Chronological synchronism is an event that links two
chronologies
Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , ''-logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It ...
. For example, it is used in
Egyptology to ground
Egyptian chronology to other
Calendar eras. The main types of chronological synchronism are synchronisms with other historical chronologies and synchronisms with precisely datable astronomical events.
Synchronisms with other chronologies often rely on some form of recorded communication between regions. For example, in Egyptology, the earliest such synchronisms appear in the 15th century BC, during the
Amarna Period by the considerable quantity of diplomatic correspondence between
Amenhotep III and
Akhenaten
Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth ...
and various
ancient Near East
The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran (Ela ...
ern monarchs; that links Egyptian chronology with other Near Eastern chronologies.
Astronomical synchronisms rely on precise identification of astronomical events recorded in the historical record. The best known of these is the
Sothic cycle whose careful study led
Richard Anthony Parker to argue that the dates of the
Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt could be fixed with absolute precision. More recent research has eroded that confidence and questioned many of the assumptions used with the Sothic Cycle. As a result, experts have moved away from relying on it.
[One example is Patrick O'Mara, "Censorinus, the Sothic Cycle, and calendar year one in ancient Egypt: the Epistological problem", ''Journal of Near Eastern studies'', 62 (2003), pp. 17-26.]
References
Chronology
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