This series of 20 papers, called the "Chronological Framework of Ancient History," makes the case that a broad consensus of ancient sources, including those favored by mainstream scholars, speaks in harmony with Ussher's chronology of the Bible; as a result, the evidence will show that the 12,000 year conventional history of the Ancient Near East meshes neatly into a collection of interconnected parallel dynasties with a total duration of 2,018 years from the Flood to Alexander the Great. In this first paper the problem is defined, the data set is introduced and the methodology to be employed is described.