Mesopotamian Chronology of the 2nd Millennium B.C.
Abstract
Around the middle of the 2nd millennium B.C., after the end of the first Babylonian dynasty, there is a chronological gap in all of our information from Mesopotamia, the Dark Age, which makes it impossible to establish the absolute chronology of the earlier half of the millennium and before. Only relative dates can be provided prior to c.1430/1420 B.C. The central problem of Mesopotamian chronology is the dating of the first Babylonian dynasty. Attempts have been made to compute an absolute date for this dynasty by means of the “Venus Tablet” written, it would seem, during the reign of the Old Babylonian King Ammisaduqa. But the data in the table is difficult to interpret and has resulted in three chronologies, the high, the middle and the low. This “introduction” to the chronology of 2nd millennium Mesopotamia includes the topics which form the basis for chronological discussions, such as the dating methods and calendars of Mesopotamia, relevant sources for Mesopotamian chronology and natural science information. Each chronological topic is discussed in a separate chapter. The topics, hence chapters, are arranged alphabetically, not in order of importance: the chronological importance of each topic is considered in a summary at the end of each chapter. Chapter 1 starts with an overview of the problems of 2nd millennium Mesopotamian chronology. Throughout the book previous research in the individual topics is reviewed at some length with constant reference to the relevant…
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The Middle Bronze Age evidence has floated in absolute calendar time, with competing proposals differing by up to 150 years.
“Consequently, despite a century of debate, the Middle Bronze Age evidence has floated in absolute calendar time, with competing proposals differing by up to 150 years (Pruzsinszky 2009) (Figure 2).”
From New evidence for Middle Bronze Age chronology from the Syro-Anatolian frontier (2023) · cites this paper as Pruzsinszky 2009
The only Mesopotamian chronological schemes potentially compatible with the wiggle-match are the High Middle or (especially) Low Middle Chronologies.
“The only Mesopotamian chronological schemes20 potentially compatible with the wiggle-match are the High Middle or (especially) Low Middle Chronologies (which are only 8 calendar years apart)18,19,21,28–31.”
From Radiocarbon offsets and old world chronology as relevant to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia and Thera (Santorini) (2020) · cites this paper as [20]
The older alternative option, about 81 calendar years earlier than the fit shown in Fig. 1b, is likely too early to correspond with the High Mesopotamian Chronology, which is only ~56 years earlier than the Middle Chronology; even at the limits of 68.3% hpd and 95.4% hpd, the difference is at least 72 and 62 calendar years respectively, leaving any correspondence as unlikely.
“We note that the older alternative option, about 81 calendar years earlier than the fit shown in Fig. 1b, is in fact likely too early to correspond with the High Mesopotamian Chronology20, which is only ~ 56 years earlier than the Middle Chronology. Even at the limits of 68.3% hpd and 95.4% hpd, the difference is at least 72 and 62 calendar years respectively, leaving any correspondence as”
From Radiocarbon offsets and old world chronology as relevant to Mesopotamia, Egypt, Anatolia and Thera (Santorini) (2020) · cites this paper as [20]
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Cited by 27
- Authors
- Pruzsinszky, R.
- Corresponding author
- Pruzsinszky, Regine
- Venue
- Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften eBooks
- Published
- 2009
- OpenAlex
- W3102526701
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Ancient Near East History
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Historical Astronomy and Related Studies
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Biblical Studies and Interpretation
- Keywords
- Mesopotamian chronology, Dark Ages, Old Babylonian period, dating methods, ancient Near East
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