Dr. Nurdin al-Mustaqim has conducted an experiment twice on 21 &23 June 2010, which is the summer solstice, in the city of Abha in Asir, Saudi Arabia (18° 12' 59" N / 42° 30' 19" E ), to demonstrate the point made by Mr. Anthony Lias in the postscript to the second edition of my book The Historicity of Biblical Israel…, and has kindly reported to me the following supplemented by pictures above , which are from 23 June which happen to be the clearest:
Dr. al-Mustaqim:
I CAN SWEAR AND GUARANTEE THAT SINCE 10:30AM WHEN I STARTED TO MAKE REGULAR OBSERVATION (21 JUNE) THE SUN WAS GOING COUNTER-COCKWISE FOR A FULL 180 DEGREES UNTIL 2:00 PM AND AFTER THAT IT HAD GONE BACK IN THE OPPOSITE WAY CLOCKWISE FOR 20 DEGREES AT MY LAST READING OF 3:30pm. SOME PERIOD WAS UNREADABLE DUE TO CLOUDY WEATHER. I GUESS THIS WILL PROVE THE POINT ANYWAY AND I KEEP LOOKING TO SUNSET AND MAY REPEAT IT IN FOLLOWING DAYS.
WELL, I WANT TO SAY FOR THE RECORD THAT I PERFORMED THE SUNDIAL EXPERIMENT ON 21 TO 23 JUNE 2010 HERE IN ABHA,THE HEARTLAND OF ASIR, AND MY EYES AND THE PICTURES TAKEN CONFIRM THE REVERSE MOTION TWICE IN THE DAY BY WHAT I THOUGHT 20 DEGREES WITHOUT EVER SEEING THESE COMMENTS BEFORE. IF IT IS 10 DEGREES THEN LET IT BE 10, AS IT CAN BE MEASURED OR POSTED FOR ALL BY DR.SALIBI. TO ME IT IS A GREAT STEP FORWARD FOR MANKIND AND HISTORY THAT HIS DISCOVERY ABOUT BIBLICAL GEOGRAPHY MUST BE TAKEN AS WORKING BASIS WITH ALL THAT GOES WITH IT.
MAY I THEN ADD THAT THIS SHOWS THE HIGH LEVEL OF ASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE AT THE TIME OF KING AHAZ/EZEKIAH AND THIS IS THE TESTIMONY OF THEIR SCIENCE WHICH THEY HAVE WANTED TO PASS ON TO US OVER TIME BY THEIR RECORDING THE THORAT FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS SO TRUTH WOULD REMAIN UNTIL US.WE MUST THANK KING AHAZ FOREMOST AS HE IS WITH US NOW.IT IS LIKE A GPS SATELLITE POSITIONING WHICH WILL ENABLE ONE TO FIND A POSITION ANYWHERE,ANYTIME . FOR THOSE WHO COMPLAIN ABOUT LACK OF ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE AND ARE ASKING US TO PRODUCE KING DAVID/DAUD'S DRIVER'S LICENSE FROM THE GROUND BEFORE THEY WOULD BELIEVE AND NOT REMAIN IN THEIR OWN FAIRY TALES,I SAY THIS IS ASTRONOMICAL ARCHEOLOGY IN FULL SWING,WHAT CAN THEY PRODUCE?
KS: I owe a great debt of gratitude to Dr. Nur who spent three days in Abha observing the movement of the shadow of what stood for the gnomon of a sundial. By means of this experiment, he demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt that the astronomical event occurring in Old Testament Jerusalem, as reported in Isaiah 38:7,8 and 2 Kings 20:18-12 and explained by Mr. Anthony Lias in terms of a 'Jerusalem' located in Asir rather in Palestine, is the sort of astronomical event that occurs regularly in the tropical land of Asir, twice a day, during the period of the summer solstice. The same event cannot possibly occur at any time of year in a Jerusalem located in Palestine, well within the temperate zone.
