Absolute Mesopotamian chronology: From Sargon of Akkad (2243Ð2187) to Nabonidus (556Ð539)

Absolute Mesopotamian chronology: From Sargon of Akkad (2243Ð2187) to Nabonidus (556Ð539)The 614 Assyrian eponyms between the first year of _am_ Adad I and the first year of Tiglath pileser I (1115 1076) allow us to date approximately the reign of _am_ Adad I (1728 1695). As the Assyrian years were lunar before the reign of Ninurta apil Ekur (1192 1179), this makes it possible to slightly correct the reign of _am_ Adad I (1712 1680), yet as this Amorite king died in the 17th 18th year of King Hammurabi, so this synchronism fixes the

The 614 Assyrian eponyms between the first year of _am_”-Adad I and the first year of Tiglath-pileser I (1115-1076) allow us to date approximately the reign of _am_”-Adad I (1728-1695). As the Assyrian years were lunar before the reign of Ninurta-apil-Ekur (1192-1179), this makes it possible to slightly correct the reign of _am_”-Adad I (1712-1680), yet as this Amorite king died in the 17th/18th year of King Hammurabi, so this synchronism fixes the dating of this Babylonian king (1697-1654). This dating does not correspond to the Middle Chronology but exactly satisfies the astronomical dating of the Ammisaduqa tablet on Venus, according to the Ultra-Low Chronology. In addition, one tablet of astronomical omens (Enuma Anu Enlil 20) mentions a lunar eclipse dated 14 Simanu at the end of the reign of _ulgi (14/III/48, 27 June 1954 BCE), and another (Enuma Anu Enlil 21) mentions a lunar eclipse dated 14 Addaru at the end of the third dynasty Ur, which ended with the reign of Ibbi-Sin (14/XII/24, 6 March 1911 BCE). These two total lunar eclipses are separated by 42 years of reign (= 9 years of Amar-Sin + 9 years of _u-S”n + 24 years of Ibbi-Sin) and 9 months (=XII - III). During the period 2200Ð1850 BCE, there was only one couple of lunar eclipses spaced 42 years and 9 months apart, and visible at Ur, corresponding to the description of the astronomical omens. These two total lunar eclipses confirm the absolute dating of the reign of Hammurabi (1697Ð1654) and allow to anchor the reign of Sargon of Akkad (2243Ð2187). Secondly, as there is a synchronism between Neferhotep I (1701-1690) and Ibni-Addu (1700-1680), the king of Hazor, and another synchronism between Ibni-Addu and Hammurabi (1697-1654), the king of Babylon, this reign could be determined indirectly by carbon-14 and is again in perfect agreement with the ÒUltra-Low chronologyÓ. Finally, the best confirmation of the accuracy of this absolute chronology is the complete reconstitution from 2040 to 1050 BCE, year by year, of the main Mesopotamian chronologies: Uruk IV, Mari, Gutium, Assyria, Elam, Uruk V, Ur III, Larsa, Isin I, Babylon, Hana, Kassite and Sealand, with their synchronisms as well as their dates anchored on astronomical phenomena such as the total eclipses of the moon (Gertoux, NABU 2021-3, 171-172).