" 234 (?) "
III. " 11 " " 48 (?) "
IV. " 49 Chaldaean " 458 "
V. " 9 Arabian " 245 "
VI. " 45 (?) " 526 "
Reign of Pul (?)
Dynasty VII. of (?) (?) kings (?)
" VIII. " 6 Chaldaean " 87 "

[Illustration: PAGE 98]

It will be observed that this table contains certain defects and
weaknesses, which greatly impair its value, and prevent us from
constructing upon it, without further aid, an exact scheme of chronology.
Not only does a doubt attach to one or two of the numbers--to the years,
i.e., of the second and third dynasty--but in two cases we have no
numbers at all set down for us, and must supply them from conjecture, or
from extraneous sources, before we can make the scheme available.
Fortunately in the more important case, that of the seventh dynasty, the
number of years can be exactly supplied without any difficulty. The Canon
of Ptolemy covers, in fact, the whole interval between the reign of Pul
and the close of the Babylonian Empire, giving for the period of the
seventh dynasty 13 reigns in 122 years, and for that of the eighth 5
reigns in 87 years. The length of the reign of Pul can, however, only be
supplied from conjecture. As it is not an unreasonable supposition that
he may have reigned 28 years, and as this number harmonizes well with the
chronological notices of the monuments, we shall venture to assume it,
and thus complete the scheme which the fragments of Berosus imperfect.

[Illustration: PAGE 99]

This scheme, in which there is nothing conjectural except the length of
the reign of Pul, receives very remarkable confirmation from the Assyrian
monuments. These inform us, first, that there was a conquest of Babylon
by a Susianian monarch 1635 yers before the capture of Susa by
Asshurbanipal, the son of Esarhaddon; and, secondly, that there was a
second conquest by an Assyrian monarch 600 years before the occupation of
Babylon by Esarhaddon's father, Sennacherib. Now Sennacherib's
occupation of Babylon was in B.C. 702; and 600 years before this brings
us to B.C. 1302, within a year of the date which the scheme assigns to
the accession of the seventh dynasty. Susa was taken by Asshur-bani-pal
probably in B.C. 651; and 1635 years before this is B.C. 2286, or the
exact year marked in the scheme for the accession of the second (Median)
dynasty. This dou