User:Apologist en/sandbox

Kings of Judah - work in progress
The 37th year of the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar has been unambiguously dated to 568/567 BC based on an ancient astronomical diary (VAT 4956). That, in turn, allowed precise dating of events described in other Babylonian documents of particular importance for Jewish history:
 * the last Egyptian intervention in Assyria in the summer of the 17th year of Nabopolassar was recorded on tablet BM 21901 and has been linked     to the biblical battle of Megiddo  and the death of Josiah (usually dated to Sivan    or early Tammuz   609 BC),  the three-month reign of Jehoahaz (while Necho II was engaged in fighting for   Assyrians)   and the subsequent installment of Jehoiakim (placed either before  or after  Tishri 1, 609 BC);
 * the battle of Carchemish in the spring or summer of Nabopolassar's 21st year mentioned on tablet BM 21946 took place around Sivan  605 BC and was identified as the event spoken of in the book of Jeremiah 46:2     while the subsequent conquest of Syro-Palestine by Babylonians has been associated with the siege of Jerusalem described in Daniel 1:1     which in turn enabled scholars to synchronize a number of events recorded only in the Hebrew Scriptures   ;
 * the above mentioned tablet BM 21946 speaks of a military campaign in Syro-Palestine during Nebuchadnezzar's 7th year, seizing the city of Yaahudu on Adar 2 (dated to March 15/16 - evening to evening -, 597 BC) , capturing its king and appoining there a new ruler. This series of events has been unanimously associated with a story found in 2 Chronicles 36:10   which deals with a siege of Jerusalem by Babylonians (a few months after the death of Jehoiakim) , the ensuing deportation of Jehoiachin and the installment of Zedekiah sometime around Nisan 1 ;
 * the fact of Jehoiachin, his family and servants having been captives in Babylon in the 13th year of Nebuchadnezzar and onwards has been verified following the publication of the so called Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets
 * the accession year of Amel-Marduk was dated to 562/561 BC on the basis of various documents the best known of which is the Uruk King List (tablet IM 65066) ; this information was in turn used to date king Jehoiachin's release from prison on April 3 (Adar 27), 561 BC.

No chronicles recording military activities of Nebuchadnezzar during 593 - 562 BC exist except for tablet BM 33041 dated to the 37th year of Nebuchadnezzar (568/567 BC) and containing description of his army invading Egypt, which has also been cited in the context of predictions found in Ezekiel 29:17-20. Due to this scarcity of extrabiblical sources one of the most important dates in Jewish history relating to the destruction of Jerusalem is a matter of debate with some scholars favouring 587 BC  while others opting for 586 BC. Neither view seems to be a majority and the interpretation depends on a number of factors, especially: . An indepth analysis of the subject seems to favour the 587 BC solution at the same time showing that the last kings of Judah may have employed Tishri-based non-accession year system.
 * assuming either the accession year system or the non-accession year system for the last kings of Judah;
 * counting regnal years of the last Jewish rulers from either Nisan 1 or Tishri 1;
 * chossing either Adar or Nisan 597 BC as the beginning of king Zedekiah's reign and Jehoiachin's exile Various years of Jehoiachin's exile were synchronized with corresponding years counted from the destruction of Jerusalem and with some regnal years of Zedekiah:
 * Tevet 10, the 9th year of the exile (Ezekiel 24:1-2) was equated with Tevet 10, the 9th year of Zedekiah (2 Kings 25:1, Jeremiah 39:1; 52:4) in Thiele 1970, p. 190 (dated to 15 January 588 BC with the accession year system in mind and assuming the beginning of exile after Nisan 1, 597 BC; applying the non-accession year system to the reign of Zedekiah or assuming the beginning or the exile prior to Nisan 1, 597 BC the event has to be dated a year earlier as in Young 2004, p. 32, the precise date being December 28, 590 BC);
 * Tevet 5, the 12th year of the exile (Ezekiel 33:21) was placed in the same lunar year as the fall of Jerusalem in Thiele 1970, p. 191 (dated to 8 January 585 BC on the assumption that Jehoiachin's captivity began after Nisan 1, 597 BC as in Thiele 1970, p. 192; if Jehoiachin went to his exile before Nisan 1, 597 BC the report in Ezekiel 33:21 has to be redated to January 19, 586 BC as in );
 * Nisan 10, the 25th year of the exile (Ezekiel 40:1) was synchronised with the 14th year after the fall of Jerusalem in Thiele 1970, pp. 191-192 (dated to 28 April 573 BC on the assumption that Jehoiachin's captivity began after Nisan 1, 597 BC as in Thiele 1970, p. 192; if Jehoiachin went to his exile before Nisan 1, 597 BC the passage in Ezekiel 40:1 has to be redated to April 10, 574 BC as in ).