Documented astronomical observations such as the heliacal rising and setting of stars and planets, eclipses or the first and last visibility of the lunar crescent can be used to establish absolute dates for ancient societies. Referring to preserved data from ancient Egypt, the Levante and Mesopotamia from the 2nd millennium BCE the potential of different sets of astronomical data as well as the uncertainties will be discussed. Furthermore, the construction of possible Egyptian New Kingdom chronologies (ca. 1550–1070 BCE) will be shown, taking into account all available astronomical data, documented direct synchronisms between kings, information from king lists, and C14 data.