Not wishing to wait for agreement, concession or compromise, I have used the
traditional historical chronology. I must acknowledge, however, that the dates here
given (1600 and 1500 BCappear regularly) could be 100 years too low. Only time
will tell.
Notes
1 The historical chronology, especially for the period with which this book deals, is more
fluid on the Mesopotamian than on the Egyptian side. See Schwartz 2008, p. 450:
In the case of absolute chronology, we are relatively confident in addressing
the last four centuries of the second millennium B.C. This period is well dated
because the record of a solar eclipse in 763 B.C. is anchored to a list of Assyrian
eponyms.... The lists of eponyms and kings kept by the Assyrians and
Babylonians allow us to date events back from the first millennium B.C. to the
fourteenth century B.C.... By contrast, establishing an absolute chronology for
the period before the fourteenth century B.C. has been a frustrating process
marked by controversy and disagreement.
2 On the dates for LH IIIA2 pottery see Wiener 2003. Wiener puts the transition from
A1 to A2 between 1390 and 1375 BC, and the transition from A2 to B1 between 1330
and 1290 BC.
3 For the 1550–1525 BCdate see pp. 207 and 484 in Shaw 2003.
4 See Ramsey et al. 2010: “Our radiocarbon data indicate that the New Kingdom started
between 1570 and 1544 B.C.E.”
5 See Schwartz 2008, pp. 451–452:
Excavations of the Sarıkaya palace at Acemhöyük in central Anatolia revealed
clay seal impressions associated with the northern Mesopotamian king Shamshi-
Adad I, presumably removed from goods sent from his realm. Dendrochrono logical
analysis of wood beams from the palace yielded a date of 1774 +4/–7 B.C.,
suggesting that Shamshi-Adad died sometime after that date—unless the sealings
had been moved from an earlier building.6 Dealt with most recently by Ritner and Moeller 2014. Their article is a response to
Wiener and Allen 1998. Egyptologist Ritner, contraAllen, is quite certain that the stela
does refer to a natural disaster. See especially his translation at p. 6. Archaeologist
Moeller then dates the Thera eruption, and therefore also Ahmose’s reign, to the late
17th century BC.
7 On the olive branch see Friedrich et al. 2006, p. 548. The branch was the only
preserved part of a tree (the rest of which was perceptible in the tephra) that had been
buried alive by the eruption. Previously published carbon dates from Thera came from
seeds or other short-lived organic materials. In the same issue of Science, Manning et
al. 2006 accordingly add 100 years to the traditional chronology for LM I, now dating
the beginning of IA shortly before 1700 BCand ending it at 1600 BC, and stretching
LM IB from ca. 1600 to ca. 1450 BC. Their LM II remains short and in its usual place:
1450 to 1400 BC.
8 “Bronze Age Catastrophe and Modern Controversy: Dating the Santorini Eruption,”
Antiquity88 (2014), pp. 267–291. This is a “debate” feature with a variety of views
expressed, by either individuals or teams. Four of the contributions (including a
substantial piece by^14 C specialists) argue that a date in the late 17th century BCis too
high.
9 MacGillivray, in Antiquity 2014, p. 289.
The chronological quandary 237