Potentials for linking Relative with Absolute Chronology

Potentials for associating the material culture with specific rulers and with the absolute chronology of Ancient Egypt have been demonstrated in a series of publications by Do. Arnold on the three royal tombs of the 11th Dynasty at El-Tarif, the Nebhepetre' Mentuhotep complex at Deir el-Bahari, and the pyramids of Amenemhat I and Sesostris I at Lisht, the pyramids of Sesostris III and Amenemhat III at Dahshur. As such monuments were sometimes in use for a considerable period, a careful selection of material has to be made. For the time of the NK, the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings have yielded much well-dated material which can be specially considered from the chronological point of view. Another important group are the tombs of well-dated princes and officials of the 11th, the 12th, the 18th till the 20th Dynasties, in particular in the Theban necropolis. From the NK an abundance of material has been supplied by the EES excavations from the tombs of Maya, Horemheb, Tia & Tia in Saqqara, and by Heidelberg University's clearance of many important private tombs in the Theban necropolis.

Sites of short occupation such as specialized settlements at Deir el-Ballas (Seqenenre' till Ahmose), Abydos (Sesostris III, Ahmose), at Malqata (Amenophis III.), and at Tell el-Amarna (Akhenaton) should not be forgotten. There are also sites which have dated building projects which may serve as a datumline as the construction of the temple at 'Ezbet Rushdi (fig. 5) which can be linked to the 5th year of Sesostris III. by a stela. Therefore whatever is below this building or the temple is older than year 5 of Sesostris III (ca. 1868 BC), whatever is above is younger than this datumline. There are also historical datumlines as the fall of Avaris (fig. 4) (ca. 1530 B.C). The last stratum before this event is D/2 at Tell el-Dab'a. It is marked by an abandonment of the site and in the region of the citadel (fig.6) by the beginning of the 18th Dynasty occupation there. At some sites close scrutiny may provide fixed points which provide anchors for several strata. E.g. at Elephantine a package of strata can be limited from below with an inscribed bowl from stratum 12 with a date of the year 46. This applies with high certainty to Amenemhat III. A chronological limit from above can be provided by stamped bricks of a building of str. VII with the name of Tuthmosis III.

Special studies on Minoan pottery in Egypt were published by B.J. Kemp and R.S. Merrillees, while Mycenaean imports have been studied by V. Hankey, M. Bell, A. Leonard and P. Mountjoy. Cypriot pottery in Egypt has been studied primarily by R.S. Merrillees, L.C. Maguire and C. Bergoffen. Late Cypriot pottery from Memphis was analysed by K. Eriksson, a monograph study on Tell el-Yahudiya ware appeared from M. Kaplan but is completely lacking any chronological dimension.