A new radiocarbon study has pinpointed the Thera volcanic eruption to before Egypt's New Kingdom, reshaping understandings of ancient timelines. Researchers dated artifacts linked to Pharaoh Ahmose, suggesting a longer Second Intermediate Period. This adjustment highlights altered interactions between Egypt and neighboring cultures.
The eruption of Thera, also known as Santorini, in the Aegean Sea stands as one of the most powerful volcanic events in the last 10,000 years. Long debated among archaeologists, its timing—whether in the late 17th or 16th century BCE—has implications for synchronizing ancient Mediterranean histories. Ash from the blast blanketed much of the eastern Mediterranean, influencing how scholars align it with Egyptian chronology.
A team from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the University of Groningen conducted the first radiocarbon dating of artifacts associated with King Ahmose, the pharaoh who reunified Upper and Lower Egypt and established the New Kingdom. With rare permission, they sampled items from London's British Museum and Petrie Museum. These included a mudbrick from the Ahmose Temple at Abydos, a linen burial cloth connected to Satdjehuty, and six wooden shabtis from Thebes.
The results place the eruption in Egypt's Second Intermediate Period, predating the New Kingdom. Radiocarbon ages for the Santorini event proved older than those from Ahmose-related objects and items from the 17th to early 18th Dynasty. "Our findings indicate that the Second Intermediate Period lasted considerably longer than traditional assessments, and the New Kingdom started later," stated Prof. Hendrik J. Bruins of Ben-Gurion University.
This supports a younger chronology for the early 18th Dynasty's onset, challenging prior interpretations that linked the eruption to the New Kingdom. The study, published in PLOS One, underscores the value of direct dating in refining historical connections across regions.