page_title: Crucifixion darkness
section_title: Natural phenomenon
hierarchical_section_title: Crucifixion darkness / Explanations / Natural phenomenon
caption_attribution_description: English: Khamsin in Egypt during the year 2007 Українська: Хамсин в Єгипті
context_page_description: The crucifixion darkness is an episode in three of the canonical gospels in which the sky becomes dark in daytime during the crucifixion of Jesus.
  Christian apologist Tertullian in AD 197 considered this not an eclipse but a portent, which he claimed was recorded in Roman archives. The third-century Christian commentator Origen offered two natural explanations for the darkness: that it might have been the eclipse described by Phlegon of Tralles, or that it might have been clouds.
  Modern scholars have found no contemporary references to the darkness outside the New Testament, but have found mention of it in ancient writings that reference sources lost to us today, such as those of the Greek historian Thallus. Some scholars favour natural explanations such as a khamsin. Others note that similar accounts were associated in ancient times and in the Old Testament with the deaths of notable figures, and see the phenomenon as a literary invention that attempts to convey a sense of the power of Jesus in the face of death, or a sign of God's displeasure with the Jewish people.
context_section_description: The Gospel of Luke account states "and the sun was darkened" However, the biblical details do not accord with an eclipse: a solar eclipse could not have occurred on or near the Passover, when Jesus was crucified, and would have been too brief to account for three hours of darkness.  The maximum possible duration of a total solar eclipse is seven minutes and 31.1 seconds. The only total eclipse visible in Jerusalem in this era occurred late in the year AD 29, on 24 November at 11:05 AM. Around the Sea of Galilee, it would have been visible for just one minute and forty-nine seconds.
  Some writers explained the crucifixion darkness in terms of sunstorms, heavy cloud cover, or the aftermath of a volcanic eruption. A popular work of the nineteenth century described it as an 'oppressive gloom' and suggested this was a typical phenomenon related to earthquakes.
  In his 2011 book, unlike his 1983 paper, Humphreys accepted that Luke was referring to the Sun, and proposed a khamsin dust storm that tends to occur from March to May and typically obscures the sun for several hours.
caption: Khamsin dust storm in Egypt in 2007
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