In the Egyptian Museum at Turin, there exists a papyrus document which was composed in the early 19th. Dynasty. Although badly deteriorated, it nevertheless lists in some detail, amongst other things, all known pharaohs from the 1st. Dynasty (c. 2920 NC) up to those of the 18th. Dynasty (1194-952 NC). Allowing for partial damage and deterioration over the years, each pharaoh is shown with his or her length of reign in years, months and days. It is known as 'The Royal Canon of Turin'.
Throughout the Middle East almost all records previous to this Canon were written on wet clay and then baked. In every instance such tablets were dated in relation to the lunar month and regnal year of the appropriate king; whether Egyptian, Babylonian or Assyrian. For example, in the 13th. Dynasty, Pharaoh Iayib reigned for 10 yrs. 8 mths. 28 days, followed by Pharaoh Ay who reigned for 23 yrs. 8 mths. 18 days. Obviously, the ancients did not have our advantage of relating events to the Birth of Christ.
Hitherto, Egyptologists have been inclined to add together most, if not all, the reigning periods in order to obtain a time scale. It is only recently that there has come the realisation that many rulers functioned either as contemporaries of adjoining kingdoms or as co-regents of the same kingdom. Thus, the only completely reliable method of assessing the degree of such 'overlaps', has been to resort to astronomical dating, or rather retro-dating, that can be proven scientifically by modern standards.
For centuries the ancients regarded eclipses of the sun and positions of the planet Venus with special veneration. Mention of such events have been deciphered on tablets dug up in Egypt, the Levant and Syria. As a result, it has now been possible to establish three specific dates with total accuracy and confidence. These dates can be taken as the 'bench marks' of the New Chronology of the pharaohs.
The years in question are: 664 BC; 1012 NC and 1540 NC. Very briefly, the methodology to achieve this has been as follows:
664 BC
For a long time this datum has been accepted in ancient chronology. It is based upon the unalterable fact that King Ashurbanipal of Assyria invaded Egypt that year and sacked the city of Thebes (Luxor) as a penalty for the revolt led by King Taharka and which cost him his life. This episode has been inscribed upon contemporary monuments, as well as surviving accounts written at that time in Babylon, Greece and Rome. It also confirms the coronation of Pharaoh Psamtek I of the 26th. Dynasty.
The introduction of the two extra datum points has dramatically revised the scheduling of Biblical history for the previous 1000 years.
