For over twenty years Emmet Sweeney has researched the questions raised by Velikovsky's efforts to reconstruct ancient history as it is currently taught. He holds a Masters Degree in Early Modern History from the University of Ulster and is currently a lecturer at West University, Timisoara, Romania.

Sweeney describes the salient features of each volume in his "Ages in Alignment" series and points out the important consequences of the skewed historical record as it is usually taught in his website at Emmet Sweeney.net.

Velikovsky was rejected by the academic establishment because of a number of contradictions in the chronology he outlined. Yet 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.

Empire of Thebes 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 VelikovskyÂ’s most fascinating books but he left the story of the demise of Akhnaton's line unfinished. This period is examined in detail in Empire of Thebes, 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 other volumes, 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 itÂ’s not first in line chronologically, Empire of Thebes is where this telling of the story begins.

INTRODUCTION 1

CHAPTER 1. AN IMPERIAL AGE 7

Rise Of The Thebans 7

The Land Of Mitanni 10

15th Century Or 7th Century? 12

Hittites And Lydians 15

Egypt And The Bible 17

The “Centuries Of Darkness” 19

CHAPTER 2. HATSHEPSUT, THE QUEEN OF THEBA 25

A New Perspective 25

A Most Unusual Ruler 28

The Terms “Queen Of Sheba” And “Queen Of The South” 30

Sheba, City Of The Sphinx 33

GodÂ’s Land, The Country Of Byblos 34

Punt In Lebanon 37

Thutmose IIIÂ’s List Of Conquered Lands 41

Punt As A “Southern” Boundary? 44

The Flora And Fauna Of Punt 47

Ethnic Identity Of The Puntites 53

Was The King Of Israel Shown On The Punt Reliefs? 54

Eritrea And Somalia In HatshepsutÂ’s Time: A Primitive Land 56

Recapitulation 58

CHAPTER 3. IMPERIAL EGYPT 61

Thutmose III And Shishak 61

Thutmose III Destroys HatshepsutÂ’s Legacy 62

The People Of Palestine Fall Into Disagreement 64

The Road To Kadesh 65

The Conquest Of GodÂ’s Land 69

The People, Flora And Fauna Of GodÂ’s Land 70

Shishak And Sesostris 72

CHAPTER 4. THE AMARNA LETTERS 75

Historical Setting 75

Jerusalem And Botrys 77

The Time Of The Letters 79

Abdi-Ashirta, Grandson Of Hiram 81

Labayu Of Shechem 82

Aziru: Hadadezer Of Syria 84

The Captains Of The King Of Jerusalem 85

Aftermath 87

Ugarit 89

The City Of Samaria 92

The King Of Israel Becomes A Vassal Of Syria 95

CHAPTER 5. THE FALL OF THEBES 99

Oedipus And Akhnaton 99

The Heretic Pharaoh 100

Wars Of The “Polluted Wretches” 104

TutankhamunÂ’s Reign 108

The Wily Vizier 111

Horemheb 113

An Asiatic Interlude 116

Chronological Considerations 118

CHAPTER 6. THE PEOPLES AND KINGS OF ASIA 121

Medes And “Middle Assyrians” 121

The Strategic Land Of Northern Syria 126

The Kings Of Carchemish 128

Sardanapalus And The Battle Of The Nations 130

The Kingdom Of Urartu 132

The Chaldean Empire 135

Shamshi-Adad Iv (Arbaces The Mede) 140

Adad-Nirari III (Astyages The Mede) 142

Arame 145

CHAPTER 7. IN THE DAYS OF SETI I AND RAMSES II 149

An Egyptian “Renaissance” 149

Hebrew Terms In The Egyptian Language 150

The King Of Byblos 152

The Art Of War 155

Seti IÂ’s Asiatic Wars 156

The “Wretched Foe” 160

Ramses II Secures The Borders Of Israel And Judah 162

Ramses II And The Battle For Assyria 166

The Princess Of Bactria 169

Alyattes And Hattusilis 171

Croesus And His Time 173

EPILOGUE 177

BIBLIOGRAPHY 181

INDEX 187