Historical (technical) chronology- a special historical discipline that studies chronology systems and calendars different nations and states and helps to establish the dates of historical events and the time of creation historical sources.
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✪ Old chronology (narrated by historian Pavel Kuzenkov)
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✪ New chronology and forked cross
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Astronomical chronology
The most natural measure of time is the rotation of the Earth around its axis. A complete revolution (360°) of the Earth is called sidereal days, since in time it is equal to the interval between two successive culminations of a star. Due to the Earth's revolution around the Sun, the solar true day, that is, the time interval between two culminations of the Sun, is approximately 4 minutes longer than the sidereal day. This difference varies throughout the year due to the uneven rotation of the Earth around the Sun in the ecliptic plane, so the true day cannot serve exact unit time. Instead, the average day is usually used, that is, the interval between the culminations of a fictitious luminary - the “average sun”, moving evenly along the equator; his place is on celestial sphere V famous eras coincides with the place of the true Sun.
For large time intervals, instead of a day, it is more convenient to use other units of time, historically associated with observing the visible position of the Moon and the Sun among the stars on the celestial sphere. The period of time in which the Moon after full turn around the Earth it falls against the same stars, called sidereal(sidereal) month (27 days 7 hours 43 minutes). Depending on the movement of the Earth together with the Moon around the Sun after the sidereal month, the relative placement of the three luminaries will change somewhat, therefore the phase of the Moon visible from the Earth will be slightly different, and the interval through which the Moon returns to its previous phase, the so-called synodic month, more than sidereal (29 days 12 hours 44 minutes).
The period of time through which, as a result of the Earth’s revolution around the Sun, the luminary returns to the same constellations, to the “same star,” is called the sidereal year. During the day, the brilliance of the Sun eclipses the stars and instead of the constellations against which the Sun falls, we can compare the constellations opposite to them, culminating at midnight on given time of the year. The seasons are determined by the passage of the Sun through the equinoxes and solstices. Due to precession, the intersection points of the equator and ecliptic (equinox) planes, as well as the points greatest removal of the Sun from the line of the celestial equator (solstice). The total duration of the four seasons is called the tropical year and is determined through average speed movement of the Sun in longitude. The tropical year is often defined as average interval between two successive passages of the Sun through the vernal equinox, which is incorrect, since the points of the equinoxes and solstices are displaced relative to each other due to the disturbance of the planets. The tropical year is 20 minutes less than the sidereal year. Magnitude sidereal year does not change, the value of the tropical fluctuates depending on changes in the magnitude of precession; in our time, the tropical year consists of an average day and hour of 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes. 46 s, in sidereal days and hours 366 d 5 h 48 m 46 s. In the time of Hipparchus (2nd century BC), the tropical year was 12 seconds longer.
Individual calendar years must necessarily contain a whole number of days; Meanwhile, the lengths of the year and day are incommensurable. Various systems solar calendars were a consequence of greater or lesser accuracy of the length of the year in days adopted in the calendar and certain methods of calculating the accumulated fractions of the day, that is, the distribution of intercalary days. In turn, the lunar month is incommensurate with the solar year; in known lunisolar calendars there were various techniques equalize the accumulating discrepancy with intercalary months. Later, the month lost its lunar rotation character and became a conventional fraction of the solar year. Ancient astronomers, not knowing how to observe the culmination of stars, were content with the crude method of observing their rising and setting. Special meaning had a so-called heliacal starrise. Length of periods built on heliacal sunrises, requires each time a special calculation depending on the given star (that is, on its location relative to the celestial equator and the ecliptic), the latitude of the given observation location on earth and the magnitude of precession.
Historical chronology
Calendar
Lunar and solar calendars
First and natural unit The calculation of time for ancient people was a day, divided into day and night. Subsequently, when observing the phases of the moon, they began to distinguish the lunar month, which was counted alternately at 29 and 30 days. It was then noticed that after about 12 lunar months natural phenomena repeat themselves. Thus the year was opened. However, a year of 12 lunar months of 354 days does not correspond to the astronomical (solar) year, and moon calendar of 12 lunar months turned out to be movable (the Arabs still use this type of calendar). In order to correlate it with the astronomical year, as the error accumulated (approximately once every 3 years), an additional month was inserted (among the Romans, for example, it was called “Mercedonius" and was inserted between February 23-24). Of such kind lunar- solar calendar used by most ancient peoples; in modern times it is used by Jews (see Jewish calendar).
Solar calendar was invented in Egypt (see ancient Egyptian calendar). It consisted of 12 months of 30 days and 5 additional days. But since true astronomical year exceeds 365 days, then the Egyptian calendar also turned out to be inaccurate. Subsequently, the Hellenistic kings of Egypt, based on the calculations of Alexandrian astronomers, tried to introduce leap years; but the reform did not take root. In 26 BC. e. Augustus reformed the Egyptian calendar along the lines of the Julian calendar, establishing leap years and fixing the beginning of the year (1 tota) on August 29, but counting “according to the old style” was widely practiced in Egypt until the very end of antiquity.
Metonic cycle
Some calendars
Chronography
Counting the years. The formation of historical chronology
The need for consistent counting of years appeared with the emergence written culture and was primarily based on administrative needs. As a rule, documents were dated from the year of the king's reign; thus, the list of kings with the years of their reign provided a primitive chronological table. Such lists came from Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, but they should be used with caution, since they are often indicated as successive reigns, which in reality are completely or partially synchronous (for example, in times of unrest), and similar “simplifications” are allowed.
In city-states, years were dated by the names of officials elected for the year, who, for example, in Ashur were called “limmu”, in Athens - “eponymous archons”, etc. ( "eponymous year"). In Mesopotamia, years were also often designated by important events - so the list of years was something like a short chronicle.
The urgent need for chronological calculations appeared with the emergence of historical science, that is, approximately in the 5th century BC. e. The most in a simple way dating was the mutual relative dating of events: event A occurred X years before event B; event C happened Y years after event B; Moreover, the same events are mentioned by different authors. From this, when comparing the works of historians, it is relatively easy to calculate the mutual relationship between the events they mention. So, for example, the Greco-Persian wars are the central event of Herodotus’s “History”, which also affects more early events- formation of the Persian kingdom; Thucydides, describing the Peloponnesian War, mentions that between its beginning and the departure of Xerxes from Hellas, “approximately 50 years” passed, and briefly talks about the events of this “fiftieth year”; Xenophon directly continues Thucydides - that is, only from a comparison of these three authors, you can make a detailed chronological sequence events over about 200 years, from the middle to the middle of the 4th century BC. e.
For events distant in time (such as the Trojan War), based on genealogical tables An approximate calculation “by generation” was used, taking 3 generations per century. At the same time, attempts were made to compile a system of absolute chronology. The first chronological tables: priestesses of the priestesses of Hera in Argos (their author, Hellanicus of Lesbos, apparently was the first to take up chronological issues), lists of Spartan ephors, Athenian archons-eponyms; in Herodotus one can find the years of the reign of the Persian and other eastern kings. When comparing such lists, it became possible to convert a date from one system to another (for example, to say under which Persian king an event occurred that happened under such and such an archon), as well as to find out the chronological relationship of events to each other (that is, to establish their relative chronology) and with the moment at which the work is written (that is, to find out the absolute chronology). Since there was no single chronological system in Greece, a historian, speaking about any important event, it was desirable to date it according to several systems at once: the year of the reign of the Persian king, the Spartan ephors, the Athenian eponymous archon. For example, here is an excerpt from Thucydides, which contains both relative and absolute dating of the key moment of his “History” - the beginning of the Peloponnesian War (431 BC):
For 14 years, the thirty-year peace concluded after the conquest of Euboea continued to exist. In the fifteenth year, the forty-eighth year of the priesthood of Chrysis in Argos, when Enesius was an ephor in Sparta, and Pythodorus had 4 months of archonship left in Athens, in the sixteenth month after the battle of Potidaea, at the beginning of spring a detachment of armed Thebans (...) at the beginning of a night's sleep invaded the Boeotian city of Plataea...
All other dates in the text of Thucydides’ “History” are in one way or another correlated with the date of the start of the war (in the above passage this can be seen in the example of the date of the end of the first Athenian-Spartan war and the Battle of Potidaea; in the future the dates are designated: “for such and such a year of the war” ). Of the dating systems used by Thucydides, dating according to the Athenian archons existed in historical science for many centuries, and this allowed ancient chronologists to easily correlate Thucydides’ data with later chronological scales (according to the Olympiads - through it with the Roman chronology according to consuls and “from the foundation Rome" - and through the latter this event is easily translated into the modern chronology system, which is a direct continuation of the Roman one). Finally, this date is also amenable to astronomical verification, since Thucydides dates a solar eclipse to the summer of the same year, which, according to calculations (first done by Joseph Scaliger), took place on August 3, 431 BC. e.
At the same time, in the Hellenistic East, official dating of the familiar type came into use, counting from one date - the “epoch of an era.” The era was the rise to power of Seleucus Nicator, the commander of Alexander the Great - 312 BC. e. However, the “Seleucid era” remained administrative until late antiquity and was not used by historians. Subsequently, it entered Aramaic, then Arabic historiography (under the incorrect name “Alexander’s era”) and was used by Syrian Christians until the 19th century. The Parthian Arsacids, in turn, introduced the era from their own accession (248 BC), which was also in circulation in the East.
The Romans, who had long kept their “fastas” - lists of consuls, which also served as a brief official chronicle, easily fit into the Greek chronological system, so, for example, in the work of the Greek author of the Roman era Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC) we We find dates all at once: according to the Olympiads, according to the Athenian archons and according to the Roman consuls. A contemporary of Diodorus was the Roman scientist Varro, who, on the basis of consular fasts and the years of reign of the Roman kings reported by legend, calculated the date of the founding of Rome (according to Varro - 753 BC) and introduced it as an era in scientific circulation. This era “from the foundation of Rome” was not officially used, but in historiography it survived until the 19th century (since it dealt with the events of Roman history).
Of great importance for chronology is the so-called “Royal Canon of Ptolemy” - a list of kings preserved in Theon’s commentary on Ptolemy’s astronomical work. This is a list of reigns, with exact astronomical dates, of the kings of Babylon (actually the Babylonian kings, as well as Persian kings and Alexander the Great as Babylonians), kings of Hellenistic Egypt and Roman emperors. It was compiled by Alexandrian astronomers for the needs of their own calculations (in fact, for dating astronomical phenomena) based on their own records and the records of Babylonian priests and then continued by scribes who entered names into it Byzantine emperors(in some manuscripts it is brought to the fall of Constantinople in 1453). It begins with the accession to the throne of the Babylonian king Nabonassar on February 27, 747 BC. e. (the so-called “era of Nabonassar”), during which systematic astronomical observations, and is based on the moving Egyptian calendar (without high-cox years), which was then used by astronomers.
In the late Roman period, in astronomical and astrological texts it receives wide use the era from the beginning of the reign of Emperor Diocletian is 284, in which the Easter tables are compiled (this era is still preserved by the Coptic-Ethiopian church under the name “era of martyrs”).
Calculus from the birth of Christ
Greek history can be synchronized with Roman history, since many dates are known in both the Greek and Roman numeral systems. Those eastern chronological data that have a direct or indirect connection with Roman chronology are also reliable. Thus, Manetho’s lists of Egyptian pharaohs include the Persian kings and the Ptolemies, the dates of whose reigns are precisely known - this makes it possible to calculate the dates of the reigns of previous rulers. Here, however, difficulties arise due to the mentioned features of the eastern royal lists. However, it is believed that until about 800 BC. e. Egyptian reigns are dated absolutely precisely [ by whom?] [ ], until the 16th century BC. e. (that is, before the beginning of the New Kingdom) - with a tolerance of several decades. But the duration transition period between the Middle and New Kingdoms is not precisely known - as a result, the connection with Roman chronology is lost. Important role in the chronology of the Middle Kingdom plays a letter on papyrus dating back to the end of the XII dynasty; it reports that Sirius will rise on the 16th day of the VIII lunar month of the 7th year. Obviously this refers to the reign of Senusret III, but it could also be his son Amenemhat III. In any case, the date of this event is about 1800, and this allows us (since the number of years of reign of the pharaohs of the dynasty is known) to conclude that XII Dynasty rules from about 2000 to 1800 BC. e. The duration of the First Transition Period between the Ancient and Middle Kingdoms is also unknown, and therefore the chronology Ancient kingdom even more fortune-telling.
The historians of Western Asia have somewhat more solid support. First of all, the Assyrian list of eponyms (limmu) has been preserved, between 911 and 648 BC. e., which is verified both by the “Canon of Ptolemy” and by the solar eclipse indicated in it. For earlier centuries, establishing the date of the beginning of the reign of King Hammurabi is key. It is based on the observation of the heliacal rising (the first rise at dawn) of Venus, described in a cuneiform document, which occurred in the 6th year of the reign of Amisaduga, one of last kings dynasty of Hammurabi (whereas it is known that 1 year of his reign is 146 years away from 1 year of Hammurabi’s reign). The heliacal rising conditions described in the document are repeated after several decades, so that as a result there are several variants of the date of the 1st year of Hammurabi's reign; Based on the totality of historical data, the most plausible date is considered to be 1792 BC. e. Accordingly, the dating of previous and subsequent reigns is tied to this date.
China has always had a developed historiographical tradition with its own detailed chronology, based on reigns with their mottos, as well as 60-year cycles (see Chinese calendar); in India, issues of chronology and historiography were treated much more lightheartedly. That's why key date for synchronization ancient history India and Europe are given a decree carved on stone by King Ashoka (III century BC) about the embassy he sent to Greece for the missionary purposes of promoting Buddhism; it mentions five Hellenistic rulers (Antigonus Gonatus and others), whose reign is precisely known.
Some eras
- A group of Byzantine eras which are generally stated to begin:
CHRONOLOGY, -i, f.
1. A branch of historical science that studies the history of chronology.
2. List of events in their time sequence. X. Russian history.
3. what. The sequence of appearance of something. in time. X. events.
| adj. chronological, oh, oh.
S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language
CHRONOLOGY What is it CHRONOLOGY, meaning of the word CHRONOLOGY, synonyms for CHRONOLOGY, origin (etymology) CHRONOLOGY, CHRONOLOGY stress, word forms in other dictionaries
+ CHRONOLOGY- T.F. Efremova New dictionary Russian language. Explanatory and word-formative
+ CHRONOLOGY- Modern Dictionary ed. "Great Soviet Encyclopedia"
3. The sequence of appearances of something over time. X. events. Chronological - relating to chronology.
+ CHRONOLOGY- Small academic dictionary Russian language
CHRONOLOGY is
chronology
AND, and.
The sequence of historical events in time, as well as the list of dates of these events.
He considered drawing maps to be the most necessary and most important in geography, and knowledge of chronology in history. Chekhov, Literature Teacher.
Sequence of smb. phenomena, events in time.
The Gorlitsins now have their own household chronology: this was when Lyuba said “mother” for the first time; this is when she made her first tooth. Mamin-Sibiryak, Lyubov.
But also higher value have fossils to establish geological chronology. Savelyev, Traces on the stone.
An auxiliary historical science, which, based on the study and comparison of written or archaeological sources, establishes exact dates various historical events.
(From the Greek χρόνος - time and λόγος - teaching)
+ CHRONOLOGY- Composite dictionary foreign words Russian language
CHRONOLOGY is
chronology
CHRONOLOGY
(Greek, from chronos - time, and logos - word). 1) the science of calculating time, as well as the time of various historical events. 2) placement of events by their corresponding years.
Chronology, from the Greek “chronos” - time and "logos" - doctrine. Understood in two senses:
- the science of time and its measurement;
- scientifically reconstructed sequence of historical events and their temporal extent;
Chronology-related concepts
Astronomical or mathematical chronology
Astronomical, or mathematical chronology is usually called the science of patterns celestial phenomena and their dating, in the case where such dating is the only one; otherwise - the whole spectrum is offered possible values for subsequent study and selection. Mathematical chronology explores movement celestial bodies, develops systems for calculating astronomical time.
Historical or technical chronology
Historical, or technical chronology - considered auxiliary discipline in historical science. Historical (technical) chronology establishes, based on the study of written or archaeological sources, the time of an event, as well as the time of occurrence of the historical sources themselves. She also studies time systems and calendars of different nations and states.
It is generally accepted that the foundations of historical chronology were laid Eusebius Pamphilus in the 4th century AD in the work “History of Times from the Beginning of the World to the Council of Nicea”, but this work has reached us only in a “restored” Joseph Scaliger form. The dating of ancient events, accepted today, was first most consistently formalized in a series of works Joseph Scaliger ( –) ("Opus novum de emendatione temporum", ; "Thesaurum temporum", ) and Jesuit scientist Dionysius Petavius ( –) ("De doctrina temporum", ). It was finally consolidated in the works of the Irish Archbishop Usseria ( –) ("The Annals of the World", ) and Jesuit scientist Riccioli ( –) ("Chronologia reformata", ). Periodized and chronologized ancient art Winkelmann ( –) ("Geschichte der Kunst des Altertums", ). This version of the chronology is called "Scaligerian chronology" or traditional chronology (TX).
IN traditional history chronology counts "auxiliary discipline", since traditional chronology is based on a priori judgments of historians about the time of events that occurred and has no independent meaning for them (none of the other sciences, except history and theology, have “auxiliary” disciplines). Until recently, the framework of TX was "Sacred Chronology"(see below), but in modern times the religious framework was discarded, surviving only in the form of hardwired traditional chronology dates of “sacred” events: Births Christ, Flood, etc.
Sacred chronology
"Sacred Chronology"- chronology of events in the Old and New Testaments. In the year of the Irish Archbishop Ashsher (Usseriy) published his “Annals of the World”, in which he proposed his version of the exact chronologization of all the events described in the Bible. According to Ashshera, supported by astrological arguments, the creation of the world began at the beginning of the night preceding October 23, 4004 BC, that is, at 6.00 pm on October 22. Some chronological dates according to Usseria(hour, day, month omitted, years BC):
- 4004 - Creation of the World, Fall of the Angels
- 2349 - The Flood
- 2290, August 17 - Noah “sent out a raven” from his ark
- 1921 - Conscription Jehovah To Abraham from the burning bush
- 1706 - Arrival of the family in Egypt Jacob
- 1491 - Exodus from Egypt
- 1451 - Conquest of Canaan
- 1405 - First Judge of Israel Othniel
- 1095 - Accession Saula
- 1004 - Construction of the Temple Solomon
- 975 - Separation of Israel and Judah
- 721 - Fall of Israel
- 587 - Fall of Judea
- 536 - Return from Captivity
- 4 - Birth Jesus
According to Byzantine Orthodox tradition, creation Adam occurred on Friday, March 1, 5508 BC.
era Sacred History did not end in the 17th century. Historian A.L. Schlözer(-) adhered to this system in early XIX century. A modern historian points out:
“... the historian Schlözer lived back in the Middle Ages: he seriously wrote that the world has existed for about 6,000 years. In its chronology there are periods: “from creation to the flood”, “from the flood to Rome”, etc. But, on the other hand, Schlözer is a conductor of new methods in historical research. Schlözer viewed his history of mankind as new kind history, different from the works created earlier, as he said, by philosophers.” ()Scientific chronology
Scientific chronology - modern, active emerging discipline at the intersection of natural and humanities, the purpose of which is to restore the true order of historical events and determine their duration. It is based on mathematical and natural science dating methods and is itself the foundation for scientific analysis historical processes. Fundamentals of modern scientific chronology laid down ON THE. Morozov() And A.T. Fomenko(). As a result of research A.T. Fomenko And G.V. Nosovsky they proposed another version of the chronology of world history, significantly different from TX - the so-called
from the Greek chronos - time and logos - word, teaching), 1) the sequence of historical events in time. 2) Historical X. - an auxiliary historical discipline, studies the chronology systems and calendar of various peoples, helps establish the dates of historical events and the time of creation of historical sources.
Excellent definition
CHRONOLOGY
from Greek xronos - time and logos - word, doctrine) - the science of measuring time. There are astronomical (or mathematical) X. and technical (or historical) X. Astronomical X. studies various patterns of recurring celestial phenomena and, using calculations, establishes the exact astronomical. time. Historical X. - auxiliary history. a discipline that determines, based on the study and comparison of written or archaeological records. sources exact dates of various sources. events and documents X. is a historically established system of knowledge. Observations of natural phenomena, complex mathematics. calculations in determining time already from ancient times contributed to the formation of X. Having arisen in the ancient East. states of Babylonia and Egypt, X. especially developed in Other. Greece (Eratosthenes, Callippus, etc.) and Rome (Varro, Censorinus, Ptolemy, Macrobius, etc.). Further development received in the Middle Ages (Venerable Bede, Biruni, Kirik). Systematization of history X. introduced in the 16th century. Frenchman J. Scaliger, having developed precise techniques for editions of various chronologies on Julian style(see Calendar). Research on the nature of chronology was carried out in the 17th century. French monk D. Petavius. General theory and the history of X. gave in the 19th century. German scientist L. Ideler, in the beginning. 20th century developed it. scientist F. Ginzel. Works on X. in the 20th century. are dedicated to ch. arr. in-depth study of the department. types of chronology and forms of determining time in folklore. calendars (by seasons, by the rising of constellations, etc.), as well as by such phenomena as eclipses, earthquakes, etc. Translated into modern. chronology system of events of ancient history, known from sources under certain years of the reign of pharaohs (in Egypt), archons (in Athens), consuls, emperors (in Rome), popes, patriarchs, etc. For the development of X. great importance have increasing contacts of this science with archeology, natural science, and also the use of computing. technology. Lit.: Cherepnin L.V., Russian chronology, M., 1944; Kamentseva E.I., Chronology, M., 1967; Seleshnikov S.I., History of the calendar and chronology, M., 1970 (see also detailed bibliography); Syuzyumov M. Ya., General Chronology, Sverdlovsk, 1971; Macdonald J. C, Chronologies and calendars, L., 1897; Ginzel F., Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie, (Bd) 1-3, Lpz., 1906-14; Ideler L., Handbuch der mathematischen und technischen Chronologie, Bd 1-2, V., 1825-26; Stamp A. E., Methods of chronology, L., 1933; Poole R. L., Studies in chronology and history, Oxf., 1934. See also lit. at Art. Calendar. M. Ya. Syuzyumov. Sverdlovsk
Chronology (from the Greek χρόνος - time and λόγος - doctrine) is the science of measuring time, an auxiliary historical discipline that studies the ways of calculating the time of different peoples in different historical periods. Its purpose is to give the historian correct information about the time of historical events or determine exact dates.
Today we know that the great historian of Ancient Greece, Herodotus, lived in 484-425. BC e., in 490 BC. e. Persian troops were defeated at Marathon, Alexander the Great died in 323 BC. e., March 15, 44 BC. e. Gaius Julius Caesar was killed in the 1st century. BC e. Virgil and Horace created. How is it established exactly when events so distant from us took place? After all, even the historical sources that have reached us often do not have a date. And from more distant eras written sources not preserved.
Historical chronology has various methods, allowing one to reliably establish the date historical event. The main condition for establishing a reliable date for a source is an integrated approach, i.e. using data from paleography, diplomacy, linguistics, archeology and, of course, data astronomical chronology. If when dating historical fact not taking into account all components of the study is an inevitable mistake. This makes it difficult to establish the chronology of ancient history.
To measure time, we used phenomena that repeat in nature: the periodic change of day and night, the change lunar phases and the change of seasons. The first of these phenomena determines the unit of time - the day; the second is the synodic month, average duration which is equal to 29.5306 days; the third is the tropical year, equal to 365.2422 days. The synodic month and the tropical year do not contain an integer number of solar days, so all three of these measures are incommensurable. An attempt to at least to some extent coordinate the day, month and year with each other led to the fact that in different eras three types of calendars were created - lunar (they were based on the duration synodic month), solar (based on duration tropical year) and lunisolar (combining both periods). They became the basis of the lunisolar calendar.
In ancient times, each country had its own methods of calculating chronology and, as a rule, there was no single era, that is, counting years from a specific event. In the states of the Ancient East, the year was designated by outstanding events: the construction of temples and canals, military victories. In other countries, time was counted according to the years of the king's reign. But such records were not accurate, since there was no sequence in recording the events of the history of the country as a whole; sometimes these records stopped altogether due to military or social conflicts.
But these ancient records can also be correlated with modern chronology is possible only when it is possible to associate them with a precisely dated (most often astronomical) phenomenon. The most reliable chronology is verified by solar eclipses. So, for example, on this basis all the events in the history of Western Asia, starting from 911 BC. e., are dated most accurately; the error, as a rule, does not exceed 2 years.
The chronology of Ancient Egypt was conducted according to the records of the reign of the pharaohs, starting from the era Early Kingdom 21-28 centuries BC e. However, in these records, as in the royal lists of Mesopotamia, there are a lot of inaccuracies, errors sometimes reach 300 years or more. Egyptian historian Manetho, who lived at the end of the 4th century. BC e., carefully studied and largely clarified the lists of the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt based on materials from the archives of the pharaohs, and his chronology is still used in world historical science.
The same can be said about the chronology of Ancient China. In China, as in Egypt, Greece and Rome, special historical works, where chronological information was necessarily given. The outstanding historian of Ancient China, Sima Qiang, wrote “Historical Notes”.
In my work great attention he paid chronology, gave chronological framework history of ancient China - from legendary date creation of the world until the end of the 2nd century. BC e. However, he did not indicate the sources and grounds for dating the events, which is why the dating cannot be considered unconditionally reliable.
The most reliable chronological systems of antiquity are the counting of years in Greek and Roman history. In Greece there was a pan-Greek system of chronology based on the Olympics. According to legend, the first Olympics took place in 776. Then the Games were successively held every four years. Relationship between dating and events Greek history can also be traced to the dating of the reign of archons - officials in Athens (these notes have partially survived to this day).
The reliability of Greek chronology can be considered proven subject to constant comparison of data from various historical sources, the results of archaeological excavations, and numismatic material. For example, thanks to the method benchmarking It has been established that Alexander the Great died in the 114th Olympiad, i.e. in 323 BC. e.; a year after his death his teacher died great philosopher antiquity Aristotle (384-322 BC).
The chronology of Rome also has its own specific starting point. The Roman era begins in 753 BC. e. - from the legendary date of the founding of Rome. Archaeological excavations This date was recently confirmed. But back in the 1st century. BC e. The Roman historian Marcus Terence Varro used the method of comparative analysis of Greek dating according to archons and Olympiads with Roman dating according to consuls. Thus, he calculated the year of the founding of Rome, placing it in the third year of the sixth Olympiad (754-753 BC).
In 46 BC. e. In Rome, Julius Caesar adopted the solar calendar developed by the Alexandrian astronomer Sosigenes. In the new calendar, three years in a row contained 365 days (simple years), and every fourth (leap year) - 366. New Year started on January 1st. The length of the year was 365 days, 6 hours, i.e. it was 11 minutes 14 seconds longer than the tropical one. This calendar, called the Julian calendar, was recognized as mandatory for all Christians at the Nicene Ecumenical Council in 325.
A new attempt to create a chronology system was made only in the 4th century. n. e. Dionysius the Insignificant (he was nicknamed this way because of his small stature) proposed starting a new calendar from the date of the birth of Jesus Christ, considering the birthday of Christ to be December 25, 753 from the founding of Rome.
The new era was not immediately recognized in the world. For a long time the countdown here coexisted with the countdown from the “creation of the world”: 5508 BC. e. - according to eastern dating christian church. The Muslim era even now begins from the date of the journey of the prophet Muhammad from Mecca to Medina (622 AD) - according to the Muslim calendar, now only the 14th century begins.
Gradually, chronology from the beginning of our era (from the conventional date of birth of Jesus Christ) was accepted by most peoples of the world.
But the difference between tropical and calendar years gradually increased (every 128 years by 1 day) and by the end of the 6th century. was 10 days, as a result of which the spring equinox began to fall not on March 21, but on 11. This complicated the calculations church holidays, and the then head catholic church Pope Gregory XIII carried out a reform of the Julian calendar in 1582 according to the project of the physician and mathematician Aloysio Lilio. A special papal bull ordered that after Thursday, October 4, skip 10 days in the count and consider the next day to be Friday, October 15. In order to prevent the day of the equinox from moving in the future, it was prescribed to exclude 3 days from every four hundred Julian calendar years, so the leap year system also changed. Of the “century” years, those whose first two digits were divisible by 4 without a remainder remained leap years - 1600, 2000, 2400, etc. The Gregorian calendar is more accurate than the Julian calendar; a difference of one day accumulates in it in 3280 years. During the XVI-XVIII centuries. it has been adopted in most European countries.
The calendar of the ancient Slavs was lunisolar; The counting of days within months began from the new moon. Two years had 354 days each (12 lunar months of 29 and 30 days), and the third year had 384 days (354 + 30). The beginning of the year occurred on the spring new moon (around March 1). The names of the months were associated with the change of seasons and agricultural work: grass (when the first spring grass sprouted), serpen (harvest time), leaf fall, jelly, etc. With the introduction of Christianity Orthodox Church adopted the Julian calendar and the era from the “creation of the world” (“the creation of the world” the church, according to Byzantine tradition, dated to 5508 BC). The New Year (since 1492) began on September 1. This time reckoning system lasted until the end of the 17th century, when Peter I carried out a calendar reform. He moved the beginning of the year to January 1 and introduced the era from the Nativity of Christ. Now it is accepted in historical science and is called the new era (AD).
The introduction of a generally accepted era and the January beginning of the year made it easier for Russia to trade, scientifically and cultural connections. However, the Julian calendar was preserved, and already in the 19th century. Russia felt serious inconvenience due to calendar isolation. Privately Gregorian calendar used in the ministries of foreign affairs, finance, railways, internal affairs, commercial and navy, as well as astronomical meteorological services. The government and the Orthodox Church opposed the Gregorian calendar, since its canons and accounting chronological cycles were associated with the Julian calendar.
The calendar reform was carried out after October revolution 1917 The Decree of the Council of People's Commissars determined that after January 31, 1918, it should be considered not February 1, but February 14. Now we celebrate the New Year twice: January 1 according to the new style and January 13 according to the old style.
The development of the chronology continues based on systemic use achievements of archaeological, paleographic, linguistic and other research methods, which will ultimately make it possible to clarify the still controversial dating of the history of many countries.
Date reduction
- 1. Translation of dates of the Byzantine era.
- a) Dates of the September year. If the event occurs in the months from January to August, 5508 years should be subtracted; if the event occurs in the months from September to December, 5509 years should be subtracted.
- b) Dates of the March year. If the event occurs in the months from March to December, 5508 years should be subtracted, and if in January and February, 5507 years should be subtracted.
- 2. Converting dates from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.
- a) Dates are translated by adding to the number of the month:
- 10 days for the 16th century. (from 1582) - XVII century,
- 11 days for the 18th century. (from March 1, 1770),
- 12 days for the 19th century. (since March 1, 1800),
- 13 days for the 20th century. (since March 1, 1900) - XXI century,
- 14 days for the 22nd century. (since March 1, 2100).
- b) In the 21st century. the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars will be 13 days, as in the 20th century, since the year 2000, which ends the 20th century, will be a leap year both according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The difference will increase only in the 22nd century.
- c) The number of days changes when converting dates from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar due to the additional day that ends February leap year(February 29), so the difference increases from March 1.
- d) Centuries end with years with two zeros at the end, and the next century begins with the 1st year - 1601, 1701, 1801, 1901, 2001 (3rd millennium), etc.
- a) Dates are translated by adding to the number of the month: