How were months/years counted or recorded during the BC era, or were they recorded at all?

These are very good questions, ones that I don't think I'm fully equipped to answer as this is not my area of study or interest. However, I do know enough to say we have overcome such obstacles by comparing astronomical data in the historiographic traditions of various civilizations. For instance, when the ancient Romans observed comets in the night sky and recorded this for posterity, the Han-dynasty Chinese basically did the same thing within the same day on the other side of Eurasia.

Unfortunately this hasn't allowed us to reconstruct everything about the past or every civilization's set of dates in their calendar and recorded histories. Despite the ancient Egyptians having kept a fairly consistent record via their chronicles and king lists, we are still uncertain about the exact dates for the reign periods of each pharaoh, with competing estimates still being proposed.

/r/history Thread Parent