Study of a Reconstruction of Time The Late Bronze Age in the Ancient Middle East Rudi Laatsch The Netherlands 2015 Ancient Near East in the Bronze Age - Reconstruction in Time Index I - Reconstruction of the period 900 – 800 BCE sheet a - Egypt 4 b -The Philistine Coastal Cities 11 c - Phoenicia 13 d - Ugarit 14 e - The Hittites (Land of Hatti) 22 f - Phrygia 46 g - Aram 47 h - Mitanni 51 i - Urartu 52 II - Reconstruction of the period 800 – 700 BCE a - Egypt 53 b - The Philistine Coastal Cities 68 c - Phoenicia 73 d - Ugarit 75 e - The Hittites (Land of Hatti) 82 f - Phrygia 104 g - Aram en Israel 108 h - Mitanni 109 i - Urartu 109 III - Reconstruction period > 700 BCE in Egypt 112 Conclusions 130 Addendum 1 131 Radiocarbon Dating, Dendrochronology Addendum 2 135 Time schemes Existing Chronology Bibliography 137 1 Time-scheme - 1 Reconstructed Chronology Time Egypt Judah Israel Aram x x 950 x x 940 930 920 910 Tuthmosis IV x x x (907 – 898) Baasha 900 x (909 – 885) 890 Amenhotep III Asa x x 880 (898 – 861) (912 – 871) Omri Benhadad I (885 – 874) x (885 – 865) 870 x x 860 Akhnaton x Jehoshaphat Ahab Benhadad - II (861 – 845) (871 – 849) (874 – 842) (865 – 848) 850 x x Smenkhare (845 – 844) x Ahaziah 840 Tuthankhamon (844 – 837) (849 – 842) x (Ahaziah, Jehoram) x Ay (837 – 833) x Athaliya (842 – 837) x Aziru (Hazael) 830 Arma’a Jehu (848 – 814) (833 – 819) (842 – 815) 820 Ramses I (819 – 818) x Jehoash (837 – 797) x Benhadad III x 810 Sethi Jehoahaz (814 – 810) x (818 – 807) x (815 – 801) Duppi--Teshub / 800 x Bentishina (810 -802) x x Shapili 790 Jehoash (802 – 793) x Ramses II Amaziah (801 – 786) x 780 (807 – 767) (797 – 768) Bentishina 770 x (793 – 763) x Jeroboam x 760 Uzziah (786 – 747) Sheshonq -1 (768 – 740) Shausgamuwa 750 (763 – 746) Menachem x x 740 x (746 – 737) Rezin Jotham x Pekah x (746 – 732) 730 (740 – 736) (735 – 732) x x Hoshea 720 Ahaz (732 – 722) x (736 – 716) x 710 End of Israel End of Aram 700 Hezekiah 2 Time-scheme - 2 Reconstructed Chronology Time Assyria Aram Hatti Ugarit 950 940 930 920 i 910 X Adad-nirari 900 (911 – 891) Tudhaliya X (901- -884) 890 Tikulti-ninurta X (891 - 884) X X X 880 Benhadad I (885 – 865) Ammishtamru 870 Ashur-nasir-apal ( - 858) (884 – 858) X Shuppiluliuma 860 X Benhadad II (884 – 836) X (865 – 850) 850 X Shalmanassar 840 (858 – 824) Niqmaddu Aziru (Hazael) Arnuwanda (836 – 835) X (858 – 825) 830 (850 – 814) X Arhalbu X 820 Shamsi-adad Murshili (825 – 822) X (824 – 810 X (814 – 810) X X (810 – 805) X Duppi-Teshub/Benteshina Muwatalli 800 (810 – 802) X (810 – 800) X Adad-nirari Shapili Murshili (800 – 793 X Niqmepa 790 (805 – 783) (802 – 793) X (822 – 778) X 780 Shalmanassar Hattushili X (783 – 772) Benteshina (793 – 769) 770 X (793 – 763) X Ashur-dan X Tudhaliya Ammishtamru 760 (772 – 755) (769 – 755) (778 – 748) X Shausgamuwa Kurunta (755) X 750 Ashur-nirari (763 – 746) Arnuwanda X Ibiranu X (755 – 745) X X (755 – 752) (748 – 744) X 740 Tiglath-Pileser III Rezin Niqmaddu 730 (745 – 727) (746 – 732) X (744 – 732) X X 720 Shuppiluliuma Ammurapi Aram province (752 – 712) (732 – 712) 710 of Assyria X X End of Hatti End of Ugarit 700 3 I - Reconstruction of the period 900 – 800 BCE I – a Egypt (900 – 800 BCE) The el-Amarna Archive This section of Egyptian history in the study is to shed some light on the shift of Egyptian chronology into the 9th century BCE. The text will refer to Velikovsky’s hypothesis which he detailed in Ages in Chaos.1 Part of his proposal was based on interpretations of the texts on the cuneiform tablets found in the State Archive of Akhnaton, which will be partly referred to hereafter. The main item of this hypothesis was the repositioning of this pharao at some time in the 9th century BCE, corresponding with the reigns of kings in neighbouring countries. As mentioned earlier, Velikovsky’s hypothesis will be followed in order to study all the foreign relations in a wide area. Akhnaton’s reign being positioned on the Timetable, the text will start with his grandfather Thutmosis IV. Thutmosis IV reigned only briefly, from about 907 to 898 BCE in the reconstructed timescheme, but he acquired Egyptian hegemony over Canaan and Syria with fast and powerful campaigns. The Egyptian hegemony was firmly anchored by appointing governors in the various countries and encamping troop contingents in strategic places. But Egypt’s control on these areas lessened considerably during Akhnaten’s reign. The various countries in Canaan and Syria could no longer rely on Egyptian military support at the breakout of severe hostilities. The internal tensions within Egypt should be seen as the cause of this development. The el-Amarna state archives included an exchange of letters between some Egyptian pharaoh’s from the 18th Dynasty, Amenhotep III and his son Ahknaten, and some vassal kings in the Levant, including Aram (Syria). Kings of major countries in Mesopotamia and further north started their letters with the phrase "To my brother", indicating they felt to be regarded as equal to the Egyptian Pharaoh. Those writing from Canaan wrote their letters starting with the phrase "To my king, my lord", as they still were vassals. One of the most active writers was the king of Sumur with a number of about 60 letters. The cities of Sumur and Gubla were most frequently referred to in all these letters. They were apparently quite important, as they played a prominant role in that neighbouring northern country. The name of the king of Sumur referred to was Rib-Addi. Velikovsky identified this king as Ahab, king of Israel, whose name, read in Hebrew, meant "the older brother / son, father," which is also the meaning of the name Rib-Addi, read as an ideogram. Following is a brief overview of the type and nature of this correspondence, which contained quite some attention to the dangerous situation of Sumur. This city should be identified as Samaria. It was threatened by Aram without much hope for relief. Samaria was founded by Omri, king of Israel in the period 885-874 BCE. The el-Amarna letters should therefore be dated to the later reign of Omri, eg. after 880 BCE. The texts all refer to Velikovsky's Ages in Chaos. It is probably to the governor of Samaria, meanwhile returned to the court in Egypt, to whom Rib-Addi wrote 1 Immanuel Velikovsky, Ages in Chaos, Doubleday & Co, New York, 1952. 4 letters in which the following texts: "You know my my attitude: while you were in Sumura, that I was your faithful servant" "Have you not said to your Lord that he sends you at the head of the archers?" ''I come to you’, you wrote to me. Hear me. Say to the king to give to you three hundred men." The name of this governor, accredited to Sumur, was Aman-appa as evidenced by the letter of Rib-Addi to the Egyptian pharaoh. "Verily, Aman-appa is with you. Ask him. He knows that and has seen the distress which oppresses me". This person was governor of the city of Samaria during Ahab´s reign with the name of Amon, as mentioned in Chronicles II 18:25. But Aman-appa appeared to be an old man who had died in Egypt, as shown by the following letters: To Aman-appa: “Might it be so that you are dead, I will die too.” To the king: "There is hostility against Sumur. And in truth, her governor is dead now." Rib-Addi found himself at some point in a precarious position because his armed forces apparently could not withstand enemy attacks of his neighbour, Abdi-Asjirta, king of Amuruland (Aram), with capital Dumaska (Damascus). That king should then be identified as Benhadad II in this revised chronology. The following letters refer to this king: "What is Abdi-Asjirta, the servant, the dog, that he can take possession of the king’s land? What is his family? " "All chiefs are with Abdi-Asjirta" To an Egyptian dignitary: "Why have you been silent and not told the king that he should send archers, that they might take Sumura? What is Abdi-Asjirta, the servant, the dog, that he is to take the land from the king for himself? ……send fifty horses and two hundred foot soldiers to me ... .upto the departure of the archers ... " Later: "I have written to the palace, ’Send archers’. Did they not reconquer the land for the king in the past? " The wishes of Rib-Addi were apparently heard: "When Abdi-Asjirta conquered Sumuri, I protected the city by my own hand. I had no garrison. But I wrote to the king, my Lord, and soldiers came and they took Sumuri. " There are many letters of the same tenor, showing that also later on the next king of Damascus pressed hard on Israel. That next king was Aziru, who came to power in Aram after killing his father Abdi-Asjirta. Aziru should be synonymous with Hazael, who is known to have killed his father Benhadad in order to acquire the throne of Aram. Rib-Addi also reported on that subject: "Abdi-Asjirta is very sick, who knows whether he will not die?" en: "They have indeed killed Abdi-Asjirta, whom the king had placed over them. " And several letters later: "Aziru has taken all my cities, Gubla in her solitude is left to me..