Evidence for Accession Dating under the Achaemenids

Abstract

THIS PAPER IS CONCERNED WITH the way or ways in which Persian kings counted their regnal years.1 Three regnal dating methods, attested in Babylonia and Egypt, need to be considered. First, in the postdating system, years can be counted from one New Year's Day to the next, with Year 1 beginning on the first New Year's Day after the accession. The time from accession to the first New Year's Day is the accession year. This system was standard in Babylonia at the time of Cyrus' conquest in 539 B.C.E. A second method, antedating or predating, was used in Egypt throughout the Saite Period, which begins in 664 B.C.E., and down to the time of Cambyses' annexation of Egypt in 526/525.2 Regnal years were counted from one New Year's Day to the next, as in Babylonia. But the first year began, not on the New Year's Day after the accession, but-at least notionally-on that preceding the accession. In effect, the time from accession to the first New Year's Day was counted as Year 1.