... the shadow went "ten degrees backward" (2 Kings, xx, II) ambassadors were sent from Babylon "to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land" (2 Chron. xxxii, 31). It was believed that the king's illness was connected with the incident. According to astronomical calculation there was a partial eclipse of the sun which was visible at Jerusalem on 11th January, 689 B.C, about 11.30 a.m. When the upper part of the solar disc was obscured, the shadow on the dial was ... — Myths of Babylonia and Assyria • Donald A. Mackenzie