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The New Kingdom and the Decline of Egypt
Ahmose founded a new dynasty of pharaohs and began the period known as the New Kingdom. During this
time, most pharaohs were no longer content to stay in the Nile Valley. After defeating and expelling the
Hyksos, the pharaohs marched their armies into lands to the east. It was during this time that the Egyptian
Empire was started. Under the pharaoh Thutmose III, Egyptian control extended into Syria and Palestine.
The Egyptians of the New Kingdom began to worship a new god. Amon was once the god of the city of
Thebes. When Thebes became the new capital of Egypt, the Egyptians combined Amon with the sun god Re.
They called the new god Amon-Re, and he became the most powerful god of all. People built many temples to
honor him.
Over time, the priests of Amon-Re gained a great deal of power. Soon, they began to play a major role in the
government. Eventually, and because of this, the power of the pharaoh declined. Then around 1370 B.C.E., a
new pharaoh named Amenhotep IV came to the throne. He did not like the power of the priests and wanted to
return power to the pharaohs. He closed the temples of Amon-Re and fired the temple workers. He set up a
new religion in which only one god was worshipped. The god was named Aton. Amenhotep changed his
name to Akhenaton. The new religion, however, was only accepted by the pharaoh’s family and his advisors.
Tutankhamen became the pharaoh in 1360 B.C.E. when Amenhotep died. The priests made Tutankhamen
return to the old religion. The struggle between the pharaohs and the priests continued, causing Egypt to lose
its power. Egypt also lost power because pharaohs were trying to keep the neighboring countries under
Egyptian control. A great deal of energy and money was spent getting iron ore from other places to make
weapons. By 1150 B.C.E., Egypt lost control of their empire. Finally, in 671 B.C.E., it was conquered by a
group from Mesopotamia known as the Assyrians.
Explain how warfare and religion caused the end of the Egyptian Empire. Write a paragraph describing what happened and how it
caused Egypt to lose power using specific evidence from the text.
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