In Mesopotamia, Being 'King for a Day' Could be Deadly

The eclipse is coming. Preparations are underway, and everyone is buzzing with anticipation. You are getting anxious. It is early June, in the year later known as 763 B.C. You are a prisoner of war in Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, and you have good reason to be afraid. The Assyrians worship the Sun God, the Moon God, and other sky deities, so a total eclipse of the Sun—even though you are not quite sure what, exactly, will happen during such an event—holds tremendous spiritual and political significance….

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