ndard 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."--_"Chronology," Vol. I, p.
166._

Thus, says James B. Lindsay, an English chronologist, "a foundation is
laid for chronology sure as the stars." So the sun and the stars, the
divinely appointed timekeepers, bear their witness to the accuracy of
the historical record.

We thank God for this, as we desire to know if we may depend upon
Ptolemy's canon to help us fix to a certainty the seventh year of
Artaxerxes.

According to Ptolemy, Artaxerxes succeeded to the throne in the two
hundred and eighty-fourth year of the canon. In modern reckoning, this
two hundred and eighty-fourth year runs from Dec. 17, 465 B.C., to Dec.
17, 464 B.C. The canon does not tell at what part of the year a king
succeeded to the throne; it only deals with whole years. The question
is, to be exact, Did Artaxerxes come to the throne in December, 465
B.C., or at some time in the year 464 B.C.? At what season of the year
did the king take the throne? Some historians, dealing with the matter
roughly, date the succession from the year 465. But in dealing with
divine prophecy, we require certainty upon which to base the reckoning
of the seventh year of Artaxerxes, from which date the prophetic period
runs.

And in God's providence we do have certainty. Of all the kings of
Assyria, Babylon, and Medo-Persia, in Ptolemy's long list, there is but
one concerning whose succession the Scriptures give us the very time of
the year--and that one is Artaxerxes. The one case in which we need