Transcript The Egyptian and Nubian Empires

The Egyptian and
Nubian Empires
Read p. 89 “Setting the Stage”
• Old Kingdom
begins 2660 BC
– Built pyramids
– Declined around
2180 BC
• Led to 1st
Intermediate
Period
– Egypt was weak
Middle Kingdom
2080 BC – 1640 BC
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Strong pharaohs again
Improved trade
Restored law and order
Prosperity
Later war/violence and weak
pharaohs which led to………..
Nomadic Invaders Rule Egypt
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1640 BC—Hyksos came from
Asia with chariots and ruled
Egypt from 1630 BC to 1523
BC (crossed deserts) (2nd
Intermediate Period)
•
Hebrews move to Egypt
from Canaan around 1650 BC;
Egyptians resent the presence
of Hebrews and Hyksos in
Egypt
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Egyptians drive out the
hated Hyksos with help of
Queen Ahhotep and later
Pharaoh Kamose; Hebrews
lose protection of Hyksos; are
enslaved (later leave during
the Exodus)
http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/history12-17.htm
• How did the invasion of Egypt by the
Hyksos demonstrate the importance of
military technology?
• Hyksos used chariots, a form of military
technology new to the Egyptians.
New Kingdom
• 1570 BC -1075 BC
• Became powerful
again
• Chariots and
weapons
• Began using the
Valley of the Kings
for burial of the
pharaohs (near
Thebes)
Valley of the Kings
New Kingdom Rulers cont.
• Hatshepsut (1472
BC)
• Peace, not war
• Trade to Punt
• Some sculptors depict
her as a man (why?)
•
Stepson was male
heir to the throne
http://www.kingtutone.com/queens/hatshepsut/
• Why would a ruler encourage trade rather
than making war?
• Trade is less expensive; troops may be
needed elsewhere; failed war might
weaken the ruler’s power
New Kingdom Rulers cont.
• 2. Thutmose III (1425
BC) Warlike
•
May have
murdered Hatshepsut
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Armies pushed
into Syria and
Palestine and Nubia
(a region in Upper
Egypt); ruled an
empire
• Egypt’s Napoleon
New Kingdom Rulers
• 3. King Tutankhamen
(king 1361-52 BC)
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Tomb discovered
by Howard Carter in
1922 in the Valley of
the Kings
New Kingdom Rulers cont.
4. Ramses II- (1290-1224
BC)
Peace treaty with the
Hittites
Great Builder of
monuments and
temples
Lived to 99 and had
MANY children
After his death-weak
rulers
Ramses at Battle of Kadesh with
Hittites
• An official account of the Battle of Kadesh
describes how he charged a Hittite force of
2,500 chariots “alone by himself, none
other with him” and routed it singlehandedly.
Peace Treaty with Hittites
Mummy of Ramses
Empire Declines
• Invasion by Land and
Sea
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“Sea Peoples”
(Philistines ?) cause
great destruction in
Egypt
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Land invasions by
Libyans; from 950 to
730 BC Libyan
pharaohs rule Egypt,
erect cities; adopt
Egyptian way of life
Kushites Conquer the Nile Region
• Egypt dominates the
Nubian kingdom of
Kush from 2000 BC to
1000 BC
– Raided and occupied
them
– As Egypt declines, Kush
became more powerful
People of Nubia
• Live south of Egypt
• Trade with Egypt
– Nile serves as best
north-south trade route
– Connected the interior
of Africa
• Egyptians strongly
influence the Nubian
culture and adopted it
as own
Egyptian Influence on Nubia
• Kushite princes
educated in Egypt
• Egyptian language
• Customs and clothing
styles of upper class
• Hieroglyphic writing
Egyptian Influence on Religion
• Religious practices
and burial traditions
are blend
• Worship some of the
Egyptian gods
Egyptian Influence
• Figurines
represented
Nubian slaves.
• Buried the Nubian
kings to serve them
in death
• Reflect Egyptian
style
• Human faces
reveal Nubian
features
Piankhi, Kushite King
• Overthrows the
Libyan dynasty of
Egypt in 751 BC
• Unites the entire
Nile Valley
• 25th Egyptian
dynasty
– “Black Pharaohs of
Egypt”
“Then the ships were laden with silver, gold, copper,
clothing, and everything of the Norhtland, every
product of Syria, and all sweet woods of God’s-land.
His Majesty sailed upstream (south), with glad
heart, the shores on his either side were jubilating.
West and east were jubilating in the presence of His
Majesty.” Piankhi, monument in Cairo Museum
• What might have happened if the
Kushites had imposed their own
culture on Egypt?
• Kushites might have faced
rebellions.
End of Kushite Kings
• 671 BC
Assyrians
(bloody) conquer
Egypt
• Kushites forced
to retreat south
• Royal family
goes to Meroe
Golden Age of Meroe
• Meroe (city) becomes important
center trade with Arabia, India,
Africa
• Lots of resources of iron ore =
iron weapons and tools
• Exchange for luxury goods
– Silver lamps, cotton cloth, jewelry
• Thrives from 250 BC to 150 AD
• Declines when AKSUM, which
has a port of the Red Sea,
defeats Meroe in 350 AD
“Ozymandius” by Percy Shelley
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To whom does this refer:
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert…Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear;
My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Ramses II