Dating and Chronology

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:

I  Nisannu  March–April VII  Tašrītu  September–October
II  Ayyāru  April–May VIII  Araḫsamna  October–November
III  Simānu  May–June IX  Kislīmu  November–December
IV  Duʾūzu  June–July X  Ṭebētu, Kinūnu  December–January
V  Abu  July–August XI  Šabāṭu  January–February
VI  Ulūlu  August–September XII  Addaru  February–March
VI₂  Intercalary Ulūlu   XII₂  Intercalary Addaru

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. For example, the fifth regnal year of Esarhaddon (the eponymy of Banbâ) is indicated to be 676, although it actually began around the middle of March in 676 and ended in early April 675 and thus events which took place late in the ancient year "676" actually took place early in the Julian year 675. The table below, reprinted with permission from Parpola, LAS 2 p. 382, attempts to precisely convert Assyrian dates to Julian ones. Although the table is styled similarly to the conversions of Parker and Dubberstein (Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C.–A.D. 75 [Providence 1956] pp. 25–47), there is one major difference: if the new moon is visible for the first time at 7 PM on the 3rd of March, then the chart tells you that the first day of the month is the 3rd of March, not the 4th of March, as indicated by Parker and Dubberstein's charts.[3] 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. Based upon statements in contemporary texts and inference, Parpola (LAS 2 pp. 381–382) believes that in Assyria there were intercalary months in Sennacherib's twenty-fourth regnal year (=Esarhaddon's accession year) (VI2) and in Esarhaddon's third (VI2), fifth (XII2), eighth (XII2), and eleventh (VI2) regnal years; Parpola suggests also that these were leap years and these years are indicated in bold in the chart.[4] In Babylonia there was an intercalary Addaru (XII2) in Esarhaddon's third regnal year.

Year     BC     Nis     Aja     Sim     Duz     Abu     Ulu     U II     Taš     Ara     Kis     Kan     Šab     Add     A II    
Ac     681     3/13     4/12     5/11     6/10     7/9     8/7     9/6     10/5     11/5     12/4     1/2     2/1     3/3         
1     680     4/1     5/1     5/30     6/29     7/28     8/26          9/25     10/24     11/23     12/22     1/21     2/20         
2     679     3/21     4/20     5/19     6/18     7/17     8/16          9/14     10/14     11/13     12/12     1/11     2/9         
3     678     3/10     4/9     5/8     6/7     7/7     8/5     9/4     10/4     11/2     12/2     12/31     1/29     2/28         
4     677     3/28     4/27     5/26     6/25     7/24     8/23          9/22     10/22     11/20     12/20     1/18     2/16         
5     676     3/18     4/16     5/16     6/14     7/13     8/12          9/11     10/11     11/10     12/9     1/8     2/6     3/7    
6     675     4/6     5/5     6/4     7/3     8/2     8/31          9/30     10/30     11/28     12/28     1/27     2/25         
7     674     3/27     4/25     5/24     6/23     7/22     8/20          9/19     10/19     11/17     12/17     1/16     2/14         
8     673     3/15     4/14     5/13     6/11     7/11     8/9          9/7     10/7     11/5     12/5     1/4     2/3     3/4    
9     672     4/3     5/3     6/1     7/1     7/30     8/28          9/26     10/26     11/24     12/24     1/23     2/21         
10     671     3/23     4/22     5/21     6/20     7/20     8/18          9/16     10/16     11/24     12/13     1/12     2/10         
11     670     3/12     4/11     5/10     6/9     7/9     8/7     9/6     10/5     11/4     12/3     1/1     1/31     2/29         
12     669     3/30     4/28     5/28     6/27     7/26     8/25          9/24     10/23                             

Notes

3 This observation was made by C.B.F. Walker, who drew this matter to S. Parpola's attention in a series of letters (September, 1984).

4 Parpola, SAA 10 no. 253:15–18 and no. 357:9–10 mention an intercalary Ulūlu (VI₂), which resulted in the postponement of the New Year's Festival; Parpola dates both of these letters to Esarhaddon's eleventh regnal year (670 BC).

Erle Leichty

Erle Leichty, 'Dating and Chronology', RINAP 4: Esarhaddon, The RINAP 4 sub-project of the RINAP Project, 2019 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap4/rinap4introduction/datingandchronology/]

 
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