130 



E. WALTER MAUNDER, F.R.A.S., ON 



Now, to an astronomer, the interest of this fact lies here. Such 

 a sentence as that ascribed to Joshua contains two simple 

 astronomical observations ; it is, in technical astronomical 

 language, a record of the altitude and azimuth of the sun and « 

 moon at the moment of utterance. To make the observations 

 complete, we need two further facts to be supphed to us : — 



Where was Joshua standing at the moment ? " and " What 

 was the time ? " 



We are assuming, then, for the moment that the sun and moon 

 were both low down in the sky ; the sun had either just risen 

 or was just about to set — that is, it was either early in the morning 

 or late in the evening. But the moon also had either just risen 

 or was just about to set. But they can never be seen together 

 when both are rising or both setting, for in that case the illu- 

 minated portion of the moon is only the thinnest possible thread 

 of light, and is completely drowned by the intense brilliance of 

 the sun close at hand. It follows, therefore, that if the sun was 

 rising, the moon must have been setting, or if the sun was setting 

 the moon must have been rising ; in astronomical phraseology, 

 the two lights must be nearly in opposition to each other, and 

 the moon must have been almost full. 



The view most frequently taken by commentators is that the 

 sun was near its setting, and that Joshua wished the day to be 

 prolonged. But in that case, Gibeon and the sun must have 

 appeared to him as on his western horizon ; but as the valley of 

 Aijalon is further to the west than is Gibeon, the moon must 

 likewise have been setting, in which case, as we have already seen, 

 it must have been invisible. 



We must therefore try the other alternative — that the sun must 

 have just risen, and Joshua must have had Gibeon on his east 

 horizon. If he was between Gibeon and the valley of Aijalon, 

 the moon would have been setting over Aijalon. The relative 

 positions of the two places have not changed during the ages, and 

 to Joshua, placed between the two, the sun must have been 

 roughly 17° south of the east point of the horizon, and the moon, 

 nearly at the full, 17° north of the west point. But this would 

 imply that the time of the year was between the end of October 

 of our present calendar and the middle of February. But the 

 month of February was already long past, since the Israelites 

 had kept both Passover and Pentecost. October cannot have 

 come, for since Beeroth, Gibeon and Jerusalem are so close 

 together, it is certain that the events between the return of the 



