Two drafts of a letter on calendar reform, with extraneous material concerning chronology and the Temple of Zerubbabel Isaac Newton c. 3,662 words The Newton Project Falmer 2009 Newton Project, University of Sussex

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 1699 and later, c. 3,721 words. Draft letter concerning ancient calendars, and notes on Jewish chronology [Yahuda Ms. 24g]Yahuda Ms. 24'Regulæ pro determinatione Paschæ' (draft and fair copy) [Yahuda Ms. 24e] Yahuda Ms. 24f, National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel IsraelJerusalemNational Library of Israel Yahuda Mss Yahuda Ms. 24f SL222

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 1699 and later England English Latin Greek Holograph ReligionChronology Mint Catalogue information compiled by Rob Iliffe, Peter Spargo & John Young Tagged transcription begun by John Young Transcription completed by John Young Proofed by Robert Iliffe Catalogue exported to teiHeader by Michael Hawkins 1

SrSir Isaac Newton represents that he did formerly discourse wthwith your LordpLordship about the ancient year of 360 days & represented to your LordpLordship that it was the Calendar of the ancient Lunisolar year [of the Egyptians Syrians Chaldeans Asiatics Greeks who &c; that being that it was] composed of the nearest round number of days in a Lunar month & Lunar months in a Solar year; that the ancients corrected this Kalendar monthly by the new moons & yearly by the returns of the four seasons, dropping a day or two when they found the calendar month too long, adding for the course of the Moon & adding a month to yethe end of the year when they found the calendar year too short for the return of the seasons; [that for avoyding the trouble of these so frequent corrections, several cycles of months & years were invented, as a cycle of 12 months consisting of 30 & 29 days alternately, the Dieteris consisting of two years of 12 & 13 months alternately, the Octaeteris consisting of four Dieterises wanting a month, the cyclus Decemnovalis, the Dodecaeteris of the Chaldees, &c; that the Egyptians by adding five days to the end of their calendar year formed a solar year of 365 days wchwhich the Romans corrected by adding a day to yethe end of every four years; that the Arabians by omitting omitting the intercalary months have formed their year of 12 Lunar months; that the Luni-solar, the Solar & the Lunar years are all the & their Calendars are all the sorts of years wchwhich he metets with in antiquity;] that Moses in describing the flood uses the Kalendar months without correcting them by the course of the Moon, the cloudy rainy weather not suffering her to appear; that when [the Athenians erected 360 statues to Demetrius Phalareus according to the number of days in the year, or] Herodotus reccons 30 days to the month & 12 months to yethe year they he understood the Kalendar year wthwithout correcting it by the courses of the Sun & Moon; that when Herodotus reccons by years of 12 & 13 months alternately for 70 years together wthwithout correcting the months by the course of the Moon; & it by the Luminaries that when we meet wthwith a week of years or a month of years or a year of years, a Kalendar month of natural years &or a Kalendar year of natural years, [that is, 7 or 30 or 360 natural years, taking any number of natural years for so many revolutions of winter & summer; [that the Iews in returning from captivity called their own months by the names of the Chaldean, wchwhich argues that they were the same;] & that he meets wthwith nothing in yoryour LordpsLordships paper wchwhich in his opinion makes against these his opinions what he then represented to your LordpLordship.

He saith also that within the compass of the 4 monarchies he meets with no other year the to this day then the Lunisolar propagated by Noah to his posterity, the solar of 365 days [corrected by yethe Romans by the addition of a day in 4 years,] & the Lunar used by the Mahometans, & the Kalendars of these years; that for lessening the trouble of correcting the primitive Lunisolar Kalendar every month by the Moon & every year by the sun, various cycles were invented, as the annual cycle of 30 & 29 days in the mōonth alternately, the Dieteris cosistingconsisting of 12 & 13 months alterna in the year alternately, the Octaeteris consisting of 4 Dieterises wanting a month, the Dodecaeteris of the Chaldees mentioned by Censorinus c & conteining, as he thinks, 4 intercalary months, & the Sarus of the Chaldees mentioned by Suidas (in Σάρος) & consisting of 18 years of 12 lunary months each, besides six months wchwhich he takes to be intercalary, a month being added every third year for 18 years together.

SrSir Isaac saith further that in his opinion the original year of all nations was Lunisolar, the same being wthwith its calendar being propagated down from Noah to all his posterity. That for keeping to the courses of the Sun & Moon or one of them without the trouble of correcting the year montlymonthly by the Moon & yearly by the sun & return of yethe seasons & fruits of the earth various cycles & emendations of the primitive calendar have been invented as the cycle of Months consisting of 30 & 29 days alternately during the whole year, the intercalation of a month every other year wchwhich made the Trieteris of the Ancients more properly called the Dieteris The Octaeteris composed of 4 Dieterises wanting a month. The or Dodecaeteris of the Chaldees composed of twelve years The Sarus of the Chaldees composed of 18 years & 6 intercalary months. The Egyptian Cycle of 365 days The Iulian & Gregorian corrections of that year. The Arabian cycle of 12 Lunar months where perpetually without any intercalary months.

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The following passage is written upside down on f. 2, with an insertion (also written upside down) from f. 1v. In the 37th year of Iehojakins captivity, in yethe 12th month on yethe 27th day of yethe month that is, in the end of yethe month Evilmerodach king of Babylon in the year that he began to reign, brought Iehokim out of prison & treated him honourably as his friend & companion 2 King 25.27. Evilmerodach had been imprisoned by his father, & by that means hies grew acquainted wthwith Iehojakin. The eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar was the tenth of Zedekiah (Ier. 32.1). The tenth year And this was this that is the tenth of Iehojakins captivity. & tThe 37th of this year of Iehojakins captivity was the first yea year in wchwhich Nebuchadnezzar died & was succeeded by his son Evilmerodach. In all yethe For Onon yethe 27th day of the 12th month of this year (the year in wchwhich he began to reign) Evilmerodach (who had been imprisoned by his father & therthere grew acquainted wthwith Zedekiah) brought Zedekiah out of prison & treated him honourably as his companion (2 King 25.27) And therefore from this friendship it may be presumed that Nebuchadnezzar died at that time & Evilmerodach in yethe very beginning of his reign brought Zedekiah out of prison himself to succeed his father upon the death of Nebuchadnezzar his father when the people brought Iehojakin him out of prison to reign he brought Iehojakin out of prison at the same time. Nebuchadnezzar therefore reined 45 years according to the recconing of the Iews, vizt 8 years to the captivity of Iehojakin & 37 years more to his death the reign of Euilmerodac, For its the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar was the 10th year of Zedekiah (Ier 32.1) that is the 10th of Iehojakins captivity. But according to the cCanon Nebuchadnezzar reigned but 43 years from the death of his father Nabapolasser, so that & therefore the 3d year of his reign according to the Iewish account was the first year of his reign fro recconed from the death of his father by the Chaldees. The Iews dated his reign from yethe 4th year of Iehojakim, the year in wchwhich he beat the Egyptians at Euphrates (Ier 46.3) & began his reign & succeeded Pharaoh Nechoh in his dominion over Syria & Iudæa. For the 4th of Iehojakim was the first of Nebuchadnezzar (Ier. 25.1.) And while he was making war in Syria & Iudea he heard of the death of his father (suppose in the 3d year of his reign over the Iews) & then returned to Babylon to succeed hism father leaving his army & captives wthwith his servants to follow him. The taking of Ierusalem & burning of yethe Temple wchwhich was in the 19th year of Nebuchadn. according to yethe Iewish account was therefore in the 17th of his reign according to the Chaldean account & Canon of Ptolomy & from yethe fift month of this yea burning of the City & Temple in the 5t month of this year to yethe 9th month of the 4th year of Darius Hiystaspis are 70 years & 4 months, at the end of wchwhich time the people had fasted 70 years upon yethe 5t month for the burning of the city & Temple & upon yethe 7th month for the death of Gedaliah. Zech 7.5. And so the Prophet might then very well say: When ye fasted & mourned in the 5t & seventh month even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me? Zech 7.5. Iudæa was & the cities thereof were invaded by the Chaldees in yethe 9th year of Zedekiah & many of the cities taken & in the tenth month of that year Ierusalem was beseiged 2 Reg. 25.1. And from thence to yethe eleventh of the second year of Darius Hystaspis were 70 years. so that And therefore in the end of that time the Prophet might well say: O Lord of hosts how long willt thou not have mercy on Ierusalem & on the cities of Iudah against wchwhich thou hast had Idndignation these 70 years. Zech. 1.12. ✝ ✝ And tho the intervalls should have been a year or two more or less then under or over 70 years, yet I see not why had rather allow that the Prophet might not have been allowed to use the nearest round number of seventy, then run into greater greater difficulties. For that Zerubbabel – – sight? As for Iddo And by the like recconing, there were from the first fourth year of Iehojakim to the first of Cyrus over Persia were 70 years, as there ought to be by the prophesy of Ieremiah ch. 25.1, 11, 12. & 2 Chron. 36.22. As for Iddo the father of Barachiah & grandfather of Zechariah, he he might be 70 or above 70 years old in yethe first year of Cyrus & his son Barachiah might then be about 50 years & his grandson Zechariah about 25 years old more or less. And in the 2d year of Darius Hystaspis Zechariah might be about 40 years old. But that Zerubbabel should be governour of the Iews to the sixt year of Darius Nothus that is 118 years together, & Ieshua be High Priest all that time is not probable. And it is less probable that in the second year of that King there should be old men alive in yethe second year of that king who had seen the first Temple which was burnt 166 years before. Hagg. 2.3. He that thinks it probable let him ask his Congregation from the Pulpit: Who is there among you who remember rembember the face & stature of king Henry VIII & how do ye see men now? Are they not as nothing in your sight? And as for yethe age of Zechariah the Prophet the son of Barachiah & grandson of Iddo, he might be 30 or 40 years old in yethe 2d year of Darius when he began to prophesy, & by consequence about 14 or 24 in the first year of Cyrus over Persia, & his GradfatherGrandfather Iddo might then be 60 or 70 or above. 3 SrSir Isaac Newton represents that he did formerly discourse with your Lordp.Lordship about yethe ancients year of 360 days, & represented to yoryour LordpLordship that it was the Kalendar of the ancient Lunisolar year composed of the nearest round number of Lunar months in a year & days in a lunar month; that the ancients corrected this Kalendar monthly by the New-moons & yearly by the returns of yethe 4 seasons, dropping a day or two when they found the Kalendar month of 30 days too long for the course of the Moon & adding a month to the end of the year when they found the year of 12 Lunar months too short for the return of the four seasons & fruits of yethe earth; that Moses in describing the Flood uses the Kalendar months without correcting them by the course of the Moon, the cloudy rainy weather not suffering her then to appear; that when Herodotus or any other author reccons 30 days to yethe month & 360 days to the year, he understands the Kalendar month & year without correcting them by the courses of the Sun & Moon; that when Herodotus reccons years of 12 & 13 months alternately for 70 years together, he understands the Dieteris of the ancients continued for 70 years without correcting it by the Luminaries; that when we read of a week of or a month or a year consisting of any other days then the natural, we are to reccon 7 days or 30 days or 360 days according to the Kalendar because in such cases where the days are not natural ones the Kalendar cannot be corrected by the courses of the Sun & Moon; and if the mystical days signify days arebe taken mystically for yethe years of any nation we are to take these years in the vulgar sense for so many natural years or revolutions of summer & winter; 7 or 30 or 360 practical years of the latines such as they commonly used in civil affairs. & or years corrected by the Luminaries SrSir Isaac saith further that he meets with nothing in your LordpsLordships paper wchwhich in his opinion makes against what he then represented to your LordpLordship. Ecbatane. Eusebius tells us that the writers of the Babylonian affairs say that Arbaces Belesis Arbaces made Belesis king of the Assyrians. It seems that Arbaces a Mede & Belesis of & at Babylon Artimenech, Belesis of the Generals of the Assyrians conspired against the sloatfull king & shared his dominions, but over Media & so much of Assyria as did not revolt from the dominion of & Assyria & sor & & Assyria, & at the Others say that Arbaces a Mede & Belesis or Bali one of the General Commanders of yethe forces of the Medes Sardanapalus, upon seing the luxurious life of his king conspired against him together with Belesis another of his general commanders & Eusebius tells us that the writers of the Babylonian affairs say that Arbaces made Belesis king of the Assyrians. I suppose he means king over so much of the Baby Assyrian Empire as remained in subjection to Nineveh. In the year of Nabonassar 81 For the old age as well as yethe These luxurious life of this king seem to have given occasion to the revolt of several nations & these things seem to have happened in the year of Nabonassar 81. These things seem to have been done in the year of Nabonassar 81: for at that time the reign of Asserhadon over Babylon ceased, & Chiniladon Saosducinus succeeded him in that kingdom, & by the revolt of the BaloniansBabylonians & western nations – – – Nechao. The last king of the Assyrians is called Saracus by Polyhistor. Others take this king for the Sardanapalus of the ancients. And thence Callisthenes relates that there were two kings of Nineveh called Sardanapalus, one stout & valiant, the other soft & effeminate. The first wthwithout question was Asserhaddon, the last was vanquished by lost his kingdom to Cyaxeres & Nebuchadnezzar wthwithout a revolt of the Medes wchwhich is not the character of Sardanapalus. So then after Sardanapalus there were three kings reigned in Nineveh, Belisis, Nebuchadonosor & Saracus. Arbaces was They revolted under the conduct of Abades who was a Mede & one of the General commanders of of Assyria the forces of Sardanapalus. He was encouraged the revolt by the luxurious & effeminate life of his king & con This Officer He was encouraged to revolt by the luxurious & effeminate life of his king, & perhaps also by his old age, & conspired with one Belesis another commander of the Assyrian forces & their con Eusebius tells us that the writers of the Babylonian affairs say that Arbaces made Belesis king of the Assyrians. I suppose he means king of so much of the Assyrian Empire as after the revolting of the western nations some other nations remained in subjection to Nineveh. This revolution happened in the year of Nabonassar 81. For at that time Asserhadon was succeeded succeeded at Babylon by Saosduchinus. And by this revolt of revolution Manasses Sardanapalus by his old age is is said to have built Tarsus & Anchiale in one day & to have been the son of Anacyndaraxis & or as other name him Anabaxaris. I suppose they mean Sennacherib. The kings who reigned after him in Media were Arbaces Dioces Phaortes Astyages, Cyaxeres & Darius, those at Babylon were Saosduchinus Chinildon, Nabopolaser & Nebuchadnezzar & his sons, & those at Nineveh, I think, were Belesis Nebuchadonosor & Saracus. By Nebuchadonosor I understand that king of Assyria who is mentioned in the book of Iudeth: for Some time after this Temple was built, the Iews added a new court on on yethe eastern side of the Priests court before the kings gate (2 Chron XX.5) & therein built a covert for the sabbath, 2 King. XVI.18. This court was not Measured by Ezekiel but the dimensions may be gathered from those of yethe weomens court built b in the second Temple built in imita after the example thereof. Whence I seem to gather that this court with the Priests court & separate place & inner buildings took up an area three hundred cubits long from east to west & two hundred cubits broad, the Altar standing in the center of the whole, & by consequence that the new court alone was only 50 cubits broad from east to west. // He seems to have omitted the buildings on yethe east side of the peoples court Priests court & to have walled in the area thereof together wthwith that of the new court for the use of the people. For the outward court wchwhich in Solomons Temple was for the use of the people he left unbuilt & the Gentiles had access into it while the people worshipped only in the new court & the eastern margin of the Priests court & therefore he enlarged the new court for the use of the people, & made it 100 cubits square with courts little kitchins in the four corners for kittchens for the dressing the sacrifices for the people. Thus ZerubbalsZerubbabels temple conteined was built on an area 300 cubits long from north to south, & conteined thre equal courts & 200 broad wthwith a & conteined an wthwith the Altar in its center & conteined three equal courts, the separate place – – – – – sanctuary, & had on the east side of it a court for yethe people called the weomens court, wchwhich made the whole area 300 cubits long from east to west & two m 200 broad. The outward court ther the altar standing in yethe center thereof. And this area conteined three courts each equal courts, the separate place the priests court & the weomens court, each 100 cubits from east to west & 135 from north to south between the buildings, or 200 in For the buildings took 65 cubits, 3212 on either side. The outward court was left unb form of – – – – – – in their four corners For the pe outward court was not built, but the ground thereof left open to the gentiles. And therefore the kitchins for the people were placed in the corners of the weomens court. And to make more room for the people the buildings on the east side of the Priests court were omitted & the 4 added to yethe weomens court. the height being 60 cubits & the high & 60 broad including the treasure chambers. & on Either side were double buildings – – – The buildings on yethe east side were omitted & the area on wchwhich they stood was added to the new court to make more room for the people. & this c All this taking in an area 200 cubits All this taking in yethe peoples court . . . . . each 100 cubits square. The building double buildings were on the north & south sides of the separate place & Priests court, & together with those two courts took up a square area of 200 cubits on either side long & 200 broad & was strictly called the sanctuary. The buildings on the east side were omitted, & the area on wchwhich they stood was added to the weomens court to make more room for the people. And in the corners instead of the little courts or kitchins in the four corners of the great court there were little corners courts in the four corners of the weomens court. And between the little courts & the buildings on either side the Priests court & separate space there was an interval of 135 cubits from north to south & in conformity to Solomons Temple the Priests court had Gates over against the altar on the southern northern & eastern sides; & the buildings on either side the separate place were without cloysters & had kitchings at their western ends & a walk 10 cubits broad before them distinguished from the separate place by a wall. And the house or Temple itself was