In any second-hand bookstore one can find old copies of the King James Bible, often bound in black leather with gilt-edged pages, shelved high up out of reach. These neglected volumes were more often than not prizes awarded by some religious group such as the Attercliff Baptist Sunday School for proficiency in answering questions on scripture, and signed by the local cleric and superintendent. How many of the beneficiaries of such prizes would have noticed the odd inscription ‘Before CHRIST 4004’ or ‘4004 bc’ printed in black or occasionally red ink either in the margins or between two columns of versified text at the opening of the Book of Genesis? If they did, what did they make of it? What questions did this figure conjure up in their minds and how often was it debated on Sundays?

Shout ‘4004 bc’ in a crowded lift travelling to the fifteenth floor of an office building, or in a coffee shop on a Sunday morning, and 50% of the occupants will think they are sharing space with some crazed individual and want to get as far away from you as possible, while the other 50% will probably think either ‘Creation’ or ‘Ussher’. As many people know, 4004 bc is the date of the Creation arrived at by James Ussher (1580–1656), Archbishop of Armagh, in Ireland. However, he was not the first person to attempt to date Creation using the pages of the Bible, nor was he the last.