Chronology of the ancient Near East The chronology of the Ancient Near East provides a framework of dates for various events , rulers and dynasties . Individual inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers , taking forms like " in the year X of king Y " . Thus by piecing together many records a relative chronology is arrived at , relating dates in cities over a wide area . For the first millennium BC , the relative chronology can be tied to actual calendar years by identifying significant astronomical events . An inscription from the tenth year of Assyrian king Ashur - Dan III refers to an eclipse of the sun , and astronomical calculations have estimated that the eclipse occurred on approximately 15 June 763 BCE . The date can be corroborated with other mentions of astronomical events and a secure " absolute chronology " established , that ties the " relative chronologies " into our calendar . For the third and second millennia , the correlation is not so fixed . A key document is the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa , preserving record of astronomical observations of Venus , as preserved in numerous cuneiform tablets during the reign of the Babylonian king Ammisaduqa , known to be the fourth ruler after Hammurabi in the " relative calendar " . In the series , the conjunction of the rise of Venus with the new moon provides a fixed point , or rather three fixed points , for the conjunction is a periodic occurrence . Astronomical calculation can therefore fix , for example , the first dates of the reign of Hammurabi can be fixed in this manner either as 1848 , 1792 , or 1736 BC , depending on whether the " High Chronology " the " Middle chronology " or the " Low Chronology " is followed . First of all , for the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC the following periods need to be distinguished : Variant Bronze Age chronologies . Due to the sparsity of sources throughout the " Dark Age " , the history of the Near Eastern Bronze Age down to the end of the Third Babylonian Dynasty is a " floating chronology " . In other words , it fits together internally as a " relative chronology " but not as an " absolute chronology " . The major schools of thought on the length of the Dark Age are separated by 56 or 64 years . This is because the key source for their dates is the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa and the visibility of Venus has a 56 / 64 year cycle . More recent work by Vahe Gurzadyan has suggested that the fundamental 8 year cycle of Venus is a better metric . ( see update in ) There have been other attempts to anchor the chronology using records of eclipses and other methods , but they are not yet widely supported . The alternative major chronologies are defined by the date of the 8th year of the reign of Ammisaduqa , king of Babylon . This choice then defines the reign of Hammurabi . Many recent textbooks on the archaeology and history of the ancient Near East use the Middle Chronology . There are also some scholars who discount the validity of the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa entirely . The following table gives an overview of the competing proposals , listing some key dates and the deviation relative to the short chronology : The chronologies of Mesopotamia , the Levant and Anatolia depend significantly on the chronology of Ancient Egypt . To the extent that there are problems in the Egyptian chronology , these issues will be inherited in chronologies based on synchronisms with Ancient Egypt . Sources of chronological data . Inscriptional . Thousands of cuneiform tablets have been found in an area running from Anatolia to Egypt . While many are the ancient equivalent of modern grocery receipts , these tablets , along with inscriptions on buildings and public monuments , provide the major source of chronological information for the ancient Middle East . Underlying issues . While there are some relatively pristine objects , such as you might see in the Louvre or the British Museum , the vast majority of recovered tables and inscriptions are in much worse condition . They have been broken with only portions found , intentionally defaced , and damaged by weather or the effects of being buried underground . Many tablets were not even baked in antiquity and have to be carefully handled until they are heated properly . The site of an item ' s recovery is an important piece of information for archaeologists . Unfortunately , two factors impinge on this . First , in ancient times old materials were often reused either as building material or fill , sometimes at a great distance from the original location . Secondly , looting has been a fact of life for archaeological sites , dating at least back to Roman times . The provenance of a looted object is difficult or impossible to determine . Over time , key documents like the Sumerian King List were repeatedly copied across the generations . As a result , there are sometimes multiple versions of a chronological source that differ from each other . It can be very hard to determine which version is correct . The translation of cuneiform documents is quite difficult , especially given the damaged nature of much source material . Additionally , our knowledge of the underlying languages , like Akkadian and Sumerian , have evolved over time , so a translation done now may be quite different than one done in AD 1900 . The result of all this is that there can be honest disagreement what the document really says . Worse yet , many archaeological finds have not yet been published , much less translated . Those held in private collections may never be . Many of our important source documents , such as the Assyrian King List , are the products of government and religious establishments . They often have a built - in slant in favor of the king or god in charge . A king may even take credit for a battle or construction project of an earlier ruler . The Assyrians in particular have a literary tradition of always putting the best possible face on history . The tablets or inscriptions in question still have value , though one does have to keep the slant in mind . King Lists . Keeping historical lists of rulers was traditional in the ancient Near East . Covers rulers of Mesopotamia from a time " before the flood " up to the fall of the Isin Dynasty . For many early city / states it is the only source of chronological data . A major problem is that many early rulers are listed with fantastically long reigns . There has been some speculation that this stems from an error transcribing from the base 60 arithmetic of the Sumerians to the decimal based system of the later Akkadians . This list deals only with the rulers of Babylon . It has been found in two versions Babylonian King List A and Babylonian King List B . The later dynasties in the list reflect the Kassite and Sealand periods of Babylon . There is also a Babylonian King List of the Hellenistic Period which covers the later part of the 1st millennium . Found in multiple differing copies , this tablet lists all the kings of Assyria and their regnal lengths back into the mists of time , with the portions with reasonable data beginning at around the 14th century BC . When combined with the various Assyrian chronicles , the Assyrian King List anchors the chronology of the 1st millennium . A list of Indus Valley Civilization Kings was compiled by Laurence Waddell but it is not generally accepted or well regarded by mainstream academia . Chronicles . Many chronicles have been recovered in the ancient Near East . Most are partial or fragmentary , but when combined with other sources , they provide a rich source of chronological data . Found in the library of Assurbanipal in Nineveh , it records the interaction of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires , from the Assyrian point of view . While useful , the consensus is that this chronicle should not be considered reliable . While quite incomplete , this tablet provides the same type of information as the Assyrian Synchronistic Chronicle , but from the Babylonian point of view . The Sumerian King List omits any mention of Lagash , even though it was clearly a major power during the period covered by the list . The Royal Chronicle of Lagash appears to be an attempt to remedy that omission , listing the kings of Lagash in the form of a chronicle . Some scholars believe the chronicle to be either a parody of the Sumerian King List or a complete fabrication . Royal inscriptions . In general , political figures in the ancient Near East liked to take credit for public works . Temples , buildings and statues built by a ruler are likely to have some sort of inscription mentioning his name . The kings also were sure to record major deeds like battles won , titles acquired , or gods appeased in some form of public inscription . These are very useful in tracking the reign of a ruler . Year lists . Unlike current calendars , most ancient calendars were based on how long the current ruler had been in power . A year might be " the 5th year in the reign of Hammurabi " . As part of this , each royal year was given a title , like " the year Ur was defeated " . Most often this reflected a deed of the ruler . The compilation of these years are called date lists . Eponym ( limmu ) lists . In Assyria , a royal official , or Limmu was selected every year of a king ' s reign . Many copies of these lists have been found . Naturally , details are not always clear cut . There are sometimes too many or few limmu for the length of a king ' s reign and sometimes the different versions of the Eponym List disagree on a limmu . Trade , diplomatic , and disbursement records . As is often the case in archaeology , it is everyday records that give the best picture of a civilization . Cuneiform tablets were constantly moving around the ancient Near East , offering alliances ( sometimes including daughters for marriage ) , threatening war , acting as shipping documents for mundane supplies or settling accounts receivable . Most were tossed away after use the way that we would discard unwanted receipts . Fortunately for us , tablets are durable and many are well - preserved even when used as material for wall filler in new construction . The classic example . A number of cuneiform tablets were found at Amarna in Egypt , the city of the pharaoh Akhenaten . They were written mostly in Akkadian , the diplomatic language of the time . Several named rulers in the region including the kings of Assyria and Babylon . Assuming that the correct kings have been identified , it locks the chronology of the ancient Near East to that of Egypt , at least from the middle of the 2nd Millennium . Classical . Some data sources are available to us from the classical period Berossus was a Babylonian astronomer living during the Hellenistic period . He wrote a history of Babylon which has not survived to modern times . Luckily , portions of this work were preserved by other classical writers . This book provides a list of kings starting at around 750 BC in Babylon and forward through the Persian and Roman periods , in an astronomical context . It is used to help define the chronology of the 1st millennium . Not having the benefit of being written into clay and buried , the records of the Hebrews have an additional layer of time to work through in being used as a source for chronology . On the other hand , the Hebrews did live pretty much in a territory directly in the crosshairs of Babylon , Assyria , Egypt and the Hittites , giving them a front row seat to actions in the area . Mainly of use in the 1st millennium and with the Assyrian New Kingdom . Astronomical . A record of the movements of Venus during the reign of a king of the First Babylonian Dynasty . Using it , various scholars have proposed dates for the fall of Babylon based on the 56 / 64 year cycle of Venus . The mentioned recent work suggesting that the fundamental 8 year cycle of Venus is a better metric , lead to the proposal of an " ultra - low " chronology . Eclipses . A number of lunar and solar eclipses have been suggested for use in dating the ancient Near East . Many suffer from the vagueness of the original tablets in showing that an actual eclipse occurred . At that point , it becomes a question of using computer models to show when a given eclipse would have been visible at a site , complicated by difficulties in modeling the slowing rotation of the earth , Delta T . One important event is the Ninevah Eclipse , found in an Assyrian limmu list q . e . " Bur - Sagale of Guzana , revolt in the city of Ashur . In the month Simanu an eclipse of the sun took place . " This eclipse is considered to be solidly dated to 15 June 763 BC . Another important event is the Ur III Lunar / Solar Eclipse pair in the reign of Shulgi . Most calculations for dating using eclipses have assumed that the Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa is a legitimate source . Dendrochronology . Dendrochronology attempts to use the variable growth pattern of trees , expressed in their rings , to build up a chronological timeline . At present , there are no continuous chronologies for the Near East . A floating chronology has been developed using trees in Anatolia for the Bronze and Iron Ages . Until a continuous sequence is developed , the usefulness for improving the chronology of the Ancient Near East is limited . The difficulty in tying the chronology to the modern day lies primarily in the Roman period , for which few good wood samples have been found , and many of those turn out to be imported from outside the Near East . Radiocarbon dating . As in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean , radiocarbon dates run one or two centuries earlier than the dates proposed by archaeologists . It is not at all clear which group is right , if either . Mechanisms have been proposed for explaining why radiocarbon dates in the region might be skewed . Equally logical arguments have been made suggesting that the archaeological dates are too late . Time will tell . The spread of accelerator based carbon dating techniques may help clear up the issue . Another promising front is the dating of lime plaster from structures . Recently , radiocarbon dates from the final destruction of Ebla have been shown to definitely favour the Middle Chronology ( with the fall of Babylon and Aleppo at c . 1595 BCE ) , and do not seem to fall with the Ultra - Low Chronology ( same event at c . 1499 BCE ) , although it is emphasized not to be seen as a decisive argument . Synchronisms . Egypt ( Africa ) . At least as far back as the reign of Thutmose I , Egypt took a strong interest in the ancient Near East . At times they occupied portions of the region , a favor returned in later days by the Assyrians . Some key synchronisms : Indus Valley . There is much evidence that the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley traded with the region . This is demonstrated by clay seals found at Ur III and in the Persian Gulf . In addition , if the land of Meluhha does indeed refer to the Indus Valley , then there are extensive trade records ranging from the Akkadian Empire until the Babylonian Dynasty I . Thera and Eastern Mediterranean . Goods from Greece made their way into the ancient Near East , directly in Anatolia and via the island of Cyprus in the rest of the region and Egypt . A Hittite king , Tudhaliya IV , even captured Cyprus as part of an attempt to enforce a blockade of the Assyrians . The eruption of the Thera volcano provides a possible time marker for the region . A large eruption , it would have sent a plume of ash directly over Anatolia and filled the sea in the area with floating pumice . This pumice appeared in Egypt , apparently via trade . Current excavations in the Levant may also add to the timeline . The exact date of the volcanic eruption has been the subject of strong debate with dates ranging between 1628 and 1520 BCE . Radiocarbon dating has placed it at between 1627 BCE and 1600 BCE with a 95 % degree of probability . Archaeologist Kevin Walsh , accepting the radiocarbon dating , suggests a possible date of 1628 and believes this to be the most debated event in Mediterranean archaeology .