There can be no more important topic in historical studies than chronology, for it is chronology which gives meaning to history by placing individuals, events and material remains within their true sequence. This work argues that the orthodox Ancient Near Eastern chronology is fundamentally wrong and that consequently the histories of the Great Kingdoms of Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria and Hatti, along with other minor kingdoms such as Israel/Judah, must be radically rewritten.
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-60724-127-0
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Publication Status: In Print
Publication Date: Feb 19,2010
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 8.25 x 10.75
Page Count: 286
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-60724-127-0
There can be no more important topic in historical studies than chronology, for it is chronology which gives meaning to history by placing individuals, events and material remains within their true sequence. If this sequence does not match historical actuality, then the historical narrative drawn from the available evidence may appear confused, incomplete or even contradictory.
The history of the Near East is bound together by an accurate and continuous absolute chronology that stretches back to the early first millennium BC. However, beyond that point in time one is forced to rely upon regional chronologies for the histories of the Great Kingdoms of Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria and Hatti, amongst others. Scholars have pieced together these regional chronologies over the last one-two centuries using information from King-lists, royal annals and administrative documents, as well as scientific dating techniques including astronomy and radiocarbon dating. The end result of this major enterprise is, today, what can best be described as an extremely complex but little understood jigsaw puzzle composed of a multiplicity of loosely connected data.
This work investigates the chronology of the Near East during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age periods and concludes that the ‘conventional/orthodox’ chronology is fundamentally wrong. Indeed, it argues that Egyptian New Kingdom (Memphite) dates should be lowered by 200 years to match historical actuality. This chronological adjustment is achieved in two stages: first, the removal of 85 (parallel) years of Assyrian chronology from the 11th-10th century BC pre-Neo-Assyrian period; and second, the downward displacement of Late Bronze Age Egyptian dates relative to Assyrian chronology by a further 115 years.
Born in Ireland, Pierce Furlong completed an undergraduate degree in Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, England. Possessed of itchy feet a goodly number of the following years were spent roaming the world; during which time many of the great archaeological sites in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and Asia were visited. A passion for ancient history grew out of this experience, and this was given a more formal outlet when, having settled in Australia, he enrolled in the Faculty of Arts at The University of Melbourne: being awarded a First Class Honors degree from the Department of Classics and Archaeology in 1996, and a PhD from the Department of History in 2007.
