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===='''Hebrew Calendar===='''
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==Accounts in Byzantine Authors==
From Justinian's decree in AD 537 onwardsthat all dates must include the Indiction, the unification of the theological date of creation with the administrative system of [[Indiction]] cycles is seen, and was commonly referred to commonly amongst [[w:Category:Byzantine historians|Byzantine authors]], to whom the [[indiction]] was the standard measurement of time (''see reference #4 below'').
'''Doukas'''
The historian [[w:Doukas|Doukas]], writing circa AD 1460, makes a detailed account for the year 5508 BC as the date of creation''Creation Era''. Although unrefined in style, the history of [[w:Doukas|Doukas]] is both judicious and trustworthy, and it is the most valuable source for the closing years of the Byzantine empire.
:"From [[Adam and Eve|Adam]], the first man created by [[God]], to [[Noah]], at whose time the flood took place, there were ten generations. The first, which was from God, was that of Adam. The second, after 230 years, was that of Seth begotten of Adam. The third, 205 years after Seth, was that of Enos begotten of Seth. The fourth, 190 years after Enos, was that of Kainan begotten of Enos. The fifth, 170 years after Kainan, was that of Mahaleel begotten of Kainan. The sixth, 165 years after Mahaleel, was that of Jared begotten of Mahaleel. The seventh, 162 years after Jared, was that of [[Enoch]] begotten of Jared. The eighth, 165 years after Enoch, was that of Methuselah begotten of Enoch. The ninth, 167 years after Methuselah, was that of Lamech begotten of Methuselah. The tenth, 188 years after Lamech, was that of Noah. Noah was 600 years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. Thus 2242 years may be counted from Adam to the flood.
* 4004 BC - Anglican Archbishop [[w:James Ussher|James Ussher]] (AD 1650).
* 3952 BC - Venerable [[Bede]] (ca. AD 725), English Benedictine monk.
* 3761 BC<ref>F. Rühl has shown that the adoption of this era must have taken place between the year 222, when Julius Africanus reports that the Jews still retained the eight-year lunar cycle(referred to in the pseudepigraphal ''[[Book of Enoch]]'' (74:13-16); see [[w:Enoch calendar|Enoch Calendar]]), and 276, when Anatolius makes use of the nineteen year [[w:Metonic cycle|Metonic cycle]] to determine Easter after the manner of the Jews. It may be further conjectured that it was introduced about the year 240-241, the first year of the fifth thousand, according to this calculation, and that the tradition which associated its determination with [[w:Samuel of Nehardea|Mar Samuel]] (d. about 250) is justified. (F. Rühl. ''Der Ursprung der Jüdischen Weltära, in Deutsche Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft''. 1898. pp. 185,202.)</ref> - [[w:Hebrew calendar|Hebrew Calendar]] (Judaism).
==Other Dominant Church Dates==
:"The Holy Fathers (probably unanimously) certainly have no doubt that the chronology of the [[Old Testament]], from [[Adam and Eve|Adam]] onwards, is to be accepted "literally." They did not have the fundamentalist's over-concern for chronological ''precision'', but even the most mystical Fathers ([[Isaac of Syria|St. Isaac the Syrian]], [[Gregory Palamas|St. Gregory Palamas]], etc.) were quite certain that Adam lived literally some 900 years, that there were some 5,500 years ("more or less") between the creation and the [[Incarnation|Birth of Christ]]."<ref>Fr. [[Seraphim Rose]]. ''GENESIS, CREATION and EARLY MAN: The Orthodox Christian Vision''. St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, CA, 2000. pp.539-540.</ref>
It is interesting to note that the traditional Jewish understanding of the creation "days" of Genesis is also that they are also literal, as virtually all the Rabbis had understood from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic sources.<ref>Paul James-Griffiths. ''[http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v26/i2/tradition.asp Creation days and Orthodox Jewish Tradition]''. AnswersinGenesis.org. March 2004.</ref>
Currently the two dominant dates for creation that exist using the Biblical model, are about 5500 BC and about 4000 BC. These are calculated from the genealogies in two versions of the Bible, with most of the difference arising from two versions of [[Genesis]]. The older dates in the ''Byzantine Creation Era'' are based on the Greek [[Septuagint]]. The later dates of Archbishop [[w:James Ussher|James Ussher]] are based on the Hebrew Masoretic text.
The Fathers were well aware of the discrepancy of some hundreds of years between the Greek and Hebrew Old Testament chronology,<ref>Note that according to Dr. Wacholder, JOSEPHUS[[Josephus|Josephus' ]] chronology for the antediluvian period (pre-flood) conforms with the [[Septuagint|LXX]], but for the Noachites (post-flood) he used the Hebrew text. He chose this method to resolve the problem of the two chronological systems.</ref> and it did not bother them; they did not quibble over years or worry that the standard calendar was precise "to the very year"; it is sufficient that what is involved is beyond any doubt a matter of some few thousands of years, involving the lifetimes of specific men, and it can in no way be interpreted as millions of years or whole ages and races of men.<ref>Fr. [[Seraphim Rose]]. ''GENESIS, CREATION and EARLY MAN: The Orthodox Christian Vision''. St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, CA, 2000. pp.602-603.</ref>
To this day, traditional Orthodox Christians will use the Byzantine calculation of the [[w:Etos Kosmou|Etos Kosmou]] in conjunction with the [[w:Anno Domini|Anno Domini]] (AD) year. Both dates appear on Orthodox cornerstones, ecclesiastical calendars and formal documents. The ecclesiastical new year is still observed on [[September 1]] (or on the Gregorian Calendar's [[September 14]] for those churches which follow the [[Julian Calendar]]).
* Dr. Stephen C. Meyers. [http://www.bibleandscience.com/archaeology/exodusdate.htm Biblical Archaeology: The Date of the Exodus According to Ancient Writers]. Institute for Biblical & Scientific Studies (IBSS). Updated April 30, 2008.
* [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Aegean/2444/chronology.html Chronology of the Biblical Patriarchs].
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=438&letter=E#1154 The Era of the Creation] at Jewish Encyclopedia.
* [http://www.fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/Hebrew_calendar Hebrew Calendar] at Fact-Archive.com
* [http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Hebrew_calendar Hebrew Calendar] at Absolute Astronomy.
* [[w:Enoch calendar|Enoch Calendar]] at Wikipedia.
==Further reading==
* Prof. Dr. William Adler. ''Time Immemorial: Archaic History and its Sources in Christian Chronography from Julius Africanus to George Syncellus''. Washington, D.C. : Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1989.
* Roger S. Bagnall, K. A. Worp. ''The Chronological Systems of Byzantine Egypt''. Zutphen, 1978.
* Samuel Poznański. ''Ben Meir and the Origin of the Jewish Calendar.'' in '''The Jewish Quarterly Review''', Vol. 10, No. 1 (Oct., 1897), pp. 152-161.
* V. Grumel. ''La Chronologie''. Presses Universitaires France, Paris. 1958.
* Yiannis E. Meimaris. ''Chronological Systems in Roman-Byzantine Palestine and Arabia''. Athens, 1992.
==References==
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