What Caused the Decline of Ancient Egypt? | Causes behind the decline of Egypt | Sankofa Pan African

Hi welcome back to another episode of the Sankofa Pan-African Series In this episode I'll be examining the decline of ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom and the rise of Nubia and Kush Around 3184 BC complications arose in Egypt following the death of King Amenemhet IV who died without an heir At the time the tradition was for power to be passed down through the pharaoh 's daughter yet she was forbidden from exercising the authority she inherited Instead she was expected to pass on her royal authority to her husband who then became the pharaoh Thus the tradition was for a reigning pharaoh to be succeeded by his son-in-law This tradition compelled pharaohs to be inventive in safeguarding their bloodline For example generations of pharaohs preserved their bloodline by marrying their eldest daughters to their eldest sons ensuring that the king’s sons were also their sons-in-law and thus eligible to succeed them The decline of ancient Egypt began with one such marriage Amenemhet IV continued this tradition by marrying his sister Subeneferu but unfortunately he died before having any children Subeneferu was then expected to marry another man from her noble Theban family But she defied tradition by marrying a commoner from Lower Egypt Now let me briefly pause to claim this woman as the first recorded African feminist The way I envision it after her brother-husband's death Subeneferu likely realized she wanted a chance to wield the power that had been hers by birth So she chose to rule rather than hand over power to another noble member of her Theban family That in my view is exactly what any intelligent woman would do She married a commoner and ruled as pharaoh According to Kim Riholt Subeneferu was the final ruler of Egypt's 12th Dynasty reigning for approximately four years from 1806 to 1802 BC Unfortunately she died without leaving any children and is recognized as the first recorded female pharaoh It's possible that the commoner she married or members of his family from Lower Egypt attempted to seize the throne after her death Egypt was then plunged into civil war as the Theban nobility refused to accept rule by a commoner from Lower Egypt This war dragged on for approximately a century during which Egypt was split into two rival dynasties One was operated by Theban nobility in Thebes the other by monarchs from Lower Egypt in Memphis This of course left Egypt vulnerable to invasion by other groups such as the Hyksos nomadic people from Asia The Hyksos first conquered Lower Egypt and then advanced on Thebes subsequently holding the entire country captive for approximately 150 years The rule of the Hyksos compelled members of the Theban nobility to retreat southward into Nubia o organize an underground liberation movement that worked to gradually erode the authority of the Hyksos First they recaptured Thebes and expelled the Hyksos marking the beginning of what is known as the New Kingdom The pharaohs of this New Kingdom then transformed Egypt into its greatest era Egypt emerged as the dominant power in the world around that time engaging in trade with all the major commercial centers that had begun to flourish It imported timber from Syria and constructed large ships that enabled sailors to voyage to East Africa Egypt traded with Punt located southeast of Egypt importing ivory ebony spices and gold Thebes expanded significantly featuring grand mansions constructed by the nobility As C V Vilne notes some of these mansions contained as many as 50 to 60 rooms They featured walls and halls adorned with exquisite artworks embellished with costly furniture and sculptures Finally according to one account in 761 BC Egypt was conquered by an Ethiopian king named Piankhi Between the time that marked the beginning of Piankhi's reign and 525 BC Egypt was governed by several pharaohs and endured invasions by various groups including the Assyrians It was the Greeks who founded the renowned city of Alexandria as a tribute to Alexander the Macedonian Among the lasting innovations ancient Egypt gave the world are writing paper ink the pen and the calendar based on a lunar year of 354 days—just 11 days shorter than the solar year Egypt also gave us the foundations of the zodiac system and numerous other innovations too many to list here Please don’t forget to subscribe to our channel if you haven’t already give this video a like and feel free to share it with your friends See you next time