Smyly — Examination of Dates of the Assoiiim Aramaic Papyri. 249 



Mesore, the 1st of Chisleu would have corresponded to the 11th Epeiph — 

 that is the 22nd of October. Now in Papyrus B the 1st of Chisleu 

 corresponded to the 16th of December, and there would thus have been a 

 displacement of 55 days, which is too great for a properly constructed luni- 

 solar calendar, Mr. E. B. Knobel has called attention^ to this discrepancy, 

 and suggested that the crease in the papyrus conceals a symbol for 30 ; if 

 this be so, the date will be the 31st of Mesore, and it is necessary to make 

 the further assumption that the 1st of the Epagomenae — that is, of the five 

 days intercalated after Mesore in the Egyptian calendar — was designated the 

 31st of Mesore by the Jews. If this be admitted as possible, the 1st of 

 Chisleu would have corresponded to the 11th of Mesore, that is to the 21st of 

 November. The lunar tables give a new moon on the 19th November, 

 460 B.C. But it has already been shown that the 1st year of Artaxerxes was 

 counted from the 1st of Xisan, 464. Hence this date would have fallen in 

 the 5th, not in the 6th year of the king. I believe that the crease conceals 

 the symbol for the number 20, so that the date would be : — 



" On the 21st of Chisleu, that is the 21st of Mesore, in the 6th year of 

 Artaxerxes the king." 



The difficulty of supposing that the 1 st of the Epagomenae was called the 

 31st of Mesore is thus avoided. The 1st of Chisleu would then have 

 corresponded to the 1st of Mesore, that is to the 11th of November ; the 

 lunar tables give a new moon on the 9th of November, 459 B.C. The date of 

 the papyrus thus becomes the 1st of December, 459, which falls, as required, 

 in the 6 th year of the king. 



The other papyri which have been omitted from the investigation are G 

 and H. In Papyrus G nearly all the numbers, including that of the king's 

 reign, have been torn away, so that the date cannot be determined. In 

 Papyrus H the day of the month is not given either by the Jewish or by the 

 Egyptian calendar ; the date runs : "In the month Elul, that is Payni, the 

 4th year of Darius the king." At this time the 1st of Payni corresponded to 

 the 2nd of September, and the 4th year of Darius began on the 1st of Nisan, 

 420 B.C. We find from the lunar tables that the true new moon correspond- 

 ing to Elul took place on the 31st of August, 420, and hence the 1st of Elul 

 would have corresponded to the 2nd of September ; Elul and Payni would 

 have begun on the same day, and both would have corresponded almost 

 exactly with the Julian month September. 



Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. Ixviii., No. 6, March, 190S. 



