Assyrian, Babylonian and Egyptian Chronology

DKK 150^.00

The book presents new chronological schemes for the Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian empires.

The conclusion drawn on the basis of the study of thousands of cuneiform tablets is that the length of the Neo-Babylonian Empire must be expanded by twenty years. This means that the accession year of Nebuchadnezzar II is 625 and not 605 BCE, as is almost universally believed. The Neo-Assyrian and Egyptian empires are pushed back by twenty years as well.

As a basis for these conclusions the following subjects are discussed: The lack of cuneiform evidence in favor of the traditional Neo-Babylonian chronology. Ninety dated business tablets contradict the traditional Neo-Babylonian chronology. The lunar positions of VAT 4956 corroborate a twenty-year expansion of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The Neo-Assyrian Empire cannot be dated by astronomical tablets. There are errors in the Neo-Assyrian king lists and Eponym lists. The Egyptian kingdoms cannot be dated by astronomical documents. Different astronomical tablets claimed to confirm the traditional Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian chronologies are discussed. H. Hunger’s criticisms of the previous edition of this book are discussed.

Rolf J. Furuli has been a lecturer in Semitic languages and for more than a decade has taught courses in Akkadian, Aramaic, Ethiopic, Hebrew, Phoenician, Syriac, and Ugaritic at the University in Oslo and at the Norwegian Institute of Paleography and Historical Philology. He has also studied Greek, Latin, and Sumerian, and has translated many documents from the mentioned Semitic languages and Sumerian into Norwegian. In 2005 he defended his doctoral dissertation where he argues for a completely new understanding of the verbal system of Classical Hebrew. He has written two books on Bible translation and two books on ancient chronology.