perfectly aware, however, that this period did not coincide with
the actual year; but the relative unimportance which he ascribed
to the solar year is evidenced by the fact that he interpolated
an added month to adjust the calendar only once in six years.
Indeed, it would appear that the Babylonians and Assyrians did
not adopt precisely the same method of adjusting the calendar,
since the Babylonians had two intercular months called Elul and
Adar, whereas the Assyrians had only a single such month, called
the second Adar.[8] (The Ve'Adar of the Hebrews.) This diversity
further emphasizes the fact that it was the lunar period which
received chief attention, the adjustment of this period with the
solar seasons being a necessary expedient of secondary
importance. It is held that these lunar periods have often been
made to do service for years in the Babylonian computations and
in the allied computations of the early Hebrews. The lives of the
Hebrew patriarchs, for example, as recorded in the Bible, are
perhaps reckoned in lunar "years." Divided by twelve, the "years"
of Methuselah accord fairly with the usual experience of mankind.

Yet, on the other hand, the convenience of the solar year in
computing long periods of time was not unrecognized, since this
period is utilized in reckoning the reigns of the Assyrian kings.
It may be added that the reign of a king "was not reckoned from
the day of his accession, but from the Assyrian new year's day,
either before or after the day of accession. There does not
appear to have been any fixed rule as to which new year's day
should be chosen; but from the number of known cases, it appears
to have been the general practice to count the reigning years
from the new year's day nearest the accession, and to call the
period between the accession day and the first new year's day