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'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' contains a chapter within it devoted specifically to the deconstruction and reconstruction of Josephus' Chronological details.
The premise of 'The King's Calendar', is that between the 5th and 3rd centuries BC, as the ancient books were collected and collated, the historical chronological details were converted into a 'religious/sectarian' calendar. As these same people were largely responsible for the production of these records (the Bible as we know it did not arrive until centuries later), and as no former copies remained, their particular historical chronology passed down through history as the 'real and legitimate' chronology of Israel.
Many people who have examined the 'Free to Air' 'King's Calendar files (which do not provide access to research on Josephus), have expressed doubt about my claim to be able to deconstruct and reassemble Josephus' chronological material.
For this reason I am making the Josephus Chronology timeline Chart available.
Appendix 12 (Chronologies of Josephus 104 BCE to 1940 BCE) lists each and every year of each and every chronological reference.
There are 1500 lines / years on the chart.
It is made available to students so that they can easily calculated the chronologies that Josephus provides.
Just Go to the Chapter Precis page and scroll down until you get to Appendix 12.
Why the Generosity?
My decision to do this is twofold.
Firstly it is in response to 'lay' inquiries about the likely success of the King's Calendar reconstruction of Josephus' material.
Secondly, it was originally done for a limited time in 2004 to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the KingsCalendar being on sale on the internet.
It is still available because no one seems interested in Josephus. So perhaps it can generate some interest in this much maligned Jewish Historian.
Because there are numerous sites on the internet that claim to solve the problems involved in Biblical Chronology, I have received some disparaging feedback about my site. This was to be expected and does not upset me. What does upset me are those occasions on which I have received negative feedback from some who call themselves academics, who like to throw off at my work, but who can not argue against it's validity, in any rational way.
Although some have claimed that no chronological problems exist, and others claim that the chronological problems are impossible to solve by 'sole reliance' upon the Bible, no one to date has been able to debunk my research results.
On one Academic internet site my research was dismissed, (without investigation or rebuttal) because it had never been submitted to a 'peer review'.
But in fact, a number of institutions (including BiblioTheca Sacra, Dallas USA and Vetus Testamentum in Holland), turned down articles submitted to them, on the basis that my work was 'too technical' for their readership. (Rejection letters available to interested parties).
Being unable to have my papers 'peer reviewed', I finally set up my own website and published there.
So, for all those interested in understanding the Chronological Material found in the works of Josephus, this file is still available, 'free to air'.
To see how effective the King's Calendar method of synchronising the Biblical data is, SEE : Appendix 5 Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE
The Premise: Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE (but continuing down to at least 104 BCE), Sectarian redactors transcribed the legitimate 'solar year' chronological records of Israel and Judah, into an artificial form, with listed years as each comprised of 12 months of 4 weeks of 7 days, or 336 days per year, thus creating a 13th artificial year where 12 solar years existed.
When the Synchronous Chronological Data provided in the Books of Kings and Chronicles for the Divided Kingdom Period are measured in years of 336 days, the synchronisms actually align. [Refer to Appendix Five to see how it synchronises the Divided Kingdom Period]
General formula for Biblical Data conversion:
The formula for constructing the artificial calendar was:
'X' times 364 equals 'Y' days
'Y' days divided by 336 equals 'Z' artificial years.
Values are:
'X' = any given number of 'real/solar' years
364 = perceived days in the sectarian calendar
'Y' = number of days calculated
336 = number of days in an artificial year
'Z' = artificial years = 1.083'X' and represents the original number of the converted years plus 8%.
To reverse the process by hand:
'Z' years times 336 equals 'Y' divided by 364 equals the Number of 'X' years converted.
To see how effective this method is, SEE:Appendix 5:Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE:
The Principle of Linear Causality
The King's Calendar is a very simple approach to Biblical Chronology. It substitutes a value of 336 days for every year listed in Scripture. As far as the Divided Kingdom is concerned, when you use this 336 day year value, the synchronisms actually work. To see how effective this method is, SEE:Appendix 5: Diagrammatic Reconstruction of Israelite History from 936 to 586 BCE
Because it is a mathematical system, the King's Calendar must abide by certain mathematical rules, the most important of which, is that if you change any date for any day, month, or year every other day, month, or year is effected and must also change. It's like a 'domino effect'. Chronological references cannot be 'forced' to fit, and nor can they simply be ignored or 'compressed' as is the usual case with historians and archaeologists.
If any King's Calendar chronological determination disagrees with anything in the history books, it must argue the case as to why the history books are wrong, or why the evidence for an assertion is untrustworthy. If the King's Calendar successfully defends its' position, then the history books cannot be treated as definitive, and if the King's Calendar is 'proven' wrong, then every other chronological reference it provides is also wrong.
Because of this, the King's Calendar Chronological Reconstruction of Israel's history is unique, in that its' methodology can be scientifically (mathematically) tested and demonstrated to be either true or false. Its' chronological predictions are able to be 'proved' or 'disproved'.
R.P.BenDedek is from Brisbane Australia and is the author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' at http://www.kingscalendar.com His academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
He writes photographic 'Stories from China' and social editorial commentaries, both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing newspaper columnist. He currently teaches Conversational English in China and in addition to his English Lessons at KingsCalendar, he has created specific sites for Students of English.
