YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE DIVINITY SCHOOL CHRONOLOGICAL REMARKS HISTORY OE ESTHER AND AHASUERUS, 'ATOSSA AND TANU-AXARES. BY J. W. BOSANQUJ3T, F.R.A.S. Reprinted from the " Transactions of the Sooiety of Biblical Archaology ." Vor,. V, Past 1, 1876. Yale Divinity Library New Haven, Conn. LONDON : HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE, Printers in ©rbimtrj; in gtr Dtejestg. 1876. VmcentBroofeLbys:;-, CHRONOLOGICAL REMARKS ON THE HISTORY OF ESTHER AND AHASUERUS, OE 'ATOSSA AND TANU-AXARES. Part 1. No portion of sacred history has been more roughly handled by historians and commentators than the Book of Esther. This book. still wanders up and down the borders of legend and history, seeking entrance within the pale of sacred Scripture, and has as yet found no sure resting place within the sacred canon. Though greatly prized by the Jews as authentic history, it only takes its rank in the Hebrew Bible amongst the books called Khetubim, or Hagiographa ; and rightly so, for there, is one remarkable fact connected with it, viz., that while it professes to contain the record of one of the most signal deliverances of the " holy people" by Jehovah, the name Jehovah is carefully suppressed throughout the book, which seems at first sight sufficient to exclude it from the category of sacred writings. But if, as I am satisfied, -it is a true and genuine piece of sacred history, why does the chronological position of the history still remain so unfixed and uncertain in the scale of time? Not on account of any obscurity or ambiguity in the narrative itself, which is remarkably plain and intelligible, but simply owing to the assumed necessity of fitting the events within a framework of conventional dates, put together some three centuries ago by the most learned men of their day, according to the best materials then within l 2 Book of Esther. their reach, but whose outline of reckoning as applied to the Bible, since the discoveries of Layard, Rawlinson, Botta, Loftus, and Smith, is found to be untenable, owing to incor rectness and insufficiency of historical data. Before then we attempt to fix the true position of the book of Esther m sacred history, it is necessary first that the outline of the- chronology of sacred history should be clearly ascertained. The common Bible chronology which still lingers on in schools and coHeges, is based upon the manifest untruths that Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire, and father of Cambyses king of Persia and Babylon, in conjunction with " Darius, son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans" (Dan. ix, 1), took the throne of Babylon after a long siege in the year B.O. 538 ; that " Darius the Mede,"so called by Daniel (v. 36), then reigned at Babylon for two years, organising the affairs of that kingdom, and dividing his great empire into 120 provinces, with Daniel as his chief minister ; and that he was succeeded by Cyrus, who reigned over Babylon for seven years, from- B.C. 536 to 530. Such is the foundation of Bible chronology as laid down by such men as Scaliger, Petavius, Ussher, Des Vignoles, Clinton, Ideler, and other eminent chronologists. to- the present day. Mr. George Smith closes; the list of those who accept this untenable mode of reckoning in his valuable work entitled " The Assyrian Eponym Canon," p. 157. " Our best authority, the Canon of Ptolemy," he says, "places the first year of Cyrus in B.C. 538, which would indicate the previous year, B.C. 539, as the date of the capture of Babylon and the fall of the Babylonian monarchy." I have no hesitation in saying that this chronological arrange ment is purely fictitious. There was no such Median king as Darius reigning at Babylon in B.C. 538. And the authority of the Canon of Ptolemy compiled two centuries after Christ, is not equal to the authority of Xenophon and Ctesias writing in the fourth century before' Christ, who are opposed to it. The fact, now come to light, that Cyrus king of Babylon, that is to say he who repaired the temples of Bitsaggath and Bitzida at Babylon, was "son of Cambyses" (Trans, vol. ii, p. 148), coupled with the clear statement of Ctesias from the Book of Esther. 3 royal records, that the founder of the Persian empire was Cyrus, father of Cambyses, of whom no exploits against Babylon are recorded by that historian,1 goes far to set aside the idea of Herodotus, that Cyrus, who conquered the Medes and founded the Persian empire, was the same Persian king as he who first reigned over the Chaldeans. For unless it can be shown that both the father of Cambyses and the son of Cambyses reigned at Babylon, which no one yet has attempted to prove, the evidence of the brick at Senkereh, showing that it was the son who reigned, is directly opposed to this commonly accepted notion. Again, it cannot be true that the great king Darius, who ruled over 120 provinces, and who, as inheritor of the dominions of "Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes," is properly called, according to eastern custom, his " son "• (Daniel ix, 1), was reigning at Babylon as early as B.C. 538, seeing that the only known king in history living about that time and bearing that title was the well-known Persian king Darius, son of Hystaspes, whose years are fixed by eclipses recorded in Ptolemy's Almagest as beginning in B.C. 521. That two such mighty kings bearing the same title, born of different races, one a Mede, the other a Persian, should both have reigned at Babylon, one precisely at the termination of seventy years counted from " the desolation of Jerusalem," and the other at the close of seventy years of indignation against Jerusalem (Zech.i, 7, 12), yet reigning eighteen years apart, is also inconceivable and absurd. If such were the fact, how is it that the name of the first of these kings does not appear either in the list of kings in the Babylonian Canon, or in the list of Median kings named by Herodotus, Xenophon, or Ctesias ? Dr. Pusey does indeed surmise that the Darius of Daniel may possibly be identified with some yet undiscovered king of Media ; but to assume such an identification as a fact, and to found a system of chronology upon it, is merely fabricating history to support a purpose. Canon Rawlinson, a high authority on Median and Persian history, writes, "It must be acknowledged that there is scarcely sufficient ground for determining whether the Darius Medus of Daniel is identical with any monarch known 1 Ctesias Fragmenta, Dind. (p. 47), 4 Book of Esther. to us m profane history, or a personage of whose existence there remains no other record."1 Id the face then of this uncertainty, it cannot be reasonable to make the reign of this • king a fundamental datum in sacred history. Truly, Darius Medus, as distinguished from the son of Hystaspes, is an imaginary king; and, to borrow an expression which has I think been wrongly applied to Deioces king of Media, this unknown king "must be relegated to the historical limbo, in which repose so many shades of mighty names." 2 I have begun at once by calling in question the existence of this supposed Median king, because it must ever be in vain to at tempt to reconcile Assyrian discoveries with Sacred Scripture while such a system of authoritative teaching prevails. It is obvious, as I have said, that such teaching is purely arbitrary and fictitious, and ought to be discontinued. It has brought sacred history into contempt, and has even led to disbelief in the authenticity of the Book of Daniel. As regards the date B.C. 538, attached to the reign of the first Cyrus (Kai-Khosru), as marking his accession to the throne of Media, it stands upon a different footing. No one need dispute the idea entertained by the earliest authorities, that Cyrus, father of Cambyses, may have come to the throne of Media and Persia in B.C. 538. But this is not the same idea as that which makes him king of Babylon at that date. This latter idea is as untrue as the assertion that Darius and Cyrus were associated at that time as kings at Babylon, and that the first year of Cyrus was B.C. 536, marking the year when his decree went forth to build the temple of Jerusalem. I have already shown (vol. i, pp. 201, 202) that Cyrus the Persian, of the race of Achasmenes, the founder of the empire, died in battle with the Scythians in B.C. 536, when Darius son of Hystaspes was barely twenty years of age (Herod, i, 209). The decree for the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem, issued " in the first year of Cyrus " (Ezra i, 1), from which the dates in our Bibles are reckoned, could not, therefore, have been issued in that year, or by that king, whose third year is mentioned by Daniel. There is, however, sufficient evidence 1 Essay III, p. 418, Median Chronology of Herodotus. 2 Ancient Monarchies, vol. iii, -p. 174. Book of Esther. 5 to show that this same Cyrus, that is to say, Kai-Khosru of the Persian historians, who according to Ctesias was not related by blood to Astyages, conquered the Medes in the 55th Olympiad (B.C. 560), and came into undisputed posses sion of the throne of Media in B.C. 538. The reckoning of the reigns of the kings of Media of the dynasty of Deioces downwards is very simple and very exact, -if not arbitrarily disarranged with a view to modem interpretation. But before we proceed to fix the dates of the Median kings of this dynasty, let us go back for a moment to the rise of the dynasty of Arbaces the Mede after the fall of the first Sardanapalus, as truly I think related by Ctesias, and then come down to the reign of Deioces. Syncellus, following Ctesias, has preserved the date of the overthrow of Assyria by Belesys (or Belochus) and Arbaces in the year B.C. 825, with exactness. He places the first year of Belus the Assyrian in his own Anno Mundi 3216 = B.C. 2286-7, making reference no doubt to the first year of the Cycle of Belus = B.C. 2287 (Syn. Dind. vol. i, p. 181; Trans. Bib. Arch., vol. iii, p. 16). From thence he counts 1460 years in round numbers, (p. 312), say 1461, to the overthrow of Sardanapalus by Arbaces, that is in A.M. 4676 = B.C. 825 ; and in confirmation of the exactness of this date, Megasthenes counts upwards from the first year of Darius son of Hystaspes (B.C. 521), to Belochus and Arbaces 304 years, which begin, therefore, in the year B.C. 825 (Trans. Bib. Arch., vol. i, p. 262). This Belochus, or Phul-Belochus of Megasthenes, contem porary with Arbaces, is no doubt the same king as Samsi-Vul or Shamas-Phul of the Assyrian Canon, king of Assyria, who began to reign at Nineveh about the year B.C. 825 (Smith's Eponym Canon, p. 60). The establishment of this date and synchronism is of much importance to ancient history, and should be borne in mind as fixed throughout these observations. We now come down to the dynasty of Deioces, the reckoning of the reigns between whom and Arbaces varies according to the theory of the different writers. I am in clined, however, to think with Mr. Clinton that Diodorus 6 . Book of Esther. may have preserved a true date, when he places the first exercise of influence over the Median tribes by Deioces, while but a young man, not yet on the throne, in the second year of the 17th Olympiad = B.C. 711, twenty-three years before his accession. Those writers are not justified who expunge the name of Deioces, the first king of the second dynasty, from the list of Median kings.1 For in the seventh year of the annals of Sargon king of Assyria (B.C. 715), ^|<| ]}]} sCViMfT IHJ Da-ya-uk-ku, or Deioces,2 is named as having been banished to Hamath, together with his distinguished family. He was then no doubt merely a youth, for his predecessor on the throne, Carducas, was still one amongst the twenty-four chiefs of the Median tribes who paid tribute to Sargon in B.C. 713-s And again in B.C. 703, Sennacherib received "tribute from the distant Medes," and conquered Aspabara another of the twenty-four chiefs, so that Deioces had not yet become king of Media in B.C. 703.4 Herodotus states that Deioces reigned .... .... .... 53 years. Phraortes „ 22 „ Cyaxares „ 40 „ Astyages „ 35 „ Together 150 years. Now, the question is, in what years did these kings begin to reign? The testimony of Josephus— who, nevertheless, has done much to obscure sacred chronology — is invaluable as to the precise time of the reigns of these kings. After relating the wonderful event which happened at Jerusalem in the reign of Hezekiah, of the return of the shadow of the sun ten steps "on the steps of Ahaz," which it had gone down, which event we know from a living witness took place about the time when Sennacherib's army of 185,000 men was destroyed by pestilence on its return from Egypt, inflicting a blow on the power of Assyria not soon to be recovered, he adds " It 1 Ane. Monarchies-, toI. iii, p. 174. 3 Fastes de Sargon, line 49. Zeitschrift fiir Agypt. Spraehe, July, 1869, p. 99 The Armenian historian Moses Chorenensis gives the succession of Median tine ' and names Cardiceas, or Carducas. Dr. Haigh was the first to point out th value of the record of Ctesias as a key to the Assyrian Canon. 3 Smith's Assyrian Discoveries, p. 289, Chardutka. 4 Records of the Past, vol. i, p. 28. Book of Esther. 7 was at this time that the dominion of the Assyrians was over thrown by the Medes" ('Ev roiirq) ra> XP°VW Tvviftr) ttjv t&v Hcra-vpiiov apx*lv wiro Mrjhasv KaraXvOijvat,). Ant. x, ii, 1. The phenomenon of the movement of the shadow on the steps I have already shown (Trans. Bib. Arch., vol. iii, pp. 32-40, and in "Messiah the Prince," 2nd edit., pp. 176, 193) was occasioned by the solar eclipse of the 11th January, B.C. 689, and could have been occasioned by the sun in no other way than by a partial solar eclipse, towards noonday, about the time of the winter solstice. It was then in the following year, B.C. 688, that Deioces, shaking off the feeble Assyrian yoke, was placed oai the throne of Media,; and if so Median chronology stands thus astronomically fixed : — Deioces reigns 53 years, from b.c. 688 ' Phraortes „ 22 „ „ ,635 Cyaxares „ 40 „ „ 613 -Astyages „ 35 „ „ 573 to 539 So thatAstyages died in the year B.C. 539, and Cyrus received his kingdom .in B.o. 538. The year B.C. 538 attached to the -first year of Cyrus (that is Kai-Khosru) father of Cambyses, thus rests upon no uncertain authority. Herodotus incidentally seems to confirm the correctness of this computation in a passage which has given rise to no little discussion (i, 130). After describing how Harpagus, tlie general of Astyages, deserted and joined with Cyrus in the overthrow of the army of Astyages, he fixes the time of the overthrow in these words: — "Thus after a reign of thirty- five years (eir erea irevre teal TpttficovTa), Astyages lost his crown, and the Medes, in consequence of his cruelty, were brought under the yoke of the Persians. Their empire over the parts of Asia beyond the Halys had lasted 128 years, excepting the time when the Scythians had the dominion." (apfjavres t^? Svto "AXvos ¦trora/iov 'Aair)<; eV erea rpirj/covTa teal exaTov Svwv beovTa, "irape% r) ocrov ol 2fcv0at, fyxov.) But these 128 years, which are, I think, correct, can never be reconciled with the 150 years counted from Deioces to the end 1 Canon Rawlinson expunges Deioces from the list of kings. F. Lenormant makes the year B.C. 688 the last year of Deioces. Lettres Assyriologiques, torn i, p. 61. Fynes Clinton and Jackson have both perceived that B.C. 688 must have been the first year of his reign. Fast. Hell., vol. ii, p. 260 ; Jackson's Ant. vol. i, p. 284. l 8 Book of Esther. of the reign of Astyages.1 The text must either be rejected, or amended. I would suggest, as possible, that -rrevre iccu is a late interpolation, and should be removed, and that rpiaKaiSeKa should be substituted for rpiijKovra. There would then be no difficulty in counting the 128 years from the year B.C. 688, for we should thus arrive at the year B.C. 560, or the first year of the 55th Olympiad, for the overthrow of Astyages by Cyrus, which is an undisputed date in history, and testified to by Diodorus, Thallus, Castor, Polybius, and Phlegon.2 Herodotus is evidently incorrect when he calls this the thirty-fifth or last year of Astyages, for in this he contradicts himself, and is also contradicted by Ctesias. He admits that Astyages lived after his defeat, and was treated by Cyrus with kindness till his death. But Ctesias tells us that he was not only well treated, but continued to reign oyer the Barcanians, or Hyrcanians, and was looked upon by Cyrus as a father, and buried with kingly honours. Again, the book of Judith, which certainly contains records of true history, and parts of which are evidently transcribed from some Assyrian tablet which contained the history of Nabopalassar, which may some day be recovered (compare chap, i and chap, ii with the history of the campaigns of Assur- banipal), affords valuable and exact- testimony to the same reckoning of Median chronology. We are all aware that the years of the reign of Nabopalassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, are fixed by a lunar eclipse in his fifth year, B.C. 621; and if the fifth year of his reign was 621, the twelfth year would of course be B.C. 614. Now, the Book of Judith relates that " Nabuchodonosor who reigned at Nineveh " who could only have been the same as Nabopalassar, in his twelfth year slew Arphaxad, Phraortes, or Frawartish, as the name is written in the Assyrian inscriptions, in the plain on the borders of Ragau, or Rhages, .not far distant from 1 Mr. Clinton rightly places the first year of Deioces as king in B.C. 687-8 Fast. Hell., vol. i, p. 260. But he suggests that twenty-two superfluous years above B.C. 688, though forming part of the 53 years of Deioces, should be reckoned as years preceding his actual reign of only 31 years. But if so placed, the last year of Phraortes would not coincide with the 12th of Nabopalassar, who slew him in B.C. 614. " Africani Chronicon. Routh, vol. ii, p. 271. Book of Esther. \ 9 Teheran, the present capital of the Shah of Persia. So that Cyaxares, his son and successor, came to the throne of Media in B.C. 613, the same year which we have arrived at by count ing with the aid of Josephus from the eclipse of B.C. 689. Astyages, the son of Cyaxares, would therefore have come to the throne in B.C. 573, and have died in his thirty-fifth year in B.C. 539, being followed by Cyrus in B.C. 538. These combined testimonies afford sufficient evidence of the historical accuracy of the reckoning which places Cyrus, the founder of the Persian empire, on the throne of Media in B.C. 538. But there is not the shghtest ground, thus far, for connecting the year B.C. 539 with the capture of Babylon. The writer of the apocryphal additions to the book of Daniel seems to come somewhat near to this idea, where we read, " And king Astyages was gathered to his fathers, and Cyrus of Persia received his kingdom," and then goes on to relate the story of Bel-Dagon, or Bel and the Dragon at Babylon. But there is no ground whatever for believing that the king dom of Astyages ever included Babylon. On the contrary, Herodotus says, that when the Medes under Cyaxares, father of Astyages (say in 583), took NineAreh, " they conquered all Assyria except the district of Babylonia" (Herod. I, 106). And he mentions no expedition against Babylon in the reign of Astyages. Eight years later, that is in B.C. 530, Cyrus the grandson of Astyages no doubt conquered that city, which is sufficient to satisfy the words of the apocryphal writer. Asiatic chronology, as understood by the Greeks in the fourth century B.C., closes with the testimony of Xenophon, the most graceful, truthful, and matter-of-fact of historians, whose researches concerning the education of Cyrus, and his war with the confederate princes of Lydia, Egypt, and Baby lonia previous to his conquest of Babylon are of inestimable value, as throwing light on sacred history. Xenophon, in agreement with Herodotus, tells us that it was Cyrus the grandson of Astyages who then conquered Babylon. But in opposition to Herodotus, he goes on to say that he lived in harmony with his grandfather, and that the fall of that great city took place before Cyrus had come to the Persian throne, and when his father Cambyses, son of Cyrus and Mandane, 10 Book of Esther. was reigning in Persia ; and that acting as general of the forces of the king of Media and the king of Persia, the empire being still divided into two kingdoms, Cyrus, yet a young man of about five and twenty years of age, obtained possession of Babylon on behalf of his father, Cambyses, who we know first began to reign over Babylon in B.C. 529. Cyrus himself, he adds, did not become entitled either to the throne of Persia or of Babylon till after his father's death (B.C. 518),1 that is, not till after the thrones of Persia and Babylon and Egypt had been usurped by his kinsman Darius, son of Hystaspes (see Trans., vol. ii, pp. 243, 244). Now this last inevitable inference, that Cyrus, son of Cambyses king of Babylon, and Darius son of Hystaspes, were contemporary kings, is an historical truth of deep significance, though startling at first sight as greatly at variance with the long-accepted interpretation of Herodotus. Nevertheless, it will be found to rest upon unquestionable authority. It is a truth essential to the scheme of reckoning herein maintained, which identifies Darius son of Hystaspes with "Darius the Mede" of Daniel. And, with regard to' the main subject in hand, the position of the Book of Esther in history, it leads to the interesting identification of Esther, or Ishtar, with the well-known queen Hadassah or 'Atossa, daughter of Cyrus,2 wife of Darius, and mother of Xerxes, through whom Darius inherited the dominions of Ahasuerus, or Tanu-Axares son of Cyrus. He who would deny these inferences must first set aside : — 1. The direct evidence of Xenophon, that Cyrus (Koresh), son of Cambyses king of Babylon, and of Mandane daughter of Astyages, reigned at Babylon after his father's death, and therefore in the reign of Darius. (Trans., vol. i, p. 244.) 2. Of Herodotus, that Astyages his grandfather married in the year of the eclipse in B.C. 585, and that the Cyrus who conquered him in B.C. 560 was not therefore Cyrus son of Mandane. 1 Cambyses, according to Ctesias, reigned eighteen years, that is from b.c. 535 to 518. 2 That is, daughter-in-law. Herod. Ill, 133. Book of Esther. 11 3. Of Ctesias, that it was the father of Cambyses king of Babylon (Kai-Khosru), who conquered Astyages, before Cambyses reigned, and therefore not the son of Cambyses king of Babylon. 4. Of the inscription on the brick from Senkereh, that " Cyrus son of Cambyses," repaired the temples at Babylon, and was therefore the Cyrus who reigned at Babylon. 5. Of Herodotus, that the body of Cyrus father of Cambyses was left unburied on the field of battle, when fighting with the Scythians, when Darius was about twenty years' old.1 6. Of Arrian, that the tomb of Cyrus at Pasargadse con tained the body of " Cyrus son of Cambyses." 7. Of Megasthenes, that when Cyrus (son of Cambyses) had appointed Nabonadius, the last king of Babylon, as ruler over the province of Carmania, Darius drove him thence (vol. i, p. 189) ; and again, that when the last of the kings of the Medes (called by him Aspanda, per haps Isfendiar) died, "Cyrus and Darius ruled, over the Persian empire for thirty-six years " (vol. i, p. 262). 8. Of Lucian, that Cyrus survived his son, the king Cambyses, and died, as he supposed, at the age of one hundred years (Trans, vol. i, p. 207). 9. Of Clement of Alexandria (Trans, vol. i, p. 250), that Babylon was overthrown in B.C. 510, that is in the reign of Darius : and of Orosius; that about the time when consuls began to rule instead of kings at Rome2 (b.c. 510),' Cyrus conquered Babylon a second time, that is in the reign of Darius. 10. Of Joannes Malalas, who records that Cyras perislied in a naval war between the Persians and Samians, not earlier therefore than the time of Darius, whom he calls son of Cyrus.3 11. Of Josephus, copying from Berosus or Megasthenes, that Cyrus ancfbarius came together against Naboandelus, or Nabonadius, the last king of Babylon, and over- 1 Herod., L. I., 209-214. 2 Fasti Consulares, Euseb. Auch.. p. 190. 3 Joannes Malalas, Dind., p. 158. 12 Book of Esther. threw him (Ant. x, xi, 2) ; and how from the captivity of the ten tribes (that is in B.C. 696) to the first year of Cyrus, there were counted 182^ years (that is 696-183 = B.C. 513). 12. Of the Book of Daniel, that " Daniel prospered m the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus " (vi, 28) ; and again, that " in the tbird year of Cyrus" (B.C. 511), "the prince of the kingdom of Persia1 withstood him (Daniel) one-and-twenty days," or years, that is till B.C. 491; also that he "remained there with the kings of Persia," that is with Cyrus and Darius, then at Babylon, in B.C. 511 (x, 13). 1?.. Of the contemporary sacred historian Ezra, who relates that about the time of Zerubbabel (B.C. 511), or third year of Cyrus (Koresh), when Daniel's release from Babylon was opposed by " the prince of the kingdom of Persia," the building of the temple of Jerusalem was also stopped, and the decree of Cyrus set at nought " all the days of Cyrus, even until the (second year of) the reign of Darius," that is till Darius at about sixty-three years old, in B.C. 591, took the kingdom, or empire, just twenty-one years after the contest had arisen between these kings as stated by Daniel (Ezra iv, 5, 24). 14. The evidence of the Babylonian contract tablets, or tribute tablets of the reigns of Cyrus and Darius, is not yet sufficiently complete to place these conclu sions beyond the reach of controversy. We have, however, in the British Museum a series of six tablets among others, reaching to the seventh year of the reign of Cyrus, B.C. 507, that is, of course, of Cyrus son of Cambyses, who repaired the temples of 1 There is an inscription at Persepolis, copied by Niebuhr, in which Darius speaks of himself at one time merely as having become king of the " province of Persia." (Journal R. A. Soc, Vol. x, Part iii, pp. 274-5). It was probably also during these twenty -one years that Darius sought to weaken the power of Babylon by diverting the trade of the East and of the Persian G-ulf through the Isthmus of Suez by the canal which he then finished. This policy was afterwards reversed and part of the canal destroyed. See Oppert's Memoire sur les Rapports de l'Egypte et de l'Assyrie, p. 125. Book of Esther. 13 Babylon, from which it appears that he was first styled " king of Babylon " on the 28th day of the month Adar, B.C. 511. We have also tablets of the twelfth and thirteenth years of Darius, that is in B.C. 510 and 509, on the first of which he is styled "king of Babylon," on the second merely "king of the countries," which seems to confirm the state ment of Daniel and Megasthenes that both these kings were acting together at Babylon about the first of these years, B.C. 510. I take this opportunity of drawing the attention of collec tors to the extreme importance of obtaining a complete series of thirty-six tablets, which no doubt are in existence in the mounds of Babylonia, or elsewhere, relating to the thirty-six years' reign of Darius son of Hystaspes, whereby to ascertain whether or not Darius was styled " king of Babylon " during the several years after B.C. 510, in which Cyrus is so desig nated, and even down to 505, during which six years I assume that the two kings were acting in opposition, and in a state of rivalry. Meanwhile the evidence above is sufficient to show that Cyrus king of Babylon and Darius Medus were not reigning together in Babylon in B.C. 538, and that such an assumption as a foundation upon which to erect a scheme of sacred chronology can only lead to extreme error and confusion. Little light is thrown upon the chronology of the reign of Darius by the inscription at Behistun, in which the court historiographer carefully avoids to mark events by regnal years. One leading fact, however, is derived from the inscrip tion, viz., that the 36 years of Darius, which we know began in B.C. 521, and ended in B.C. 486, when Xerxes came to the throne, were divided into two parts, in these words : — " This is what I did before I became king.'' " This is what I did after I became king." And by interpreting these words in connection with the histories of Herodotus and Ctesias we learn that Cyrus I, having died in battle when Darius was twenty years old, in B.C. 536, Cambyses his son began to reign in B.C. 535. Ctesias then tells us that Cambyses reigned eighteen years, till B.C. 518, and that Darius reigned thirty-one years, after the fall of the Magian, till 486. 14 Book of Esther. TABLETS Selected from several in the British Museum, dated in the reign of Cyrus. Cyeus KlN& of Babxlon. Warka, month Elul. 24th day, 2nd year Warka, month Adar, 27th day, 2nd year Warka, month Adar, 28th day, 2nd year Warka, month Adar, 28th day, 3rd year Warka, month Sivan, 18th day, 4th year Warka, month Kisilu, 7th day, 5th year Warka, 6th year Warka, month Ab. 9th day, 7th year TABLETS dated in the reign of Darius. 1 23 4 5 67 89 10 11121314 151617 1819202122 23242526 272829 3031 323334 3536 Warka,' month Elul, 5th day, 2nd year Rabbat, month Elul, 11th day, 3rd year Warka, month Adar, 4th year 6th year Bitpata, month Nisan, 1st day, 7th year Ellanamitu, month Elul, 17th day, lOlh yr. Babylon 9th day, 11th yearl „ month Sebat . . . . / Karrinabu, month Sivan, 1st day, 13th yr Diblat, month Kisilu, 7th day, 14th year Month Tammuz, 10th day, 18th year Warka, month Sivan, 24th day, 20th year month Kisilu, 7th day, 25th year Warka, month Tisri, 10th day, 26th year 1 . Belshazzar t 2-3. Darius, 30th yearl month Adar, 4th day, Babylon, month Tammuz, 14th day, 35th yr. King of Babylon King of Babylon King of Babylon King of Babylon King of Babylon King of Babylon /King of the toa \ Countries J < King of the tw of whom Daniel was the first." (Dan. vi, 1, 2.) Now we know that during the greater part of the reign of Darius son of Hystaspes, the prominent feature of the government of Persia was its division into some twenty, or twenty-three, powerful and despotic satrapies. These twenty or twenty-three divisions are fully described by Herodotus, and are also engraved in cuneiform character on three different Persian monuments set up in his reign. The sudden division of each of these satrapies, on an average, into five or six parts, immediately after Darius took possession of Babylon, is so bold and striking a feature of state policy, that it cannot in reason be supposed to apply to two different kings bearing the same title, yet issuing their decrees at an interval of 46 years apart. This change of government was certainly carried into execu tion by Darius the Mede, and with equal certainty also by Darius son of Hystaspes. The two kings thus spoken of were 1 Since the above was in type the sixth volume of the Speaker's Commenta has appeared, in which I regret to see that the same date B.C. 538 is retai d f the unknown Darius, and the two questions are gravely discussed, whethe T> ' Medus may not have been the same king as Astyages, and the Belsha f Daniel, who reigned at the close of seventy years after the "desolati f Jerusalem," may not be identified with the Evil-merodach of Jeremiah b reigned twenty-six years after the destruction of Jerusalem. ' W ° Book of Esther. 19 therefore, one and the same. Herodotus refers to the event only so far as it affected the satrapy of Ionia. The battle of Marathon we know was fought in the year B.C. 490 : and not long before the time when Mardonius was sent by Darius on the expedition to Marathon he was directed to proceed to Ionia. And, now, says Herodotus, " a marvellous event occurred (jjuer/urTov dwfia) which would scarcely be believed by those Greeks who do not allow that Otanes had advised the seven conspirators (at the time of the accession of Darius) to make Persia a democracy ; for Mardonius put down all the despotic governors throughout Ionia, and established democracies in their place" (Herod, vi, 43). The Babylonian satrapy no doubt was then also subjected to the same division, considering the series of revolts of pretenders, claiming to be sons of Nabonadius, the late powerful satrap of that kingdom, even down to the final revolt of his son Belshazzar. After the death of Cyrus II son of Cambyses, say in B.C. 505, Darius in virtue of the rights of queen 'Atossa, daughter-in-law of Cyrus I, and widow of Tanu-Axares, immediately laid claim to the provinces of Persia, " on this side the river" (Ezra iv, 11, 16), in addition to the 127 pro vinces of Media, on the other side the river, already belonging to his queen, and his seat of government may have been probably a few years later removed from Susa to Persepolis. His claim to the empire, however, was disputed by Atrines and Martius at Susa, Phraortes and Sitratachmes in Media, Phraates in Margiana,1 and Aristagoras in Ionia. These powerful Ratraps had greatly weakened the empire by their revolts, and the form of government by satraps had proved itself quite unmanageable. The marvellous change of policy spoken of by Herodotus, by which this system of govern ment was suddenly set aside, seems to be confirmed by the wording of the inscriptions of DariuS at Persepolis, especially of that on the tomb of Darius at Nakhsh-i-Rustam, inscribed, as Sir Henry Rawlinson considers, after the year B.C. 492 (Journ. R.A.S., Vol. X, part III, p. 289). For in addition to the ordinary titles, "great king," "king of kings," we there read the several new and unusual titles, 1 Behistun Inscription. 20 Book of Esther "Darius king of the countries of the people" (p- 2'y' "king of the people," "lawgiver of the people," that is, king and lawgiver of the democracies (pp. 286, 291). I* was then Darius son of Hystaspes, beyond question, who was pleased to set over the kingdom 120 princes or lieutenants which should be over the whole kingdom, in the days of Daniel, B.C. 492, and not some unknown king supposed to have been reigning in Babylon in B.c. 538. But it has been said, that Darius on his tomb describes him self as a " Persian, son of a Persian." How then could Daniel, who knew him face to face, properly speak of him as " Darius the Median " ? In reply, it may be said he could do no other wise in the year B.C. 492 ; for, as a Persian prince of a junior branch from Achsemenes, Darius had no legitimate claim to the empire. He had no greater, but less claim to the empire of Assyria and Babylon than his father Hystaspes, or Gushtasp, still living about the year B.C. 492.1 He had, however, a legitimate claim to the throne of the Medes, as in possession of the provinces attached to the throne of Susa, through queen 'Atossa, or Hadassah, which were then actually under his sceptre, together with the kingdom of Egypt. Agairj, his claim to the imperial throne could only be through 'Atossa, after the death of Hystaspes: the empire, therefore, did not come into his possession till the fall of Babylon in B.C. 493. Daniel accordingly rightly sets forth his title as " son of, or successor of, Ahasuerus of the seed of the Medes," or Darius the Mede, in B.C. 493, who then "received the kingdom," or empire of Persia thus late in his reign. Some indications of turbulence, it may be inferred, had occurred in Phoenicia before this time to have given colour to the report spread by Aristagoras, that it was the intention of Darius to transport the Phoenicians into Ionia and to replace them by transporting Ionians into Phoenicia. (Herod vi, 3). For the 70 years' depression of Tyre were now at an end, and the joyous city was once more singing as a harl t 1 Hystaspes was still living when Darius had completed theinse " f his tomb at Rakhsh-i-E,ustam (Ctesise Eragmenta, p. 49). He is al * in the Behistun inscription, column iii, late in the history of b" 8P<*en °f native Persian historians speak of Gushtasp where Herodotus speaks oTd ^ ions on sn oi The Book of Esther. 21 Agam, we know with certainty from the book of Ezra that the power of the rulers in Palestine, who had, in opposition to the king's command, obstructed the fulfilment of the decree of Cyrus for the rebuilding of the temple, was partly taken away in the year B.C. 491 by Darius, by the commission then granted to the Jews under Zerubbabel and Jeshua to build the temple and to govern themselves according to their own laws, free from tax or interference from Samaria (Ezra iv, 5). Thus, on the final subjugation of Babylon in B.C. 493, when Belshazzar was slain, and the walls of that city broken down, and "all" the gates carried away (Herod, iii, 159), Darius, having put down the last enemy of his supremacy, became, as we have said, sovereign of the whole eastern world, the ruler of the most extensive empire which had yet existed on the earth. It must be understood, therefore, that when Daniel, Ezra, Haggai, and Zechariah speak of the "first," "second," "fourth," and "sixth" years of his reign, they count in imperial years from B.C. 493, not from B.C. 521, or 538. This was indeed a marked epoch in the history of the heathen world, as also great in the annals of " the holy people " : the commencement of the Persian empire proper, spoken of by Daniel as coming up "last," and ¦ out-topping the kingdom of the Medes.1 Accordingly, Josephus, follow ing the first book of Esdras, tells us that in the first year of Darius he made a greafr feast, no doubt at Shushan, at which were assembled the 127 "rulers of the Medes and princes of the Persians"2 comprehending the whole of his late dominions derived from Ahasuerus (1 Esdras iii, 1, 2); and that during the days of that banquet it was so contrived, either by the king himself, or by his three princely body guards, all of the Hebrew race, that it should be publicly proclaimed from " the royal seat of judgment," to all the princes of the empire of " Persia and Media " (v. 9), that it was now his royal will and pleasure to restore the captive Jews, still retained at Babylon8 notwithstanding the decree 1 Dan. viii, 3. " Jos. Ant. xi, iii, 2. 3 " Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon." (Zech. ii, 7) . Written in the 2nd year of Darius as emperor of Persia. 22 Book of Esther. of Cyrus, and that the far-tamed temple of Jehovah should be rebuilt. Such was the princely feeling of favour ana affection of Darius towards the late exiled race. And how, it will be asked, could such a change1 of feeling have grown up in the heart of the heathen king. The tale has long ago been written, as far as regards the Jewish record of the history, and only by much secular learning has it become obscured and laid aside. On the secular side, however, of the history, we are told that Cambyses had been compelled to obtain the sanction of the "royal judges of Persia" (Herod, iii, 31) to his marriage with his sister-in-law, Hadassah, called his sister by Herodotus, and thereby added Media to his Persian dominions. At his death in B.C. 518, Darius married this princess, and fixed his throne at Shushan, but did not yet put forth his title to the empire, which fell, of course, to Cyrus. The whole atmosphere of the Median court at Shushan now became impregnated with Jewish feelings and ideas. Esther and Mordecai, of course, were always about the person of Darius, the one as queen, the other probably as one of the three trusted body-guards. Again, Josephus tells us that friendship had long existed between Zerubbabel, " the prince of Judah," and the expec tant future sovereign of the , Persian empire. So much so that Darius had made a vow that whenever he came to the throne of the empire, he would permit the return of the Jewish captives to Jerusalem.2 Zerubbabel had, he says, been one of the king's three body guards. " Nehemiah the Tirshatha," or cupbearer to Xerxes, who now took the title Artaxerxes (Ezra vi, 14), was also in attendance in the palace of the king, being a descendant from the house of David (etc rov airepfunot AafilS).3 David and Saul, we know, were related by the marriage of David with the daughter of Saul, and the descendants on both sides were, therefore, of course more or less distant cousins. Through queen Esther, descended from Kish, they stood in the same re lationship to the king ; so that we may readily comprehend how Darius, in consideration of their princely birth and con nection with 'Atossa, should have pledged his word to either of the three, that he who should prove himself the wisest 1 Ezra vi, 22. = 1 Esdras iv, 43. *» Johan : Malahe, p. 160 Book of Esther. 23 in discourse should be clothed in purple, and sit next to the king, and be addressed as " cousin of Darius " (1 Esdras iii, 7)* In addition to the daily influence of Esther, and Mordecai, and Zerubbabel, and Nehemiah, at the Median court, there was also that of the holy sage, the aged Daniel, the grandest of all the characters of sacred Scripture.1 The whole policy of the empire seems to have been set in motion by the divine spirit of this extraordinary man. In the year B.C. 492, being on the extreme verge of his existence, he held a mighty influence over the mind of Darius, so that he was preferred before all the presidents and princes of the empire, " and the king sought to set him over the whole realm" (Dan. vi, 3). He aimed not to be clothed in purple, or in scarlet, the abhorred colour of Babylon and idolatry, but he sought and obtained his heart's desire from the devoted king — the restoration of the temple of Jehovah, and the decree that in every dominion of the kingdom of Darius men should worship the God whom he adored (Dan. vi, 26). Herodotus has, no doubt, truly recorded how the fiery and ambitious 'Atossa, probably not long after the death of Cyrus, in B.C. 505, had urged Darius, before his expedition against the Scythians, to invade the Grecian states, and how she wisely counselled him that By occupying his indolent nobles in foreign wars, the satraps might be restrained from breaking into sedition and revolt. There was not improbably a party also in the state, who promoted the views of the enterprising, restless queen, known, perhaps, as " Hadassites," or Q1p"7tl, " Hadassim." For in the book of Zechariah (i, 8), dated in " the second year of Darius," in the month Sebat, or February, B.C. 490, under the veil of a vision of a horseman clothed in red amongst " the myrtle trees (Ha-Hadassim)," with other two horsemen, white and speckled, and four " carpenters," or workers in timber, perhaps builders of ships, greatpreparations are described as being made for war. TheprophetHaggaialso, in the second year of Darius (Haggai ii, 20), refers to the same impending warlike movements, not as commonly assumed in B.C. 520, but twenty-nine years later, in B.C. 491. The allusion 1 A building shown at the ruins of Susa is said to be the tomb of the prophet Daniel. 24 Book of Esther. is unquestionably to the ten years' operations against Greece, beginning at Marathon, and ending with Salamis andPlataea. And while the prophet communes in vision with the angel concerning these forebodingwarlike preparations, the question is asked — a question which might be asked with equal devo tion and earnestness in these most ominous days — " 0, Lord of Hosts, how long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which Thou hast had indig nation these three score and ten years " ? The answer is, " I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies, My house shall be built in it, saith the Lord of Hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth on Jerusalem" (Zech. i, 16). "And Darius sent with them a thousand horsemen, till they had brought them back to Jerusalem safely" (1 Esdras v, 2). Yet, "not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts. Who art thou, 0 great mountain ? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain " (Zech. iii, 6, 7). " And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophecying of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes (that is Xerxes, now just placed on the throne with Darius). And this house was finished on the 3rd day of the month Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king," that is in March, B.C. 485. It was at this time, therefore, according to Jewish tradition, that " the men of the great synagogue " were assembled to perform the work of reconstruction in B.C. 491, not separately and at different times, but together in a body, at Jerusalem, viz., " Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah' Mordecai, Bilshan, Ezra, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mizpar, Rehum' Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi";1 the birth of Mordecai, say B.C. 580, and the death of Nehemiah, say in 431, marking the extreme limits within which these contemporaries lived. II. And now again the thoughtful child— our guide— at once perceives that in this " first year of Darius son of" (or 1 Chronologia Sacra-Profana, E. David Grnnz, p. 56. Book of Esther. 25 heir to the 127 provinces of) " Ahasuerus of the seed of the Medes " (Dan. ix, 2), Darius had come to the throne of Babylon after the completion of " seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem," that is to say, 70 years after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, in the 19th year of his reign (Jerem. Iii, 12). So that Jerusalem must have been destroyed in the year B.C. 563, just seventy years before the year B.C. 493. Nebuchadnezzar must also have begun his reign in Babylon eighteen years before that date, that is in B.C. 581, which again is a very important date to fix in Babylonian history, being twenty-three years lower than the date in Ptolemy's canon, yet rightly fixed as following soon after the solar eclipse of B.C. 585, and over throw of Nineveh in B.C. 483. Again, it will be asked — where is the record to prove that the 19th year of Nebuchadnezzar was the year B.C. 563 ? The answer is, that Demetrius, writing about 222 years before Christ, when Assyrian and Babylonian tablets might be referred to in every royal library in Asia, and counting the years of Nebuchadnezzar from B.C. 582, that is from the fall of Nineveh, one year earlier than Jeremiah, states that " the last carrying away of captives from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar" (alluding no doubt to the last chapter of Jeremiah, v. 30), that is in his 23rd year, was 338 years and 3 months before the reign of the 4th Ptolemy, who began to reign in November, B.C. 222, that is 221 years 2 months + 338 years 3 months = B.C. 559 years 5 months ; so that according to this reckoning the 23rd of Nebuchad nezzar began in Nisan B.C. 560, and ended in Adar 559. But if any part of the year B.C. 559 was commensurate with the 23rd year, B.C. 563 would have been commensurate with the 19th of Nebuchadnezzar. The testimony of Demetrius, therefore, varies twenty-three years from that of the Canon of Ptolemy, and confirms our reckoning. The testimony of Demetrius concerning this date, as opposed to that of Ptolemy, is now placed beyond dispute by a recent discovery. Ptolemy the astronomer knew of no eclipse whereby to fix the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. But we learn from the Book of Ezekiel that the 27th year of Nebuchadnezzar 26 Book of Esther. was marked by the decisive mark of a total solar eclipse at Tahpanhes or Daphnse : and this 27th year, according to Demetrius, was the year B.C. 556, in which year I shall now show that a total solar eclipse was visible at Daphnse. Here I regret to find that the proposed dates come into collision with those of the learned writer in the Speaker's Commentary on the book of Ezekiel concerning Apries or Hophra, king of Egypt. For it is clear that if the 23rd year of Nebuchadnezzar ended in B.C. 559, the death of Pharaoh Hophra, as stated by Josephus, must have followed about two or three years later. For Josephus writes — " In the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, which was the 23rd year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, he made an expedition against Ccelesyria ; and when he had possessed himself of it he made war against the Ammonites and Moabites ; and when he had brought all those nations under subjection, he fell upon Egypt in order to overthrow it : and he slew the king that then reigned, and set up another,"1 that is, he slew Apries or Hophra, who had been conquered, though not slain, by Amasis some years before, according to Herodotus (ii, 169), and confirmed the position of Amasis as tributary king, say in B.C. 556, that is in the 26th year of his own reign counted from after the death of his father, or the 27th year from the date of the battle of Carchemish, B.C. 482, which year is also counted as the first year of Nebuchadnezzar.2 The "Downfall of Pharaoh Hophra, and the Ruin of Egypt?" forms an important epoch in the reckoning of the Speaker's Commentary. The learned writer's date for the fall of Hophra, is the common yet untenable date B.C. 570. The date for which I firmly contend is B.C. 556, full thirteen years later. This later date is unquestionably to be preferred to the earlier for many reasons. In the first place, because the " forty years' " degradation of Egypt,3 which began in the 27th year of Nebuchadnezzar, and which cannot be accounted for in the common reckoning, is exactly fulfilled between the years B.C. 556 and 517, in which latter year, on the death of the tyrant Cambyses, Darius began to reign in Egypt 1 Josephus, Ant. x, ix, 1. = Jerem. xxv, 1, xlvi, 2. 3 Ezek. xxix, 11. Book of Esther. 27 and was greatly honoured by the Egyptians as the restorer of their prosperity. (Trans, vol. i, p. 234.) Again, the evidence of the Apis monuments, published by Monsr. Mariette in his "Serapeum de Memphis," is in valuable as regards the reigns of Ouaphres, or Hophra, and Amasis.1 For it is clear from the following copies of the two last Apis epitaphs of the XXVIth Dynasty, that the fifth year of Amasis, which no one will deny began on the 12th January, B.C. 566, followed immediately after the twelfth year of Hophra, so that this twelfth year of Hophra must have begun on the 12th January, B.C. 567, and his first regnal year must have been counted from 578, though already seated on the throne in B.C. 579. XXVI e Dynastie — cinq Apis. Apis IV — ne l'an, 16, le 7 de Paophi, de Nechao : intronise l'an 1, le 9 d'Epiphi, de Psammetichus II : mort l'an 12, le 12 de Pharmouthi, d' Ouaphres : enseveli l'an 12, le 21 Payni : age de 17 ans, 6 mois et 5 jours. Apis V — ne l'an 5, le 7 de Thoth, d' Amasis : intronise l'an 5, le 18 Payni : mort l'an 23, le 6 de Phamenoth : enseveli l'an 23, le 15 de Pachons : age de 18 ans, 6 mois. These epitaphs show that the Apis which died in the 12th of Hophra, in the month Pharmouthi, the eighth month, was succeeded by an Apis born in the following year on the 7th of Thoth, the first month, in the 5th year of Amasis, that is on the 18th January, B.C. 566. The Apis his predecessor must have died, therefore, on the 24th August, in the 12th year of Hophra, B.C. 567. How then can it be contended that Hophra, who certainly reigned not less than 19 years, could have died so early as the year B.C. 570 ? Those who maintain this opinion must necessarily create an intermediate Apis between the IVth and Vth, which does not appear to have existed. 1 " Le Serapeum de Memphis," p. 28. 28 Book of Esther. But the upholders of this opinion are under a still greater and insurmountable difficulty. For it is clear from the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, that the death of Hophra was signalized by the occurrence of a total eclipse of the sun at Daphnaa, or Tahpanhes, in latitude 31°, somewhere near the time of his death, which probably took place after Nebuchad nezzar had pitched his royal tent at the entrance of that city to besiege it. For Jeremiah writes (xliii, 8, 9), " Then came the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying, Take great stones in thy hand, and hide them in the day time, in the brick-kiln which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes I will send and take Nebuchad nezzar king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them." The words of Ezekiel concerning Hophra are, " The sword of the king of Babylon-shall come upon thee" ....... "I will also water with thy blood the land " " When I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark : I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon the land" (xxxii, 6-11) "At Tehaphnehes also the day shall be darkened " (xxx, 18). There can be little doubt that these words have reference to a total eclipse of the sun at Daphnse, south of Pelusium ; and I am informed by Mr. Hind that there was a solar eclipse, by computation just short of totality1 on the 1st November, B.C. 556, the central path of which is laid down as passing somewhat below latitude 29°, which no doubt was that which darkened the day at Daphnse or Tahpanhes. No such eclipse can be found in any year near to B.C. 570. Those therefore who place the death of Hophra in 570, are under the necessity also of inventing a total solar eclipse at the mouth of the Nile in that year, which they will find difficult in conformity with any recent lunar tables. Now it is probable that. Amasis, hearing of the approach of Nebuchadnezzar towards Egypt, in his 23rd year, b.c. 559 1 "Small corrections quite compatible with calculations of other echo might make the eclipse total at this point." — J. R. H. Book of Esther. 29 seized the reins of government and of the army, setting aside Hophra, now merely nominal king, and prepared himself for resistance to the invasion ; so that the 35th year of Amasis, counted from this 20th of Hophra, was B.C. 526. This result agrees well with the evidence of two Egyptian inscriptions, one at Florence, the other at Leyden. The Florence inscrip tion records the death of one Psammetichus, on the 6th day of Paopi, the second month, in the 35th year of Amasis, that is, on the 6th February, B.C. 526 (for the 1st of Thoth was on the 1st January in that year), and this Psammetichus had lived 71 years, 4 months and 6 days, from the 3rd year of Necho, which 3rd of Necho was therefore commensurate with the year B.C. 597, as it should be. The Leyden inscription records the death of one who died on the 6th August, B.C. 533, in the 27th year of Amasis, having lived 65 years, 10 months and 2 days, from the 1st year of Necho, month Epiphi, that is, from October, 599. In this month, therefore, Necho was already seated on the throne, though his 1st regnal year was dated from Thoth, 598. This inscription, therefore, agrees also with the proposed reckoning. The reckoning of this period of chronology is very simple and complete, when arranged in conformity with four well ascertained total solar eclipses which form the framework for the dates, and the result is to show that King Psammetichus I must have' died in B.C. 599, and that he put an end to the dodecarchy and began to reign in B.C. 653 or 654, as stated by Manetho. B.C. 610, 30th. Sept. Total solar eclipse in Armenia. Invasion of Asia by the Scythians, who crossed the Caucasus, and fought a battle near Armavir, or Erivan, during the darkness of an eclipse. (Herodotus, and Eirdousi.) 585, 28th May Total solar eclipse in Asia Minor during a battle between Cyaxares and Alyattes, when Astyages married the grandmother of Cyrus II. (Herodotus.) 583 Nineveh taken by Cyaxares and Nebuchadnezzar, during the reign of his mother queen Nitocris ; and the Scythians now expelled from Asia at the end of twenty-eight years of occupation. (Herodotus.) 30 Book of Esther. 582 Battle of Carchemish.— Death of Necho.— Psammuthis begins to reign in the 4th Jehoiakim. (Jerem. xxv, 1, xlvi, 2.) 581 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar, after the death of his father. 563 Destruction of Jerusalem, in the 19th year of Nebuchad nezzar = 11th Zedekiah. 557, 19th May. Total solar eclipse at Larissa, or Nimrud, about the time of the conquest of the Medes by the Persians, in b.c. 560. (Xenophon.) 556, 1st Nov. Total solar eclipse at Tahpanhes, or Daphnse, near Pelu- sium, lat. 30° 50', in the 26th year of Nebuchadnezzar. 555 Egypt given over into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, in the 27th year of his reign. (Ezekiel xxix, 17.) This eclipse near the mouths of the Nile, at Tahpanhes, is of extreme value towards the settling of Egyptian chronology. For thus we find that Psammetichus began to reign in B.C. 653, and that Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, who did not reign more than twenty-eight years, according to the following epitaph, must have died only a year or two before that date. XXVP Dynastie. Apis I — ne l'an 26 de Tahraka : intronise le 9 de Pharmouthi : mort l'an 20, le 20 de M6sori, de Psammetichus 1 : enseveli l'an 21, le 23 de Paophi. ELEMENTS OF THE TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OF b.c. 556, OCT. 31— NOV. 1. Greenwich Mean Time of Conjunction in Eight Ascension, b.c. 556, Oct. 31st, at 20h 56m 16B. Eight Ascension 210 53 6 Moon's hourly motion in E.A. 37 26 Sim's „ „ 2 27 Moon's Declination 12 8 42 S Sun's „ 12 44 31 S Moon's hourly motion in Declination 9 39 S Sun's 0 53 S Moon's Horizontal Parallax 60 27 Sun's „ „ 0 9 Moon's Semi-diameter 16 28 Sun's „ 16 15 Book of Esther. 31 The following are points upon the centre line :— o / o / Longitude 26 57 E. Latitude 28 27 N. „ 36 8E. „ 27 25 N. „ 42 46 E. „ 23 54 N. Assuming for Pelusium, Long. 2h 12m 40s E., Lat. 31° 15' N., a direct calculation gives — a. n. 31 21 351 Ending, Nov. 1 0 6J] Greatest phase about 22h 51m (Nov. I4 10h 51m a.m.) magnitude 0'96. Beginning, Oct. 31 21 35 " > Local Astronomical Mean Time. III. The next stage upwards in the ascent of the edifice of sacred history needs no question, even from a child, who takes his Bible in hand, and placing the 11th year of Zedekiah, when Jerusalem was taken, in B.C. 563, counts upwards to the close of the 14th year of Hezekiah in Adar, B.C. 689. Now Jehovah had said unto the king, through Isaiah, "I will add unto thy days fifteen years " (Isaiah xxxviii, 5) : and so Hezekiah reigned in all twenty-nine years. The 1 5th year of the reign of Hezekiah 55 years' reign of .... Manasseh 2 „ „ .... Amon 32 „ „ .... Josiah (including 3 months of Jehoahaz). 11 years' reign of .... Jehoiakim 1 „ ,, .... Jechoniah 10 4m. „ .... Zedekiah B.C. began in Nisan 689 » » 674 » » 619 » V 617 » 5) 585 ?) >> 574 » J? 573 to 126 4m. + 562 5m. Jerusalem taken, Temple burnt Aug. 563 B.C. 688 9m. = Nisan 689. that is to say 126 years 6 months + B.C. 562 years- 5 months = Jan., 689, the date of Hezekiah's recovery from sickness, being the primary date of this arrangement, in which the 14th of Hezekiah begins in Nisan, B.C. 690, and ends in Nisan, 689. IV. From Nisan, B.C. 690, we next count just three hundred years to the laying of the foundation of Solomon's temple, in the fourth year of his reign, B.C. 990, thus :— 32 Book of Esther. B.C. If Solomon reigned 40 years, beginning in B.C. 993, trie 37 last years of the reign of Solomon began in Nisan 990 17 years' reign of .... Eehoboam „ „ 953 2 „ 4125 6 1 6 40 29 5215 16 13 Abijah „ „ 936 Asa „ „ 934 Jehosophat „ „ 893 Jehoram „ „ 868 Ahaziah „ „ 862 Athaliah „ „ 861 Jehoash ,, „ 855 Amaziah ,, „ 815 Uzziah „ „ 786 Jotham „ „ 734 Ahaz „ „ 719 Hezekiah „ „ 703 300 years to 14th of .... Hezekiah Nisan 690 This computation is very simple and very exact. Some slight research is now required to prove that the historical date of the foundation of Solomon's temple was originally fixed in the year B.C. 990, until displaced by later theories. First. The annals of Tyre exactly confirm this reckoning. For Josephus, in his controversy with Apion, refers to the annals of Tyre, which, as copied by Menander, appear to have been preserved with extreme exactness, and in the same form as those of the kings of Judsea, that is giving the age at the time of death of each king, and the number of the years of reign ; and he sums up his observations thus : — " So the whole time from the reign of Hirom till the building of Carthage (that is to say, till the time when a colony of Phoenicians was led by the sister of Pygmalion to Africa) amounts to the sum of 155 years and 8 months. Since then the temple was built at Jerusalem in the 12th year of the reign of Hirom, there were from the building of the temple to the building of Carthage, 143 years, and 8 months" (Josephus cont Apion I, 18). Now Carthage was destroyed by Scipio Africanus in the year B.C. 146, just 700 years after the foundation of the colony by Pygmalion's sister, that is in the year B.C. 846,1 and if we add to this 1 According to Polybius, the epitomiser of Livy, Suidas, Solinus, and Orosius See " Messiah the Prince," 2nd edit., p. 394. ¦¦- - Book of Esther. 33 date 143 years, 8 months, we arrive at the date B.C. 989 years, 8 months, or B.C. 990 for the building of Solomon's temple. Secondly, This was the date of the building expressed in very early records preserved in Armenia, as appears from the writings of the Arabian historian Abulpharagius, in the thir teenth century A.D., who examined certain Syriac, Saracenic and Persian records then in existence in the city of Margan, in the province of Azerbijan, on the south of the Caucasus. This historian, speaking of Herod the Great, writes : — " Tempore hujus Herodis natus est Redemptor noster, finitseque sunt hebdomades septem una cum hebdomadibus 62 Danielis, quae conficiunt annos 483, consolidandos ab anno sexto Darii Hystaspis " (vol. i, p. 46) " anno ejus (Darii filii Hys- taspis) sexto perfectum est templum, in mense Tjar (Adar?), altum sexaginta cubitorum, latum viginti. Colliguntur anni a condito templo primo Sblomonis usque adhunc annum, quo structura altera finita est, 508 " (voh i, p. 31), making together, B.C. 4 + 482 + 508 = B.C. 994. Abulpharagius thus apparently computes four years in excess. This dis-i- crepancy is partly explained in his own words, thus : — " Annum nativitatis Domini nostri, quern nos in annum Graecorum 309 (= B.C. 4), die secundo hebdomadis cadere invenimus, alii scriptores in alium transferunt." If, then, we place the Nativity in B.C. 2. 3m, and the finishing of the second temple in March, B.C. 485, this latter date will fall in the 506th year after the laying of the foundation of the first temple in May, B.C. 990. The difference therefore is two years. Thirdly, and lastly, it was foretold by the prophet Amos that the death of Jeroboam II, king of Samaria, should be preceded by tremblings of the earth, or earthquakes, and by the awful sign of the going down of the sun at noon, and the darkening of the earth in the clear day (Amos vii, 11, viii, 8, 9), that is to say by the total darkness of a total solar eclipse in the kingdom of Samaria at mid-day.1 Now 1 The eclipse, according to the words of Amos, would probably have passed over Dan, to which place the people of Samaria went up to worship the golden calf (1 Kings xii, 29, 30). For Amos seems to make special reference to the destruction of the idol at Dan (viii, 14). The shadow of totality, therefore, might be placed one degree higher than I have before assumed (Trans., vol. ii, p. 152), that is to say, as covering Dan, in the north of Samaria. 3 34 Book of Esther. Jeroboam died in the 55th year after the accession of Amaziah (2 Kings xiv, 23), and Amaziah we have already seen came to the throne in B.C. 815. So that the death of Jeroboam fell in the year B.C. 762-1. One of the most valuable discoveries made by Sir H. Rawlinson from the records of Nineveh is, that a notable eclipse of the sun in the month Sivan (June) was registered in the Assyrian annals in the year when Bursagale (Oppert), or Edsusarabe (Smith), was archon eponymous at Nineveh, that is, as all are agreed in the year B.C. 763; while Sir George Airy and Mr. Hind agree, that on the 15th June, B.C. 763, a total solar eclipse took place at Nineveh some where about midday, the path of which must have passed near to or over Dan, that is over the northern extremity of Samaria (Trans, vol. ii, p. 152). This last proof is decisive of the question of the actual date of the foundation of the temple by Solomon in B.C. 990. For Amos prophesied " two years before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah" (Amos i, 1). Jeroboam II was alive when Amos wrote, and his death was to be marked by the signs of earthquakes and darkness. Till recent days no one could have shown that such rare phenomena had actually occurred about the time of his death in B.C. 762-1. But now, in these latter days of wavering faith, witnesses from the mounds of Nineveh spring up to prove that about a year before his death total darkness from an eclipse, about noon, fell upon Samaria, and that a series of earthquakes were recorded at Nineveh in the years B.C. 763, 762, 761, 760, and 759, that is to say in a country bordering upon Samaria, in the midst of which por tentous signs Jeroboam died, and the kingdom of Israel for a time ceased to exist. Nothing can ever set aside the force of this remarkable proof.1 The death of Jeroboam II cannot henceforth be placed earlier than B.C. 763. It is satisfactory to observe that, as far as regards the 1 Dr. Pusey, after searching in vain for a visible eclipse, pronounces that " no eclipse of the sun, in which the sun might seem to be shrouded in darkness at mid-day, has been calculated which should have suggested this image to tb prophet's mind," and that it " is more likely that the words are an image of a sudden reverse " (" Amos," pp. 216, 21 7) . The Speaker's Commentary takes the same view. The reckoning of both must therefore be incorrect. Book of Esther., 35 date of the building of Solomon's temple, the conclusion here arrived at closely coincides with the reckoning of Dr. Lepsius, the greatest Egyptian chronologist in Europe, who places the date of the foundation of Solomon's temple in B.C. 989.1 It also coincides with the sera of the captivity of the ten tribes, in the reign of Hoshea ('lirtniS) B.C. 696, preserved by Demetrius, and inscribed on certain well-known Jewish grave-stones found in the Crimea, and now at St. Peters- burgh (Trans, vol. iii, p. 28). And again, it agrees with the reckoning of Ezekiel, who computes an interval of 190 years between the apostasy of the ten tribes in B.C. 953, and the destruction of Jerusalem in B.c 563.3 But by far the most interesting test and proof of the correctness of this modification of the sacred calendar, from the time of Solomon to the birth of Christ, is the exactness and simplicity with which the continuous series of sabbaths and jubilees fixed in the calendar falls in with the actual history of the holy people : a result which many learned men have attempted in vain to produce in connection with the common reckoning. The sabbatical and jubilaic cycles set down for observance in the Levitical law, formed of course a perfect framework within which the events of sacred history actually came to pass. These cyclical periods were inter woven with the chief institutions and festivals of the holy people. They were also largely used in prophetic utterances from time to time concerning past or future events. Dr. Kalish writes : — " The great chain, from the seventh day to the end of the seven times seven years " — he might have added also, to the end of the seventy times seven years — " encompassed in its widening circles the sanctification of the individual Hebrew and of the Hebrew nation, the protection of every citizen and the commonwealth, the relation of God to the holy land and holy people. It is the most perfect system of 1 Synoptische Tafeln der Aegyptischen Dynasticen, p. 7. Dr. Lepsius, however, and Niebuhr, propose to cut out twenty years from the reign of Manasseh, to meet the erroneous reckoning of Herodotus, who misidentifics Nabonidus with Nebuchadnezzar son of Nitocris. 2 Ezekiel iv, 4. 36 Book of Esther. theocracy which has ever been devised. If we could prove that it was originated in all its parts by one mind, or at one epoch, it would be without parallel or analogy in all history as a work of largely conceived legislation." (Comment on Leviticus xxv, 1, Part II, p. 534.) Dr. Kalish, however, denies that any proof to this effect can be produced in ancient days. .In modern days indeed we know that the sabbatic chain lies broken and neglected beneath the feet both of Islam and of Christendom. The one keeps holy the sixth, the other the first day of the week. And yet the Decalogue sufficiently ' attests that the seventh was the day to be observed in unbroken series by the holy people from the beginning. " The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." It is hard also to deny, in the face of Gen. xxix, 27, the antiquity of the practice of counting by weeks of years.1 And there can be no question concerning the command to keep the Jubilee (Levit. xxv, 8) . Now when the records of the events of sacred history are strictly ar ranged in conformity with the internal framework of scripture dates, the wondrous proof of unity of design becomes com plete. The one mind which more than three thousand years ago laid down this wide scheme of legislation, marked by times and festivals, thenceforth to be evolved as the peculiar history of the select and holy race, and brought the same to pass within the exact bounds prescribed, is thereby manifested to be no other mind than that of the Great Creator Himself. As regards sacred chronology, what I wish to express is this, that the Bible contains within itself its own distinct and perfect system of chronology, fixed as it were in tables of celes tial time, that is to say, marked by successive eclipses of sun and moon, which are recorded in its own pages in connexion with some of the leading events of which it speaks. Pro vided that a sufficient number of these combinations of time and event can be recovered, it is clear that such a method of reconstructing sacred history.must be perfect and exact. i"Et faeti sunt omnes dies vitas Sarae, centum et viginti et septem id est Jubelaei duo, et septimanas quatuor, et unus annus."— Booh of the J hi p. 25, Dillmann. " Until 177 days are completed (by the moon) • according to the mode of computation by weeks, twenty-five weeks and twn d » Lawrence's Book of Enoch, p. 101. ays- Book of Esther. 37 The five following instances of well-established eclipses are, I submit, sufficient for the present to verify the truth of the outline of chronology herein proposed. HISTORICAL ECLIPSES ILLUSTRATIVE OF SACRED SCRIPTURE. I. Total solar eclipse of 15th June, B.C. 763.1 Marking the death of Jeroboam II. The shadow of totality passing over Dan and Nimrud. By means of this eclipse we learn that : — The death of Jeroboam II was somewhere about the year B.C. 762, or 763 The death of Joash 802 The death of Jehoahaz 817 The death of Jehu 833 The anointing of Jehu and JSazael 861 The death of Ahab 874 II. Partial eclipse of the sun at Jerusalem, 11th January, B.C. 689. When the shadow of the sun went back ten steps on the steps of Ahaz. Marking the 14th year of Hezekiah, and the Sabbatical year 689-8. From this eclipse we also infer that Sennacherib had threatened to destroy Jerusalem in B.C. 690, and lost his whole army by pestilence in that year, and also, through Josephus, that Deioces began to reign in Media in 688, in the same year that Babylon revolted from Assyria. III. ECLIPSE OF THALES, 28th May, B.C. 585. Marking the day and year of the battle in Asia Minor between Cyaxares king of Media, and Alyattes king of Lydia, and the marriage of Astyages son of Cyaxares, and 1 Amos viii, 8, 9. 38 Book of Esther. grandfather of Cyrus, while Astyages was yet between 30 and 40 years of age ; being the 29th year of Cyaxares, and two years before the fall of Nineveh^ and of the expulsion of the Scythians from Asia in B.C. 583. From this eclipse we infer with certainty that the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, placed in command of the army of his father Nabopalassar when yet alive, and counted from the fall of Nineveh, fell in the year B.C. 582, and that Cyrus grandson of Astyages did not conquer his grandfather in B.C. 560, twenty-five years after his grandfather's marriage. IV. Total solar eclipse at Daphnse, 1st NoA'ember, B.C. 556. " And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year (that is, in the 27th year of Nebuchadnezzar, B.C. 556) the word of the Lord came unto me Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar." (Ezek. xxix, 17, 18.) Concerning Pharaoh Hophra, or Apries, Ezekiel writes : — " The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee When I put thee out I will cover the Bun with a cloud and set darkness upon thy land." (Ezek. xxxii, 1, 8.) " At Tehaphnehes also (or Tahpanhes, that is Daphnse) the day shall be darkened." (Ezek. xxx, 18.) From this eclipse we learn that : — Hophra, or Apries, reigned 25 J years from 555 to 579 b.c. , 580 to 584 , 584 to 599 » 1 600 to 653 653 to 668 Eeign of Assurbanipal B c_ ggy V. Total lunar eclipse, 10th January, B.C. 1. Marking the year of the death of Herod, and the Birth of Christ in Autumn, B.C. 3, in the Sabbatical year 3-2, about one year and four five months before Herod's death. See Josephus Ant. xvii, vi, 4. Trans, vol. i, p. 93, 1 Herod' ¦"• 161- * Africanus, Routh, vol. ii, p. 260. Psammuthis j> 5 Necho » 16 Psammetichus I » 54 Dodecarchy in Egypt >> 15 or Book of Esther. 39 The eclipse of B.C. 556 at Daphnse, marking the time of the fall of Pharaoh Hophra, and the subjugation of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar in the twenty-seventh year of his reign,1 is very valuable to chronology, as already observed, as leading to the establishment of the precise date of the accession of Psammetichus in the year B.C. 653. And it has elsewhere been pointed out how this date, 653, agrees to a single year with the testimony of Manetho, as copied by Africanus, concerning the beginning of Psammetichus's reign. And again, we observe how the same date is confirmed by the history of Assurbanipal king of Assyria, who either in B.C. 668 or 667, just fifteen years before the year B.O. 653, divided the government of Egypt between twenty petty rulers, of whom twelve were Egyptians (called by Herodotus the dodecarchy) and eight Assyrians.2 And lastly, how Diodorus8 has, in two places, recorded that this period of dodecarchy, which immediately preceded the reign of Psammetichus, had lasted exactly fifteen years (irevTeKalSefca errf), when he set aside the other eleven kings. Now from whence did Diodorus derive this precise figure of " fifteen years " ? Assyrian tablets, such as we now put together in fragments, were no doubt complete and common in all the libraries of the Greeks in Asia and Egypt in the days of Diodorus, giving this exact reckoning of years ; for we know that cuneiform writing continued to be used and understood as late as the reigns of Seleucus Philopater (b.c. 187) and Antiochus (B.C. 164), whose names are found written in these characters.4 It can hardly be doubted, therefore, that the " fifteen years " of Diodorus are derived from some Assyrian tablet in which the same number of years are mentioned ; as for instance, in the following passage in the history of Assurbanipal,5 where the king, some time after the death of Teumman king of Elam, in 1 Maspero denies the fulfilment of Ezekiel's prediction, and thinks that Nebuchadnezzar was repulsed. Histoire Ancienne, p. 504. 2 Smith's History of Assurbanipal. Chronological Bemarks by J. W. B. pp. 342, 343. 3 Diodorus, Ehodom, pp. 59, 60. * Lenormant's Lettres Assyriologiques, torn, i, p. 222. 5 Smith's Assurbanipal, p. 251. 40 Book of Esther. B.C. 661, demanded of Umman-aldas his successor the return of the statue of the goddess Nana which had been carried off to Elam by Kudurnanhundi, the Elamite, . 2 Ners = 1,200 years. 7 Sosses = 420 „ 15 Years 15 „ 1,635 years before the date of her return. But if these are the same fifteen years as the years of dodecarchy spoken of by Diodorus, then are we enabled, through the history of Assurbanipal, coupled with the date of the eclipse at the death of Hophra, to count up with accuracy even to the date of the Deluge in the time of Xisuthrus. Psammetichus B.C. 653 Dodecarchy „ 15 7 Sosses, 2 Ners „ 1,620 „ 2,288-2,287, and from thence to the time of the Deluge, 33,480 suns, or days = 92 years. B.C. 2,379 Now B.C. 2,379 is also the date of the flood in the time of Noah, as related by Moses. (Trans, vol. iii, p. 19.) And now let us pause a moment to consider how far we have advanced in the reconstruction of the calendar of sacred history, and how far it is true, as I have. said, that the history so reconstructed falls in with the con tinuous series of Sabbatic and jubilaie cycles. "Darius the Mede," the earthly master of Daniel, was, as we have seen, the same as he who ruled in Persia in the days of Zerubbabel, Haggai, Zechariah, and Ezra, and who could be no other than the son of Hystaspes ; and all therefore -which m written in the books of Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah in connection with Darius has properly become incorporated with the history of that Persian king who married 'Atossa, daughter, or rather daughter-in-law, of Cyrus. A mighty stumbling block being thus removed from Book of Esther. 41 the path of sacred history, we have been enabled to ascend by easy yet unerring steps, supported by records from time to time of celestial phenomena, till we have reached the days of Solomon ; and stand as it were in vision with that king upon " the Mountain of Jehovah's House " ; that mountain of which we read, that " It shall come to pass in the last days that the Mountain of the Lord's House shall be established on the top of the mountains, and all nations shall flow unto it " (Isa. ii, 2) ; that house concern ing which it is more than once proclaimed, " Mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations "; and thus, from the time of laying the first stone of the building, if the principle of reckoning here adopted is correct, the history of this central house of prayer to be prepared for all the nations of the earth, should, we might expect, be found laid down in measured periods of septennial cycle. Now if there is anything clearly fixed and certain in the Hebrew Calendar, it is that the first stone of this first house of prayer was laid, as we are told, "in the 480th year after the Children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, and in the fourth year of Solomon's reign (1 Kings, vi, 1), that is to say, In the second month (May), B.C. 990, and the consecration of this temple took place, we reckon, in the twelfth year of Solomon (1 Kings, vi, 38 ; viii, 2), In the seventh month (September or October), B.C. 482. So that the consecration of the temple, and the first establishment of the city of Jerusalem as " the Holy City " — "the city of the Great King" — fell in the 488th year after the coming out of Egypt, or, say, in the 490th year after the call of Moses by Jehovah on Mount Horeb. And thus it appears that from the call of Moses to the consecration of the Holy City, was a period of Seventy weeks of years, or 490 years. And that from the year of the consecration of the Holy City, in the days of Solomon, to the reconstruction of " the Holy City " in the second year of the reign of Darius, B.C. 4"92-l, was also a period of Seventy weeks of years, or 490 years. 42 Book of Esther. And, as already seen, that from the laying of the founda tion stone of the second temple, in December, B.C. 492, (Haggai ii, 18), to the Birth of Christ in Autumn, B.C. 3, was a period of Seventy weeks of years, or 490 years, being three successive periods of ten jubilees of 49 years each, equal to 1,470 years, during which a continuous com putation — I will not say observance — of the Sabbatical years had been kept up. Again, we read that the seventy last years of the second period of 490 years were years of rest or Sabbath to the land, to be fulfilled during the seventy years' desolations of Jerusalem (2 Chron., xxxvi, 20, 21) — "until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths; for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath to fulfil three score and ten years." And thus we gain a clue to the actual years of " Sabbaths of the land." And once more we read that in the last of these years, that is in the Sabbatical year B.C. 493-2, which was in the first year of Darius, son, or representative, of Ahasuerus, " Seventy Weeks are determined (that is are com pleted) upon Thy people, and Thy holy city, to make an end of sins," &c. (Dan. ix, 24). So that the year B.C. 492-1 which followed the 490th year of the septennial cycle, ought to be found to represent a year of jubilee. Now it is to be remarked, that such is the record of a Jewish writer, much esteemed, of the first century A.D., living about the time of St. John, Rabbi Eliezer, in Pirke, c. 38, who affirms that the restoration of the temple was formerly impeded by the Samaritans, "usque ad annum Jubilseum," in the days of Zerubbabel. Thus by fixing the date of one single year of jubilee* in B.C. 492-1, we are enabled to compute the whole series of Sabbatical years and jubilees both upwards to Solomon, and downwards from that date to the birth of Christ, as they were commanded to have been observed. The historical result is marvellous. Recorded eclipses, buried monuments, clay tablets from Assyria and Babylon^ records of faithful historians hitherto laid aside as misunder stood, seem all to rise together to confirm one and the same Book of Esther. 43 harmonious record of past events, foretold indeed by holy prophets, and all combine to form the fundamental Calendar of Sacred Time. While flowing naturally from that Calendar we seem to be enabled to unfold the meaning of the myste rious Covenant which regulates the tenure of the Holy Land as connected with the Sabbaths of the land, and Jubilaic Cycle j1 the infraction of which covenant was to be, and has been twice punished by expulsion of the owners from the land ; and by the observance of which the repossession may be claimed as "an everlasting promise" by the sons of Abraham. No other system of Scripture reckoning comprehends throughout the Jubilaic Cycle of forty-nine years. Its recovery, I maintain, marks this Calendar with the stamp of truth. And as regards the matter now immediately in hand, we may look upon the following dates, on which so much depends in reconciling Assyrian discoveries with sacred Scripture, as finally determined by its reckoning. Benhadad of Damascus was made prisoner by Ahab in b.c 877 Ahab was slain at Eamoth Gilead in 874 Benhadad died in 862 Jehu and Hazael were anointed kings in 861 And now for a moment let us follow the footsteps of our youthful guide. Behold, as it were in vision, he communes with the guardians of the holy mount " The watchmen set upon the walls of Jerusalem, who never hold their peace, day nor night," but cry "Ye that make mention of Jehovah, keep not silence, and give Him no rest till He establish, and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah lxii, 6). He seems, with reverence, to say, Sirs, I seek to view the title deed which gives possession of this most holy land. Though but a child, I can perceive that it is trodden down and polluted more than all other places on the earth : how then shall I understand that it shall become a praise ? To whom in these troublous days shall it belong ? Shall they who now occupy the places of the Sanctuary, destined to become the "house of prayer for all people," continue in possession, heedless of the approach of the set term of alienation of this peculiar land — the year of Jubilee 1 See Ewald's Antiquities of Israel, Eng. Trans. 1876, p. 381. 44 Book of Esther. of Jubilees, when the trumpet of the Jubilee shall sound on the 10th of the 7th month, the Day of Reconciliation, or Atone ment ? (Levit. xxv, 9.) Or shall the wide-spread influence of Christendom embrace this land, and swallow up the false religions which now pervade the East ? " How long shall the Sanctuary and the host be trodden under foot?"1 My son, is the reply, thy thoughts are deep, and in the path of truth ; but thou hast much to learn, and cannot bear it now. First make thyself certain of the past. Be sure that hitherto all has happened in order, as designed, and then shalt thou be prepared to read that which is written and which concerns the future. But, be assured of this — " The Sanctuary shall be cleansed." 2 There is but one people on the earth who can claim of right possession of this land. However devout and holy, however wide-spread the influence, however acceptable the great and pious work which it has performed, the claims of Christendom are no stronger than those of Brahminism to inheritance in this land.3 They who would possess it must keep the covenants written in the deed — the covenant made with Abraham, representing purity of thought, and heart, and body4 — the covenant of the Sabbath of the seventh day, and the covenant of the Sabbaths of the land ; except in per formance to the letter of these covenants it cannot be retained. But, see my son, you carry in your hand the key by which you may unlock some of the hidden mysteries of bye-gone time. Have you examined well the legends graven on that master key? See, here on one side it is written : — Given in the 14th year of Hezekiah as a sign, when the shadow of the sun returned ten steps on the steps of Ahaz. And on the other side is written as a sign : " Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself : and the second year that which springeth of the 1 Dan. viii, 13. 2 Dan. viii, 14. •3 P0pe Pius IX addressing Christendom in 1875, erroneously assumed to offer to the world those benefits which amongst the Jewish people were promised by the Law, on the return of every fiftieth year" s counting his Jubilee from 1825, on the principle of two jubilees to a century. Encyclical letter published in " The Times," 8th Jan., 1875. ^cyclical Letter, 4 Gen. xvii, 10, 13 ; Romans iii, 29-31. Book of Esther. 45 same ; and in the third year sow ye and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof." (Isaiah xxxvi, 30 ; compare Levit. xxv, 4, 5). This is the long-lost key by which to set the series of the Sabbaths and the Jubilees. Three periods of seventy weeks of years, or 490 years each, have already thus been traced from the birth of Christ to the appearance of Jehovah in Mount Horeb : and again, another period of seventy weeks may be counted from the giving of the law on Sinai to the appearance of Jehovah in TJr of the Chaldees,1 when the land was granted to Abraham " as a possession, and to his seed." And now, behold, the holy child, oppressed with thought, sinks down in sleep, and as in dream the watchers pass away, touching their harps they seem to sing — " The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to them that turn from transgression in Jacob" — This is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah." While other voices, clear and sweet, proceeding from the opposite mount take up the strain, and sing — " His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives " — "And Jehovah my Elohim shall come, and all the just ones with Thee " (Zech. xiv, 4, 5). "Every eye shall see Him, and they which pierced Him." " They shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son." Having thus laid down the outline of sacred chronology on principles which do not admit of alteration, either upwards or downwards, of a single year, and having thereby shown from the records of Scripture the exact period of time within which Shalmanezer II, king of Assyria, Benhadad and Hazael kings of Damascus, and Ahab and Jehu, kings of Samaria, must have lived and reigned, it now remains for me to show how Sir Henry Rawlinson's Assyrian Canon, or continuous list of annual eponymous archons, or prefects, at Nineveh, in connection with whose years of office the history of Assyria is related, when set according to its own internal marks of arrangement, comcides with the record of Scripture to a single year as regards the history of these several kings. 1 Acts vii, 2. 46 Book of Esther. I have frequently stated that the alteration of the dates required throughout the Hebrew monarchy is to the extent exactly of twenty-five years downwards.1 And I may now briefly state that the cause of the anachronism which at present elevates the reigns to that extent, and which has so long passed current, originates in an unfortunate and funda mental error of Herodotus, who has mistaken Labynetus II, the son of the great queen Nitocris, in whose reign Nineveh was destroyed and the Scythians expelled, for Nabonidus, or Nabonadius, the last king of Babylon, who we know was merely a Babylonian noble with no claim whatever to the throne by royal descent ; and who was overthrown by Cyrus son of Cambyses just twenty-five years after the death of the son of Nitocris (b.c. 538). The last words of the dying prince foretold the coming of " a Persian mule " who should destroy the Babylonian empire; and Xenophon has truly related that Cyrus " the mule," some nine years later, entered Babylon through the bed of the Euphrates. But Cambyses, he tells us, took the benefits of this conquest (in B.C. 529) ; and Cyrus his son did not become entitled to the empire till sixteen years afterwards, in B.C. 513, when he conquered Nabonidus. I will now refer the reader to Mr. G. Smith's valuable work entitled "The Assyrian Eponym Canon," p. 189, a work with which every one who wishes to enter into these questions should be provided. Referring first to Ahab of Zirhala, called "Ahab the Israelite" by Dr. Oppert, but which should be more properly read Ahab of Jezreel, who together with Benhadad was conquered by Shalmanezer during the year of office of Dayan-assur, he observes, that " it would be possible that this was not the Ahab of Scripture "; because, " it does not seem likely that the Biblical Ahab, who was the foe of the King of Damascus, sent troops to his aid " (p. 190). The simple reply to this is, that Ahab had three years before his death made prisoner of Benhadad, and peace was made between them, on condition that Ahab should " make streets in Damascus," as the father of Benhadad had " made in Samaria" (1 Kings, xx, 34). The meaning of which passage is, 1 Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch., vol. iii, p. 1. Book of Esther. 47 that Ahab should have a garrison in Damascus in recognition of his suzerainty over that kingdom, as Benhadad's father had garrisoned Samaria. So that in fact the conquest of these two foes in confederacy in B.C. 875, so far from being adverse to the idea that Ahab of Jezreel, conquered by Shalmanezer, was identical with the Ahab of Scripture who was slain at Ramoth-Gilead, is a direct proof that Dayan-assur, the Tartan of Shalmanezer, defeated that same Ahab at Ramoth-Gilead in the year B.C. 874, who, in that year, died at that city. Again, with regard to Jehu, who is styled in the Assyrian inscriptions " Jehu son of Omri," Mr. Smith observes, " I would urge that the identity of the Jehu of the Bible with the Jehu of the inscriptions is not proved, and that these notices are not enough to force us to alter all our Bible dates." On the ether hand I would observe that, if the year of office of Dayan-assur is correctly placed in the year B.C. 874,1 then must the payment of tribute by Jehu to Shalmanezer be placed in the year B.C. 861, about which time, according to the fixed dates of Scripture, Jehu and Hazael were anointed kings of Samaria and Damascus by order of Elisha the Prophet. Few, I think, will be inclined to fall into Mr. Smith's view of a duplicate Ahab, a duplicate Jehu, and probably a duplicate Benhadad,'and a duplicate Hazael (p. 192). Let us now proceed to adjust the dates of the Sacred Calendar with the dates of the Assyrian Canon, arranging the Canon according to its own internal division into Cycles, or Sosses, of sixty years, the periods of which are fixed by eclipses of the sun, recorded in connection with certain eponymous archons. Here Dr. Haigh has the honour of leading the way. There is not a question, in my own mind, that Dr. Haigh is correct, when he places the first year of Assurnazirpal, the father of Shalmanezer II of the Black Obelisk, in the year B.C. 903, in the year of the solar eclipse seen in Armenia on the 3rd July, during his first campaign. For in this king's annals2 we read, " In the beginning of my reign, during my first campaign, when the Sun-God, ruler of the heavenly 1 See the following chronological table. 2 See Records of the Past, vol. iii, p. 43. Dr. Oppert, Revue Archeologiq.ue, Nov., 1868, p. 314. 48 Book of Esther. regions, cast his propitious shadow upon me, and in power (or glory) I seated myself on the throne. A sceptre, the dread of man, I took in my hands." . ..." At that time an image of my person I made ; a history of my supremacy upon it I wrote ; in the year of my taking the office of Limu, in the month Ab (July), on the 24th day." That is to say, Assurnazirpal set up his bas-relief as quickly as possible after the occurrence of the solar eclipse of 3rd July, B.C. 903, to which he points on the accompanying representation of the monument in the British Museum. But if Dr. Haigh is correct in placing the accession of Assurnazirpal in B.C. 903, he must also be right in placing the accession of his son Shalmanezer in B.C. 878. It is true that there was also a solar eclipse partially visible at Nineveh on the 13th July, B.C. 885, when, as Mr. Hind calculates, 0-83 parts of the sun's disk were eclipsed, just one Saros of 18 years and 10 days later than the eclipse of the 3rd July, 903. And this eclipse nearly agrees with the dates of Mr. Smith's continuous and unbroken series of eponymous archons, as falling only two years before Assurnazirpal took that office according to his system. But I think we cannot refuse to fall in with the suggestion of Dr. Haigh and Dr. Oppert, that an interval, during which no archons or governors were appointed, following immediately after the 35th year of Shalmanezer, that is, in B.C. 843, must have occurred between that year and the accession of Shamas-Phul ; so raising the dates of the reigns of Assur nazirpal and his son Shalmanezer to the extent of the interval within which Assurdannipal, or Sardanapalus, usurped the throne of his father in rebellion. This interval of usurpation, as generally agreed, lasted for 20 years. The record of this revolt is given in the annals of Shamas- Phul, who put down the rebellion in the year B.C. 825, and after a siege of Nineveh for two more years began his reign, in B.C. 823, as no doubt correctly laid down by Mr. Smith. The following translation of the annals of Shamas-Phul, or Samsi- Vul, by Mr. Boscawen, of the British Museum, will, I think, sufficiently confirm the suggestion. The result' of this arrangement of the Assyrian Canon, is— Book of Esther. 49 I. That Shalmanezer, in the year B.C. 875, defeated Ahab, in confederacy with Benhadad. II. That Ahab was defeated and slain by Benhadad in B.C. 874. III. That Jehu paid tribute, and Hazael was defeated, in B.C. 861. EXTRACT FROM AN INSCRIPTION OF SHAMAS-PHUL.' Who conquered Sardanapalus in B.C. 825, and reigned in B.C. 823. Column I. (Commencement of Historical Portion.) 26. D.P. Sam - si - vul sar dan - nu sar kis - sat Samsivul powerful king king of a multitude 27. la - mah - ri ri - h - u as - ra - a - ti na - tis - pa not surpassed shepherd of holy places 28. es - ri - ti mur - ti - du - u ka - lis ma - ta - ti mu - ma - h - ir of shrines the driver of all lands the sender forth 29. gim - ri ra - u sa ul - tu ul - la - a. of all who from old time. 30. Hi ib - bu mat su - um - u - 1 - u za - nin . The gods by name the restorer builder 31. Bit - e - seri la mas - ku - kit mu - kil - tu Bit - kur. of Bit User of the House of the Lord. 32. Sa ana sib - ri Bit Ear - sak Kurra Bit - Sadi Who for the beautifying of Bit Karsah Kurra the Temple mat - su •of the mountains of his land 33. [u] - kin lib - ba - su va ba - sa - a us - na - a - su fixed his heart and set his ears {mind) 34. ablu Shal - man - eser sar kip - rat arba - ti son of Shalmaneser king of the four races 35. sa - kali mal - ki sa sa - la - te da - is matati of all kings the spoiler trampler of all lands * Translated by Mr. Boscawen, who reads Samsi-Vul, where Sir Henry Eawlmson reads Shamas-Phul, 4 pjQ jdook vj jjjsumr. 36. ablu - abli sa D.P. Assur - nazir - pal 0f Assurnazirpal 37. ma - hir bi - lat receiver of tribute 38. va i - gi - si - i sa ka - lis kip - ra - a - ti. and riches of all races. HISTORY OF THE REVOLT OF ASSUE-DANNI-PAL, OR SARDANAPALUS, In B.C. 843, sixty-seven years before the first Olympiad. 39. E-nu-va D.P. Assur-dan-ni-pal ina-tar-zi D.P. Shal-man-eser When Assurdannipal rebellion (in the time of) Shalmaneser 40. abu - su e - pu - sa lim - ni - e - ti is - khup a - mat his father he made wickedly he overthrew counsel lim - nu - ti evil 41. u - sap - lis - va matu us - pal - kit - va ik - zu - ra he raised up ¦ and the land he caused to revolt and prepared 42. ta - ha - zu. nisi mat Assuri elis va spalis itti - su. battle. The men of Assyria upper and lower with him. 43. u-sis-kin va u-dan-ni ta-sib-tu alu-ni u-sani - va He gathered and he fortified the abodes (houses) of the cities he. ... . 44. ana - epis gablu va ta - ha - zi is - ku - na pa - ni - su. to make battle and fighting he set his face. 45. Alu Ni - sur - a D.P. A - di - a D.P. Si - ba - ni-ba D.P. Imgur Bel The cities Nisura Adia Sibaniba Imgur Bel D.P. Is - sap - ri. Issapri. 46. D.P. Bit Im-dira D.P. Si-mu D.P. Si-ib-hi-nis D.P. Par-nu-sur (The cities) Imdira Simu Sibhinis Prinusur D.P. Kip - su - na Kipsuna 4*1. D.P. Kur-ba-an D.P. Si-du D.P. Na-pu-lu D.P. Ka-pa D.P. Assur Kurban Sidu Napula Kapa D.P. U - ra - ka Uraka Book of Esther. 51 48. D.P. Rak-kur D.P. Hu-zi-ri-na D.P. Dur-balat D.P. Da-ri-ga D.P. Zaab Bakkur Huzirina Bubalat Dariga Zab 49. D.P. Lu-ub-du D.P. Arpa-ha D.P. Arba-il adi D.P. A-mi-di Lubdu Arpaha Arbela as far as Amidia D.P. Tel - abni • (and) Telabni 50. D.P. Hi - ni - da - nu kala XXVII ma - ha-ri adi hal - za - ni - su - na Hindanu in all 27 towns with their towers sa istu which from 51. Shatenan-eser sar kip-rat arba-ti abu - ya ik - ki - ru - ni Shalmaneser king of the four races my father had separated themselves 52. istu Assur-dan-ni-pal is-sak-nu-ni ina ki-bit (and) for Assurdannipal had placed themselves by command iii ra - ba - ti bel ni - ya of the great gods my lords 53. ana sepi - ya n - sak - nis. Ina, - gar - ri - ya mah - ri - e at my feet I made them bow. In my first sa aDa mat Na - h - ri, &c.,, &c. (in) which to the land of Nahri. It is quite clear from the above extract that there was a period, between the reigns of Shalmanezer II and Shamas- Phul, dming which the Assyrian empire- was in a state of revolution, and during which Assurdannipal, or Sardanapalus, headed the revolt. And it is also clear that the name of this usurper, though found in the annals, and the names of any prefects which he may have appointed, are absent from the list of prefects in the Assyrian Canon during the period of revolution. Now, if the first year of Assurnazirpal is placed, in accordance with the eclipse which occurred, and to which he points on his monument, on the 3rd July, 903, as beginning in that year, then will the first year of his son, the king of the Black Obelisk, Shalmanezer II, have fallen in the year B.C. 878, and his last year, when unseated by Assur dannipal, have fallen in the year B.C. 843, or sixty-seven years before the first Olympiad. It is not possible that the eclipse of the 13th July, B.C. 885, as some suppose, should have marked 52 Book of Esther. the first campaign of Assurnazirpal, if any interval of revo lution had occurred, even to the extent of a single year. Abydenus had before him the work of Berosus, giving history from the time of the creation, that is from Alorus to the time of Alexander, preserved, we may assume, on baked tiles (" coctilibus laterculis "), as spoken of by Pliny1 : and we cannot doubt that copies of the very tablet now under con sideration were also before him, when he wrote thus : — Extract prom the Armenian Copy of Etjsebius, Auoher, p. 37. " Abydenus concerning the kingdom of the Assyrians. " The Chaldeans reckon in this manner the kings of their country, from Alorus down to Alexander : Concerning Ninus and Semiramis they relate nothing worth notice. Having made this observation he (Abydenus) deduces the beginning of history from thence. Ninus, he says, was (the son) of Arbelus, who was the son of Chaalus, who was the son of Arbelus, who was the son of Anebus, who was the son of Babius, who was the son of Belus king of the Assyrians." " Then he recounts one by one the kings from Ninus and Semiramis down to Sardanapalus, who was the last of all; from whom to the first Olympiad sixty-seven years were completed," that is to say, were counted from the year B.C. 843. Eusebius goes on to say — " Abydenus thus, with much particularity, writes concerning the kingdom of the Assyiians. Castor also, in the first book of his Summary of Chronicles, relates the same things plainly, even to the letter, concerning the kingdom of the Assyrians." And Mr. Clinton, who refers to this passage of Abydenus, remarks (vol. i, p.. 265), "the list of Assyrian kings in the Excerpta Chrono- logica, apud Seal. Euseb., p. 74, also reckons, with Castor, Ninus II as the last king, and places the termination sixty- seven years before Olymp. 1." The figure 67 seems thus to be well attested,2 and we may infer with safety that Sardanapalus began his usurpation 1 Hist. Nat. via, 57. 2 I have to withdraw a suggestion formerly made that 67 should he read 167, and also to abandon the idea that Arbaces conquered Nineveh in B.C. 583, in the time of Saracus, as suggested by Niebuhr. Book of Esther. 53 in the year B.C. 843. It is generally stated also that he reigned nineteen or twenty years, which thus leads to the year B.C. 823, as the year when he burnt himself in his palace, two years after his defeat by Belesys and Arbaces, as related by Ctesias (see p. 229). Again, we have the testimony of Megasthenes, no doubt taken from the same tablets, that Belochus and Arbaces divided the kingdom of Sardanapalus between them 304 years before the time when Darius and Cyrus, having reunited the empire, held it between them, that is on the death, or rather, madness, of Cambyses in B.C. 521. (Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch., vol. i, p. 262.) In conclusion. — The object of this first portion of the treatise has been limited, as regards Assyrian chronology, to the clearing away of one chief difficulty in the way of reconciling Assyrian and Hebrew records, that is by fixing the true position of the reign of Shalmanezer II, which necessarily falls between the years B.C. 878 and 843. This result is deduced from two solar eclipses — the first on 3rd July, 903 = .1st year of Assurnazirpal, the second on 15th June, 763, when Esdusarabe was archon, both which fall in with the testimony of Abydenus of his overthrow in B.C. 843, sixty-seven years before the 1st Olympiad. Thus far all is clear and in harmony between the Assyrian and Hebrew annals, extinguishing the first difficulty. If so, however, a second difficulty will be immediately raised in objection : Who, then, was Yahuhazi king of Judah, who, according to the annals of Tiglathpileser, paid tribute to that king in the year B.C. 731, and who is identified by Schrader, and Rawlinson, and Smith, with Jehoahaz, or Ahaz, to the great confusion of this portion of the history ? It has already been shown (p. 32) that Jotham, not Ahaz, was in this year king of Judah, and how is Jotham to be identified with Yahuhazi ? This question, which involves a difficulty, which is now of long standing, must of course be discussed more fully hereafter. Meanwhile, the solution I would suggest seems reasonable and simple, that the two names are not intended to be identical, but that the one is a translation of the other, from Hebrew into Assyrian. Jotham, ox^Imdean, we know signifies Jehovah is 0a/t, or 54 Book of Esther* Tam. Compare Qavyua, a wonder, ffvpos, spirit; and the' signification of Tam (Dn) is that which is perfect, or entire in itself; or taken absolutely, it may signify self-existent, or spirit. On the other hand, Zi in Assyrian signifies spirit. For instance, there is a Zi of the earth, a Zi of the heavens, a Zi of the sun, a Zi of the air.1 So that it would appear that the Hebrew name Jotham, = Jehovah is Tam, is not improperly represented by Yahuha-zi = Jehovah is Zi. There is a third difficulty raised by Professor Schrader and Mr. Smith, which also creates much confusion, and which will have to be discussed again hereafter. A mutilated passage in the annals of Tiglathpileser has been so reconstructed by Prof. Schrader (Die Keilinschriften, &c, pp. 145, 299) as to make it appear that Tiglathpileser had placed Hosea on the throne of Samaria in the room of Pekah, who is also represented to have been slain by Hosea, as early as B.C. 730 ; and thus the capture of Samaria and the fall of Hosea are represented as occurring nine years later, that is in B.C. 721, the common date, instead of in the year B.C. 696, in which I believe that Demetrius has fixed the true time. The solution of this difficulty, again, is simple ; for the time spoken of in the Assyrian inscription is well defined as the time when Tiglathpileser took Abel-beth-maachah and Gilead, which again is defined in 2 Kings xv, 29, as the time when Pekah first came to the throne, in the 52nd year of Uzziah, having slain his predecessor Pekahiah in B.C. 735. So that the king now reigning in Judan was Uzziah, or Au-si-ah (| > || t^fff: . *^\] ¦^>"*"T)> as written in the inscription ; not Hosea (^ttfin), as interpreted by Prof. Schrader. Again, in verse 2~5 we read that it was Pekah, not Hosea, who in B.C. 735 slew the king of Samaria, and then reigned twenty -years, ending in B.C. 716. It seems necessary to mention these points by anticipation, in order to show that there is no real difficulty arising out of them as regards our reckoning. In the mean while we must hope for the discovery of fresh documents to set these questions entirely at rest. 1 F. Lenonnant's Etudes Aceadiennes, torn, i, part 1, p. 215.. ^iioa±Brais,I)^r&Soii,Lith. Book of Esther. 55 ASTEONOMICAL CALENDAE OP SACEED HISTOEY arranged in conformity with Eclipses and Sabbatical years, from B.C. 997 to 818. Compared with EAWLINSONS ASSYEIAN CANON during the same period, reckoned in Sosses, or Cycles of 60 years, in the Mr* of Belus, B.C. 2287. Computed upwards from the 1st year of Assurbanipal, B.C. 668, at the close of a period of seven Cycles — Close of a Seventh Cycle in B.C. 668 77 77 Sixth 7) ,, 728 77 77 Fifth 77 .... ., 788 77 7) Fourth 77 .... .... „ 848 77 77 Third >7 ,, 908 77 )J 77 ,, 968 r> 7 7 First » ,, 1028 Counted from the beginning of the First in „ 1087 With the view of showing that the Annals of Shal manezer II, recorded on the Black Obelisk in the British Museum, which speak of Benhadad, Ahab, Hazael and Jehu, comcide with the history of these kings contamed in the Hebrew Scriptures. MRA OF BELUS. Ao-o-vpicov irpwros ifiao-iXevae BrjXos — tov Be /coer/jbov r\v eros 70-t?. A.M. 3216 = B.C. 2287-6.— Syncellus, vol. i, p. 181. Durat ibi (apud Babylonem) Jovis Beli templum. Inventor hie fuit sideralis scientise.— Plin. Nat. Hist, vi, 36. 56 Book of Esther. ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR OF SACRED HISTORY ARRANGED IN CON FORMITY WITH ECLIPSES AND SABBATICAL YEARS. B.C. Eclipses and Sabbatical Yes. JUDAH. Israel. Ttoe. Hemabks. 997 David . . 5 Hirom. 996 77 . . 6 995 . . 77 • • . . 7 „ 994 ti ¦ • 8 „ 993 . . 1 Solomon 9 992 2 77 10 „ 991 .. 3 71 H 990 Sabbatical yr. 4 It * ' 12 ( Foundation of the temple laid in (. the 12th year of Hirom. 989 5 77 ¦ • .. 13 988 .. 6 )l 14 „ 987 . . 7 77 • • . ¦ 15 „ 986 .. 8 17 ' ' 16 „ 985 9 77 17 „ 984 10 77 • ' . . 18 983 Sabbatical yr. 11 II ¦ • .. 19 „ f Building of Solomon's temple com! i. pleted in the 11th year 8thmonth| 982 Jubilee year 12 7) • • 20 „ ( Consecration of Solomon's temple, (. 12th year 7th month. 981 .. 13 » 21 980 .. 14 77 • • 22 "' 979 .. 15 77 * • . . 23 978977976 Sabbatical yr. 1617 18 77 ¦ ¦ 77 • • 242526 ftl Solomon had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram ivory, apes, and peacocks."1 L (1 Kings, x, 22.) 975 .. 19 >7 • • 27 „ 974 .. 20 77 28 973 .. 21 77 • • 29 972 .. 22 7) ' • 30 971 • 23 II • * 31 „ 970 .. 24 1) • • 32 969 Sabbatical yr. 25 77 33 968 .. .. 26 SJ 34 „ ' Brought f rom the East, up the Euphrates, to Tipsah. Book of Esther. 57 RAWLINSON'S ASSYRIAN CANON RECKONED IN SOSSES OR CYCLES OF SIXTY YEARS. fb.c. 2nd Soss. Remarks. ;997 31 996 32 Extract feom Josephus contra 995 33 Apiok I, 18. 994 34 " Menander wrote the acts that were done by the Greeks and barbarians under 993 35 every one of the Tyrian lings, and had 992 36 taken much pains to learn the history out of their own records. Now when he was 991 37 writing about these kings that had reigned at Tyre, he came to Hirom, and says thus 990 38 — Upon the death of Abibalus,. his son Hirom took the kingdom. 989 39 " Hirom lived 53 years, and reigned 34 988 40 Under this king there waB a younger son of Abdemon, who 987 41 mastered the problems which Solomon, king of Jerusalem, ;986 42 recommended to be solved. "Now from this king to the 985 43 building of Carthage is thus 984 44 calculated : — " Baleazarus lived 43 years reigned 171 [983 45 Abdastartus „ 29 „ „ 9 Astartus „ 54 „ „ 12 :982 46 Astarimus „ 54 „ „ 9 Phelles „ 50 „ „ 8ra. [981 47 Ithobalus „ 68 „ „ 32 980 48 Baalzarus ,, 45 „ „ 6 Matgenus „ 32 „ „ 9 979 49 Pygmalion „ 56 „ „ 27 s " So that the whole time from the 978 50 reign of Hirom to the building 977 . of Carthage is 155 8m. 51 " Since then the temple waB built at Jerusa 976 52 lem in the 12th year of the reign of -Hirom, there were from the building of 975 53 the temple to the building of Carthage 143 years and 8 months." 974 54 Carthage was destroyed by Scipio — 973 55 In b.c. 146 Mppian, Livy, SludaBj So_ { Imus and Orosius. ;972 56 700 After the foundation. 971 57 B.C. 846 Foundation of Carthage. 143 8m. 970 58 B c 989 8-f foundation of Solomon's l.Te™ple. 969 59 968 60 1 Our copies of Josephus read 7, but Theophilus and Syncellus read 17. 9 Our copies of Josephus read 47, clearly an error for 27. 58 Book of Esther. ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR OF SACRED HISTORY— continued. 967 966 965964 963962 961 960959958 957956 955 954953 952951950 949948917946 945944 943942941 940 939 Eclipses and Sabbatical Ybs. Sabbatical yr. Sabbatical yr. Sabbatical yr. Sabbatical yr. 27 Solomon 28 „ 29 „ 30 „ 31 „ 32 „ 33 „ 34 „ 35 36 „ 37 „ 3839 „ 40 „ 1 Rehoboam 2 „ 3 „ 5 „ 6 „ 7 „ 10 11 12 1314 15 16 TlBE. 1 Jeroboam 2 34 56 7 8 9 10 111213 14 15 16 1 Baalzarus 23 4567 „ 9 1011121314 1516 17 „ ("1 Abdastar- i. tus 2 3 4 5 67 „ 8 9 1 Astartus 234 Remarks. flthobal, father of Jezebel, born. 1 (Josephus con. Apion I, 18.) Secession of the Ten Tribes. l 1 1 1 The date of Jeroboam's apostacy, b.c 953, is immoveable : 390 years before the fall of Jerusalem B.C. . which was 14 generations, of 40 years each = 560 before the birth of Christ (Matt, i, 17), ending in b.c. 3* ' Book of Esther. RAWLINSON'S ASSYRIAN CANON— continued. 59 1 3P.D Soss. Egypt. Eemaiiks. m 1 r 2 p 3 p64 A 963 5 |962 6 ISheshonkI Or Shishak. |61 7 2 „ |60 8 3 I59 9 4 „ |58 10 5 957 11 fi „ 1,6 12 7 „ Jeroboam fled to Shishak . . . . " until the death of Solomon." (1 Kings xi, 40.) |S5 13 8 „ i4 14 9 „ |53 15 10 „ P 16 H 7, |l 17 12 „ lo 18 13 „ r 1920 14 „ 15 „ ( " It came to pass that in the fifth year of king Behoboam X Egypt came up against Jerusalem." (2 Chron. xii, 2.) Shishak king of w 21 16 946 22 17 „ ;945 23 18 „ 944 24 19 ,. 943 25 20 „ 942 26 21 941 27 1 OsorchonI Or Zerah, king of Ethiopia. [940 28 2 „ §39 29 3 |38 30 4 60 Book of Esther. ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR OF SACRED HISTORY— continued.' B.C. Eclipses and Sabbatical Yks. Judah. Israel. TTBE. Bemarks. ¦J 937 ¦ . 1 Abijah . 17 Jeroboam 5 Astartus 936 .. 2 77 • 18 6 '1 935 .. 3 7) • 19 „ 7 934 Sabbatical yr. 1 Asa 20 „ 8 933 Jubilee year 2 77 • 21 Nadab . . 9 (" Probable date of the birth of Ahab, X son-in-law of Ithobal. 932 .. 3 77 22 „ 10 931 4 17 • 1 Baasha . . 11 i 930 .. 5 77 2 „ 12 i 929 6 it ' 3 7 1 Astarimu 1* 928 7 )) 4 7 2 „ 927 Sabbatical yr. 8 D 5 7 * ' 3 926 . . . • 9 it ' 6 7 4 925924 .. 1011 ii * 7 8 7 •• 5 6 rProbable birth of Jezebel, daughter! < of Ithobal. when he was 31 yearn (. old. 923 12 a • 9 1 ' ' 7 „ 922 13 n 10 7 8 921 14 i, 11 7 9 „ .1 920 Sabbatical yr. 15 a 12 7 Phelles Covenant renewed. (2 Chron. xv, 10.) 919 .. 16 a 13 7 1 Ithobal . . Father of Jezebel now 37 years old.,j 918 17 » 14 7 2 „ ^ 917 18 »> 15 7 3 „ .. i 916 .. 19 .7 16 7 4 „ .. V 915 20 77 17 7 5 „ .. ' 914 .. 21 77 • 18 7 6 „ 913 Sabbatical yr. 22 77 19 7 7 „ .. 912 23 '7 • 20 7 8 „ .. 911 24 7> 21 7 • ' 9 „ .. 910 25 77 22 7 10 „ i 909 26 77 • 23 7 ' * 11 „ •¦ ¦j( 908 .. 27 77 • 1 Elah .. 12 „ .. ( Ahab, say at the age of 25, marries) 1 Jezebel, say at 17. Book of Esther. 61 RAWLINSON'S ASSYRIAN CANON— continued. ! .B.C. 3m> Soss. Eponymous Archons. Assyria. Egypt. Eemarks. pt •?r wn 31 50sorchonI t936: 32 6 „ m 33 .. 7 „ ]m 34 8 „ 933 35 9 ,932 36 10 „ I31 37 11 ,. m 3839 .... pa ... . .. 12 „ 13 „ [Zerah, the Ethiopian, came with an army against Asa king of Judah. L (2 Chron. xiv, 9.) m 4D .... mur .... 14 „ P7 41 .... mu .... 15 „ |6 42 .... iden .... J" 1 Sheshonk I II is 43 git ... . 2 „ §4 44 Muha .... ma .. 3 I3 45 Assur-dain .. 4 '922921 46 Assurdini . . . . .. 5 „ 47 Mas .. 6 „ 920 48 Abu-ilya 7 „ 919918 49 AsBur-taggil 8 „ 50 Assur 9 „ 917 51 10 „ 916 52 .. 11 „ 915 .53 .. 12 „ 914913 54 55 .... sar ... . .. 13 „ 14 „ ( Asa king of Judah sends presents to < Benhadad king of Syria. (1 Kings (. xv, 18.) 912 56 Ninip-zir-ipus 15 „ 911 57 Dabukar . . . . ya .. 16 „ 910 5859 ABBur-lakin-ili : . 1 Tugulti- ninip 17 „ 18 t 909 Tugulti-ninip 908 60 Taggil-ana-beliya . . 2 „ .. 19 Book of Esther.- ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR OF SACRED HISTORY— continued. Eclipses and Sabbatical Yes. Remarks. 907906 905904 903J 902901900 899898 897896 895 894893 892891980 887 886885 884883 882 881880 879 878 Sabbatical yr Eclipseofsunl 3rd July ) Sabbatical yr. Sabbatical yr Sabbatical yr. Jubilee year Sabbatical yr 28 Asa 29 „ 30 „ 31 „ 32 „ 33 „ 34 „ 35 „ 36 „ 37 „ 38 „ 39 „ 40 „ 41 „ Uehosaphat 23 „ 4 „ 5 „ 6 „ 78 „ 9 10 H12 „ 1314 „ 15 „ 16 „ 2Elah 1 Zimri 2 „ 3 „ 1 Omri 2 „ 5 „ 6 „ 7 „ 1 Ahab 2 „ 3 „ 4 „ 5 „ 6 „ 7 „ 8 „ 9 „ 10 „ H 7, 12 ~ „ 13 „ 14 „ 15 „ 16 „ 17 „ 18 „ 19 „ 13 Ithobal 14 „ 15 „ 16 „ 17 „ 18 „ 19 „ 20 „ 21 „ 22 „ 23 „ 24 „ 25 „ 26 „ 27 „ 28 „ 29 „ 30 „ 31 „ 32 „ 1 Eaalzarus 2 „ 3 „ 4 „ 5 „ 61 Mytgenus 2 3 „ 4 {There was famine in the land towari the beginning of Ahab's reign. (1 Kings xviii, 1,}! {Menander records a drought in the reign of Ithob al. (Joseph. Ant. viii, 13, 2.) ,1 (Ithobal, king of Tyre, father of ¦< Jezebel, dies at the age of 68!' ( (Josephus con. Apion I, 18.): Note,— It may be observed that the total solar eclipse of n.c. 885 occurrprl in ™«^ ** « * «. ui uzur,=The sun-supports-the lord, or king It was Dartial at Ninpveh J S VLJ J 7etr of ofhce of Shamas-bel- pronovnced to be p-opitious to the king S P Nineveh, and of the same character as that of b.c. 903, Book of Esther. RAWLINSON'S ASSYRIAN CANON— continued. 63 B.C. 4th Sobs. Eponymous Archons. Assyria. Egypt. Remarks . 907 1 Abu-ili-ya f 3 Tugulti- "1 I ninip J 20SheshonkII 906 2 Ilu-milki 4 „ 21 905 3 Yari 5 „ 22 „ 904 903 4 5 Assur-sezib-aai 6 „ .. 1 „ 2324 f Total solar eclipse third July, J partially visible in Armenia, ] in the first year of Assur- Assur-nazir-pal 902 6 Assur-idin ^ « 2 „ 25 [_ nazirpal. 901 7 . Simutti-aku . . 3 „ lOsorchonll 900 8 .... anma-damga . . 4 „ 2 a s 899 9 Dagan-bel-nazir 5 „ 3 S3 a o> to 898 10 Ninippiya-usur '. . 6 „ 4 ° s s ° |97 11 Ninip-bel-uzur 7 „ .. 5 „ H i— i a a.- 8 I 1896 12 Sangu-assur-Lilbur . . 8 „ 6 „ Tj Hi* I95 13 Samas-ubla 9 „ '7 "3 §94 14 Nibat-bel-kumua . . 10 „ 8 „ _ * I93 15 Qurdi-assur . . 11 „ 9 „ 5-1 fe 16 Assur-Uha 12 „ 10 „ ll 17 Assur- natgil 13 „ H *3 a B90 889 18 19 Bel-sum-damig Dayan-ninip. . 14 „ 15 „ 1213 til -*= OS p< ¦a g =g a 3 » 888 887 2021 Istar-iddan Samas-nuri . . 16 „ .. 17 „ .. 14 15 „ 886885884 222324 Mannu-daan-ana-iU. . Samaa-bel-uzurNinip-ilai 18 „ .. 19 „ 20 „ 1617 lTakellothie ("Total eclipse thirteenth July, noon, ) magnitude 0-83, North, 18 years 1 11 days before the eclipse oi V b.c. 867, J visible at Nineveh. 883 25 Ninip-edur-anni 21 „ 2 !882 26 Assur-ilai 22 „ 3 881 27 Nibat-iska-dain 23 „ 4 „ 1880 28 Dabu-bel 24 „ 5 „ 1879'878 2930 Sar-maher-nisi 25 „ 1 „ 6 „ 7 „ Saliman-uzur II K * This total eclipse of the 13th July, b.c 885,. occurred 18 years and 11 days me 24th July. And the eclipse of 867 is again connected with the total eclipse ' JF Agathocles, by another cycle of 6,890 mean lunations, ov 557 years 22 days. ^g a bearing in correction of the lunar theory. before the total eclipse of B.C. 867 on of b.c. 15th August 310, in the time All these eclipses thus well delined 64 Book of Esther. ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR OP SACRED HISTORY- continued. B.C. Eclipses and Sabbatical Yes Judah. Israel. Ttee. Bemabkb. 877 876 .. 17Jehosapha18 -. 20 Ahab .. 21 „ .. 5 Mytgenus 6 |" Ahab takes Benhadad prisoner, and I Chen makes a treaty with him, ( (1 Kings, xx, 34.) C Three years of peace. (1 Kings, 1 xxii, 1.) 875 . . 19 „ 22 „ .. 7 874 .. 20 „ 1 Ahaziah 8 (Death of Ahab, at Bamoth Gilead, ( at the age, say, of 59, in b.c. 874.1 873 . .. 21 „ 1 Joram . . 9 0' . 872871 Sabbatical yr 22 „ 23 „ 2 „ .. 3 „ .. 1 Pygmalion 2 C Jehosaphat and Joram attack Mesha) X king of Moab. (2 Kings iii, 41.) j 870 .. 24 „ 4 „ .. 3 * 869 25 „ 5 „ .. 4 868 . . 1 Jehoram 6 „ .. 5 867 .. 2 „ 7 „ .. 6 866 3 8 „ .. 7 „ i 865 .. 4 „ 9 „ .. 8 864 Sabbatical yr. 5 „ 10 „ 9 863 .. 6 „ .. H „ 10 862 861860 1 Annular 1 1 Eclipse J 1 Ahaziah. . 1 Athaliah 2 12 „ . . 1 Jehu 2 „ H12 „ 13 f Death of Jezebel, at the age of 62. 1 Hazael anointed kinarof Syria. ("Jehu anointed king of Israel, I (2 Kings, ix, 6.) 859 3 3 „ .. 14 „ , 858 4 „ 4 „ .. 15 857 Sabbatical yr. 5 „ 5 „ .. 16 „ 856 6 „ 6 „ .. 17 „ 855 1 Jehoash. . 7 „ .. 18 „ , 854 .. 2 „ .. 8 „ 19 „ :< 853 .. 3 „ .. 9 „ .. 20 „ j 852 4 „ .. 10 „ .. 21 „ 851 .. 5 „ .. H „ .. 22 850 Sabbatical yr. 6 „ .. 12 „ .. 23 849 .. 7 „ .. 13 „ .. 24 848 .. .. 8 „ ... 14 „ .. 25 „ .liii_j vtio >tai Dili, been the year of his death in b.c, 861. ., 8^f; noth™g mTore ]s Taa,id concerning Ahab in the Assyrian records. This must have because Hazael and Jehu are mentioned in those records thirteen years i 2n£™fliat * Book of Esther. RAWLINSON'S ASSYRIAN CANON— continued. 65 4TH Soss. 877'876 875 874 873 872871870 869868867 m 865864 636261 860 859858 857 856 855 854 853 852 851 1850 849 31 32 33 3435 36 3738 3940 4142 4344 4546 47 48 49 50 515253 54 555657585960 Eponymous Archons. Assur-bel-kani Assur-bani-uzur1 Abu-ina-ekal-lilburDayan-assur. . Samas-abua . . Samas-bel-uzurBel-banai Hade-libusu . . Nibat-alik-paniEsdu-rarnan . . Ninip-mukin-nisi , Ninip-nadin-sun ' Assur-banai . . Dabu-ninip . . Taggil-ana-sariPhul-utul-anni Bel-abua . . Salubel-lamurNinip-kipsi-uzur Ninip-ilaiQurdi-assur . . Niri-sarNibat-sum-damiq Yahalu -•' \ . IllulaiSarpati-bel . . Nergal-ilai . . HubaiIlukin-uzur . . Saliman-uzur II |2Shalman- ( ezer 3 „ 4 5 „ 6 „ 7 „ 8 „ 9 „ 10 „ H „ 12 „ 13 14 15 „ 16 17 7, 18 „ 19 „ 20 2122 23 „ 24 25 „ 2627 „ 282930 31 Sheshonk III 8Takellothis 9 101112 13 1415 1617 18 t1 234 5.6 789 10 11 12 1314 15 1617 1819 ( Shalmanezer conquers Benhadad, in \ confederacy with Ahab, who fur- j nished 10,000 men towards the C army, in b.c. 875. Shalmanezer again defeats Benhadad. ("Eclipse of the moon on 24th Mesori, \ in 15th year of Takellothis = (. 17th March, B.C. 870. Defeat of Benhadad in B.C. 869. f "In my eleventh year, Benhadad of < Damascus, and twelve kings of the (. Hittites, strengthened themselves." (Eclipse of sun, invisible at Nineveh, i 557 years before the eclipse of C Agathocles, b.c. 310. Death of Benhadad. 'In my 18th year (b.c. 861), for the sixth time, the Euphrates I crossed. Hazael of Damascus to battle came." Jehu pays tribute. In my twenty-first campaign, to the cities of Hazael of Damascus I went; tribute of the Tyrians, the Zidonians, and Gebalites, I 1^ received." f Total eclipse, fifth August, morning, X five o'clock. r"In my thirty-firstyear, the second X time the Cyclical Feast."3 M » Assurbaniuzur, chief of the palace(?), say at the age of 26,. in the year b.c. 876. Reappointed in the year fc. 817 by Shamas-Phul, say at the age of 84, shortly before his death, on the restoration of the monarchy. As Merely chamberlain of the palace, there is nothing imnrobffible jp this. 66 Book of Esther. ASTRONOMICAL CALENDAR OF SACRED HISTORY— continued. B.C. Eclipses and Sabbatical Ybs. Judah. Israel. Tyre. Remarks. 847 9 Jehoash. . 15 Jehu 26 Pygmalion 846 10 „ 16 „ 27 „ f Carthage colonized by the sister of t Pygmalion.* 845 11 „ 17 „ 28 844 12 „ . . IS „ 29 843 Sabbatical yr 13 19 „ 30 842 14 „ . . 20 „ 31 841 15 „ .. 21 „ 32 840 16 „ 22 „ 33 839 17 „ 23 „ 34 838 18 „ 24 „ 35 837 19 „ .. 25 „ 836 Sabbatical yr. 20 „ 26 „ 835 Jubilee year 21 „ 27 „ t 834 22 „ 28 „ 833 .. 23 „ 1 Jehoahaz ',, 832 24 „ 2 831 25 „ 3 •j 830 26 „ 4 829 Sabbatiealyr. 27 „ 5 „ 828 V. 28 „ 6 . 827 29 „ 7 826 30 „ 8 825 31 „ 9 „ ,| 824 32 „ 10 j. 823 33 „ H l 822 Sabbatiealyr. 34 „ 12 „ ! 821 .. 35 „ .. 53 „ 4 820 36 „ 14 „ '« 819 37 „ 15 77 :m 818 ""¦ " 38 „ . . 16 „ 1 -'The colony -of Carthage was -founded by the sister of Pvemalinn ,„ «,. ? I — ' ^ (Josephus con. Apion I, 18 , 700 years before it was destroyed bvsSta .r. ?/« twe?V;feTenth yearof-hisreii, the foundation of the temple of Jerusalem ™>uoy<:u oy acipio in b.c. 146, and 144 years after Solomon M€ Book of Esther. RAWLINSON'S ASSYRIAN CANON— continued. 67 EPONIMODS ABCHONS. Assyria. Remarks. 847 846845 844 843842841 840 839 838837836 835834833 832831 830829 828827826825824 823 822821 820819818 12 34 5 67 89 10 11 12 13 1415 16 1718 1920 21 2223 24 25 26 27 30 Dayan-asBur. . Assur-bani-uzurYahalu Bel-banai \ o > « <£> A a o ¦a T3 P-< TI a nJ p. 1 1 m OJ (77a o 4-1 o .3 c ¦< t- CD 3 rfl s «H k, 0 a D. s w -W o ^ a s" .5 "3 o P* & g& 03 J Shamas-Phul ' Yahalu Bel-daanNinip-ublaShamas-ilaiNibat-ilai 32 Shalman ezer 33 „ 34 „ 35 „ 20 Sheshonk III 21 „ 22 „ 23 „ Revolt of Assur-danni-pal, or Sardanapalus ("A quo usque ad primum Olympiadem efficiuntur anni 67." — Abydenus, Arm. Euseb. Auch., p. 39.) = B.C. 843. Phul and Arbaces, or Belochus and Arbaces conspire against, and conquer Sardanapalus. The Medes then reigned 304 years, till the time of Darius B.C. 521 = B.C. 825 — Megasthenes ('lrans., vol. i, p. 262.) Annular eclipse, 6th October, B.C. 825, partially visible, ¦when Shamas-Phul defeated Sardanapalus at Nineveh. 44 SheBhonk III 45 „ 46 47 „ 4849 J 1 Shamas \ Phul 2 3 4 5 6 F i Tho „»;^„„i „„mo r>f 3rvimas-Phul may have been Bel-uzur, that is Belesys, or Belochus. After repeated idefeate hi SnfedeS AhSS tomake peace. Belesys then consulted the stars, and being favoured pro- ffiy by a ^^^clip^of thilun, in October b.c 825, took the title Shamas-Phul when he came to the throne '68 Book of Esther. Judging from the very frequent use of the word Shamas (Sun-God) in the compound names of public officers during the period we have been examining, it may be inferred that the worship of the sun was peculiarly prevalent at this period of the Assyrian empire. Assurnazirpal points to the "Sun-God" as casting his propitious shadow upon him, .Shalmanezer II styles himself " Sun-God " (Records of the Past, vol. iii, p. 83), and his son Shamas-Phul styles himself ruler of the "Southern Sun," whose seat is at Calah (vol. i, p. 12). . It will also be observed that, according to the foregoing arrangement of dates, after insertion of the years of revolt under Sardanapalus, kings take their thrones, and eponymous prefects take their titles in years of total or annular eclipse of the sun, thus : — Total solar eclipse 3rd July, 903, Assurnazirpal takes the throne. partially visible at Nineveh. Small solar eclipse 4th July, 895. Shamas-ubla prefect. Total solar eclipse 9th Feb., 887. Shamas-nuri „ Total solar eclipse 13th July, 885, Shamas-bel-uzur „ partially visible at Nineveh. Total solar eclipse 1st March, 878, Shalmanezer takes the throne. large at Nineveh (?). Annular eclipse 22nd April, 872. Shamas-bel-uzur prefect. Total solar eclipse 4th August, 849. Shalmanezer on the throne, inaugu rates a Second Cycle, 848. Annular eclipse 26th Sept., 843. Sardanapalus revolts. Annular eclipse 6th Oct., 825. Shamas-Phul consults the stars, and restores the monarchy. Total solar eclipse 8tb Jan., 819. Shamas-ilai prefect. All these eclipses apparently should be found by com putation to have been visible at Nineveh. Astronomers, perhaps, may think them worthy of their consideration in the reconstruction of the lunar theory. HARBISON AND SONS, PBINTERB IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTT, ST. MARTIN'S LANE.