Class 4 – 2012 – 2013Ancient Egyptian History – The

Decline -The Last One Thousand Years - Persian Occupation

Joe BoisvertAdjunct Professor – Gulf

Coast State College - Encore

Modern EgyptHow do the Egyptian people live?Some people live in villages of mud-brick houses and work as farmers. Others live in cities in apartments in buildings of steel, stone and glassSome live on farms, where they grow barley, beans, fruit, cotton and lentils. Rice and sugar cane are grown too. Farm animals include buffaloes, cattle, goats and sheep. Many people earn their living catching fish.

Egyptian HistoryPeriods

of Egyptian History

Stone AgeOld KingdomFirst Intermediate PeriodMiddle KingdomSecond Intermediate Peri

odNew KingdomThird Intermediate Perio

dPersian EgyptPtolemaic EgyptCleopatraRoman EgyptIslamic Egypt

Egyptian ReligionIsisHorusOsirisAnubisAmonBesMutRaSetThothMummiesCanopic JarsWeighing of SoulsAfrican Religion

Abu Simbel Temple of Ramses II

Third Intermediate PeriodAfter the death of the last Ramses in 1085

BC, Egypt fell apart. We don't know exactly why, but there may have been a serious drought.

Ramses III defeating the Sea Peoples

Where is Egypt?Egypt is in northern Africa. The Mediterranean Sea forms one of its borders. The Red Sea, Libya and Sudan are on other borders.How many people live there?There are about 69 million people in Egypt. The main language is Arabic. The main religion is Islam, and there are some Christians.

Third Intermediate PeriodEgypt lost its control over Israel and Lebanon

(this is the story of Moses) and was again ruled by different kings in the north and the south.

Nubia got back its independence altogether, and had its own kings, and so did the Egyptian territories in Israel and Syria (this is the time of King David and King Solomon in the Bible).

The north became richer than the south, and cities developed for the first time.

But Egypt was weaker than usual, and the Libyans invaded several times, and ruled the north for a while. In the south, at Thebes, the priests of Amun continued to be very powerful

Israel King David

Bible contends that King Solomon held a fortune that dwarfed any and every person that lived before him.

Egypt Defeated the “Sea People”The Hittite and Mycenaean cultures collapsed at the same time, and various people from that area invaded Egypt, where they were called the Sea Peoples - the Philistines, the Lycians, and the Achaeans, among others (possibly the Trojans). Egypt beat these Sea Peoples off, but Egypt collapsed soon afterward anyway.

From the BibleIn that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. 25 The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance (Isaiah 19: 23-25)

Bible Gateway they shall speak the language of Canaan-

Isaiah 19:23-25New International

Version Language of Canaan-

Still God has mercy in store for Egypt, and he will show it, not so much by reviving their trade and replenishing their river again as by bringing the true religion among them, calling them to, and accepting them in, the worship of the one only living and true God;

Five cities in Egypt shall speak this language; so many Jews shall come to reside in Egypt, and they shall so multiply there, that they shall soon replenish five cities, one of which shall be the city of Heres, or of the sun, Heliopolis, where the sun was worshipped

Egypt was a Battle GroundEgypt was the battleground between

Nubia and Assyria. A brutal Assyrian invasion in 663 B.C. finally ended Nubian control of the country. The last pharaoh of Dynasty 25, Tanutamani (664–653 B.C.), retreated to Napata. There, in relative isolation, he and his descendants continued to rule Nubia, eventually becoming the Meroitic civilization, which flourished in Nubia until the fourth century

Assyrians Occupation ModerateIn order to consolidate their hold

over Egypt, the Assyrians were moderate in the implementation of the occupation compared to their policies in other provinces, respecting local traditions as far as possible. They showed special interest for Egyptian experts, such as physicians, artisans and military specialists who were often deported to Assyria. The acquisition of horses was of major importance

Fall of AssyriaAfter the fall of Assyria in 612 B.C.,

the major foreign threat to Egypt came from the Babylonians. Although Babylonia had invaded Egypt in 568 B.C. during a brief civil war, both countries formed a mutual alliance in 547 B.C. against the rising threat of a third power, the Persian empire—but to no avail. The Persians conquered Babylonia in 539 B.C. and Egypt in 525 B.C., bringing an end to the Saite dynasty and native control of Egypt.

Formation of PersiaThe Scythians, the Medes and the Persians were nomadic people. They travelled around Central Asia with their horses and their cattle, and grazed the cattle and the horses on the great fields of grass there. Usually they lived well enough this way.

They eventually settled in Modern Day Iran.

Last Rule by Native Egyptians

The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (also written Dynasty XXVI or Dynasty 26) was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC (although others followed). The Dynasty's reign (c. 685-525 BC) is also called the Saite Period after the city of Sais, where its pharaohs had their capital, and marks the beginning of the Late Period of ancient Egypt.

Persian Period, or Dynasty 27 (525–404 B.C.)Egypt's new Persian overlords

adopted the traditional title of Pharaoh, but unlike the Libyans and Nubians

They ruled as foreigners rather than Egyptians. For the first time in its 2,500-year history as a nation,

Egypt was no longer independent. Though recognized as an Egyptian dynasty, Dynasty 27, the Persians ruled through a resident governor, called a satrap, helped by local native chiefs

The Conquest of Egypt

The most important event during Cambyses‘ (Persian) reign was the conquest of Egypt.

Human suffering must have been immense. Probably, every soldier in the Persian army was rewarded with an Egyptian slave ??

According to legend, Pythagoras left his country and studied with the wise men of Egypt, but was taken captive when the Persian king Cambyses invaded the country of the Nile (525).

Pythagoras

Persian Expansion

Persian DominationPersian domination actually benefited

Egypt under Darius I (521–486 B.C.), who built temples and public works, reformed the legal system, and strengthened the economy.

The military defeat of Persia by the Greeks at Marathon in 490 B.C., however, inspired resistance in Egypt; and for nearly a century thereafter

Persian control was challenged by a series of local Egyptian kings, primarily in the Delta.

Persian King Darius

Greek victory at Marathon Over PersiansThe Persians ruled Egypt from 525 BC,

successfully fighting off the Libyans. After the Greek victory at Marathon in 490 BC, the Egyptians revolted (in 484 and again in 460 BC) with the help of the Athenians, but unsuccessfully.

In 404 BC Egypt succeeded in becoming independent, thanks to Persian weakness, and established Dynasties 28, 29 and 30. Dynasty 28 was very short (only one Pharaoh!).

Late Period of Ancient Egypt

The Late Period of Ancient Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian conquests and ended with the conquest by Alexander the Great. It ran from 664 BC until 332 BC.

Near East - Persians A vague name used to describe the

countries to the northeast of the Egyptian border. This area includes the Levant and land directly to the east of it. The Levant is the name used to describe an area of the Middle East covering the modern states of: Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

The Persians came from the Near East. They conquered Egypt in 525 B.C. and controlled the country until 332 B.C..

Greeks InvolvedIn Dynasty 29, the Egyptians made

an alliance with Sparta where Sparta would help Egypt against the Persians in exchange for a lot of wheat, but unfortunately the Persians captured the Egyptian wheat ships on their way to Sparta, so that didn't work out very well. (The Egyptians were dealing with the Spartans now instead of the Athenians because Athens was weaker after the Peloponnesian War).

Rivals Persia vs. Egypt

Pharaohs of Dynasty 30The Pharaohs of Dynasty 30 tried to

re-establish Egypt as an independent country. They fought off Persian invasions. One time, the Persians had to go home because the Nile flooded when they were trying to invade. Like the other Pharaohs, they made alliances with Sparta and Athens and other Greek cities to try to keep off the Persians. Some of them even tried to put the New Kingdom back together by invading Syria.

The End of Class FourPersia in Ancient times:Iran (Persia) has always remained a major power in the region,

with its populations dating back as far as 4,000 BCE. Despite invasions and occupations by the Greeks, Arabs, Turks and Mongols, the nation has always asserted its national identity and political heritage.[1]

Since the sixth millennium BCE, many dynasties have ruled the nation of Iran – known historically as Persia.

The Achaeminids (559-330 BCE), founded by Cyrus the Great and led by King Xerxes (486-465 BCE), who possibly was King Ahashverosh from the Purim story

The Greeks (330-250 BCE), led by Alexander the GreatThe Parthians (250 BCE-226 CE)Sassanids (226 – 651)