AGE OF EMPIRES Part 1: Ascent of Egypt - REAL HISTORY

Since the dawn of our species, humans relied on hunting and foraging for survival. They lived and hunted in small groups, moving along the migratory tracks of large animals. Meat was complemented with berries, roots, or other edible plants for a diverse diet. Egypt was one of the first regions to be inhabited by humans, due to its mild climate and its At the end of the last ice age, the Sahara Desert was very different from its modern state. It consisted mostly of savannah grasslands where many species of large animals grazed, making the Sahara ideal for hunter-gatherers to thrive. Cave paintings and stone tool production sites have been found from this early period, as cultures like the Badarian and Nakada spread throughout Egypt. Stone circles similar to Stonehenge were built in a place called Nabta Playa, to the west of the Nile River near a great and now extinct lake. Prehistoric humans were opportunistic and found food based on their environment. On grasslands, hunting was the major source of food, while coastal environments favored the gathering of shellfish and the eggs of seabirds. A river valley or delta, such as that of the Nile, was a very fruitful location due to its abundance and variety of plant and animal life available throughout the year. Some of the nomads who arrived in such rich river lands, found that they could subsist permanently in the area, and settled the first villages. The first of these settlers on the Nile, were likely drawn to the river by the increasing spread of the Sahara Desert. Although North Africa is mostly desert today, the Sahara was once covered in grasses and low shrubs. The transition to an arid climate was not gradual, but occurred in two specific episodes. The first, between 6,700 and 5,500 years ago, was less intense, but later climate change, lasting from 4,000 to 3,600 years ago, was severe. Summer temperatures increased sharply, rainfall decreased, and the grasslands withered. This event devastated many ancient cultures and their way of life. Tribes were forced to migrate to the Nile, where the river's annual flood deposited fertile silt, allowing plants to grow on the Nile's banks. These migrants contributed to the emerging small communities along the river. Human populations around the world expanded, following the end of the last ice age, and gradually settled in the locations where food was plentiful. Once the better spots were taken, competition began over who would hold these locations. A good site might mean the difference between survival or death during a drought. Geographic features took on special meaning to those groups settled permanently in an area. Waterfalls or interestingly shaped rock faces, for example, might have special properties associated with them. Ownership of these features was a source of pride for the group. Loss of control to neighbors might have been a blow to the unity or strength of the group. Prehistoric peoples had an affinity for the natural world that is not found in sedentary cultures. Awareness of what was going on around them was critical to the survival of a family group or tribe. Prehistoric peoples knew the territory around them well and could orientate themselves using geographic landmarks. Exploring and making new discoveries may have been pleasurable, but it was also a necessity. The increase in human population and the competition for good food sites accelerated the advance in technology that had been fostered by the challenging environments of the last ice age. Better and more varied tools increased the efficiency of hunters and gatherers, increasing the advantages of humans over other varieties of life. Anthropologists mark the technological advance of our human ancestors by dividing their progress into eras defined by the artifacts that have survived over the years. Most of these artifacts are tools, and the oldest of these are made of stone. Later, tools slowly started being made of various metals, such as copper and bronze. The most commonly used names for these eras are the Old Stone Age, New Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. Archaeological evidence suggests that warfare has been part of human life for much longer than we would like to admit. Previous theories assumed that the early nomads were more peaceful than their sedentary counterparts in later years, but mass burial sites found across the world have made scientists review that theory. A mass burial in Jebel Sahaba, south of Egypt, for example, contains the remains of 61 adults and children. Some of the skeletons show evidence of hard blows or arrow points embedded in bones. This site has been dated to about 13,000 years ago. The implication of evidence such as this is that prehistoric life was a struggle against other humans, not just nature or the elements. People who possessed good hunting and foraging lands had to defend them with force or risk annihilation. Every year, heavy monsoon rains in the mountains of Ethiopia would cause the Nile to flood its banks downstream in Egypt. This period of flooding, from June to September, was called Akkot. While waiting for the waters to recede and reveal the fertile mud and fresh silt left behind, Egyptian farmers spent their time mending and making tools and looking after their animals. As Egypt became a kingdom, the farmers would use some of this time to work for the king, called the pharaoh, to build tombs and temples. When the waters receded, the Egyptians would plough the soil during a season called Peret, from October to February. Egyptians ploughed by hand or used animal-pulled ploughs. Seeds were sown, and goats and other animals walked over the fields to push the seeds into the ground and provide additional fertilizer. The Egyptians grew a variety of crops, including wheat, barley, flax, and melons. Harvest time was a period called Shimu, from March to May. Grain was cut with sickles, tied into bundles, and carried away to granaries. Skilled artisans in the town turned the wheat into bread, the barley into beer, and the flax into linen cloth. Papyrus reeds were gathered to make sandals, boats, baskets, mats, and paper. Agriculture allowed professions to develop and fostered new cultural tools and artifacts. The population boom brought about by agriculture caused villages to coalesce into small kingdoms along the Nile. These kingdoms invaded and annexed others until only two kingdoms remained, those of Upper and Lower Egypt in the South and North, respectively. This terminology derives from the flow of the Nile River from the highlands of eastern Africa in the south, to the Nile Delta in the north. The king of Upper Egypt wore a tall white crown, called the headjet, while the king of Lower Egypt wore a red crown called the deshret. Around 3100 BCE, a king named Nama, also identified as Menes, unified the two kingdoms. A siltstone tablet called the Palate of Nama depicts the king wearing the crown of Upper Egypt on one side, and the crown of Lower Egypt on the other. A later pharaoh named Jet would be depicted wearing both crowns together at once, the double crown known as the pshent, which symbolized the unity of Egypt. In prehistory, people bartered with other groups for food and useful necessities. Later, when small farming communities appeared in Egypt, trade increased in importance and people traveled far to acquire rare goods or tools that they could not find in their hometowns. Evidence of trade between Egypt, Mesopotamia, and even the Indus Valley of India, has been dated to as early as 3000 BCE. During pharaoh Nama's reign, pottery with Nama's inscription was produced in Canaan, in the modern-day Levant, for shipment to Egypt, showing that Egyptian rulers looked overseas for rare luxury items. Despite these early contacts, trade did not become a major source of wealth for Egyptians until the late Old Kingdom. Trade provided Egypt with cedar wood from Lebanon, ebony and ivory from Africa, incense, myrrh, and oils from Arabia, gems from Afghanistan, and gold from Nubia. In return for these goods, Egypt exported grain, flax, papyrus, linen, gold vessels, and fish. The Nile River was as instrumental to Egyptian trade as it was to the country's agriculture. The Egyptians constructed rafts and boats from papyrus reeds, as quality wood was rare in Egypt. The wooden boats that were produced were long and were lashed together with ropes. The seams between planks were packed with bundles of reed to keep the water out, and they lacked the internal framing that later boats had. Egyptians used these boats to transport goods along the Nile and the Mediterranean coast. Trade and farming generated wealth for the pharaoh, around whom a cult was established, linking him to the god Horus. Massive tombs were built to prepare and house the pharaoh for the afterlife. These tombs were filled with gifts, animals, ships, and even servants. The early tombs were called mastabas, rectangular mud tombs. Between circa 2667 to circa 2648 BCE, Pharaoh Dosa built the first pyramid, consisting of six mastabas on top of each other. Each successive mastaba was smaller than the one below it, giving the appearance of a stepped structure. An architect named Imhotep is traditionally credited with this design. The biggest pyramids ever built were those at Giza. The largest was that of Khufu, also known as Khyaps, and dates from between circa 2560 to circa 2540 BCE. During the Middle Kingdom, fewer pyramids were built and they were of a smaller scale. By the New Kingdom, the tradition of pyramid building had largely ended, although the Nubians of modern-day Sudan continued to build pyramids for centuries. The Egyptians developed a rich and varied religion based on the worship of around 2,000 gods and goddesses. Some of these deities were worshipped throughout the country, some by a specific town, and others within the home. Many of their religious beliefs were linked to the sun and the Nile, the two entities most responsible for the agricultural bounty that was the basis for Egypt's relative affluence. The pharaohs, with the help of priests, conducted rites throughout the year, to ensure the regular flood of the Nile and movement of the sun. For major deities, great temples were built. A temple was not a place of worship, rather it was considered a home on earth for the god or goddess to which it was associated. The cult statue representing the deity might only be shown a few times each year at special festivals. Offerings brought to the temple were collected by priests and priestesses. The people would pray to a statue of the pharaoh because it was believed to possess divine powers and might intercede on behalf of the petitioner. Questions for the god or goddess were passed to priests or priestesses for reply. The decline of the old kingdom happened during the 6th dynasty, from 2345 to 2181 BCE, when the power of the pharaoh gradually weakened, in favor of regional governors. Internal disorders and a serious drought, combined with unusually low Nile floods, were the final blows to a decaying kingdom. The old kingdom period was followed by the first intermediate period, during which Egypt was divided for over a century. Following the first intermediate period, Prince Mentuhotep II of the 11th dynasty, built on the successes of his predecessors, and reunited Egypt by defeating the rulers of Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt. This ushered in a new period in Egyptian history called the Middle Kingdom. Mentuhotep made Thebes the capital of the kingdom, and is sometimes referred to as the Second Memes, in remembrance of the first ruler of the old kingdom, identified with Nama, who united Egypt centuries before. Egyptian society had changed drastically since the old kingdom, despite the attempts by Middle Kingdom pharaohs to emulate their predecessors from the previous era. Local officials had much more power and wealth, and it had become easier for them to rise in rank. These differences are apparent in Egyptian art of the period. Pharaohs were no longer the only ones commissioning art, as local rulers and the upper class could do so as well, resulting in greater variety and diversity of artwork. Conflict with Egypt's southern neighbors, the Nubians, was very common in this period, but it was not until the reign of Senesret III, that Egypt made significant conquests in the south. Senesret led four military expeditions against the Nubians, and managed to bring lower Nubia, in the north of the region, under Egyptian control. To consolidate these conquests, the pharaoh ordered his subordinates to build a network of fortifications along the border to block further raids by Nubians. Senesret III is also known to have led a military expedition into Canaan, but his main achievement was in bringing stability and prosperity to Egypt. During his reign, the cults of Osiris and Amun became increasingly popular, and Osiris would become a very important god of the afterlife, where he served as ruler and judge. Senesret also finished the construction of Amun's temple, near Karnak, begun by Mentuhotep II. This temple was the largest religious building ever constructed at its time. The reigns of Senesret, and the other kings of the 12th dynasty are considered to be a golden age for Egypt. Amenemhat IV, stepped in the footsteps of his father, Amenemhat III, and his grandfather, Senesret III. He finished his father's building projects, and launched several military and trade expeditions to secure Egyptian interests within her sphere of influence. Trade was thriving, especially with the cities in the Levant, such as Byblos, in modern Lebanon. Amenemhat IV died without a male heir, so his sister, Sobernefru, became the first woman to rule Egypt. Only two years after her succession, she died suddenly without an heir, ending the 12th dynasty. The 13th dynasty was considerably weaker than its predecessor, and Egypt descended into a gradual decline. Its rulers, unable to control the whole country, allowed Libyan raiders and migrating Seminomatic peoples from the northeast to move freely into Lower Egypt. Of these peoples, the Hyksos were the most dangerous. They started to replace local rulers, creating their own state within Egypt's borders. This period is described as the Second Intermediate Period by historians, and lasted until the eviction of the Hyksos. Egyptians were early innovators in boat building because of the importance of the Nile for transporting goods, and the role of trade in the eastern Mediterranean. Naval battles were comparatively rare in Egyptian history, however, as the Egyptians did not have ambitions to become a maritime power during this period. Nevertheless, Egypt fought in two notable sea battles for the defense of the kingdom. The first was the siege of the Hyksos capital of Avaris, between around 1570 and 1544 BCE, when the Egyptians used boats to take control of the canals around the city. The second battle was much later, during the reign of Ramses III, who fought a naval battle against pirates and raiders of the Sea Peoples, at the Battle of the Delta. Ramses won the battle and Egypt was one of the few civilizations to survive the initial decades of the Bronze Age Collapse, when migrating peoples destroyed most of the established Near Eastern civilizations. The Hyksos ruled Lower Egypt for the entire duration of the Second Intermediate Period, until they were driven out of Egypt by Amos I, founder of the 18th Dynasty. After successfully besieging the Hyksos at their capital of Avaris, Amos expanded Egypt's borders to defend against further invasions. Even though Lower Egypt was occupied by the Hyksos for a long time, the Egyptians benefited from this occupation. New technologies, such as chariots, improved bronze working, and advanced weaponry, were introduced. The Egyptians also began to appreciate the need to expand beyond Egypt to protect the borders of the Egyptian homelands. The period initiated by Amos' reign is called the New Kingdom by historians. During this era, Egypt became one of the great powers of the ancient Middle East. It was during this era, that the pharaohs were first called pharaoh, a term which derives from the name for the ruler's palace. Pharaohs were usually male, but a few women ruled Egypt, although they were depicted with male attributes in Egyptian art. One woman pharaoh was Hatshepsut, one of the most successful rulers of Egypt. Hatshepsut constructed many of Egypt's great monuments, such as impressive temples and obelisks at Luxor and the temple complex at Karnak. Her most prestigious project, however, was the Geyser Geseru, the Holy of Holies, a mortuary temple built in a unique style which, according to some archaeologists, inspired later classical architecture in the Mediterranean. The area near the temple became known as the Valley of the Kings, and was one of the most important burial places in ancient Egypt. Many pharaohs and other high-ranking officials of the New Kingdom were buried there. For the first 22 years of his reign, Thutmose III co-ruled Egypt with his aunt, Hatshepsut. During their rule, the two monarchs were equals and divided the ruling tasks between themselves. Thutmose led the Egyptian armies, an experience which would prove useful later during his own reign. After the death of Hatshepsut, Thutmose became sole ruler and started to remove all texts referring to his aunt. Under his rule, Egypt reached her greatest territorial extent. In 17 campaigns, Thutmose conquered Syria and the Levant in the north, and Nubia to the fourth cataract in the south. One of the most important events in Thutmose's campaigns was the Battle of Megiddo, in Canaan. The Canaanite city-states had united under the leadership of the kings of two cities, Megiddo and Kadesh. They mustered an army which threatened Thutmose's forces. The Egyptians defeated this Canaanite army, which retreated to the city of Megiddo. After a long siege, the city was taken, pillaged, its inhabitants spared, but many were made slaves. The Battle of Megiddo is the earliest battle in history to have been recorded in relatively reliable detail. Thutmose's successors were often equally successful and powerful. Amenhotep III brought Egypt to its cultural, political, and economic height. Instead of using force to coerce neighbors into fulfilling Egypt's interests, Amenhotep relied on diplomacy and the vast wealth of his kingdom. The Egyptian empire enjoyed stability during his reign and the reigns of his successors, except for a series of clashes between the followers of the cults of Amun and Artan. The priests of Amun had become very powerful, and certain pharaohs attempted to weaken the cult's power by strengthening the rival cult of Artan. Amenhotep III's son, Amenhotep IV, was one such pharaoh. Taking the name Akhenaten in honor of the god Artan, he disrupted traditional Egyptian religion by establishing a quasi-monotheistic religion. After his death, however, the cult of Amun was restored to prominence.