Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 25/07/2004 00:28, Karl Randolph wrote:

> > ...
> >    
> I just looked up the history of Persia, and noticed that dates for the 
> burning of Persipolis ranged from 331–327 BC. Then go a few hundred years 
> earlier to when Cyrus captured Babylon, how far inaccurate is that date? When 
> exactly did Nebuchadnezzar capture Jerusalem? Do we know exactly the year 
> Tiglath-pilesser III invaded Israel? I am willing to say that all these dates 
> are approximate; in fact, I am unwilling to give exact dates for anything 
> that happened before Constantine set up the modern calendar. All other dates 
> are attempts of translating from one calendar to another, sometimes three or 
> four translations before getting here, and mistakes can cumulate. That’s 
> assuming that we have complete records to begin with which, AFIK, we don’t. 
> Thus I put the Exodus as happening 1450 ± ?? where I’m not sure of ??. In 
> fact, I’m suspicious of those who insist on exact dates, or even exact years.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>  

One thing can be used to give absolute chronological dates: eclipses. 
Some of the dates around Nebuchadnezzar's time can be proved from 
eclipse records. David Rohl also relies a lot on eclipse records for his 
theories. Such datings are risky when unconfirmed as the data can be 
misleading, but they can be useful for confirming and giving precise 
dates for events whose approximate dates are recorded elsewhere.

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/