Eclipses repeat every 18 years, 11 days and 8 hours. The Babylonians had that worked out before anyone knew what caused one.

The saros cycle brings the Moon back to the same phase, the same distance, and the same node all at once, so a very similar eclipse follows. The extra 8 hours means the next one lands roughly a third of the way around the planet, which is why you can predict an eclipse without predicting who gets to see it.