Egyptian Kings on the Post-Flood Radiocarbon Curve
The short-lived radiocarbon measurements for Egyptian kings, read against a non-equilibrium recovery curve. The page gives calendar years where the curve can provide them and states openly where it cannot.
Starting point
The data page lists the measured radiocarbon values of short-lived material for each king, with no calibration applied. This page takes the next step and asks which calendar years these values correspond to if atmospheric radiocarbon was not in equilibrium after the Flood.
The model is the non-equilibrium recovery curve of Streitenberger (2026). After the Flood the radiocarbon level of the atmosphere was very low and rose over the following centuries. Material that grew early in this recovery therefore carries less radiocarbon than its true age alone would explain, so its conventional radiocarbon age comes out far too old. The recovery curve translates measured pMC into calendar years. The curve used here is the version of the online C-14 calculator (Flood = 2518 BC). It was refitted for this page (version v10) using the Egyptian short-lived data from the data page.
The curve (v10)
A₁ = 63.80, τ₁ = 127.3 years, ts = 355 (= 2163 BC), T₂ = 74.06 pMC, τ₂ = 1000 years. Fit to 274 anchors, RMS deviation 1.69 pMC (Middle Kingdom 0.44, New Kingdom 0.54).
The curve has two very different parts. Until about 2160 BC it rises steeply, by roughly 0.03 pMC per year, so the measured value fixes the year to within a few decades. After that it flattens. In the Middle Kingdom it rises by about 0.008 pMC per year and in the New Kingdom by only about 0.004. A difference of 0.3 pMC, typical for the scatter between samples, then corresponds to 40 and 75 years respectively, and the scatter around the curve as a whole to several centuries.
Two ways of dating
A · Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom: dated by the curve
Where the curve is steep, the measurement carries the information. The year comes from the curve, with an uncertainty from the measurement and from the scatter of the anchors around the curve.
B · Middle and New Kingdom: dated by history, checked by radiocarbon
Where the curve is flat, the years come from reign lengths and synchronisms (Joseph – Senusret III, 1878 BC; Exodus under Amenhotep II, 1446 BC; Shishak = Shoshenq I, 925 BC). Radiocarbon checks whether the measured pMC fits the curve at that year. It does not date these kings independently.
Overview
Line: recovery curve v10. Filled dots: kings dated by the curve (A), placed on the curve at their measured pMC, with horizontal bars for the combined uncertainty. Open rings: kings dated by history (B), plotted at their chronological year with their measured pMC; the vertical distance to the line is the residual.
Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom in detail
Each row is one king or dated group, in king-list order. Dot: year from the curve. Bar: ± combined uncertainty.
A · Kings dated by the curve
| King / group | n | pMC | Year BC | ± total |
|---|
± meas.: standard error of the king's mean pMC divided by the local slope of the curve. ± curve: scatter of the early anchors around the curve (1.19 pMC) divided by the local slope. ± total combines both. From about 2160 BC onward the curve is flatter, so the uncertainty grows to about ±95 years (Djedkare, Dynasty 5/6 burials).
B · Kings dated by history
| King | n | Year BC | pMC measured | pMC curve | Residual |
|---|
Year BC: year of the king's anchor in the author's chronology (anchor list v10), usually a point within the reign. Residual = measured − curve. These anchors are part of the fit, so the residuals show consistency, not an independent test. Thutmose IV has a measurement but no chronology anchor yet.
In the Middle Kingdom the residuals lie within ±0.25 pMC, with two exceptions: Mentuhotep II (+0.76) and Amenemhet III (−0.72). In the New Kingdom most kings lie 0.4–0.7 pMC below the curve. The curve, which is also fitted to non-Egyptian anchors, runs slightly too high for the Egyptian short-lived material there.
Open questions
- Time budget of the Old Kingdom. The curve places Dynasties 1 to 6 within about 2250–2140 BC, roughly 110 years. The conventional reign lengths from Djoser to Mentuhotep II alone add up to about 600 years (Shaw 2000). Radiocarbon itself allows at most about 100–150 years between Djedkare and Mentuhotep II; with 200 years the fit of the early anchors breaks down (RMS 1.19 → 5.7 pMC). How the dynasties fit into this span, whether through overlapping rule or shorter reigns, is unresolved.
- Order within Dynasties 3–6. The measurements do not separate Djoser, Sekhemkhet and Sneferu. Teti (six plant samples) lies about one pMC below his successors, at the level of Djoser.
- Start of the Middle Kingdom. Mentuhotep II, Amenemhet I and Senusret I have almost the same pMC (63.5–63.6), a plateau. The curve, built from two exponential segments, cannot reproduce a plateau and reaches Mentuhotep II's value only about 70 years later than his chronological date.
- New Kingdom level. The curve lies on average about 0.5 pMC above the Egyptian short-lived data. Whether this is a regional effect or a shape problem of the curve is open.
References
- Streitenberger, P. 2026. “Non-Equilibrium Radiocarbon Calibration Model Based on Post-Diluvian Atmospheric Recovery.” Answers Research Journal 19: 95–116.
- Streitenberger, P. 2026. Egyptian Kings and Radiocarbon: A Compilation of Short-Lived Samples. Version 1.0. bibelgriechisch.online/c-14/egyptian-kings.html (sources of all measurements).
- Shaw, I., ed. 2000. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford University Press (reign lengths).