 War and violence after Middle Kingdom  Succeeded by weak pharaohs and power struggles among rival nobles  Invaded and destroyed by Hyksos  Queen Ahhotep – helped drive out Hyksos  Kahmose – won victory over the Hyksos  Successor drove them out of Egypt completely  Pharaohs of New Kingdom sought to strengthen Egypt by building an empire  Wealthier and more powerful than ever

 Became conquerors – bronze weapons and two-wheeled chariots  Army included archers, charioteers, and infantry  Hatshepsut (Woman Pharaoh)  Her stepson (Thutmose III)was a young child at the time  Encouraged trade instead of war

 more warlike than his stepmother  Possibly murdered his stepmother  Led numerous victorious invasions into Palestine and Syria  Egyptian armies pushed farther into Nubia (region of Africa that straddled the upper Nile River)  Returned to Egypt carrying gold,cattle, ivory, and slaves

 Came into conflict with Hittites when pushing into Palestine and Syria  Battle of Kadesh  Fought to a standstill  Ramses II – pharaoh that made a treaty with Hittite king that promised “peace and brotherhood between them forever”

 Rulers of this New Kingdom built palaces, temples, and tombs  Hid tombs beneath desert cliffs  Built in the Valley of the Kings

 After Rames II dies all of Easter Mediterranean suffered a wave of invasions  Both Egypt and Hittite Empire attacked by “people of the sea”  Not identified yet  Egypt never regains power and breaks up into regional units  Erected own walls for defense  Egypt falls to its neighbors – the Libyans

 After Egypt declines Nubia establishes the Kushite dynasty on the Egyptian throne  Nubia is South of Egypt  Regains independence when Egypt declines  Restored Egyptian way of life  Tried to do this by conquering Egypt and taking over Libyan rulers  Kushite King Piankhi led an army down the Nile and overthrew the Libyan dynasty  United the entire Nile Valley  Assyrians conquer Egypt around 671 B.C.

 Kushites move South to Meroe after defeat  Becomes active in trade with Africa, Arabia, and India  Meroe had a lot of rainfall and had tons of iron ore  Becomes center for manufacturing of weapons and tools  Got luxury items from India and Arabia in return  Meroe begins to decline after 4 centuries  Rise of Aksum -> dominated North African trade with a seaport along Red Sea

 Describe the pro’s and con’s of Egypt shifting to an empire building nation. Describe the good and bad that can result in this and explain the type of place that Egypt should be