Nebuchadnezzar and Jerusalem

Abstract

A CUNEIFORM text in the British Museum (B.M. 21901), published in 1923 by C. J. Gadd and commonly known as the Babylonian Chronicle, records events in years ten to seventeen of the reign of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon. The information it gives includes the date of the fall of Nineveh in the fourteenth year of Nabopolassar, 612 B.C. In 1956 D. J. Wiseman published several more tablets of the same type.' One of these (B.M. 21946) covers events from the twenty-first year of Nabopolassar to the eleventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, his successor. These years are equivalent to 605 to 594 B.C., and the record includes the battle of Carchemish and the first capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. The new material is obviously important in relation to biblical records of the same events and, in addition to the publication by Wiseman, several discussions have already appeared. A great deal has been clarified, but a completely consistent reconstruction of the history in terms of its biblical-Babylonian synchronisms does not appear to have been achieved yet. Edwin R. Thiele2 applies both Tishri-to-Tishri and Nisan-to-Nisan year reckonings, alters some assumptions in his well-known book,3 but reaches inconclusive results. Hayim Tadmor4 modifies Thiele's scheme in a new tabulation of great value, but finds Jeremiah 52:28-29 still enigmatic. A. Malamat finds it impossible to incorporate in his reconstruction the synchronism in Jeremiah 46:2. J. Philip Hyatt6 judges it necessary to employ both nonaccession-year and accession-year systems of calculation in order to reconcile the apparently disparate evidence. The present article will be a further attempt to understand the synchronisms and establish a consistent reconstruction of the history. The Babylonian system of dating in use at the time with which we are concerned is now well known. The year began in the spring and had twelve months. The order of these months and their names in both Babylonian and Hebrew are shown in the following table: