Dating and Chronology

Unless it is stated otherwise, the dates given in this volume (excluding those in bibliographical citations) are all BC. Each ancient Mesopotamian year has been given a single Julian year equivalent even though the ancient year actually encompassed parts of two Julian years, with the ancient year beginning around the time of the vernal equinox. Thus, for example, the sixteenth regnal year of Nabonidus is indicated to be 540, although it actually ended in early 539 and, thus, events which took place late in the ancient year "540" actually took place early in the Julian year 539.

Texts edited in this volume occasionally mention contemporary dates and the charts in this section are intended to aid the reader in understanding those dates.

The Mesopotamian month names and their modern equivalents are:

The table below for the reigns of Amēl-Marduk, Neriglissar, and Nabonidus is adapted from Parker and Dubberstein, Babylonian Chronology pp. 26–27 and it attempts to precisely convert Babylonian dates to Julian ones. The dates are given as civil days, from midnight to midnight, and the dates (month/day) provided in the chart are those of the first day of each month. Intercalary months occurred in Amēl-Marduk's second (XII₂) year on the throne, Neriglissar's third regnal year (XII₂), and Nabonidus' first (XII₂), third (XII₂), sixth (XII₂), tenth (VI₂), twelfth (XII₂), and fifteenth (XII₂) years on the throne.

Amēl-Marduk

Neriglissar (and Lâbâši-Marduk)^[[160]]

Nabonidus

1

555

3/31

4/30

5/30

6/28

7/28

8/26

9/25

10/24

11/22

12/22

1/20

2/19

3/20

2

554

4/19

5/19

6/17

7/17

8/15

9/14

10/14

11/12

12/11

1/10

2/8

3/9

3

553

4/7

5/7

6/5

7/5

8/3

9/2

10/2

10/31

11/30

12/29

1/28

2/26

3/28

4

552

4/26

5/25

6/24

7/23

8/22

9/21

10/21

11/19

12/19

1/18

2/16

3/17

5

551

4/16

5/15

6/13

7/13

8/11

9/10

10/10

11/8

12/8

1/7

2/6

3/7

6

550

4/5

5/5

6/3

7/2

8/1

8/30

9/29

10/29

11/27

12/27

1/26

2/24

3/25

7

549

4/23

5/23

6/21

7/20

8/19

9/17

10/17

11/16

12/15

1/14

2/13

3/14

8

548

4/13

5/12

6/11

7/10

8/8

9/7

10/6

11/5

12/5

1/3

2/2

3/3

9

547

4/2

5/2

5/31

6/29

7/29

8/27

9/26

10/25

11/24

12/23

1/22

2/20

10

546

3/22

4/21

5/20

6/19

7/18

8/17

9/15

10/15

11/14

12/13

1/11

2/10

3/10

11

545

4/9

5/8

6/7

7/6

8/5

9/4

10/3

11/2

12/2

12/31

1/29

2/28

12

544

3/29

4/27

5/27

6/25

7/25

8/24

9/23

10/23

11/21

12/21

1/19

2/17

3/19

13

543

4/17

5/16

6/15

7/14

8/13

9/12

10/12

11/11

12/10

1/9

2/7

3/8

14

542

4/6

5/6

6/4

7/4

8/2

9/1

10/1

10/30

11/29

12/29

1/27

2/26

15

541

3/26

4/25

5/24

6/22

7/22

8/20

9/19

10/18

11/17

12/17

1/16

2/14

3/16

16

540

4/14

5/13

6/12

7/11

8/10

9/8

10/8

11/7

12/6

1/5

2/3

3/5

17

539

4/4

5/3

6/2

7/1

7/31

8/29

9/27

10/27

11/25

12/24

1/23

2/22

160 Lâbâši-Marduk's short, two- to three-month-long reign is included with Neriglissar's 4th regnal year (556).

Frauke Weiershäuser & Jamie Novotny

Frauke Weiershäuser & Jamie Novotny, 'Dating and Chronology', RIBo, Babylon 7: The Inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, The RIBo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2022 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon7/rinbe2introduction/datingandchronology/]