In July 1994, during the best time of year for observing the Milky Way from Earth, two astronomy enthusiasts spotted a new comet through a small telescope. Following the trail, people discovered that it had already been captured by a large telescope in April 1993. They then calculated that its orbital period around The Sun was roughly three thousand years, with an orbital radius of about 210 astronomical units—five times Pluto's orbit.
It was soon identified as being very similar to the comet that had appeared in 1811. Working backward through time, people concluded that it had last appeared in the Solar System during the reign of Ramses II or Seti I. Since Seti I had co-ruled with Ramses II for a time, and since human lifespans were so brief compared to celestial motion, determining the exact time of its appearance required human records.
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs had already been deciphered by then, but the document that truly contained information about the comet was written in Hebrew. Ramses II was a pharaoh who loved expanding his territory; even the title "pharaoh" had been translated from Hebrew.
According to the records, Pharaoh Ramses II had been preparing to invade Syria when this "giant star" appeared over the battlefield. The pharaoh's army, which had seemed certain to win a great victory, panicked as a result, and the war ended in the pharaoh's defeat.
Generally speaking, the hieroglyphs on obelisks and temples recorded victories, so neither the comet nor the defeat appeared in the existing Egyptian inscriptions. But the Canaanites were also in conflict with Egypt at the time, so they recorded it "honestly."
In Seti I's temple, Ramses II's name could be seen carved above Seti I's royal titulary. It was rather baffling. After all, the succession to the pharaoh's throne had