The one major disagreement with Velikovsky centers round the question of absolute chronology. In line with the stratigraphic work of Gunnar Heinsohn, Empire of Thebes finds that both the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt and the Early Kings of Israel were contemporaries of the “Mighty” Medes, who conquered the Old Assyrian Empire around 710 BC. Detailed evidence is presented to show that the Medes were one and the same as the Mitanni, whose kings boasted of plundering the cities of Assyria, and that the Hittites, or Hatti, were identical to the Lydians. This means that the Eighteenth Dynasty, as well as the Hebrew Kings with whom it was contemporaneous (ie from Samuel to Jehoshaphat and Ahab), belong in the late eighth and seventh centuries BC.
Empire of Thebes also looks at the history of Assyria, and shows that the early Neo-Assyrian kings, from Ashurnasirpal II and Shalmaneser III onwards, were actually Medes in the guise of Assyrians. Shalmaneser III, who is shown to have been a contemporary of pharaohs Tutankhamun, Horemheb and Seti I, is to be identified with Cyaxares II and his son Ashur da’in apla with Sardanapalus, the Assyrian rebel who sought to restore the might of Assyria but was defeated by a coalition of Medes and Babylonians. Shalmaneser III’s son married Samurammat (Semiramis), whom legend said ruled a vast empire stretching almost to the borders of India. This is revealed to be true, as she was a queen of the Medes.