238 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



is due to the fact that there were at least two different ways of counting 

 the years of the king's reign. It is not only possible, but probable, that 

 a similar difference existed in Persian times; and hence we need not feel 

 any difficulty in the attribution of two different numbers to the year in dates 

 given by two different calendars. If it had not been for this difficulty, which 

 is really only apparent, no question, in all probability, of alternative numbers 

 would ever have been raised. In what follows, howe^'er, the alternatives, 

 where there is a real difference in the direction of the final stroke, will be 

 considered. 



Papyrus A. 



In the first number, which gives the day of the month Elul, there is 

 no perceptible difference of inclination in the final stroke : hence we should 

 read "On the 18th day of Elul"; in the second number, giving the day 

 of the month Pachons, the difference is very slight, so that the reading 

 should, almost certainly, be "the 28th day of Pachons"; in the number 

 of the year the difference of inclination is considerable, and the last stroke 

 is also much thicker than the others : hence it is possible that the number 

 may be either l-i or 15. The determination of the doubt must be left 

 for further consideration : but, as in all other eases, there are strong 

 reasons for adopting the higher number; there is, in this case also, a 

 strong presumption in favour of 15. Accordingly, the date obtained for 

 papyrus A is 



Year 15 (14 ?) of Xerxes, Elul 18, Pachons 28. 



The 14th or 15th year of Xerxes was, according to the accepted chronology, 

 471 or 470 B.C. In the years 473-470 the first of Thoth corresponded 

 to the 19th December : hence the 28th of Pachons will correspond to 

 the 12th of September : but this, according to the papyrus, was the 18th 

 of Elul. The 1st of Elul therefore must have corresponded to the 26tli 

 of August. We must now examine the lunar tables for a true new moon 

 two or three^ days earlier than this date. In the period from 481 B.C. to 

 464 B.C. inclusive, there is one, and only one, new moon which satisfies the 

 conditions : namely, that of the year 471 B.C., given by Ginzel as 

 August 24.19, i.e, 4.33 p.m., 24th of August, Greenwich mean time. 



Thus the date of Papyrus A may be taken to be the 12th of September, 

 471 B.C. 



^ In llie Babj'loniun astronomical tablets, the iuterval between the true and the apparent new moons 

 varied from 19 to 53 hours. See " Astronomisches aus Babylon," Stiassuiaier and Epping, p. 42. 



