The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

Appendix 355
ATTEMPTS TO REVISE THE NEO-BABYLONIAN CRONOLOGY
Although Volume I of Furuli’s work principally is an attempt at
revising the Persian chronology, some parts of it also contain
arguments for a lengthening of the Neo-Babylonian chronology:
(A) In chapter 6 Furuli claims there are dated business tablets
from the 17th regnal year of Nabonidus that overlap Cyrus’ reign,
which, if they are correct, “suggest that Nabonid reigned longer”
(p. 132).
(B) As the chronology of the Neo-Babylonian period is fixed
by a number of astronomical tablets, Furuli devotes much space on
trying to undermine the reliability of these tablets, including the
astronomical diary VAT 4956 from the 37th year of
Nebuchadnezzar. In Chapter 1 he claims there are only two
principal astronomical sources for the chronology of the Neo-
Babylonian and Persian periods. In the same chapter he describes
nine “potential sources of error” in the Babylonian astronomical
tablets.
(C) In Chapter 2 Furuli argues that the astronomical texts
probably mainly contain, not actual observations, but backward
calculations performed during the Seleucid era (after 312 B.C.E.).
(D) In Chapter 4, finally, Furuli discusses Jeremiah’s prophecy
of the 70 years, arguing that the writers of Daniel 9:2 and 2
Chronicles 36:21 “unambiguously” applied the 70 years to the
period of the desolate state of Jerusalem.
In this review I will critically examine these claims one by one.
As the Persian chronology is not the subject of the present work,
Furuli’s chronological revision of that period will not be examined
here. A more detailed review of Furuli’s book that includes
comments on his revised Persian chronology is found on this site:
http://user.tninet.se/~oof408u/fkf/english/furulirev.htm
This material has also been included at the end of this book.
For some works often referred to in the discussion below the
following abbreviations are used:
ADT Abraham J. Sachs and Hermann Hunger, Astronomical
Diaries and Related Texts from Babylonia (Wien: Verlag der
Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Vol. I — 1988, II
— 1989, II1 — 1996, V — 2001).
CBT Erle Leichty et al, Catalogue of the Babylonian Tablets in the
British Museum, Vols. 6, 7, and 8 (1986, 1987, and 1988). These
volumes list the tablets from Sippar held at BM.