Lecture 2: Egyptian Civilization, 10,000 – 1100 BCE

Time Periods

1. Predynastic period: 10,000 – 3000 BCE

2. Old Kingdom: 3000-2200 BCE

3. Middle Kingdom: 2040-1785 BCE

4. New Kingdom: 1600-1100BCE

Overview: Predynastic period

Nile River: agriculturally prosperous

5000-4000 BCE: Emergence of small towns

Same transition to agriculture, rise in trade

Old Kingdom (3000-2200 BCE)

Overview 2 kingdoms - Upper + Lower Egypt (King

Menes - Narmer) Highly organized, centralized theocracy Advances in art, architecture, literature,

medicine, and technological skills Capital city of Memphis

Political Structure

Hierarchy: Kings, court officials, provincial governors, city mayors

Kings Religious, social, + political life Divine figures of authority, half-divine Maintained order by caring for temples

Priests

Main duty: act of behalf of King in temple

Elite families: hereditary power

Wealthy: massive estates Advised kings Collected taxes, organized

building projects, administered justice

Peasants and Artisans

Carefully regulated lives: movements limited, taxed heavily

Majority of population (80%) Agricultural work or domestic servants for elite. Flooding season: large building projects

Egyptian Writing

Overview Script independent of cuneiform Hieroglyphics ("sacred carvings") Mostly with pen and ink on fine paper

(papyrus)

Role of the Scribe

Trained in hieroglyph writing

Records of king’s possessions, food production

Years of schooling

Knowledge = privileged status

Egyptian Religion

Overview: Polytheistic Each region: own

patron deity Beliefs + rituals: life

after death Egyptian religion

centralized Function of temple:

religious

The Gods

Re, the sun God Creator of universe Most important deity of Old

Kingdom Kings: "sons of Re" Course through sky +

underworld = daily pattern for King’s life, death, and resurrection.

Representation of the Gods

Early representations: Gods as animals, eg. falcon, vulture, cobra, dog, cat or crocodile. Animals possessed religious significance.

Later representations: Human (anthropomorphism), often retained animal's head or body.

Burial Tombs: The Pyramids

Overview: Construction: 2680-2400 BCE

(replaced with rock-cut tombs) 4-sided, stone

Purpose: Burial tombs for Kings

First pyramid: Saqqara: King Djoser 6 steps: ladder to heaven Increasingly lavish

2600 BCE: Great Pyramid at Giza Built by King Khufu (or Cheops) Largest human-made structure in ancient world Symbol of greatness of Old Kingdom

Features of Burial Tombs

Supplies for journey into afterlife: every day + valuable luxury items

Paintings on walls of tombs: spiritual purpose Walls of chamber: hieroglyphics

MummificationPractice: According to Herodotus, most refined method of

mummification:

“…first of all they draw out the brain through the nostrils with an iron hook….then they make an incision in the flank with a sharp Ethiopian stone through which they extract all the internal organs…”

Purpose: Slowly dry a dead body, prevent it from rotting. Preserving body in death kept soul alive

Ka: Indestructible vital principle. Left body at death: ka, on its return, would not find body decomposed

*Religious beliefs = Basis of Egyptian life*

Examples:Medicine: Magical utterances: disease attributed

to gods. Astronomy: for correct time to perform religious

rites + sacrifices. Literature: Earliest examples - religious themes. Government: King as divine monarch -

intermediary between gods + man.

The Middle Kingdom (2040-1785 BCE)

Old Kingdom collapsed: economic decline, drought, deterioration of Kings

2200-2040 BCE: First Immediate Period, anarchy + civil war

2040 BCE: Mentuhotep II, Middle Kingdom

Characteristics of Middle Kingdom

1. Power of the Kings waned• Tombs less extravagant• Bureaucracy open to literate• More public-work projects; more concern for

ordinary people

2. Renewed interest in foreign policy - trading + military

Osiris, God of the Dead

Local deity in Lower Egypt First intermediate period:

replaced Re as most popular deity

Judged the dead before Osiris Osiris weighed heart - true

confession? Promise of immortality: religious

democratization

Importance of the Afterlife

Optimistic worldview: Afterlife possible for all Death = continuation of one's life on earth with

proper burial, prayer, and ritual Pyramid Texts: earliest known writings about

resurrection Book of the Dead: spells, incantations, prayers,

hymns, + rituals to attain immortality

New Kingdom (1600-1100BCE)

Expulsion of Hyksos from Egypt (1550 BCE): King Ahmose I overthrew

Wealth, military success, + splendor Temple building + elaborate tombs Pyramids discontinued. Rock-cut tombs in

Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens at Thebes

Creation of deity Amun-Re

Territorial Expansion

After Hyksos rule: more interest in foreign policy Permanent army Army + chariot warfare technology = territorial

expansion Southern Palestine conquered under King

Thutmose I (1504-1492 BCE)

Dynamic Leaders of New Kingdom

Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BCE) First female pharaoh Temple at Deir el Bahri in Thebes Policies of peace; also military expeditions,

mining, agriculture Man in art: aware of unusual position

Thutmose III (1458-1425 BCE) Son of Hatshepsut Reign of military glory

Amenhotep III (1412-1375 BCE) Height of new Egyptian imperial

state Construction of magnificent

new buildings + temples

Religious Revolution of the Amarna Period

Growth in power of priests of Amon

Amenhotep IV (1367-1350 BCE) Resistant to priesthood Aten, the sun, as universal and the only God Changed name: Akhenaton (“one useful to Aten")

Significance: First instance of Monotheism in Egypt

Capital from Thebes to the north Closed temples, forbade festivals to other Gods,

attacked traditional beliefs

Response? Lost support of priests and people Successor Tutankhamon (1347-1339 BCE) restored

old traditions, capital back to Thebes

Age of Ramesses II (1279-1213 BCE)

Regained control of Palestine Monuments at Pi-Ramesse, Memphis,

Abydos, Thebes, + Abu Simbel 1269 BCE: Treaty with Hittites

By 1100 BCE: New Kingdom expired

Rivals to Egyptian Civilization

Hittite Empire Anatolia by 1650 BCE Powerful, wealthy, multiethnic Trade + communication in International

Bronze Age Territorial expansion Conflict with Egypt: Battle of Kadesh 1274

BCE Eternal treaty: diplomatic peace

Lecture 2: What do you need to know?

Old Kingdom Political structure, particularly power of kings Emergence of hieroglyphics and importance of scribes Egyptian Religion: what were the defining characteristics?

How is this evident in social practices (burial tombs, mummification)

Middle Kingdom What transformations took place?New Kingdom Military success Important leaders Religious revolution: under who? What was it? Results?