HOW DO HISTORIANS DETERMINE THE DATE OF THE BABYLONIAN DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM?
Core Historical Anchor Dates
605 BCE – Battle of Carchemish / Babylonian Dominance Established
• Nebuchadnezzar defeats Egypt and Assyria.
• This establishes Babylon’s supremacy in the region and starts Judah’s vassalage.
• Mentioned in the Babylonian Chronicles and Jeremiah 46:2.
• Often associated with the first deportation of Judean nobles, including Daniel (per biblical tradition).
597 BCE – First Capture... moreHOW DO HISTORIANS DETERMINE THE DATE OF THE BABYLONIAN DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM?
Core Historical Anchor Dates
605 BCE – Battle of Carchemish / Babylonian Dominance Established
• Nebuchadnezzar defeats Egypt and Assyria.
• This establishes Babylon’s supremacy in the region and starts Judah’s vassalage.
• Mentioned in the Babylonian Chronicles and Jeremiah 46:2.
• Often associated with the first deportation of Judean nobles, including Daniel (per biblical tradition).
597 BCE – First Capture of Jerusalem
• Nebuchadnezzar besieges Jerusalem, King Jehoiachin is exiled, and Zedekiah installed as puppet king.
• Directly recorded in:
Babylonian Chronicle BM 21946
2 Kings 24:10–17
Jeremiah 52:28
This is an absolutely fixed historical date.
589–587 BCE – Final Babylonian Siege
• Zedekiah rebels.
• Nebuchadnezzar returns and lays a prolonged siege.
587/586 BCE – Destruction of Jerusalem
Thus, the following occurred in this timeframe:
• Jerusalem’s walls breached.
• Temple burned.
• City destroyed.
• Population deported.
Why the two-year notation (587/586)?
Because two calendar systems are involved:
• Babylonians used a Nisan-to-Nisan accession calendar
• Judah used a Tishri-to-Tishri calendar
Depending on which system is counted,
• Nebuchadnezzar’s 19th year = 586 BCE
• Nebuchadnezzar’s 18th year = 587 BCE
Both refer to the SAME event, but viewed from different regnal counting systems.
Most modern historians favor 587 BCE, though Jewish traditional reckoning often aligns with 586 BCE (Tisha B’Av remembrance).
How We Know the Year with Certainty
The chronology is locked in place by astronomically dated Babylonian tablets:
VAT 4956
• An astronomical diary dated to Nebuchadnezzar’s 37th year.
• The planetary positions recorded match 568/567 BCE only.
• Counting back 19 years gives:
587/586 BCE for Jerusalem’s fall.
This provides an absolute, scientific anchor to the timeline.
Summary of the Key Chronological Markers
• 605 BCE – Babylon defeats Egypt (Carchemish)
• 597 BCE – First fall of Jerusalem; Jehoiachin exiled
• 587/586 BCE – Final fall of Jerusalem and temple destroyed
