JanH	Re: 607 chronology debunked
	(cont.) Summary of archeological evidence for established chronology Chronicles, historical records, and royal inscriptions from the Neo-Babylonian period, beginning with the reign of Nabopolassar and ending with the reigns of Nabonidus and Belshazzar, show it ran from 626 to 539 BC, not from 645 to 539 BC as the Society claims. Berossus Ptolemy Various Babylonian chronicles such as the Nabonidus Chronicle Nabonidus No. 18 The Hillah stele, Nabonidus No. 8 The Adda-Guppi stele, Nabonidus H1,B Business and administrative documents Tablets exist that are dated from each year of the Neo-Babylonian period as established by Berossus, Ptolemy and contemporary stele; no tablets are inconsistently dated. About 5000 have been published and about 50,000 remain. These are contemporary documents from the Neo-Babylonian period. Astronomical diaries VAT 4956 fixes the 37th year of Nebuchadnezzar to 568 BC by a unique set of astronomical observations, establishing his accession year in 605 BC. BM 32312 plus the Akitu Chronicle pin the 16th year of Shamashshumukin (a Babylonian king before the Neo-Babylonian period) to 652/1 BC This, combined with business documents, Ptolemy's canon, the Akitu Chronicle and the Uruk King List combine to date Nebuchadnezzar's reign to 605/4-562/1, with his 18th (destruction of Jerusalem, Jer. 52:28-30) year in 587/6 BC. Saros (lunar eclipse) texts Four independent texts provide absolute dates within the Neo-Babylonian period. Nebuchadnezzar's 18th year is fixed at 587/6 BC. Synchronisms with contemporary Egyptian chronology show Watchtower chronology consistently off by 20 years. Josiah died during Pharaoh Nechoh's reign, which began in 610 BC. The Society dates Josiah's death to 629 BC. Some Jews fled to Egypt under Pharaoh Hophra (Apries) immediately after Jerusalem's destruction. Since he began to reign in 589 BC, Jerusalem could not have been destroyed in 607 BC. A fragmentary cuneiform text mentions a battle by Nebuchadnezzar in his 37th year against Pharaoh Amasis, who began to rule in 570 BC The Society claims Nebuchadnezzar died in 582 BC. Timeline - an overview JW Chronology Dates BC Established Chronology Evidence   640       |       630   100,000nds of cuneiform tablets, incl. business documents 628: Jehoiachim's accession year |     624: NBUs accession year 620     617: NBU take Jewish prisoners in in Jehoiachim's 3RD YEAR (!). Da1:1,2; 2Ki24:10-17; 2Ch36:10 |       610 609: Fall of Harran. Babylon world power. Possible START OF 70 YEARS. Josiah killed in battle with Pharao Nechoh (2Ki46:2)   607: FALL OF JERUSALEM; start of 70 years | 605: NBU's accession year. First deportation of Jews (Dan 1:1,2; 2:1).     600 597: NBU takes prisoners. Second deportation. Jehoiachin in exile; Zedekiah's reign starts. BM21946:11-13; 2Ki24:10-17; 2Chr36:10.   |       590 587: FALL OF JERUSALEM     |       580       |       570   BM33041. Agreement with independent Egyptian chronology   |   VAT4956: accurate astronimical obs. for 568/67 dated as NBU's 37th year.   560 Evil-Merodach 561-560 Hillah stele   | Neriglissar 559-556 Nabon no 18   550 555: Nabonidus' accession year BM35382. Nabonidos' Chronicle   |   Nabon H 1, B 539: Fall of Babylon 540 539: FALL OF BABYLON to Cyrus; 70 YEARS END. Pharaoh Hophrah rules Egypt in this time; Jer 44:30   537: Jews return from exile, 70 years end. |       530       |     Note:         Accession year. In Babylonian chronicles, the year a King ascends the throne is called accession year, the following year is the first year and so on. This is called the accession year system. Jewish chronicles, following a non-accession year system, count the starting year as the first regnal year, the next as the second and so on. The third year of Jehoiachin's reign in Babylonian chronicles would be the fourth year in Israel's chronicles. Abbreviations:         NBU King Nebuchadnezzar (also called Nebuchadrezzar).         NWT New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. Bible translation by the Watchtower Society. Quotes from CD-ROM version, 1993. All Bible quotes in this document from the NWT except if otherwise noted.         NIV New International Version of the Holy Bible, by The International Bible Society 1973, 78, 84.         RSV Revised Standard Version. The built-links refers to this translation.         NJB The New Jerusalem Bible (1985). Catholic. Footnotes:         Footnote 1: The fall of Harran in 609 BC is often understood in relation to the book of Jeremiah. See Professor D. J. Wiseman in The New Bible Dictionary, 2nd ed, 1982, p. 101; and Prof. Guy P. Couturier in The Jerome Biblical Commentary, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1968, p. 300; Dr. J. A. Thompson: The Book of Jeremiah, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1980, p. 21, 533.         Footnote 2: Avigdoz Orr: The Seventy Years of Babylon, Vetus Testamentum, Vol VI, 1956, p. 305. The same argument, that the seventy years was for Babylonian supremacy and not Jewish exile, is also emphasised by other experts. See Dr. Peter R. Ackroyd in Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol XVII, 1958, p. 23; Prof. Norman K. Gottwald: All the Kingdoms of the Earth, New York, Evanston, London 1964, p. 265, 2666; Dr. Otto Plger: Aus der Sptzeit des Alten Testaments, Gttingen, 1971, p. 68.         Footnote 3: Actually, some sources say 586 BC, which is only caused by an apparent contradiction between 2. Kings 24, 25 and Jeremiah 52:12 on one side and Jeremiah 52:28-30 on the other hand. Since the book of Jeremiah was obviously completed by a Jew living in Babylon, he is likely to have used the accession year system while Jeremiah who wrote Kings would use the Jewish system. Kudos: The person responsible for 99% of the research behind this page is Carl Olof Jonsson. His book The Gentile Times Reconsidered (Commentary Press, Atlanta, 1986) contains the most extensive and exhaustive discussion of this topic available.
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