One of the peculiarities of Egyptian chronology, provoking both confusion and debate, is the concept of the ‘co-regency’, a modem term applied to the periods during which two kings were simultaneously ruling, usually consisting of an overlap of several years between the end of one sole reign and the beginning of the next. This system seems to have been used, from at least as early as the Middle BCingdom, in order to ensure that the transfer of power took place with the minimum of dismption and instability. It would also have enabled the chosen successor to gain experience in the administration before his predecessor died.
It seems, however, that the dating systems during co-regencies may have differed from one period to another. Thus i2th-Dynasty coregents may have each used separate regnal dates, so that overlaps occurred between the kings’ reigns, producing examples of so-called double dates, when both dating systems were used to date a single monument (see Chapter 7). In the New Kingdom, there are no certain instances of double dates, therefore a different system seems to have been used. In the reigns of Thutmose III 1479-1425 bc and Hatshepsut 1473-1458 BC, for instance, year dates appear to have been counted with reference to Hatshepsut’s accession, as if Hatshepsut Had become ruler at the same time as Thutmose III. It is a moot point as to whether separate dates were used by two kings during the possible co-regencies of Thutmose III-Amenhotep II and Amenhotep III-Amenhotep IV. The arguments for and against a co-regency between the two latter kings have been carefully reviewed by Donald Redford and later by William Murnane. However, there is still considerable controversy over the question of which co-regencies actually took place and how long they lasted. There are also some scholars (including Gae Callender in Chapter 7 of this volume) who argue that co-regencies may never have occurred at all.
World History
