ed to the city of Babylon an antiquity nearly as
remote; and the native historian, Berosus, spoke of a Chaldaean dynasty
as bearing rule anterior to B.C. 2250. Unfortunately the works of this
great authority have been lost; and even the general outline of his
chronological scheme, whereof some writers have left us an account, is to
a certain extent imperfect; so that, in order to obtain a definite
chronology for the early times, we are forced to have recourse, in some
degree, to conjecture. Berosus declared that six dynasties had reigned
in Chaldaea since the great flood of Xisuthrus, or Noah. To the first,
which consisted of 86 kings, he allowed the extravagant period of 34,080
years. Evechous, the founder of the dynasty, had enjoyed the royal
dignity for 2400 years, and Chomasbelus, his son and successor, had
reigned 300 years longer than his father. The other 84 monarchs had
filled up the remaining space of 28,980 years--their reigns thus
averaging 345 years apiece. It is clear that these numbers are
unhistoric; and though it would be easy to reduce them within the limits
of credibility by arbitrary suppositions--as for instance, that the years
of the narrative represent months or days--yet it may reasonably be
doubted whether we should in this way be doing any service to the cause
of historic truth. The names Evechous and Chomasbelus seem mythic rather
than real; they represent personages in the Babylonian Pantheon, and can
scarcely have been borne by men. It is likely that the entire series of
names partook of the same character, and that, if we possessed them,
their bearing would be found to be, not historic, but mythological. We
may parallel this dynasty of Berosus, where he reckons king's reigns by
the cyclical periods of _sosses_ and _ners,_ with Manetho's dynasties of
Gods and Demigods in Egypt, where the sum of the years is nearly as
great.

It is necessary, then, to discard as unhistorical the names and numbers
assigned to his first dynasty by Berosus, and to retain from this part of
his scheme nothing but the fact which he lays down of an ancient
Chaldaean dynasty having ruled in Babylonia, prior to a conquest, which
led to the establishment of a second dynasty, termed by him Median.

The scheme of Berosus then, setting aside his numbers for the first
period, is--according to the best extant authorities, as follows:--

Dynasty I. of (?) Chaldaean kings. (?) years.
II. of 8 Median