An Absolute Iron Age Chronology of the Levant and the Mediterranean

Ancient sources and archaeological record have been sounded out by scholars in search of chronological reference points, anchors to fix in time strata and related sets of material culture. A reliable timetable has been traditionally provided by the Egyptian Pharaohs’ list, recently also verified through a radiocarbon-based regeneration. It was useful when Egyptian inscribed items were found in primary deposition, even though also Egyptian chronology has its own uncertainties. Furthermore, radiocarbon dating when used as a clue to check if one or another chronological reconstruction was reliable, proved to be not so accurate to become a decisive tool for 1st millennium BC chronology.