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Egypt, con't . more arid and more fertile than Mesopotamiadivided into two partsthe Delta (Lower Egypt) and the Upper Nile?south", not ?north" is the important direction. Earliest Villages ??. 4500 B.C.but recent studies may push it backone thousand years or more. Two Kingdoms, 3,500 B.C.. two
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2. Ancient Egypt app. 10,000 sq. miles
the same as Sumer and Akkad
radically different in shape
a ribbon of fertile land 600 miles long
half a dozen miles wide for most of its length
compared to 165 miles in Mesopotamia
3. Egypt, con’t more arid and more fertile than Mesopotamia
divided into two parts
the Delta (Lower Egypt) and the Upper Nile
“south”, not “north” is the important direction
4. Earliest Villages ?? 4500 B.C.
but recent studies may push it back
one thousand years or more
5. Two Kingdoms, 3,500 B.C. two kingdoms
upper and lower Egypt
same culture
same language
same gods
7. Unification tradition is the only source
Date? around 3000 (3200?) B.C., or so....
Menes (Namar) the first pharaoh
reigned for 62 years
killed by a hippopotamus (ah, well...)
9. Culture and Civilization Egyptian culture distinctive and peculiar
already set prior to unification
continued to evolve through the Old Kingdom period
by the Pyramid Age (3-4th dynasties, ca. 2700 B.C.)
it was set and would not change for 2,000 years
10. Origins of Egyptian Civilization diffusion from Mesopotamia ??
and how do you tell, anyway ??
writing ??
cylinder seals ??
11. Formative Period ended by 2700 B.C.
theocratic
highly centralized government
Primary Phase, which will last about 1,000 years
12. Historical Schema The Old Kingdom (2700-2200 B.C.)
First Intermediate Period (2200-2000 B.C.)
The Middle Kingdom (2000-1800 B.C.)
Second Intermediate Period (1800-1500 B.C.)
The New Kingdom (1500- 1100 B.C.?)
13. The Hyksos ended the Middle Kingdom by invasion
Semites
generate an imperialist response
the New Kingdom
14. Comparison and Contrast with Babylon profound differences
because of environmental conditions
Mesopotamia: open to invasion
Egypt: isolated by geography
invasion as culturally stimulating ????
15. C. and C., con’t effects on Egypt: positive and negative
E. culture: perfectly adapted to the environment
lines of development: logical and obvious
Egyptian culture: static, outwardly opposed to innovation
16. Agriculture depended on irrigation
nationally controlled
annual flooding of the Nile (Gift of the Nile)
17. Transportation Mesopotamia: wheeled vehicles and boats
Egypt: boats (The Nile as Highway)
sailboats still a major means of transportation
Old and Middle Kingdom: wheeled vehicles rare
18. Architecture lacks timber
used mud-brick
main building: STONE
19. Sculpture early and sophisticated development
human figures and architectural forms
led to great expertise in painting and other representational arts
20. Writing hieroglyphic scripts
for architectural and monumental purposes
papyrus paper
22. Other Features wheat, instead of barley
cattle and poultry
slavery virtually unknown
high degree of social mobility
23. Dynastic Chronology Egyptians divided their history into dynasties
not always chronologically successive
Manetho, gave the chronology to the Greeks
the system is confusing, but maintained by Egyptologists
24. Theocratic Government all Egyptian government was theocratic in form
all power was concentrated in the Pharaoh
the pharaoh was the head of a planned and organized economy
modern comparisons ???
25. The Nature of Kingship and Religion modern perceptions
ancient ideas
even “politics” had a religious base
26. Unification the most important event in Egyptian history
what role did Menes play in religion and politics ?
how was unification maintained ?
27. Egyptian Kingship Mesopotamian kings (and Hebrew)
Semitic in their concepts
acted as mediators between gods and the people
28. Kingship, con’t Pharaoh: link between the gods and people
Pharaoh: divine
his rule eternal and absolute
Egypt was not just ruled for the gods
but by a god
29. Distinctions ? human vs. divine ??
They could tell the difference
in practice: whoever held the throne was divine
including: women, foreigners, commoners
30. The Pharaoh shed his impermanent and human status
assumed the eternal and unchangeable divine status
became the embodiment of the divine
led a divinely unified Egyptian state
31. Theory of the New State basis of justice and authority
meaning: “truth, justice, order, righteousness, balance”
a cosmic or divine force for harmony and stability,
dating from the beginning of time
32. these confirmed, consolidated and perpetuated the rule of the Pharaoh
this unified and stabilized the state
33. Egyptian Religion each city had its patron deity
emergence of national government caused some to be more important
as dynasties changed, the primary gods changed
why??
34. Examples Memphis: Ptah
later, as the center of power changed, Re/Ra
or Horus
etc.
35. The Gods Mesopotamian gods: mostly anthropomorphic
Egyptian gods: vary wildly
animals, human, celestial bodies, etc.
36. Cosmology Gods created Order out of Chaos
various stories
not mutually exclusive
like the monotheistic religions
37. Early Creation Story Atum
primeval mound of mud (Annual flood of the Nile?)
godly (How do you get a date when there is nobody there but you?)
generation of the gods
39. Different Perspectives Mesopotamians: pessimistic
life is unpredictable, their gods unstable, their afterlife indistinct and undesirable
Egyptian religion inspired confidence
in the eternal, stable order of the universe
40. Different Perspectives, con’t divinely guided, rhythmic cycle of life and death
and belief in a final, eternal bliss
41. Egyptian religion extremely tolerant of difference
extremely tolerant of many gods
as opposed to, say.. Hebrew religion
the principal deity (national/Pharoah’s deity) allowed other gods to flourish
the number is considerable
42. Egyptian religion: “oddities” overlap of functions
expansion and contraction of cults
amalgamation of cults
worship of the Pharaoh was “nationwide”
43. Religion as a Unifying Force Mesopotamia: master-slave relationship
Egypt: gods conceived of as shepherd
who cherish and care for the people
44. Religion, con’t probably the origins of the idea of Jehovah-as-shepherd
especially in the Psalms
which are pre-dated by Egyptian psalms
Akhenaton’s Hymn to the Sun
46. Permanence of the Cycle of Life everything was a cycle
eternal, unchanging
life and death
continuous and rhythmic
human life existed in a never-ending interchange of natural and universal elements
47. The Gods immanent in nature
existed in a sphere of divine activity
consubstantial: they are existent in everything
48. The Temples controlled by temple corporations
producing those things necessary for the god
maintaining the very existence of the universe !!!!
if they get slack, we’re screwed...in a major way
49. The Idea of the Cosmos religious ideas: rooted in a static and changeless universe
influenced every aspect of Egyptian life
influenced every aspect of Egyptian development
gave very strong resilience to Egyptian culture
survived virtually unchanged for 3,000 years
50. The Pharonic State: Ancient Economy the “pyramid” model
pharaoh as “capstone”
pharaoh as “commander-in-chief”
pharaoh as “royal administrator”
pharaoh as “owner of Egypt”
51. The Pharonic State: Corvee the annual inundation
conscription for “public works”
dependence on irrigation
cooperate work essential
52. Achievements of the Old Kingdom efficient, centralized authority
astronomy, arithmetic, geometry
medicine
53. The Most Important Solar calendar
pyramids
belief in immortality
54. Solar Calendar Egyptian solar calendar: 3rd millennium B.C.
Connected with the rising of Sothis
the Dog Star (Sirius)
companion of Orion
55. Solar Calendar, con’t length of the solar year and the rising of Sothis are virtually identical
only a few minutes difference
we get our solar calendar from the Egyptians
by way of the Romans
56. Pyramids Imhotep: architect and developer of the calendar?
Imhotep: physician, architect, doctor, miracle worker, giver of wisdom
designed the Step Pyramid of Zoser
processor of the Pyramids of Giza
58. Pyramids, con’t eternal home for the immortal pharaoh
insured their divinity for all eternity
60. Pyramids, con’t Khufu, Khafre, Menkure
Cheops, Cehphren, Mycerinus
amazing architecture
how?
necropolis
61. Belief in Immortality first to really develop the idea
sophisticated consciousness
another order of existence
62. Decline of the Old Kingdom Old Kingdom: the most stable period
the Pharaoh dominated life
the emergence of provincial power
but gradually lost power to royal officials
gradual drying of the environment
failure of the Nile to flood on time
63. Decline of the Old Kingdom Pepi II: ruled 94 years
at his death: rapid decline
followed by Nitocris
collapse of central power
64. First Intermediate Period 2180-2050 B.C.
localism, anarchy, short reigns, palace coups, assassinations
“seventy kings in seventy days”
reversal of established order
dissolution of law and order
disruption of trade and agricultual production
65. The Middle Kingdom 2050-1800 B.C.
united under the Eleventh Dynasty
from Thebes, not Memphis
followers of the god Amon
elevated to the rank of primary god
modern examples??
66. The Middle Kingdom solidification of Egyptian borders
military garrisons on the borders
new office: the vizier
separate administrations of Upper and Lower Egypt
suppression of the nobility; rise of the “middle class”
67. The Middle Kingdom decline with the Twelveth Dynasty
Pharaoh Sobekeneferu
beginning of the Second Intermediate
68. Second Intermediate Period 1800-1570 B.C.
Thirteenth and Fourtheenth Dynasties
contemporaries
invasion by the Hyksos
Semitic peoples from Palestine
Hyksos dynasty by 1650 B.C. (Fifteenth Dynasty)
69. The New Kingdom rise of the Seventeenth Dynasty
Thebes
beginning of the imperial period
reconquest of Egypt
“We had to destroy this village to save it.”
70. The New Kingdom 1570-1150 B.C.
reaction to control by a foreign people
policy of planned aggression
create a “buffer zone” (cordon sanitare) in Palestine
any modern examples ???
71. The New Kingdom more cosmopolitan
international trade
large, professional army
the usual bureaucracy
72. Imperialism: 18th Dynasty Thutmoses I
Hatshueput I
Thutmoses III
conquest of an Asian Empire
successor had problems
73. Akhenation: the Amarna Revolution worship of the Aton
the solar disk
elevated the worship of the Aton
suspended the worship of other gods
particularly Amon
74. Amarna Revolution: Political Terms struggle with the priests of Amon
innovation vs. conservative stagnation
monotheism ???
75. Lost of Empire to Indo-European states
emerging in Asia Minor and other areas
76. King “Tut” Pharaoh Tutankhaten succeeded Akhenaten
Restoration of the gods
Probably murdered by a guy named Ay
King Tut Video
78. High Point Nineteenth Dynasty
Rameses II
pharaoh of the Exodus ??
New Kingdom collapse
ca. 1150 B.C.