תרגול אנסין – חלק ב – אנסין 3

In 1936, while excavating in the ancient city of Ugarit (modern-day Syria), archaeologists unearthed a clay tablet inscribed with what appeared to be an elaborate numerical table. The tablet, dated to around 3,200 years ago, was written in Ugaritic script, one of the earliest known alphabets. Its rows and columns of numbers were puzzling, and early scholars speculated that it might have been a simple accounting record of goods or taxes. The purpose of the table, however, remained unclear for decades.

In 2019, researchers from the University of Cambridge, led by Dr. Eleanor Hughes, conducted a detailed reanalysis of the tablet using digital imaging technology. They discovered that the numbers corresponded to astronomical observations, specifically the tracking of lunar phases. Hughes and her team proposed that the table was not simply an accounting record but an advanced lunar calendar, possibly the earliest known attempt to mathematically predict the timing of full moons and eclipses.

Hughes argues that this discovery demonstrates the sophistication of Ugaritic astronomy. Unlike later Greek models, which relied heavily on geometric reasoning, the Ugaritic table appears to use a numerical cycle system based on a 30-day month and a repeating 19-year cycle. According to Hughes, this approach would have allowed the Ugaritians to predict lunar events with surprising accuracy, centuries before similar methods were recorded in Babylonian texts. She maintains that this find reveals not only the scientific ingenuity of the Ugaritians but also their concern with aligning ritual and agricultural practices with precise astronomical events.