24-8 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



the following summer was marked by a partial eclipse of the sun : Thuc. 

 -V. 52 : Tov S' iTTiyiyvofiivov depovi' tvOvg tov te rfXiov iKXnrig tl iyivero Trtpt 

 vovuiv'tdv Ka\ TOV avTov fx-qvog lara/iiivov a(ni(xe. 



This eclipse took place on the 21st of March, 424. Even if it is 

 supposed that the death of Artaxerxes was known at Ephesus before the 

 beginning of summer, it is not necessary to put the death of the king earlier 

 than the 7th of March ; for the news of such an event would spread with 

 great rapidity, and the Persian post was famous for its speed, so that the 

 news might have arrived at Ephesus in about a fortnight. Thus the death 

 of Artaxerxes might be placed about the 7th of March ; if we add to this 

 the two months of the reign of Xerxes, and the seven months of that of 

 Sogdianus, we reach the 7th of December (1st of Thoth), 424. Hence, even 

 if Thucydides meant that Artaxerxes died before the end of the winter, it is 

 possible to bring down the accession of Darius II as late as December, 424. 

 There is another reason for assigning the death of Artaxerxes to as late a 

 date as possible. It was the Persian custom to count the years of a reign 

 from the 1st of Msan next after the accession. If Artaxerxes had died some 

 months, as is generally supposed, before this date, it is practically certain 

 that either Xerxes II or Sogdianus would have been included in the Canon 

 with one year to his credit. But this year is assigned by the Canon to 

 Artaxerxes, which is an indication that he survived till the 1st of Nisan of 

 the year 424. If this were so, all difficulty would disappear, and it seems 

 probable that Thucydides should be less strictly interpreted, and that his 

 expression " afterwards " covers a slight anticipation of the summer. Thus 

 according to these papyri the years of the Persian kings were counted as 

 follows : — 



Xerxes I, from 1 Nisan, 485 B.C. 



Artaxerxes I, from 1 Nisan, 464 B.C. 



Darius II, from 1 Nisan, 423 B.C., by the Jews ; from 1 Thoth, 424 B.C. 

 by the Egyptians. 



This is in complete agreement with the Canon, which counts the years of 

 Xerxes I from 1 Thoth, 486, those of Artaxerxes I from 1 Thoth, 465, and 

 those of Darius II from 1 Thoth, 424. 



We may now return to the consideration of the date of Papyrus D. 



" On the 2 1 st of Chisleu, that is the 1 st of Mesore, the 6th year of 

 Artaxerxes the king." 



The editors remark, in connexion with the number of the Egyptian month 

 Mesore, that " the papyrus is creased, but probably nothing is lost, and 

 the numeral is 1." But if the 21st of Chisleu corresponded to the 1st of 



