Ancient Egypt Part 2

Section 3: The Middle Kingdom 2050 BC BC The Old Kingdom fell around 2200 BC and a period of hardship and famine began. Local nobles battled for power, trade was disrupted, and farming and monument building declined. Around 2050 BC, Mentuhotep II defeated his rivals and became pharaoh of all of Egypt. This began a period of stability and prosperity known as the Middle Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom lasted for about 300 years until a group called the Hyksos invaded and ruled Egypt for the next 200 years. Mentuhotep II

The New Kingdom: 1550 – 1050 BC Around 1550 BC, Ahmose of Thebes drove the Hyksos out of Egypt and declared himself King of Egypt. His rise to power started the era known as the New Kingdom. The mummified head of Ahmose I.

After being conquered during the Middle Kingdom, the Egyptians decided to create a professional army and began conquering their neighbors. By the 1400s BC, Egypt spread from the Euphrates River to Southern Nubia. They became wealthy from the natural resources, trade, and payments the new lands gave to them.

Queen Hatshepsut (1472 – 1458 BC) Hatshepsut was the daughter of Pharaoh Thutmose I. Upon her father’s death, she married her half-brother Thutmose II. (It was common among the pharaoh’s family to marry within the family. This tradition kept power within their dynasty.) When Thutmose II died, he had only a daughter and a young son by a lesser wife. Hatshepsut felt that this young boy could not rule Egypt effectively and declared herself pharaoh. She had a successful, 22 year reign and is best known for increasing trade and bringing wealth back to Egypt. She used this money to renew the tradition of building monuments and temples.

After Hatshepsut’s death, Thutmose III had all of the monuments she built destroyed. These are a few that remain. A sphinx bearing the head of Hatshepsut Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple

Ramses the Great (1279 – 1213 BC) A great warrior and monument builder who is considered to be Egypt’s greatest and most powerful pharaoh Fought the Hittites and Tehenu and stopped them from conquering Egypt Built many forts to strengthen Egypt from invaders Built many monuments and temples in Egypt and Nubia including Karnak, Abu Simbel, Set, and the Ramesseum (his memorial temple) Built his own city Pi-Ramesse Ramesseum

Statue of Ramses at Abu Simbel Mummy of Ramses

Work Life Egypt’s complex society allowed people to have different jobs. The most common jobs: Scribes – kept records for the government and wrote and copied religious and literary texts Artisans – sculptors, builders, carpenters, jewelers, and metalworkers Architects – designed temples and royal tombs Artists – painted pictures in pharaoh’s tombs and decorated temples Soldiers – received land as payment and could keep treasures captured in war Farmers/Peasants – had to give crops to the pharaoh as taxes and work on building projects Slaves – could earn their freedom; generally worked on building projects or farms

Daily Life Women had legal rights and regarded as equal to men (had the right to own property, divorce their husband, and make contracts) Some had jobs outside of the home (priestess, artisan) Children Most boys received an education (reading, writing, math, and religion) Girls stayed home and learned how to run the household At the age of 14 boys left school and entered the same profession as their father (unless the family had saved money to send the son to school to learn a new vocation)

Section 4: Egyptian Achievements HIEROGLYPHICS – the Egyptian writing system that used over 600 symbols (mostly pictures and objects that represented a sound or an object/idea) Hieroglyphics could be written horizontally or vertically, right to left or left to right. This made it very difficult to read.

Papyrus The Egyptians learned to make papyrus paper from the papyrus reeds that grew along the Nile River. They rolled the papyrus into scrolls. Because of Egypt’s dry climate, the papyrus did not decay and many Egyptian texts still survive today.

The Rosetta Stone In 1799, a group of French soldiers discovered the Rosetta Stone in a fort near the Nile River. The Rosetta Stone is inscribed with hieroglyphics, Greek, and a later Egyptian writing. Scholars who knew Greek used it to translate the hieroglyphics. Historians could finally read the writing of the Ancient Egyptians. Today, the Rosetta Stone is housed in the British Museum.

Egypt’s Great Temples Temples – homes to the gods and places of worship Features: Rows of sphinxes lined path to the entrance Entrance was a huge gate, usually with obelisks on each side Massive columns supported the roof inside Hieroglyphics and paintings decorated the walls and columns Statues of gods and pharaohs inside Sanctuary at the end of the temple

Egypt’s Most Famous Temples The Temple Of Abu Simbel built by Ramses the Great

The Temple of Luxor (completed by King Tut and added to by Ramses the Great)

The Temple at Karnak

Egyptian Art The Egyptians were master artists. They painted on temples (to honor the gods), tombs (for the dead to enjoy in the afterlife), canvas, papyrus, pottery, wood, and plaster. They also sculpted and made beautiful jewelry. They had a unique way of drawing. Animals were drawn realistically, but humans were seen from 2 views. The heads and legs were drawn from the side while the upper body was drawn from the front. Important figures (gods, pharaohs) were drawn larger than others.

King Tutankhamen (1336 to 1327 BC) King Tut was only 8 or 9 years old when he became pharaoh. His father, Akenhaten (also known as Amenhotep IV), changed Egyptian religious beliefs. Akenhaten banned the polytheistic religion and began a monotheistic religion with the god Aten as the sole god worshipped. Because of this, he was not very popular with the priests or the people of Egypt. Upon his death, his son Tutankhaten was given power. The priests approached Tut and had him restore the old polytheistic religious beliefs. At this time, he changed his name to Tutankhamen (in honor of Amon-Re the sun god).

King Tut’s death There is still much mystery surrounding King Tut’s death at the age of 19. Scientists have taken x-rays of his mummified remains and discovered an injury on the lower part of his skull. This injury suggests Tut could have been murdered by a blow to the back of the head or died as the result of an accident. A 2005 CT Scan showed Tut had badly broken his leg shortly before his death and perhaps died as a result of a gangrene infection CT scan of Tutankhamen The possible injury at the base of the skull is being pointed out.

King Tut’s Tomb In 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb was a magnificent discovery because it had not been destroyed by grave robbers and was in the exact condition it had been left in at the time of Tut’s death. There were four chambers in the tomb and more than 5,000 artifacts were discovered. It took the team more than 10 years to record all of the artifacts found. Archaeologists today are still studying these objects. We learned a lot about burial practices religious beliefs from Tut’s tomb.

King Tut’s Treasures

Section 5: Ancient Kush Kush developed along the Nile River to the south of Egypt. It was the first great civilization to develop in the interior of Africa. Just like the Egyptians, the Kushites depended on the floods of the Nile River for their agriculture. As in other civilizations, their farming settlements grew into villages, the villages grew into towns, and the towns eventually joined together into one kingdom. Egypt and Kush often traded with each other during times of peace along the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

Kush and Egpyt Around 1500 BC, Egypt conquered Kush and controlled it for 450 years. Many Egyptians settled there and built temples and monuments. Kushite culture was greatly influenced by Egyptian culture. In 1050 BC, the Kushites won their independence. During the 700s BC, Kush attacked Egypt. Their leader Piankhi successfully conquered the Egyptian Empire. After Piankhi’s death, his brother Shabaka took control and declared himself pharaoh (starting the 25 th Dynasty). Shabaka continued Egyptian traditions and practices. Kushite rule only lasted 40 years however. The Assyrians (from Mesopotamia) conquered Egypt and drove the Kushites out.

Later Kush Developed Iron – Kush developed Africa’s first iron industry in Meroe, Kush’s capital Expanded Trade – exported gold, pottery, iron tools, ivory, leopard skins, ostrich feathers, elephants and slaves; imported fine jewelry and luxury items Kush eventually lost power for three reasons: Cattle overgrazed the land causing the soil to blow away The iron industry used all the trees in the forests so they could not produce weapons or trade goods Lost trade routes