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Radiocarbon-Based Chronology for Dynastic Egypt

2010; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 328; Issue: 5985 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.1189395

1095-9203

Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Michael Dee, Joanne Rowland, Thomas Higham, Stephen A. Harris, Fiona Brock, Anita Quilès, Eva Maria Wild, Ezra S. Marcus, Andrew Shortland,

Archaeology and ancient environmental studies

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.