The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-07-25
The Peoples Forum
How Assyrians Computed Time
e Editor of The Age-HeraId:


 Under ,the significant headline, "Noah's Age Faked," in your issue of July 5, 1924 you published an article referring to a paper submitted to the Crozer Theological Semi nary by Dr. Howard Chiera, professor of Assyriology at the University of Pennsylva- mia. This paper seems to have referred to a newly discovered ''four-sided Babylonian prism" on which is a record giving the age of Noah as 64,800 years; and Dr. Chiera is quoted as saying that the Babylonians did not actually believe that their legendary he roes lived to such ages, but that they were certain that the world was far older than they had definite knowledge of and conse- quently forced to invent new heroes, or to make the life of such as they had stretch over the whole period of which they had fragmentary records. In this manner, Dr. Chiera said, the. lives of eight kings, before Hammufabi, were said to total 241, 200 years, while ten other monarchs were credited with a span of 432,000 years"
 Suppose you now print just little more from the ancient records. The figures last named are taken from Berossus as copied by Polyhistof. Suidas, in his cyclopaedia, or dictionary, tells us that the Egyptians, in the days of Hephaestus, were not in the habit of measuring time by the year, but called the period of the day a year." Along the same line, Diodorus Cieulus says: "The priests of Egypt, summing up the time, from the reign of the Sun to the descent of Alexander upon Asia, calculated it to be about 23,OO0 years" and quoting from the priests further on he adds: "In former times, when the revolu- tions of the sun was not accurately ascer- tained, the year consisted of one revolution of the moon"
 A careful examination of ancient records shows that the Egyptians and the Babylo- nians had approximately the same methods of recording time; and that the record was first by the day, later by the time of the revolutions of the moon," and last by the revolutions of the sun. The complete history as furnished by Berossus is lost, but exten- sive quotations from his history were made by Polyhistor, Apollodorus, Abydenus, and Josephus; and from these we get what we know of what Berossus said of the history of the times before him.
 From the Bible we learn that there were ten generations from Adam to Noah; and from Berossus, that there were only ten kings from the beginning to the flood. First, Alo- rus of Babylon, a Chaldean, who reigned ten sari. Parenthetieally, Berossus tells us that sarus is 3,6O0 years" which, according to the later way of reckoning time, would have been ten years of S6O days each, and ten sari would have been one hundred years. Second king, "Alaparus, and Amelon," who
 
 biblon, thirteen sari Ammenon, twelve sari |; Megalarus, eighteen sari; Daos (or Daonus) ("the shepherd''), ten sari, and Euedora- chus, all from Pantibiblon, eighteen sari i; lAmempsinus, a Chaldean from Laranchae, ten sari and Otiartes tor Ardates), also a Chaldean from Laranchae, eight sari. Then came Xisuthrus tor Sisithrus), son of Otiar- tes, who reigned eighteen sari; in all, 12O sari, which would be twelve hundred years of 360 days each. In the time of Xisuthrus happened the great deluge." Cronus, the deity. foretold to him that lon the fifteenth day of the month Desius there would be a deluge of rain,' and he was commanded to deposit all records in his possession tree ords then were on tile or stone) "in the city of the Sun in Sippara," where they were re- covered after the flood had subsided.
 The words or characters translated years" were periods of time, as they then figured time. The 432,O0O years" referred to were in reality days, of which it took 36O to make year, as later calculated 1865 days now) This is directly and indirectly verified by the records, both sacred and profane; and the 432, 1000 years" figures 120 sari, or twelve hundred "sun years" of 360 days each The 64,SOO years" figured as the age of Noah in the Babylonian prism referred to by Dr. Chiera would be exactly eighteen sari (1SO sun years) and this is the exact length of time Xisuthrus (the Noah of Berossus) is said to have reigned. Neither did Alorus, the Adam of the Scriptures, appointed" as Berossus says, ito be the shepherd of the people," reign from the date of his birth' but only during the period of ten sari, or one hundred "sun years" the latter part of his life. People did not have names then as now, but were designated by some title, of- ficial descriptive or otherwise, which be- came different in different language, even as Tisithen is given as the Egyptian name of Moses; another name, supposedly 1sraelitish, is Osarsiph, while Noyses (Nloses) was the name under which he led his people out of Egypt. 1t will be thus seen that there is not such wide difference between the sacred and pro fame records as might appear from Dr. Chi era's paper; and Christian people are en- titled to these facts taken from ancient vol tunes, extremely rare, and costly when found l eor sale ED D. HAMMER.
 Attalla, Ala, July IS, 1924.