The K8535 tablet and the Comet that destroyed the Akkadian empire

The K8535 tablet is a late Babylonian copy of an early Sumerian astronomical tablet which records a comet, in 2193 BC, emerging from the constellation Triangulum, passing the Pleiades, Aldebaran and moving towards Orion before crashing to earth and devastating the highly advanced, irrigation-based agricultural civilization of Akkad and Sumer, destroying the entire Akkadian empire and capital city of Agade.

It was made by an unknown Sumerian astronomer, who sensed the historical significance of the event from his astronomical lookout tower and decided to document it. He was later given the name “Lugalansheigibar -­‐‑ the great man who observed the sky”.

About 40% of the tablet is missing. Fortunately, the entire flight path of the comet is preserved. A comparison with IAU sky maps reveals a straight comet flight line, for which the ancient astronomer did regular nightly observation entries for over 3 weeks, in order to document the comet’s advance.

Broken-­off sections mostly deal with observations concerning the impact itself and with the immediate impact aftermath, recording what could be seen from the observation tower looking towards the crash site.

The information is adequate to reconstruct the detailed comet advance and the impact process sequence. The position of the astronomical tower was at a 31° latitude and at a distance of about 60 miles from the cosmic impact site, witnessing the impact flashing light in the sky followed by elevation of fiercely glowing ash plumes.

His trigonometrical observations witness the comet approach and its terrestrial impact. For this reason, K8538 was guarded, restored and copied over the millennia, and demonstrates the high level of science and astronomy reached four thousand years ago.

The K8538 witness account must be considered as part of a great number of preserved “Mesopotamian city laments”, which report the end of Akkad and Sumer by an enormous atmospherical tempest.

This story of the destruction of the Akkadian empire was performed on stage in public over millennia with background drumming. Their poetical lamentation style misled various contemporary assyriologists to opine that those documents are nothing but entertaining poetical and mystical fiction, and that there had never been a destructive tempest in Sumer, disregarding observations of hundreds of historical witnesses.

Today, the real value of K8538 is not only confined to history. It is of immense value for today and for the future, because it contains an unique and accurate precedence observation of a disastrous cosmic asteroid impacting Earth.

It is presently located at the British Museum.