Can There be a Revised Chronology Without a Revised Stratigraphy?
DR JOHN J. BIMSON 1. The Problem Stated IN AN ARTICLE which appeared in Pensée in 1973, W. H. STIEBING claimed that "Velikovsky's revised synchronisms for ancient history cannot be reconciled with the stratigraphical evidence of archaeology" [1]. One of Stiebing's objections to Velikovsky's chronology relies on the supposed association of Hyksos objects with pottery of the Middle Bronze II period in Palestine. I have shown elsewhere that this association does not bear close scrutiny [2]. But Stiebing also raised another and more serious problem for the revised chronology, and it is with this that the present paper is chiefly concerned. In brief, the problem is as follows. XVIIIth-Dynasty scarabs from late Bronze Age contexts, Lachish The ancient ruined cities of Palestine are tells, i.e. mounds consisting of several strata of debris from successive periods of occupation. These strata will obviously follow each other chronologically from the lowe...