Talk:Egyptians/History

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The last of the pyramid tombs were also built during this time. But yet again provincial governors eventually chipped away at the power of the Pharaoh until, a foreign tribe called the Hyskos managed to invade, and establish their own Pharaoh to rule over Egypt in what is called the “Second Intermediate Period”, which lasted from 1786 B.C. to 1567 B.C.


Great Pyramid and Sphinx at Giza The Hyskos was finally driven out of Egypt by King Ahmosis establishing the eighteenth dynasty, and what is called the “New Kingdom”. It is at this time that the Egyptians became a world power, and Egyptian culture reached a new height in sophistication. The empire expanded under the conquests of various Pharaohs, conquering Nubia and into the borders the Hittite Empire. Many of the greatest Pharaonic structures were built at this time, including the Temple of Luxor. The Egyptian religion saw much turmoil during this time. Akhenaten and his queen Nefertiti went against millennia of established traditions and established monotheism with the god Aten. No sooners after his death did the Egyptians reject this, and denounced his reforms as heresy and reverted to their old polytheistic traditions. The child King Tutankhamun also ruled at this time, and in fact, it was during his and subsequent rulers’ reign that any traces of Akhenaten and his religion was fervently eradicated. The latter period of the New Kingdom saw the reign of Ramses. He and descendants were warrior Kings who sought to regain the territory lost during the reign of Akhenaten. Ramses II was the best known of the Pharaohs of this period, not only because he was very prone to trumpet his accomplishments. But in his long life created many monuments which not only outnumbering all other Pharaohs, but also in grandeur. In his youth his expedition to conquer disputed territory between the Egyptian and the Hittites lead to the Battle of Kadesh. His personal bravery at the battle turned what would have been a defeat into a draw, which he conveniently spun into a glorious victory. However exaggerated and bombastic his style, he also managed to guide Egypt into a peace treaty in 1280 B.C. with the Hittites. It created a strong and relatively stable bond between the two superpowers of the ancient world until the Hittite Empire itself ended. He accomplishments were not the only reason for his fame, but it is believed also that he is Biblical Pharaoh described in Exodus who interacted with Moses. The New Kingdom period ended when again Egypt was divided into two kingdoms. This led to foreign invasions once again, and foreign rule.


Temple of Luxor This period is called the “Late Period” which lasted from 1085 B.C. to 322 B.C. This period began with the Libyans taking over the north (Lower Egypt), and the Nubians from the south (Upper Egypt), who eventually reunited both Egypts. However with the help of resentful Egyptians, the Assyrians took over from the Nubians. The Assyrian war with the Persians forced them to withdraw and once again Egypt was ruled by an Egyptian when Psammethchus I declared himself Pharaoh. His reign also saw the revival of the traditions and culture of ancient Egypt, however this was not to last. The Persian invasion in 525 B.C. succeeded in resting control of Egypt, and they ruled until 332 B.C. The Persians had no interest in reliving ancient Egypt’s past or ruling as Pharaohs as the past invaders had, and ruled the Egyptian as a subject people of the Persian Empire. Their rule was interrupted when an Egyptian rebellion managed to seize control between 425 B.C. and 342 B.C. But this would also be the last time Egypt would be ruled by Egyptians until the modern era.


Cleopatra VII Battle of Actium Persian rule in Egypt was finally ended when Alexander the Great defeated the them in the Battle of Issus (in present day Turkey) in 333 B.C. When he entered into Egypt the next year the Egyptians welcomed him as their liberator accepted him as Pharaoh of Egypt. Establishing a new capitol for Egypt called Alexandria. When Alexander died shortly after, his Empire was left to his lieutenants. Thus Ptolemy became governor of Egypt, but he eventually declared his independence from the Macedonian Empire. He made himself Pharaoh and established the Ptolemaic dynasty. This time saw Greek become the official language of Egypt, and an integration of Greek culture, military traditions, and technology with Egyptian traditions. The library of Alexandria was built at this time; it eventually boasted the largest collection of books in the ancient world. It was also at this time that the Rosetta stone was carved, and what would allow the language of the ancient Egyptians to be translated into modern text, as the stone contained both ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and Greek. However, the reign of the Ptolemaic Pharaohs eventually began to decline as a result of internal power struggles, and the emergence of Rome as a world power. Eventually seizing total control when Julius Caesar marched on the Egyptian capitol. The last of the Ptolemies was Cleopatra VII. She was an ambitious and able ruler who wanted to preserve Egypt’s independence and restore its glory. So to this end she had a son with the Roman Caesar, then later became the wife of Mark Antony who was Julius Caesar’s chief lieutenant. They managed to keep Egypt independent for 10 years before the next Roman Caesar; Octavian defeated the Egyptians at the battle of Actium in 31 B.C. driving Antony and Cleopatra to suicide.


Saladin (Sketch by European Artist) This period ushered in the era of Roman rule, and continuing with the Byzantine Empire until 640 A.D. The Romans like the Greeks integrated their culture with the Egyptian. As before the Egyptians eventually adopted latin as their language, and was granted roman citizenship in 212 A.D. This period in Egyptian history can hardly be separated from that of the Roman Empire and like Rome saw the gradual emergence of Christianity in 37 A.D. In Egypt they establishment of the Coptic Church. Like Christians in the rest of the Empire they were persecuted but by the middle of the 4th century A.D. Egypt was largely Christian, as was the rest of the Roman Empire. After the fall of Rome, Egypt was ruled by the Byzantine Empire. But a schism between Egypt and Byzantium developed after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D. on the nature of Christ. The Coptic Church refused to accept the council’s interpretation and rejected any bishops sent from their Byzantine rulers. During this time the Roman Empire also saw Egypt as little more then a place to supply it with grain and riches, investing very little back into Egypt. So when the Arabs invaded in 639 A.D. the Egyptians offered skant resistance. Amr ibn al As, the Muslim Hero who seized Egypt from the Byzantines, then established a new capitol in Cairo."



The Gift of the Gods: The Geography of the Nile and Egypt in Antiquity[edit source]

The Nile Valley had a profound impact upon Egyptian culture and thinking. While in the distant past it was probably surrounded by savannah east and west, by the earliest days of Egypt's historical existence, it was now predominantly a desert climate, with long, hot summers and short, relatively mild winters, with rainfall being insignificant, with a Mediterranean climate prevailing in the Delta and far north. So, surrounded by natural boundaries of almost empty deserts to east and west, with the near-unnavigable First Cataract in the south and the Mediterranean Sea (called Watwr or Wadj-wer; "Great Green" in ancient Egyptian) in the north forming barriers to invaders, Egypt's geographic isolation fostered the early adoption of a nation-state identity. Despite this, Egypt was not an island, and traded with neighbours in Nubia, Libya and the Levant, as well as further afield. Ancient Egypt was a culture focused around the Nile Valley, and it was here the Predynastic confederacies and petty chieftains were finally united to begin the Dynastic period at the end of the 4th millennium BC.

The Nile valley was an almost perfect environment for agriculture to thrive, with abundant water and fertile top soil, and its inundations defined the seasons. Flooding almost every year, the river would deposit extremely rich and continually refreshed soil, and the floods made Egypt one of the only places where soil salination did not occur. Swollen by rains in Ethiopia, the Nile never failed to rise each summer, though the level of rise varied greatly. As it rose, the water spread over the flood plain, depositing large amounts of mud, silt and organic matter, laying down a nutrient rich layer, replenishing the soil and soaking it. For three months the water remained before retreating, leaving enough moisture in the ground that no further irrigation would be necessary on the first harvest. It was this inundation that would be the foundation for Egypt's great wealth, built not on gold, but on grain.The principal crops were emmer wheat, barely and flax, backed up by market gardening (onions, garlic, lettuce, cabbages etc). However, a variety of luxury goods were also grown, and it is known that flax for texture, and grapes for wine were cultivated, alongside orchards, almonds and olives, dates, and apiculture for honey. Animal rearing, particularly cattle ranching, was also important.

Chronology[edit source]

Template:See also Ancient Egyptian history is split up into distinct periods, with the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms separated from each other and the Late Period by so-called “Intermediate Periods”, times of disunity and apparent unrest, or of foreign occupation. All dates before the Late Period are circa, and when dealing with purely Egyptian issues, it is common to work only within a framework of reigns and dynasties, rather than absolute dates.

Revised Egyptian chronology[edit source]

Young earth creationists point to an increasing body of evidence which suggests that the history of ancient Egypt is shorter, by several millennia, than most scholars have previously supposed.[1][2][3] Egyptologists, such as Peter James, author of Centuries of Darkness (1991),[4] and other scholars such as David Rohl, D.A. Courville, and David Down, (none of whom are known to believe in a young earth) argue that rather than linear Egyptian chronology, several dynasties existed simultaneously with each other. The revised Egyptian chronology requires a far shorter timespan, in line with a young Earth, and fits better with the biblical record and an early Exodus.[5][6]

Old Kingdom[edit source]

"Dynastic rule in Egypt began with the world’s first imperial city of Memphis, under King Menes. This period, known as the “Archaic Period” which lasted until 2686 B.C., saw the Egyptian civilization began to take root, with the development of the capitol, and refinement of Egyptian culture. It also saw the conquest of the Sinai, and continuing solidification of central rule to keep the Kingdoms of Lower Egypt, whose patron deity Horus, and Upper Egypt, whose patron deity was Seth, intact. The third dynasty heralded the beginning of what is called “The Old Kingdom”, lasting from 2686 B.C. to 2181 B.C. Attesting to the great power of the Pharaohs it is at this period that the Egyptians penchant for building grand monuments began with King Zoser’s step-Pyramid. The annual flood of the Nile, which reinvigorated the land, created a religion that believed in rebirth after death, and an afterlife. The practice of mummification as a religious rite also began at this time to ensure this afterlife would take place. The worship of Ra the Sun god also attained primacy within the Egyptian religion at this time. The pharaohs of the forth dynasty continued the pyramid building tradition with the Giza pyramids. They also sent military expeditions to Nubia and Libya to extend Egypt’s power and influence. However increasing expenditures to quell rebellions in these lands and the rising aristocracy saw the end of the “Old Kingdom”, and Egypt entered into the “First Intermediate Period”.


The Old Kingdom covers Dynasties 3 to 6 (circa 2800 – 2186 BC). Although it has been argued by some that it should include Dynasties 1 – 3, and by others that it should only cover Dynasties 4 – 6, though 3 to 6 is the most widely accepted, beginning as it does with the revolutionary architecture of Djoser.

The Old Kingdom is in many ways the zenith of the Divine Kingship, and sees Pharaonic culture at its most confident and powerful, expressed in this period's most famous monuments, the Giza Pyramids. During this period the Egyptian state developed an all-encompassing and highly organised bureaucracy, organised into a strictly hierarchical and highly centralised structure dominated by the Pharaoh, who exercised an extremely high degree of control over resources. The Old Kingdom also saw the Fourth Dynasty's construction of the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx.[7]

The Old Kingdom came to an end in circumstances that are far from clear, but seem to be linked to the extremely long rule of Pepi II, at 96 years, the longest reigning monarch in history.

Following this, Egypt lapsed into a period of national fragmentation, called the First Intermediate Period, lasting approximately 105 years.

This period saw numerous rulers laying claims to the throne, the dissolution of Upper and Lower Egypt, as well as a drought upon the land that set the backdrop for the turmoil. Finally in 2050 B.C. Mentuhope II reunited the country and re-established Pharaonic rule over Egypt, launching military campaigns to recapture the lands that rebelled against Egypt. This period began what is known as the “Middle Kingdom”.

Middle Kingdom[edit source]

File:Edwin Smith Papyrus.jpg
The Edwin Smith papyrus, the world's oldest surviving surgical document.

The Middle Kingdom saw Egypt re-unified under the 11th Dynasty, a royal line from Thebes, following by the northern 12th Dynasty who maintained a royal capital at Lisht.

The Middle Kingdom sees the Egyptian nation engage for the first time in serious warfare. Under the great military Pharaohs Sensuret I and Senusret III, Egypt annexed Lower Nubia, fixing a realm of Egyptian domination that extended south of the Second Cataract for the first time in history, reinforced by a series of fortresses with an unprecedented degree of sophistication.

A similar chain of fortresses secured the Sinai peninsula and Eastern delta, known as the Horus Road and Walls of the Ruler. These secured the overland route to Asia, and defended the boarder. Despite this military strength, only a single expedition into Asia itself was carried out,

The grim work of re-unification and securing the borders left an indelible mark of the ideology of the period. Literature of the time often harks back to the chaos of the 1st Intermediate Period, and the ideal of the importance of loyalty to, and adoration of, the ruler is also a strong theme.

Statuary of the time shows the great Pharaohs of the period with serious, stern expressions, showing a human side that planned and fought long and hard to reunify a fractured nation and to push on to new boundaries deep into hostile territory. This signaled a break with the past, and the future, for both the Old Kingdom and all successive periods (with the exception of Amarna) showing the Pharaoh in the traditional manner, in a state of divine serenity.

The Middle Kingdom met its end in the mid-13th Dynasty, as foreign influence permeated the heavily defended Sinai, eventually providing the momentum for an Asiatic dynasty to seize the Delta and Middle Egypt, and hold it for approximately 100 years.

New Kingdom[edit source]

File:Abusimbel.jpg
Tempel of Abu Simbel

The New Kingdom is often called Egypt's “Age of Empire”. Following the war of Reunification led by the 17th Dynasty, Ahmose I finally managed to liberate and reunify Egypt, founding the 18th Dynasty and the New Kingdom in approximately 1500BC.

The Pharaohs of the 18th Dynasty re-invented the Egyptian military forces, adopting the most advanced weapons of the day. Egyptian tactics were also revolutionized, becoming highly innovative. Many Egyptian campaigns of this period are regarded as military geniuses, with Thutmose III being regarded by most as the “Napoleon of Egypt”. These campaigns ultimately created a sprawling and varied Egyptian empire, stretching from Gebel Barkal to the Euphrates, and a zone of influence far beyond.

It was at the height of this time of greatness that Egypt was plunged into turmoil. The heretical ruler, Amunhotep IV, changed his name to Akhenaten and embraced a corrupted form of the Solar Cult as an absolutist monotheistic belief. Traditional temples were closed, and the capital city moved to a desert plain in Middle Egypt, where a new capital was established, named Akhetaten. Akhenaten died after 17 years on the throne, and both his cult and capital both died with him.

The Egyptian empire proved resilient to such trauma, and the traditional New Kingdom capital and cults were immediately restored, and the empire remained essentially unchallenged in Asia until the time of Ramesses III in the 20th Dynasty, and maintained it's grip on Nubia until the fall of the New Kingdom at the close of the 20th Dynasty.

Late Period[edit source]

It was with a sense of irony, that the impetus for re-unifying Egypt and rebuilding her former power would come from Nubia. The 25th Dynasty advanced out of their base at Napata, and secured all of Upper Egypt by a process of gradual conquest, winning recognition from local monarchs and forming a confederacy. The Assyrians, with their vassals in the Delta, were alarmed, advanced south and sacked Thebes. However, the example had been made, and with the help of Greek mercenaries, Psamtik I of Sais freed himself from his Assyrian overlord, and reunified Egypt.

The 26th Dynasty harked back to the Old Kingdom for its inspiration, in art religion and ideals of Kingship, and the period is often referred to as the “Saite Renaissance” or “Archaic Renaissance”.

The Late Period saw increased contact with the Hellenic world, with many Greek mercenaries serving in the Egyptian military, and Greek merchants settling in the purpose built the trading center of Naukratis. This ultimately proved fatal, and in 525 BC, Persian forces, with a large number of Greek mercenaries, conquered Egypt following the defection of a key Egyptian mercenary commander, Phanes of Hallicarnassus.

Egypt liberated herself from Persian rule in 404BC, bringing to power the 29th and 30th Dynasties, the last sustained period of Egyptian native rule. The second Persian occupation was much more brief, lasting just over a decade from 343BC until the invasion of Alexander in 332BC.

Ptolemaic Period[edit source]

Alexander put an end to the second Persian occupation in 332BC. Having secured Egypt, he traveled to the Oracle of Amun in Siwa Oasis, where the oracle pronounced him the Son of Amun, and legitimate ruler of Egypt. He also visited Memphis, the traditional administrative capital of Egypt and centre of the cult of Ptah. These acts won him the respect of some of the Egyptian elite. Alexander also decided to develop a port on Egypt's Mediterranean coast. He chose the coastal town of Ra-Kedet, which would be redeveloped into the metropolis of Alexandria, serving to link Egypt to his empire.

Following Alexander's death, control of Egypt fell first of all to Phillip Arrhideaus, then Alexander IV, before passing to Ptolemy I, a former general of Alexander. His decedents would rule Egypt with greatly varying degrees of success until the death of Cleopatra VII in 30BC. Although sometimes thought of as a period of unity equivalent to the New Kingdom, the Ptolemaic period was often highly unstable and wracked by rebellion. Ptolemaic rule became increasingly exploitative, thought the dynasty kept a superficial adherence to Egyptian religious and social traditions that ensured support, or at least neutrality, of the priesthood.

See also: Ptolemaic Period the Great Egyptian Revolt.

Roman/Byzantine/Coptic Period[edit source]

Roman rule attempted to integrate Egypt into the trading system of the Roman empire, utilizing the wealth and productivity of Egyptian agriculture to supply the Rome and it's army, and became increasingly exploitative, leading Rome to maintain three legions in the country. Traditional Roman tolerance of other religions and ways of life also assisted their moves to consolidate control, but administrative reforms did not help the gradual decline brought about by over-exploitation, unrest, and Rome's problems elsewhere. The rise of Christianity led to further pressures, and by the time of the Arab invasion, Egypt had become depopulated, with most of her cities lying abandoned.

Government[edit source]

Throughout the Dynastic Period, Egypt was an absolute monarchy, ruled by a monarch regarded as divine. Egypt was a centralized state, with the monarch having the positions of head of state, head of government, head of the judiciary, commander in chief of the armed forces, and high priest of every temple. The monarch had several titles, the most well known being from the Greek derived “Pharaoh” (Egyptian: pr-aA, reconstructed as Per-‘a), though the more common Egyptian title was nsw-bity (Nesu-Bity), possibly translated as “King of Upper and Lower Egypt". Day-to-day administration was overseen by a vizier (Egyptian: TAty, reconstructed as Tjaty), and in some periods of Egyptian history two viziers were appointed, one for Upper and one for Lower Egypt, reflecting a duality present in much of the administration.

The treasury, likewise, reflected the natural separation of the country, though a single treasurer oversaw both “The Overseer of the Double Granaries” being a common title for this role.

From at least the New Kingdom, Egypt maintained a full-time professional military force consisting of an army and naval fleet, as well as a separate police and patrol force, the mDAw (reconstructed as Medjay).

Labour for large-scale state works was provided by the public under a corvee requirement. See: Labour in Ancient Egypt.

Economy[edit source]

The economy of Ancient Egypt has sometimes been described as a command economy. There is insufficient information available to determine to exactly what degree the state directed economic activity, but that it played a very large role in the economy is clear, and in keeping with the Egyptian doctrine that the land and its resources belonged to the Pharaoh. The view of many scholars is that this position was more literally true in the Old Kingdom, and over time, as the population expanded and economy became more complex, more delegation and autonomy became necessary, and towards the end of Late Period, land could be brought and sold by private individuals.

Mining[edit source]

Mining and quarrying were important state industries, supplying the raw materials for tools and luxury goods. Egypt had abundant limestone, sandstone, granite, gold and copper reserves, along with precious and semi-precious gemstones. Quarrying was almost entirely a royal monopoly, but small-scale private extraction by monarchs occurred in sites nearest to the river. (see: Ancient Egyptian Mining).

Trade[edit source]

For most of Egyptian history, the international trade was a royal monopoly, and was enforced through a system of border checkpoints. Merchants mostly operated by acting as agents for the state and essentially trading on their behalf, and goods in international trade were taxed. Major transactions and contracts were put in writing, and records survive. In the Ptolemaic period, a sales tax was also levied.

From the time of unification onwards Egypt traded with her immediate neighbors in Nubia and southern Palestine, and by the 2nd Dynasty royal trading expeditions traded regularly with Bybos, a key Egyptian partner in foreign affairs throughout much of the Pharaonic period. Trade with Punt, a land generally regarded as lying in the region of Eritrea was established by the 5th Dynasty, if not earlier.

Society[edit source]

Egyptian society was deeply conservative and hierarchical. The pyramid analogy is perhaps over used to describe Egyptian society, but nonetheless remains accurate, with the Pharaoh at the apex, above the vizier and other prominent courtiers, some with seemingly trivial titles but great influence, such as Fan Bearers, Sandal Bearers, Seal Bearers etc.

Beneath these were the Great Nobles, followed by Egypt's large bureaucracy and officialdom. Beneath them stood the artisans and craftsmen. At the bottom of society proper, and accounting for circa. 80% of the population, the farmers. In addition to this, as in all societies, there also existed the “classless” people. Convicts, captives and the unfree, as well as the desert nomads and oasis dwellers who lives within Egypt's area of influence, but never entirely integrated into Egyptian society.

The place of the military fluctuated, from a minor an important role in the Old Kingdom, which fielded no standing army, to a prominent role in the New Kingdom, where the 19th Dynasty bloodline is descended from military routes.

Legacy[edit source]

It is generally held that Pharaonic civilization left behind no direct cultural decedents. The Egyptian language survived into Coptic, and much Egyptian iconographic conventions were adopted into the Christian religion, particularly the Coptic church. Some Egyptian loan words survive today in Egyptian Arabic, which is distinctly different to other dialects, and, particularly in Upper Egypt, a few folk customs also survived at least until the early 20th century. Besides this however, there is little continuity in traditions.

Indirectly, Pharaonic culture left huge contributions to the world. Egypt was the first true nation-state, laying the foundations upon which the modern world is built. The development of bureaucratic administration based on writing, education, merit based selection, are all found in Egyptian culture. Technologically, the use of finished stone for construction, the use of paper, the art of architectural design, site surveying etc. are first noted in Egypt, and possibly the disposable drill bit marks the first use of multi part disposable tools.

Academically, the science of medicine in Egypt was well understood, and the Greeks, often considered the fathers of western medicine, acknowledged the Egyptians as the finest physicians in the known world.

Ancient Egypt in Modern Culture[edit source]

Thanks to the distinctive and instantly recognizable style of Egyptian artwork and hieroglyphs, as well as the keen sense of aesthetic that pervaded so many aspects of the culture, Egyptian culture has a high profile and is perhaps one of the most instantly recognizable ancient cultures, even to those with very little historical knowledge. Despite this, time has not been kind to the reputation of Pharaonic Egypt, and the civilization today is sometimes perceived as tyrannical, brutal, decadent and superstitious, a view reinforced by a fog of popular mis-information, urban myths, and pseudo-archaeology (sometimes referred to as Extreme Egyptology or Alternate Egyptology) that surrounds Pharaonic culture.

Despite this, television programs covering new discoveries or examine particular aspects of Egyptian history (sometimes in a way that is itself confused or mis-informed) still attract a keen following, and the lives and achievements of the Pharaonic era continues to support he economy of modern Egypt though tourism, one of the three biggest foreign exchange sources in Egypt today.

References[edit source]

Template:Reflist

Further reading[edit source]

  • David, R. Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt (1998)
  • Dodson, A. & Hilton, D. Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt (2004)
  • Gardiner, A. Egyptian Grammar (3rd edition 1957)
  • Montet, P. Eternal Egypt (1964)
  • Mysliwiec, K. The First Millennium BCE: The Twilight of Ancient Egypt (2000)
  • Newby, P. H. Warrior Pharaohs : The Rise and Fall of the Egyptian Empire (1980)
  • Shaw, I et al. (2000), Oxford History of Ancient Egypt,
  • Thompson, Jason. A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present (2009) 432 pages
  • online books and articles


PHRYGIA[edit source]

LYDIA[edit source]