The ancient Assyrian empire, under Sardanapalus, destroyed and parted by his two commanders, Tiglathpileser of Media, and Nabonasser of Babylon; the famous æra of Nabonasser, now king of Babylon, begins this Spring, on Feb. 26, at noon, being then the 1st day of the Egyptian year. (d)

Jotham dies. And his son

Begins to reign, 16 years.

Son to Ahaz made partner with him in the kingdom.

Ahaz dies.

Shalmanesar, king of Assyria, takes Samaria, and carries the 10 tribes into captivity. Hezekiah dies. And his son

Begins to reign, 55 years.

Esarhaddon, or Asnapper, king of Assyria seizes
Babylon, and adds it to his empire, Feb. 9,
at the end of this year, being the first Egyp-
tian new year day of his reign.*
Manasseh dies. And his son

Begins to reign, 2 years.

He is killed. And his son

Begins to reign, 31 years.

Thales, the father of the Greek astronomers, born at Miletus, and lives 93 years.

Solon born in Salamis, and lives 80 years.t Nabopollaser general to Chyniladanus king of Assyria and Chaldea, rebels against his master, and makes himself king of Babylon, Jan. 27, at the end of this year, being the first Egyptian new year day of his reign. (e) Pharaoh Necho leading his army out of Egypt, slays Josiah in battle at Megiddo, and passes on to the Euphrates.

Josiah's second son, reigns 3 months, Necho beats the Babylonians, takes Carchemish, returns through Judea, and carries Jehoahaz into Egypt.

Josiah's eldest son, sometime this summer begins to reign, 11 years.

This summer, Nabopollaser makes his son Nebuchadnezzar partner in the empire, and sets him at the head of his armies. (f) Whence the scripture calls this the first year of Nebuchadnezzar.

d In the beginning of the year of the Julian Period 3967, and 747 before the vulgar æra of the birth of Christ, by the consent of all astronomers. Whether he began to reign before, seems uncertain; but this to be sure is the first Egyptian new year day of his reign. Ptolemy.

* According to Ptolemy's mathematical canon.

† Sir I. Newton places the birth of Solon 10 years after.

e According to Ptolemy.

f So Berosius in Josephus.

Whereupon, Nebuchadnezzar beats Necho's army at the Euphrates, retakes Carchemish, and marches to Judea.

IX m. Chislieu, Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusa-
lem, and carries Daniel with a great many
others to Babylon; whence the 70 years of
the Jews' captivity begin.

Nabopollaser dying this summer, Nebuchadnez-
zar begins to reign alone, 43 years. (g)
Jehoiakim taken by the Chaldeans and slain.
Whereupon his son

and

Reigns 3 months 10 days; and then with Eze-
kiel is carried to Babylon, by Nebuchadnezzar,
in the eighth year of his reign.
Josiah's third son, suceeeds in the Kingdom,
this year, Cyrus the Persian is born.
IV month, 9 day, that is, July 27, Nebuchad-
nezzar's army breaks up Jerusalem; and
Zedekiah taken, and carried to Babylon.
V month, 7 day, that is, Aug. 24, Nebuzaradan
enters Jerusalem; and 10th day, that is, Aug.
27, sets the temple and city on fire, and breaks
down the walls &c.

Which is in the nineteenth year of Nebuchad-
nezzar's reign from his heading the army, and
the seventeenth from the first Egyptian new
year day after his father's death. In the
year of the Julian period 4126; and 588 be-
fore the vulgar christian æra. Usher, Prideaux,
Newton, &c.

g But Jan. 21, at the end of this year, which is at the beginning of the year of the Julian Period 4110, being the first Egyptian new year day of his reign; Ptolemy therefore begins his reign from thence, according to his usual method.

h Sometimes called Coniah, Conias, Jeconias, and Jehoiachin.

IV. PERIOD.

The Chronology of the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Egyptian monarchs successively, from the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, to the destruction of the kingdom of Egypt by Octavius Cæsar; containing exactly 558 years.

Thus far the Hebrew and inspired guides alone have led us in a continued path from the creation. But the succession of the kings of Judah failing, we must now look to the Grecian histories for the following course of time to the beginning of the Roman empire. And here the most knowing inquirers have been in a perpetual strife till the common year of Christ 1613; when the famous Mathematical Canon of Claudius Ptolemy (a) was happily discovered entire in England. Which being founded on astronomical appearances and calculations, drawn from the records of the Chaldean and Egyptian historians and astronomers, was received with great joy by the learned world, and soon became the decisive umpire among Chronologers, as agreeing with Scripture, with the best ancient history, and with astronomy; to which they have therefore, almost ever since, appealed as to an uncontested oracle. It begins with the reign of Nabonasser, king of Babylon, on the first day at noon of the first Egyptian month, called Thoth, (b) which then was Feb. 26th of the Julian Period 3967; accounts by Egyptian years of 365 days, continually, without intercalations; reaches down through the reigns of the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian,

a He was a great astronomer of Alexandria in Egypt.

b Thoth was the Egyptian Mercury; and as the first day of their years were devoted to him, both the day and the month were named from him. Gregory.

Egyptian and Roman monarchs, to Antoninus Pius, when Ptolemy flourished; and numbers the years of their reigns by the number only of the Thoths, or rather Egyptian new year days included in them. To this Canon, therefore, we keep invariably in the present period; having carefully examined it in Greek and Latin, both in Calvisius and Petavius, in Greek only in Mr. Gregory, and in Latin only in Mr. Cary and Mr. Whiston. I have observed several errors in the four former printed copies, whereas the table in Mr. Whiston seems to be free from any, except in the column he adds of the years of the Julian Period, which seem to be too many by one down from the beginning of the reign of Darius Hystaspis, (c) and which I have here corrected. But as we must reduce the Egyptian year in this ancient Canon to the present Julian, I shall from this time forward begin the year with the first of January, throughout our following Chronology.

c That is, Darius the son of Hystaspis.

I. BABYLONIAN MONARCHS.

17 Nebuchadnezzar VII m. his governor Gedaliah

13417

421

21

killed.

Nebuzaradan carries the rest of the Jews to Babylon. Pythagoras born, and lives 80 years. (d)

Nebuchadnezzar dies, and his

son Evilmerodach succeeds. XII m. 25 d. i. e. April 15, Jeconias released from prison. (e) Reigns two years. (ƒ)

He is killed by Nericassolasser,

his sister's husband. Reigns four years.

He is slain in battle by Cyaxeres (i. e. Darius the Mede) and Cyrus. (g)

i. e. Belshazzar, son to Evilmerodach, reigns 17 years. Babylon taken, and Belshazzar slain.

II. PERSIAN MONARCHS.

With his uncle Darius, reign together 2 years.

Darius dying, Cyrus reigns 7

d Stanley, who critically searches into this matter.

e January 11, this year is Nebuchadnezzar's 43d Egyptian new year day, and in the following summer, the 37th year of Jeconias's captivity ends; Nebuchadnezzar therefore dies between January 11, and April 15 of this year. f This is the first Egyptian new year day of Evilmerodach's reign; and so of the rest.

g Nericassolasser's son Laborosoarchod reigns 9 months and then is killed; but there being no Egyptian new year day in his reign, the Canon omits him. h Both the Scripture and Xenophon call this the first year of Cyrus.

i For the reason above, the Canon leaves out Smerdis a counterfeit son of Cyrus, who succeeded Cambyses 7 months, and was then discovered and killed. j Calvisius and Helvicus.

k Calvisius, Helvicus, Cary, Strauchius, Newton, &c.