Nile River
Overflowed the banks annually in the summer
Alluvial soil and fresh water restored the nutrition in the soil
Vertical structure mirrored the Egyptian society
Isolated the Egyptian people
Desert
Cataracts
Long and unbroken development
Unification
Divided into two kingdoms
Upper Egypt
The Nile Valley
Lower Egypt
The river delta
Δ Greek Letter
Menes
3000BC
Unified Upper and Lower Egypt
Capital at Memphis
Early Egypt
Old Kingdom
2700 BC
Strong king consolidated power
Supremacy
Owner of all Egypt
Considered a god
Royal monarchy
Everyone serving the kings
Governors of provinces to local mayors and tax collectors
Artisans, peasants, and servants
All worked for the king
Sphinx
ca 1871
Partially excavated
1878
ca 2005
Egyptian Mythology
Gods are based upon the cycles of life
Belief of life after death
King was at the pinnacle of religion
Political power combining with religion to organize society
Other gods
Lesser positions in pantheon
In other forms such as animals
Anubis Seth Anum Hathor
(dead) (chaos) (supreme) (love)
Ra Sekhmet Khnum Isis
(sun god) (war) (innundation) (protective)
Mythology Osiris
Originally god of fertility
Became god of death
Gave Egypt laws
Taught how to be prosper
Murdered by his brother
Cut body into fragments
Osiris's wife and sister, Isis
Reassembled him
Son, Horus, associated with the Kings
Thus the incarnations of Horus in the Kings and pharaohs of Egypt
Basic
Mythology
The air god Shu, assisted by other gods, holds up Nut,
the sky, as Geb, the earth, lies beneath
Nun, the embodiment of the
primordial waters, lifts the barque
of the sun god Ra into the sky at
the moment of creation
Book of the Dead - Maat
A section of the Egyptian Book of the Dead written on papyrus showing the "Weighing of the Heart" in the Duat using the feather of Maat as the measure in balance –
Right Order
Primeval and cosmic harmony
Invasion of the Hyksos
Disaster 1720 BC
Invasion of Egypt by the Hyksos
People probably from somewhere in Syria and
Palestine
Success used the horse-drawn chariot in war
1570 BC Egyptian warrior from Thebes
Counterattacked and had driven the Hyksos from the
Delta
Began the New Kingdom of Egypt
18th Dynasty Thebes
Rulers now called Pharaohs
Controlled central
government through the
nobility
Military State
Expanded into Asia
Syria
Mitanni
Hatshepsut (1503-1482 BC)
Powerful female ruler
Crowned herself Queen in 1503 BC
Will of god Amon
Against social system which had always followed men
Portrayed as a sphinx with a beard
Wanted to be known as a builder of Egypt
“I have repaired what was destroyed by the Hyksos; I have raised up what was in pieces ever since the Asiatics had been I the Delta, overthrowing what had been made”
Thutmose III (1504-1450 BC)
Hatshepsut's successor
Greatest military Ruler
Conquering most of territory lost to the Hyksos
17 different campaigns
Victory over the Mitanni in 1465 BC
Subjugated most people of the ancient Middle East
Including Israelites and Arabs
All being slaves to Egyptian pharaohs
Center of internal conflict in the kingdom
Mainly between the priests, nobility and the pharaoh
Created reform which will impact Egypt for centuries
King Amenhotep IV (1379-1362 BC)
Opposed worship of Amen-Re
Traditional god of Thebes
Wanted the worship of the aton, or sun
Represented by the disc or circle
Akhenaton (1379 – 1362 BC)
Nefertiti
Supported her husband, Amenhotep
Tried to minimize the influence of the priests and bureaucrats of Thebes
Amenhotep changed his name to reflect the new religion
Akhnaton
He who serves Aton
Named Thebes Akhetaton
“the horizon of Aton”
Used the religions of the Sumerians and Israelites as basis for a monotheistic religion.
Reaction to Akhenaton – Tut
Immense failure
If Akhenaton correct what about
the old gods?
If they were not important then
Egypt was not important
Tutankhamen restored old gods
Set stage for two of the most
powerful leaders Egypt
Ramses II
Ramses the Great
Began his rule at age 14
Ruled from 1279-1213
Early on moved the capital from Thebes to Pi-Ramsses in the Delta
Old capital of the Hyksos kingdom
Ran his military campaigns against the Hittites to reconquer Syria
Militarily was a great success
Ramses the builder
Built extraordinary temples and
palaces
Best indication was he was beloved
In his 90+ years he had mad Egypt
very rich and to one of its pinnacles
of success
By the time of his death
Arthritic bend sickly old man
New Kingdom fell within 150 years of
his death
Top Related