Ancient Egyptian Civilization

Kemet- the Black Land

First image comes to mind…

Egypt: “Gift of the Nile”…Herodotus

No rain but agricultural prosperity was unmatched.July Inundation receded in October leaving rich, fertile soil.

Isolation impacted on psyche-

harmony, everything was in balance: “ma’at”

Egyptian motto: “Eat, Drink and be Merry”

Egyptian afterlife: “Happy Field of Floods”

Like Mesopotamia, religion was the center of Egyptian life.

Religious beliefs reflected the importance of nature as a benevolent force

The Hall of Justice

The Palette of Narmer, 3100 BC: The Archaic Period

The Old Kingdom, or Age of the Pyramids, 2686-2181 BC

The Rosetta Stone 196 BC Ptolemy V

Jean Francois Champollion

• took 13 years to decipher the Rosetta Stone, 1822.

• “father of Egyptology”

Civil War between Noble families ended the Old Kingdom

Mentuhotep II >re-established the central government and built a new capital at Thebes>major rebuilding program>drained swamps >restored irrigation systems>built canal to the Red Sea>Repelled the Nubians>trade flourished with the Kush, Syria, Mesopotamia and Crete

The Middle Kingdom, 2090-1650 BCE

Thy Hyksos invasions, 1720 BC – led to the 2nd intermediate period

• Hyksos invaders introduce the chariot

• Ahmose I - founder of the New Kingdom

(1570-1070 BC

Queen Hatshepsut, “Restorer of Egypt”

(1479 - 1458 BC)

Thutmose III“The Napoleon of Egypt”(1479-1426 BC)

>17 military campaigns during 32 year reign- never lost a battle!>captured 350 cities in Palestine

Akhenaton 1379-1362 BC Nefertiti

Tutankhamen

King Tut’s burial mask.Howard Carter, 1922

Anubis, God of the Dead

Abu Simbel- temple of Ramesses II (Ramesses the Great)

The Battle of Kadesh, 1275 BCE

Temple of Horus, Ramses III

• Hekla volcano in Iceland???

• Labor strikes• Civil unrest• Series of droughts• Below-normal

flooding• Famine• Official corruption• Power grabs by

High Priests at Thebes

• Invasions by Sea Peoples and Libyan tribesmen

Ptolemy I

Cleopatra VII 

Any questions?