The Ancient and Near East

Chapter 1

The Ancient and Near East: EGYPT, to 1200 B.C.

Egypt, “the Gift of the Nile” Nile River Annual, predictable flooding Food Surplus Transportation Security Changelessness

Geography – Natural Resources and Borders Upper and Lower Egypt The Red Land and the Black Land Ethnicity

Egypt: Chronology Manetho, 3 rd century B.C. Egyptian priest 31 Dynasties

Early Dynastic, Dynasties 1­2 (c. 3100­2686 B.C.) Old Kingdom, Dynasties 3­6 (c. 2686­2125 B.C.) • 1 st Intermediate Period, Dynasties 7­10

Middle Kingdom, Dynasties 11­12 (c. 2055­1650 B.C.) • 2 nd Intermediate Period, Dynasties 13­17

New Kingdom, Dynasties 18­20 (c. 1550­1070 B.C.) 3 rd Intermediate and Late Period, Dynasties 21­31 • 1070­30 B.C.

Egypt: The Beginnings Agricultural Revolution ­ c. 6000 B.C. Pre­Dynastic Period, c. 5500­3100 B.C. Narmer (also known as Menes) and the Unification of Egypt, c. 3100 B.C. 1st king of Dynasty 1 Narmer Palette Capital at Memphis (in the north)

Palette of King Narmer (left, back; right, front), from Hierakonpolis, Egypt, Predynastic, ca. 3000–2920 BC. Slate, approx. 2’ 1” high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Key Characteristics of Ancient Egypt Divinity of the pharaoh Absolute ruler Ma’at Hymn to the Pharaoh, p. 18

Egyptian religion Continuum of life

Belief in afterlife Tombs, mummification Ka (life soul force) persists after the body dies

Pyramids at Giza Khufu (Cheops in Greek)

The Great Pyramid Khafre (Khephren in Greek)

Sphinx Menkaure (Mycerinus in Greek) Queen’s Pyramids Temple Complex

End of the Old Kingdom

Pepi II (c. 2269­2175 B.C.) First Intermediate Period, Dynasties 7­10 circa 2125­2055 B.C. 22 Nomes of Upper Egypt 20 Nomes of Lower Egypt Nomarchs

Middle Kingdom, Dynasties 11­12

Mentuhotep II (c. 2061­2010 B.C.) New capital at Thebes (south) Important god = Amen (Amon, Amun) Extended power into Nubia in the south Stability No more pyramids

Rock­cut tombs

Mentuhotep II

Second Intermediate, Dynasties 13­17

Hyksos, “rulers from a foreign land”

Semites Chariot warfare Sophisticated bronze technology Capital in the north (Delta region)

Kicked out by Ahmose I, founder of the New Kingdom

Capital re­established at Thebes (South)

Early New Kingdom Pharaohs

Thutmosis I Thutmosis II (r. 1491­1479 B.C.) and Hatshepsut (r. 1479­1457 B.C.) Expedition to Punt (Somalia?)

Thutmosis III (r. 1479­1450 B.C.) 17 military campaigns to Syria­Palestine

Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III Hatshepsut’s Expedition to Punt (Somalia?)

Thutmosis III (r. 1479­1425 BCE) 17 military campaigns to Syria­Palestine

Height of the New Kingdom

Amenhotep III Huge temples at Luxor and Karnak

Amenhotep IV (r. 1364­1347 B.C.) Akhenaten God Aten – Hymn to Aten, p. 24 New capital at Akhetaten (Tel el­Amarna) Wife Nefertiti

King Tut

King Tutankhaten (Tutankhamen) (r. 1347­1338 B.C.)

Tomb excavated by Howard Carter in the 1920s “Who Killed King Tut?”

The Later New Kingdom Dynasty 19

Rameses II (r. 1279­1213 B.C.) “The Great” Battle with the Hittites at Kadesh in Syria Pharaoh of the Exodus?

Rameses II at the Battle of Kadesh

The End of the New Kingdom Dynasty 19

Merneptah Stele of Merneptah – 1 st mention of “Israel”

Invasion of the “Sea Peoples” Rameses III End of the New Kingdom by 1085 B.C. (r. 1347­1338 B.C.)

Egyptian Religion Polytheistic Continuum of human and animal world Principal gods = sun gods Re, Amen

Important myth of Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Horus

Egyptian Religion Afterlife Measuring the heart against the feather of Ma’at Book of the Dead (p. 20) • The “Declaration of Innocence” on p. 20

The Culture of Egypt Writing Hieroglyphs Hieratic (priestly) script Demotic (popular) script • Rosetta Stone

Papyrus Literature Love Poetry Wisdom Literature • The Instructions of the Vizier Ptah­Hotep (p. 26)

Religion & Outlook

Politics & Stability

Borders & Security

Natural Resources

Agriculture & River(s)

Mesopotamia Egypt, “the Gift of the Nile”

List Key Similarities and Differences

On the Fringes of Civilization The Neolithic Revolution and Europe Stonehenge in England

Ca. 3000­1600 B.C.

The Hittites of Anatolia Discovered in 20 th century Capital at Hattusas (modern Boghazkoy) Indo­Europeans Hittite Old Kingdom, c. 1750­1450 B.C. Hittite Empire, c. 1450­1200 B.C. Egypt’s Rivals (Superiors?) Hittite King Muwatallis fights Rameses II at Kadesh in 1274 B.C. • Peace treaty between Hittite King Hattusilis III, his wife Puduhepa, and Rameses II in 1267 B.C.

End c. 1200 B.C. –destroyed by the Sea Peoples?