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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, disagrements 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 a decade at the beginning of the New Kingdom, and eventually to as much as a century by the start of the Old Kingdom. The reader is advised to include this factor of uncertainty with any date offered either in Wikipedia or any history of Ancient Egypt.

Counting regnal years

The first problem the student of Egyptian chronology faces is that they used no single system of dating: 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 pharaohs, determine the length of their reigns, and adjust for any interregnums or coregencies. This leads to other problems:

All king lists are either comprehensive but have significant gaps in their text (for eaxmple, the Turin King List), or textually complete but fail to provide a complete list of rulers, even for a short period of Egyptian history.

For almost all kings of Egypt, we lack an accurate count for the length of their reigns.

Religious bias due to the Bible. This was most pervasive before c. 1850s, when the figures preserved in Manetho conflicted with:

The age of the Earth as believed at the time, and
The date of the Biblical Flood.

Synchronisms

A useful way to work around these gaps in knowledge is to find chronological synchronisms. 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 Assyrian and Babylonian chronologies, although synchronisms with the Hittites, ancient Palestine, and in the final period with ancient Greece are also used. (See Chronology of the Ancient Near East.

Synchronisms with inscriptions relating to the burial of Apis bulls begin as early as the reign of Amenhotep III and continue into Ptolemaic times, but there is a significant gap in the record between Ramesses XI and the 23rd year of Osorkon II. The poor documentation of these finds in the Serapeum also compounds the difficulties in using these records.

Astronomical synchronisms. The best known of these is the Sothic cycle, and careful study of this led Richard A. Parker to argue that the dates of the Twelfth dynasty 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. Redford, in attempting to fix the date of the end of Eighteenth dynasty, almost completely ignores the Sothic evidence, relying on synchronicities between Egypt and Assyria (by way of the Hittites), and help from astronomical observations.¹

(Add to here:

Kate Spence, "Ancient Egyptian chronology and the astronomical orientation of pyramids", Nature, 408 (2000), pp. 320-324. She offers, based on orientation of the Great Pyramid with circumpolar stars, for a date of that structure accurate within 5 years.
Calculated dates of eclipses, and possible mentions in Egyptian inscriptions that may fix the beginning of Akhenaten's new religion. URL for pdf mislaid.)

Carbon-14 dating. Evidence from excavations, Carbon-14 recalibrations due to demonstrated uneven absorbtion of radioactive carbon in living things.

The attraction of alternative chronologies

Although Professor Heinrich Otten has called called the current scholarly consensus a "rubber chronology" that you can stretch or shrink anywhere, by arbitrarily established lengths of co-regencies between rulers and even overlapping dynasties, the outlines and dates have not fluctuated very much in the last 100 years, as can be seen by comparing the dates when Egypt's 30 dynasties began and ended from two different Egyptologists (all dates are in BC):²

Egyptian dynasty	Breated's dates	Ian Shaw's dates
1st & 2nd dynasties	3400 - 2980	c.3000 - 2686
3rd dynasty	2980 - 2900	2686 - 2613
4th dynasty	2900 - 2750	2613 - 2494
5th dynasty	2750 - 2625	2494 - 2345
6th dynasty	2623 - 2475	2345 - 2181
7th & 8th dynasties	2475 - 2445	2181 - 2160
9th & 10th dynasties	2445 - 2160	2160 - 2025
11th dynasty	2160 - 2000	2125 - 1985
12th dynasty	2000 - 1788	1985 - 1773
13th - 17th dynasties	1780 - 1580	1773 - 1550
18th dynasty	1580 - 1350	1550 - 1295
19th dynasty	1350 - 1205	1295 - 1186
20th dynasty	1200 - 1090	1186 - 1069
21th dynasty	1090 - 945	1069 - 945
22th dynasty	945 - 745	945 - 715
23th dynasty	745 - 718	818 - 715
24th dynasty	718 - 712	727 - 715
25th dynasty	712 - 663	747 - 656
26th dynasty	663 - 525	664 - 525

All of the differences can be explained as the result of increased knowledge and refined understanding of the material. For example, Breasted adds a ruler in the Twentieth dynasty that further research showed did not exist. Breasted also believed all of dynasties were sequential, whereas it is now known that several existed at the same time. And after all of these revisions, the most important difference is that dates in the Old Kingdom are now placed 300 years later.

(Here mention names of better known revisionist chronologists: David Rohl, Velikovsky, etc.)

Notes

Donald B. Redford, "The Dates of the End of the 18th Dynasty", History and Chronology of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt: Seven studies (Toronto: University Press, 1967), pp. 183-215.
J. H. Breasted's dates are taken from his Ancient Records (first published in 1906), volume 1, sections 58-75; Shaw's are taken from his Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (published in 2000), pp.

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+The creation of a reliable '''Chronology of Ancient Egypt''' is a task fraught with problems. While the overwhelming majority of [[Egyptologist]]s agree on the outline and many of the details of a common chronology, disagrements 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 of Ancient Egypt|Late Period]], gradually growing to a decade at the beginning of the [[New Kingdom]], and eventually to as much as a century by the start of the [[Old Kingdom]]. The reader is advised to include this factor of uncertainty with any date offered either in Wikipedia or any history of [[Ancient Egypt]].
-{{totally disputed}}
-{{cleanup-date|May 2005}}
+== Counting regnal years ==
-'''Egyptian chronology''' involves assigning beginnings and endings to various Dynasties. The [[conventional Egyptian chronology]] is a type of [[chronology]] worked on for decades by scholars of [[Egyptology]].
+The first problem the student of Egyptian chronology faces is that they used no single system of dating: they had no concept of an [[Era]] similar to [[Anno Domini]], [[Islamic calendar|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 [[pharaohs]], determine the length of their reigns, and adjust for any [[interregnum]]s or coregencies. This leads to other problems:
+* All king lists are either comprehensive but have significant gaps in their text (for eaxmple, the [[Turin King List]]), or textually complete but fail to provide a complete list of rulers, even for a short period of Egyptian history.
-==Scholarly task==
+* For almost all kings of Egypt, we lack an accurate count for the length of their reigns.
-There are several [[open problem]]s concerning [[ancient Egypt]] and [[History of ancient Egypt|its history]] with no satisfactory solutions.  Scholars consider the creation of an Egyptian chronology a difficult task. As Dr. Robert A. Hatch of the University of Florida puts it:
+* Religious bias due to the [[Bible]]. This was most pervasive before c. [[1850s]], when the figures preserved in [[Manetho]] conflicted with:
-::''The problem is two-fold: 1) there are internal problems of assigning beginnings and endings to various Dynasties, and 2) externally, the problem is reconciling dates in the Egyptian calendar with attested dates in other calendaric systems, for example, Greek, Jewish, Assyrian, Persian, and Julian/Gregorian''. [http://web.clas.ufl.edu/users/rhatch/pages/03-Sci-Rev/SCI-REV-Teaching/HIS-SCI-STUDY-GUIDE/0006_egyptianChronolgoy.html]
+:# The age of the Earth as believed at the time, and
+:# The date of the [[Noah's Ark|Biblical Flood]].
+== Synchronisms ==
-The archeological record is incomplete with relics and artifacts missing or destroyed. Egyptian chronology is in a constant state of transition, with much of the terminology and dating in dispute. Professor [[E.J. Bickerman]], ''Chronology of the Ancient World'', has properly called it "the rather fluid chronology of the [[Pharaoh]]s and the [[Hittites]]," adding that [[Ramses II]]'s accession is dated by various [[Egyptology|Egyptologist]]s to 1304, 1290-92, or 1279 BCE (1980: 83-84 and 106). Archeologists may discover solutions to ultimately settle many of these unanswered questions, while other questions may last for eternity.
+A useful way to work around these gaps in knowledge is to find [[chronological synchronism]]s. Over the past decades a number of these have been found, of varying degrees of usefulness and reliability.
-==Dating and eras==
+* '''Synchronisms with other chronologies'''. The most important of these is with the [[Assyria]]n and [[Babylonia]]n chronologies, although synchronisms with the [[Hittites]], ancient Palestine, and in the final period with [[ancient Greece]] are also used. (See [[Chronology of the Ancient Near East]].
-Reliable absolute dates, astronomical or other, are lacking, as Professor Heinrich Otten noted. It is a "rubber chronology" that you can stretch or shrink anywhere, by arbitrarily established lengths of co-regencies between rulers and even overlapping dynasties. The possibility of a calendar reform called ''Menophres Era'' may radically modify the prevailing modern Egyptian chronology, so the previous "firm" dates cannot be supported astronomically.
+* Synchronisms with inscriptions relating to the burial of [[Apis]] bulls begin as early as the reign of [[Amenhotep III]] and continue into [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemaic times]], but there is a significant gap in the record between [[Ramesses XI]] and the 23rd year of [[Osorkon II]]. The poor documentation of these finds in the [[Serapeum]] also compounds the difficulties in using these records.
-This Menophres Era can be tied to at least four Egyptian rulers, although there is absolutely no doubt for Egyptologists that [[Ramses I]] reigned in 1322 BCE. A text written by [[Theon]], a mid 1st millennium author, has long been interpreted as indicating a 1460 year long [[Sothic cycle]] ended in [[139|139 CE]]. Therefore, the [[Menophres Era]] may have started in 1321 BCE. However, John F. Brug ([[Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary]]) in his detailed and important article has observed that Theon explicitly stated, and [[Al-Biruni]] supported him, that the beginning of the next Sothic cycle took place in [[26 BCE]], instead of 139 CE.
+* '''Astronomical synchronisms'''. The best known of these is the [[Sothic cycle]], and careful study of this led [[Richard A. Parker]] to argue that the dates of the [[Twelfth dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth dynasty]] 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. Redford]], in attempting to fix the date of the end of [[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|Eighteenth dynasty]], almost completely ignores the Sothic evidence, relying on synchronicities between Egypt and Assyria (by way of the Hittites), and help from astronomical observations.<sup>[[#Notes|1]]</sup>
-In 1974, Ronald D. Long was making the same point as [[Rowton]]: "Mesopotamian chronology... does not coordinate with the [[eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|eighteenth dynasty]] chronology, which is dependent on the era of Menophreos dating. [[Ashur-uballit I]] and [[Akhenaton]] were contemporaries, yet if the era's dating is maintained, their contemporaneity is non-existent." Dr. Lappin, ''Decline and Fall of Sothis Dating'', states that all the plausible second millennium placements indicate a major calendrical readjustment occurred at least once in Egyptian History.
+:(''Add to here'':
-===Radiocarbon dating===
+:* Kate Spence, "Ancient Egyptian chronology and the astronomical orientation of pyramids", ''Nature'', '''408''' (2000), pp. 320-324. She offers, based on orientation of the [[Great Pyramid]] with circumpolar stars, for a date of that structure accurate within 5 years.
+:* Calculated dates of eclipses, and possible mentions in Egyptian inscriptions that may fix the beginning of [[Akhenaten]]'s new religion. URL for pdf mislaid.)
+* '''[[radiocarbon dating|Carbon-14 dating]]'''. Evidence from excavations, Carbon-14 recalibrations due to demonstrated uneven absorbtion of radioactive carbon in living things.
-Thanks to several [[radiocarbon]] ([[C-14]]) dates, the approximate dates for the [[first dynasty of Egypt|first Egyptian dynasty]] have been established (cf. Fekri A. Hassan, "Radio-Carbon Chronology of Archaic Egypt", ''JNES'', 1980, 39, 203-207). However, there are no reliable absolute dates for Egypt's first 3000 years. Not a single [[eclipse]] record has been utilized from that period so far. Pharaoh [[Sahure]] or [[Sephres]] was a king of the [[fifth dynasty of Egypt|fifth dynasty]] that had begun with [[Userkaf]] and concluded with [[Unas]]. E. Bacon, ''Archaeology: Discoveries in the 1960s'', describes a wooden cartouche of [[Sahure]] found in a tomb of [[Dorak (Egyptology)|Dorak]] near [[Constantinople]]. It has been dated at c. 2487-2473 BCE by [[radiocarbon test]]ing. In another case, Libby, using the 5720 half-life of the [[carbon-14]], dated the boat of Pharaoh [[Sesostris III]] at about 3,621 years before c. 1950 CE.
+== The attraction of alternative chronologies ==
-Barry J. Kemp, ''Amarna reports I'', wrote, "There is a difference of some 260 years between the radiocarbon dates and the historic dates" in the Amarna period (London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1984: 184-185). Another example in the [[carbon-14]] debate: Professor [[Norman Hammond]], director of the archaeological programme of the [[Rutgers University]] and archeaeological correspondent of the ''[[The Times|Times]]'' from 1967, wrote in his ''Ancient Maya civilization'', "...dating to perhaps 2100-2200 BCE (1700-1800 BCE in [[radiocarbon year]]s)" (1982: 114). In the same book he dated a building at [[Belize]] at about 1900 BCE, equating it with 1550 BCE in radiocarbon years. His c. 10% correction seems exaggerated, but he had a valid point for the problems of the radiocarbon dating for good absolute dates. It can be added here that different authorities in different decades offered different figures (5513, 5568, 5700, 5730, or 5770) years for the [[half-life]] of the carbon-14 [[isotope]].
+Although Professor Heinrich Otten has called called the current scholarly consensus a "rubber chronology" that you can stretch or shrink anywhere, by arbitrarily established lengths of co-regencies between rulers and even overlapping dynasties, the outlines and dates have not fluctuated very much in the last 100 years, as can be seen by comparing the dates when Egypt's 30 dynasties began and ended from two different Egyptologists (all dates are in BC):<sup>[[#Notes|2]]</sup>
-===Astronomical dates===
+{|
-According to John Brug, ''The astronomical dating of ancient history before 700 BCE'', the chronology of ancient Egypt rests on a host of unproven assumptions. "There is a surprising amount of uncertainty and conjecture in the data and interpretations which form the basis for the presently accepted chronology of the Ancient [[Near East]]. We run a very real danger of debating about millimeters and centimeters when we should rather be rechecking our measurement of the meters, ... and perhaps even the centuries are in doubt," he adds.
+! Egyptian dynasty
+! Breated's dates
+! Ian Shaw's dates
+|-
+| 1st & 2nd dynasties || 3400 - 2980 || c.3000 - 2686
+|-
+| 3rd dynasty || 2980 - 2900 || 2686 - 2613
+|-
+| 4th dynasty || 2900 - 2750 || 2613 - 2494
+|-
+| 5th dynasty || 2750 - 2625 || 2494 - 2345
+|-
+| 6th dynasty || 2623 - 2475 || 2345 - 2181
+|-
+| 7th & 8th dynasties || 2475 - 2445 || 2181 - 2160
+|-
+| 9th & 10th dynasties || 2445 - 2160 || 2160 - 2025
+|-
+| 11th dynasty || 2160 - 2000 || 2125 - 1985
+|-
+| 12th dynasty || 2000 - 1788 || 1985 - 1773
+|-
+| 13th - 17th dynasties || 1780 - 1580 || 1773 - 1550
+|-
+| 18th dynasty || 1580 - 1350 || 1550 - 1295
+|-
+| 19th dynasty || 1350 - 1205 || 1295 - 1186
+|-
+| 20th dynasty || 1200 - 1090 || 1186 - 1069
+|-
+| 21th dynasty || 1090 - 945 || 1069 - 945
+|-
+| 22th dynasty || 945 - 745 || 945 - 715
+|-
+| 23th dynasty || 745 - 718 || 818 - 715
+|-
+| 24th dynasty || 718 - 712 || 727 - 715
+|-
+| 25th dynasty || 712 - 663 || 747 - 656
+|-
+| 26th dynasty || 663 - 525 || 664 - 525
+|-
+|}
+All of the differences can be explained as the result of increased knowledge and refined understanding of the material. For example, Breasted adds a ruler in the Twentieth dynasty that further research showed did not exist. Breasted also believed all of dynasties were sequential, whereas it is now known that several existed at the same time. And after all of these revisions, the most important difference is that dates in the Old Kingdom are now placed 300 years later.
-An article signed by the Perseus Research Team, is about [[George Syncellus]] and his [[Book of Sothis]]. They confirm John Brug's observation that 26 BCE was the beginning of a cycle, not 139 CE. If such calendrical reform has taken place in Egypt, then the claim that a [[heliacal rising]] of [[Sirius]] took place on the first day of the seventh year of [[Sesostris III]] of the [[twelfth dynasty of Egypt|Twelfth Dynasty]] in 1872 is useless. Please also refer to William F. Edgerton's old study, "Chronology of the twelfth dynasty" in the ''Journal of Near Eastern Studies'' (around 1941 or later, page 307). Edgerton points out that the fragment of the el-Lahun temple register that foretells a heliacal rising of the Sothis, does not name any Egyptian king. He is not certain if Borchardt had used the photographic facsimiles of the originals or not. All these may mean that encyclopaedias should consider shifting the orthodox dates of [[Akhenaton]] or [[Tutankhamun]] up by 164 years.
+(''Here mention names of better known revisionist chronologists: [[David Rohl]], [[Velikovsky]], etc.'')
-One astronomical date comes from a record of a total eclipse of the moon in the 15th regnal year of  [[Takelot II]], apparently three days away from a breakout of a dated, disastrous mutiny, "even though the sky did not swallow the moon" (Kitchen, 1973: 331). This eclipse has not been utilized by historians so far, regardless whether it had taken place on [[March 16]], [[851 BCE]] or several years earlier. [[Kenneth Kitchen]] (1973: 181) demonstrated that this event cannot be placed in 822 BCE, for there is an irreducible total of the 106 years from the 15th year of Takelot II to the 38th year and death of [[Shoshenq V]]; if reckoned from 822 BCE, then the end of Shoshenq's reign falls on 716 BCE, far too late.
+== Notes ==
-[[Eusebius of Caesarea]] placed the [[eclipse of Thales]] (May 585 BCE) in the eighth or twelfth year of Waphres ([[Apries]]) Egyptian ruler who is called Hophra in the [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]] 44: 30. [[Cosmas Indicopleustes]] (fl. 540-550 CE) has listed several lunar eclipses given by Egyptian dates (month and day) scattered in his chronicle. Apparently not much attention has been paid to those. Although they may not have been too archaic records, they could be verified and identified. At least we could establish how trustworthy he or the [[Egyptian calendar]] was in his days.
+# Donald B. Redford, "The Dates of the End of the 18th Dynasty", ''History and Chronology of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt: Seven studies'' (Toronto: University Press, 1967), pp. 183-215.
+# [[James Henry Breasted|J. H. Breasted]]'s dates are taken from his ''Ancient Records'' (first published in 1906), volume 1, sections 58-75; Shaw's are taken from his ''Oxford History of Ancient Egypt'' (published in 2000), pp.
-==Chronologies==
-===Origins===
-Ancient Egypt appears to have been a unified state no later than 3300 BC. It survived as an independent state until about 1300 BC. Archeological evidence suggest that a developed Egyptian society may have existed for much longer. It is not known for certian when or where the Egyptians come from and what the Egyptians knew of their own history.
-===Lists of Kings===
-[[Manetho]], who according to Stuart Piggot wrote c. 280 BCE, in his ''List of Kings'', makes [[Menes]] the first king of Egypt. This name, without doubt, represents the Egyptian Mena, or Men, tells Sir [[E.A. Wallis Budge]]. Fix states (1978: 74) that, in dating the beginning of Menes' reign, nineteenth century estimates ranged from 5867 BCE to 2320 BCE, with every variable in between. If [[Diodorus Siculus]] is right, it is possible that King Menes or Mneves, whose reign took place during the first flood (that may not have been connected with Noah), reigned before 2985 BCE. An attempt was made by Z.A. Simon (1985: 161) for an early Egyptian chronology as follow:
-'''Pre-Dynastic rulers''' (not necessarily all in Egypt):
-:Naqrá-wus I
-:Naqrá-wus II
-:Misrám
-:cAnqám
-:cArbáq
-:Ludjim
-:Khaslim
-:Harsál
-:Qadrashán
-:Shamrud
-:Busaidun (Poseidon?)          Re
-:Sharbáq        and            Shu
-:Sahluq (Salahon)   and        Geb
-:S(a)urid (Tau-Ro, Baisar)  =  Osiris, Ousir
-:Hardjit (Horus II, Hor-djedef, Har-end-yotef)
-:3023-2770 BCE '''First Dynasty'''
-:From Nama-Aha or Narmer-Menes to Biénekhés (Kebh or Ká-Senmu)
-:2770-2649 BCE '''Second Dynasty'''
-:From Hetep-Sekhemwy (Ny-netjerbau or Baen-netjer) to Kha-sekhemwy (Hutchefa/Hezefa or Khenerés)
-:2649-2575 BCE '''Third Dynasty'''
-:From Sa-nakht (Nebka or Nekhrofés) to Huny (Huni-Nysuteh)
-:2575-2467 BCE '''Fourth Dynasty'''
-:From Sneferu (Sifouris, Snofru) to Shepses-kaf
-:2465-2323 BCE '''Fifth Dynasty'''
-:From Weser-kaf (Userkaf) to Wenis (or Unas)
-===Biblical relations===
-Egyptian civilization have played a significant role in the early Hebrews' life, from Joseph capture to the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt and, later, interactions with the Kingdom of Israel. There are several unanswered question as to the precise influence each had on the other.
-* ''Persona'' : Was [[Joseph]] the [[vizier]] to [[Amenhotep III]] (father of [[Akhenaten]])? If so, was he in fact Vizier [[Yuya]] ([[Osarseph]])?
-* ''Persona'' : Is there a connection between [[Moses]] and Akhenaten?
-* ''Persona'' : Is there a connection between Moses and Osarseph?
-* ''Persona'' : Who was [[Labaya]]? Was he a biblical figure (such as [[Saul the King|Saul]] )?
-* ''Persona'' : What Pharaoh gave [[Solomon]] his daughter to marry?
-* ''Event'' : Was [[the Exodus]] of the [[Israelites]] mythological or historical? If it was historical, under which Pharaoh did it occur? How many Hebrews were in Egypt? How many left in the Exodus?
-* ''Event'' : Was King Solomon involved in Egyptian religious practices, such as [[Atenism]]?
-* ''Event'' : Did Egyptian Pharaohs rule over [[Canaan]]?
-==New chronology==
-[[David Rohl]] has proposed and described in detail what he calls the "new chronology" which incorporates many of these ideas and also those of [[Immanuel Velikovsky]].
-==See also==
-* [[Ancient Egypt]]
-* [[Chronology]]
-* [[List of Egypt-related topics]]
-* [[History of ancient Egypt]]
-* [[List of Pharaohs]]
-* [[Chronology of the Ancient Near East]]
-* [[Unsolved problems in Egyptology|List of ancient Egypt mysteries]]
-* [http://aegyptologie.online-resourcen.de Scientific tool for converting calendar dates mentioned in Greek and Demotic Papyri from Egypt into Julian dates]
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