The eclipses above represent the series of total solar eclipses which were exactly 54 years and one month apart! They began in the Southern Hemisphere and gradually rose into the Northern Hemisphere while also moving more and more Eastward. The last four eclipses (top four) are dated in 817 B.C., 763 B.C., 709 B.C. and 655 B.C. (topmost); the first three mentioned were seen in Assyria. An Assyrian Eponym List mentions a solar eclipse occuring in the ninth year of King Assur-dan III. The description of the eclipse is not specific, however, and could be either of the three eclipses mentioned. The 709 B.C. (in pink, second from top), however, best coordinates with the chronology of the Bible which would date the 21st year of King Ahab to 799 B.C. which is 90 years from the eclipse; the year that dates the "Battle of Karkar", a conflict in which King Ahad reportedly had a part.
Understanding astronomical solar eclipse series such as the one above helps to show the optional chronologies that can be determined when comparisons are made with other historical sources, especially the Bible.
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