The Theban Empire: Ages In Chaos Revisited

Sound Bite

Egypt's glorious 18th or Theban Dynasty is believed to represent one of the best-understood epochs of the country's history. This was the time of Hatshepsut, the female pharaoh who sent a famous expedition to the mysterious Land of Punt. It was the time too of the great conqueror Thutmose III, who brought the whole of Syria and Palestine under Egyptian domination; and it was the time of the "heretic" pharaoh Akhnaton, who instituted a new monotheistic religion and launched an artistic revolution. Professor Gunnar Heinsohn underscores the importance of the correlations Sweeney identifies, noting that "David's Kingdom of Israel cannot be kept in the history books if the date of the Theban Dynasty of Egypt is not corrected in a scholarly manner as attempted [in The Theban Empire] by Emmet Sweeney."Professor Lewis Greenberg called the book "a Herculean task [of historical research]." 

About the Book

The Theban Empire is the starting point of "Ages in Alignment," an originally researched reconstruction of ancient history. Inspired by Velikovsky’s work, Emmet Sweeney demonstrates that an even more radical shift makes perfect sense. He identifies the problems Velikovsky could not solve and brings forward a great body of further evidence which supports his identification of Hatshepsut with the Queen of Sheba. Decades of original research have contributed to reconstructing this history. Archaeological evidence, the Amarna Letters, and records from the Mitanni, the Midians, the Hittites, from Egypt, Samaria, Jerusalem and elsewhere, depict matching events, matching biographies, and matching cultural artifacts that demand we accept reality and revise our invented model of antiquity.This volume clarifies mysteries centered on Thebes, which is the starting point of the series “Ages in Alignment,” and illustrates how the history of Egypt aligns with Hebrew historiography.The text examines the rise and fall of Thebes, the Mitanni conquest of Syrian territories, and the relationships between the Hyksos, Assyrians, Hittites, and Lydians. The book examines Hatshepsut and compares the mysterious land of Punt with descriptions of Eritrea and Somalia during Hatshepsut’s time. The book also explores why Thutmose III destroyed Hatshepsut’s legacy. The chapters explore additional historical contexts including the kings of Syria, Jerusalem, and Phoenicia; Egypt and the Zoroastrian Fire Cult; Tutankhamun, the Neo-Assyrians, the Medes, Hittites, Hurrians, Lydians, and Urartians, and Northern Syria. By synthesizing this information, we can better understand how Old Testament chronology corresponds with classical history.    “David’s Kingdom of Israel cannot be kept in the history books if the date of the Theban Dynasty of Egypt is not corrected in a scholarly manner as attempted by Emmet Sweeney.”   — Prof. Gunnar Heinsohn    “A Herculean task [of historical research],” and “A worthy successor and expansion to Immanuel Velikovsky’s ‘Ages in Chaos’.”   — Prof. Lewis GreenbergVelikovsky was rejected by the academic establishment because of a number of contradictions in the chronology he outlined. Sweeney shows that despite some gaps and incompletions, his books were brilliant works of scholarship with much to recommend them. For decades now various scholars have attempted to solve the enigma. Yet the answer was stunningly simple, and in front of us all the time. The current volume provides the solution and provides us, finally, with the possibility of a complete and satisfactory reconstruction of ancient history.1. Hatshepsut, as the Queen of Sheba (Theba) really did visit Solomon in Jerusalem, but the journey occurred around 680 BC, not 930 BC, as Velikovsky believed.2. Velikovsky believed that the heretic pharaoh Akhnaton was a contemporary of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, and dated the Amarna Letters to the time of the biblical kings Jehoshaphat and Ahab. He was very nearly right, here, but he was out by one generation. Akhnaton was a contemporary not of Jehoshaphat but of his predecessor Asa. Once again, critics used this error as an excuse to jettison all his theories.3. Finally, the end of the 18th Dynasty was the focus of one of Velikovsky's most fascinating books, but he left the story of the demise of Akhnaton's line unfinished. This period is examined in detail in The Theban Empire, and the author shows which foreign power it was who came to the assistance of Tutankhamun's brother Smenkhare, after the latter had been expelled from Egypt.These other periods are covered in three separate volumes, the first of which is The Genesis of Israel and Egypt, which traces the histories of Israel and Egypt back to their beginnings and makes some dramatic identifications. Imhotep, for example, who designed the first pyramid, is shown to be one and the same as Joseph of the coat of many colors. It is followed by The Pyramid Age and Ramessides, Medes and Persians. However, although it's not first in line chronologically, The Theban Empire is where this telling of the story begins.

Introduction

Inspired by Velikovsky’s reconstruction of ancient history, Emmet Sweeney demonstrates that an even more radical shift makes perfect sense. Decades of original research have contributed to reconstructing this history.Archaeological evidence, the Amarna Letters, and records from the Mitanni, the Midians, the Hittites, from Egypt, Samaria, Jerusalem and elsewhere, depict matching events, matching biographies, and matching cultural artifacts that demand we accept reality and revise our invented model of antiquity. This volume clarifies mysteries centered on Thebes, which is the starting point of Sweeney’s series “Ages in Alignment.” He identifies problems Velikovsky could not solve and brings forward a great body of evidence not even mentioned by Velikovsky which supports his identification of Hatshepsut with the Queen of Sheba. The text examines the rise and fall of Thebes, the Mitanni conquest of Syrian territories, and the relationships between the Hyksos, Assyrians, Hittites, and Lydians. The book examines Hatshepsut and compares the mysterious land of Punt with descriptions of Eritrea and Somalia during Hatshepsut’s time. The book also explores why Thutmose III destroyed Hatshepsut’s legacy. The chapters explore additional historical contexts including the kings of Syria, Jerusalem, and Phoenicia; Egypt and the Zoroastrian Fire Cult; Tutankhamun, the Neo-Assyrians, the Medes, Hittites, Hurrians, Lydians, and Urartians, and Northern Syria. By synthesizing this information, we can better understand how Old Testament chronology corresponds with classical history.    “David’s Kingdom of Israel cannot be kept in the history books if the date of the Theban Dynasty of Egypt is not corrected in a scholarly manner as attempted by Emmet Sweeney.”   — Prof. Gunnar Heinsohn“A Herculean task [of historical research],” and “A worthy successor and expansion to Immanuel Velikovsky’s ‘Ages in Chaos’.”   — Prof. Lewis Greenberg

Information

Part 3 in the Series "Ages in Alignment"Inspired by Velikovsky's "Ages in Chaos," the series "Ages in Alignment" seeks to complete the work of reconstruction of ancient history which he commenced in 1952. The author calls for a much more radical shortening of ancient chronology and asserts that Velikovsky ran into a dead end because he placed too much reliance on the Bible as a chronological measuring rod.This is a far-reaching reconstruction which begins with the start of literate civilization (actually introduced to the Nile Valley from Mesopotamia by the Abraham tribe) and ends with the conquest of Alexander.Other titles in the series: The Pyramid Age: Riddles of Time and Technology Ramessides, Medes and Persians