Egypt and the Levant in the Early Bronze Age: Implications of a New Radiocarbon Chronology
Dr. Matthew J. Adams
Director of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem
Tuesday 27 January 2015 at 6:00pm
Reception to Follow
About the Lecture
In a series of recent studies, new radiocarbon dates were offered in support of a revision to the traditional absolute chronology of the Early Bronze Age (EB) in the southern Levant. The nearly 500 new dates from more than 60 sites, including Megiddo, demonstrate that the EB II period is notably shorter than previously thought and that the EB III ends ca. 2500 BCE, ca. 200-300 years earlier than traditional chronologies have suggested. When correlated with recent radiocarbon dates for the Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom in Egypt, the new dates force numerous revisions to the current understanding of the history of the periods and the synchronisms between particular Egyptian dynasties and southern Levantine cultural phases. The lecture will examine the implications of the new radiocarbon chronology of the southern Levant and provide a revised historical and archaeological outline of Egyptian-Levantine interactions in the 3rd millennium BCE.
About the Lecturer
Matthew J. Adams is the Dorot Director of the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem. He received his Ph.D. in History from the Pennsylvania State University in 2007, specializing in Egyptology and Near Eastern Archaeology. While he has broad interests in space and time throughout the ancient world, his primary research focus is on the development of urban communities in 3rd millennium BCE Egypt and the Levant. He currently directs the Jezreel Valley Regional Project (JVRP), a long-term, multidisciplinary survey and excavation project investigating the history of human activity in the Jezreel Valley from the Paleolithic through the Ottoman period. Under that aegis, he is engaged in excavations at the Early Bronze Age site of Tel Megiddo East, the camp of the Roman VIth Legion at Legio, and a detailed survey of the valley.
Special Sponsorship
This lecture is funded by the ASOR Directors’ Exchange created by P.E. MacAllister, ASOR Chairman of the Board, Emeritus.
