The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

Furuli’s Second Book 497
The modern program used here for finding the last and first visibility of Saturn and
the first visibility of the Moon (the latter is compared with the computations of
Peter Huber used by C. B. F. Walker) is Planetary, Lunar, and Stellar Visibility 3,
available at the following site:
http://www.alcyone.de/PVis/english/ProgramPVis.htm
As explained in the introduction to the program, exact dating of ancient visibility phenomena
is not possible. While the margin of uncertainty in the calculations of the first visibility of
the moon is no more than one day, it can be several days for some planets due to
uncertainties in the arcus visionis, variations in the planetary magnitude, atmospheric effects,
weather and other observational circumstances. For a detailed discussion of the
uncertainties involved, see Teije de Jong, “Early Babylonian Observations of Saturn:
Astronomical Considerations,” in J. M. Steele and Annette Imhausen (eds.), Under One Sky.
Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East (Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2002), pp.175-
192.
These factors “may introduce an uncertainty of up to five days in the predicted dates.”
(Teije de Jong, op. cit., p. 177) A deviation of up to five days between modern calculations
and the ancient observations of the visibility of planets in the period we are dealing with lies
within the margin of uncertainty. It does not prove that our chronology for Kandalanu is
wrong. Nor does it indicate that the ancient cuneiform records on the Saturn tablet are
based on backward calculations instead of observations, as claimed by Rolf Furuli. A greater
difference, however, of 6 days or more, would show that something is wrong.
YEAR 1 = 647 BCE IN THE TRADITIONAL CHRONOLOGY:
Lines 1 and 2: For 647 BCE – the date established for the 1 st regnal year of Kandalanu –
the program shows that the last visibility of Saturn took place in the evening of June 14 and
the first visibility in the morning of July 18. The Babylonian date in line 1 for the last visibility
is damaged and illegible. The date in line 2 for the first visibility of Saturn, however, is stated
to be month 4, day 24 in the Babylonian lunar calendar which, therefore, should correspond
to July 18 in the Julian calendar. Does this Julian date synchronize with the lunar calendar
date as stated on the tablet? As the Babylonian lunar months began in the evening of the
first lunar visibility, we should expect to find that the 24 th day before July 18 fell on or close to
a day of first lunar visibility. The 24 th day before July 18 brings us back to the morning of
June 25, 647 BCE as day 1 of the 4 th Babylonian month. As the Babylonian day began in the
evening of the previous day, the evening of June 24 should be the time of the first visibility
of the moon after conjunction. And our program shows that this day was indeed the day of
first lunar visibility: both the Julian date for Saturn’s first visibility and the stated Babylonian
lunar calendar date are in harmony.
YEAR 1 IN FURULI’S CHRONOLOGY = 646 BCE:
In his revised chronology, Furuli not only claims that Kandalanu was just another name for
Nabopolassar. He also moves the 1 st year from 647 to 646 BCE. How does this redating of the 1 st
regnal year tally with the ancient record and modern computations? Could it be that C. B. F.
Walker is wrong in stating that the dated Saturn phenomena recorded on the tablet recur on
the same date in the Babylonian lunar calendar only after more than 17 centuries?
Line 2: In 646 BCE the first visibility of Saturn occurred in the morning of July 31. If this
was the 24 th day of the Babylonian month 4 as the text says, the 1 st day of that month would
be the 24 th day before July 31. This brings us to the 8 th of July, and the previous evening of
July 7 would be a day of first lunar visibility – if Furuli’s alternative date for regnal year 1 is
correct.
But it does not fit. According to the program, the day of first lunar visibility before July 31
in 646 was July 13, not July 7. This is a deviation of 6 days, which is too much. The very first
entry on the tablet contradicts Furuli’s revised chronology.