WH 1111 Ancient egypt
- 2. ▪ -Egypt is a country in North Africa, on the Mediterranean Sea, and is among the oldest civilizations on earth. ▪ In the early Old Kingdom, Egypt was simply known as 'Kemet' which means 'Black Land' so named for the rich, dark soil along the Nile River where the first settlements began. ▪ For almost 30 centuries—from its unification around 3100 B.C. to its conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.—ancient Egypt was the preeminent civilization in the Mediterranean world.
- 3. Neolithic Period ▪ -Evidence of overgrazing of cattle, on the land which is now the Sahara Desert, has been dated to about 8,000 BCE. ▪ -This evidence, along with artifacts discovered, points to a thriving agricultural civilization in the region at that time. ▪ -As the land was mostly arid even then, hunter-gathering nomads sought the cool of the water source of the Nile River Valley and began to settle there sometime prior to 5500 BCE. ▪ -- Organized farming began in the region c. 5000 BCE and communities known as the Badari Culture began to flourish alongside the river.
- 4. ▪ -The written history of the land begins at some point between 5000 and 3200 BCE when Hieroglyphic Script is developed by the Naqada Culture. ▪ -By 3500 BCE mummification of the dead was in practice at the city of Hierakonpolis. ▪ -The city of Xois is recorded as being already ancient by 3100- 2181 BCE as inscribed on the famous Palermo Stone.
- 5. -Ancient Egyptian history can be divided into eight distinct periods: 1. ARCHAIC (EARLY DYNASTIC) PERIOD (C. 3100-2686 B.C.) 2. OLD KINGDOM: AGE OF THE PYRAMID BUILDERS (C. 2686-2181 B.C.) 3. FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (C. 2181-2055 B.C.) 4. MIDDLE KINGDOM: 12TH DYNASTY (C. 2055-1786 B.C.) 5. SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (C. 1786-1567 B.C.) 6. NEW KINGDOM (C. 1567-1085 B.C.) 7. THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (C. 1085-664 B.C.) 8. FROM THE LATE PERIOD TO ALEXANDER’S CONQUEST (C.664-332 B.C.)
- 6. 1. ARCHAIC (EARLY DYNASTIC) PERIOD (C. 3100-2686 B.C.) ▪ -The Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150-c. 2686 BCE) saw the unification of the north and south kingdoms of Egypt under the Pharaoh Manes (also known as Meni or Menes) of the south who conquered the north in 3118 BCE. ▪ - Trade increased significantly under the rulers of the Early Dynastic Period and elaborate mastaba tombs, precursors to the later pyramids, developed in ritual burial practices which included more elaborate mummification techniques. ▪ -In the Archaic Period, as in all other periods, most ancient Egyptians were farmers living in small villages, and agriculture (largely wheat and barley) formed the economic base of the Egyptian state.
- 8. 2. OLD KINGDOM: AGE OF THE PYRAMID BUILDERS (C. 2686-2181 B.C.) ▪ -During the period known as the Old Kingdom (c. 2686-c. 2181 BCE), architecture developed at an increased rate and some of the most famous monuments in Egypt, such as the pyramids and the Great Sphinx at Giza, were constructed. ▪ -Around 2630 B.C., the third dynasty’s King Djoser asked Imhotep, an architect, priest and healer, to design a funerary monument for him; the result was the world’s first major stone building, the Step-Pyramid at Saqqara, near Memphis. ▪ -Pyramid-building reached its zenith with the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo. ▪ -The grandeur of the pyramids on the Giza plateau, as they originally would have appeared, sheathed in gleaming white limestone, is a testament to the power and wealth of the rulers during this period.
- 10. ▪ -During the third and fourth dynasties, Egypt enjoyed a golden age of peace and prosperity. ▪ -The pharaohs held absolute power and provided a stable central government; the kingdom faced no serious threats from abroad; and successful military campaigns in foreign countries like Nubia and Libya added to its considerable economic prosperity. ▪ -Over the course of the fifth and sixth dynasties, the king’s wealth was steadily depleted, partially due to the huge expense of pyramid-building.
- 11. 3. FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (C. 2181-2055 B.C.) ▪ -Independent states with their own rulers developed throughout Egypt until two great centers emerged: 1. Hierakonpolis in Lower Egypt 2. Thebes in Upper Egypt.
- 13. 4. MIDDLE KINGDOM: 12TH DYNASTY (C. 2055-1786 B.C.) ▪ -The Middle Kingdom is considered Egypt’s `Classical Age’ when art and culture reached great heights and Thebes became the most important and wealthiest city in the country. ▪ -Middle-Kingdom Egypt pursued an aggressive foreign policy, colonizing Nubia (with its rich supply of gold, ebony, ivory and other resources) and repelling the Bedouins who had infiltrated Egypt during the First Intermediate Period.
- 15. 5. SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (C. 1786-1567 B.C.) ▪ -Luxurious spending and building projects, combined with uncontrolled flooding of the Nile River which caused famine, weakened the government at Thebes to the point where it had no power to halt the increasing influence of the Hyksos people in the Nile Delta. ▪ -The Hyksos are a mysterious people, most likely from the area of Syria/Palestine, who first appeared in Egypt c. 1800 and settled in the town of Avaris. ▪ -The Hyksos grew in power until they were able to take control of the whole of Lower Egypt by c. 1720 BCE, rendering the Theban Dynasty of Upper Egypt a vassal state and the pharaoh no more than a figure head.
- 16. ▪ -While the Hyksos (whose name simply means `foreign rulers’) were hated by the Egyptians, they introduced a great many improvements to the culture such as the composite bow, the horse, and the chariot along with crop rotation and developments in bronze and ceramic works. ▪ -The Egyptians mounted a number of campaigns to drive the Hyksos out and subdue the Nubians but all failed until Ahmose I, who had been a soldier in the Theban army, finally succeeded c. 1555/50 BCE.
- 17. 6. NEW KINGDOM (C. 1567-1085 B.C.) ▪ - Tuthmosis I reign was followed by Queen Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BCE) who greatly expanded trade with other nations, most notably the Land of Punt. Her 22-year reign was one of peace and prosperity for Egypt. ▪ -Advances in medicine led to improvements in health. Bathing had long been an important part of the daily Egyptian’s regimen as it was encouraged by their religion and modeled by their clergy. At this time, however, more elaborate baths were produced, presumably more for leisure than simply hygiene.
- 18. ▪ -In 1353 BCE the pharaoh Amenhotep IV succeeded to the throne and, shortly after, changed his name to Akhenaten (`living spirit of Aten’) to reflect his belief in a single god, Aten. ▪ -Akhenaten and his queen, Nefertiti, renounced the traditional religious beliefs and customs of Egypt and instituted a new religion based upon the recognition of one god.
- 19. ▪ -The greatest ruler of the New Kingdom, however, was Ramesses II (also known as Ramesses the Great, 1279-1213 BCE) who commenced the most elaborate building projects of any Egyptian ruler and who reigned so efficiently that he had the means to do so. ▪ -Although the famous Battle of Kadesh of 1274 (between Ramesses II of Egypt and Muwatalli II of the Hitties) is today regarded as a draw, Ramesses considered it a great Egyptian victory and celebrated himself as a champion of the people, and finally as a god, in his many public works. ▪ -Under the reign of Ramesses II the first peace treaty in the world (The Treaty of Kadesh) was signed in 1258 BCE and Egypt enjoyed almost unprecedented affluence.
- 20. ▪ -He became known to later generations as `The Great Ancestor’ and reigned for so long that all of his subjects had been born knowing only Ramesses II as their ruler. Upon his death, many feared that the end of the world had come as they had known no other pharaoh and no other kind of Egypt. ▪ -The kings who followed Ramses III were less successful: Egypt lost its provinces in Palestine and Syria for good and suffered from foreign invasions (notably by the Libyans), while its wealth was being steadily but inevitably depleted.
- 21. FROM THE LATE PERIOD TO ALEXANDER’S CONQUEST (C.664-332 B.C.) ▪ -In 525 B.C., Cambyses, king of Persia, defeated Psammetichus III, the last Saite king, at the Battle of Pelusium, and Egypt became part of the Persian Empire. ▪ -Persian rulers such as Darius (522-485 B.C.) ruled the country largely under the same terms as native Egyptian kings: Darius supported Egypt’s religious cults and undertook the building and restoration of its temples. ▪ -The tyrannical rule of Xerxes (486-465 B.C.) sparked increased uprisings under him and his successors. One of these rebellions triumphed in 404 B.C., beginning one last period of Egyptian independence under native rulers (dynasties 28-30). ▪ -in 332 B.C., Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeated the armies of the Persian Empire and conquered Egypt. ▪ -The last ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt–the legendary Cleopatra VII–surrendered Egypt to the armies of Octavian (later Augustus) in 31 B.C. Six centuries of Roman rule followed, during which Christianity became the official religion of Rome and its provinces (including Egypt).
- 22. Ancient Egyptian Religion ▪ -During its more than 3,000 years of development, Egyptian religion underwent significant changes of emphasis and practice, but in all periods religion had a clear consistency in character and style. ▪ -It is inappropriate to define religion narrowly, as consisting only in the cult of the gods and in human piety. ▪ - Religious behavior encompassed contact with the dead, practices such as divination and oracles, and magic, which mostly exploited divine instruments and associations. ▪ -There were two essential foci of public religion: 1. the king 2. and the gods.
- 23. ▪ -Egyptian religion was polytheistic. The gods who inhabited the bounded and ultimately perishable cosmos varied in nature and capacity. ▪ - The word netjer (“god”) described a much wider range of beings than the deities of monotheistic religions, including what might be termed demons. ▪ -As is almost necessary in polytheism, gods were neither all-powerful nor all- knowing.
- 24. ▪ -Most gods were generally benevolent, but their favor could not be counted on, and they had to be propitiated and encouraged to inhabit their cult images so that they could receive the cult and further the reciprocity of divine and human. ▪ -The god Seth embodied the disordered aspects of the ordered world, and in the 1st millennium bce he came to be seen as an enemy who had to be eliminated (but would remain present). ▪ -The most important deities were the sun god, who had several names and aspects and was associated with many supernatural beings in a solar cycle modeled on the alternation of night and day, and Osiris, the god of the dead and ruler of the underworld.
- 26. ▪ -The Egyptians conceived of the cosmos as including the gods and the present world—whose center was, of course, Egypt—and as being surrounded by the realm of disorder, from which order had arisen and to which it would finally revert. ▪ -The task of the king as the protagonist of human society was to retain the benevolence of the gods in maintaining order against disorder. ▪ -Despite this pessimism, the official presentation of the cosmos on the monuments was positive and optimistic, showing the king and the gods in perpetual reciprocity and harmony. ▪ -Death and the next world dominate both the archaeological record and popular modern conceptions of Egyptian religion.
- 27. King, cosmos, and society: ▪ -The king was the center of human society, the guarantor of order for the gods, the recipient of god-given benefits including life itself, and the benevolent ruler of the world for humanity. ▪ -He was ultimately responsible for the cults of the dead, both for his predecessors in office and for the dead in general. ▪ -His dominance in religion corresponded to his central political role: from late predynastic times (c. 3100 bce), state organization was based on kingship and on the service of officials for the king.
- 28. ▪ -In his intermediate position between humanity and the gods, the king could receive the most extravagant divine adulation and was in some ways more prominent than any single god. ▪ -In death he aspired to full divinity but could not escape the human context. ▪ -The gods, the king, humanity, and the dead existed together in the cosmos, which the creator god had brought into being from the preexistent chaos. ▪ -The ordered cosmos was surrounded by and shot through with disorder, which had to be kept at bay.
- 29. ▪ -Disorder menaced most strongly at such times of transition as the passage from one year to the next or the death of a king. Thus, the king’s role in maintaining order was cosmic and not merely social. His exaction of service from people was necessary to the cosmos. ▪ -The concept of maat (“order”) was fundamental in Egyptian thought. The king’s role was to set maat in place of isfet (“disorder”). ▪ - Maat was crucial in human life and embraced notions of reciprocity, justice, truth, and moderation.
- 30. ▪ -Maat extended into the world of the dead: in the weighing of the heart after death, shown on papyri deposited in burials, the person’s heart occupies one side of the scales and a representation of maat the other. ▪ -The meaning of this image is deepened in the accompanying text, which asserts that the deceased behaved correctly on earth and did not overstep the boundaries of order, declaring that he or she did not “know that which is not”—that is, things that were outside the created and ordered world.