Ancient Egypt is one of the earliest civilisations to evolve. Its culture remained fairly unchanged for around 2000 – 3000 years due mainly to its geographical location. The isolation is because its surrounded by deserts and the sea, allowing the culture to develop and sustain itself without much outside influence. When outsiders did come in, the culture and religion was strong that the invaders made an effort to keep that in place in order to gain favour and acceptance of the people. Egypt also had reliable forces of nature with the annual floods bringing fertile soil and providing ample opportunity to grow crops.
Mesopotamia was the other major civilisation in the vicinity, coming up slightly before Egypt. By contrast, it was rather open and with flexible borders, was susceptible to invaders. The forces of nature here were unpredictable and so these differences dictates a lot of the beliefs that these two civilisations lived by.
Ancient Egypt is divided into 31 dynasties and ending with Ptolemaic Egypt, with the famous Cleopatra VII as the last queen of Egypt.
Before Ancient Egypt
The first city ever was in Mesopotamia in Uruk. Egypt followed soon after. Before this, people were in small agricultural villages. In Egypt, they would develop into small districts known as nomes along the banks of the Nile.
It was around 3600 BCE that new pottery emerged from this region and also when the upper and lower parts of Egypt were formed with their own leaders. Upper Egypt is towards the south because the Nile flows from south to north. Lower Egypt is north.
Early Dynastic Period
The 1st dynasty began around 3100 BCE. This was when the first pharaoh emerged, Pharaoh Narmer, potentially the same as Menes, uniting Upper and Lower Egypt. He wore two crowns, one white cobra crown of Upper Egypt and the red vulture crown of Lower Egypt. The Narmer Palette is one of the earliest relics from ancient Egypt and depicts Narmer smiting an enemy.
Old Kingdom
The Old Kingdom begins around 2686 BCE with the 3rd dynasty. There is some debate, however is generally accepted that Djoser was the founder of this dynasty. His vizier was Imhotep who was a genius of his time. He was charged with building Djoser’s tomb, stemming from the strong beliefs surrounding death and the afterlife. At the time, a tomb was a flat-topped mud brick structure called a mastaba. Imhotep decided to stack a bunch of these, one on top of the other and getting smaller as they go up creating the first step pyramid in Saqqara. He essentially created a stairway to heaven.
It is the 4th dynasty dating 2613 – 2494 BCE that is the ‘golden age of pyramids’ with the building of the pyramids, peace and prosperity. The Giza Pyramids were completed in this time. It started with the first pharaoh, Sneferu. He commissioned the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid which is widely accepted as the first pyramid. In order to complete these, he went to Nubia and Lybia and got himself a large work force and access to materials. This trend would continue in this dynasty. The Giza Plateau consists of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, the Pyramid of Khafre and the smaller Pyramid of Menakaura (2532-2503). This was also when the Sphinx was thought to be first constructed.
Alongside the pyramids on the Giza plateau, there are also several temples, cemeteries and worker’s village. Building pyramids as tombs marks a change in the way the wealthy ancient Egyptians associated with death and the process, bringing more complex processes to mummification.
Worship of the sun also became practice, starting with the first pharaoh of the 4th dynasty, Sneferu. This also became the time when the kings really associated themselves with the deities. They would begin carving their names into statues and monuments that were previously for deities.
The 5th dynasty began to see the nobility and the religious institutions gain power and momentum, and would culminate at the end of the 6th. This threatened and weakened the power of the pharaoh. This would eventually lead to the breakdown of the Old Kingdom and we enter the first intermediate period of Egypt’s history.
First Intermediate Period
Over time, the nobility and other people of status gained more control and power over the wealth of the country which challenged the pharaoh. This ended up straining the economy and the country fragmented which brought an end to the Old Kingdom and began the first intermediate period, dating from around 2180 to 2055 BCE. There was a global environmental event beginning around 2200 BCE which was a long drought. It is theorised that this added to the collapse of the Old Kingdom as well as the collapse of other civilisations around the world at that time.
Middle Kingdom
The Middle Kingdom was founded by the pharaoh Mentuhotep II which then went on to include the 11th and 12th dynasties. This period of time was still slightly strained, as the pharaohs spent much of their time and energy defending and gaining control of different areas however there was some expansion of Egypt’s borders into Nubia. The 12th dynasty pharaoh Senusret III was regarded as a warrior king and he pushed the building of fortresses in Nubia and along with Egyptian border. The 12th dynasty is where we get the first known female king of Egypt, Sobekneferu.
Second Intermediate Period
This then collapsed to the second intermediate period including the dynasties from 13th to 17th. Some scholars put 13th and 14th into the Middle Kingdom. During this time, the Hyksos invaded and split Upper and Lower Egypt. There was also a large number of kings with short reigns with potential Canaanite kings as well. There was famine during this time and the last pharaoh of the 17th dynasty was Kamose, the brother of the founding pharaoh of the 18th, Ahmose I.
New Kingdom
This period covers the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties dating from 1550 BCE to 1069 BCE. It is the greatest of Egyptian times and deserves its own blog because of the pharaohs that ruled in this period.
The 18th dynasty is where we get the beginnings of the Valley of the Kings; the Hyksos were expelled from Egypt; the first Great Royal Wife; the female pharaoh Hatshepsut; the greatest military pharaoh Thutmose III; the height of the 18th dynasty with Amenhotep III with major building projects and statues; Akhenatan and his wife Nefertiti who changed the religion to a monotheistic religion and reigned over one of the wealthiest times of Egypt’s history; his son Tutankhamun who wasn’t famed for his reign but is famous because of the discovery of his tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter.
The 19th dynasty is the realm of Seti I who fought a lot of wars and captured more land. Also Ramesses II who underwent massive building projects, including Abu Simbel and colossal statues of himself.
The 20th dynasty is where Egypt goes into decline. Ramesses III would defeat the invasion of the Sea Peoples and restore temples and the ancient religion. Ramesses IV went on a massive building programme and after this, the pharaohs called Ramesses each didn’t last long. By the end there was drought, famine, and civil unrest.
Third Intermediate Period
This period began with the death of the pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1077 BCE and includes the 21st to 25th dynasties. Egypt was ruled by non-native Egyptians including Libyan and Nubian rulers. There was a gradual decline in the stability of the region with fracturing the country. The capital kept changing with the various dynasties as different people ruled, though the ancient Egyptian religion remained strong.
The 25th dynasty brought Upper and Lower Egypt back together under the Kushite dynasty. Napata was the spiritual homeland. They reignited Egyptian style, religion, arts and language. Pyramid building picked up in North Sudan and the fall of this dynasty marks the beginning of the Late Period.
Late Period
This period began with the 26th dynasty and the unification of Egypt, re-establishing ancient customs and religious buildings and the expansion of the influence of Egypt. The 27th dynasty brought the Achaemenid Empire to Egypt, the first Persian Empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BCE and marks the first time Egypt was ruled by Persians. This dynasty included rulers such as Xerxes I and Darius the Great. The following dynasties of 28th, 29th and 30th were ruled by indigenous Egyptians and would fight off the Persians, sometimes using the help of Athens. The Persians came back in the 31st dynasty establishing the second time the Persians would take over, this time with Artaxerxes III, King of Persia.
The period ended with the Persian Empire being ousted from Egypt and Alexander the Great conquering the land and enlarging his Macedonian Empire. When he died in 323 BCE, there was some fighting and confusion as he didn’t leave a solid heir. One of this generals, Ptolemy, would win Egypt over the other generals and bring rise to Ptolemaic Egypt.
This brings an end to the ‘dynasties’ of Ancient Egypt however the Ptolemies would present themselves as pharaohs and would engage, on different levels, with the ancient Egyptian religion and customs, so the story continues.
Ptolemaic Egypt
This was founded in 305 BCE by Ptolemy I Soter, the Macedonian general and close confidant of Alexander the Great. The Ptolemaic dynasty would rule Egypt for 300 years, making it the longest ‘dynasty’ of one family. This was a new era of Egyptian history as it brought in Greek influence to the Egyptian landscape. A country that hasn’t had much influence throughout the majority of its history, had Persian and now Greek influence that would affect their fashions and customs. But ancient Egyptian customs and religions would still remain strong. This was also the time when Egypt would once again reach a peak of power and wealth and then decline. We have the Rosetta Stone from this period and the famous Cleopatra VII, who was the last queen pharaoh of Egypt.
The Ptolemies would present themselves as pharaohs but they remained Greek in character and traditions. Native Egyptians would have the local and religious power in their localities however the ruling class was Greek and they dominated the military, political and economic fields. Greeks would have preferential treatment however in society, receiving particular education in Egypt, being tried in Greek courts and seen as Greek citizens – they remained the privileged minority class.
Ptolemy I and II began with adopting Egyptian customs like marrying siblings in line with the Osiris myth, participating in Egyptian religious life, restoring temples and building the great Library of Alexandria. By around 250 BCE, Egypt was an example of Greek civilisation and was one of the wealthiest states of the previous Alexander the Great’s empire. However a decline would ensue with wars and Egypt repeatedly turning to Rome for aid. Within Egypt, there were rebellions from locals against the monarchy power and sometimes they took control of certain areas for periods of time. One of these times is recorded as a story on the famous Rosetta Stone, when the Egyptian state took back control in 185 BCE from rebels in the reign of Ptolemy IV. After this, the various Ptolemies that ruled had problems resulting in disagreements and civil wars between the members.
Cleopatra VII (other females in the dynasty were also called Cleopatra) is the famous one and the last Queen. She was a bit different from the other Ptolemies. For one, she made an effort to learn the Egyptian language, where none of the others did. She knew various other languages of kingdoms around Egypt including Latin. She had a falling out with her brother and co-ruler Ptolemy XIII and at the same time, Rome was having a civil war. This would set off a chain of events that ended up with Ptolemy XIII murdering Pompey (enemy of Julius Caesar in their civil war) – Cleopatra establishing a relationship with Julius Caesar and having a child with him – Julius Caesar being assassinated – Cleopatra establishing a relationship with Mark Antony of Rome with whom she has more children and marries. Their common enemy in Rome now, Octavian, eventually would defeat them, invade Egypt in 30 BCE causing Antony to commit suicide and Cleopatra to follow.
This brings an end to Ancient Egypt as we have known it, with the Egyptian customs, language, religion and pharaohs. When Egypt came under Roman rule, from 30 BCE to 641 CE, it remained the centre of Greek culture with the Greek language remaining the official language of the government and trade. It was also one of wealthiest Roman provinces. In 641 CE, Egypt was taken over in the Muslim conquests, once again changing the language and religion of the country.
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