The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended facts for kids
![]() Title page, first edition
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Author | Isaac Newton |
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Country | England |
Language | English |
Subject | Chronology |
Genre | Non-fiction |
Publisher | J. Tonson, J. Osborn, & T. Longman |
Publication date
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1728 |
Media type | |
OCLC | 3834370 |
The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended is a special history book written by the famous scientist Sir Isaac Newton. It was first published in 1728, after he had passed away. This book is all about the history of ancient kingdoms, like those from Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. Newton spent a lot of time studying how these old civilizations grew and changed over many years.
This book is quite long, about 87,000 words. It shows that Newton was not just interested in science and math, but also in history. He wanted to figure out the correct timeline for events that happened thousands of years ago.
Contents
What's Inside the Book?
The book has eight main parts that help readers understand ancient history. It starts with a special letter and a short note. Then, it dives into a quick timeline of important events.
A Quick Look at History
The first main part is called "A Short Chronicle". This section is like a fast-forward button through history. It lists important events in order, starting from 1125 BC and ending around 331 BC. This helps readers get a quick overview of the ancient world.
Exploring Ancient Civilizations
Most of the book is made up of six detailed chapters. These chapters explore the history of specific ancient civilizations. Newton looked closely at their timelines and how they fit together.
Chapters in Detail
- Chap. I. Of the Chronology of the First Ages of the Greeks.
- Chap. II. Of the Empire of Egypt.
- Chap. III. Of the Assyrian Empire.
- Chap. IV. Of the two Contemporary Empires of the Babylonians and Medes.
- Chap. V. A Description of the Temple of Solomon.
- Chap. VI. Of the Empire of the Persians.
Newton's Last Revisions
According to a letter from John Conduitt, who was married to Newton's niece, The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended was the very last book Newton worked on before he died. Even though it was published after his death, he had written most of it much earlier in his life.
Newton's View of Ancient Stories
In this book, Newton treated some figures from Greek mythology as if they were real historical people. For example, he wrote about the centaur Chiron and the Argonauts as if they were part of actual history. This shows how Newton tried to connect ancient myths with real events to create a complete timeline.