Ancient Egypt: Power and Permeability

Natufians à Catal Hoyuk à Sumer and city-states à Akkadian Empire à Babylonian Empire

Mesopotamia

Ancient Egypt Predynastic à Early Dynastic à Old Kingdom à Middle Kingdom

à New Kingdom

c. 3200 c. 2000 bce

Memphis  

Thebes  

Lower Egypt

Upper Egypt

Herakleopolis  

First Intermediate Period

Nome  

Nomarch  

Predynastic: c. 3500 bce – 3100 bce Early Dynastic: c. 3100 bce – 2686 bce

-Narmer and first unification Old Kingdom: 2686 bce – 2181 bce First Intermediate Period: 2181 bce – 2055 bce

-rise of Herakleopolis Middle Kingdom: 2055 bce – 1650 bce Second Intermediate Period: 1650 – 1550 bce New Kingdom: 1550 bce – 1069 bce

-Akhenaten and Atenism

This is the Narmer Palette (c. 3100 bce), which is commonly interpreted as depicting Narmer’s unification of lower and upper Egypt. With this unification began the Early Dynastic Period. For the next two thousand years, Egyptian history would frequently be shaped by the struggles between monarchs (“Pharaohs”) like Narmer, who fought for a unified Egyptian state and centralized power, and nomarchs, who often were a force for the “decentralization” of power, as they wanted to retain control of their respective nomes.

How was unification achieved, according to this palette? Violence is a clear and obvious answer, but are there any others?

Literacy rate from Old Kingdom to New Kingdom:

somewhere between 1 – 5% With different potential “levels” of literacy, and literacy (very, very) slowly spreading

Some defining aspects of Egyptian civilization: 1. An emphasis on the power of language and text, combined with a low literacy rate.

Some defining aspects of Egyptian civilization: 1.  An emphasis on the power of language and text, combined with a low literacy rate. 2.  Concentrated power

Statue of Djoser, monarch c. 2670 bce Statue of Khufu, monarch c. 2590 bce

Statue of Ramesses II, monarch c. 1280 bce

Illustrations of Egyptian Creation Myths

Some defining aspects of Egyptian civilization: 1.  An emphasis on the power of language and text, combined with a low literacy rate. 2.  Concentrated power 3.  Elaborate religious mythology which, until Akhenaten’s attempt at changing it, was polytheistic

Djoser Step Pyramid, c. 2600bce

Mastaba, or “house for eternity” -existed during Naqada culture and predynastic period

Khufu Pyramid, c. 2500 bce

Abu Simbel, c. 1300 bce

How might this combination of factors help explain the creation of monumental architecture (yes, including the pyramids), which was done under the command of and for use by elite rulers?

Some defining aspects of Egyptian civilization: 1.  An emphasis on the power of language and text, combined with a low literacy rate. 2.  Concentrated power 3.  Elaborate religious mythology which, until Akhenaten’s attempt at changing it, was polytheistic

Papyrus of Ani – Negative Confessions

Immortality and the afterlife were pivotal ideas within Egyptian religious mythology. What might have occurred these ideas intersected with concentrated power, an emphasis on language, and a low literacy rate?

Boat of Pharaoh Khufu

Some defining aspects of Egyptian civilization: 1.  An emphasis on the power of language and text, combined with a low literacy rate. 2.  Concentrated power 3.  Elaborate religious mythology which, until Akhenaten’s attempt at changing it, was polytheistic

Examples of a complex theory of the afterlife, with immortality initially only accessible to those with intellectual and material privileges.

���Thoth, a god believed to have

invented writing

Statue of Scribe Nykara and His Family, ca. 2455– 2350B.C.E. [Old Kingdom], Brooklyn Museum

Some defining aspects of Egyptian civilization: 1.  An emphasis on the power of language and text, combined with a low literacy rate. 2.  Concentrated power 3.  Elaborate religious mythology which, until Akhenaten’s attempt at changing it, was polytheistic

“direct your heart to writing…nothing excels writing” -Satire of the Trades, Middle Kingdom

How might this combination of factors help explain the spiritual power attributed to writing, as well as the earthly power attributed to “scribes”?

Some crucial concepts in Egyptian intellectual/religious life:

•  Ma’at – the divinely authorized “order,” “justice,” or “peace” the universe. All Pharaohs responsible for keeping it.

•  Ka - the divine energy or life force that flowed through the universe and especially through the

Pharaoh, which he breathed into all things on behalf of the gods Re & Osiris.

• Ba – the unique qualities of each individual “soul’ or “spirit”

Some defining aspects of Egyptian civilization: 1.  An emphasis on the power of language and text, combined with a low literacy rate. 2.  Concentrated power 3.  Elaborate religious mythology which, until Akhenaten’s attempt at changing it, was polytheistic

How might some of these concepts assist in the concentration of power? How might some of these concepts undermine the concentration of power? How do these concepts relate to the ideas of fluidity and permeability?

“Magic Knife,”, ca. 1769 – 1630 B.C.E. [Middle Kingdom], Brooklyn Museum

Some examples of permeability in Egyptian culture

This object, when touched to certain parts of the body, was believed to promote health inviting positive spirits into the body

A person’s “ba” leaving the body. The ba, or individual spirit, was believed to be able to fly between the realm of the living and the realm of the dead.

I have heard those songs that are in the ancient tombs, And what they tell Extolling life on earth and belittling the region of the dead. Wherefore do they thus, concerning the land of eternity, The just and the fair, Which has no terrors? Wrangling is its abhorrence; no man there girds himself against his fellow. It is a land against which none can rebel. All our kinsfolk rest within it, since the earliest day of time; The offspring of millions are come hither, every one. For none may tarry in the land of Egypt, None there is who has not passed yonder. The span of earthly things is as a dream; But a fair welcome is given him who has reached the West.

“Harper’s Song,” believed to promote passage into immortality

Another example of permeability: Song and Speech

Beginning in the Old Kingdom, elites tried to promote the idea that immortality was a privilege reserved for a select few. Over time, though, non-elites began to assert their own ability to access the permeable realm.

A commonly held, although also commonly debated, opinion among Egyptologists is that by the New Kingdom, while few regular citizens could afford to build elaborate pyramids for themselves, many began to pay to be buried in coffins that were covered in sacred texts—such as the Negative Confessions--that would help them navigate the afterlife.

Power and Permeability

Akhenaten worshipping Light, Relief from altar, Amarna Period, ca. 1350 bce

The pharaoh Akhenaten (New Kingdom, reign: c. 1354 – 1336 bce), however, attempted to put and end to this proliferation of gods, goddesses, and cults. He decide that only one god, Aten, should be worshipped. He even went so far as to outlaw other religions and make “Atenism” the mandatory state religion. His efforts would ultimately fail, but it is potentially one of the earliest examples of monotheism, as well as one of the earliest

examples of a state religion

Power and Permeability

Many argue that growing access to sacred texts and sacred burials helped “democratize” the afterlife in Egypt. Another factor that might have helped democratize access to the spiritual realm was polytheism, as cities, families, and individuals could choose which gods to prioritize and which to disregard.

Oh…and one more thing

We should remind ourselves that Egypt, though relatively stable from the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom, did not exist in a vacuum. Indeed, by the New Kingdom, Egypt is very involved in the “international affairs” of the region. This manifested itself in trade, in diplomacy, and in war.

Painting of Ramesses II attacking Nubians

Map of foreign relations during the New Kingdom

Here’s a map of the main civilizations in the region during the New Kingdom

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