An Introduction to the Ancient Egyptian Civilization

This recording is brought to you by Ancient History Encyclopedia. An introduction to Ancient Egypt. Written by Joshua Mark and D.W. Draphin. Narrated by D.W. Draphin. Egypt is one of the oldest civilizations on the planet. An ancient empire of pyramids and pharaohs, gods and hieroglyphs and mummies, all developing along the banks of the Nile River. Beginning over 4,600 years ago, three distinct eras defined Egypt, now known as the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, separated by what are known as intermediate periods, when the central government had weakened. Each kingdom was divided into dynasties, when a certain family ruled. We know very little about Menes, the founder of the first dynasty, and even less about the second dynasty. But in the third dynasty, King Djoser moved the capital to Memphis, and with his vizier Imhotep, began a grand plan of building with stone. It would be Imhotep's innovations which would pave the way for the development of the Pyramids of Giza. The Old Kingdom of Egypt, circa 2613 to 2181 BCE, is known as the Age of the Pyramids. The historical records of this period are scarce, and historians regard the history of the era as literally written in stone, due to the grand monuments the dynasties raised. Egypt announced its grandeur to the world through monumental building projects, exemplified in the works of the kings of the fourth dynasty, the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. These monuments have come to define Egypt for the world even in ruin. But, in their day, were even more spectacular. The Old Kingdom fell as the central government declined, and, from the ruins, two regional powers emerged, one in Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt, the other at Thebes in Upper Egypt. Lower Egypt isn't to the south, but to the north, where the Nile empties into the Mediterranean. Upper Egypt is the high country, and the Nile flows upwards, from the south, at the border of modern-day Sudan. In the first intermediate period, Egypt became governed by two polities in each region, which both relied on the Nile. Eventually, the Theban kings of Upper Egypt conquered the north, and ushered in the Middle Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom, 2040 to 1782 BCE, is ancient Egypt's classical age of art and literature. Egypt reached its highest point of culture during the Twelfth Dynasty, circa 1900 BCE. Even though the Middle Kingdom may not have the grand pyramids of Egypt's past, or the power which lay in the future, this era contributed enormously to the Egyptian culture we know today, and, in fact, began construction of arguably the greatest temple in the world, located at Karnak. The Twelfth Dynasty kings raided Syria and Palestine, and marched to the Third Cataract of the Nile to establish fortified defensive posts. They also began vast irrigation and hydraulic projects, which revitalized the Egyptian economy and contributed to its wealth. True literature developed at this time, which dealt not just with kings or gods, but the lives of common people and the human experience. Sculpture and painting began to focus on pastoral scenes of streams and fields and people fishing or walking were painted in tombs, so that the soul would be reminded of daily life and move toward the field of reeds, the paradise of the afterlife, a mirror image of what had been left behind. There were many great kings of the era, but among the most powerful was Senusret III, circa 1878 to 1860 BCE. He is considered the model for the legendary King Sesostris, the great Egyptian military leader who, according to Herodotus, colonized Europe and, according to Diodorus Siculus, conquered the entire known world. Senusret III was the epitome of the warrior king and embodied the Egyptian cultural value of military skill and decisive action. The Thirteenth Dynasty kings had none of the personal strength of the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty. A separate political entity appeared in Lower Egypt under the Thirteenth Dynasty known as the Hyksos, a band of Semitic immigrants, and the Egyptians could do nothing to stop their development. Although later Egyptian histories depict the rule of the Hyksos as a dark period, the foreigners continued to respect the religion and culture of Egypt and seemed to have benefited the country by introducing chariots and the skill of casting bronze, an alloy harder than the copper, the Egyptians had previously used. The Hyksos were driven out by Amos I, circa 1570 to 1544 BCE, founder of the Eighteenth Dynasty and the New Kingdom, who expanded the borders of Egypt to provide a buffer zone against further invasions. Later pharaohs expanded these into an empire that elevated Egypt, making her a member of the Club of Great Powers, along with Assyria, Babylon, the Hittites, and the Mitannites. The New Kingdom, circa 1570 to circa 1069 BCE, is the era of Imperial Egypt. When we think of Ancient Egypt today, we usually think of the Eighteenth Dynasty's Hatshepsut, Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, Tutankhamun, as well as the Nineteenth Dynasty's Ramses the Great. These are the Egyptian rulers known as pharaohs, meaning great house in Greek. For the royal residents, as before the New Kingdom, rulers were known simply as kings. The New Kingdom is the most completely documented period in Egyptian history and, accordingly, the most famous. Hatshepsut, 1479 to 1458 BCE, was named regent of Egypt upon her husband Thutmose II's death and co-ruled with the child Thutmose III, but in both cases she was clearly the power behind the throne. Only Ramses the Great built more monuments and temples than Hatshepsut. Her building projects were so beautiful and numerous that later pharaohs claimed them as their own. They were able to do this because, at the end of her rule, Hatshepsut's name was removed from all her monuments. Thutmose III was handed a prosperous and stable nation in 1458 BCE and instantly improved upon it. He used the war chariot inherited from the Hyksos, as well as bronze weapons and superior tactics, to defeat the surrounding nations and expand Egypt's domain further than it had ever reached. He was succeeded by Amenhotep III, 1386 to 1353 BCE. Many of the most impressive Egyptian monuments come from his reign, such as the Colossae of Memnon. He tried to quell the growing power of the priests of Amun by aligning himself with a minor god, Aten, represented by a sun disk. Amenhotep IV, his son and successor, is better known as Akhenaten, 1353 to 1336 BCE, the pharaoh famous for instituting monotheism in Egypt. He changed his name, abolished the old religion, and elevated the god Aten to the position of the one true god. His wife was the famous Nefertiti. Upon Akhenaten's death, he was succeeded by his young son Tutank Aten, who swiftly changed his name to Tutank Amen, 1336 to 1327 BCE, moved the capital back to Memphis, restored the religious center of Thebes, and brought back the old religion to Egypt. Although he initiated important reforms which stabilized the country, he is best known for his magnificent tomb. Ramses II, known as The Great, 1279 to 1213 BCE, is the best known pharaoh of Egypt today because of the biblical Book of Exodus and depictions of him in movies and books, even though there is no evidence that Ramses II is the pharaoh of Exodus. He left more monuments and inscriptions behind than any other, and yet nowhere, in any of these, is there any mention of Hebrew slaves, plagues, or the mass migration of upwards of 600,000 people from Egypt. Ramses III is the last strong pharaoh of the New Kingdom. The power of the priests of Amun had continued to grow and the New Kingdom ended when they asserted their power at Thebes and divided the country again, resulting in the Third Intermediate Period. With the loss of a strong central government and monarch, Egypt began a steady decline in power, assaulted and occupied by Nubians, then Assyrians, and a major Persian invasion in 525 BCE. The Persian victory at Pelusium established a Persian presence in Egypt on and off until they were overthrown by Alexander the Great. Following Alexander's death, Ptolemy I initiated the age of Hellenistic Egypt. The Ptolemaic dynasty would continue to rule Egypt until the time of the famous Cleopatra VII, who was not Egyptian but Macedonian Greek, whose reign ended when she and Mark Antony were defeated by the future Augustus Caesar at the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE. Even in decline, and after defeat, however, Egypt offered an impressive and intriguing culture to the world, which attracted attention then and has continued to up through the present day. This recording was brought to you by Ancient History Encyclopedia. For more great articles and interactive content, visit www.ancient.eu Ancient History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization. If you want to support our work, visit www.ancient.eu or follow the links in the description below.