are relevant, and it is interesting to see if these things are better explained if Revelation 12 can be connected to Babylonian divination. For instance, the woman screaming in pain could be Venus, since she can tell if births will be difficult or easy, and in that capacity she tells that the new king is about to be born. The Eagle might be a constellation or a representative of a god. The casting down of stars might be what one actually could see, and the idea that the dragon fight is seen in the sky could be seen as a sign of what the new born would do: cast down the dragon on Earth, but who is then the dragon on Earth? We will return to that shortly. The only omen about a new king There is only one omen in the Babylonian omen series which would make the magi interested in a new king from the west, i.e. western Syria, Lebanon and Israel. This omen is seen over a period of a few days as Venus comes closer and closer to Jupiter and finally merges with it as one star in the sky.

A magi could expect to see this omen perhaps once in his life. The probability that it would be seen sometime near the birth of Christ depends on the marginal you accept. Let us say that the chance is 1 in 10 that it was seen sometime near approximate birth of Christ. As a matter of fact, the sign was seen in the middle of June of 2 BC.

The chance is thus rather high. The omen as such is not about the birth of a king. Rather it is about the arrival of a new king to Mesopotamia, who will reign with terror. During his war against Mesopotamia, the Mesopotamian king will die and a new dynasty will arise:

“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.” 13

At first the omen can be seen as a poor candidate as the Star of Bethlehem. Nothing is said about a birth. The new king is a warrior king and reigns with terror. He is also the enemy of Mesopotamia, so why travel to him and greet him? Well, perhaps to seek peace? The Christmas gospel has a strong connection to a message about peace, that is a link, but on the whole, the omen is a poor candidate since nothing is said about a birth.

Some readers will also think that anything can be proven with astrology and that two astrologers do not reach the same conclusion. As said above, the omen is very clear: Venus will occasionally pass Jupiter. If they follow each other, there will be a flood. If Venus reaches Jupiter, the flood will be

10 Gunkel (2006: 158, 167-168) 11 Gunkel (2006: 175-176) 12 Gunkel (2006: 129) 13 Reiner and Pingree (1998), p. 45 7 mighty. If Venus passes at a distance, nothing else will happen. But if it comes close to Jupiter, the King of Amurru will arrive. The words close, near and enter tells how close they come.

This omen fits well with Revelation 12 in one respect, and that is the statement in Revelation that the new king is going to rule with an iron sceptre. A sceptre should be of precious metals, but the author of Revelation relies heavily on the Hebrew Bible, and probably he is thinking of Psalm 2:9: “You will break them with a sceptre of iron; you will dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

The omen about this warrior king is the only candidate, if the magi came from Babylonia and used Babylonian divination. Some maintain that the magi came from Parthia, but the Parthian magi are not known to have practiced divination of stars. In order to see Parthian/Persian magi as candidates, one has to assume that they practiced astrology without any written support for such an assumption. On the contrary, the written evidence suggested that their divination of stars started two centuries later. 14

Of course, it is not a good argument that the omen above is the only possible one and thus “must” be the omen the magi used, if the story is true at all. If the omen above was the only piece of evidence we had, it would be just another explanation of the Star of Bethlehem.

In this paper it is suggested that we do have other evidence proving that this is the omen the magi used, and that proof is included in the Bible as Revelation 12. Theory of what the magi saw This paper suggests that the magi came to Jerusalem seeking a young child who would defeat the Parthian king, who occupied their land, and they believed the child was the future “King of kings”, which is the Babylonian/Persian/Parthian royal title. That is also why the prostrated in front of him, their future king.

It is suggested that the magi combined omens from three different times, and combined they tell about the new born king of Amurru, born in a difficult birth with danger for his life as the demoness Lamasthu is trying to snatch him. But the child is protected at his father’s right side. His mother seeks strength from her son for 1260 days, which is the time the war will last. In the sky, the magi saw the dragon fall to earth, pressed down by an angel. It was the heavenly representation of what will happen on Earth. The dragon represents the Parthian king and the gods had decided to throw him down and send a new king, who would be a kind of new Alexander the Great, i.e. come from a small state and defeat a mighty empire. Real events must comply with Revelation 12 and the divination manual To combine omens to reach such a conclusion seems to be cherry picking, and if we allow ourselves to pick omens randomly, it would be nothing else but cherry picking.

However, when we connect it to Revelation, we cannot do any cherry picking. Revelation forces us to look at the sky at three different occasions. These events must be in a certain order and logically connected to each other. The last two dates must be 1260 days apart. In the first one we must see a woman “clothed with the sun” and with the moon under her feet. In the second event we must see a dragon fall to Earth, to name just a few of the criteria that must be met.

14 Zaehner (1961), p. 205-206, 214 8

Such criteria comes with a benefit, the benefit of falsifiability of the best kind: hard evidence from astronomy must comply with Revelation 12 and the Babylonian divination manual. The probability for each criteria could be calculated. The dragon is the Parthian King If the theory is true, the author of Revelation must recognise the Parthian king as the dragon on earth. Is this compatible with Revelation 13, where the story about the dragon continues? This paper suggests that the author of Revelation has based Revelation 13 on knowledge gained by the trip of the Parthian prince Tiridates to Emperor Nero. Tiridates travelled by land since he due to his religion avoided water. This is why the dragon is standing on land in Revelation 12:18. That the beast comes up from the sea can be seen as a contrast between the Parthians and the Romans. The Parthians avoided water while the Romans had their Mare Nostrum.

The dragon is supposed to have handed over authority to the beast. One suggested candidate for the beast is “Emperor Nero”, since it numerically amounts to 666. The Parthian king really handed over authority to Emperor Nero, the authority over Armenia. 15 The condition was that Emperor Nero would appoint a Parthian prince as King of Armenia. The prince he chose was Tiridates, and this was also the reason for the trip to Rome. Tiridates fits as the little beast of Revelation 13:11-12. It exercises the beasts authority in its presence, and the beast has come to life again after having been dead. This fits with the fact that the Armenian king, albeit a later king, produced a man and claimed this man to be Emperor Nero. Nero is also known to have been mortally wounded before, to the point of death, but recovered miraculously, which fits with Revelation 13:3.

To identify the dragon with the Parthian king has a good explanatory value concerning Revelation 13, but if that is the case, why is the dragon in the sky in Revelation 12 in a fight with the archangel Michael? The dragon is a Babylonian creature What gave the author of Revelation the idea to have the Parthian king involved in signs seen in the sky? And why would the dragon be red and have crowns on his seven heads? Why did the author of Revelation pick a Babylonian monster, known as an image of evil in Babylonian myths?

The reason why the author of Revelation did this is because he had access to the protocol of the magi. He believed Christ would eventually return and defeat Babylonia and become the King of kings. In fact, the author believed Christ would defeat Rome as well, as the whole world suffered from wars, inflation and diseases. We shall return to that later. The first sign in Revelation is limited to a few days The protocol said that a woman was clothed by the sun. The idea that something is lit up by the sun is a fundamental concept in astrology. It is actually the mark of the ruling star sign. Originally the ruling star sign was the one in which the sun stood. The sun moves along the ecliptic, which is the path she takes among the constellations. The path goes through twelve of the constellations, and these are the star signs.

This means that the first sign in Revelation 12 must be seen in the autumn. Some people believe that the sun turns a full circle every day and that it is just in the morning the sun is in the current star sign. That is not true. The sun is all the day in the same direction from Earth and has the same background

15 van Kooten (2015), p. 571f 9 all the day. The background of stars, i.e. the constellations, only changes as the Earth continues its path around the sun.

If Revelation 12 is based on Babylonian astrology, we should expect to see the first event when the sun is in Virgo and when the moon is under her feet. The moon revolves around the Earth in approximately a month, and the result is that the moon travels through all the star signs in that period. The statement that the moon is below the woman’s feet thus limit the time to a few days during which Virgo is lit by the sun.

The connection between the woman of Revelation 12 and Virgo is not new. Several scholars have suggested it before, for instance Tim Hegedus. 16 The first sign is connected to the second sign according to the manual Since Venus and Jupiter merged in June, this cannot be the date when Virgo is lit by the sun. Thus we are forced to conclude that the first sign in early autumn one or a few years before the merger of Venus and Jupiter. But the fact that Virgo is being lit by the sun does not carry any meaning in the manual.

Why would the magi connect an event in the autumn with the merger of Venus and Jupiter? The only possible explanation is that another event happened when Venus was lit by the sun and had the moon under her feet, another omen which clearly links this date with the date when Venus entered Jupiter.

Such a link must be either that the king will die or that Amurru will go to war, since those omens are the fundamental parts of the second sign. A signal that a child shall be born in pain is not acceptable, since it is not a part of the second omen. There is no omen about a war against the dragon, so such an omen cannot be the connection either.

Omens about Amurru going to war happens less than once in eight years. A sign that the king will die happens about ten in one hundred years. That anyone of them will happen when Virgo is lit by the sun and has the moon under her feet has a probability of about 1 to 500. 17

As a matter of fact, one of the rare events suggested to be connected with The Star of Bethlehem happened in the middle of September of 3 BC. What happens that time is that Jupiter enters Leo and passes above the star Regulus in Leo. Jupiter will soon stop and back out of Leo, turn again and enter again. Since Regulus means “the little king” and since Jupiter is connected to kingship, this rare event has been seen as the king putting a crown on the prince, and suddenly this is the Star of Bethlehem. 18

The meaning of this rare sign, which the magi at most had seen once before, is that the king will die and be replaced by a new dynasty. 19 In other words, these two dates, i.e. the 13th of September of 3BC and 17th of June of 2 BC are logically connected since both of them herald the death of the Parthian king and the arrival of a new man.

16 Hegedus (2007), p. 237 17 If the sign about Amurru going to war would happen once in eight years, the probability for it to be seen when Virgo is lit by the sun and has the moon at her feet is 5 to 2920. The probability for a sign about the death of the king is 1 to 3650. Combined this is 45 to 14.600, which roughly is 1 to 330. But the sign about Amurru going to war does not happen every eight year period, so 1 to 500 better reflects the probability. 18 Larson (2017) 19 Rochberg (2010), p. 92 10

The advocates of the Leo sign as the Star of Bethlehem maintain that the sign was seen the 11th of September, and the reason for this is that this date is the Jewish New Year. The moon is below the woman’s feet at that date. However, this paper suggest that the proper date is the 13th of September. The arguments for this is that this is the very date when Jupiter enters Leo and also the date when the moon is in Libra, i.e. the sign below the woman’s feet. The magi included the position of the sun, the moon and the planets in their reports, but they would have said that the moon is in Virgo or in Libra, i.e. the star sign. They would not relate it to a part of the woman’s body. The magi did not even see Virgo as a woman. They saw it as the Plough, but when communicating their omen with Greek speaking persons, they might have used the Greek name, which is also the Hebrew name.

It does not really matter which date it was, but to pick the Jewish New Year has no foundation in Babylonian astrology.

Our probability is now:

1 500 The red dragon with crowns The whole calculation will fall to the ground if we cannot see a red dragon the 17th of June of 2 BC, since this must be the second event of Revelation 12. And the calculation will also fall to the ground if we cannot see the woman leave her secret place 1260 days after the second sign is seen. We must also be able to explain why the magi would look for the third sign.

There is no red crowned dragon in Babylonian divination. However, the term red and crowned is a technical term saying that Mercury is above something, as stated above.20

The seven headed dragon is represented by the constellation Hydra. This identification is not new either, it has been identified as Hydra by for instance Tim Hegedus. 21

Mercury is a fast moving planet and will pass the heads several times a year. But since it moves fast, it will pass the heads quickly too. The probability to see Mercury above the head is thus the same as the heads portion of the ecliptic. In other words, the probability is about 1 to 15 that Mercury will be there. Mercury is very close to the sun, and can be below or parallel to the sun in the horizon. In such cases, it will not be seen. So to see Mercury above the dragon is thus about 1 to 50. However, the sign must be in the west, if the dragon is falling to Earth, otherwise it rises from Earth, which is kind of devastating to the theory. To see the snake fall to Earth in the west as Mercury is above it thus has a probability about 1 to 100. The dragon shall cast down stars with its tail. It would be nice if the tail disappears during or near August, the month of star falls. The likelihood for this to happen is roughly 1 to 10, if we are just making things up. So the total likelihood to see the dragon fall to the ground throwing down stars with its tail is 1 to 1000.

We shall also be able to see an angel in connection with the dragon. As it happens, Mercury represents Nabu, which is pictured as an angel. Another possibility is that the angel comes from Jewish astrology. In later Jewish astrology, the planets represent the arch angels. Since Josephus and Philo claims that Jews are very interested in astrology 22 and since archaeology has found synagogues

20 Reiner and Pingree (1998), p. 59. The word used is “in front”, but it is the same as above, hence a “crown”. 21 Hegedus (2007), p. 237f 22 Campion (2008), p. 121-122 11 with zodiacs on their floor 23 , it is possible that the author of John chose to represent Mercury as the archangel Michael or he did so because Nabu was described as an angel of war, which fits with Michael according to the Old Testament.

It is difficult to argue that this would add to the probability. It is strange that someone writing about events in the sky would happen to accidentally use a technical term in the manual, red and crowned, and then connect it to an angel, which could be connected to the same planet making things red and crowned. But since the calculation for this probability is difficult to perform, let us stick to a probability of 1 to 1000.

As a matter of fact, Mercury starts to pass over the heads at approximately the same date as the war of Amurru is signalled. The combined probability is 1 to 500.000. In other words, we had 499.999 chances to prove the connections to be false, but this did not happen.

Our probability is now:

1 * 1 = 1 500 * 1000 500.000

The woman hiding in her place and the secret place of Venus Next thing to look at is if the woman is seeking nourishment for 1260 days after the second sign. If the woman is Virgo, how could she leave something? As we said above, the woman is represented by Virgo and Venus.

In the manual, Venus has a secret place. Unfortunately the location of this place is not mentioned in the manual. Five documents of planets in their secret place have been found: Mercury in Scorpio, Venus in Scorpio, Jupiter twice in Libra and once in Scorpio. 24

This means that there are two competing theories about where the sign is. The first one is that the planet is not actually in her secret place at the time of observation, but that it is so when a child was conceived. This theory generously enough gives a one month variation of the time of pregnancy, in order to try to connect the secret places with so called “exaltations” in Greek astrology. But even if the time of pregnancy is so generous, the theory only fits for four out of five of the preserved observations. 25

The other suggestion is that the secret place is not in a place as such but in a state, the state of being in its stationary point, that is appearing to be standing still. The planets do not actually stop, but appear to do so because all of the planets travel around the sun. The outer planets will appear to stop as the Earth passes them. The inner planets will appear to stop as they start to round the sun, from the perspective of Earth.

The time a planet is in a stationary point depends on how close it is to the sun, i.e. how fast it moves. Jupiter appears to stand still longer than Mercury and Venus. The likelihood to randomly pick three dates for Jupiter, one for Venus and one for Mercury and then find that the planets are in their stationary point is something like 1 to 20.000.000. The preserved dates are showing the planets in stationary position.

23 For instance the floor of Hamat Tiberias Synagogue 24 Rochberg (1998), p. 47f 25 Rochberg (1998), p. 49 12

This paper favours the last explanation, since the probability calculation is a much stronger case than a theory which fails to offer a complete solution for all occurrences and has to exclude on of them to make the theory work.

However, this paper also claims that a planet in a secret place is actually both in a stationary state and in a particular place on the sky. While it is true that the planets are in Scorpio or Libra, one shall remember that as late as in the 1920’s the constellations actually could share stars, i.e, the asterisms could cover each other.

To the ancient astronomers, the claws of Scorpio were the same stars as the balances of Libra, as we said in the introduction. Thus, this paper claims that for a planet to be in a secret place, it must be in a stationary position in the asterism Scorpio including its claws.

Venus is leaving her secret place 1260 days after the signal of war with Amurru. She is said to leave a “deserted” area. This fits well with the fact that she is in the area between the claws, where there are no stars. She is said to be nourished by “them”. Scorpio is in the manual connected to nourishment, and prices, suitable for someone holding a balance.

The likelihood that Venus shall be seen leaving a stationary point 1260 days after the sign of war with Amurru is a bit difficult to calculate, since it is connected to the omen concerned. It is not a sign about death of the king or a sign about Amurru going to war. On the contrary, the omen actually seen is that Venus leaves her secret place 1260 days after the sign of war. She does so after having signalled peace for Amurru. This is seen about once in eight years. To see Venus leave her secret place thus has a probability of 1 to 500, if we give her six days marginal to leave. 26

This actually happened, and the combined probability is now 1 to 250.000.000.

But Venus left in November of 2 AD. This is too late, someone might argue. Well, this paper suggests that the magi never saw this event, but calculated it. The magi kept diaries of the movements of the planets, the last one found is from 60 BC. 27 , but a shorter almanac found is from 7 BC.28 Venus repeats its pattern after about eight years. So by consulting their diaries the magi could predict it.

Our probability is now:

1 * 1 * 1 = 1 500 * 1000 * 500 250.000.000 Venus leaving her secret place tells how long the war will last Why would they want to calculate this event and how is it connected to the war with Amurru? The answer is that Venus in connection to her secret place tells about war or peace for Amurru. Venus is seeking nourishment in her secret place and leaves first after having signalled peace (and victory) for Amurru.

The probability that a sign in the manual where a woman leaves a place means something totally irrelevant is very high, if someone just invents a sign without knowing anything about the divination

26 The omen is "If Venus becomes visible in the West and reaches her secret place and disappears: The gods will be reconciled with Amurru". Reiner and Pingree (1998), p. 252. Reconciliation with the gods means peace according to the translators. A planetary software will show this omen is seen once in eight years. If six days for leaving is admitted, the probability is roughly 6 out of 3000 days or 1 to 500. However, the sign is actually not seen every eight year period, so the probability is actually less than 1 to 500. 27 Sachs and Hunger (1988), pp. 4, 12 28 Koch (2015), p. 141 13 manual. The sign could be about a disease among cattle or numerous other things. However, I will not make the probability less than 1 to 500, since the exact probability can hardly be calculated without several assumptions. Thus the probability to see Venus leave her secret place has been used. Venus and difficult births Venus could also signal difficult births, and according to the manual the demoness Lamasthu tried to catch infants 29 . The theme in the manual conforms with Revelation 12, but the idea that someone is trying to catch newly born was a wide spread myth, so it does not prove much.

Venus signals difficult births if she is dimmed “at her right” in the morning. 30 The right in the morning is the same as north, according to the manual. So Venus shall be seen close to the sun and on the south side of a vertical line through the sun. She is this in the mornings around the time when the first sign was seen. This sign is not so easy to interpret, so it does not weigh much as evidence. However, Venus could be north of the sun or under the sun, so the probability that she is seen dimmed is less than 1 to 4. The crown of the woman

The crown of the woman is most likely Leo, which was seen as a walking lion with tail straight back. The front of the lion was seen as a sickle. We know that one of the back feet was at the woman’s head while the tail was on the other side. The Bull, the angel/man, the eagle and the lion Some things remain. The child is caught up to his father, according to revelation. The child, from Babylonian point of view, must be seen as Ninurta, i.e. Saturn as a planet and Scorpio as constellation. The father must be Marduk, the highest god. Where is his throne on heaven? Well, in order for the description to work, the throne must be a star sign which Saturn could pass. The only suitable sign is Taurus. The probability that Saturn shall be seen in the Taurus is 1 to 12, or for simplicity 1 to 10.

29 Reiner and Pingree (1998), p. 49 30 Reiner and Pingree (1998), p. 93 14

All the time between the first date and the second date, Saturn is protected at his father’s right side, between the horns of the Bull.

Our combined probability is 1 to 2.500.000.000. I have excluded the 1 to 4 chance to see Venus dimmed.

We saw above that the woman borrowed the Eagle’s wings and that Gunkel considered the Eagle to be her protector. If Saturn, i.e. Ninurta, is her son, she seeks strength in her secret place in Scorpio, which is the same as that she seeks strength from her son. He protects her during the war. Is the Eagle’s wings her protector? Well, she is seeking nourishment in the deserted area between Scorpios claws, and Scorpio is represented by the Eagle. Perhaps the Eagle’s wings are originally the claws, and the claws are “they” who nourish her?

Our probability is now:

1 * 1 * 1 * 1 = 1 500 * 1000 * 500 * 10 2.500.000.000 Revelation 6 and the connection to Babylonian divination In Revelation 6 the horses appear as the agents of God. The white horse coming from east represents Christ, and he comes with the bow, but since it is the second horse that removes peace with his sword, the bow could be seen as the bow of Genesis 9:12, i.e. Christ comes with a covenant to the gentiles. The red rider, representing war comes from the north. Maybe the author of Revelation thought of the constant threat of wars from the Germans. The third black rider comes from the west. He carries the balance and comes with inflation. This fits with the role of Scorpio as the source of nourishment and with the fact that the claws of Scorpio are the balances of Libra. The fourth rider, Leo, represents Nergal, the god of the Kingdom of death, of pestilence and wild animals. Maybe the author of Revelation thought of the plagues from Africa.

The basic message is that Christ will come and conquer the world, crush Babylon and Rome and establish an earthly kingdom where he is the King of kings. After the time of this empire of a thousand years, evil forces will reappear, but Christ will defeat them all in a final battle, and a new world will come. The trip to Jerusalem and to Bethlehem The magi believed the born prince would become the King of kings. They knew he was from Amurru, and since the Romans had swept away all the dynasties but the House of Herod, it was natural for them to travel to Jerusalem. What they told about the new king made people think of Messiah in the Old testament sense, i.e. a warrior king extending Israel all the way to Mesopotamia, and Bethlehem was mentioned.

The magi did not decide to follow the star to Bethlehem. They went out real early in late December of 2 BC, when Jupiter was to the south of Jerusalem. They travelled the ancient road Derech Beit Lehem for two thirds of the road. This road is a gentle curve starting south but slightly turning west as you travel south. At a speed about the speed of a horse in four beat gait, Jupiter would be in front of them for two thirds of the road, and they noticed they were following it. They also noticed it was soon time for them to perform the morning observations, and it seemed to be the case that they would decide that Jupiter had reached its stationary point, i.e. stopped. The omen for Jupiter

15 becoming steady in the morning is “enemy kings will be reconciled”. 31 Since the Akkadian word for reconciliation is the same as the word for peace, this was basically a sign about “peace on Earth”.

When they had travelled for two thirds of the road they came to a slope not suitable for carriages, and they decided to follow it down to Bethlehem and follow the star until they decided it had stopped.

This means that the whole story is understandable in connection with astronomy and the Babylonian divination manual.

The likelihood that a planet stopping in the morning is an omen connectable to the story about Christ’s birth is very low. Most of the omens are bad, and even if the omen is good, it might not fit into the story. So if the probability is set high, 1 to 100, the total probability that the all of the things described her shall happen and form a plausible unity is 1 to 250.000.000.000.

Other connections are found between Revelation 12 and the eschatology described in the synoptic gospels. Brother against brother 32 is one of the basic parts of the omen as Venus is approaching Jupiter. The Son of Man is seen on the sky on the fathers right side 33 and the angels are sent to the four corners of the world.34 The arrival of Christ is firmly connected to celestial events, both at birth and at his return.

Our probability is now:

1 * 1 * 1 * 1 * 1 = 1 500 * 1000 * 500 * 10 * 100 250 .000 .000 .00 0 How is Revelation connected to Babylonian divination? In this paper, it is argued that the author of Revelation had access to the protocol of the magi. The connection between Revelation 12 and Babylonia was noticed already by Gunkel, as developed above. He saw the chapter as having a different origin, and the arrival of the magi is such an origin.

The theory presented in this paper will not be accepted at once, since it contradicts many assumptions about the early church, assumption made by scholars as well as devout Christians. However, the theory is falsifiable in Poppers terms. It rests on a divination manual translated without any thought of its relation to Christianity and it rests on scientific calculations about the movements of the celestial objects.

In my book, I predict it will take ten years for the theory to be accepted. I also predict that during this time, some will try to portray the author of Revelation as someone with a direct knowledge of Babylonian divination. It will be argued that he invented the Star of Bethlehem.

But since the theory rests on observations of planetary latitudes, i.e. the merger of Venus and Jupiter, calculations not possible in those days, and since the trip to Bethlehem is described as it would have been seen by a magi, due to these two facts, the arrival of the magi to Christ in Bethlehem will be seen as an historical event.

The relation between the author of Revelation and Babylonian divination is that the author received some paper or carefully preserved oral description of the magi’s interpretation. This made the author

31 Reiner and Pingree (1998), p. 224 32 Mark 13:12 33 Mark 14:62 34 Mark 13:27 16 of Revelation interested in Ezekiel’s creatures as well as the horses of Zechariah. He connected these things to the corners of the world, and deduced the colours of the four corners based on Zechariah.

Revelation 6 and Revelation 12 has clear connections to Babylonian divination, partly through the protocol, partly through the Hebrew Bible and partly through intelligent deductions made by the author. The rest of Revelation has no obvious connection to Babylonian divination. Circular evidence? Some might criticize the theory in this paper and say that Venus leaving her hiding place was picked because it happened to be 1260 days after the second date. In other words, some might want to say that evidence has been cherry picked from the manual, and then the theory uses it as proof, which would be circular evidence.

If someone is convinced this is the case, well that person ought to provide proof. Which other omen could fit a woman seeking refuge in a place where she is nourished? There is no such omen. In the same way, the omens about the death of the king are few, so you cannot really do cherry picking when you are bound to omens requiring both a reasonable date combined with a natural celestial event.

In the same way some could argue that the similarities are just accidental. Well, that is exactly how the defence and some persons standing close to a criminal react to some evidence. You cannot disproof a theory by saying that all proof are just accidental. Then you also have to show that it is likely that such accidental coincidences really would occur.

The fact is that the events seen on these three dates interpreted with the aid of the manual is fully compatible with the text in Revelation. And the fact that the second sign is 1260 days after the dragon got red and crowned and the first is when the woman is lit by the sun and has the moon under her fit means that this is the only interpretation available on these dates.

In the same way, some people will say that the Star of Bethlehem stood directly above the house. That is also based on thin air. People say that the moon is above the tree tops and that the sun sets in the sea. You are not forced to believe that this is either absolutely accurate or a lie. It is actually the way we describe things, even today when we know better. So, from the magi's perspective, Jupiter could be above the house in front of them as they decided it has stopped.

If you want to let your knowledge grow, let your preunderstandings be challenged! Conclusion The probability that someone inventing Revelation 12 should happen to invent a story coinciding with events on the sky on three different dates in such a way that it corresponds with terminology in the Babylonian divination manual is astronomically low. But we have only looked at what actually is written in Revelation. If the author of Revelation is only inventing things, we must also consider the event that he would invent stuff which cannot be connected to divination at all. It is difficult to put a figure to this, but the probability is very high.

We actually see that if we have the Babylonian divination manual, look at the sky at the three right dates and compare Revelation 12 with the interpretations available for the events, we see that they fit perfectly together. We have also seen that the probability to see all of this is extremely low, 1 to 250.000.000.000. Add to this the risk that something extra would have been added to the story, and thus ruined the connection!

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The ancient astronomers could calculate the longitude of the planets, but the interpretation in Revelation 12 rests on the merger of Venus and Jupiter, which makes it necessary to calculate the latitude as well, which the astronomers could not do. The merger of Venus and Jupiter was suggested as the Star of Bethlehem as late as in the 1960’s since you need a computer to calculate such an event. The trip down to Bethlehem also fits as an eyewitness account at a suitable date, where the eyewitness is someone seeing things in the way a magi would do.

The only reasonable conclusion is this that Revelation 12 rests on Babylonian divination of the sky on these three dates and that the Bible contains information only a magi travelling to Bethlehem could provide the Christians with. It gives a new perspective on the emergence of Christianity as well as the origin, purpose and interpretation of Revelation. Some Christians might not like it and some scholars might feel that the evidence contradicts what they previously thought about the emergence of the New Testament and Christianity.

Since the evidence rests on information from other disciplines, it will probably take some time for the theory to be generally accepted, which is unfortunate. To find evidence from the childhood of Christ will have implications on how Christianity will be studied and perceived in the future. The theory also provide a completely new perspective on Revelation and how it should be interpreted.

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Appendix: Communication with professor XXX

The 20th of May 2018 I received a mail from one of the very top experts in Babylonian divination. This is our communication. Mail from professor XXX Dear Mr. Kihlman,

No probability can measure: whether the Magi used Enuma Anu Enlil how they would have understood the omen that you picked whether the omen you picked had anything to do with observation whether the author of Revelation 12 knew anything about Enuma Anu Enlil how the king of Juda was seen in the king of Amurru (which simply means "Westland" in these omens).

It's an exercise in calculation.

Yours sincerely,

XXX

My response Dear professor XXX,

This turned out to be a rather long mail, so I begin by thanking you for taking the time to criticize my theory. I appreciate it since I need to identify where my weak points are. I am truly grateful. Only a fool dislikes intelligent criticism.

Let us begin with the last, Amurru/Westland. We know that the Babylonians knew their history, for instance through Bersossous. The magi would know that the directions in Enuma Anu Enlil also were connected to ancient kingdoms and people. In the Omri Stela of Adad-Nirari III 796 BC "the land Amurru in its entirety" is defeated, even if Amurru as kingdom had vanished half a millennia earlier. So obviously Amurru had a specific meaning when Enuma Anu Enlil was starting to gain popularity. You do not think that the magi would notice the similarities between the land of Amurru in the west and Amurru in the manual? Which Amurru do you think the original authors had in mind when they picked Amurru, Subartu, Elam and Sumer?

Amurru happens to be the "westland", but where is your evidence that it exceeded the area Adad- Nirari defeated? If the magi read about a king from Amurru they would try to figure out what area it would designate and nothing prevented them from looking at how the word was used outside the manual.

As to your other arguments or rather questions. Did the magi use Enuma Anu Enlil, how would they have understood the omen I picked... You are perfectly correct in your observation. I do not know if you have the version of my text where I compare the methodology to the fireplace in a murder case? When we first look at the evidence, we have no way to tell if the burnt clothes, the rucksack, the book etc belonged to the murderer. It is just guessing. So your objection is perfectly correct! I have nothing against your objection.

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However, if the clothes, the rucksack and the book do not belong to the murderer, then it will not be possible to connect them to him. Courts do not use probability calculations, but ordinary intelligence: the fact that the burnt things can be shown to fit surveillance photos of his belongings makes it so extremely unlikely that the burnt stuff belonged to someone else, in the same way as some fragments of DNA can be used as evidence since it is extremely unlikely that anyone else, but a twin, would have the same DNA.

We use probability in our conclusions. Sometimes we use mathematics to reach the probability or the general size of the probability. Sometimes we just use basic intelligence to understand the general size of the probability, even if we do not use mathematics.

So my evidence is not that the magi must have used Enuma Anu Enlil. Neither is my proof that they must have thought Amurru was limited to western Syria down to Israel.

My proof is theory testing against the paths of the planets, established by natural science. You can hardly argue against the fact that Jupiter enters Leo (soon to retrograde) in September of 3 BC and you can hardly say that we do not know what that means according to the manual, since we have written sources saying what it means. Neither can you argue against the fact that Venus is heading for Jupiter in the middle of June of 2 BC. Neither can you argue against that these two events have a very similar interpretations to the manual: the king will die and be replaced by a new man, where the king of Amurru is the enemy mentioned in the second scene. We cannot say that the king of Amurru is the "new man". But a foreign king who defeats the Parthian king would of course be the prime candidate, and it would be an echo of Alexander the Great. Neither can you argue against the fact that Mercury goes over Hydra at the same time as Venus heads for Jupiter. Neither can you argue against the fact that Venus is leaving a stationary state 1260 days later. Now, I follow Johannes Koch in assuming that a stationary point is the secret place. Simple mathematics, what you call "exercise in calculation" shows that this is the reasonable explanation. What I add to Koch is that it is also very significant that the signs happen in the asterism of Scorpio.

Now, the last paragraph contains two signs about the death of the king and the arrival of the king of Amurru and the third sign is not a sign, but rather the end of the sign saying that Amurru will gain peace. This does not prove that the magi expected a king from Amurru, this does not prove that Enuma Anu Enlil was used. Neither does it prove that anyone actually cared for Enuma Anu Enlil this late. You are perfectly correct. However, you cannot argue against the fact that the two first dates have the same interpretation and against the fact that the two last events can be connected to Amurru going to war / peace. So they can logically be connected, even if that is no proof that anyone ever connected them.

But Revelation 12 contains the pieces of lump, the pieces of DNA. If Revelation 12 was just fantasies, you would not be able to connect Revelation 12 to these three dates. The probability is so extremely low.

If we do not trust probability, we cannot perform science. All your professional life, you have used probability, even if you have not always used that word.

Why would you now call probability "exercise in calculation". Your whole career can be summarized in those words... even when you did not use mathematics.

So use the same logic you have used your whole career to examine my theory from the scratch! Your objections are very similar to the objections of defence attorneys.

Best regards,

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Dag Conclusion of the professors response I have received mail from other professors who also confuse my hypothesis with my conclusion. The hypothesis is that the burnt stuff belong to the murderer, but the conclusion is that the burnt remnants fit the belongings of the murderer. Since the probability is extremely low that this would be the case if the remnants belonged to someone else, the conclusion is that the hypothesis is correct. Thus, the conclusion rests on probability as all real science.

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Literature

Campion, Nicholas (2008) , “A History of Western Astrology – Volume I The Ancient World”, Bloomsbury Academic (2015), London

Gunkel, Hermann (2006). “Creation and Chaos in the Primeval Era and the Eschaton” Translated by Whitney, William K Jr. Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Hegedus, Tim (2007) ,”Early Christianity and Ancient Astrology”, Peter Lang Publishing, New York

Kihlman, Dag (2017) , “The Star of Bethlehem and Babylonian Divination – Astronomy and Revelation 12 Reveal What the Magi Saw”, Kihlman Publish, Trollhättan Sweden

Koch-Westenholz (1995) , “Mesopotamian Astrology – An Introduction to Babylonian and Assyrian Celestial Divination”, The Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Near Eastern Studies Museum

Larson, Frederick A , (2017), http://www.bethlehemstar.com/

Koch, Dieter (2015) , “The Star of Bethlehem”, Zürich van Kooten (2015) , “Matthew, the Parthians, and the Magi: A Contextualization of Matthew’s Gospel in Roman-Parthian Relations of the First Centuries BCE and CE”, in “The Star of Bethlehem and the Magi – Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Experts on the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman World and Modern Astronomy”, edited by van Kooten, Brill, Leiden

Peterson, Brian Neil (2015) ,”John’s Use of Ezekiel – Understanding the Unique Perspective of the Fourth Gospel”, Fortress Press, Minneapolis

Reiner, Erica; Pingree, David (1998) , “Babylonian Planetary Omens – Part Four”, Brill-Styx, Leiden

Rochberg, Francesca (2010) , “In the Path of the Moon – Babylonian Celestial Divination and Its Legacy”, Brill, London

Sachs, Abraham J; Hunger, Herman (1988), “Astronomic Diaries and Related Texts From Babylonia”, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaft, Wien

White, Gavin (2014) , “Babylonian Star-lore – An Illustrated Guide to the Star-lore and Constellations of Ancient Babylonia”, Solaria Publications, London

Zaehner, Robert Charles (1961) , “The Dawn and Twilight of Zoroastrianism”, G. P. Putnam’s sons, New York

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