From the Back Cover:
As the old adage goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” However, in the case of the traditional chronology for the Ancient Near East (ANE) currently found in textbooks and taught in academia, there is ample evidence that it is broken—or, more to the point, in need of recalibration and realignment prior to the year 745 bce. The problem arises from the fact that important chronological and historical data have been omitted from the mix. So, in the interest of seeking truth, this book presents an alternative ANE timeline by incorporating all available chronological and historical information, including the well-documented chronological data preserved in the Bible, to provide what your author believes to be a more accurate and complete understanding of ANE chronology and history. The methodology used to assemble the alternative timeline set forth in this book reverses the approach used by secular scholars and theologians. They typically start their harmonization by assuming that the Assyrian timeline is sacrosanct and use it as their base timeline. Then they require the biblical and all other timelines to align with it. The alternative ANE timeline presented in this book assumes instead that the ancient biblical data is the most complete and accurate chronological record and then seeks to harmonize all other timelines with its chronology. A comparison shows that the ancient Hebrew and traditional Egyptian timelines align with one another precisely. On the other hand, when the harmonized Hebrew-Egyptian timeline is compared to the eponym-derived Assyrian timeline, the dates simply do not align. Considering that the Hebrew regnal and the standard Egyptian pharaonic timelines are in agreement, it is logical to conclude that it is the Assyrian timeline that is in error and/or incomplete, with defects that have led to misunderstanding of various aspects of the ANE region’s chronology and history before 745 bce. After that year, all three ancient timelines are in agreement.
Note: This book was formerly offered under the title “Rethinking Ancient Near East Chronology.” It is now being offered under the current title with a reorganized format to make it easier to read and with numerous updates.
Print edition available at Amazon.com here
or in PDF format at no charge here