The Different Systems of Computing Dates.
We have several previous articles on Chronology in addition to the present one.
Conventionally the Ten Tribes were exiled in ca. 730-722 BCE. The Midrash Seder Olam places it in about 555 BCE.
Rabbinical Chronology is based on that of the Bible and differs from what we today accept
See:
Major Dates according to Mainstream Rabbinical Opinion versus Modern Estimations
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/16/chronology/rabbinical.html
All of our previous articles on Chronology are worth perusing though in some matters certain details and opinions given there may differ from those below.
The measurement of time is conventionally based around the birth of Jesus.
For events that occurred before the birth we use 'BC' (an abbreviation for 'Before Christ') which is written after the number of the year.
For example: 50 BC.
For events that happened after the birth we use 'AD' (an abbreviation for the Latin phrase "anno domini," which means 'Year of our Lord') which also is written before the number of the year.
For example: AD 60.
For Jews and others those who prefer a less obviously Christian version, we use BCE and CE:
BCE (Before Common Era) = BC.
For example: 50 BC becomes 50 BCE.
CE (Common Era) = AD.
For example: AD 60 becomes 60 CE.
The Rabbis and traditional Jews record years from the Creation of Man i.e. of the World, in 3760 BCE.
In Latin this is referred to as Anno Mundi, the Year of the World, or AM.
Historically the Jews used different systems of Dating but the one that is now predominate is that of the Midrash "Seder Olam" meaning the "Order of the World" or "Sequence of Eternity." i.e. of Existence.
Its author is believed to have been Rabbi Yosef ben Halafta, sometimes referred to as simply "Rabbi Yossi." He lived in the 100s CE in the Upper Galilee. By trade he was a tanner of animal hides.
At that time even they who engaged in simple professions could become great scholars. This was since from childhood they learned Torah and trained their mind in subjects that invovled memory, logical analysis, and computation.
Jewish Rabbinical historical dating is still used among Observant Jews. In Israel they are used by both Religious and Secular Jews.
For example, in historical writings one will often expressions such as "The Events of Tarpat." "Tarpat" refers to the Hebrew year 5689.
In Hebrew this year is written as HTRPT i.e. 5678.
In this case the "H" (="5") for the Year of Creation 5000 is taken for granted and not pronounced while the other letters are enunciated i.e. "Ta" for 400, "R" for 200, "Pa" for 80, "Tat" for 9.
This gives us "TA-R-PAT" i.e. "Tarpat" representing 1929 the year on which 67 Jews were killed in Hebron and an additional 66 kews slain in other parts of what was then Mandated Palestine.
For a comparison of Conventional to Rabbinical dates go to the URL below and scroll down:
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/16/chronology/rabbinical.html
Some Selected Important Dates:
1 Creation 3760 BCE
1056 Birth of Noah 2705 BCE
1656 Deluge 2105 BCE
1948 Birth of Abraham 1813 BCE
1996 Language Dispersion - Babylon 1765 BCE.
3187 The first of the Ten Tribes (Reuben, Gad, and 1/2 Manasseh) were exiled, 574 BCE but conventionally gives as 740-722 BCE.
3195 Northern Tribes (Galilee) were exiled 566 BCE.
3205 Tribes of Samaria exiled 556 BCE, conventionally gives as ca. 722 BCE.
The main difference between the Modern approach and the Rabbinical is due to how the monarchs of Media and Persia are counted.
It is accepted that first there was the Assyrian Empire, then the Babylonians, then the conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great from Macedon-Greece.
List of Persian Monarchs in Conventional Terms:
Cyrus 560-530 (529)
Cambyses 530-522
Guamata the Magian (Bardiya) 522
Darius-1 522-486
Xerxes-1 486-465
Artaxerxes-I 465-424
Darius-2 424-405
Artaxerxes-2 405-359
Artaxerxes-3 359-338
Arses 338-336
Darius-3 335-331
These names are derived from Ptolemy ca. 100 - c. 170 CE. They are generally accepted by scholars. According to Alexander Hool they have been confirmed from numerous parallel sources.
Note that the above list includes three monarchs named Darius.
Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon, son of Phillip) conquered the Persian Empire (333-330 BCE).
Seder Olam says that before Alexander these were the Persian Monarchs.
Darius the Mede
Cyrus
Ahasveurus
Darius the Persian
Alexander the Great of Macedon
Some Jewish writers have gotten around the discrepancy between by suggesting that different names listed by Ptolemy such as Cyrus, Cambyses, etc., were actually those of the one person.
Immanuel Velikovsky also made such claims.
Dr. Chaim S. Hefetz adapted the views of Velikovsky in his Defence of Rabbinical Chronology.
See:
"Fixing the History Books. Dr. Chaim S. Heifetz's Revision of Persian History," by Brad Aaronson.
chronology http://www.starways.net/lisa/essays/heifetzfix.html
Rabbinical Chronology
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/16/chronology/rabbinical.html
Alexander Hool also defends Rabbinical Chronology but has a different explanation.
See:
"The Challenge of Jewish History. The Bible, The Greeks, And The Missing 168 Years,"
by Alexander Hool.
https://www.feldheim.com
# In presenting fresh and startling astronomical, mathematical and archaeological evidence, Rabbi Alexander Hool has charted new ground in his quest to find the solution to this ancient problem.
# There is a well-known conundrum concerning Jewish history: The conventional chronology of the Western world - and academia - is in direct conflict with traditional Jewish sources over the history of history. Incredibly, there is a gap of roughly 200 years: For instance, the Talmud says the Second Temple stood for roughly 400 years, while mainstream historians today conclude that it stood for almost 600 years. #
What does Alexander Hool say?
In simplified terms he claims that the "Darius" who was defeated by Alexander the Great was Darius-1, i.e. Darius the Great! and not Darius-3.
There were only four (as indicated by the Bible) independent Persian monarchs before Alexander the Great.
Daniel (TLB) 11:
1 I WAS THE ONE SENT TO STRENGTHEN AND HELP DARIUS THE MEDE IN THE FIRST YEAR OF HIS REIGN.
2 BUT NOW I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS. THREE MORE PERSIAN KINGS WILL REIGN, TO BE SUCCEEDED BY A FOURTH,
FAR RICHER THAN THE OTHERS. USING HIS WEALTH FOR POLITICAL ADVANTAGE, HE WILL PLAN TOTAL WAR AGAINST GREECE.
3 THEN A MIGHTY KING WILL RISE IN GREECE, A KING WHO WILL RULE A VAST KINGDOM AND ACCOMPLISH EVERYTHING HE SETS OUT TO DO.
All the others Monarchs listed by Ptolemy, according to Hool, co-existed alongside the Greek-Macedon successors of Alexander who ruled over them.
Archaeological and other evidence seems to confirm this.
Hool p. 32 illustrates this pont. The Conventional Chronology is on the lefthand side and that of Hoot on the righthand side.