Chronology of the ancient Near East cuneiform tablets were found at Amarna in Egypt, the city of the pharaoh Akhenaten. They were written mostly in Akkadian, the diplomatic language of the time. Several named rulers in the region including the kings of Assyria and Babylon. Assuming that the correct kings have been identified, it locks the chronology of the ancient Near East to that of Egypt, at least from the middle of the 2nd millennium. Some data sources are available to us from the classical period: Berossus was a Babylonian astronomer living during the Hellenistic period. He wrote a history of Babylon which has not survived
Cup of the Ptolemies Cup of the Ptolemies The Cup of the Ptolemies (French: Coupe des Ptolémées), also known as the Cup of Saint Denis, is an onyx cameo two-handled cup, or "kantharos". The cup, decorated with Dionysiac vignettes and emblems, was carved at some point in Classical Antiquity, probably in Alexandria. Eventually, it found its way into the treasury of the French kingdom, before it was donated to the abbey of St. Denis. During the Middle Ages, it was used as a Christian chalice, and lavish mounts were added, with Latin inscriptions. In 1804, the cup was stolen, and the mounts were lost,