The ancient year of the Medes is the fame with the Nabonaffarean it begins about the fame time, has the fame number of months and days, and epagomena, or additional days at its end, and was probably brought into ufe by Arbaces, who was confederate with Nabonaffar against Sardanapalus, and who by agreement with him founded the empire of the Medes, at the fame time that the other fet up himself king at Babylon. Dr. Hyded agrees to this original of the Medes' year, and fuppofes it to have been inftituted about the time of the founding the empire of the Medes. He very juftly corrects Golius, and accounts for the Median year's beginning in the fpring, by fuppofing it derived from the Affyrian, though in one point I think he mistakes. He imagines all the ancient years to have begun about this time, and that the Syrians, Chaldæans, and Sabeans, who began their year at autumn, had deviated from their firft ufage; whereas the contrary is true; all the ancient nations began their year from the autumn. Nabonaffar made the firft alteration at Babylon, and his year being received at the fetting up the Median empire, the Medes began their year agreeably to it. Dr. Hyde fuppofes the ancient Perfian year to be the fame with the Median; but Dean Prideaux was of opinion that the Perfian year confifted but of 360 days in the reign of Darius e. Thales was the firft that corrected the Greek f year. He flourished something more than fifty years after Nabonaffar. He learned in Egypt that the year confifted of 365 days, and endeavoured to fettle the Grecian chronology to a year of that measure. Strabo g fuppofes Plato and Eudoxus to have been the correctors of the Greek year; but he means, that they were the firft of the Grecians who found out the deficiency of almoft fix hours in Thales's year; for he does not say, that Plato and Eudoxus were the firft that introduced 365 days for a year, but speaks exprefsly of their firft learning the defect before mentioned; 365 days were fettled for a year, almoft two centuries before the times of Eudoxus or Plato. Thales's correction was not immediately received all over Greece, for Solon, in the time of Crofus king of Lydia, was ignorant of it". The most ancient year of the Romans was formed by Romulus. Whence or how he came by the form of it, is uncertain; it confifted of but ten months, very irregular ones, fome of them being not twenty days long, and others above thirty-five; but in this respect it agreed with the most ancient years of other nations; it confifted of 360 days, and no more, as is evident from the exprefs teftimony of Plutarch. The Jewish year, in these early times, confifted of twelve months, and each month of thirty days; and three hundred and fixty days were the whole year. We do not find that God, by any fpecial appointment, corrected the year for them; for what may seem to have been done of this fort m, at the inftitution of the b Herod. l. 1. §. 32. Solon feems to hint, that a month of 30 days fhould be intercalated every other year; but this is fuppofing the year to contain 375 days. Either Solon was not acquainted with Thales's measure of a year, or Herodotus made a miftake in his relation; or the Greeks were about this time trying to fix the true measure of the year, and Solon determined k Plutarch. in. vit. Num. 1 Id. ibid. P. 71. Paffover, Paffover, does not appear to affect the length of their year at all, for in that refpect it continued the fame after that appointment which it was before: and we do not any where read that Mofes ever made a correction of it. The adding the five days to the year under Affis, before mentioned, happened after the children of Ifrael came out of Egypt; and fo Mofes might be learned in all the learning of the Egyptians, and yet not inftructed in this point, which was a difcovery made after his leaving them. Twelve months were a year in the times of David and Solomon, as appears by the course of household officers" appointed by the one, and of captains by the other; and we no where in the books of the Old Teftament find any mention of an intercalary month; and Scaliger is pofitive, that there was no fuch month used in the times of Mofes, or of the Judges, or of the Kings". And that each month had thirty days, and no more, is evident from Mofes's computation of the duration of the flood. The flood began, he tells us, on the feventeenth day of the fecond month; prevailed without any fenfible abatement for 150 days, and then lodged the ark on mount Ararat, on the seventeenth day of the feventh month; fo that we fee, from the feventeenth of the fecond month to the feventeenth of the feventh [i. e. for five whole months] he allows one hundred and fifty days, which is juft thirty days to each month, for five times thirty days are an hundred and fifty. This therefore was the ancient Jewish year; S r t and I imagine this year was in ufe amongst them, without emendation, at least to a much later period than that to which I am to bring down this work. Dean Prideaux treats pretty largely of the ancient Jewish year, from Selden, and from the Talmud and Maimonides; but the year he speaks of feems not to have been ufed until after the captivity ". From what has been faid it must be evident, that the chronologers do, in the general, mistake, in supposing the ancient year commenfurate with the present Julian. The 1656 years, which preceded the flood, came fhort of fo many Julian years, by above twentythree years. And in like manner after the flood, all nations, till the æra of Nabonaffar, which begins exactly where my hiftory is to end, computing by a year of 360 days, except the Egyptians only, (and they altered the old computation but a century or two before,) and the difference between this ancient year and the Julian being five days in each year, befides the day in every leap-year; it is very clear, that the space of time between the flood and the death of Sardanapalus, fuppofed to contain about 1600 ancient years, will fall fhort of fo many Julian years by five days and about a fourth part of a day in every year, which amounts to one or two and twenty years in the whole time: but I would only hint this here; the uses that may be made of it fhall be obferved in their proper places. There are many chronological difficulties, which the reader will meet with, of another nature; but as I have endeavoured to adjust them in the places they belong to, it would be needless to repeat here what will be found at large in the enfuing pages. t Preface to the first volume of his Connection, "See Scaliger in loc. fupr. citat. I fhall I fhall very probably be thought to have taken great liberty in the accounts I have given of the most ancient profane hiftory, particularly in that which is antediluvian, and which I have reduced to an agreement with the hiftory of Mofes. It will be faid, take it all together, as it lies in the authors from whom we have it, and it has no fuch harmony with the facred writer; and to make an harmony by taking part of what is reprefented, and fuch part only as you please, every thing, or any thing, may be made to agree in this manner; but fuch an agreement will not be much regarded by the unbiaffed. To this I answer: The heathen accounts which we have of these early ages were taken from the records of either Thyoth the Egyptian, or Sanchoniathon of Berytus; and whatever the original memoirs of these men were, we are fure their accounts were, fome time after their decease, corrupted with fable and myftical philofophy. Philo of Byblos in one place feems to think, that Taautus himself wrote his Sacra, and his theology, in a way above the understanding of the common people, in order to create reverence and refpect to the fubjects he treated of; and that Surmubelus and Theuro, fome ages after, endeavoured to explain his works, by ftripping them of the allegory, and giving their true meaning: but I cannot think a writer fo ancient as Athothes wrote in fable or allegory; the first memoirs or hiftories were, without doubt, fhort and plain, and men afterwards embellished them with falfe learning, and in time endeavoured to correct that, and arrive at the true. All therefore that I can collect from this paffage of Philo Byblius is this, that Thyoth's memoirs did not continue fuch as he left X See Eufeb. Præp. Evang. 1. i. c. 10. them; |