Persian Chronology and the Length of the Babylonian Exile of the Jews

DKK 150^.00

How long did the Jews’ Babylonian exile last – 50 or 70 years? The Bible says that the land of Judah was a desolate waste for 70 years, but this is disputed by most scholars today. The purpose of this book is to discuss data from the Persian Empire that can throw light on the question.

The following subjects are discussed: The basis for a relative and an absolute chronology. How the truthfulness of the absolute chronology can be tested. An analysis of the chronological data found in the Bible. Different chronological accounts in ancient times. Why the chronology of the Saros Tablets cannot be trusted. The weaknesses of the traditional Persian chronology. The witness of the astronomical tablets from Persia. A new chronological scheme for Persian kings is presented.

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.