BM 21946
This tablet provides the key for firming up the dates of the last kings of Judah. It establishes the date for the battle of Carchemish in May or June of 605. Jeremiah 46:2 places the battle during the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign. The tablet also provides a precise date for the capture of Jerusalem. The chronicle records the event as follows, "In the seventh year [of Nebuchadnezzar's reign], the month of Kislev, the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched to the Hatti-land, and encamped against the city of Judah and on the second day of the month of Adar he seized the city and captured the king." Adar 2nd of the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign = 15/16 March 597 BC. Jehoiachin's short reign which lasted three months and ten days (II Kings 24:8; II Chronicles 36:9) and ended with the capture of Jerusalem, establishes the synchronism necessary to chronolog the dates of the last kings of Judah.
BM 25127
This tablet describes the beginnings of the new Babylonian Kingdom during the years 626 to 623 BC. The text opens with Nabopolassar acting as the leader of the insurgent Babylonian forces who have just defeated the Assyrians Outside the gates of Babylon. To celebrate their independence, the Babylonians crown Nabopolassar king on November 23, 626 BC. In subsequent years, the Assyrians attempt to regain control of Babylon, but because of internal strife, they are no longer strong enough to do so. However, Babylon was not yet strong enough herself to go on the offensive and conquer Assyria.
BM 21901
The chronicle for the events between 622 to 617 is missing. This tablet covers the period from 616 to 608 and opens with the Medes having made their appearance as the leaders of the anti-Assyrian coalition. The Egyptians, on the other hand, have now joined forces with the weakened Assyrians to thwart the threat of the Medo-Bababylonian alliance. In 614, the Medes capture the Assyrian city Assur. Nabopolassar arrives to offer his assistance, but arrives after the city is fallen. The two kings, Kyaxares of the Medes and Nabopolassar form an alliance and set out in conquest. In 612, after three months of siege, the two kings sack Nineveh. The Assyrians make a last ditch effort in Harran to maintain their civilization. Yet despite tremendous Egyptian assistance, the attempt was a failure and the Assyrians are lost forever.
BM 22047
This tablet describes the events leading up to the battle at Carchemish in 605. Nabopolassar the king and Nebuchadnezzar the crown-prince command separate armies in campaigns against the mountain people on the Urartian border so as to prevent raids from former Assyrian provinces. Unsuccessful attacks were also made against the Egyptians who were firmly entrenched at Carchemish. Nabopolassar returned to Babylon toward the end of 606 and died there a few months later.
BM 25124
No history is recorded for the years 594 to 557. This tablet describes the campaign of Neriglissar against Pirundu who had invaded Hume, a territory under the protection of Babylon. The campaign was successful.
Hayim Tadmor combined the data collected from the five tablets described above with a chronology proposed by Edwin Theile, which was based in part upon other Babylonian Chronicle tablets translated earlier, to establish a solid chronology for the last kings of Judah. Five synchronisms form the foundation for his chronology. They are:
- The fourth year of Jehoiakim = the accession year of Nebuchadnezzar. (Jer. 25:1)
- The deportation of Jehoiakim and ascension of Zedekiah = the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar. (II Kings 24:12)
- The tenth year of Zedekiah = the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. (Jer 32:1)
- The eleventh year of Zedekiah, the fall of Jerusalem, and the destruction of the temple = the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. (II Kings 25:1-9; Jer. 52:12)
- The release of Jehoiachin in the 37th year of the captivity of Jehoiachin = the accession year of Amel-Marduk. (II Kings 25:27; Jer. 52:31)
| Date | Judah | Mesopotamia | Events |
| 642 | Menasseh 55 acc. year of Amon | Assurbanipal 27 | -- |
| 640 | Amon 2 acc. year of Josiah | Assurbanipal 29 | -- |
| 632 | Josiah 8 | Assurbanipal 37 | Prelude of religious reform in Judah (II Chron. 34:3) |
| 631 | -- | Assurbanipal 38 | Last year of Assurbanipal |
| 630 | -- | Assuretililani 1 | -- |
| 628 | Josiah 12 | -- | Beginning of the reform under Josiah (II Chron. 34:3) |
| 627 | Josiah 13 | acc. year of Sinsariskun | Beginning of Jeremiah's prophecy (Jer. 1:1) |
| 625 | -- | Naboplassar 1 | -- |
| 622 | Josiah 18 | -- | Discovery of the "Book of Covenant": climax of the reform (II Kings 22:3) |
| 609 | Josiah 31 Jehoahaz (3 months) acc. year of Jehoiakim | Nabopalassar 17 | Battle of Megiddo; death of Josiah (II Kings 23:29-33) |
| 608 | Jehoiakim 1 | -- | -- |
| 605 | Jehoiakim 4 | Nabopalassar 21 | Battle of Carchemish (Jer. 46:2) |
| 604 | Jehoiakim 5 | Nebuchadnezzar 1 | Nebuchadnezzar in Hatti Fall of Ashkelon Fast of Judah Jeremiah reads the scroll (Jer. 36:9) Judah comes under the rule of Babylon (II Kings 24:1) |
| 603 | Jehoiakim 6 | Nebuchadnezzar 2 | Nebuchadnezzar in Hatti |
| 602 | Jehoiakim 7 | Nebuchadnezzar 3 | Nebuchadnezzar in Hatti |
| 601 | Jehoiakim 8 | Nebuchadnezzar 4 | Indecisive battle with Egypt Revolt of Jehoiakim |
| 599 | Jehoiakim 10 | Nebuchadnezzar 6 | War against Arabs (Jer. 49:28) |
| 598 | Jehoiakim 11 | Nebuchadnezzar 7 | Death of Jehoiakim 3 months and 10 days reign of Jehoiachin Siege of Jerusalem |
| 597 | acc. year of Zedekiah | Nebuchadnezzar 8 | Fall of Jerusalem and captivity of Jehoiachin. (March 16) |
| 596 | Zedekiah 1 | Nebuchadnezzar 9 | Babylonian campaign to Elam |
| 595 | Zedekiah 2 | Nebuchadnezzar 10 | Rebellion in Babylon |
| 594 | Zedekiah 3 | Nebuchadnezzar 11 | Babylonian campaign in Hatti |
| 591 | Zedekiah 6 | Nebuchadnezzar 14 | Egyptian naval campaign to Phoenicia Rebellion of Zedekiah |
| 588 | Zedekiah 9 | Nebuchadnezzar 17 | Second seige of Jerusalem |
| 586 | Zedekiah 11 | Nebuchadnezzar 19 | Fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the temple. (II Kings 25:8) Second Babylonian captivity (Jer. 52:28) |
| 582 | none | Nebuchadnezzar 23 | Third Babylonian captivity (Jer. 32:30) |
| 568 | none | Nebuchadnezzar 37 | Nebuchadnezzar's campaign against Egypt |
| 561 | none | acc year of Amel-Marduk | Jehoiachin released from prison after 37 years. |