All dates in this chronology are given as AM (anno mundi) and BC (before Christ) calculation equivalents; and AM (anno mundi) and AD (after Christ) calculation equivalents.

There was a period of time after the building of Solomon's Temple, when God told His people to "Call His name LO AMMI, for ye are not my people" (Hosea 1.9). Those were the years that God regarded the nation as "not My people". Those years, therefore, may have been omitted from the lifetime of his called-out nation as far as He was concerned. The nation didn't co-operate and obey His law, so God said He did not know them.

This begs the question: If we are to reconcile the dates between the Exodus and the when Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord, then could this LO AMMI principle be applied to the period from the Exodus, through the period of the Judges up to the building of Solomon's Temple? There were some broken periods totalling 70 years when God placed the Israel nation under the oppression of other peoples (88 inclusive years if we add in the Philistine/Amonite oppression that was on the other side of the Jordan in the land of the Amorites). The LO AMMI time-period especially refers to the times after Joshua died, from Judge Othniel through to Judge Samson.When the nation was at peace with God, the times are referred to as ANNO DEI (in God's year).

A summary of the Judges period accounting for the years is given below.

Dates are obtained from the statistics given in the Bible by straightforward addition, assuming that the count is for inclusive years, for example 1484 BC to 1477 BC is seven years, but if we include 1484 in the count, then the count becomes eight years "inclusive". This is often the way with Bible records, especially when we look at the lengths of the reigns of the Kings over the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. (The bible gives an excellent cross-reference record of regnal dates between the kings of these two kingdoms.) This "inclusive" year count as chronologists call it, is applied also, to the time periods of the Judges.

Many chronologists are not in agreeance over the periods of the Judges, and try to overcome this by separating the importance of the roles of "major" and "minor" judges. Some chronologists even ignore the minor judges as though they didn't exist.

I read about this LO AMMI principle, so I applied it to my chronology too, and discovered that the LO AMMI period accounted for the discrepancy of years between the the time of the Exodus and the time when Solomon completed and dedicated the temple. It fitted into my chronology from the Exodus/Tabernacle (1552-1551 BC) date as follows:

NOTES:

The biblical quotation from 1 Kings 6.1 says that Solomon "began" to build the House of the Lord at the quoted date. It is possible, therefore, that this chronological reconciliation is seven or eight years in error, as it concludes at the completion date.

From Exodus out of Egypt (1552 BC) to Completion and Dedication of Solomon's Temple (1000 BC) = 70 + 482 = 552 years

Judge Samson was a person with moral and religious shortcomings, and it is a surprise that God chose him as a Judge in Israel. He was chosen during a "Dark Age" period of the nation, to fulfil a lone and vital role towards enabling the Israelites to overcome the Philistines.

As far as the building of Solomon's Temple is concerned, the temple was begun in the second sacred month of Solomon's fourth year, and its completion was on the 8th sacred month of Solomon's 11th year. It was dedicated on the New Year's Day, which opened the new CIVIL year at the Feast of Trumpets. The bible gives the exact months of the Temple's foundation, and its completion which was "seven years in building it".

Used in Babylon between 529 BC and 504 BC. Modern scholarship shows Cleostratus (500 BC) - originator of this cycle - to be a somewhat shadowy figure. The cycle covered eight years (8 x 365 days - 2950 days), 99 lunations x 29.5 - 2920.5 days. A link between lunar and solar calendars. In the fourth century BC the accepted length of the year became 365.25 days, therefore (8 x 365.25 = 2922). Therefore this cycle is not acceptable since the 29.5 lunation period was still used.

The Metonic Cycle was the basis for the Greek calendar until the Julian calendar was introduced in 46 BC. The Julian calendar continued through till 1582 BC when it was replaced by the Gregorian Calendar. The Metonic cycle was extended by Callippus to four 19-year cycles, (4 x19 = 76 years) which is known as the Callipic Cycle.

Note: The Julian Day numbering system has no relationship with the Julian calendar. Astronomers find the Julian Day numbering system useful, because they can refer back to 4713 BC - the year when the three major chronological cycles in use at the time all began together on 1st January 4713 BC (713 years before this chronological study begins). These three cycles were the 28-year solar cycle, the 19-year Metonic cycle; and the 15-year Roman Indiction cycle. They won't match up again with all three starting on the same day for several thousand years.

The following information on the Mayan Calendar and Sunspot Cycles has been quoted from the book "From Antlantis to the Sphinx" by Colin Wilson:

The sun sends out a continuous stream of energy, which causes the tails of comets to stream out behind them. It also has variations known as sunspots, which are huge magnetic flares that can cause radio interference on Earth. They send out a 'solar wind' of magnetic particles which cause the Aurora Borealis.

The sun's equator rotates almost a third faster than its poles - 26 days to 'turn' as compared to 37. Its lines of magnetism get twisted and produce what we call 'sunspots'.

The sun changes the type of radiation emitted every month, and there are four types of solar radiation which follow one another in sequence.

A 26-day rotation of the sun takes 28 days as seen from Earth as it revolves around the sun. The earth receives a shower of alternating negative and positive particles every seven days.

Astronomers have computed the sunspot cycle at 11.1 years.

The cycle of the sun's two interacting magnetic fields repeats every 87.45 days. (People interested in Bible Numerics and the significance of the number 88, may be interest in this "88th" day cycle.) A researcher named Cotterell noted that the sunspot cycle repeats itself and goes back to square one every 187 years. But there is a further complication called the sun's 'neutral sheet' - the area around the equator where north and south balance out perfectly. This sheet is warped by the sun's magnetic field, so it shifts by one 'bit' every 187 years, giving a total cycle - before it goes back to square one - of 18,139 years. And every 18,139 years, the sun's magnetic field reverses.

This period is broken down into 97 periods of 187 years, consisting of five major cycles, three of 19 times 187, and two of 20 times 187.

Cotterell noticed that 20 times 187 years amounts to 1,366,040 days. He related this to The Dresden Codex, which is one of the Mayan astronomical documents that the Maya used to work out eclipses, as well as with the cycles of the planet Venus, to which they attached tremendous importance. The Maya claimed that Venus was 'born' during 3114 BC, on 12th August.

The Mayan calendar is regarded by some to be far more accurate than the modern Gregorian calendar. The Maya may have inherited their calendar from the Olmecs of a thousand years earlier, or maybe they inherited it from a previous civilisation.

The Mayas calculated using a complicated period called a tzolkin - 260 days - and according to them, a full cycle of the planet Venus amounted to 1,366,560 days. This, Cotterell noticed, was the same as his number 1,366,040 plus two tzolkins.

Cottrell wondered if the Mayas had the knowledge of sunspot cycles, and if their complex calendar was based on it?

He observed that the sun's magnetic bombardment intensifies during periods of low activity in sunspot cycles, and that this has to do with the Van Allen belts of radiation around the earth, which were discovered by space scientist James Van Allen in 1958. These are due to the earth's magnetic field. They prevent destruction of life on earth, by trapping solar radiation. He thought that the Van Allen belts become super-saturated with magnetic particles during periods of high sunspot activity, so reducing the amount of radiation that reaches Earth's surface. In periods of low sunspot activity, they let the particles through.

Cotterell thought the decline of the Maya may have begun from around the year 627 AD, when Earth was receiving maximum bombardment from sun magnetism. The year 627 AD was also the end of the Mayan cycle (of 1,366,560 days), starting from the 'birth of Venus' in 3114 BC. This was also the time the sun's magnetic cycle reversed. The apparent birth of Venus was the date of the previous reverse.

The next Mayan cycle will end on 22 December 2012, when the sun's magnetic field will again reverse.

Other researchers claim the year 2030 as the time when the earth's magnetic poles are expected to reverse, causing widespread catastrophes. If Cotterell is correct, the earth may experience problems 18 years before that time. There does not seem to be any record in ancient writings of a catastrophe around 627 AD, when the sun last reversed its magnetic field.

If sunspot activity is capable of affecting happenings on earth, maybe sunspot activity can be related to events as recorded in our historical biblical chronology. According to recent scientific studies, the last sunspot cycle began in May 1996, and it will reach the peak of its activity during the years 1999-2000.

An attempt will be made throughout this document, to correlate astronomical events with bible records where they occur. Voyager and Red Shift astronomy software may prove to be useful in this regard.

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