Assyria and the West: A Fresh Look at the Unshakeable Pillars of Late Bronze and Iron Age Chronology in the Eastern Mediterranean World

Many years ago, archaeologist George Hanfmann wrote that: ‘a word of caution must be added regarding the so-called ‘absolute’ dates. Because the Near East is so vital for the chronologies of the European, Central Asiatic … areas, it is well to remind ourselves from time to time that the two great pillars of the chronology of the Bronze Age, the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian, are not two stout towers resting on immovable foundations.’ His first pillar, the chronology of Egypt, has come under increasing scrutiny, particularly with respect to the ‘Third Intermediate Period’, which separates the 26th Dynasty from Egypt’s earlier history.To establish firmer dates for New Kingdom Egypt, scholars now point to synchronisms with Mesopotamia.Yet, how valid are these synchronisms? In many respects, Mesopotamian chronology seems antagonistic rather than complementary to the Egyptian.Egypt provides the dates for the Late Bronze Age Hittite empire, while Assyria controls those of the Neo-Hittite kin