Ancient documentary sources testify to an inexplicable great darkness that occurred in the 6th century AD. The German priests describe this period as follows. The sun disappeared for 15 months. Instead of dawn, it illuminated the world for several minutes.
Its light was hundreds of times weaker than the moon’s. We were very happy, but at some point we stopped believing that the moon would return. To be precise, these events took place in 535-536.
John of Ephesus also reports in his notes that “the sun left the sky.” According to him, this happened at noon. The sky was clouded with black fog. Neither the sun, nor the stars, nor the moon appeared in the sky. Because of these events, a terrible famine awaited all of Europe.
The ancient scientist Procopius claimed that at this time all the birds flew away, all the animals ran away from the forests. There were no fish in the rivers and lakes. The crops turned black, and it was impossible to collect any grains, fruits, or roots.
Dry stripes indicate severe hunger: “The people ate the earth in anticipation of the sun. Their bodies were covered with ulcers and their eyes with pimples. There were rows and rows of doctors, but they found it very difficult to work in the dark.”
Zechariah of Lesbos names the exact date of this disaster: “On March 24, the sun disappeared at noon and returned only on June 24 of the following year. Snow fell on our country in early September and continued until May. The frosts were enormous. Many people died from the cold, but even more – because of the wrong behavior of people.”
Destructive shocks are also recorded in Chinese and Japanese literature. Rivers and lakes dried up. People died of thirst and unprecedented diseases. Children ate their fathers and fathers ate their wives to survive.
In Xi’an province, more than 80% of the population died. They were burned to keep warm and survive the harsh winter after the drought. Such evidence was preserved not only in written sources, but also in oral myths and legends of peoples all over the world: 1500 years ago, the disappearance of the sun was described in the legends of the inhabitants of Australia, South America, Africa, Asia and the Arab world.
The whole world witnessed this catastrophe. But what were the reasons for these terrible events? Modern climatologists believe that in the 6th century AD a large meteorite fell on Earth. The meteorite fell into the oceans and seas, causing the movement of tectonic plates and triggering strong earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
However, there are weaknesses in this theory. Scientists have found no evidence of lava eruption in the area of the largest volcano of that period. In addition, if such an object fell into the sea, it would cause a terrible tsunami, but there is no information about this.
Other scientists believe that the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano is to blame. The explosion was so powerful that smoke and ash covered the sky over long distances. But this still does not explain the scale of the event. After all, entire continents were observed at the same time and the last powerful eruption dates back to the 5th, not the 6th century.
Modern climate scientists have not yet been able to clearly understand the causes of ancient cataclysms. This may be due to the fact that they are trying to find a simple explanation for natural disasters, while in fact they may have a completely different origin.
