Egyptian chronology
Encyclopedia
The creation of a reliable chronology of Ancient Egypt is a task fraught with problems. While the overwhelming majority of Egyptologists agree on the outline and many of the details of a common chronology
, disagreements either individually or in groups have resulted in a variety of dates offered for rulers and events. This variation begins with only a few years in the Late Period
, gradually growing to three decades at the beginning of the New Kingdom
, and eventually to as much as a three centuries by the start of the Old Kingdom
.
The "Conventional Egyptian chronology
" is the scholarly consensus, placing the beginning of the Middle Kingdom
in the 21st century BC
. During the 20th century AD, scholarly consensus regarding the beginning of the Old Kingdom
has shifted to earlier dates and is now placed in the 27th century BC
.
s. They had no concept of an era
similar to Anno Domini
, Anno Hajirae
, or even the concept of named years like limmu
used in Mesopotamia
. As a result, the chronologer is forced to compile a list of pharaoh
s, determine the length of their reigns, and adjust for any interregnum
s or coregencies. This leads to other problems:
s. Over the past decades a number of these have been found, of varying degrees of usefulness and reliability.
The disparities between the two sets of dates result from additional discoveries and refined understanding of the still very incomplete source evidence. For example, Breasted adds a ruler in the Twentieth dynasty that further research showed did not exist. Following Manetho, Breasted also believed all the dynasties were sequential, whereas it is now known that several existed at the same time. These revisions have resulted in a shortening of the conventional chronology by up to 400 years at the beginning of Dynasty I
.
Chronology
Chronology is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time, such as the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the determination of the actual temporal sequence of past events".Chronology is part of periodization...
, disagreements either individually or in groups have resulted in a variety of dates offered for rulers and events. This variation begins with only a few years in the Late Period
Late Period of Ancient Egypt
The Late Period of Ancient Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian conquests and ended with the death of Alexander the Great...
, gradually growing to three decades at the beginning of the New Kingdom
New Kingdom
The New Kingdom of Egypt, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt....
, and eventually to as much as a three centuries by the start of the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley .The term itself was...
.
The "Conventional Egyptian chronology
Conventional Egyptian chronology
The Conventional Egyptian chronology represents the scholarly consensus on the chronology of the rulers of ancient Egypt, taking into account well accepted developments during the 20th century but not including any of the major revision proposals that have also been made in that time.All dates are...
" is the scholarly consensus, placing the beginning of the Middle Kingdom
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...
in the 21st century BC
21st century BC
The 21st century BC is a century which lasted from the year 2100 BC to 2001 BC.- Events :Note: all dates from this long ago should be regarded as either approximate or conjectural; there are no absolutely certain dates, and multiple competing reconstructed chronologies, for this time period.* c....
. During the 20th century AD, scholarly consensus regarding the beginning of the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley .The term itself was...
has shifted to earlier dates and is now placed in the 27th century BC
27th century BC
The 27th century BC is a century which lasted from the year 2700 BC to 2601 BC.-Events:*2900 BC – 2334 BC: Mesopotamian wars of the Early Dynastic period.*2775 BC – 2650 BC: Second Dynasty wars in Egypt....
.
Counting regnal years
The first problem the student of Egyptian chronology faces is that the ancient Egyptians used no single system of dating, or consistent system of regnal yearRegnal year
A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin regnum meaning kingdom, rule.The oldest dating systems were in regnal years, and considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of rule, a third, and...
s. They had no concept of an era
Era
An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in...
similar to Anno Domini
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
, Anno Hajirae
Islamic calendar
The Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
, or even the concept of named years like limmu
Limmu
Limmu was an Assyrian eponym. At the beginning of the reign of an Assyrian king, the limmu, an appointed royal official, would preside over the New Year festival at the capital. Each year a new limmu would be chosen. Although picked by lot, there was most likely a limited group, such as the men of...
used in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
. As a result, the chronologer is forced to compile a list of pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
s, determine the length of their reigns, and adjust for any interregnum
Interregnum
An interregnum is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order...
s or coregencies. This leads to other problems:
- All ancient Egyptian king lists are either comprehensive but have significant gaps in their text (for example, the Turin King ListTurin King ListThe Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is a hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio at Turin...
), or are textually complete but fail to provide a complete list of rulers, even for a short period of Egyptian history.
- There is conflicting information on the same regnal period from different versions of the same text; the Egyptian historian ManethoManethoManetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic era, approximately during the 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca...
's history of Egypt is only known by extensive references to it made by subsequent writers, such as EusebiusEusebius of CaesareaEusebius of Caesarea also called Eusebius Pamphili, was a Roman historian, exegete and Christian polemicist. He became the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine about the year 314. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the Biblical canon...
and Sextus Julius AfricanusSextus Julius AfricanusSextus Julius Africanus was a Christian traveller and historian of the late 2nd and early 3rd century AD. He is important chiefly because of his influence on Eusebius, on all the later writers of Church history among the Fathers, and on the whole Greek school of chroniclers.His name indicates that...
. Unfortunately the dates for the same pharaoh often vary substantially depending on the intermediate source.
- For almost all kings of Egypt, we lack an accurate count for the length of their reigns. Inscriptions which date a particular monument to "year __ of Pharaoh _______" can only provide a minimum length of reign, which may or may not include any coregencies with a predecessor or successor.
- Religious bias due to the BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. This was most pervasive before the 1850s, when Manetho's figures were realized to conflict with the age of the Earth as recorded in the Biblical chronology, and especially with the date of the Biblical FloodNoah's ArkNoah's Ark is a vessel appearing in the Book of Genesis and the Quran . These narratives describe the construction of the ark by Noah at God's command to save himself, his family, and the world's animals from the worldwide deluge of the Great Flood.In the narrative of the ark, God sees the...
.
- Some Egyptian dynasties may have overlapped, with different pharaohs ruling in different regions at the same time, rather than serially. Not knowing whether monarchies were simultaneous or sequential may lead to widely differing chronological interpretations.
Synchronisms
A useful way to work around these gaps in knowledge is to find chronological synchronismChronological synchronism
Chronological synchronism is an event which links two chronologies. It is used for example in Egyptology to ground the Egyptian chronology. The main types of chronological synchronism are synchronisms with other historical chronologies, and synchronisms with precisely datable astronomical...
s. Over the past decades a number of these have been found, of varying degrees of usefulness and reliability.
- Synchronisms with other chronologies. The most important of these is with the AssyriaAssyriaAssyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n and BabyloniaBabyloniaBabylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
n chronologies, although synchronisms with the HittitesHittitesThe Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
, ancient Palestine, and in the final period with ancient GreeceAncient GreeceAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
are also used. The earliest such synchronisms appear in the 15th century BC, during the Amarna PeriodAmarna PeriodThe Amarna Period was an era of Egyptian history during the latter half of the Eighteenth Dynasty when the royal residence of the pharaoh and his queen was shifted to Akhetaten in what is now modern-day Amarna...
, when we have a considerable quantity of diplomatic correspondence between the Egyptian Kings Amenhotep IIIAmenhotep IIIAmenhotep III also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC after his father Thutmose IV died...
and AkhenatenAkhenatenAkhenaten also spelled Echnaton,Ikhnaton,and Khuenaten;meaning "living spirit of Aten") known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 1336 BC or 1334 BC...
, and various Near Eastern monarchs. (See Chronology of the Ancient Near EastChronology of the ancient Near EastThe chronology of the Ancient Near East provides a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Individual inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers, taking forms like "in the year X of king Y". Thus by piecing together many...
.)
- Synchronisms with inscriptions relating to the burial of ApisAPISAPIS may refer to:*Advance Passenger Information System*Armour Piercing Incendiary Shells...
bulls begin as early as the reign of Amenhotep IIIAmenhotep IIIAmenhotep III also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC after his father Thutmose IV died...
and continue into Ptolemaic timesPtolemaic dynastyThe Ptolemaic dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC...
, but there is a significant gap in the record between Ramesses XIRamesses XIRamesses XI reigned from 1107 BC to 1078 BC or 1077 BC and was the tenth and final king of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt. He ruled Egypt for at least 29 years although some Egyptologists think he could have ruled for as long as 30...
and the 23rd year of Osorkon IIOsorkon IIUsermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon II was a pharaoh of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt and the son of Takelot I and Queen Kapes. He ruled Egypt around 872 BC to 837 BC from Tanis, the capital of this Dynasty. After succeeding his father, he was faced with the competing rule of his cousin,...
. The poor documentation of these finds in the SerapeumSerapeumA serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the syncretic Hellenistic-Egyptian god Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanized form that was accepted by the Ptolemaic Greeks of Alexandria...
also compounds the difficulties in using these records.
- Astronomical synchronisms. The best known of these is the Sothic cycleSothic cycleThe Sothic cycle or Canicular period is a period of 1,461 ancient Egyptian years or 1,460 Julian years...
, and careful study of this led Richard A. ParkerRichard Anthony ParkerRichard Anthony Parker was a prominent Egyptologist and professor of Egyptology. Originally from Chicago, he attended Mt. Carmel High School with acclaimed author James T. Farrell. He received an A.B. from Dartmouth College in 1930, and a Ph.D. in Egyptology from the University of Chicago in 1938...
to argue that the dates of the Twelfth dynastyTwelfth dynasty of EgyptThe twelfth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XIII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom.-Rulers:Known rulers of the twelfth dynasty are as follows :...
could be fixed with absolute precision. More recent research has eroded this confidence, questioning many of the assumptions used with the Sothic Cycle, and as a result experts have moved away from relying on this Cycle. For example, Donald B. RedfordDonald B. RedfordDonald B. Redford is a Canadian Egyptologist and archaeologist, currently Professor of Classics and Ancient Mediterranean Studies at Pennsylvania State University. He is married to Susan Redford, who is also an Egyptologist currently teaching classes at the university...
, in attempting to fix the date of the end of the Eighteenth dynastyEighteenth dynasty of EgyptThe eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...
, almost completely ignores the Sothic evidence, relying on synchronicities between Egypt and Assyria (by way of the Hittites), and help from astronomical observations.
- Radiocarbon datingRadiocarbon datingRadiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
(also called Carbon-14 or C-14 dating). In archaeological excavations, the remains of once-living things contain decreasing percentages of Carbon-14Carbon-14Carbon-14, 14C, or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with a nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and colleagues , to date archaeological, geological, and hydrogeological...
relative to how long ago they died (thus ceasing to take in fresh Carbon-14). These radioactive Carbon-14 atoms decay, becoming Nitrogen-14. The less C-14 there is, the older it is. To determine dates, this method recalibrates the results due to demonstrated uneven absorption of carbon in organic matter.
Conventional chronology
Despite the amount of guesswork and inaccuracies in the conventional chronology, its general outline and dates have not fluctuated very much in the last 100 years. This can be seen by comparing the dates when Egypt's 30 dynasties began and ended from two different Egyptologists: the first writing in 1906, the second in 2000. (All dates are in BC.)| dynasty | J. H. Breasted James Henry Breasted James Henry Breasted was an American archaeologist and historian. After completing his PhD at the University of Berlin in 1894, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago. In 1901 he became director of the Haskell Oriental Museum at the University of Chicago, where he continued to... 's dates |
Ian Shaw's dates | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Dynastic Period of Egypt Early Dynastic Period of Egypt The Archaic or Early Dynastic Period of Egypt immediately follows the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt c. 3100 BC. It is generally taken to include the First and Second Dynasties, lasting from the Protodynastic Period of Egypt until about 2686 BC, or the beginning of the Old Kingdom... |
1st First dynasty of Egypt The first dynasty of Ancient Egypt is often combined with the Dynasty II under the group title, Early Dynastic Period of Egypt... |
3400–2980 | c. 3000–2686 |
| 2nd Second dynasty of Egypt The second dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasty I under the group title Early Dynastic Period. It dates approximately from 2890 to 2686 BC. The capital at that time was Thinis.-Rulers:... |
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| Old Kingdom Old Kingdom Old Kingdom is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley .The term itself was... |
3rd Third dynasty of Egypt For the Sumerian Renaissance, see Third Dynasty of Ur.The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth... |
2980–2900 | 2686–2613 |
| 4th Fourth dynasty of Egypt The fourth dynasty of ancient Egypt is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom. Dynasty IV lasted from ca. 2613 to 2494 BC... |
2900–2750 | 2613–2494 | |
| 5th Fifth dynasty of Egypt The fifth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and VI under the group title the Old Kingdom. Dynasty V dates approximately from 2494 to 2345 BC.-Rulers:... |
2750–2625 | 2494–2345 | |
| 6th Sixth dynasty of Egypt The sixth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and V under the group title the Old Kingdom.-Pharaohs:... |
2623–2475 | 2345–2181 | |
| First Intermediate Period | 7th Seventh and eighth dynasties of Egypt The seventh and eighth dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined with Dynasties IX, X and XI under the group title First Intermediate Period... |
2475–2445 | 2181–2160 |
| 8th Seventh and eighth dynasties of Egypt The seventh and eighth dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined with Dynasties IX, X and XI under the group title First Intermediate Period... |
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| 9th Ninth dynasty of Egypt The ninth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties VII, VIII, X and XI under the group title First Intermediate Period... |
2445–2160 | 2160–2025 | |
| 10th Tenth dynasty of Egypt The tenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties VII, VIII, IX and XI under the group title First Intermediate Period... |
|||
| Middle Kingdom of Egypt Middle Kingdom of Egypt The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate... |
11th Eleventh dynasty of Egypt The eleventh dynasty of ancient Egypt was one group of rulers, whose earlier members are grouped with the four preceding dynasties to form the First Intermediate Period, while the later members are considered part of the Middle Kingdom... |
2160–2000 | 2125–1985 |
| 12th Twelfth dynasty of Egypt The twelfth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XIII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom.-Rulers:Known rulers of the twelfth dynasty are as follows :... |
2000–1788 | 1985–1773 | |
| Second Intermediate Period | 13th Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt The thirteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom. Other writers separate it from these dynasties and join it to Dynasties XIV through XVII as part of the Second Intermediate Period... ? |
1780–1580 | 1773–1550 |
| 14th Fourteenth dynasty of Egypt The Eleventh , Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Middle Kingdom, though this dynasty overlaps partially with either the Thirteenth Dynasty or the Fifteenth Dynasty, during the Second Intermediate Period.It is associated with the... ? |
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| 15th Fifteenth dynasty of Egypt The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period. The Fifteenth Dynasty dates approximately from 1650 to 1550 BC.-Rulers:... |
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| 16th Sixteenth dynasty of Egypt The sixteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in Upper Egypt for 50 years during the Second Intermediate Period The sixteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty XVI) was a dynasty of pharaohs that ruled in Upper Egypt for 50 years during the Second Intermediate... |
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| 17th Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period. The Seventeenth Dynasty dates approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC.-Rulers:... |
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| New Kingdom of Egypt | 18th Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt... |
1580–1350 | 1550–1295 |
| 19th Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt The Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt was one of the periods of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Founded by Vizier Ramesses I, whom Pharaoh Horemheb chose as his successor to the throne, this dynasty is best known for its military conquests in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria.The warrior kings of the... |
1350–1205 | 1295–1186 | |
| 20th Twentieth dynasty of Egypt The Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, New Kingdom. This dynasty is considered to be the last one of the New Kingdom of Egypt, and was followed by the Third Intermediate Period.... |
1200–1090 | 1186–1069 | |
| Third Intermediate Period | 21st Twenty-first dynasty of Egypt The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period.-Rulers:... |
1090–945 | 1069–945 |
| 22nd Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period.-Rulers:... |
945–745 | 945–715 | |
| 23rd Twenty-third dynasty of Egypt The Twenty-third Dynasty of ancient Egypt was a separate regime of Meshwesh Libyan kings, who ruled ancient Egypt. This dynasty is often considered part of the Third Intermediate Period.-Rulers:... |
745–718 | 818–715 | |
| 24th Twenty-fourth dynasty of Egypt The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period.-Rulers:... |
718–712 | 727–715 | |
| 25th Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt The twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt, known as the Nubian Dynasty or the Kushite Empire, was the last dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt.... |
712–663 | 747–656 | |
| Late Period of Ancient Egypt Late Period of Ancient Egypt The Late Period of Ancient Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian conquests and ended with the death of Alexander the Great... |
26th Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC . The Dynasty's reign The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (also written Dynasty XXVI or Dynasty 26) was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC... |
663–525 | 664–525 |
The disparities between the two sets of dates result from additional discoveries and refined understanding of the still very incomplete source evidence. For example, Breasted adds a ruler in the Twentieth dynasty that further research showed did not exist. Following Manetho, Breasted also believed all the dynasties were sequential, whereas it is now known that several existed at the same time. These revisions have resulted in a shortening of the conventional chronology by up to 400 years at the beginning of Dynasty I
First dynasty of Egypt
The first dynasty of Ancient Egypt is often combined with the Dynasty II under the group title, Early Dynastic Period of Egypt...
.
Alternative chronologies
A number of suggestions for alternatives to the consensus on the conventional chronology have been presented during the 20th century:- The Revised Chronology of Immanuel VelikovskyImmanuel VelikovskyImmanuel Velikovsky was a Russian-born American independent scholar of Jewish origins, best known as the author of a number of controversial books reinterpreting the events of ancient history, in particular the US bestseller Worlds in Collision, published in 1950...
as postulated in his Ages in ChaosAges in ChaosAges in Chaos is a book by the controversial writer Immanuel Velikovsky, first published by Doubleday in 1952, which put forward a major revision of the history of the Ancient Near East, claiming that the histories of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Israel are five centuries out of step...
series - The king-list-based reconstruction of Herman L. Hoeh as argued in Vol. 1 of his Compendium of World History
- The chronology of Donovan CourvilleDonovan CourvilleDonovan Amos Courville , was a graduate of Andrews University. He taught at Pacific Union College from 1935 to 1949 before moving to Loma Linda University from 1949 to 1970 where he was emeritus professor of biochemistry at the School of Medicine...
as described in The Exodus Problem and Its Ramifications - The Glasgow Chronology formulated by members of Velikovsky's Society for Interdisciplinary StudiesSociety for Interdisciplinary StudiesThe Society for Interdisciplinary Studies is a membership-based organization "formed in 1974 in response to the growing interest in the works of modern catastrophists, notably the highly controversial Dr Immanuel Velikovsky"...
in 1978 - The chronology of Peter James and his cohorts described in Centuries of Darkness
- The New Chronology of David RohlDavid RohlNew Chronology is the term used to describe an alternative Chronology of the ancient Near East developed by English Egyptologist David Rohl and other researchers beginning with A Test of Time: The Bible - from Myth to History in 1995...
, erstwhile director of the Institute for the Study of Interdisciplinary SciencesInstitute for the Study of Interdisciplinary SciencesThe Institute for the Study of Interdisciplinary Sciences, ISIS was a British educational charity established in 1985 and founded by researchers formerly connected with the Society for Interdisciplinary Studies whose original purpose was to examine and debate the revisionist theories of Immanuel...
, as described in his Test of Time series
See also
- Ancient EgyptAncient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
- History of ancient EgyptHistory of Ancient EgyptThe History of Ancient Egypt spans the period from the early predynastic settlements of the northern Nile Valley to the Roman conquest in 30 BC...
- List of Pharaohs
- Chronology of the Ancient Near EastChronology of the ancient Near EastThe chronology of the Ancient Near East provides a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Individual inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers, taking forms like "in the year X of king Y". Thus by piecing together many...
- Biblical chronology
- Dating methodology (archaeology)Dating methodology (archaeology)Dating material drawn from the archaeological record can be made by a direct study of an artifact or may be deduced by association with materials found in the context the item is drawn from or inferred by its point of discovery in the sequence relative to datable contexts...