Kenneth Anderson Kitchen (1932 – 6 February 2025[ Kenneth A Kitchen (1932–2025) Egypt Exploration Society, February 6, 2025]) was a British biblical scholar, Ancient Near Eastern historian, and Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and honorary research fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, England. He specialised in the ancient Egyptian Ramesside Period (i.e., Dynasties 19-20), and the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt, as well as ancient Egyptian chronology, having written over 250 books and journal articles on these and other subjects since the mid-1950s. He has been described by The Times as "the very architect of Egyptian chronology".[ The Times, 13 October 2002, How myth became history]
Background
Kitchen was born in
Aberdeen, Scotland in 1932.
[ Kenneth A. Kitchen Profile at Goodreads.com][See Kenneth Kitchen's statement in KA Kitchen, 'The strengths and weaknesses of Egyptian chronology', Ägypten und Levante 16, 2006. p.299] He died on 6 February 2025 as an unmarried
bachelor.
Third Intermediate Period
Kitchen's 1972 book (republished with a second edition in 1996) titled
The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC), which covered the 21st through to the 25th dynasties of Egypt and contained an extensive catalogue of known dates and inscriptions as well as geneaological information for this period "remains one of the standard works on the subject" notes Egyptologist and Archaeologist James K. Hoffmeier
[James K. Hoffmeier, Milestones: Kenneth A. Kitchen (1932–2025), Biblical Archaeology Society, March 29,. 2025] . His book noted a hitherto unknown period of coregency between Year 49 of
Psusennes I with Year X of Amenemope
[K.A. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100-650 BC), Aria and Philips, 1996, second edition, pp.28-34 & pp.412-413] and another coregency between
Osorkon III with his son,
Takelot III. Kitchen's book also established that
Osorkon I of the 22st Dynasty likely had a reign of 35 years as Manetho states in his Epitome states since the mummy of a priest named Nakhtefmut--buried at the
Ramesseum--"was adorned with leather tabs and pendant emblazoned in the name of Osorkon I, and wrapped in bandages marked Year 33 and Year 3 of unnanamed king"--where the Year 33 date could only belong to Osorkon I.
[K.A. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100-650 BC), Aria and Philips, 1996 esecond edition, p.308]
Kitchen's book stated that Takelot II succeeded Osorkon II at Tanis, whereas most Egyptologists today accept it was Shoshenq III who succeeded Osorkon II in Lower Egypt at Tanis.[(see Karl Jansen-Winkeln, "Historische Probleme Der 3. Zwischenzeit", JEA 81(1995) pp.129–49, Aidan Dodson in GM 137(1993), p.58 and G. Broekman, 'The Reign of Takeloth II, a Controversial Matter,' GM 205(2005), pp.21–35)] Secondly, the book presented King Shoshenq II as the High Priest of Amun Shoshenq C, a son of Osorkon I who predeceased his father. However, this interpretation is weakened by the fact that no objects from Shoshenq II's intact burial at Tanis bears Osorkon I's name. Finally, contra Kitchen, most Egyptologists today such as Rolf Krauss, Aidan Dodson[in GM 137] and Jürgen von Beckerath[Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten (1997)] accept David Aston's argument[David Aston, JEA 75 (1989), Takeloth II: A King of the Theban 23rd Dynasty?, pp.139–153] that the Crown Prince Osorkon B, Takelot II's son, assumed power as Osorkon III, a king of the 'Theban Twenty-Third Dynasty' in Upper Egypt.
Ramesside period
Kitchen was regarded as one of the foremost scholars on the
Ramesside period (1196–1070 a.C., Dynasty XIX and XX) of the New Kingdom;
he published a well-respected book on
Ramesses II in 1982 titled
Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses II, King of Egypt. Kitchen was a scholar who advocated a high view of the
Old Testament and its inherent historicity.
His 2003 book
On the Reliability of the Old Testament documents several clear or indirect allusions to King
David's status as the founder of Ancient Israel, based on passages in the Tel Dan ('House of David') and
Mesha stele stelas as well as in Shoshenq I's
Karnak list.
[pp. 90–94, 452, 453] It provoked two interesting scholarly reactions and a reply by Kitchen.
[
]
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> The Kitchen Debate: Three Scholars Discuss a Major New Book on History and the Bible Biblical Archaeological Society, July/August 2005
Kitchen strongly criticized the new chronology views of David Rohl, who posits that the Biblical Shishak who invaded the Kingdom of Judah in 925 BC was actually Ramesses II rather than Shoshenq I and argues that the 21st and 22nd Dynasties of Egypt were contemporary with one another due to the absence of Dynasty 21 Apis Bull stele in the Serapeum.[Kitchen (2003), pp. 10, 32, 33]
Biblical scholarship
Kitchen was a biblical maximalist and published frequently defending the historicity of the
Old Testament. He was an outspoken critic of the documentary hypothesis, publishing various articles and books upholding his viewpoint, arguing that the Bible is historically reliable.
[ The Factual Reliability of the Old Testament, by Kenneth A. Kitchen, theologynetwork.org. 2006, accessed 1/31/15.] Kitchen also published articles for the
Biblical Archaeology Review including, 'Where Did Solomon's Gold Go?' (1989),
[Kenneth Kitchen (May/June 1989), "Where did Solomon's Gold Go?". Biblical Archaeology Review.] 'Shishak's Military Campaign in Israel Confirmed' (1989),
'The Patriarchal Age: Myth or History?' (1995)
and 'How we know when Solomon ruled' (2001).
Bibliography
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2023. Das Alte Testament und der Vordere Orient: Zur historischen Zuverlässigkeit biblischer Geschichte. 3rd edition. Gießen: Brunnen. German revised edition of On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
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2012. Treaty, Law and Covenant in the Ancient Near East. 3 Volumes. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz
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2009. Egyptian New Kingdom Topographical Lists, in "Causing His Name to Live: Studies in Egyptian Epigraphy and History in Memory of William J. Murnane", Brill
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2006.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> The strengths and weaknesses of Egyptian chronology--a Reconsideration PDF, Ägypten und Levante / Egypt and the Levant 16, 2006, pp.293-308
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2003. On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids and Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
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2002. Kenneth A. Kitchen, Ancient Egyptian Chronology for Aegeanists, MAA 2, Dec 2002
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1999. Poetry of Ancient Egypt. Jonsered: P. Aströms förlag.
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1994. Documentation for Ancient Arabia. Part 1: Chronological Framework and Historical Sources. The World of Ancient Arabia 1. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press
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1982. Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times of Ramesses II, King of Egypt. Monumenta Hannah Sheen Dedicata 2. Mississauga: Benben Publications.
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1977. The Bible In Its World The Bible in its World: The Bible & Archaeology Today. Exeter: Paternoster. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press 1978.
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1972. The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC). 1972. 2nd ed. 1996. 3rd ed. Warminster: Aris & Phillips Limited, 1998.
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1969–1990. Ramesside Inscriptions: Historical and Biographical. 8 Vols. Oxford: B. H. Blackwell Ltd.
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1979. Ramesside Inscriptions, Historical and Biographical Vol.2 (1979)
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1966. Ancient Orient and Old Testament Ancient Orient and Old Testament. London: Tyndale Press. Chicago: InterVarsity Press.
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1962. Suppiluliuma and the Amarna Pharaohs; a study in relative chronology, Liverpool University Press
External links
