CHRONOLOGY

any method used to order time and to place events in the sequence in which they occurred. The systems of chronology used to record human history, which are closely related to calendar systems, vary in scope, accuracy, and method according to the purpose, degree of sophistication, and skills of the peoples using them. Scientific chronology, which seeks to place all happenings in the order in which they occurred and at correctly proportioned intervals on a fixed scale, is used in many disciplines and can be utilized to cover vast epochs. Astronomy, for example, measures the sequence of cosmic phenomena in thousands of millions of years; geology and paleontology, when tracing the evolution of the Earth and of life, use similar epochs of hundreds or thousands of millions of years. Geochronology reckons the more distant periods with which it deals on a similar scale; but it descends as far as human prehistoric and even historic times, and its shorter subdivisions consist only of thousands of years. Shortest of all are the chronological scales used in the recording of human events in a more or less systematic and permanent manner. These vary in scope, accuracy, and method according to the purpose, degree of sophistication, and skill of the peoples using them, as do the calendrical systems with which they are inextricably bound up. For further details see the article calendar. It is difficult to fix ancient historical chronologies in relation to scientific chronology. The terms of reference of ancient peoples were vague and inconsistent when judged by modern standards, and many of their inscriptions and writings have inevitably disappeared. The gaps in their records are increasingly filled in and their inconsistencies removed by the results of archaeological excavation. Guided by these findings, scholars can confirm, refute, or amend chronological reconstructions already tentatively made. Astronomical calculation and dating by radioactive-carbon content are also helpful in the work of fixing ancient chronologies. any method used to order time and to place events in the sequence in which they occurred. The systems of chronology used to record human history, which are closely related to calendar systems, vary in scope, accuracy, and method according to the purpose, degree of sophistication, and skills of the peoples using them. Scientific chronology attempts to place all events at correctly proportionate intervals on a fixed scale in the order in which they occurred. Astronomy, geology, and paleontology can all be used to that purpose. Historical chronologies vary with the different skills and purposes of the civilizations that employed them. It is difficult to match historical chronologies with scientific chronologies because of the lack of sophistication in the methods of ancient civilizations and because many of the early writings and records have disappeared. Additional reading James C. MacDonald, Chronologies and Calendars (1897); Alfred E. Stamp, Methods of Chronology (1933); R.L. Poole, Studies in Chronology and History, collected and ed. by A.L. Poole (1934, reprinted 1969).On the astronomical basis of Chinese calendrical systems, see Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 3, pp. 390-408 (1959). A standard reference for conversion between Chinese and Western calendars is Mathias Tchang, Synchronismes chinois (1905).Robert Sewell and S.B. Dikshita, The Indian Calendar (1896), describes the various systems of calendars in India, with tables of concordance and a useful index; Robert Sewell, The Siddhantas and the Indian Calendar (1924), a study of the Hindu astronomical system as a basis for the traditional calendar; Swamikannu Pillai, An Indian Ephemeris, 6 vol. (1922), tables of concordance of Hindu, Muslim, and modern calendars; Jean Filliozat, "Notions de chronologie," in Louis Renou and Jean Filliozat, Inde classique, vol. 2 (1953), a general summary and list of different eras used in India.Richard A. Parker, The Calendars of Ancient Egypt (1950), a basic work providing valid solutions to most of the problems of Egyptian chronology; "Lunar Dates of Thutmose III and Ramesses II," J. Near Eastern Stud., 16: 39-43 (1957), an analysis of the more important lunar dates of the New Kingdom; M.B. Rowton, "Manetho's Date for Ramesses II," J. Egyptian Archaeol., 34:57-74 (1948), and "Comparative Chronology at the Time of Dynasty XIX," J. Near Eastern Stud., 19:15-22 (1960), two articles that deal with the date for the accession of Ramses II (1290 or 1304 BC); Erik Hornung, Untersuchungen zur Chronologie und Geschichte des Neuen Reiches (1964), the most up-to-date synthesis of the chronological problems of the New Kingdom; I.E.S. Edwards, "Absolute Dating from Egyptian Records and Comparison with Carbon-14 Dating," Phil. Trans. R. Soc., Series A, 269:11-18 (1970), includes a complete list of all radiocarbon dates taken from Egyptian samples.The most complete general work on the chronology of Western Asia, including Mesopotamia, is P.E. van der Meer, The Chronology of Ancient Western Asia and Egypt, 2nd rev. ed. (1955); however, it should be used with caution. For the general chronology of ancient Western Asia, with special reference to Mesopotamia, see M.B. Rowton in The Cambridge Ancient History, 3rd ed., vol. 1, pp. 193-237 (1970), and the extensive literature quoted there (up to 1959). For a discussion of the gap in the 2nd millennium BC, see A. Goetze, "The Kassites and Near Eastern Chronology," J. Cuneiform Stud., 18:97-101 (1964); and B.L. van der Waerden, Die Anfnge der Astronomie, pp. 28-49 (1966). For the chronology of the late 2nd millennium BC and the chronological gap in the 1st millennium BC, see J.A. Brinkman, A Political History of Post-Kassite Babylonia, 1158-722 B.C., pp. 37-85 (1968).B. Ratner, Seder Olam Rabba: Die grosse Weltchronik (1897), the authoritative edition, carefully annotated and with a detailed introduction, of the oldest rabbinic chronology extending from the earliest records to the first century of the current era; E. Mahler, Handbuch der jdischen Chronologie (1916), the only comprehensive work on Jewish chronology, covering all aspects and summarizing most previous works on the subject; S. Zeitlin, Megillat Taanit As a Source for Jewish Chronology and History in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods (1922), removes all discrepancy in I and II Maccabees' and Josephus' chronological data in the Hasmonean phase of Jewish history, thus reinvesting their statements with historical significance and authority.Alan E. Samuel, Greek and Roman Chronology: Calendars and Years in Classical Antiquity (1972), a fundamental work; Henry Fynes Clinton, Fasti Hellenici, 3 vol. (1834), still useful in providing the sources for the framework of Greek chronology; W. Kubitschek, Grundriss der antiken Zeitrechnung (1928), the standard handbook but unreliable; A.E. Samuel, Ptolemaic Chronology (1962); E.J. Bickerman, Chronology of the Ancient World (1968), a summary survey to be used judiciously; W. Den Boer, Laconian Studies, pt. 1, "The Struggle for the Chronological Pattern" (1954), on ancient attempts to systematize archaic chronology; A.G. Woodhead, The Greeks in the West, pp. 69-72 (1962), on dates in the archaic period.E.J. Bickerman, Chronology of the Ancient World (1968), an excellent short manual, unfortunately marred by a number of factual errors; Agnes Kirsopp Michels, The Calendar of the Roman Republic (1967), contains much valuable information on chronology as well as the calendar-probably the best book ever written on the Roman calendar; F.K. Ginzel, Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie das Zeitrechnungswesen der Vlker, 3 vol. (1906-14), the standard work of reference on its subject.F.K. Ginzel, Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie das Zeitrechnungswesen der Vlker, 3 vol. (1906-14), still the fundamental work; Jack Finegan, Handbook of Bible Chronology (1964), the best for its subject; E.J. Bickerman, Chronology of the Ancient World (1968), very thorough and complete.Al-Biruni, The Chronology of Ancient Nations, Eng. trans. by C. Edward Sachau (1879), useful source material on the Muslim knowledge of chronology down to the 10th century AD; see especially pp. 16-82. For actual tables of Muslim chronological information and comments, the following may be consulted: E. Lacoine, Tables de concordance des dates des calendriers . . . (1891); C.L. Ideler, Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen chronologie, 2 vol. (1825-26); S. Lane-Poole, The Mohammedan Dynasties (1894); and C.E. Bosworth, The Islamic Dynasties (1967). See also articles on calendar, chronology, and "Hidjra" in the Encyclopaedia of Islam. An extensive collection of conversion tables is given in Frank Parise (ed.), The Book of Calendars (1982).S.G. Morley, "An Introduction to the study of the Maya Hieroglyphs," Bull. U.S. Bur. Am. Ethnol., no. 57 (1915, reprinted 1968), a clear exposition of Maya chronology; J. Eric S. Thompson, Maya Chronology: The Correlation Question (1935) and Maya Hieroglyphic Writing: Introduction (1950, reprinted 1971); H.J. Spinden, The Reduction of Maya Dates (1924), a presentation of earlier correlation; L. Satterthwaite and E.K. Ralph, "New Radiocarbon Dates and the Maya Correlation Problem," Am. Antiq., 26:165-184 (1960).