47. End of the Road

The year 747 BC, or a date somewhat later in the 8th century, appears to mark the limit of secure astronomical dating.

To be sure, historians of all periods look to astronomy to bolster their historical reconstructions. They also seek corroboration from radiocarbon dating, tree rings, and other techniques. But their work rests on a bedrock of king, eponym and other lists, archeological strata and the sequences derived from them, in short, on traditional historical techniques. Only in the Ancient Near East and its periphery, and only back to the year 747 BC has astronomy taken the lead in building an ancient chronology.