 Chronology
A Test of Time - David Rohl
A further site for discussion of chronology is A Test of Time Home Page.
It is actually an advertisment for a book, A Test of Time, and the TV series Pharaohs and Kings, based on the book.
The book contains some fairly convincing arguments concerning chronology. David Rohl, the author, describes how while researching the Third Intermediate Period in Ancient Egypt he came across a number of anomalies which drove him to the conclusion that the
traditional chronology was wrong.
The discovery of these anomalies led him on a long search for an alternative chronology which would reconcile the anomalies. His findings, quite incidentally, led to a significant reconciliation between the histories of Israel and Egypt.
Among the things which bothered him were
 | the number of Apis (divine) bulls buried in the Lesser Vaults of the Serapeum was less than the number of bulls which would have been buried if the traditional chronology was correct. The shortfall gives a difference of at least 160 years. |
| Certain burials in the Royal Cache suggest that the 21st and 22nd Dynasties were partly contemporary |
| Architectural evidence from tombs at Tanis suggest that Osorkon II of the 22nd Dynasty was buried before Psusennes I of the 21st Dynasty. This suggests that the two dynasties were at least partly contemporary, possibly by as much as 141 years. |
| There is no compelling evidence that Ramesses II was in any way connected with the Oppression or the Exodus. |
He identifies what he considers 'The Four Great Pillars' on which Egyptian chronology is based.
| The Pillars | Rohl's Conclusions |
| The sacking of Thebes by Ashurbanipal in 664BC marks the last year of Pharaoh Taharka and begins the Late Perioid of Egyptian history. | He has no argument with this well fixed date in Ancient History. |
| Shoshenk I, of the 22nd Dynasty is the Biblical 'Shishak, king of Egypt' who despoiled Solomon's Temple in Year 5 of Rehoboam. | This identification is based on the similarity of the names.
On Egyptian monuments Shoshenk attacks Israel, while in the Bible Shishak attacks Judah. Their identification is historically untenable. |
| The date for the beginning of the New Kingdom can be set at 1550 BC by means of the Sothic date of 1517 BC for year 9 of Amenhotep I supplied in Ebers Papyrus. | Many Egyptologists are questioning the reliability of the Ebers Sothic date. |
| Ramesses II began to rule in 1279 BC, because a lunar date supplied in Papyrus Leiden confirms that his fifty-second year fell in 1228 BC | This date is entirely dependent on the Sothic system. |
Having concluded that the traditional chronology of Egypt rests on a shaky foundation, Rohl then goes on to demonstrate more than forty items which can be used to develop a new chronology which nicely dovetails the histories of Egypt and Israel.
He accounts for some of the discrepancy between the two histories by using dynastic overlap in the Third Intermediate Period.
These arguments are far too involved to present here, but the interested reader can study them in 'A Test of Time'. Information concerning its availability may be found at
A Test of Time Home Page.
Links to other chronology pages in this site
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