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131-408: The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Comparing many records pieces together a relative chronology relating dates in cities over a wide area. For the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, this correlation

262-400: A Akenkheres as a daughter of Oros . He speculated Meritaten might have ruled with the feminine prenomen 'Ankh-et-kheperure' after Akhenaten's death and before Smenkhkare's accession. In his argument, Smenkhkare then takes the masculine form of her prenomen upon gaining the throne through marriage. Although few Egyptologists endorsed the whole hypothesis, many did accept Meritaten at times as

393-660: 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. For the ANE chronology a key problem is the lack of a linkage between the eruption and some point on the floating chronology of the Middle Bronze Age in the ANE. Chronology Chronology is a part of periodization . It

524-571: A Sumerian King List type beginning, involves Babylonian kings from Simbar-Šipak ( c. 1021–1004 BC) to Erība-Marduk ( c. 769 – 761 BC). The Chronicle of Early Kings , after an early preamble, involves kings of the First Babylonian Empire ending with the First Sealand Dynasty. The Tummal Inscription relates events from king Ishbi-Erra of Isin at the beginning of the second millennium BC. The Chronicle of

655-622: 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

786-578: A coregent of Akhenaten, a sole ruler, and regent or coregent of Tutankhamun. Despite her highest attested year being Year 3, he suggests she counted her regnal years only after Akhenaten's death, a view put forth by Murnane to account for the lack of double dates in the New Kingdom, even when a coregency is known to exist. Dodson then speculates that she may later have shared Tutankhamun's regnal dating, in effect deferring senior status at least nominally to him. He proposes that Neferneferuaten helped guide

917-600: A decidedly softer line" toward the Amun priesthood. Therefore, Neferneferuaten might have been the Amarna-era ruler who first reached an accommodation with the Amun priests and reinstated the cult of Amun—rather than Tutankhamun as previously thought—since her own mortuary temple was located in Thebes, the religious capital of the Amun priesthood and Amun priests were now working within it. However, Egypt's political administration

1048-518: A great deal of confusion. A number of items in Tutankhamun 's tomb ( KV62 ) were originally inscribed for Neferneferuaten. Among them Carter 261p(1) , a stunning gold pectoral depicting the goddess Nut. Other items include the stone sarcophagus , mummy wrappings, royal figurines; canopic items (chest, coffinettes, and jar stoppers), various bracelets and even shabti figures. Some items are believed to have been at least originally intended for

1179-484: A king's reign. Many copies of these lists have been found, with certain ambiguities. There are sometimes too many or few royal officials for the length of a king's reign, and sometimes the different versions of the eponym list disagree on a royal official, for example in the Mari Eponym Chronicle . The eponym list is considered accurate within 1 year back to 1133 BC. Before that uncertainty creeps in. There

1310-546: A longstanding traditional, often difficult to detect. Key documents like the Sumerian King List were repeatedly copied and redacted over generations to suit current political needs. For this and other reasons, the Sumerian King List, once regarded as an important historical source, is now only used with caution, if at all, for the period under discussion here. The translation of cuneiform documents

1441-407: A period of sole reign for Neferneferuaten. Allen offers a possible explanation for the use of the same throne name by two successive kings. He suggested that the almost constant references to Akhenaten may be proclamations of legitimacy on the part of Neferneferuaten, with the epithets functioning to assert her as Akhenaten's chosen successor or coregent. This implies there may have been resistance to

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1572-500: A portion of her name made her an obvious candidate even before Neferneferuaten's gender was firmly established. Remains of painted plaster bearing the kingly names of Neferneferuaten found in the Northern Palace, long believed to be the residence of Nefertiti, supports the association of Nefertiti as the king. Nefertiti was in the forefront during her husband's reign and even depicted engaging in kingly activities such as smiting

1703-480: 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 ( ΔT ) and uncertainty about the lengths of months. Most calculations for dating using eclipses have assumed the Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa to be a legitimate source. The most notable omitted eclipses are the Mari Eponym Chronicle eclipse from

1834-500: A rival king to Neferneferuaten. This was offered as a simple and logical reading of the evidence to explain the nature of the epithets, the use of identical prenomens by successive kings and that she was denied a royal burial. However, with no dated evidence of rival or contemporaneous kings it remains conjecture. However, since Smenkhkare disappears from the political scene late in Akhenaten's reign and Neferneferuaten instead appears,

1965-548: A rival king. An Allen-Dodson hybrid could see Tutankhamun succeeding Akhenaten directly as rival to Neferneferuaten. There are almost as many theories and putative chronologies as there are Egyptologists interested in the period. The 2014 publication of an inscription for Nefertiti as Great Royal Wife in Regnal Year 16 of Akhenaten makes it clear Nefertiti was still alive and still Great Royal Wife in Akhenaten's second last year, which could be seen as supporting her candidacy as

2096-452: A woman based on the style even when a name cannot be restored. Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves has suggested that even the famous gold mask may have originally been intended for Neferneferuaten since her royal name in a cartouche, Ankhkheperure, was found partly erased, on Tutankhamun's funerary mask. For some time the accepted interpretation of the evidence was that Smenkhkare served as coregent with Akhenaten beginning about year 15 using

2227-512: A year later, in Year 14 or 15 of Akhenaten's reign, with little firm evidence to argue against it. Gabolde cites the Smenkhkare wine docket to support the idea that Smenkhkare must have succeeded Akhenaten. Finally, Allen has used the wine docket and strong association of Neferneferuaten with Akhenaten in her epithets and on stelae to speculate that both may have succeeded Akhenaten, with one as

2358-403: Is "In month XI, 15th day, Venus in the west disappeared, 3 days in the sky it stayed away, and in month XI, 18th day, Venus in the east became visible: springs will open, Adad his rain, Ea his floods will bring, king to king messages of reconciliation will send." Using it, various scholars have proposed dates for the fall of Babylon based on the 56/64-year cycle of Venus. It has been suggested that

2489-419: Is Beneficial for Her Husband", which Gabolde used to prove this king's female identity beyond doubt... However, it is worth noting that this coregency does not seem to have lasted a long time. After Akhenaten's death, Neferneferuaten continued in power as sole ruler for approximately three years. During her sole reign, Neferneferuaten also obtained new epithets. She replaced the name of Akhenaten with references to

2620-408: Is Nefertiti ruling as sole king, it has been theorized by Egyptologist and archaeologist Zahi Hawass that her reign was marked by the fall of Amarna and relocation of the capital back to the traditional city of Thebes . There is no broad consensus as to the succession order of Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten. The period from the 13th year of Akhenaten 's reign to the ascension of Tutankhaten

2751-460: Is a better metric. Some scholars discount the validity of the Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa entirely. The alternative major chronologies are defined by the date of the eighth year of the reign of Ammisaduqa , king of Babylon. The most common Venus Tablet solutions ( sack of Babylon ) The following table gives an overview of the different proposals, listing some key dates and their deviation relative to

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2882-557: Is a long hieratic inscription or graffito in the tomb of Pairi ( TT139 ) written by a scribe named Pawah: Regnal year 3, third month of Inundation, day 10. The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands Ankhkheperure Beloved of Aten , the Son of Re Neferneferuaten Beloved of Waenre . Giving worship to Amun, kissing the ground to Wenennefer by the lay priest, scribe of the divine offerings of Amun in

3013-418: Is a long table synchronizing the events from each of the nine kingdoms in parallel columns. By comparing the parallel columns, the reader can determine which events were contemporaneous, or how many years separated two different events. To place all the events on the same time scale, Eusebius used an Anno Mundi (A.M.) era, meaning that events were dated from the supposed beginning of the world as computed from

3144-516: Is actually better documented than that of Semenkhkare. Several attestations were found, revealing some interesting facts about this king's reign. The name is attested in Amarna, Thebes and Tell el-Borg. Mud jar sealings referring to the "(wine of the) estate of Neferneferuaten, beloved of Waenra," were also discovered in Saqqara. Nefertiti, who already played an important role in Amarna, and already bore

3275-400: Is also a part of the discipline of history including earth history , the earth sciences , and study of the geologic time scale . Chronology is the science of locating historical events in time. It relies mostly upon chronometry , which is also known as timekeeping, and historiography , which examines the writing of history and the use of historical methods. Radiocarbon dating estimates

3406-451: Is an important piece of information for archaeologists, which can be compromised by two factors. First, in ancient times old materials were often reused as building material or fill, sometimes at a great distance from the original location. Secondly, looting has disturbed archaeological sites at least back to Roman times, making the provenance of looted objects difficult or impossible to determine. Lastly, counterfeit versions of these object are

3537-521: Is closer to the truth since it agrees with the historical facts. Regardless of the order of succession, Neferneferuaten's successor seems to have denied her a king's burial based on items originally inscribed with her name, but used for the burial of Tutankhamun. In the reign of Horemheb , the reigns of the Amarna Period kings from Akhenaten to Ay were expunged from history as these kings' total regnal years were assigned to Horemheb. The result

3668-469: Is confirmed by feminine traces occasionally found in the name and by the epithet Akhet-en-hyes ("Effective for her husband"), incorporated into one version of her nomen (birth name) cartouche . She is distinguished from the king Smenkhkare who used the same throne name, Ankhkheperure, by the presence of epithets in both cartouches. She is suggested to have been either Smenkhkare's wife, Meritaten or, his predecessor's widow, Nefertiti . If this person

3799-406: Is followed by "his son Acencheres for 12 years 5 months, his son Acencheres II for 12 years 3 months", which demonstrates the limits to which Manetho may be relied upon for accuracy about the Amarna Period. Unlike Smenkhkare, there are no known named depictions of Neferneferuaten; she is only securely attested in inscriptions. Of particular interest is the lid of a box (Carter 001k) inscribed with

3930-479: Is left with the question of why this supporter would have chosen to throw his weight behind such a daring scheme". Since Nefertiti has been confirmed to be living as late as Year 16 of Akhenaten's reign however, the Meritaten theory becomes less likely because she would no longer be the most senior living person to be at court using either the name Neferneferuaten nor be identified as "Effective for her husband" as

4061-606: Is less certain but the following periods can be distinguished: Due to the sparsity of sources throughout the "Dark Age", the history of the Near Eastern Middle Bronze Age down to the end of the First Babylonian Dynasty is founded on a floating or relative chronology. There have been attempts to anchor the chronology using records of eclipses and other methods such as dendrochronology and radiocarbon dating , but none of those dates

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4192-465: Is mentioned three times. Neo-Babylonian kings are mentioned in 2 Kings 20, Hebrew : בְּרֹאדַךְ בַּלְאֲדָן , romanized :  Berodach Bal'adan , thought to be Marduk-apla-iddina II , in 2 Kings 24 Nebuchadnezzar II and in 2 Kings 25 Hebrew : אֱוִיל מְרֹדַךְ , romanized :  Evil Merodach , thought to be Amel-Marduk . In Isaiah 38 the neo-Assyrian kings Sennacherib and Esarhaddon are mentioned. Dendrochronology attempts to use

4323-413: Is more accurate. In recent years some properly calibrated radiocarbon dates have begun to appear: Other emerging technical dating methods include rehydroxylation dating , luminescence dating , archaeomagnetic dating and the dating of lime plaster from structures. 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

4454-622: Is now an Assyrian Revised Eponym List which attempts to resolve some of these issues. As often in archaeology, everyday records 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, recording shipments of mundane supplies, or settling accounts receivable. Most were tossed away after use as one today would discard unwanted receipts, but fortunately for us, clay tablets are durable enough to survive even when used as material for wall filler in new construction. A key find

4585-569: Is nowadays the most widespread dating system on earth. An epoch is the date (year usually) when an era begins. Ab Urbe condita is Latin for "from the founding of the City ( Rome )", traditionally set in 753 BC. It was used to identify the Roman year by a few Roman historians. Modern historians use it much more frequently than the Romans themselves did; the dominant method of identifying Roman years

4716-543: Is quite difficult, especially for damaged source material. Additionally, our knowledge of the underlying languages, like Akkadian and Sumerian, has evolved over time, so a translation done now may be quite different from one done in AD 1900: there can be honest disagreement over what a document says. Worse, the majority of 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

4847-689: Is that 3,300 years later, scholars would have to piece together events and even resurrect the players bit by bit with the evidence sometimes limited to palimpsest . Manetho was an Egyptian priest who lived in the third century BC during the time of the Ptolemies , a thousand years after the Amarna Period of the Eighteenth Dynasty when this woman would have been king. He wrote during the Hellenistic period in Ancient Egypt when it

4978-557: Is the one who sees you, O Amun: he is in festival every day!" For the Ka of the lay priest and scribe of the temple of Amun in the Mansion of Ankhkheperure, Pawah, born to Yotefseneb: "For your Ka! Spend a nice day amongst your townsmen." His brother, the outline draftsman Batchay of the Mansion of Ankhkheperure. Nicholas Reeves sees this graffito as a sign of a "new phase" of the Amarna revolution, with Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten "taking

5109-411: Is the only one that does not rely on someone changing their name in some awkward fashion to assume the role of Neferneferuaten. Akhenaten's choice of her as coregent remains a mystery. She is a less attractive candidate now that the Year 16 graffito for Nefertiti has been verified. Neferneferuaten-tasherit's age is the first objection often raised to this argument. She is thought to have been about ten at

5240-552: Is the use of archaeological findings, such as pottery, to do sequence dating . Aspects and examples of non-chronological story-telling: Neferneferuaten Ankhkheperure-Merit-Neferkheperure/Waenre/Aten Neferneferuaten ( Ancient Egyptian : nfr-nfrw-jtn ) was a name used to refer to a female king who reigned toward the end of the Amarna Period during the Eighteenth Dynasty . Her gender

5371-671: Is to synchronize events. By synchronizing an event it becomes possible to relate it to the current time and to compare the event to other events. Among historians, a typical need is to synchronize the reigns of kings and leaders in order to relate the history of one country or region to that of another. For example, the Chronicon of Eusebius (325 A.D.) is one of the major works of historical synchronism. This work has two sections. The first contains narrative chronicles of nine different kingdoms: Chaldean, Assyrian, Median, Lydian, Persian, Hebrew, Greek, Peloponnesian, Asian, and Roman. The second part

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5502-444: Is very murky. The reigns of Smenkhkare and Neferneferuaten were very brief and left little monumental or inscriptional evidence to draw a clear picture of political events. Adding to this, Neferneferuaten shares her prenomen (throne name) with Smenkhkare, and her nomen (birth name) with Nefertiti / Neferneferuaten Nefertiti making identification very difficult at times. With little dated evidence to fix their reigns with any certainty,

5633-477: Is widely supported. Currently the major schools of thought on the absolute dating of this period are separated by 56 or 64 years. This is because the key source for this analysis are the omen observations in the Venus tablet of King Ammisaduqa and these are multiples of the eight-year cycle of Venus visibility from Earth. More recent work by Vahe Gurzadyan has suggested that the fundamental eight-year cycle of Venus

5764-594: The Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Pentateuch . According to the computation Eusebius used, this occurred in 5199 B.C. The Chronicon of Eusebius was widely used in the medieval world to establish the dates and times of historical events. Subsequent chronographers, such as George Syncellus (died circa 811), analyzed and elaborated on the Chronicon by comparing with other chronologies. The last great chronographer

5895-478: The 12 years, 1 month reported (Africanus and Eusebius cite 32 and 16 years for this person). Akhenaten is not even mentioned in the most accurate 18th dynasty king list of Manetho's Epitome of Aegyptiaca compiled by Josephus in Contra Apionem . Most agree that Rathotis refers to Tutankhamun; therefore, the succession order also supports Acencheres as Ankhkheperure. Inexplicably, Manetho states that Rathotis

6026-401: The 2nd year of Tutankhamun (c. 1341–1323 BC). Assuming that the correct foreign rulers have been identified, this provides and important point of synchronization. Identification can be difficult due to the propensity for states to re-use regnal names. We have some data sources from the classical period: Berossus, a Babylonian astronomer and historian born during the time of Alexander

6157-459: The 3rd millennium BCE, for example. The study of the means of placing pottery and other cultural artifacts into some kind of order proceeds in two phases, classification and typology: Classification creates categories for the purposes of description, and typology seeks to identify and analyse changes that allow artifacts to be placed into sequences. Laboratory techniques developed particularly after mid-20th century helped constantly revise and refine

6288-418: The Amarna Period. Manetho's Epitome , a summary of his work, describes the late Eighteenth Dynasty succession as Orus or "Amenophis for 30 years 10 months." After Orus, who is most likely Amenhotep III, comes "his daughter Acencheres for 12 years 1 month then her brother Rathotis for 9 years". According to Marc Gabolde, Acencheres is Ankhkheperure with a transcription error converting 2 years, 1 month into

6419-500: The Assyrian King List, are the products of government and religious establishments, with a natural bias 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 putting the best possible face on history, a fact the interpreter must constantly keep in mind. Historical lists of rulers were traditional in

6550-543: The Aten in her prenomen and nomen. The epithet of her prenomen was then mry-Itn, "Beloved of Aten ", while the epithet of her nomen became HoA-mAat, "Ruler of Truth". The fact that most of Tutankhamun's funerary equipment was originally made or inscribed for the female king Neferneferuaten strongly suggests that Tutankhamun, in fact, directly succeeded Neferneferuaten on the throne after the female king died. This rather suggests this revised Eighteenth Dynasty chronology table below

6681-434: The Aten" and "The Ruler". Allen concluded that the strong affiliation with Akhenaten in the epithets and the number of them made it likely that Neferneferuaten had been his coregent and therefore, preceded Smenkhkare. The "effective..." epithets, then represent a period during which Akhenaten was incapacitated, but may also date from a time after Akhenaten's death. Finally, the less common 'Akhenaten-less' versions represented

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6812-635: The Egyptian lunar observations. It has been suggested that lunar dates place the accession of Thutmose III , pharaoh of the Battle of Megiddo , to 1490 BC or even 1505 BC versus the current 1470 BC. A number of attempts have been made to date Kassite Kudurru stone documents by mapping the symbols to astrononomical elements, using Babylonian star catalogues such as MUL.APIN with so far very limited results. Thousands of cuneiform tablets have been found in an area running from Anatolia to Egypt. While many are

6943-597: The Great wrote a history of Babylon which is a lost book . Portions were preserved by other classical writers, mainly Josephus via Alexander Polyhistor . The surviving material is in chronicle form and covers the Neo-Babylonian Empire period from Nabopolassar (627–605 BC) to Nabonidus (556–539 BC). This book provides a list of kings starting with the Neo-Babylonian Empire and ending with

7074-678: 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. There is much evidence that the Bronze Age civilization of the Indus Valley traded with the Near East, including clay seals found at Ur III and in the Persian Gulf. Seals and beads were also found at

7205-459: The Mansion [temple] of Ankhkheperure in Thebes , Pawah, born to Yotefseneb. He says: "My wish is to see you, O lord of persea trees! May your throat take the north wind, that you may give satiety without eating and drunkenness without drinking. My wish is to look at you, that my heart might rejoice, O Amun, protector of the poor man: you are the father of the one who has no mother and the husband of

7336-732: The Market Prices mentions various Babylonian rulers beginning from the period of Hammurabi. The Eclectic Chronicle relates events of the post-Kassite Babylonian kings. Other examples are the Religious Chronicle , and Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle , among others. The Synchronistic Chronicle, found in the library of Assurbanipal in Nineveh records the diplomacy of the Assyrian empire with the Babylonian empire. While useful,

7467-509: The Pairi inscription is dated using her regnal years. Opinion is more divided on the placement and nature of the reign of Smenkhkare in relation to her. Most Egyptologists see the two names to indicate two separate individuals and consider this as the simplest and more likely view. Most name changes in the Amarna period involved people incorporating -Aten into their name or removing an increasingly offensive -Amun element. The focus now shifts to

7598-450: The absence of written history , with its chronicles and king lists , late 19th century archaeologists found that they could develop relative chronologies based on pottery techniques and styles. In the field of Egyptology , William Flinders Petrie pioneered sequence dating to penetrate pre-dynastic Neolithic times, using groups of contemporary artefacts deposited together at a single time in graves and working backwards methodically from

7729-552: The accession of Hammurabi as either 1848, 1792, or 1736 BC, known as the "high" ("long"), " middle ", and "short (or low) chronology" . A record of the movements of Venus over roughly a 16-day period during the reign of a king, believed to be Ammisaduqa of the First Babylonian Dynasty, has been preserved on a tablet called Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa ( Enuma Anu Enlil 63). Twenty copies and fragments have been recovered, all Neo-Assyrian and later. An example entry

7860-430: The actual power came into the hands of a small group of high officials at the court. By the late twentieth century, there was "'a fair degree of consensus'" that Neferneferuaten was a female king and Smenkhkare a separate male king, particularly among specialists of the period. Many Egyptologists believe she also served as coregent on the basis of the stela and epithets, although a sole reign seems very likely, given that

7991-469: The age of formerly living things by measuring the proportion of carbon-14 isotope in their carbon content. Dendrochronology estimates the age of trees by correlation of the various growth rings in their wood to known year-by-year reference sequences in the region to reflect year-to-year climatic variation. Dendrochronology is used in turn as a calibration reference for radiocarbon dating curves. The familiar terms calendar and era (within

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8122-601: The ancient Near East. Covers rulers of Mesopotamia from a time "before the flood " to the fall of the Isin Dynasty , depending on the version. Its use for pre-Akkadian rulers is limited to none. It continues to have value for the Akkadian period and later. 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

8253-578: The ancient equivalent of grocery receipts, these tablets, along with inscriptions on buildings and public monuments, provide the major source of chronological information for the ancient Middle East. While there are some relatively pristine display-quality objects, the vast majority of recovered tablets and inscriptions are damaged. They have been broken with only portions found, intentionally defaced, and damaged by weather or soil. Many tablets were not even baked and have to be carefully handled until they can be hardened by heating. The site of an item's recovery

8384-466: The burial of a family member such as Meketaten , at a time before she was elevated. Meritaten as a candidate for the identity of Neferneferuaten seems to be the most fluid, taking many forms depending on the views of the Egyptologist. She had been put forth by Rolf Krauss in 1973 to explain the feminine traces in the prenomen and epithets of Ankhkheperure and to conform to Manetho's description of

8515-416: The calibration method. There have also been issues with dating for charcoal samples, which may reflect much older wood the charcoal was made from. There are also calibration issues with annual and regional C14 variations. A further problem is that earlier archaeological dates used traditional radiocarbon dating while newer results sometimes come from Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating which

8646-410: The choice of Neferneferuaten, resistance was anticipated. This appears to be supported by her funerary items being usurped to deny her a king's burial. He suggests that adoption of the throne name Ankhkheperure by Smenkhkare was "to emphasize the legitimacy of Smenkh-ka-re's claim against that of Akhenaton's "chosen" (/mr/) coregent". That is, a division in the royal house put Smenkhkare on the throne as

8777-402: The chronologies developed for specific cultural areas. Unrelated dating methods help reinforce a chronology, an axiom of corroborative evidence . Ideally, archaeological materials used for dating a site should complement each other and provide a means of cross-checking. Conclusions drawn from just one unsupported technique are usually regarded as unreliable. The fundamental problem of chronology

8908-584: The chronology. His research has recently been included in the Oxford History of the Ancient Near East and has been cited widely in the recent academic literature. A new method has been developed to combine dendrochronology with Miyake events to extend the range to other areas. As in Egypt and the eastern Mediterranean, radiocarbon dates run one or two centuries earlier than the dates proposed by archaeologists. Recently, radiocarbon dates from

9039-570: The consensus is that this chronicle should not be considered reliable. Chronicle P provides the same type of information as the Assyrian Synchronistic Chronicle, but from the Babylonian point of view. Rulers in the ancient Near East liked to take credit for public works. Temples, buildings and statues are likely to identify their royal patron. Kings also publicly recorded major deeds such as battles won, titles acquired, and gods appeased. These are very useful in tracking

9170-470: The coregent bore the name Neferneferuaten before her coronation, and since it now seems clear that the coregent was not Nefertiti, she must have been the only other woman known by that name: Akhenaten's fourth daughter, Neferneferuaten Jr. Allen explains the 'tasherit' portion of her name may have been dropped, either because it would be unseemly to have a King using 'the lesser' in their name, or it may have already been dropped when Nefertiti died. This theory

9301-443: The deified deceased king, before finally changing to 'Beloved of Aten' and 'the ruler' late in her reign. Furthermore, it has been suggested that Smenkhkare may also be Neferneferuaten, a view still held by a few such as Nicholas Reeves and until 2004 by Dodson. The Coregency Stela (UC 410), mentioned earlier, might resolve the question if it were not so badly damaged. The name Neferneferuaten replaced Nefertiti's name on it. How

9432-553: The discovery of their names on amphorae at Tell el-Borg , is unwarranted." Gabolde likewise considered a coregency or regency unlikely. Van der Perre considers it likely Nefertiti assumed the royal office using the name Neferneferuaten, adopting the throne name briefly used by Smenkhkare in combination with her own name, but that the chance of a co-regency period is slim. References to Akhenaten that were added to her names as epithets, confirm her legitimacy. The epithets changed over time: initially conferring legitimacy, then linking to

9563-412: The earliest historical phases of Egypt. This method of dating is known as seriation . Known wares discovered at strata in sometimes quite distant sites, the product of trade, helped extend the network of chronologies. Some cultures have retained the name applied to them in reference to characteristic forms, for lack of an idea of what they called themselves: "The Beaker People " in northern Europe during

9694-603: The early Roman Emperors. The entries relevant to the ancient Near East run from Nabonassar (747–734 BC) to the Macedonian king Alexander IV (323–309 BC). Though mostly accepted as accurate there are known issues with the Canon. Some rulers are omitted, there are times for which no ruler is listed, and the early dates have been converted from the lunar calendar used by the Babylonians to the Egyptian solar calendar. Not having

9825-400: The enemies of Egypt. The core premise is that her prominence and power in the Amarna Period was almost unprecedented for a great royal wife, which makes her the most likely and most able female to succeed Akhenaten. Until 2012, Nefertiti's last dated depiction was from Year 12 of Akhenaten's reign, suggesting that she died shortly after. However, she is now known to have still been alive in

9956-570: The epithet of a ruling female pharaoh. Secondly, both Aidan Dodson and the late Bill Murnane have stressed their opinions that the female ruler Neferneferuaten and Meritaten cannot be the same person. As Dodson writes: ...the next issue is clearly her [i.e., Neferneferuaten's] origins. Cases have been made for her being the former Nefertiti (Harris, Samson and others), Meryetaten (Krauss 1978; Gabolde 1998) and most recently Neferneferuaten-tasherit, [the] fourth daughter of Akheneten (Allen 2006). Of these, Meryetaten's candidature seems fatally undermined by

10087-462: The existence of the KV62 box fragment JE61500, which gives the names and titles of Akhenaten, Neferneferuaten and Meryetaten as clearly separate individuals. In 2009, James Allen proposed a new reading of events, suggesting that Neferneferuaten was Akhenaten and Nefertiti's fourth daughter, Neferneferuaten-tasherit . Tasherit meaning the lesser . The evidence presented in favour of this identification

10218-473: The existence of versions of the first cartouche that seemed to include feminine indicators. These were linked with a few items including a statuette found in Tutankhamun's tomb depicting a king whose appearance was particularly feminine, even for Amarna art that seems to favor androgyny . In 1988, James P. Allen proposed that it was possible to separate Smenkhkare from Neferneferuaten. He pointed out

10349-613: The female king Neferneferuaten and the direct successor to Akhenaten. In this situation, Akhenaten had chosen Smenkhkare as his successor in his Year 12 but Smenkhkare predeceased Akhenaten, which forced Akhenaten to elevate Nefetiti to the throne as Neferneferuaten to secure his legacy. Nozomu Kawai writes: ...it can be suggested that Akhenaten appointed Nefertiti as his coregent after the demise of his male coregent, Smenkhkare. Smenkhkare's widowed queen, Meritaten, seems to have kept her title as his great royal wife. Simultaneously, Neferneferuaten obtained another epithet, Axt-n-H(j)=s, "One Who

10480-403: The final destruction of Ebla have been shown to definitely favour the middle chronology (with the fall of Babylon and Aleppo at c. 1595 BC), and seem to discount the ultra-low chronology (same event at c. 1499 BC), although it is emphasized that this is not presented as a decisive argument. Radiocarbon dates in literature should be discounted if they do not include the raw C14 date and

10611-469: The first who made a connection between these this era and Anno Domini . (AD 1 = AUC 754.) Dionysius Exiguus' Anno Domini era (which contains only calendar years AD ) was extended by Bede to the complete Christian era (which contains, in addition all calendar years BC , but no year zero ). Ten centuries after Bede, the French astronomers Philippe de la Hire (in the year 1702) and Jacques Cassini (in

10742-401: The floor of the tomb intended for her shows signs of cuts being started for the final placement of her sarcophagus. A single ushabti for Nefertiti seems scant evidence for her death, given there are about 200 shabti for Akhenaten. It is possible the two pieces belonged instead to two separate shabtis, one of Nefertiti and the other of Meritaten. Alternately, it may have been a votive placed in

10873-575: The following: King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Living in Truth, Lord of the Two Lands, Neferkheperure-Waenre Son of Re, Living in Truth, Lord of Crowns, Akhenaten , Great in his duration King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Lord of the Two Lands, Ankhkheperure Mery-Neferkheperre Son of Re, Lord of Crowns, Neferneferuaten Mery-Waenre Great Royal Spouse, Meritaten , May she Live Forever The most definitive inscription attesting to Neferneferuaten

11004-520: The form of "desired of ...", but were occasionally replaced by "effective for her husband". In a few cases, the names can be followed by 'justified' using feminine attributes. The term 'justified' ( maet kheru ) is a common indicator that the person referenced is dead; a similar reference associated with Hatshepsut in the tomb of Penyati is taken to indicate she had recently died. Finally, a few of Neferneferuaten's cartouches bear unique epithets not associated with Akhenaten at all. These include "desired of

11135-431: The fundamental 8-year cycle of Venus is a better metric, leading to the proposal of an "ultra-low" chronology. Other researchers have declared the data to be too noisy for any use in fixing the chronology. 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

11266-401: The identity of Neferneferuaten, with each candidate having its own advocate(s), a debate that may never be settled to the satisfaction of all. Even among Egyptologists who advocate for the identification of Nefertiti as Neferneferuaten, the exact nature of her reign can vary. Nefertiti was an early candidate for King Neferneferuaten, first proposed in 1973 by J. R. Harris. The apparent use of

11397-418: The image of Nefertiti was changed to match the new inscription could settle matters if her image was not missing. If her entire image was replaced it would mean Nefertiti was replaced by someone else called King Neferneferuaten and perhaps that she died. If just a new crown was added to her image, it would argue quite strongly that Nefertiti adopted a new name and title. As it is, the scene seems to be another of

11528-717: The kings of Lagash in the form of a chronicle though some scholars believe the Lagash chronicle to be either a parody of the Sumerian King List or a complete fabrication. This list deals only with the rulers of Babylon. It has been found in two versions, denoted A and B both written in Neo-Babylonian times. The later dynasties in the list document the Kassite and Sealand periods though a number of Kassite rulers are damaged. Ruler names largely match other records but

11659-455: The list was first constructed in the time of Ashur-uballit I (1365–1330 BC). The king list is considered to be roughly correct from that point on, less so for earlier entries which have numerous inconsistencies. Its purpose is to create a narrative of continuity and legitimacy for Assyrian kingship, blending in the kings of Amorite origin. The existing source consists of 3 mostly complete tables and 2 small fragments. There are differences between

11790-701: The literary methods of synchronism used by traditional chronographers such as Eusebius, Syncellus and Scaliger, it is possible to synchronize events by archaeological or astronomical means. For example, the Eclipse of Thales , described in the first book of Herodotus can potentially be used to date the Lydian War because the eclipse took place during the middle of an important battle in that war. Likewise, various eclipses and other astronomical events described in ancient records can be used to astronomically synchronize historical events. Another method to synchronize events

11921-584: The meaning of a coherent system of numbered calendar years) concern two complementary fundamental concepts of chronology. For example, during eight centuries the calendar belonging to the Christian era , which era was taken in use in the 8th century by Bede , was the Julian calendar, but after the year 1582 it was the Gregorian calendar. Dionysius Exiguus (about the year 500) was the founder of that era, which

12052-474: The middle chronology, omitting the Supershort Chronology (sack of Babylon in 1466 BC): In the series, the conjunction of the rise of Venus with the new moon provides a point of reference, or rather three points, for the conjunction is a periodic occurrence. Identifying a conjunction during the reign of king Ammisaduqa with one of these calculated conjunctions will therefore fix, for example,

12183-468: The most likely explanation is that Smenkhkare--who is attested in an unfinished durbar scene from the Tomb of Meryre II (TA2) at Amarna dated to Year 12 of Akhenaten--must have died perhaps 1 or 2 years after since this relief scene was never finished by the craftsman. Athena Van der Perre observes that: After the death of Semenkhkare, the royal family had to face the problem of succession again. Akhenaten

12314-463: The name 'Ankhkheperure' was rendered differently depending on whether it was associated with Smenkhkare or Neferneferuaten. When coupled with Neferneferuaten, the prenomen included an epithet referring to Akhenaten (such as 'desired of Wa en Re'). There were no occasions where the 'long' version of the prenomen (Ankhkheperure plus epithet) occurred alongside the nomen 'Smenkhkare', nor was the 'short' prenomen (without epithet) ever found associated with

12445-589: The name Ankhkheperure. He also identifies her as the subject of the Dakhamunzu affair, with the Hittite prince Zannanza ascending the throne as Smenkhkare. As there is no evidence as to when or where he died nor that he was murdered, Gabolde believes that he completed the trip and died only after becoming king. The proposal continues that, after his death, she adopts full pharoanic prerogatives to continue to rule as King Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten. Since Tutankamun

12576-482: The name Neferneferuaten as coregent and using her birth name in the role of royal wife to Akhenaten. He has also proposed that the Meryre drawing was executed in advance of an anticipated coronation that ended up not taking place due to his death. Most recently, Gabolde has proposed that Meritaten was raised to coregent of Akhenaten during the final years of his reign and that she succeeds him as interregnum regent using

12707-404: The name Neferneferuaten, is in my view the most likely candidate for this function....After her husband's death, Nefertiti would reign the country herself.. The Egyptologists, Rolf Krauss and Nozomu Kawai both assign the female king Neferneferuaten an independent reign of between 2 and 3 years between Akhenaten and Tutankhamun. Athena Van Der Perre writes: The attestations of the name confirm

12838-405: The name being translated is "Ankhkheperure", it could be related to one of two people. Advocates for Smenkhkare as the direct successor of Akhenaten make the case that since she is attested as Great Royal Wife, what we would associate with queen , just before the start of Akhenaten's final regnal year, then Smenkhkare is more likely to be Akhenaten's direct successor. Prior to 2014, Neferneferuaten

12969-512: The nomen 'Neferneferuaten'. Additionally, a feminine 't' glyph is often present in the prenomen, nomen, or epithets. Later, the French Egyptologist Marc Gabolde noted that several items from the tomb of Tutankhamun, originally inscribed for Neferneferuaten and initially thought to read "...desired of Akhenaten", when translated correctly, were inscribed as Akhet-en-hyes or "effective for her husband". His reading

13100-442: The observations occurred (Memphis is usually assumed), c) what day the observations were taken (two are known to be the 1st lunar day), and d) the Egyptian calendar for this period is not fully known, especially how intercalary months were handled. Since the Assyrian eponym list is accurate to one year only back to 1132 BC, ancient Near East chronology for the preceding century or so is anchored to Ramsesses II, based on synchronisms and

13231-438: The order depends on how the evidence is interpreted. Many encyclopedic sources and atlases will show Smenkhkare succeeding Akhenaten on the basis of a research tradition dating back to 1845, and some still conflate Smenkhkare with Neferneferuaten. The lack of unique names continues to cause problems in books and papers written before the early 1980s: an object might be characterized as bearing the name of Smenkhkare, when, if in fact

13362-522: The probable or possible candidate for a female Ankhkheperure ruling for a time after Smenkhkare's death and perhaps, as regent to Tutankhaten. The primary argument against Meritaten, either as Krauss's pro tempore Ankh-et-kheperure before marriage to Smenkhkare or as Akhenaten's coregent King Neferneferuaten, is that she is well attested as wife and great royal wife to Smenkhkare. For her to have later ruled as king means necessarily, and perhaps incredibly for her subjects, that she stepped down from King to

13493-687: The reformation in the early years of Tutankhaten and conjectures that the return to the dominence of the Amun priesthood is the result of her 'rapid adjustment to political reality'. To support the Nefertiti-Tutankhamun coregency, he cites jar handles bearing her cartouche and others bearing those of Tutankhaten from Northern Sinai. This is not a view shared by the excavators, who note that sealings and small objects such as bezel rings from many Eighteenth Dynasty royals including Akhenaten, Ay, Queen Tiye, and Horemheb were found, and that "linking Tutankhamun and Neferneferuaten politically, based on

13624-598: The region, a favor returned later by the Assyrians. Some key synchronisms: There are problems with using Egyptian chronology. Besides some minor issues of regnal lengths and overlaps, there are three long periods of poorly documented chaos in the history of ancient Egypt, the First , Second , and Third Intermediate Periods , whose lengths are doubtful. This means the Egyptian Chronology actually comprises three floating chronologies. The chronologies of Mesopotamia,

13755-541: The regnal lengths are more problematic. There is also a Babylonian King List of the Hellenistic Period in later part of the 1st millennium. The Assyrian King List extends back to the reign of Shamshi Adad I (1809 – c. 1776 BC), an Amorite who conquered Assur while creating a new kingdom in Upper Mesopotamia. The list extends to the reign of Shalmaneser V (727–722 BC). It is believed that

13886-474: The reign of Neferneferuaten, which, if this was Nefertiti, could not have started until after the 1st month of the 16th year of Akhenaten, as has been shown in the quarry inscription at Dayr Abū Ḥinnis. So far, no evidence has been found about the queen's demise. The most likely possibility is that she died after reigning at least 3 years. After her death, Tutankhaten―now a boy approximately 8 years old―would start his own reign. With no queen-mother left to guide him,

14017-400: The reign of a ruler. Unlike current calendars, most ancient calendars were based on the accession of the current ruler, as in "the 5th year in the reign of Hammurabi". Each royal year was also given a title reflecting a deed of the ruler, like "the year Ur was defeated". The compilation of these years are called date lists. In Assyria, a royal official or limmū was selected in every year of

14148-506: The role of King's Wife. This view places Smenkhkare after Neferneferuaten, which requires the Meryre depiction to be drawn 5–6 years after the 'Durbar' depiction it is alongside, and several years after work on tombs had stopped. The counter to this argument comes from Marc Gabolde, who offers political necessity as the reason for Meritaten's demotion. He sees the inscribed box (Carter 001k tomb naming her alongside Akhenaten and Neferneferuaten) as depicting Meritaten in simultaneous roles using

14279-408: The royal family including at least Meritaten. Replacing the name Nefertiti with the name King Neferneferuaten in a depiction of the royal family, still seems to favor Nefertiti as the new king. The primary argument against Nefertiti had been that she likely died sometime after Year 12, which was the last known dated depiction of her until 2012. However, an inscription discovered in 2012 showed that she

14410-534: The second to last year of Akhenaten's reign and still bearing the title of Great Royal Wife, based on an ink inscription dated explicitly to 'Year 16 III Akhet day 15' in a limestone quarry at Dayr Abū Ḥinnis. This inscription would argue against a coregency of more than about a year, if at all, as the inscription attests to Nefertiti's position as Akhenaten's great royal wife just before the start of his final year. This affects theories proposed by some Egyptologists, such as Aidan Dodson, who see Neferneferuaten as both

14541-690: The site of Esnunna . 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. 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

14672-684: The stability of buried clay tablets, the records of the Hebrews have a great deal of ancient editorial work to sift through when used as a source for chronology. However, the Hebrew kingdoms lay at the crossroads of Babylon, Assyria, Egypt and the Hittites, making them spectators and often victims of actions in the area during the 1st millennium. Mostly concerned with regional events in the Levant, in 2 Kings 23 Hebrew : פַרְעֹה נְכֹה , romanized :  Phare'oh Necho , thought to be pharaoh Necho II ,

14803-480: The subject of strong debate, with dates ranging between 1628 and 1520 BC. These dates are based on radiocarbon samples, dendrochronology, ice cores, and archaeological remains. Archaeological remains date the eruption toward the end of the Late Minoan IA period (c. 1636–1527 BC) roughly comparable to the beginning of the New Kingdom in Egypt. Radiocarbon dating has placed it at between 1627 BC and 1600 BC with

14934-501: The tablets involving regnal lengths, names, and in one case a king being left out entirely. Not surprising given that they are noted as being copies of earlier tablets. Many chronicles have been recovered in the ancient Near East, most fragmentary, with a political slant, and sometimes contradictory; but when combined with other sources, they provide a rich source of chronological data. Most available chronicles stem from later Babylonian and Assyrian sources. The Dynastic Chronicle , after

15065-415: The throne name Ankhkheperure. At some point, perhaps to start his sole reign, he changed his name to Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten. An alternative view held that Nefertiti was King Neferneferuaten; in some versions she is also masquerading as a male using the name Smenkhkare. Things remained in this state of interpretation until the early 1970s when English Egyptologist John Harris noted in a series of papers

15196-400: The time of Akhenaten's death, but Allen suggests that some daughters may have been older than generally calculated based on their first depicted appearance. Their first appearance may have been on the occasion of being weaned, at age three; Neferneferuaten-tasherit may have been as old as 13 by the end of Akhenaten's reign. The later use of the "effective..." epithets may indicate that she too,

15327-647: The time of Shamshi-Adad I and the Sargon of Akkad eclipse (from the Legends of the Kings of Akkad and a liver omen). Some important examples: There are thirteen Egyptian New Kingdom lunar observations which are used to pin the chronology in that period by locking down the accession year of Ramsesses II to 1279 BC. There are a number of issues with this including a) the regnal lengths for Neferneferuaten , Seti I , and Horemheb are actually not known with accuracy, b) where

15458-468: 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, and a floating chronology has been developed using trees in Anatolia for the Bronze and Iron Ages. Professor of archaeology at Cornell, Sturt Manning, has spearheaded efforts to use this floating chronology with radiocarbon wiggle-match to anchor

15589-452: The widow. Pleasant is the utterance of your name: it is like the taste of life... [etc.] "Come back to us, O lord of continuity. You were here before anything had come into being, and you will be here when they are gone. As you caused me to see the darkness that is yours to give, make light for me so that I can see you... "O Amun, O great lord who can be found by seeking him, may you drive off fear! Set rejoicing in people's heart(s). Joyful

15720-515: The year 1740), purely to simplify certain calculations, put the Julian Dating System (proposed in the year 1583 by Joseph Scaliger ) and with it an astronomical era into use, which contains a leap year zero, which precedes the year 1 (AD). While of critical importance to the historian, methods of determining chronology are used in most disciplines of science, especially astronomy , geology , paleontology and archaeology . In

15851-540: Was Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540-1609) who reconstructed the lost Chronicon and synchronized all of ancient history in his two major works, De emendatione temporum (1583) and Thesaurus temporum (1606). Much of modern historical datings and chronology of the ancient world ultimately derives from these two works. Scaliger invented the concept of the Julian Day which is still used as the standard unified scale of time for both historians and astronomers. In addition to

15982-456: Was a number of cuneiform tablets from Amarna in Egypt, the city of the pharaoh Akhenaten . Mostly in Akkadian, the diplomatic language of the time, a number of them name foreign rulers including kings of Assyria and Babylon as well as Tushratta king of Mitanni and rulers of small states in the Levant. The letters date from the later stages of the reign of Amenhotep III (c. 1386–1349 BC) to

16113-417: Was alive and of royal lineage, Gabolde argues that Meritaten's actions almost certainly must be taken as intending to prevent his ascension to king. The Smenkhkare-Zannanza version garners little support among Egyptologists. With the presence of Tutankhamun, Miller points out Meritaten "would presumably have needed the backing of some powerful supporter(s) to carry out such a scheme as the tahamunzu episode, one

16244-473: Was being ruled by a Greek dynasty rather than a native dynasty. His lost work Aegyptiaca (History of Egypt), now known only in fragmentary form from later writers quoting his work, is the sole ancient record available. Because of the deliberate suppression of histories of the Amarna kings by succeeding rulers following them which was unknown to him, the sources Manetho used for his history were not accurate about

16375-440: Was later confirmed by James Allen. The use of epithets (or lack of them) to identify the king referenced in an inscription eventually became widely accepted among scholars and regularly cited in their work although a case for exempting a particular inscription or instance will occasionally be argued to support a larger hypothesis. Allen later showed that Neferneferuaten's epithets were of three types or sets. They were usually in

16506-409: Was left with two royal wives (Nefertiti and Meritaten) and one possible future successor, who was still too young to reign (Tutankhaten). At some point after Semenkhkare's disappearance, Akhenaten must have decided that there was only one person capable of reigning and tutoring Tutankhaten after his death. The new regent would use the name Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten. The reign of "king" Neferneferuaten

16637-472: Was solely based on her name. The primary element in the nomen of a pharaoh always corresponds to the name he (or she) bore before coming to the throne; from the Eighteenth Dynasty onward, epithets were usually added to this name in the pharaoh's cartouche, but Akhenaten provides the only example of a complete and consistent change of the nomen's primary element, and even he used his birth name, Amenhotep, at his accession. The evidence of this tradition argues that

16768-418: Was sometimes thought to have ruled between Akhenaten and Smenkhkare as illustrated in a 2011 Metropolitan Museum of Art symposium on Horemheb , the general chronology of the late Eighteenth Dynasty is: Aidan Dodson proposes that Smenkhkare did not have an independent reign and thus, Neferneferuaten must have come after him, the result being that Smenkhkare's reign is entirely that of a coregent, ending about

16899-415: Was still alive in Year 16 of her husband's reign. Evidence put forward to suggest she predeceased Akhenaten includes pieces of an ushabti indicating her title at death was Great Royal Wife; wine dockets from her estate declining and ceasing after Year 13; Meritaten's title as Great Royal Wife alongside Akhenaten's name on items from Tutankhamun's tomb indicating she likely replaced Nefertiti in that role;

17030-442: Was still situated at Amarna rather than Thebes under Neferneferuaten's reign. There are several stele depicting two kings—with each wearing a different traditional king's crown—in various familiar, almost intimate scenes. All of them are unfinished or uninscribed and some are defaced. These include: The clues may point to a female coregent, but the unique situation of succeeding kings using identical throne names may have resulted in

17161-473: Was to name the two consuls who held office that year. Before the advent of the modern critical edition of historical Roman works, AUC was indiscriminately added to them by earlier editors, making it appear more widely used than it actually was. It was used systematically for the first time only about the year 400, by the Iberian historian Orosius . Pope Boniface IV , in about the year 600, seems to have been

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