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Ancient Egyptian Chronology

Protodynastic Period
Dynasty I-II	3110 BC	3100 BC	3050 BC	3000 BC
	2665 BC	2663 BC	2705 BC	2686 BC
Old Kingdom
Dynasty III-VIII	2664 BC	2663 BC	2705 BC	2686 BC
	2155 BC	2195 BC	2213 BC	2160 BC
First Intermediate Period
Dynasty IX-XI	2154 BC		2213 BC	2160 BC
	2052 BC		1991 BC	2055 BC
Middle Kingdom
Dynasty XII	2052 BC		1991 BC	2055 BC
	1786 BC		1784 BC

Modern scholarship places the commencement of the reign of Menes between 3110 BC and 3000 BC, an uncertainty of somewhat over a century. Some modern scholars date the end of Dynasty XII to between 1786 BC and 1784 BC, an uncertainty of only two years. Dynasty XVIII, the first of the New Kingdom, is variously dated from 1570 BC to 1550 BC. There is general agreement on more recent dates. The Third Intermediate Period, starting from Dynasty XXI, is variously dated from 1070 BC to 1064 BC.

A key synchronism for the standard chronology of Egypt (and wider Near Eastern history) is the identification of the Egyptian pharaoh Shoshenq I [r. 946-916 BC] with the Shishak who was attested in the Bible in I Kings 14:25-26; "And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made." and in II Chronicles 12:3-4 "With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem."

Rehoboam year 5 is in turn dated at 926/925 BC by linking the attested names and reign lengths of the 1Oth-9th Century BC kings of Israel and Judah with recorded synchronisms in the 9th Century BC between the Israelite kings Ahab and Jehu and the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III. The chronology of the Assyrian kings is effectively abso1ute back to the 10th century BC, this enables precise calendar dates of 853 BC for the last year of Ahab's reign and 841 BC for the first year of Jehu's reign.

Manetho's chronology divided Dynasties between Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, while further subdivisions are the work of modern scholars. By one account, Manetho's history of Egypt was divided into three portions: — the old monarchy, extending from the foundation of the kingdom, that is, Dynasty I to Dynasty X; the middle, from Dynasty XI to Dynasty XVII; and the new, from the re-establishment of the native monarchy by Amosis to the Persian conquest, Dynasty XVIII to Dynasty XXX. By the early 19th Century some scholars reckoned the Old Empire to have terminated with the third king of Dynasty XIII; the occupation of the throne of Memphis by the Shepherd-kings was the commencement of the Middle Empire, and their expulsion that of the New. At the same time, other scholars reckoned the Old Empire to have terminated with Dynasty XI; the Middle Empire to have extended from Dynasty XII to Dynasty XIIV, followed by the occupation of the throne of Memphis by the Shepherd-kings, and their expulsion that of the New, starting with Dynasty XVII.

In many traditional chronologies, Dynasty III was considered Proto Dynastic, while more recent scholarship places Dynasty III in the Old Kingdom. In many traditional chronologies, Dynasty VIII was considered Old Kingdom, while more recent scholarship places Dynasty VIII in the First Intermediate Period. In many traditional chronologies, Dynasty XI Thebes was included in the Middle Kingdom, not the First Intermediate Period. However, recently, some Egyptologist would place this Dynasty in the First Intermediate Period, noting that while the dynasty existed for some 143 years, of these 99 years were spent in a state of civil war. In many traditional chronologies, Dynasty XIV [a period of considerable political turmoil] was included in the Second Intermediate Period. However, some Egyptologist would date the Second Intermediate Period to Dynasty XV, the invasion of the Hyksos. Thus while all seem to agree that the Middle Kingdom is centered on Dynasty XII, some would extend it from Dynasty XI to XIV, while others advace arguments that could confine it to Dynasty XII.

Sturt W. Manning notes that "In the beginning, the historical chronology of Egypt was held to offera test for the utility of the radiocarbon dating method... Radiocarbon technology through the 1960s was not capable of delivering ages of sufficient accuracy or precision to be of actual utility to Egyptologists... Today the leading high-precision laboratories can demonstrate ... precision margins of c.2% - that is within c.10-20 radiocarbon years... the potential modern relevance of radiocarbon to Egyptology has been brought to the fore by a set of publications in the 1990s, which sought to question and reject the standard chronological synthesis and instead to propose a radically different (lower) Egyptian chronology for the second and earlier first millennia BC.... radiocarbon provides useful independent support to Egyptian and ancient Near Eastern chronology, and disproves attempts to install radical chronological alternatives."

Where for historical data there is none, speculation is not only vain, but mischievous.