Literature & Web Links

• Literature
• Conversion Tables between the Babylonian Calendar and the Western Calendar
• Useful Web Links

Literature (chronologically)

• Bosanquet, Robert Holford Macdowall & Sayce, Archibald Henry, “Preliminary Paper on the Babylonian Astronomy”, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 39 (1879), 454-461 [ADS link].
• Mahler, Eduard, “Der babylonische Schaltcyclus”, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete, 6 (1891), 457-464 [de Gruyter link / MENAdoc link].
• Mahler, Eduard, “Der Kalender der Babylonier”, Sitzungsberichte der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Wien, 101 (1892), Abtheilung IIa, 337-353 [Landesmuseum link].
• Mahler, Eduard, “Der Kalender der Babylonier [II. Mittheilung]”, Sitzungsberichte der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Wien, 101 (1892), Abtheilung IIa, 1685-1693 [Landesmuseum link].
• Mahler, Eduard, “Das Kalenderwesen der Babylonier”, in: E.D. Morgan (ed.), Transactions of the Ninth International Congress of Orientalists (Held in London, 5th to 12th September 1892) (Edinburgh: Ballantyne Press, 1893), vol. 2, pp. 209-217 [Internet Archive link].
• Epping, Joseph & Strassmaier, Johann Nepomucen, “Der Saros-Canon der Babylonier nach der Keilschrift-Tafel Sp. II, 71 des Britischen Museums, nebst dem entsprechenden babylonischen und julianischen Kalender vom Jahre 13 Artaxerxes’ II. bis zum Jahre 34 des Seleukos, d.i. von 392 bis 278 v.Chr.”, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete, 8 (1893), 149-178 [de Gruyter link / MENAdoc link].
• Mahler, Eduard, “Der Schaltcyclus der Babylonier”, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete, 9 (1894), 42-61 [de Gruyter link / MENAdoc link].
• Meyer, Eduard, “Die chaldäische Aera des Almagest und der babylonische Kalender”, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete, 9 (1894), 325-328 [de Gruyter link / MENAdoc link].
• Strassmaier, Johann Nepomucen, “Der Saros-Canon Sp. II, 71”, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete, 10 (1895), 64-69 [de Gruyter link / MENAdoc link].
• Mahler, Eduard, “Der Saros-Canon der Babylonier und der 19-jährige Schaltcyclus derselben”, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete, 11 (1896), 41-46 [de Gruyter link / MENAdoc link].
• Oppert, Julius, “Die Schaltmonate bei den Babyloniern und die ägyptisch-chaldäische Ära des Nabonassar”, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 51 (1897), 138-165 [MENAdoc link].
• Justi, Ferdinand, “Die altpersischen Monate”, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 51 (1897), 233-251 [MENAdoc link].
• Mahler, Eduard, “Der Schaltcyklus der Babylonier”, Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, 52 (1898), 227-246 [MENAdoc link].
• Mahler, Eduard, “Der Kalender der Babylonier”, in: Hilprecht Anniversary Volume: Studies in Assyriology and Archaeology dedicated to Hermann V. Hilprecht upon the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of his Doctorate and his Fiftieth Birthday (July 28) by his Colleagues, Friends and Admirers (Leipzig [etc.]: J.C. Hinrichs’she Buchhandlung/Luzac & Co./Librairie Paul Geuthner/The Open Court Publishing Co., 1909), pp. 1-13 [Internet Archive link].
• Weissbach, Franz Heinrich, “Zum babyloninischen Kalender”, in: Hilprecht Anniversary Volume: Studies in Assyriology and Archaeology dedicated to Hermann V. Hilprecht upon the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of his Doctorate and his Fiftieth Birthday (July 28) by his Colleagues, Friends and Admirers (Leipzig [etc.]: J.C. Hinrichs’she Buchhandlung/Luzac & Co./Librairie Paul Geuthner/The Open Court Publishing Co., 1909), pp. 281-290 [Internet Archive link].
• Mahler, Eduard, “Zur Astronomie und Chronologie der Babylonier”, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete, 34 (1923), 54-78 [de Gruyter link / MENAdoc link].
• Olmstead, Albert Ten Eyck, “The Chaldaean Dynasty”, Hebrew Union College Annual, 2 (1925), 29-55 [JSTOR link].
• Langdon, Stephen Herbert & Fotheringham, John Knight, The Venus Tablets of Ammizaduga: A Solution of Babylonian Chronology by Means of the Venus Observations of the First Dynasty (With Tables for Computation by Carl Schoch) (Oxford/London: University Press/Humphrey Milford, 1928) [local pdf link].
• Johnson, Jotham, “The Dura Horoscope and the Seleucid Calendar”, in: Dura Studies (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania thesis, 1932), pp. 1-15.
• Olmstead, Albert Ten Eyck, “Cuneiform Texts and Hellenistic Chronology”, Classical Philology, 32 (1937), 1-14 [JSTOR link].
• Poebel, Arno, “The Names and the Order of the Old Persian and Elamite Months during the Achaemenian Period”, The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, 55 (1938), 130-141 [JSTOR link].
• Taqizadeh, S.H., “Various Eras and Calendars Used in the Countries of Islam”, Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, 9 (1939), 903-922 [JSTOR link] & 10 (1939), 107-132 [JSTOR link].
• Parker, Richard Anthony, “Persian and Egyptian Chronology”, The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures, 58 (1941), 285-301 [JSTOR link].
• Dubberstein, Waldo Herman, “Assyrian-Babylonian Chronology (669-612 B.C.)”, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 3 (1944), 38-42 [JSTOR link].
• Goetze, Albrecht, “Additions to Parker and Dubberstein’s Babylonian Chronology”, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 3 (1944), 43-46 [JSTOR link].
• Neugebauer, Otto E., “The “Metonic Cycle” in Babylonian Astronomy [= Studies in Ancient Astronomy: VI]”, in: M.F. Ashley Montagu (ed.), Studies and Essays in the History of Science and Learning Offered in Homage to George Sarton on the Occasion of his Sixtieth Birthday 31 August 1944 (New York: Henry Schuman, [1946]), pp. 433-448.
• Neugebauer, Otto E., “A Table of Solstices from Uruk”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 1 (1947), 143-148 [JSTOR link].
• Neugebauer, Otto E., “Solstices and Equinoxes in Babylonian Astronomy during the Seleucid Period”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 2 (1948), 209-222 [JSTOR link].
• Sachs, Abraham Joseph, “Sirius Dates in Babylonian Astronomical Texts of the Seleucid Period”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 6 (1952), 105-114 [JSTOR link].
• Sachs, Abraham Joseph & Wiseman, D.J., “A Babylonian King List of the Hellenistic Period”, Iraq, 16 (1954), 202-212 [JSTOR link].
• Neugebauer, Otto E. & Sachs, Abraham Joseph, “Some Atypical Astronomical Cuneiform Texts I”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 21 (1967), 183-218 [JSTOR link].
• Wacholder, Ben Zion & Weisberg, David B., “Visibility of the New Moon in Cuneiform and Rabbinic Sources”, Hebrew Union College Annual, 42 (1971), 227-242 [JSTOR link].
• Hunger, Hermann & Reiner, Erica, “A Scheme for Intercalary Months from Babylonia”, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 67 (1975), 21-28 [JSTOR link].
• Hunger, Hermann, “Kalender”, in: D.O. Edzard et al. (eds.), Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie: Band 5. Ia... – Kizzuwatna (Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1976/80), pp. 297–303 [BAdW link].
• Huber, Peter J. & Sachs, Abraham Joseph, Astronomical Dating of Babylon I and Ur III (Malibu: Undena Publications, 1982 [= Occasional Papers on the Near East, nr. I.4]).
• Brinkman, John A. & Kennedy, D.A., “Documentary Evidence for the Economic Base of Early Neo-Babylonian Society. [Part I]: A Survey of Dated Babylonian Economic Texts, 721-626 B.C.”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 35 (1983), 1-90 [JSTOR link] – supplement in ibid., 38 (1986), 99-106 [JSTOR link].
• Kennedy, D.A., “Documentary Evidence for the Economic Base of Early Neo-Babylonian Society. Part II: A Survey of Babylonian Texts, 626-605 B.C.”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 38 (1986), 172-244 [JSTOR link].
• Hallo, William W., “The Nabonnasar Era and other Epochs in Mesopotamian Chronology and Chronography”, in: E. Leichty, M. deJong Ellis & P. Gerardi (eds.), A Scientific Humanist: Studies in Memory of Abraham Sachs (Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1988 [= Occasional Publications of the Samuel Noah Kramer Fund, nr. 9]), pp. 175-190.
• Aaboe, Asger, Britton, John P., Henderson, J.A., Neugebauer, Otto E. & Sachs, Abraham Joseph, Saros Cycle Dates and Related Babylonian Astronomical Texts (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1991 [= Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 81, nr. 6]) [JSTOR link].
• Grzybek, Erhard, “Zu einer babylonischen Königsliste aus der hellenistischen Zeit (Keilschrifttafel BM 35603)”, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 41 (1992), 190-204 [JSTOR link].
• Assar, Gholam Reza Farhad, “Some Remarks Concerning the Parthian Gold Coins: The Parthian Calendars”, in: Proceedings of the XIth International Numismatic Congress organized for the 150th Anniversary of the Société Royale de Numismatique de Belgique, Brussles, September 8th-13th 1991 (Louvain-la-Neuve: Séminaire de Numismatique Marcel Hoc, 1993), vol. 1, pp. 289-294 [Parthian Empire link].
• Beaulieu, Paul-Alain, “The Impact of Month-Lengths on the Neo-Babylonian Cultic Calendar”, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, 83 (1993), 66-87 [de Gruyter link].
• Britton, John P., “Scientific Astronomy in Pre-Seleucid Babylon”, in: H.D. Galter (ed.), Die Rolle der Astronomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens: Beiträge zum 3. Grazer Morgenländischen Symposion (23.–27. September 1991) (Graz: rm-Druck & Verlagsgesellschaft, 1993 [= Grazer Morgenländische Studien, nr. 3]), pp. 61-76.
• Slotsky, Alice Louise, “The Uruk Solstice Scheme Revisited”, in: H.D. Galter (ed.), Die Rolle der Astronomie in den Kulturen Mesopotamiens: Beiträge zum 3. Grazer Morgenländischen Symposion (23.–27. September 1991) (Graz: rm-Druck & Verlagsgesellschaft, 1993 [= Grazer Morgenländische Studien, nr. 3]), pp. 359-365.
• Depuydt, Leo, “The Date of Death of Artaxerxes I”, Die Welt des Orients, 26 (1995), 86-96 [JSTOR link].
• Depuydt, Leo, ““More Valuable than All Gold”: Ptolemy’s Royal Canon and Babylonian Chronology”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 47 (1995), 97-117 [JSTOR link].
• Koch, Johannes, “Zur Bedeutung von LÁL in den “Astronomical Diaries” und in der Plejaden-Schaltregel”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 49 (1997), 83-101 [JSTOR link].
• Depuydt, Leo, “The Time of Death of Alexander the Great: 11 June 323 B.C. (–322), ca. 4:00-5:00 PM”, Die Welt des Orients: Wissenschaftliche Beiträge zur Kunde des Morgenlandes, 28 (1997), 117-135 [JSTOR link].
• Slotsky, Alice Louise, The Bourse of Babylon: Market Quotations in the Astronomical Diaries of Babylonia (Bethesda: CDL Press, 1997).
• Walker, Christopher, “Achaemenid Chronology and the Babylonian Sources”, in: J. Curtis (ed.), Mesopotamia and Iran in the Persian Period: Conquest and Imperialism, 539-331 BC. Proceedings of a Seminar in Memory of Vladimir G. Lukonin (London: British Museum Press, 1997), pp. 17-25.
• Boiy, Tom, “BM 59748, 28.XIIa.43 SE: An Exception to the Babylonian Intercalary Cycle?”, Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires (N.A.B.U.) (1998), nr. 5, 6-7 [SÉPOA link].
• Fatoohi, Louay, J., Stephenson, F. Richard & Al-Dargazelli, Stetha, S., “The Babylonian First Visibility of the Lunar Crescent: Data and Criterion”, Journal for the History of Astronomy, 30 (1999), 51-72 [ADS link].
• Walker, Christopher B.F., “Babylonian Observations of Saturn During the Reign of Kandalanu”, in: N.M. Swerdlow (ed.), Ancient Astronomy and Celestial Divination (Cambridge/London: MIT Press, 1999), pp. 61-76.
• Boiy, Tom, “Dating Methods during the Early Hellenistic Period”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 52 (2000), 115-121 [JSTOR link].
• Gerber, Manuel, “A Common Source for the Late Babylonian Chronicles Dealing with the Eighth and Seventh Centuries”, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 120 (2000), 553-569 [JSTOR link].
• Gerber, Manuel, “The Babylonian Civil Calendar 731-626 B.C.: Evidence for Pre-‘Metonic’ Periodic Intercalation Patterns”, in: C. Esteban & J.A. Belmonte (eds.), Astronomy and Cultural Diversity (Proc. Oxford VI & SEAC 99) (Santa Cruz de Teneriffe: 2000), pp. 244-248.
• Stern, Sacha, “The Babylonian Calendar at Elephantine”, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 130 (2000), 159-171 [JSTOR link].
• Boiy, Tom, “Dating Problems in Cuneiform Tablets concerning the Reign of Antigonus Monophthalmus”, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 121 (2001), 645-649 [JSTOR link].
• Brack-Bernsen, Lis, “TU 11: A Collection of Rules for the Prediction of Lunar Phases and of Month Lengths”, SCIAMVS: Sources and Commentaries in Exact Sciences, 3 (2002), 3-90.
• Britton, John P., “Treatments of Annual Phenomena in Cuneiform Sources”, in: J.M. Steele & A. Imhausen (eds.), Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East (Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2002 [= Alter Orient und Altes Testament, nr. 297]), pp. 21-78.
• de Jong, Teije, “Early Babylonian Observations of Saturn: Astronomical Considerations”, in: J.M. Steele & A. Imhausen (eds.), Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near East (Münster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2002 [= Alter Orient und Altes Testament, nr. 297]), pp. 175-192.
• Assar, Gholam Reza Farhad, “Parthian Calendars at Babylon and Seleucia on the Tigris”, Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies, 41 (2003), 171-191 [JSTOR link].
• van der Spek, Robartus, “Darius III, Alexander the Great and Babylonian Scholarship”, in: W. Henkelman & A. Kuhrt (eds.), A Persian Perspective: Essays in Memory of Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg (Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2003 [= Achaemenid History, nr. XIII]), pp. 289-346 [Internet Archive link].
• Huber, Peter J. & de Meis, Salvo, Babylonian Eclipse Observations from 750 to 1 BC (Milan: IsIAO/Mimesis, 2004).
• Anson, Edward M., “A Note on the First Regnal Year of Philip III (Arrhidaeus)”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 57 (2005), 127-128 [JSTOR link].
• Assar, Gholam Reza Farhad, “A Revised Parthian Chronology of the Period 91-55 BC”, Parthica: Incontri di culture nel mondo antico, 8 (2006), 55-104 [Parthian Empire link].
• Britton, John P., “Studies in Babylonian Lunar Theory: Part I. Empirical Elements for Modeling Lunar and Solar Anomalies”, Archive for History of Exact Sciences, 61 (2007), 83-145 [Springer link].
• Britton, John P., “Calendars, Intercalations and Year-Lengths in Mesopotamian Astronomy”, in: J.M. Steele (ed.), Calendars and Years: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient Near East (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2007), pp. 115-132.
• Steele, John M., “The Length of the Month in Mesopotamian Calendars of the First Millennium BC”, in: J.M. Steele (ed.), Calendars and Years: Astronomy and Time in the Ancient Near East (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2007), pp. 133-148.
• Hoover, O.C., “A Revised Chronology for the Late Seleucids at Antioch (121/0-64 BC)”, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 56 (2007), 280-301 [JSTOR link].
• Stern, Sacha, “The Babylonian Month and the New Moon: Sighting and Prediction”, Journal for the History of Astronomy, 39 (2008), 39-42 [ADS link].
• Britton, John P., “Studies in Babylonian Lunar Theory: Part II. Treatments of Lunar Anomaly”, Archive for History of Exact Sciences, 63 (2009), 357-431 [Springer link].
• Hunger, Hermann, “Schaltmonat”, in: M.P. Streck et al. (eds.), Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie: Band 12. Šamuḫa – Spinne (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2009/11), pp. 130-132 [BAdW link].
• Britton, John P., “Studies in Babylonian Lunar Theory: Part III. The Introduction of the Uniform Zodiac”, Archive for History of Exact Sciences, 64 (2010), 617-663 [Springer link].
• Boiy, Tom, “The Reigns of the Seleucid Kings According to the Babylon King List”, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 70 (2011), 1-12 [JSTOR link].
• Steele, John M., “Making Sense of Time: Observational and Theoretical Calendars”, in: K. Radner & E. Robson (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), pp. 470-485.
• Steele, John M., “Living with a Lunar Calendar in Mesopotamia and China”, in: J. Ben-Dov, W. Horowitz & J.M. Steele (eds.), Living the Lunar Calendar (Oxford/Oakville: Oxbow Books, 2012), pp. 373-387.
• Stern, Sacha, Calendars in Antiquity: Empires, States, & Societies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 71-123, 231-259 & 294-297.
• Steele, John M., “Mesopotamian Calendars”, in: C.L.N. Ruggles (ed.), Handbook of Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy (New York: Springer Science + Business Media, 2015), pp. 1841-1845 [ADS link].
• Gertoux, Gérard, “Dating the Reigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes”, in: P. Attinger, A. Cavigneaux, C. Mittermayer & M. Novák (eds.), Text and Image: Proceedings of the 61e Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Geneva and Bern, 22-26 June 2015 (Louvain: Peeters, 2018 [= Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, Series Archaeologica, nr. 40]), pp. 179-206 [ZORA link].
• Ossendrijver, Mathieu, “Babylonian Scholarship and the Calendar During the Reign of Xerxes”, in: C. Waerzeggers & M. Seire (eds.), Xerxes and Babylonia: The Cuneiform Evidence (Louvain [etc]: Peeters, 2018 [= Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta, nr. 277]), pp. 135-163 [JSTOR link].
• Stolper, Matthew W., “Intercalary Months in Achaemenid Elamite Administrative Documents from Persepolis”, in: C.J. Crisostomo, E.A. Escobar, T. Tanaka & N. Veldhuis (eds.), The Scaffolding of Our Thoughts: Essays on Assyriology and the History of Science in Honor of Francesca Rochberg (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2018 [= Ancient Magic and Divination, nr. 13]), pp. 296-316.
• Huber, Peter J., “Dating the Death of Xerxes”, Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires (N.A.B.U.): 2019, note 80 [nr. 3, pp. 143-147] [SÉPOA link].
• Gertoux, Gérard, “Intercalations during the co-regency of Xerxes with Darius I”, Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires (N.A.B.U.): 2020, note 130 [nr. 4, pp. 273-279] [SÉPOA link].

Conversion Tables between the Babylonian Calendar and the Western Calendar

• Mahler, Eduard, “Zur Chronologie der Babylonier: Vergleichungstabellen der babylonischen und christlichen Zeitrechnung von Nabonassar (747 v.Ch.) bis 100 v.Ch.”, Denkschriften der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Classe der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 62 (1895), 641-664 [Landesmuseum link].
• Sidersky, David, “Étude sur la chronologie assyro-babylonienne”, Mémoires présentés par divers savants à l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres de l’Institut de France, 13 (1923), 105-199 [GALLICA link].
• Cavaignac, Eugène, “Chronologie des Séleucides d’après les documents cunéiformes”, Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale, 28 (1931), 73-79 [JSTOR link].
• Mayr, Joachim, “Umrechnungstafeln für Wandeljahre”, Astronomische Nachrichten, 247 (1932), 17-48 [ADS link].
• Sidersky, David, “Contribution à l’étude de la chronologie néo-babylonienne”, Revue d’assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale, 30 (1933), 57-70 [JSTOR link].
• Neugebauer, Paul Victor, “Hilfstafeln zur technischen Chronologie: Teil II. Das Wandeljahr und das gebundene Mondjahr”, Astronomische Nachrichten, 261 (1937), 377-428 [cf. tables 28-30] [ADS link].
• Parker, Richard Anthony & Dubberstein, Waldo Herman, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. – A.D. 45 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1942 [= Oriental Institute Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization, nr. 24]) [SAOC link] – a corrected (2nd) edition was published in 1946 [local pdf link].
• Parker, Richard Anthony & Dubberstein, Waldo Herman, Babylonian Chronology 626 B.C. – A.D. 75 (Providence: Brown University Press, 1956 [= Brown University Studies, nr. 19]) [local pdf link] – a corrected (4th) edition was published in 1971 [local pdf link].
• Fatoohi, Louay, J., “A Computer Program for the Conversion of Babylonian into Julian Dates”, Journal for the History of Astronomy, 29 (1998), 378-379 [ADS link].

Useful Web Links

• Babylonian and Seleucid Dates
• The Babylonian Calendar (Livius)

I am grateful to Hein Stadhouders (Utrecht University) for several constructive comments. The cuneiform signs for the Babylonian month names were obtained from the web site on the Akkadian language by John Heise (SRON Utrecht).

In the near future I hope to update the Babylonian calendar converter with more recent data, based on modern luni-solar algorithms and improved lunar visibility criteria, replacing the 1971 conversion tables of Parker & Dubberstein.