Unless otherwise stated, all historical dates in this book have been taken from H. E. L. Mellersh, Chronology of the Ancient World – 10,000 BC to AD 799, Helicon, Oxford, 1976. All biblical quotations, unless otherwise stated, are taken from the Revised Version of the Authorized (King James) Bible of 1884. Any interpolations by the author within quoted texts are printed in italic within square brackets (or in roman within square brackets in longer italic extracts), to distinguish them from interpolations existing in the originals.