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IX. 



AX EXAMINATION OF THE DATES OF THE ASSOUAN AEAMAIC 



PAPYEI. 



By J. GILBAET SMYLY, MA. 



Eead Decemi'.eu 14. Ordered for Publication December 16, 1908. Published JAxrAUY 16, 1909. 



TowAEDS the end of 1906 Professor Sayce and Mr. A. E. Cowley of Oxford 

 published a number of Aramaic papyri, which had been recently discovered 

 at Assouan, or in the island of Elephantine. These papyri are of the greatest 

 interest from many points of view, but the present paper will deal with their 

 chronology only. " As for chronology," remarks Professor Sayce, " the 

 Aramaean papyri of Assouan possess a unique importance, owing to the 

 duplicate dates which they contain. Not only can the exact year in which 

 each was written be ascertained, but, thanks to the double dating in Egyptian 

 and Syrian months, the exact date of the month ought also to be recoverable. 

 I am, however, not sufhciently a mathematician to undertake the task of 

 calculating the chronological equivalences which have been preserved to us, 

 and Mahler's tables do not harmonize with them." Since the editors of the 

 papyri have abstained from a discussion of the dates, and in some cases 

 have, in my opinion, assigned the papyri to wrong years, I purpose in the 

 following paper to examine at some length the chronological problems 

 involved in them. 



The dates as translated by the editors are : — 



A. On the 17th (18th ?) of Elul, that is the 27th (28th ?) day of Pachons, 



the 14th (loth ?) year of Xerxes the king, 



B. On the 18th (?) of Chisleu, that is the 6th (7th ?) day of Thoth, the 



20th (21st ?) year (of Xerxes), the beginning of the reign when 



Artaxerxes the king ascended the throne. 

 C and D. On the 21st of Chisleu, that is the 1st of Mesore, the 6th year 



of Artaxerxes the king. 

 E. On the 3rd of Chisleu, that is the 10th day of the month Mesore, the 



19 th year of Artaxerxes the king. 



R. I. A. PROC, VOL. XXVn., SECT. c. [36] 



