Download The Egyptian Empire

Ancient Egypt
Land and History
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Overview
 Geography
 Old Kingdom
 1st Intermediate Period
 Middle Kingdom
 2nd Intermediate Period
 New Kingdom
 3rd Intermediate Period
 Graeco-Roman Period
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Geography
 The Nile Valley
– Unchanged until
Aswan Dam built in
1960’s
 Annual floods
– Alluvial soils good for
farming
– Requires little
irrigation
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Village Life to 3000 BC
4500 BC
 Archaic culture
– Nile delta
– Hunting and fishing
 Agriculture
– Sheep, goats, cattle, pigs,
geese
– Emmer wheat, two-rowed
barley
 4221 BC
– Base year of Egyptian
calendar
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The Predynastic Period
 Origins in earlier
Sumerian empire
 Upper and Lower Nile
cultures
3200 BC
 Larger towns and cities
Making beer
– Craft specialization
– Divine kingship
 Development of
religious system
– temples, priest class,
writing
 New cultigens
– flax, cotton
– grapes, wine for export
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Harvesting and
Treading grapes
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Early Dynastic Period
3150 2890 BC
 Mystery of Unification
– Ancient Egyptians: People of Two
Lands (Upper & Lower Egypt)
– King Scorpion, Narmer
The Narmer Palette
• Kings of southern Egypt
• Shown wearing combined Red
(Lower) and White (Upper) Crown
 1st Dynasty
• First Pharaoh: Menes
• founded city of Thebes, capital city:
Memphis
• National administration, royal
governors
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64 cm schist
The Old Kingdom
2nd to 4th Dynasty
2686 2613 BC
 3rd Dynasty
– Djoser
• Step Pyramid
• Imhotep: architect & doctor
2613 2494 BC
 4th Dynasty
Djoser’s Pyramid
– builders of Pyramids
• Khufu (Great Pyramid)
• Chephren
• Menkaure
– locations: Giza, Dashur
– first embalming
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The Great Sphinx at Giza
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First Intermediate Period
2494 2150 BC
Weakened Old Kingdom
– major famines
– weak leadership
Intermediate Period
2150 2040 BC
– nomes (provinces) selfgoverning
– many kings 7th - 11th
Dynasties
– Mentuhotep II
• Re-establishes order
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Pepi I
6th Dynasty
Mentuhotep
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The Middle Kingdom
2040 -  11th Dynasty
– Mentuhotep II
1991 BC
• Established capital at Thebes
• Expansion south along Nile
19911786 BC
Shrine of
Senusret I
 12th Dynasty
– Amenemhet I
• Mentuhotep’s vizier
– Senusret I
• Conquest of Nubia
• Fortresses, mining
– first rock-cut tombs
– Amenemhet III
• Land reclamation
• Labyrinth pyramid at Hawara
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Pyramid of Hawara
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Second Intermediate Period
Hyksos chariot
1786 -  13th & 14th Dynasties
1650 BC
– Military decline
 Hyksos Dynasties (15 & 16)
–
–
–
–
1650 1567 BC
“rulers of foreign lands”, from Canaan
settled in eastern Delta
introduced chariots, horses, bows, armour
adopted Egyptian language, customs
 17th Dynasty
– Fierce families from Luxor
• Challenged Hyksos kings
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The New Kingdom:
18th Dynasty, Part 1
 Dynasty of empire building
– Conquest & lavish temples, tombs
1567 -  Ahmose I
1546 BC
– Drove Hyksos out of Egypt
– Tight central control
1525 1512 BC
 Thutmose I
Obelisk of Thutmose I
– Extended empire to 3rd cataract
– Led army to Euphrates River
1504 -  Queen Hatshepsut
– Commercial expansion e.g. Punt
1482 BC
– temple at Deir El-Bahari
Queen Hatshepsut
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Amenhotep III
The New Kingdom:
18th Dynasty, Part 2
1504 -  Thutmose III
– Conquest of Palestine and Syria
1450 BC
– Effective army and navy, administration
– Tribute built temples at Karnak, Abydos
1402-  Amenhotep III
– Extensive architecture e.g. Luxor, Thebes
1364 BC
– Peace and prosperity, height of empire
– Amarna Letters: clay records of diplomacy
1350-  Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten)
1334 BC
– Banned all cults except sun god Aten
– Queen Nefertiti: famous beauty
– Removed wealth of Amen temples
– New styles in art and literature
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Nefertiti and Akhenaten
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The New Kingdom:
18th Dynasty, Part 3
1361 1352 BC
 Tutankhamen
– Child Pharaoh
– Priest advisers restored old cults
– Intact tomb found in 1922,
Howard Carter
Tutankhamen
 Horemheb
– Tutankhamen’s general of army
– Restored order, central
administration
– Moved army against invaders
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Horemheb’s Tomb 13
The New Kingdom:
19th & 20th Dynasty
1318 -  restoration of military power
1155 BC  Seti I
– Reconquest of Palestine
 Ramses II
– Military campaigns: Battle of KadeshRamses II at Abu Simbel
– Extensive building program
• Temple of Amen at Karnak
• Temple of Rameses at Abu Simbel
– Queen Nefertari
 End: weak leadership, powerful
Theban priests ruled Upper Egypt
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Queen Nefertari
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Third Intermediate Period:
Libya
1085 945 BC
 period of peace and stability,
divided kingdom
 21st Dynasty
– Egypt split, two capitals
945 730 BC
• Tanis in North (Nile Delta)
• Thebes in South
 22nd Dynasty
– Libyan military
– reconquered Palestine & Syria
– ended in competing dynasties
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Third Intermediate Period:
Shabaka
Nubia
716 656 BC
 25th Dynasty
– Nubia conquered Egypt
– kept Egyptian traditions
 Invasion by Assyria
664 525 BC
– Thebes sacked
 26th Dynasty
Kush (Nubia)
– Libyan power assured peace
– Suez canal built, Syrian
campaigns
– Peace, prosperity
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• Strong Greek influences
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Suez Canal
Third Intermediate Period:
Persia
Persian
Empire
525 404 BC
 27th Dynasty
404 343 BC
 28th - 30th Dynasty
343 332 BC
– Egypt as Persian satrapy,
breadbasket
– Peace, prosperity
– Return of Egyptian rule under
Artaxerxes II
 31st Dynasty
– Persian Artaxerxes III reconquers
– dark period: temples sacked,
heavy tribute demanded
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Persian coin
Darius I
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The Graeco-Roman
Alexander the Great
Period
332 323 BC
323 284 BC
 Alexander the Great
– Founded Alexandria
– Installed Ptolemies as rulers
Ptolemy I
coin
 Ptolemy I
– Alexander’s general as satrap
– Later became independent
– Introduction of coins
• Eliminated barter system
– Fusion of Egyptian & Greek
elements
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Temple of Isis at Phylae
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Ptolemy II
Ptolemies
284 246 BC
 Ptolemy II
246 221 BC
 Ptolemy III
210 180 BC
 Ptolemy V
– Called Philadelphus
– Unified administration, did census
– Alexandria library, literature &
science
– Consolidated empire
– Built Horus Temple at Edfu
– Golden age of arts and science
– Rosetta Stone written in Greek and
Egyptian
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Horus temple at Edfu
Rosetta
Stone
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End of Egyptian Rule
180 51 BC
51 30 BC
Julius
Caesar
 Ptolemy VI - XII
– Increasing Roman influence
 Cleopatra VII
– Ruled with brother Ptolemy XIII
• 3 years, then civil war
Mark
Antony
– Julius Caesar defeated brother
• Caesar murdered 44 BC
– Romance with Mark Antony
• Antony defeated by Octavian (Augustus
Caesar) at Actium
– Death of Cleopatra
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• Egypt becomes Roman province
• Supplies food to Roman Empire
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Cleopatra
VII
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