The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

The Length of Reigns of the Neo-Babylonian Kings 105
changing the date of a defeat and weaving it into an account of a
later battle. 31 Do the Neo-Babylonian chronicles treat history in
this way, too?
Dr. A. K. Grayson, a well-known authority on the Assyrian
and Babylonian chronicles, concludes:
Unlike the Assyrian scribes the Babylonians neither fail to
mention Babylonian defeats nor do they attempt to change them
into victories. The chronicles contain a reasonably reliable and
representative record of important events in the period with which
they are concerned. 32
We have reason for assurance, then, that the figures for the
reigns of the Neo-Babylonian kings given by these chronicles and
preserved to our time—thanks to Berossus and the Royal Canon—
represent the actual reigns of these kings. This conclusion will be
confirmed, over and over again, in the further discussion.
b) Babylonian king lists
A cuneiform king list differs from a chronicle in that it is usually a
list of royal names with the addition of regnal years, similar to the
later Royal Canon.
Although a number of king lists both from Assyria and Babylonia
have been unearthed, only one of them covers the Neo-Babylonian
era: the Uruk King List, shown on the following page.
Unfortunately, as can be seen, it is badly preserved, and some
portions of it are missing. Nonetheless, as will be demonstrated, it
has definite historical value.
The preserved portions cover the periods from Kandalanu to
Darius I (647–486 B.C.E.) and, on the reverse side, from Darius III
to Seleucus II (335-226 B.C.E.). It was evidently composed from
older sources sometime after the reign of Seleucus II.
31 Grayson, ibid.(1980),p. 171.
32 Ibid., p. 175. This does not mean that the chronicles are infallible records. As Dr. J.
A. Brinkman points out, “lack of nationalistic prejudice does not insure factual
reliability; and the Babylonian chronicles have their share of proven errors.” Still,
he agrees that the chronicles contain an essentially reliable record of events and
dates for the period between the eighth and sixth centuries B.C.E.: “For the period
from 745 to 668, these documents list rulers and exact dates of reign in Babylonia,
Assyria, and Elam. Coverage thereafter is spotty, in part because of lacunae in the
record; but these texts still furnish most of the precise chronological background
for present knowledge of the downfall of the Late Assyrian Empire, the rise of the
Neo-Babylonian Empire, the reign of Nabonidus, and the transition to Persian
rule.”—Brinkman in Lingering Over Words (see note 22 above), pp. 74 and 100,
note 148. For additional comments on the reliability of the Neo-Babylonian
chronicles, see Chapter 7: “Attempts to overcome the evidence.”