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220 Solar eclipses, though much rarer than lunar eclipses, are not uncommon; they happen when the Moon, passing in a certain way between Earth and the Sun, temporarily ob- scures the Sun. Only a small portion of solar eclipses are to- tal. The extent, duration, and path of total darkness vary from passage to passage due to the ever-changing triple or- bital dance between Sun, Earth, and Moon, plus Earth’s daily revolution and its changing axial tilt. As rare as solar eclipses are, the astronomical legacy of Mesopotamia included knowledge of the phenomenon, calling it atalu shamshi. Textual references suggest that not only the phenomenon but even its lunar involvement were part of the accumulated ancient knowledge. In fact, a solar eclipse whose path of totality passed over Assyria had oc- curred in 762 B.c.£. It was followed by one in 584 B.c.E. that was seen all across the Mediterranean lands, with totality over Greece. But then, in 556 B.c.£., there occurred an extraordinary solar eclipse “not in an expected time.” If it was not due to the predictable motions of the Moon, could it have been caused by an unusually close passage of Nibiru? Among astronomical tablets belonging to a series called “When Anu Is Planet of the Lord,” one tablet (catalogued VACh.Shamash/RM.2,38—Fig. 100), dealing with a solar eclipse, recorded thus the observed phenomenon (lines 19-20): In the beginning the solar disc, not in an expected time, became darkened, and stood in the radiance of the Great Planet. On day 30 [of the month] was the eclipse of the Sun. What exactly do the words that the darkened Sun “stood in the radiance of the Great Planet” mean? Though the tablet itself does not provide a date for that eclipse, it is our sugges- tion that the particular wording, highlighted above, strongly indicates that the unexpected and extraordinary solar THE END OF DAYS