Footnote 1 – How to Date a Pharaoh

Eusebius/Jerome counted years from the first Olympiad, beginning in 776 B.C. They dated events as occurring during the first, second, third or fourth year of a specific Olympiad. The notion of counting years A.D.—that is, Anno Domini, or “in the year of the Lord”—from the birth of Jesus was the invention of Dionysius Exiguus (Dennis the Little), a monk who lived in Rome in the sixth century A.D. (see Leonora Neville, “Fixing the Millennium,” Origins, Archaeology Odyssey, 03:01). The practice of dating the earlier era B.C.—or “Before Christ”—was not used until the 17th century A.D.