Tell el-Dabca and Byblos: New Chronological Evidence

A re-evaluation of the Royal Tombs at Byblos, leveraging material from both recent excavations and older museum collections, provides new chronological insights that challenge long-standing assumptions about their dating. The study synchronizes the tombs' stratigraphy with that of Tell el-Dabca, a key site in the Levantine coast, using evidence including Egyptian prestige objects linked to 12th Dynasty kings Amenemhet III and IV. While previous scholarship largely dated these burials to the Middle Bronze Age IIA period (MB IIA), this research offers refined temporal frameworks by cross-referencing local, Egyptianizing, and Egyptian materials with Tell el-Dabca's stratigraphy. Conducted under the EU MSCA project 'Egypt in the Levant,' the findings aim to resolve ongoing debates about the tombs' chronology, particularly regarding Tomb I and II, which contain royal artifacts.

Kopetzky, K. (2018). Tell el-Dabca and Byblos: New Chronological Evidence. Ägypten Und Levante, 28, 309–358. https://doi.org/10.1553/aeundl28s309