The Tyrian Annals and Ancient Greek Chronography

Main Article Content

Nikos Kokkinos

Abstract

The value of the ‘Tyrian Annals’, the fragments of which are preserved primarily in Josephus, has often been doubted. However, an examination of literary evidence from Thales of Miletus to Timaeus of Tauromenium shows that the Greeks were well aware of Phoenician ancient records. One Hieronymus, in the 3rd century BC, followed by Menander of Ephesus, in the 2nd century BC, officially translated the ‘Tyrian Annals’ into Greek. The core of the original archive was a king-list (stating names, ages and reign lengths), covering the 10th to 6th centuries BC, annotated with brief historical notices relating the major acts performed by the kings. The list will have been composed working from local archives in the early Persian period. Surviving fragments concern three ‘floating’ segments which can be pegged in time and augmented by Assyrian and Babylonian synchronisms. The first begins with Hiram I, from 955/4 BC, with the third ending with Hiram III in 533/2 BC. The use of the ‘Tyrian Annals’ by Timaeus explains his extraordinary knowledge in providing a late 9th century date for the founding of Carthage (against the then current opinion placing it centuries earlier), close to the historical date of 808/7 BC that can now be calculated from the Annals. Timaeus’ bold move changed the entire perspective of ancient Greek chronography, radically shifting the focus from a vague heroic past into a decidedly realistic historical context.  His move took the foundation of Rome along, with serious repercussions for the way the origins of this city had previously been perceived.  The ‘Tyrian Annals’ also had included the date for the fall of Troy, firmly placed in the 10th century BC. Many Greek chronographers found this difficult to swallow in their political desire to claim a higher antiquity for their own cultural past.

Article Details

Section
Articles