Ancient Egyptian chronology and the astronomical orientation of pyramids
Abstract
The ancient Egyptian pyramids at Giza have never been accurately dated, although we know that they were built approximately around the middle of the third millennium BC. The chronologies of this period have been reconstructed from surviving lists of kings and the lengths of their reigns, but the lists are rare, seldom complete and contain known inconsistencies and errors. As a result, the existing chronologies for that period (the Old Kingdom) can be considered accurate only to about +/-100 years, a figure that radiocarbon dating cannot at present improve. Here I use trends in the orientation of Old Kingdom pyramids to demonstrate that the Egyptians aligned them to north by using the simultaneous transit of two circumpolar stars. Modelling the precession of these stars yields a date for the start of construction of the Great Pyramid that is accurate to +/-5 yr, thereby providing an anchor for the Old Kingdom chronologies.
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Spence's date for the start of construction of Khufu's pyramid in his second regnal year is 2480±5.
“Her date for the start of construction of Khufu's pyramid in his second regnal year is 2480±5, providing a seemingly secure anchor point for Dynasty IV .”
From Shishak and Shoshenq: A Disambiguation (2021) · cites this paper as Spence (2000
For the Old Kingdom, the chronology remains truly floating in time because no reliable Sothic records are available from the Old Kingdom.
“A similar dilemma exists for the OK, but here the chronology remains truly floating in time. The main reason is that no reliable Sothic records are available from the OK, although other astronomical linkages have been attempted [27,36].”
From Resolution of the High versus Low debate for Old and Middle Kingdom Egypt (2025) · cites this paper as [36]
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Radiocarbon-Based Chronology for Dynastic Egypt
Ramsey, C. B., Dee, M. W., Rowland, J. M., Higham, T. F. G., Harris, S. A., Brock, F., Quiles, A., Wild, E. M., Marcus, E. S., & Shortland, A. J. (2010) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1189395 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Astronomical orientation of the pyramids
Rawlins, D., & Pickering, K. (2001) · Nature · doi:10.1038/35089138 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Resolution of the High versus Low debate for Old and Middle Kingdom Egypt
Erdil, P., Webster, L., Kuitems, M., Knoblauch, C., Bestock, L., Höflmayer, F., Beeckman, H., Fuller, D. Q., Manning, S. W., & Dee, M. W. (2025) · PLOS One · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0314612 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Shishak and Shoshenq: A Disambiguation
Wallenfels, R. (2021) · Journal of the American Oriental Society · doi:10.7817/jameroriesoci.139.2.0487 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Spence, K.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Spence, Kate
- ORCID
- Spence, Kate
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2000-11
- Volume
- 408
- Issue
- 6810
- Pages
- 320-324
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2169574507
- Cited by
- 121
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 33.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- British Academy
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Historical and Architectural Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient Egypt and Archaeology
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Historical Astronomy and Related Studies
- Keywords
- ancient Egyptian chronology, Old Kingdom, Giza pyramids, pyramid orientation, astronomical alignments, circumpolar stars, Great Pyramid of Giza, construction dating
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