The Kingdom of EgyptMain Idea

Egypt was one of the most stable/long-lasting civilizations of the ancient world.

Geography and Early Egypt• The Nile, Without the Nile, no one could live there.

– 4,000 miles long; flows through the Sahara Desert

Geography of Egypt• The Nile flooded every year

– Very Predictable with spring rains– Left rich, black silt, narrow band of fertile soil

• Became home of Egyptian civilization

Delta

• Egypt’s most fertile soil in Nile Delta

• Silt deposits at mouth of river

• Black Land of rich arable soil

Cataracts

• Cataracts: Currents and waterfalls, sailing impossible

• Nile protected itself, Not an easy invasion rout

Geographical Features

Two Kingdoms• First farming villages as early as 5000 BC• Northern Kingdom, Lower Egypt

• Mild climate; cobra goddess worshipped• Southern Kingdom, Upper Egypt

• Warmer climate; prayed to a vulture goddess

Unification• Two kingdoms unified around 3100 BC• Upper Egypt ruler Menes conquered north

– Founded capital city of Memphis– Adopted both symbols, the snake and the vulture

MENES

The Pyramids• Most famous symbols of Egypt• Largest located near Giza• Built as tombs for rulers

– Hollow chamber for burial – Treasures buried with them– Deadly traps within– Step (Mustaba) to Smooth

Building Pyramids• Took great planning and skill• Ordered when kings took the throne • Built from the inside out• Built by Peasants,Not slaves

– 1 month per year– Craftspeople, like architects, artists

The Old Kingdom

The Pharaohs• Pharaoh: (“great house”) head of the gov’t, the king

• Pharaoh believed to be a god

• Egypt a theocracy, a state ruled by religious figures

Egyptian Bureaucracy• Pharaoh could not rule Egypt alone

• Aided by Bureaucracy: Help with daily Gov’t operations

• Many of whom were pharaoh’s relatives

• Vizier: Most powerful official

• Hundreds of lesser officials kept Egypt running smoothly

The Middle Kingdom• Old Kingdom collapsed around 2100 BC

• Warfare, economic strife for almost 200 years

• New dynasty began Middle Kingdom 2055 BC

– Strong leadership brought stability

– Trade with surrounding lands encouraged

• Trade routes not always safe

– Fortresses built along the Nile

– The Hyksos invaded, conquered around 1650 BC

MIDDLE KINGDOM

MENTUHOTEP II (C. 2060 - 2010 BC)

Hyksos ruled almost 100 years

•Not harsh, but resented

•Defeated by nobles from Thebes who became new rulers of Egypt

Securing Egypt

•Geography not enough (Desert and sea), Had to build powerful military

First permanent army

•Traditional foot soldiers, Archers and charioteers

• Adopted weapons from Hyksos

Created an empire

•Egypt to rule beyond Nile Valley

•Headed south into Nubia & east into Asia

The New Kingdom

NEW KINGDOM

The Reign of Hatshepsut • Hatshepsut, Only woman pharaoh

• Dressed like a man, statues masculine

• Encouraging trade

• Monotheism in Egypt• Amenhotep IV, 1353

– Worshipped only one god, Aten (Sun God)– Banned worship of all other gods

• Built temple to Aten at Akhetaten • The next pharaoh, Tut, restored worship of traditional gods

Egypt expanded empire• Fought campaigns in Nubia and Syria• A new foe around 1250 BC• Hittites invaded from Mesopotamia

Confrontation with Hittites• Ramses the Great led army• Accounts of battle vary, but two armies signed truce• Ramses married Hittite princess and conflict ended

Ramses’ rule• Reign marked with extravagant splendor,

• Died at age 90, Ruled about 67 years• 90 plus kids, out lived most

• Built more temples and monuments than other pharaohs• Ramesseum, Pi-Ramesses, Abu Simbel, Tomb KV5

Ramses the Great

RAMSES II

Egypt’s Decline• Ramses’ successors faced challenges to authority

• Major invasions of Egypt

– Sea Peoples devastated empires

– Ended Hittite Empire, weakened Egypt’s control of Syria

• Egypt broke into small states

– Many foreign rulers over next 700 years

– Libyans, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks

– Finally fell to Rome

Egyptian Culture

Main Idea

The ancient Egyptians are famous for their religion, their burial practices, and their advances in art, writing and science.

Egyptians worshipped many gods• Believed that gods controlled all natural events

Chief gods and goddesses• Re: God of sun, Main God,

• Amon-Re: linked to Sky God Amon• Sun god temple at Karnak the largest ever built in Egypt

Anubis• Protector of the dead, weighed Heart to decide fate• Light souls had been good in life and were rewarded• Unworthy souls fed to terrible monster, Ammit, "the gobbler"

Egyptian Religion

Osiris, Isis and Horus, Hathor and Thoth• Osiris: Lord of the Dead*

• Brother Seth (Set) killed Osiris, scattered his body around Egypt

• Wife Isis reassembled Osiris, & brought back to life

• Osiris replacing Anubis as judge of dead, Now Embalming

• Hathor: cow-headed goddess of love

• Thoth: god of wisdom

• Seth: God of Evil

The Gods * Aken Ferryman of the Underworld * Aker Guardian and Gatekeeper of the

Underworld * Am-Heh - Devourer of Millions * Ament Greeter of the Dead * Ammit Devourer of the Wicked * Amun/Amun-Re The King of Gods * Anat Mother of Gods * Andjety A precursor of Osiris * Anqet The Embracer, Goddess of Fertility

and the Nile at Aswan * Anubis God of Embalming * Anuke Goddess of War * Anuket Goddess of the Nile * Apep The Great Destroyer * Arensnuphis Kind God of Desert * Astarte, Warrior Goddess of Canaan * Aten The Sun Disk and later God * Atum The All-Father * Auf (Efu Ra) aspect of the sun god Ra * Baal, God of Thunder * Ba-Pef - The Soul * Babi - Dominant Male Baboon God* Banebdjetet God of Lower Egypt * Bast Beautiful Cat-Goddess * Bat - Ancient Cow Goddess * Benu (Bennu) - The Bird of Creation * Bes Protector of Childbirth * Dedwen - Nubian God of Resources * Denwen - The Fiery Serpent * The Ennead The Nine Great Osirian Gods * Fetket - The Sun God's Butler * Geb God of the Earth

* Gengen Wer - The Great Honker * Hapi God of the Nile River * Hathor Goddess of Music and Dance * Hatmehyt - The Fish Goddess * Haurun, The Victorious Herdsman * Heh and Hauhet Deities of Infinity & Eternity * Heqet Frog Goddess * Heret-Kau - She who is Above the Spirits * Heryshef, Ruler of the Riverbanks * Heset Goddess of Plenty * Hetepes-Sekhus - An Eye of Re * Hike God of Magic and Medicine * Horus King of the Gods on Earth * Hu God of the Spoken Word * Iabet, Cleanser of Re, Personification of East * Ihy - The Child God * Imhotep Lord of Science and Thought * Ipy (Opet), A Mother of Osiris * Isis Queen of the Gods * Iusaas - Creator Goddess * Kabechet Helper of Anubis * Kek and Kauket, Deities of Darkness,

Obscurity and Night * Khenmu The Great Potter * Kherty - Ram-headed God * Kephri The Great Scarab * Khonsu God of the Moon * Maat Lady of Truth and Order * Mafdet Goddess of Scorpions and Snakes * Mahaf - The Ferryman * Mahes The Lord of the Massacre * Male Child Gods of Egypt * Mandulis - The Lower Nubian Sun God

* Mehen Defender of the Sun Boat * Mehet-Weret - Cow Goddess of the Sky * Menhit Lion-headed War Goddess * Mertseger Guardian of the Valley of the Kings * Meskhenet - Goddess of Childbrith * Mihos - Son of Bastet * Min God of Fertility * Montu, Warrior and Solar God * Mut Grandmother of the Gods * Nefertem Lord of the Sunrise * Nehebkau, God who Joined the Ka to the Body * Nekhbet Goddess of the Power of Kings * Neith Goddess of War and Funerals * Nephthys Lady of the Wings * Nun and Naunet Gods of Chaos and Water * Nut Goddess of the Firmament * The Ogdoad The Primordial Creation Gods * Onuris The War God * Osiris Lord of the Dead * Pakhet The Strength of Woman * Panebtawy - The Child God * Peteese and Pihor - Brother Gods * Ptah The Creator * Qadesh - Goddess of Esctasy and Sexual Pleasure * Re (Ra) The Sun God * Renenutet Goddess of the Harvest * Reshep - The Syrian War God * Sah and Sopdet (Sothis) The Astral God and Goddess * Satet Goddess of the Inundation * Satis Guardian of the Borders * Sebiumeker - Meroitic God of Procreation * Sefkhet-Abwy - Goddess of Writing and Temple Libraries * Seker The Resurrected Osiris * Sekhmet The Eye of Ra * Sepa - Centipede God * Serapis the Composit God * Serqet (Selkis) Scorpion Goddess * Seshat Goddess of writing, measurements * Set God of Evil * Shay - Personified Destiny * Shesmetet - Leonine Goddess * Shesmu Demon god of the Win Press * Shu God of the Air and Sky * Sia - The Perceptive Mind * Sobek Guard of the Gods * Sons of Horus Gods of the Viscera and the Canopic Jars * Sopedu - The Border Patrol God * Ta-Bitjet - A Wife of Horus * Tasenetnofret - The Good Sister * Taweret Goddess Demoness of Birth * Tayet - Goddess of Weaving * Tefnut Goddess of Moisture * Tatenen - "Father of Gods" and the God of the Rising Earth * Thoth God of Wisdom * Wadj Wer - The Pregnant God * Wadjet The Serpent Goddess * Weneg - Ancient Son of Re * Wepwawet (Upuaut) The Opener of the Ways * Wosret - Goddess of Thebes * Yah - Another Moon God * Yamm - God of the Sea

Temples and Religious Practices• Temples built to honor, provide homes for gods• Ruins can still be seen in Egypt • Features

– Decorated with massive statues– Elaborate paintings, detailed carvings

• Obelisks – Tall, thin pillars with pyramid-shaped tops– Made from single piece of stone– Carved with intricate designs

Temples and Religious Practices• Rituals to fulfill gods’ needs

– Cleaned and refreshed statue of god daily

– This kept gods alive

– In return gods would bring Egypt prosperity

• Priests had responsibility for care

– Common people had no part in rituals

– Ordinary Egyptians never entered temples

– People did worship gods at annual festivals

•Belief in an afterlife, a land of the dead where souls would go to live.

Teachings•Physical body dies, releases ka: individual’s personality

• Ka needed food and drink to survive•If Body decompose ka would vanish

Mummification•Developed process to prevent breakdown of body•Mummification only for kings, royal family at first•Process available later to any who could afford

Process•Internal organs removed, Canopic Jars•Heart left in body•Body wrapped with linen strips•Features painted on mummy to help ka recognize its body

Mummification and Burial

Tut, Seti I, Ramses II, Hatshepsut

Possessions• Dead buried with possessions needed for afterlife

• Food and drink for the ka• Pharaohs and nobles buried with treasures

and riches

Pharaohs’ tombs• Filled with statues of servants• Egyptians thought statues would come to life to

serve ka• Models of animals, chariots and boats

Decorations• Walls painted with scenes from person’s life &

Stories of Gods

Burial

Burial Practices

• Archeologists learned much from items buried in tombs

• Also learned from images painted on tomb walls

• Good picture of society, culture

Social Structure Top Layer

• Pharaoh, On Top Alone

• Then Officials, priests, priestesses, scribes, military leaders, doctors, landowners

• All among wealthiest in Egypt

Social Structure Next Level

• Next level, artisans, craftspeople and merchants

• The people who made and sold goods used by others

Social Structure Bottom

• 90% = peasant farmers, recruited to build

• Recruited also for mines, army

Daily Life

Slaves • Not a large part of the population• Most convicted criminals or prisoners of war• Slavery Expands in New KingdomStatus• Society less rigid than other ancient civilizations• Possible to move up in society• Scribe = fastest way to gain statusHome and Family Life• Pharaohs had more than one wife, most men only one• Pharaohs married sisters to keep royal blood pureHouses• Father is head of household• Poor families lived in huts• Rich families had brick homes• Noble families lived in palace

Daily Life

Women and Children

• Woman’s duty to care for home and children

• Egyptian women could work outside home

• Could be priestess, own property, divorce husband

• Few children educated

• Played with wooden toys

Appearance and Customs

• Egyptians paid close attention to their appearance

• Many shaved heads, wore wigs, as well as perfume and makeup

• Clothing of linen and wool

• Children wore no clothes until adolescence

• Enjoyed sports, fishing, sailing and board games

Daily Life

•Ancient Egypt lasted made many advancements

Egyptian Art

•Paintings

– Detailed and colorful– Stories of gods– Pictures of daily life– Most on walls of tombs, temples

Egyptian Statues

•Statues: Most show gods, pharaohs

– Large, imposing– Show power and majesty

•Great Sphinx, the largest and most famous

Art, Writing, and Science

•Egyptians were prolific writers who recorded events, composed beautiful songs and stories

Hieroglyphics

•The main Egyptian writing system

•Uses picture symbols to represent objects

•formal writing, stone monuments, religious texts

•Difficult to learn, time consuming

Other Systems•Two other systems for texts that needed to be written more quickly•Hieratic, religious texts•Demotic, legal and literary writings•Simpler and less attractive•Made on wood, pottery and papyrus

•Egyptians used the pulp of the papyrus plant, to make paper-like sheets.

•Many papyrus scrolls are still readable today.

Egyptian Writing

Hieroglyphics

Hieratic Demotic

Egyptian Writing• Historians could not decipher hieroglyphs

• Rosetta Stone

– Discovered near Nile Delta village of Rosetta in 1799

– Long passages of writing on the broken stone

• Same text in hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek

– Using Greek as guide, hieroglyphs and demotic meanings revealed

– Unlocked the mystery of Egyptian writing

Egyptian Math• Egyptians had thorough understanding of basic arithmetic

• Also understood basic principles of geometry

• This along with grasp of engineering helped them build pyramids

• Buildings still standing, so skills were great

Egyptian Science• Greatest scientific advances were in medicine

• Egyptians masters of human anatomy

• Doctors treated wounds, performed surgery, used medicines made from plants and animals

• Prescribed regimens of basic hygiene to prevent illness

The Nubian Kingdoms

Main Idea

One of ancient Africa’s most advanced civilizations, Kush developed along the Nile south of Egypt in a region called Nubia.

The Region of Nubia• Nubia, located south of Egypt along the Nile

– Blue Nile, White Nile flow together to form Nile

– Where rivers meet near Khartoum may have been southern Nubian boundary

– Region stretched north to first cataract, Egypt’s southern boundary

• Nubians depended on Nile – Landscape made farming difficult– Nile flows through rocky mountains in

Nubia

A Wealth of Resources

• Nubia had great mineral wealth• Mines produced gold, granite, precious stones• Location was also a valuable resource• Goods from central Africa to other lands flowed into Nubia • Goods traded through Nubia included animal skins, ivory, ebony, slavesNubia’s People• Egyptian writings explain Nubia• Nubians skilled potters, expert traders and archers• Egyptians called Nubia the Land of the Nine Bows• Some Egyptian rulers hired Nubian archers as police, soldiers

The Region of Nubia

• Early History• Nubia formed at same time as Egypt’s Old Kingdom• Nubia possessed great wealth• Nubia and Egypt became rivals• Egypt conquered Nubia during Middle Kingdom• Nubia adopted Egyptian culture

•Northern Nubia was controlled by Egypt during the Middle Kingdom•In Southern Nubian powerful state called Kush began to develop.Beginnings of Power•Egypt’s Middle Kingdom collapsed around 1700 BC

•Kush expanded to rule all Nubia

– Alliance with Hyksos– Trade increased – Used wealth to build royal tombs in Kerma

•New Kingdom Egyptians conquered Kush, 1500 BC

Egyptians in Kush•Egypt ruled 400 years

•Egyptian rulers built temples, monuments in Kush

•Kush regained power after Ramses

•Free of Egyptian control by 1100 BC

•Kushites weak, disorganized after Egyptian control

The Growth of Kush

Kushites in Egypt

• New Kushite kingdom, 750 BC

• Began to grow and strengthen

• Kush expand after fall of New Kingdom

• Piankhi led Kushites north into Egypt

Piankhi

• Compassionate ruler, ruthless warrior

• Conquered all of Egypt, held about a century

• Mid-600s BC, Assyrians push Kush back to Nubia

The Growth of Kush

The Growth of KushKushite Culture• Kushite pharaohs, guardians of Egyptian tradition

– Had bodies mummified, buried in pyramids– Adopted Egyptian hieroglyphics as writing system

• Did not abandon all their own customs – Did not adopt Egyptian style of dressing– Statues show distinctly Nubian features, clothing– Pharaohs wearing crown with two cobras, symbol of union of Egypt and Kush

•Few records for the period following the Kushite expulsion from Egypt. •In the mid-200s BC, the Kushites moved their capital south to Meroë. •The scope of change in culture was so great, some refer later Kush as a separate cultureCity of Meroë•Near junction of two rivers, “Island of Mero딕Homes of wood from nearby forests•Area home to many species of wild animalsIron Industry•Abundant mineral resources nearby•Iron also plentiful

– Most valuable product– Shipped in Nile Valley – Wealth supported expansion

Later Culture•Abandoned some Egyptian culture•Created own writing system•Mysteries remain

– Role of women?, Female rulers?– High status?– Regents?

Later Kush

Decline of Meroë• Economy strong as long as trade thrived

• Decline in trade began in 200s AD

• As economy declined, so did kingdom

• Aksum invaded, destroyed Meroë, 350 AD, Kushite civilization faded

Factors in Decline of Meroë• Competition for goods reduced demands for Kushite exports

• Trade routes linking Meroë to outside world disturbed by raids

• Centuries of iron making took toll on Nubian forests

• Wood for forges to smelt iron no longer available

• Kushites could no longer work iron to make tools they needed