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Radiocarbon-Based Chronology for Dynastic Egypt
Date with the Pharaohs
Ancient Egypt dominated the Mediterranean world for several thousand years. However, the absolute chronology of this civilization has been uncertain, even though the sequence of rulers is well documented. Bronk Ramsey et al. (p. 1554; see the Perspective by Bruins) now provide a detailed radiocarbon-based record using more than 200 samples that spans much of this time and reduces uncertainties in some cases to less than 20 years. To avoid artifacts, the authors dated only short-lived plant remains from known contexts (i.e., that were associated with specific reigns). They then used the known reign lengths as a further constraint to obtain a final chronology. The final dates agree most closely with the previous older chronology but force some revisions to the timing of events in the Old Kingdom, the period in the third millennium B.C.E. when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization.
Abstract
The historical chronologies for dynastic Egypt are based on reign lengths inferred from written and archaeological evidence. These floating chronologies are linked to the absolute calendar by a few ancient astronomical observations, which remain a source of debate. We used 211 radiocarbon measurements made on samples from short-lived plants, together with a Bayesian model incorporating historical information on reign lengths, to produce a chronology for dynastic Egypt. A small offset (19 radiocarbon years older) in radiocarbon levels in the Nile Valley is probably a growing-season effect. Our radiocarbon data indicate that the New Kingdom started between 1570 and 1544 B.C.E., and the reign of Djoser in the Old Kingdom started between 2691 and 2625 B.C.E.; both cases are earlier than some previous historical estimates.
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References and Notes
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Published In
Science
Volume 328 | Issue 5985
18 June 2010
18 June 2010
Copyright
Copyright © 2010, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Received: 10 March 2010
Accepted: 3 May 2010
Published in print: 18 June 2010
Acknowledgments
This project was funded by the Leverhulme Trust (grant no. F/08 622/A). The botanical specimens were from the Oxford University Herbaria and the Natural History Museum, London. Archaeological samples were from Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Bolton Museum and Art Gallery; British Museum, London; City Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol, UK; Cornell University, New York; Desert Research Institute, Las Vegas, Nevada; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; The Manchester Museum; Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Musée du Louvre, Paris; Musées royaux d’art et d’histoire, Brussels; National Museums, Liverpool, UK; The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archeology, London; The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK; Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, Munich; and the Victoria Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Uppsala University, Sweden. The Oxford laboratory infrastructure was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and software development by English Heritage. The Illahun, Heqanakht, and Hatshepsut measurements and research were funded by the German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (grant no. I-2069-1230.4/2004); preliminary background research was aided by the SCIEM2000 project. The dating at Saclay was performed at the LMC14 (funded by CNRS, CEA, Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, and Ministère de La Culture).
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