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: ''Main Article: [[Biblical chronology dispute]]''

: ''Main Article: [[Biblical chronology dispute]]''

The length of the Intertestamentary Period is in the sharpest [[Biblical chronology dispute|dispute]] of all, for this dispute above all makes synchrony between Anno Mundi and Anno Domini difficult. The key question is: ''When did Solomon actually break ground for the first Temple?'' The Bible provides only one clue: that the "days of iniquity" of [[Israel]] numbered 390 years.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=4|verses=5}})</ref> The Bible also has a detailed king list for the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. But beyond that the Bible provides no obvious point of synchrony. [[James Ussher]] assumed for his point of synchrony the first year of reign of King [[Evil-Merodach]] of Babylon, whom he assumed began to reign upon the death of King [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]. He then patiently subtracted the 37 years of captivity of King [[Jehoiakim]] and then all the years-of-reign of the kings of the Southern Kingdom and the United Kingdom, going clear back to [[Solomon]]--and thus fixed the beginning of Solomon's reign at 1015 BC and the Temple groundbreaking at 1012 BC. He then subtracted 479 years and arrived at 1491 BC as the date of the Exodus.

The length of the Intertestamentary Period is in the sharpest [[Biblical chronology dispute|dispute]] of all, for this dispute above all makes synchrony between Anno Mundi and Anno Domini difficult. The key question is: ''When did Solomon actually break ground for the first Temple?'' The Bible provides only one clue: that the "days of iniquity" of [[Israel]] numbered 390 years.<ref>{{Bible ref|book=Ezekiel|chap=4|verses=5}}</ref> The Bible also has a detailed king list for the Northern and Southern Kingdoms. But beyond that the Bible provides no obvious point of synchrony. [[James Ussher]] assumed for his point of synchrony the first year of reign of King [[Evil-Merodach]] of Babylon, whom he assumed began to reign upon the death of King [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]. He then patiently subtracted the 37 years of captivity of King [[Jehoiakim]] and then all the years-of-reign of the kings of the Southern Kingdom and the United Kingdom, going clear back to [[Solomon]]--and thus fixed the beginning of Solomon's reign at 1015 BC and the Temple groundbreaking at 1012 BC. He then subtracted 479 years and arrived at 1491 BC as the date of the Exodus.

[[Edwin R. Thiele]], in 1943, reckoned the date of the Exodus at 1445-1446 BC--a difference of 44-45 years. He did this solely to harmonize the king lists given in I and II Kings with [[Assyria|Assyrian]] records which seemed to imply that some of the kings of the [[Northern Kingdom]] were contemporary with Assyrian kings that actually ruled much later. Today this is the sharpest of all chronological disputes, especially since a modern apologist for James Ussher, namely [[Larry Pierce]], has stepped forward to defend Ussher's initial work on the chronology of the Divided Kingdoms.

[[Edwin R. Thiele]], in 1943, reckoned the date of the Exodus at 1445-1446 BC--a difference of 44-45 years. He did this solely to harmonize the king lists given in I and II Kings with [[Assyria|Assyrian]] records which seemed to imply that some of the kings of the [[Northern Kingdom]] were contemporary with Assyrian kings that actually ruled much later. Today this is the sharpest of all chronological disputes, especially since a modern apologist for James Ussher, namely [[Larry Pierce]], has stepped forward to defend Ussher's initial work on the chronology of the Divided Kingdoms.