Editing Ramesses III (section)

==Chronological dispute==
There is uncertainty regarding the exact dates of the reign of Ramesses III. This uncertainty affects the dating of the [[Late Bronze Age collapse|Late Bronze/Iron Age transition]] in the [[Levant]]. This transition is defined by the appearance of [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] LH IIIC:1b ([[Philistines|Philistine]]) pottery in the coastal plain of [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], generally assumed to correspond to the settlement of Sea Peoples there at the 8th year of Ramesses III.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Mazar | first1 = Amihai | year = 1985 | title = The emergence of the Philistine material culture | journal = Israel Exploration Journal | volume = 35 | issue = 2/3| pages = 95–107 | jstor=27925978}}</ref> Radiocarbon dates and other external evidence permit this transition to be as late as 1100 BC, compared to the conventional dating of c. 1179 BC.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Hagens | first1 = Graham | year = 2006 | title = Testing the Limits: Radiocarbon dating and the end of the Late Bronze Age | url = https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/radiocarbon/article/viewFile/2850/2614 | journal = Radiocarbon | volume = 48 | issue = 1 | pages = 83–100 | doi = 10.1017/S0033822200035414 | bibcode = 2006Radcb..48...83H | access-date = 2014-10-16 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170317054932/https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/radiocarbon/article/viewFile/2850/2614 | archive-date = 2017-03-17 | url-status = live | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Some scientists have tried to establish a chronological point for this pharaoh's reign at 1159&nbsp;BC, based on a 1999 dating of the [[Hekla 3 eruption]] of the Hekla volcano in Iceland. Since contemporary records show that the king experienced difficulties provisioning his workmen at [[Deir el-Medina]] with supplies in his 29th Year, this dating of Hekla 3 might connect his 28th or 29th regnal year to c. 1159&nbsp;BC.<ref>Frank J. Yurco, "End of the Late Bronze Age and Other Crisis Periods: A Volcanic Cause" in ''Gold of Praise: Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honor of Edward F. Wente'', ed: Emily Teeter & John Larson, (SAOC 58) 1999, pp.456-458</ref> A minor discrepancy of one year is possible since Egypt's granaries could have had reserves to cope with at least a single bad year of crop harvests following the onset of the disaster. This implies that the king's reign would have ended just three to four years later, around 1156 or 1155&nbsp;BC. A rival date of "2900&nbsp;BP" (950&nbsp;BC) has since been proposed by scientists based on a re-examination of the volcanic layer.<ref>At first, scholars tried to redate the event to "3000&nbsp;BP": [http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/inqu/finalprogram/abstract_54866.htm TOWARDS A HOLOCENE TEPHROCHRONOLOGY FOR SWEDEN] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090407061552/http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/inqu/finalprogram/abstract_54866.htm |date=2009-04-07 }}, Stefan Wastegǎrd, XVI INQUA Congress, Paper No. 41-13, Saturday, July 26, 2003. Also: [http://sp.lyellcollection.org/cgi/content/abstract/242/1/145 Late Holocene solifluction history reconstructed using tephrochronology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201175051/http://sp.lyellcollection.org/cgi/content/abstract/242/1/145 |date=2008-12-01 }}, Martin P. Kirkbride & Andrew J. Dugmore, Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2005; v. 242; p. 145-155.</ref> Given that no Egyptologist dates Ramesses III's reign to as late as 1000&nbsp;BC, this would mean that the Hekla 3 eruption presumably occurred well after Ramesses III's reign. A 2002 study, using high-precision radiocarbon dating of a peat deposit containing ash layers, put this eruption in the range 1087–1006 BC.<ref name="Bogaard2002">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1006/qres.2002.2325| title = Two Tephra Layers Bracketing Late Holocene Paleoecological Changes in Northern Germany| journal = Quaternary Research| volume = 57| issue = 3| page = 314| year = 2002| last1 = Van Den Bogaard | first1 = C. | last2 = Dörfler | first2 = W. | last3 = Glos | first3 = R. | last4 = Nadeau | first4 = M. J. E. | last5 = Grootes | first5 = P. M. | last6 = Erlenkeuser | first6 = H. | bibcode = 2002QuRes..57..314V| s2cid = 140611931}}</ref>