JEWISH - CHRONOLOGY The era which is in present vogue among Jews (Anna Mundi, li-yitzirah or libriath olam, from the creation of the world) appears not to have come into popular use before the 9th century, though possibly it may have been known to learned writers earlier. The era is supposed to begin, according to the mnemonic Beharad, at the beginning of the lunar cycle (see CALENDAR : Jewish) on the night between Sunday and Monday, Oct. 7, 3761 B.C., at i i hours I i minutes P.M. This is indicated by be (beth, two, i.e., 2nd day of week), ha (he, five, i.e., fifth hour after sunset) and Rad (Resh, dalet, 204 minims after the hour). Ruhi's theory that this era existed already in A.D. 222 is dis puted by Poznanski on strong grounds. In the Bible various eras occur, e.g., the Flood, the Exodus, the Earthquake in the days of King Uzziah, the regnal years of monarchs and the Baby lonian exile. During the exile and after, Jews reckoned by the years of the Persian kings. Such reckonings occur not only in the Bible (e.g., Daniel viii., I) but also in the Assouan papyri. After Alexander, the Jews employed the Seleucid era (called Minyan Shetaroth, or era of deeds, since legal deeds were dated by this era) . So great was the influence exerted by Alexander, that this era persisted in the East till the 16th century, and is still not extinct in south Arabia. This is the only era of antiquity that has survived. Others, which fell into disuse, were the Maccabaean eras, dating from the accession of each prince, and the national era (143-142 B.e.), when Judaea became free under Simon. That the era described in Jubilees (see CALENDAR: Jewish) was other than hypothetical, is probable. Dates have also been reckoned from the fall of the second Temple (Le-Horban hab-bayyith). 'The equation of the eras is as follows: 1 after destruction= A.M. 3831= 383 Seleucid= A.D. 71.
Jewish chronology falls into two periods, biblical and post biblical. With the latter alone is the present article concerned; for the former see BIBLE : Chronology. The earliest Jewish chronologies have not survived. Demetrius, a Jew of Alexandria, wrote a treatise in which he endeavoured to deduce the dates of Hebrew history from the Scriptures. Of this work only a very few remnants are extant ; they have been published by C. Muller (Fragments Hist. Graecorum, iii. 214-217). The Book of Jubilees, written in the second pre-Christian century, subordinates chron ology to its peculiar views on the calendar and theology. For present purposes Josephus must be left out of account, for chronology and history are separate studies. The most important and the earliest of all surviving chronologies is the Seder `Olam Rabbah. This Hebrew book is mentioned in the Talmud ; the author and date are unknown, but the authorities cited in the book belong almost exclusively to the 2nd century A.D. According to R. Johanan, the work was transmitted by R. Jose ben Halafta, a pupil of Aqiba, and it is possible that this tradition is correct. The author, whoever he may have been, was possibly the first to make use of the era of Creation. Owing to defective sources he makes many errors in the Persian period. The chronology ex tends from the creation of Adam to Bar Kochba's fight for liberty in Hadrian's days, but the period from Alexander to Hadrian is compressed into the end of one chapter. The best edition is that of B. Ratner (Wilna, 1897). Various Latin trans lations exist (vide bibliography in Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v).
The Seder `Olam Zuta, a smaller work, was written probably in the 8th century; it completes the Rabbah and is based on it. The object of the book, which enumerates the 39 generations of Babylonian exitarchs, is to show that the latter were lineal descendants of David. The best text is that of Neubauer, Mediaeval Jewish Chronicles, ii., 67.
Megillat Ta`anith, or scroll of Fasting, is a chronicle rather than a chronology, since the events are grouped according to the months of the year and not in chronological sequence. The book enumerates 35 eventful days in five groups: I., pre-Maccabaean ; II., Maccabaean; III., pre-Sadducean; IV., pre-Roman; V., the Diaspora. The author was probably, as stated in the Talmud (Sabbath 13 b), Hananya ben Hezekiah of the family of Garon, and the date would be about A.D. 7. A Latin translation exists (vide bibliography, s.v. in Jewish Encyclopedia, to which add the edition of Solomon Zeitlin, New York, 1922).
Tanna debe Eliyahu, a composite Midrash finally redacted in the loth century, can scarcely be termed a chronology, since the underlying theme is the growth of the world-system ; human history is arranged in Shittoth (series) in order to bring the moral into prominence. The absence of dates excludes this book from the category of chronology proper, although it contains much historical information.
For modern purposes the best chronology is that at the end of H. Graetz's History of the Jews in the American edition. Others are included in the bibliography in the Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v. Chronology. See also M. L. Margolis and A. Marx, History of Jewish People (1927). (H. M. J. L.)