1540 NC
Tablets discovered at Nineveh (now Mosul, on the river Tigris in Northern Iraq), have been certified as copies from the reign of King Ammisaduga of the 1st. Dynasty of Babylon. Such records include the precise description of the risings and settings of the planet Venus. These observations are known to have coincided exactly with Ammisaduga's reign of 21 years. Use now had to be made of the Venus cycle; i.e. the period between exact repetitions of its risings and settings, and which average 60 years.
Old Babylonians dated their documents in relation to the days of the lunar month, beginning with the first crescent of the moon. The dating of these tablets, taken in conjunction with the specific positions of Venus, have been subjected to further advanced computer analysis in much the same way as described in the 1012 NC datum. The result has shown that Ammisaduga became king in 1419 NC and died in 1398 NC. Moving back from this, and knowing the names of all eleven kings of that dynasty, it has been possible to determine the reign of the 6th. and most famous (or infamous) of those kings, namely Hammurabi (1565-1522 NC). In his 35th. regnal year (1531 NC), Hammurabi attacked and destroyed the huge yet beautiful palace of Zimrilim, King of the city-state of Mari (now known as Abu Kemal, on the river Euphrates in eastern Syria). Zimrilim perished with it.
In AD 1933, a French archaeologist unearthed 25,000 tablets from the archive of that palace. The last date traced from those tablets showed that Zimrilim must have died in his 6th. regnal year, having reigned 1536-1531 NC. A particular tablet, however, was an inventory of gifts on the occasion of his enthronement, including a solid gold cup. It had come from Yantin, in his 9th. regnal year as King of the city-state of Byblos (now Yuniye, 13 miles north of Beirut) and which, in those days, formed part of the Egyptian empire. Thus Yantin must have been enthroned in 1544 NC. Sadly, at this point, any archaeological hope of establishing an Egyptian connection went cold.
It is true to say that every archaeologist lives in the hope that perhaps once in a lifetime he or she may benefit from some dramatic and unexpected bonus, even indirectly, such as in the case of the Amarna woman's discovery. In AD 1952, there was just such an instance.
Arising from a comprehensive excavation of Byblos, a large limestone slab was uncovered with Egyptian hieroglyphics carved upon it. It showed Yantin in his 5th. year as King of Byblos. What was astonishing, however, was that beside Yantin's inscription was the partially damaged cartouche of Pharaoh Neferhotep in his first regnal year. It therefore followed that Neferhotep must have begun his reign in 1540 NC, thereby bringing forward the re-dating of the 13th. Dynasty by 127 years to 1632-1440 NC.
