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Radiocarbon Verification of the Earliest Astro-Chronological Datum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2016

Ezra S Marcus ,
Michael W Dee ,
Christopher Bronk Ramsey ,
Thomas F G Higham  and
Andrew J Shortland
Ezra S Marcus*
Affiliation:
The Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel
Michael W Dee
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK
Thomas F G Higham
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK
Andrew J Shortland
Affiliation:
Centre for Archaeological and Forensic Analysis, Department of Materials and Applied Sciences, Cranfield University, Shrivenham, Swindon SN6 8LA, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

Papyri 10012A and 10012B from Illahun, Egypt, provide the earliest astro-chronological datum in history and, while calculated to various years in the 19th century BCE, have never been independently verified. As this datum enables the Middle Kingdom (MK) section of Egyptian historical chronology to be anchored in absolute time, it establishes the principal calendrical timeline for the eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. AMS radiocarbon measurements of Papyrus 10012B establish its date range to 1886–1750 BCE, confirming the astronomical calculations and the essential reliability of Egyptian historical chronology for this period. Furthermore, all three leading estimates for the calendar year attribution of the document are supported by this analysis, with the role of a possible growing season effect determining which is most favored.

Keywords

Egyptian chronologyastro-chronological datumSothic papyrus
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 58 , Issue 4 , December 2016 , pp. 735 - 739
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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