Egypt is unusual: much of its archaeology can be dated by its own writing. As you saw in Dating by Regnal Years, Egyptians dated documents by the years of the reigning king. Combined with the king list, a date in a text becomes a date on our calendar.
Key idea
An inscription with a king's name dates an object to that reign or later; one with a regnal year ("year 9 of Ptolemy V") dates it to a single year of the reign. Style, of pottery, coffins, statues or handwriting, dates objects to a period even without words. Each method has limits: names could be added later, carved over, or copied.
Why it works
A date in a text is only as good as two links: the link between the text and the object, and the link between the reign and our calendar. A jar sealing names the king who reigned when it was sealed, so it dates the sealing. After 664 BC the reigns are fixed to the year; before that, our dates for them carry the margins of the chronology. And a statue carved for one king could be taken over by a later one who cut his own name into it.
From regnal year to calendar year
If a king's first regnal year is year X BC, his year n is about X − (n − 1) BC. Year 1 is the accession year, so subtract n − 1, not n. Egyptian regnal years did not start on 1 January, so the result can be one year off.
Worked example: Year 9 of Ptolemy V
The Rosetta decree is dated to year 9 of Ptolemy V. His reign is counted from 204 BC. What year is that?
- Year 1 is 204 BC, so year 9 is 8 years later.
- BC years count down: 204 − 8 = 196.
- That matches the decree's date, 196 BC.
Answer: 196 BC.
Worked example: A name is not a date
A statue of Ramesses II bears his cartouche, but its face and style look like the reign of Amenhotep III, a century earlier. What happened?
- Ramesses II often took over the statues of earlier kings and recut their names (Egyptologists call this usurpation).
- The style dates the carving; the cartouche dates the takeover.
- So the statue was made under Amenhotep III and re-inscribed under Ramesses II.
Answer: An older statue re-inscribed: the style dates the making, the name the reuse.
Common mistake
Taking a king's name on an object as proof of its date. Names could be added later, or copied: heirlooms carry the names of earlier kings into later tombs, and later kings recut older statues. Check the style and the context too.