" Ezra 6:14.]
According to this scripture, the full "going forth of the commandment to
restore and to build," dates from this decree of Artaxerxes. And this
decree went forth "in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king." Ezra
7:7.
What year was this seventh year of Artaxerxes--a date so important to
fix to a certainty?
The great chronological standard for the kings of the ancient empires is
the canon, or historical rule, of Ptolemy. Ptolemy was a Greek
historian, geographer, and astronomer, who lived in the temple of
Serapis, near Alexandria, Egypt. From ancient records he prepared a
chronological table of the kings of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome
(carrying the Roman list to his own time, which was the second century
after Christ). Along with his list of kings and the years of their
succession, Ptolemy compiled a record of ancient observations of
eclipses. In such and such a year of a king, for instance, on a given
day of the month, an eclipse of the sun or moon would be recorded.
Astronomers have worked out these observations, and verified them. The
learned Dr. William Hales said:
"To the authenticity of these copies of Ptolemy's canon, the
strongest testimony is given by their exact agreement
throughout, with above twenty dates and computations of
eclipses in Ptolemy's Almagest.
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