Persian and Egyptian Chronology

Recent articles in this Journal by Professors Olmstead and Poebel have once again directed attention to the question of the accession date of Darius I.1 The problem arises from the fact that two interpretations of the length of the reigns of Bardiya and Nebuchadnezzar III have been drawn from the dates by which Babylonian tablets are dated. Thus, if Bardiya ruled not seven months but a year and seven months, Darius' accession must be placed not late in 522 B.c., the usually accepted date, but in 521; and if Nebuchadnezzar III ruled not three months but nearly a year, it must be further dropped to 520, his first year, then, being 519/18.2 Consideration of the Egyptian data which bear on the problem has led me to the conclusion that the traditional date of 522 for Darius'