The effect of chemical activation on the adsorption capacity of raw date pits towards the basic dye Methylene Blue (MB) was investigated. The raw material was impregnated with 30 wt% KOH solution followed by carbonization at 600°C for 2 h and activation with CO 2 at 800°C for 1 h. The adsorption capacity increased from 80.3 mg/g to 123.1 mg/g upon chemical activation. Three simplified models including the pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models were used to test the adsorption kinetics. The rates of adsorption were found to conform to pseudo-second-order kinetics with high correlation. The equilibrium results for MB adsorption on the activated carbon obtained from date pits were well fitted by the Langmuir isotherm equation.