Texts edited in this volume occasionally mention contemporary dates and the charts in this section are intended to aid the reader in understanding those dates.
The Mesopotamian month names and their modern equivalents are:
| I | Nisannu | March–April | VII | Tašrītu | September–October |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| II | Ayyāru | April–May | VIII | Araḫsamna | October–November |
| III | Simānu | May–June | IX | Kislīmu | November–December |
| IV | Duʾūzu | June–July | X | Ṭebētu, Kinūnu | December–January |
| V | Abu | July–August | XI | Šabāṭu | January–February |
| VI | Ulūlu | August–September | XII | Addaru | February–March |
| VI₂ | Intercalary Ulūlu | XII₂ | Intercalary Addaru |
Unless it is stated otherwise, the dates given in this volume (excluding those in bibliographical citations) are all BC. Each ancient Mesopotamian year has been given a single Julian year equivalent even though the ancient year actually encompassed parts of two Julian years, with the ancient year beginning around the time of the vernal equinox. Thus, for example, the 3rd regnal year of Sennacherib (the eponymy of Nabû-lēʾi) is indicated to be 702, although it actually ended in early 701 and thus events which took place late in the ancient year "702" actually took place early in the Julian year 701.
Several exemplars of text no. 2 and text no. 3 are dated according to the Elamite month Sibūti, the seventh month of the Elamite calendar. At this time, we cannot offer a satisfactory explanation why Sennacherib's (and later Esarhaddon's) scribes dated some texts by Elamite months rather than Mesopotamian ones.
A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny
A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny, 'Dating and Chronology', RINAP 3: Sennacherib, The RINAP 3 sub-project of the RINAP Project, 2019 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap3/RINAP31Introduction/DatingandChronology/]