Chronology of the ancient Near East
The chronologies of the ancient Near Eastern historiography is time grid, which should make it possible events of ancient Near Eastern history before the middle of the 15th century BC, which would otherwise be relatively dated, and absolute dating.
Chronology approaches
The dates used in modern Western history books refer to the year 1 This is thus the fixed point of the era used by today's science of history, which is also called absolute chronology. The dates used by ancient Near Eastern rulers, however, relate to ( at best ) to the beginning of their own reign. In addition, can be found in the ancient Near Eastern history individual time sections from which we have received extensive written sources, however, are embedded in longer sections relative poverty source. The latter provide us with significant challenges both in terms of their own dating and as regards the dating of them previous phases. Dendrochronology provides us here due to the rarity of usable material and the 14C - dating on the basis of very inadequate for historical standards low measuring accuracy services.
Fixed points
All historical events dating from the Early Dynastic period of Sumer to the middle of the 15th century BC ( even those that are based on astronomical data), therefore, are based on estimates by means of general historical considerations. On the other hand, it is sometimes possible for this period to reconstruct complete chronologies of individual islands of time. His task, the historian various types of sources such as reports of events that stretched over several years, eponyms and king lists or information from government years. The timing of these islands to each other, however, can only be specified relative. This means that it can be said of a certain time island that it precedes a certain other time island or follows, but not how many years passed between the two.
In the Egyptian chronology Jean -Francois Champollion Pharaoh Shoshenq I with the biblical Pharaoh Shishak identified and thus a fixed point set of valid until today. For some years, but this is disputed by David Rohl. Rohl presents a very independent chronology
Another fixed point, the peace treaty of the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II with the Hittite king Hattusili III. represents, which was completed between 1271 BC and 1258 BC.
Ideally, the linking of such islands of time should result in a continuous sequence from the most recent to the earliest epochs by synchronisms. Thus it has been possible so to combine complexes of historical events dating back to the mid- 15th century BC a way that they connect to the absolute chronology. In addition, succession and reign of the kings of the first dynasty of Larsa and the first dynasty of Babylonia are so well known that we thus obtain a consistent coherent in itself temporal complex of at least a little more than 400 years. Between the end of the last ruler of the first dynasty of Babylon - Samsu - ditana and the middle 15th century, however, there is a gap.
Chronologies
The information in the Venus tablets of Ammi - şaduqa had led historians to be recognized initially four times the chronology stating that despite the astronomical 584 - day interval of Venus every 8 years, has the same constellation:
In the following three important basic terms of the temporal island in all four chronologies are presented:
Various historians arrive at different dating approaches. In addition to lack of sufficiently concrete synchronisms vary much data within this time block from author to author. David Rohl is an author of the very far is because he changed fixed points specifically in the Egyptian chronology in the changes,
The long chronology is rarely used, while the short and ultrashort until the recent time followers. The mean chronology is very often used as a time reference for dating due to synchronisms to Egyptian history and findings of other dating methods. It serves not only of dating in the narrow sense, but also as a convention for understanding of ancient Near Eastern historical processes.