The Watchtower, “The Book of Truthful Historical Dates”
“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.
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Provenance and verification note for The Watchtower, The Book of Truthful Historical Dates
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