Posts by Alleymom

322

WT Nov. 1, 2011 (public) - When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed - Part 2

by AnnOMaly in

out now.. yes, yes, yessssss!

on p. 26-27 they talk about how the lunar positions on vat 4956 fit 588/7 bce!!!.

"clearly, much of the astronomical data in vat 4956 fits the year 588 b.c.e.

Alleymom

I also wrote to Profs. F. Richard Stephenson and David M. Willis, the authors of the article I first discussed in November 2007.
If I receive responses from them with permission to share, I will post them here.
BTW, Dr. Steele asked that I not share his email.

I have been off the board for so long that I do not remember how to get the URL for one of my previous posts. When I right-click and go to properties I just get the URL for the whole page. Can someone please tell me how to do this? Rather than re-type information about the Stephenson/Willis article, it would be easier to link to it.

Thank you!

322

WT Nov. 1, 2011 (public) - When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed - Part 2

by AnnOMaly in

out now.. yes, yes, yessssss!

on p. 26-27 they talk about how the lunar positions on vat 4956 fit 588/7 bce!!!.

"clearly, much of the astronomical data in vat 4956 fits the year 588 b.c.e.

Alleymom

I wrote to Dr. John M. Steele whose work is cited in footnote 18a of the article. He gave me permission to share the following response:

From: Steele, John [email address deleted]
To: marjoriealley [email address deleted]
Date: Fri, Sep 2, 2011 9:32 am

Dear Ms Alley,

Thank you for your email concerning the citation of my work in the

recent Watchtower article. As you suggest the author of this piece is

completely misrepresenting what I wrote, both in what they say about

the lunar three measurement, and in what I say about the possibility

of retrocalculation of eclipses (my comments on the latter were

restricted to a distinct and small group of texts which are different

to the Diary they are discussing). Just glancing through the

Watchtower article I can see that they have also misrepresented the

views of other scholars by selective quotation out of context.

I've looked at the date of VAT 4956 on several occasions and see no

possibility that it can be dated to anything other than the

conventional date.

Regards,

John Steele

322

WT Nov. 1, 2011 (public) - When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed - Part 2

by AnnOMaly in

out now.. yes, yes, yessssss!

on p. 26-27 they talk about how the lunar positions on vat 4956 fit 588/7 bce!!!.

"clearly, much of the astronomical data in vat 4956 fits the year 588 b.c.e.

Alleymom

From my post 1159, November 2007 --

The data in astronomical diary VAT 4956 was analyzed and verified by Dr. Richard Stephenson and Dr. David M. Willis. Their paper on VAT 4956 was presented at a conference on "Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East," held in June 2001 at the British Museum. The research papers from the conference were published in 2002 in a book edited by Dr. John Steele, an archeo-astronomer in the Department of Physics at Durham University.
The title of the book is Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East (Band 297 in the series Alter Orient und Altes Testament), edited by John M. Steele and Annette Imahusen, published in 2002 by Ugarit-Verlag, Munster. The name of the article is "The Earliest Datable Observation of the Aurora Borealis," by Dr. Richard Stephenson and Dr. David M. Willis, pp. 421-428.
They discussed VAT 4956 again in an article with the same title, published in December 2004 in the journal Astronomy and Geophysics, volume 45, issue 6, pages 6.15 - 6.17: "The Earliest Datable Observation of the Aurora Borealis."
I have read (and have copies of) both articles.
The authors "confidently" confirm the accepted date of 568/567 BCE for the astronomical data found in VAT 4956.
They especially emphasize that the results of the "lunar threes" observations in VAT 4956 are not observations that would have been repeated at Metonic-cycle intervals. They give a very clear explanation of the "lunar threes" --- briefly, these were three time-intervals which were tracked and recorded each month: 1) the interval from sunset to moonset (on the first of the month); 2) sunrise to moonset (middle of the month); moonrise to sunrise (near the end of the month) --- and they explain that these usually enable one to arrive at the exact date by comparing the observed time-intervals with computer calculations. The authors conclude that "the various lunar threes in the text are quite in keeping with a date for the tablet of 568-567 B.C. In addition, reference to Table 1 reveals that even at this early date, timing errors were typically of the order of 1[degree] - no mean achievement." p. 424

322

WT Nov. 1, 2011 (public) - When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed - Part 2

by AnnOMaly in

out now.. yes, yes, yessssss!

on p. 26-27 they talk about how the lunar positions on vat 4956 fit 588/7 bce!!!.

"clearly, much of the astronomical data in vat 4956 fits the year 588 b.c.e.

Alleymom

Comment on p25 WT 11/1/2011

322

WT Nov. 1, 2011 (public) - When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed - Part 2

by AnnOMaly in

out now.. yes, yes, yessssss!

on p. 26-27 they talk about how the lunar positions on vat 4956 fit 588/7 bce!!!.

"clearly, much of the astronomical data in vat 4956 fits the year 588 b.c.e.

Alleymom

The article glosses over the "lunar threes."

See my post 1159, http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/145519/3/587-607-Question.

3

A Fun Game To Benefit Hungry People!!!

by ohiocowboy in

this is a fun game that tests your vocabulary, and with each word you get right, ten grains of rice gets donated to hungry people!

it adds up!.

www.freerice.com.

Alleymom

OhioCowboy,

It's too bad you did not get any responses when you posted about freerice in 2007.

I hope you will join dm6 and me on the freerice site this time around.
The name of our team is "Friends of Jehovahs-Witness Dot Net".

3

A Fun Game To Benefit Hungry People!!!

by ohiocowboy in

this is a fun game that tests your vocabulary, and with each word you get right, ten grains of rice gets donated to hungry people!

it adds up!.

www.freerice.com.

Alleymom

It's a fun site with lots of quiz categories. Each correct answer earns 10 grains of rice to be donated through a UN world hunger program.

You can play as an individual or if you would like to join other members of this discussion forum, we now have our own freerice group called "Friends of Jehovahs-Witness Dot Net." I will be playing under the username Alleymom JWD.

39

In loving memory of Ian Hinze, 18 Dec 1953 - 20 Dec 2008

by Alleymom in

jw
friends

.

love to his wife claire and their family and to all who loved and mourn ian.. blessings,.

marjorie.

Alleymom

Ian died a year ago today, two days after his 55th birthday.

Love to his wife Claire and their family and to all who loved and mourn Ian.

Blessings,

Marjorie

28

A former poster on JWD needs some help

by AK - Jeff in

in an effort to keep things confidential for a friend, but to provide him with assistance if possible from those who can help, i post this thread.

here is the body of the email that i received today - a follow up from his mention of the same in a phone conversation this weekend.

in an effort to stay 'out of the middle of things', i will forward this thread address to him by email, and i have asked him to watch the thread for your suggestions.

Alleymom

A slightly different approach ----

After being in a bad accident 4 years ago, I have become a big fan of acupuncture (I use a 5 element acupuncturist who has her master's from Tai Sophia and is also nationally certified) and have found that it can help tremendously with emotional as well as physical issues.

Your friend might find acupuncture to be a useful adjunct to therapy and counseling, or it might even provide sufficient relief by itself.

Insurance coverage varies, but my plan pays for 20 visits per year.

Just a thought ...

251

RIP Dansk (aka Ian), 18.12.1953- 20.12.2008

by faundy in

jw
friends

have posted this on the other thread but just making this one as well:

i need to let you know that dad passed away this morning at 8am.

he fought so hard but in the end they could not get his blood pressure to rise and he died of heart failure.

Alleymom

Still another bump.