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Chronology and 607 BCE · Claim record

In the same two articles that question classical historians, Ptolemy’s canon and astronomical tablets, the organisation establishes 539 BCE from Diodorus of Sicily, Herodotus, dated cuneiform tablets and a Babylonian astronomical tablet, BM 33066, which the standard catalogues describe as an observation text of lunar and planetary data, edited by the same scholars and in the same series as the astronomical diary VAT 4956, and which the article itself says “contains some errors regarding the astronomical positions”.

Claim ID claim-chronology-539-rests-on-rejected-classesConcerns 1 October 2011Strong implication
Strong implication · 1 October 2011 Verified

In the same two articles that question classical historians, Ptolemy’s canon and astronomical tablets, the organisation establishes 539 BCE from Diodorus of Sicily, Herodotus, dated cuneiform tablets and a Babylonian astronomical tablet, BM 33066, which the standard catalogues describe as an observation text of lunar and planetary data, edited by the same scholars and in the same series as the astronomical diary VAT 4956, and which the article itself says “contains some errors regarding the astronomical positions”. The Watchtower, 1 October 2011electronic Babylonian Library (eBL), fragment BM.33066, 2026The Watchtower, 1 November 2011The Watchtower, 15 August 1968

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation does not address the tension directly. Its position is that classical historians and astronomical tablets can be used where they agree with the Bible's chronology and questioned where they do not, because 'the Bible clearly states that there was an exile of 70 years'.

Show the evidence (4 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed?-Part One, box 'A Pivotal Date in History'”

1 October 2011 · p.28 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“The date 539 B.C.E. when Cyrus II conquered Babylon is calculated using the testimony of: Ancient historical sources and cuneiform tablets: Diodorus of Sicily ... Herodotus ... Cuneiform tablets show that Cyrus ruled Babylon for nine years before his death. ... Confirmation by a cuneiform tablet: A Babylonian astronomical clay tablet (BM 33066) confirms the date of Cyrus' death in 530 B.C.E.”

In the same article that questions classical historians, Ptolemy's canon and astronomical tablets, the organisation establishes its own pivotal date from two classical historians and a Babylonian astronomical tablet.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Read in full in the Watchtower Online Library text on 19 September 2026; the box is marked '[Box/Pictures on page 28]'. The credit line reads 'Tablet: (c) The Trustees of the British Museum'.

Corroborated by. src-chr-e-ebl-bm33066, src-chr-e-w68-0815-absolute-539

Notes. The article also concedes of BM 33066 that 'this tablet contains some errors regarding the astronomical positions' while still using it.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chr-e-w11-1001-pivotal-539

Peer-reviewed / scholarly Verified

electronic Babylonian Library (eBL), fragment BM.33066, “Catalogue record for the Cambyses year 7 astronomical text”

2026 · Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen

“Astronomical; observation text; lunar and planetary data for Cambyses year 7 (523/2 BC). LBAT 1477; Cam 400 ... Hunger and Sachs, ADART V, no. 55”

BM 33066 is the tablet the Watch Tower's 2011 article cites to confirm 539 BCE. The catalogue record shows it to be an astronomical observation text edited by the same scholars, in the same series, as the astronomical diary VAT 4956.

Official source Archived or alternative copy

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. The eBL API record was downloaded and read on 19 September 2026; the description, museum (British Museum), accession number 1878,1107.4 and CDLI number P364231 were read from it.

Corroborated by. src-chr-e-w11-1001-pivotal-539

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chr-e-ebl-bm33066

Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “When Was Ancient Jerusalem Destroyed?-Part Two”

1 November 2011 · pp.22-28 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“Clearly, much of the astronomical data in VAT 4956 fits the year 588 B.C.E. as the 37th year of Nebuchadnezzar II. This, therefore, supports the date of 607 B.C.E. for Jerusalem's destruction-just as the Bible indicates.”

The organisation's positive case from the cuneiform record. It argues that the Babylonian chronicles are incomplete, that business tablets show discrepancies at reign transitions, and that thirteen sets of lunar positions on VAT 4956 match 588/587 BCE.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. The whole article was fetched from the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and read with page markers intact; the quotation is on page 27.

Corroborated by. src-chr-e-w11-1001-part-one

Notes. Note 21, the authority for the claim that the lunar position in line 3 matches Nisanu 9 of 588 BCE, is present in the Online Library text and reads: “VAT 4956 reads on line three: ‘The moon stood 1 cubit [or 2 degrees] in front of ß Virginis.’ The previously mentioned analysis concluded that on Nisanu 9, the moon was 2°04ʹ in front of and 0° below the star ß Virginis. It was considered an exact match.” It names no external authority: “the previously mentioned analysis” is the organisation’s own, described in note 19 as having been made with the software TheSky6, the freeware Cartes du Ciel / Sky Charts and a US Naval Observatory date converter. No astronomer, publication or independent calculation is cited for it.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chr-e-w11-1101-part-two

Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “The Book of Truthful Historical Dates”

15 August 1968 · pp.488-494 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

“The fixing of 539 B.C.E. as the year when this historical event occurred is based on a stone document known as the Nabonidus (Nabunaid) Chronicle.”

Under the heading 'THE ABSOLUTE DATE OF 539 B.C.E.', the article explains that an absolute date 'must be one where sacred and secular historical events coincide', and derives 539 BCE from a Babylonian chronicle, quoting it from Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, p. 306.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. The full article was fetched from the Watchtower Online Library on 19 September 2026 and read with page markers intact; the quotation is on page 490.

Corroborated by. src-chr-e-pd-1942-p11-nabonidus-cyrus, src-chr-e-ebl-bm35382

Notes. The article then says of 607: 'It is now a simple formula to determine when the seventy years began. One has only to add 70 to 537 to get 607.'

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chr-e-w68-0815-absolute-539

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-chronology-539-rests-on-rejected-classes/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.