Standard Babylonian Chronology

This section will look at the sources and methods through which historians have been able to determine and verify the 'standard chronology' [1] of the Neo-Babylonian period.

First we will establish a relative chronology, using sources including the Uruk king list, Babylonian Chronicles, Business tablets, and Nabonidus inscriptions, spanning the reigns from Shamash-shum-ukin to Cambyses II. Then using Ptolemy's canon, and eight unique astronomical texts we can validate and precisely date these reigns on the Julian calendar, producing a timeline for the kings of Babylon.

By doing so I will indirectly answer the first question — why historians claim the destruction took place in 586/587 BC — by showing that Nebuchadnezzar II's 19th regnal year began in spring 586 BC.

References