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Ancient Egypt
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Based along the Nile River and at its delta
with the Mediterranean Sea.
Divided into two regions :
 Upper Egypt – 8 miles wide
 Lower Egypt, where the river fans
out into a delta 100 miles wide.
Surrounded by high desert plateaus and
rocky, impassable terrain to the south.
Civilization
 Earliest settlements are along the western
edge of the Nile delta c4000BCE.
 Upper Egypt – communities develop later
but achieve political centralization earlier.
 c3200 BCE – pictographic script develops
in Upper Egypt – indicates contact with
Mesopotamian culture.
 c3150 BCE – King Narmer establishes
control over the southern Nile and unites
the region, capital at Memphis.
Chronology
 Egypt has 31 identifiable dynasties grouped into 6 periods:
 Pre-dynastic – 3150BCE to 2770BCE
 Old Kingdom – 2770BCE to 2200BCE
 Middle Kingdom – 2050BCE to 1786BCE
 New Kingdom – 1560BCE to 1087BCE
 Late Kingdom – 752BCE to 343BCE
 Ptolemaic Period – 332BCE to 30BCE
 Intermediate periods – periods of disruption and political confusion. Centralized
government breaks down, several pharaohs may rule at one time
Politics and religion
 Kings ruled through divine right – king was the incarnation of the god of light Horus, later
as the sun god Ra (Amon-Re)
 The king was obliged to care for his people – “divine herdsman”
 Oversaw the flooding of the Nile
 Preserved ideal state of the universe and society with justice and harmony - maat
Government
 Kings were not warriors, but administrators
overseeing a vast bureaucracy – no standing
army.
 Court officials and provincial
administrators carry out the will of the
god-king as religious leaders, judicial
officers, and military leaders.
 Subordinate overseers, scribes, artisans,
masons, tax collectors, all form part of the
political apparatus.
 Local nobles and governors (viziers) ran
basic political unit – 42 nomes.
 The dominant feature of the administration
was the archives, everything was recorded,
wills, taxation, commerce.
Role of Women
 More independent and involved in public life
than in Mesopotamia:
 Owned property
 Conducted business transactions
 Entered legal contracts
 Brought lawsuits
 However, they were prohibited from
receiving a formal education and were
therefore unable to achieve government
office.
Construction
 Entire bureaucracy was focused on the construction of royal houses and monuments.
 The king lived in the per-ao (Great House) in Memphis.
 Worship of the king continued after death. Temples and pyramids were constructed to
continue the worship of each king after death.
 These consumed the excess resources of the state, taxes were very heavy on the
population.
Purpose of Pyramids
 Pyramids were built to honor dead kings. A cult of worshippers would continue serving
their dead pharaoh long after his death through the construction of the pyramid.
 This reinforced the rule of the present monarch.
 Also focused material and human resources.
Organized labor
 Royal construction projects employed much of
the male population.
 These workers were also seasonal farmers.
When the Nile flooded, the peasant farmers
worked the pyramids.
 Old Kingdom – 1.5 million ppl – 70,000 workers.
4.7% of population.
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Pyramid at Khufu (c 2600BCE) 481 ft high,
6,ooo,ooo tonnes of stone.
Old Kingdom (2770BCE to 2200BCE)
 King Zoser founds the Old Kingdom. Lived at the
same time as Gilgamesh.
 He built the first pyramid at Sakkara the
architect was Imhotep.
 Pyramids were one part of massive religious
complexes that also included temples and
monuments.
 As soon as the one pyramid is finished, the next
is begun
 Succeeding dynasty (4th) constructs the Great
Pyramid at Giza – houses the 2nd pharaoh Khufu
(Cheops).
Old Kingdom
 State rules begin across entire kingdom.
 By the 5th Dynasty (2465BCE to 2345BCE) the
decline of central authority begins.
 Bureaucrats focus their attention on supplying
the needs of the living and dead kings, the “cattle of the gods” are not being well tended.
Decline
 All the resources of the kingdom gradually went into maintaining existing cults and
establishing new ones.
 Gradually this weakened the power of the central authority, small provinces begin to
challenge Memphis.
 More poor quality land had to be put into production to meet the expanding needs of the
king-cults, which were tax-exempt. They also receive donations from wealthy citizens,
increasing their power and authority.
Collapse
 The Old Kingdom comes to an end with the pharaoh queen Nitocris
 1st female ruler of Egypt 2152-2150BCE
 She was the wife of the murdered pharaoh Merenre II.
 According to legend, she had the conspirators who murdered her husband killed. Then
committed suicide herself.
Middle Kingdom
 Civil war and struggles for control of city-states marks the
intermediate period 2575BCE – 2055BCE.
 Kingdom reunited under Mentuhotep II, capital established at
Thebes.
 The period is marked by expansion into Lybia and the Sinai, a
focus on the arts and architecture, and consolidation.
Dynastic change
 Mentuhotep is usurped by his vizier
Amenemhet when he is on a trading
expedition to Punt (Sudan).
 Capital is moved to Crocodilopolis.
 Begins a golden age for Egypt.
 Campaigns against Libyans and nomadic tribes in the Sinai lead
to the construction of the Wall of the Prince to keep out invaders.
 Forts are constructed and trading posts established in Nubia.
Social Change
 The influence of the intermediate period had an important effect on Egyptian society.
 The middle class rises in importance.
 Non-royal tombs become common.
 Trade becomes more important.
 Social stratification develops.
The Testament of Amenemhet
 He said: O you who appear as a god, hear what I shall say to you, that you may be king of
the land and rule the Banks, and achieve abundance of good fortune. Be on your guard
against all who are subordinate to you when there occurs something to whose terrors no
thought has been given; do not approach them in your solitude, trust no brother, know no
friend, make no intimates, for there is no profit in it. When you go to rest, guard your
own heart, for no man has partisans on the day of trouble. I gave to the poor man, I
cherished the orphan, I caused him who had nothing to attain (to wealth) like him who was
wealthy, but it was he who ate my bread who raised levies; he to whom I had given my
hand created terror thereby; those who wore my fine linen looked on me as a shadow; and
they who smeared on my myrrh poured water under (me).
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Contrast this text with the previous relationship between kings and people in Egypt “the
tender of the cattle of god”.
Amenemhet was murdered by members of his own harem while he slept.
Senusret, his son, had the conspirators murdered then published his father’s testament
which became a popular literary work
How have things changed?
Fall of the Middle Kingdom
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Again, power was shifting to the military leaders who controlled
the eastern border regions.
The pharaoh queen Sobekneferu dies without and heir and Egypt
is divided under separate rulers.
Settlers came and went freely and many Canaanites settled the
region. They gradually increased in power.
The most important of these Semitic settlers were the Hyksos.
Hyksos rule
Hyksos – “shepherd kings”
 Nomadic peoples who settled the eastern Nile delta.
 They conquered Memphis in 1674BCE and
established their capital at Avaris aka. Tanis.
However, they never controlled all of Egypt. Their
expansion was stopped at Thebes.
 They maintained Egyptian laws, language and
customs. Egyptians were employed as
administrators in government.
Hyksos Influence
 The most important influence left
behind by the Hyksos was military:
 Horse drawn war chariot
 Bronze weapons
 Improvised defenses –
fortresses
 Composite bows
 Forcibly ends Egypt’s relative
isolation in the region
Reestablishing central control
 The kings at Thebes continue to battle the Hyksos until Amhose I
drove the Hyksos from Tanis in 1550BCE.
 Theban queens were essential to the conquest of the Hyksos – they
often led troops into battle personally.
New
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Kingdom
Amhose I establishes the new capital at Thebes.
Egypt now becomes an expansionist empire.
Encompasses three dynasties and 31 pharaohs.
Egyptian Religion
 The most important aspect of Egyptian religion was that it changed
constantly over time as dynasties, capitals, and political power
fluctuated.
 Polytheistic, anthropomorphic, but mixed with characteristics of
various animals. Over 2000 gods.
Duality
 The dominant theme in Egyptian religion was duality and unification:
 Divided land :Upper and Lower
 Divided existence: life and after-life
 Divided Nile: controlled and flooded
 It was the unification of these elements that led to creation:
symbolized in the union of man and woman
 Sex and fertility play an important role in religious life.
Creation
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Like Judeo-Christian religions, creation took
several days:
Day 1 – Light is created, there is only water (Nu)
primary god Ra emerges
Day 2 – Creation of Air and Moisture (Shu and
Tefnut)
Day 3 – Shu and Tefnut give birth to the sky
(Nut) and earth (Geb)
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Day 4 – Geb and Nut produce Osiris, Horus, Seth,
Isis, and Nephthys
Day 5,6,7 – Khnum, a self-created god, makes all living things on
his potters wheel.
The Soul
 The human soul has two parts:
 Ka – physical – not in our definition of
physical, it was a twin of our bodies that
would live on after we died. Associated with
material objects – it needed a body after
death – thus mummification and sacrifice of
food and drink to deities
 Ba – conscience – represented by
animals, who were thought to be the Ba of the
gods – non-material components of people
The Afterlife
The afterlife was only open to those who were
mummified and had a temple.
 The god of the afterlife and underworld was
Osiris.
The Ba would travel into the afterlife but the Ka would
need the mummified body for eternity
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Tombs contained worldly possessions indicating
that people would need them (or their Kau) in the
afterlife.
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Tombs would therefore have to be maintained by
family members or cults to ensure their upkeep.
Judgment
 In the underworld, a person’s heart was weighed against the feather of Maat.
 Hell did not exist until later in the New Kingdom but was
represented by the god Ammut, who would devour souls
of sinners.
 Egyptian heaven was the “Field of Reeds”
Egyptian Gods
Ra –
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God of the Sun
Cult centered at Heliopolis
Father of Thoth, Shu, Tefnut, and Sekhmet
One of the creators of the world
Worshipped throughout each dynasty and kingdom
Was amalgamated with Anum in the New Kingdom and called Amon-Ra
Ra’s journey across the sky took place in three
stages:
 Khepri – Sunrise – Ra emerges from the blue
lotus
 Horakhty – Noon – Most powerful phase of
the sun, identified with the rule of the
pharaoh and symbolized by the crook and
flail, items of office for kings
 Atum – the sun grows weak and is swallowed
by the sky goddess Nut who gives birth to it
the next morning.
Amun
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– King of the gods, the Hidden God
Cult centered at Thebes
Formed a trinity with Mut and Khonsu, his consort and child
Came to prominence after being considered a minor god during
the reign of Thebes in the New Kingdom, combined with Ra to
form Amon-Ra. God who is hidden in the sun
Monotheism
 Gradually grew in importance and formed an early version of
monotheism as all other gods lose their independence.
 At this time, Moses (Amenmesse) conducts his rebellion, he was a
follower of the cult of Amon-Ra and many believe this to be the basis
for Judeo-Christian monotheism.
Ptah – God of Wisdom
 Cult centered at Memphis
 Considered the god of arts, craftsmen, and
architects
 Brings all living things into being as well as morality
and ethics
 He rose in importance as Memphis rose but was
absorbed by the Orisis cult as Amon-Ra grew in
importance.
Geb – God of the Earth, earthquakes, mountains, provider of
crops/fruits
 Along with his sister/wife, gave birth to Horus (the elder),
Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, and Seth
Geb was the mythical first pharaoh, all pharaohs after him claim
to be his descendants
Nut – Goddes of the sky, resurrection and rebirth
 Her body forms the sky, separated from the earth,
represented by Geb, her brother and lover by Shu.
 She gives birth to the sun and swallows it again every
evening.
 She is represented by a woman arching over her lover
and separated from him by Shu
Creation
 She was originally betrothed to her father Ra but
loved her brother Geb. She was punished by Ra and
cursed to be forever separated from Geb and
forbidden to bear any children during the 360 days of
the calendar. Thoth created 5 more days with light
from the moon and on those days she gave birth to
Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, Horus, and Seth.
Shu – God of Air
 Cult centered at Heliopolis
 He separates his two children, the sky from the earth and
prevents any further union between them by order of Ra.
 Along with Tefnut, they became the first embodiment of
duality, union, and creation
Tefnut – Goddess of Moisture, clouds, and water
 Cult centered at Heliopolis
 Egypt would be barren without her to protect the land from
the sun.
 She was the first mother in the cosmos, giving birth to Geb
and Nut.
Seth – God of the Deserts,
Infertility, and Thunder
 Cult centered at Avaris (Tanis)
 He was worshipped in Lower Egypt and battled with his
nephew Horus for control of the living, this reflects the
struggles between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt
 He was the patron God of Ramses and his successors
Seti, Seti II and Setnakhte, who were the enemies of Moses
during the Exodus. This could account for their transition in
to the Judeo Christian Satan.
Nephthys – Goddess of darkness, the desert, and infertility
 Cult centered at Heliopolis
 She was the daughter of Geb and Nut and sister of Isis,
goddess of fertility.
 She was married to Seth but could not bear children from
him.
Murder of Osiris
 So she seduced her brother Osiris by getting him
drunk. Their child was Anubis. When Seth learned of
his betrayal, he had Osiris killed and chopped into 14
pieces. Nephthys aided Isis in his resurrection.
Osiris –God of the underworld, shepherd of souls
 Cult centered at Abydos
 He was killed by his brother Seth and chopped into 14
pieces and thrown into the Nile. He was resurrected by
his sister/consort Isis and his son Horus avenged his
murder on Seth. This made him an important god of
the afterlife and resurrection. He performs the
Judgment of Maat over souls.
 There are many comparisons to Jesus.
Anubis – Mummification God
 Cult centered at Cynopolis
 He is the illegitimate son of Osiris and Nephthys
 All tombs are technically temples to Anubis. He is the god who
leads souls on their journey to the Underworld
Isis – Goddess of magic, patron of motherhood
 Cult centered at Philae
 Isis is one of the children of Geb and Nut, she recreated Osiris after his murder by
Seth. She created the Spell of Life and brought Osiris back so she could conceive Horus
the Younger through him. Seth dedicated himself to the murder of Horus and Isis
protected him.
The Mother Cult
 The popularity of her cult grew beyond the borders of Egypt and she was worshipped in
Roman temples as well. She is a parallel to the Virgin Mary as they are depicted in the
same fashion traditionally.