Egypt

How will the U.S. be remembered in 3000 years? Who will be remembered
in 3000 years?

Myth
I. Osiris, Isis, Seth
A. buried in Egypt + complete = resurrection
B. effect
1. no empire until New Kingdom

Geography
I. Nile = regular
A. every July
1st red (top soil)
2nd green (veg)
3rd rises 30 ft
B. don’t know source
1. think gods opening caverns
C. easy, little work

II. Effects
A. Protection  500 yrs of stability
B. Ma’at: divine order. Nature doesn’t change  society SHOULDN’T
change
1. Innovation & progress = bad

Narmer (ca 3000)

I. unifies Egypt
A. King of S. Egypt conquers N. Egypt
B. 1st king, 1st dynasty

II. Narmer Palette

A. Smiting = model for pharaohs (like Naram-Sin)

Old Kingdom
I. Pyramid experiments (ca. 2600 B.C.)
A. First 2 = disasters
1. Meidum (looks like tower)
a. Limestone casing unstable & abandoned
2. Bent pyramid
a. Corners built on unstable ground, causing bend at top

1
--engineering, experimentation, life: many failures lead to success

B. Success
1. Red pyramid

II. How to build pyramid?

+100 pyramids. all different. some solid, some inner chambers

A. no architectural papyri exist

1. probably trade secret
B. clear sand to bedrock
1. probably built channels in earth at base, filled w/ H20 until
level plane
C. rock quarries next to pyramid
D. how to get blocks that high
a. ramp theory
b. switchback theory: winding road corkscrews blocks up
E. labor
1. taxes = labor
2. not slaves, not beasts of burden
F. need
a. social organization, not advanced math

Mummies
I. Recipe Mummification
A. Begin 2-3 days after death
B. Make slit under left ribs
1. remove liver, stomach, intestines, lungs
2. place them in jars
C. Insert bronze rod into left nostril
1. remove brain through enlarged opening made by smashing
fragile ethmoid bone
D. Pack resin, sawdust, or cloth into skull cavity
E. Sew up body & clean body
F. Cover body w/ natron in order to dehydrate completely
G. Once dried out, wash w/ Nile water & anoint w/ unguents
H. 1st bandage fingers, then limbs, the head last
I. reserved for Pharaohs, high officials, and super rich
1. poor were stacked in remote caves

II. What mummies reveal?

A. Mummification process
B. Cause of death (sometimes)
C. Diet & health

2
 1. bad teeth (bread had sandstone), arteriosclerosis, polio
(deformed foot), smallpox (face spots)
D. Cocaine and Nicotine!
1. Evidence of contact w/ Americas
a. Thor Heyerdahl reed boat sailed Morocco—Barbados
(1970) 57 days
2. What would disprove?
a. No hieroglyphs for “cocaine” and “tobacco”
b. Egyptians scared of open water sailing, no evid even
reached England
c. Explain: False positives toxicology = 3rd party
contamination. Popular late 1800s-1900s

End of Old Kingdom (ca 2180)

I. Change
A. more sun worship
1. sun temples
2. pharaohs take Re names (Sahure, Neferkare, Shepsekare)
3. more priest pwr?
B. smaller pyramids
1. aristocrats’ pyramids rival pharaohs’
2. more arist pwr?

II. Theories why?

A. Pepi II (2278-2184)
1. ruled 94 yrs!
2. His descent lead to Egypt’s?
B. Unemployed laborers revolt against pharaoh
1. No evid except smaller buildings
2. Laborers = taxpayers; not employed workers

First Intermediate Period (2180-2055)

I. Politically
A. 70 kings in 70 days (source= 200s BC)
B. capital changes: Memphis to Herakleopolis
C. leading families in villages asserted independence when central
authority
weakened

II. Source = Middle Kingdom lament literature

A. divine order upset
1. foreigners invaded
2. pharaoh maintained divine order
B. fear of desert & Bedouin inhabitants
C. nostalgia

3
 Middle Kingdom (2055-1650)
Meh…nice literature
I. Princes from Thebes (south) unite
A. restore ma’at (divine order) = theme

2nd Intermediate Period (ca. 1650-1550)

I. Hyksos conquered northern & central Egypt

Youtube: War of the Ancient Egyptians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkEj7S3waoE (8:10-12:20)
A. 1st time Egypt invaded & occupied
B. Why Hyksos won?
1. bronze armor
2. chariots

II. Who were Hyksos?

A. Probably from Canaan
B. Worshipped Seth

III. Capital = Averis (in delta)

IV. Effects of occupation & expulsion of Hyksos

A. Hatred against invader = unsurprising
B. Hatred remained for +100 yrs = surprising
C. Xenophobic
1. foreigner like Nubians & Hyksos depicted as ugly & unworthy
to step foot in
Egypt
D. Expansionist (no longer Isolationist)
1. technological improvement (chariot, composite bow)

Egypt New Kingdom (1550-1292)

Queen Hatshepsut (d.1483 BC)

I. How did she become pharaoh?
A. Husband = Tuthmosis II
1. half bro too
2. 12yrs old when married. Marriage = 20 yrs
B. succession
1. regent for step-son (Tuthmosis III) age 6
C. legitimacy
1. claims to be offspring of god Amun & woman

4
 a. most Pharaohs don’t claim divine parentage
b. Amenhotep III & Ramses II did

II. Portrayed as male

A. no Egyptian word for “Queen”
1. Royal wife
2. Royal wives
3. Royal mother
B. pictures
1. dressed in king’s regalia
2. false beard

III. Accomplishments
A. built temple (Deir el Bahri) & 2 large obelisks
B. trading expedition to Punt (Ethiopia)
C. omissions
1. No conquests
D. Festival of Drunkenness

IV. S-E-X rumors w/ Senmut

A. Graffito
1. Cave above Hatsephut’s temple
2. Pharaoh’s headdress
Scandals of Ancient Egypt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMRi34tieuw&t=2276s
(9:05-14:15)
Ancient Egyptian Sex (52:00-55:18)
3. RESTORE ORDER: female pharaoh = superior & unnatural
Graffito desires to subordinate female  restore
order
4. Highlight Senemut = real pharaoh, using Hatshepsut for
power
B. female rulers & s-e-x
1. seductresses: Cleopatra, Empress Wu
2. influential lovers: Catherine the Great, Hatshepsut
3. virgins: Elizabeth Tudor

V. Name erased from all Egyptian records

A. Kings’ list never included her
B. Why?
1. embarrassed. Female pharaoh
2. probably not Tuthmosis’ hatred b/c occurred at end of reign
C. How do we know graffito = Hatshepsut?
1. pharaoh headdress
2. location
YOUTUBE: Sex in Ancient Egypt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JySfvKPDFwc (5:20-
8:00)

5
 Tuthmosis III—The Warrior Pharaoh (d. 1422)
I. Conquests & expansion
A. invaded Syria EVERY YR

Akhenaten—The Heretic Pharaoh (1353-1332)

I. Egypt = conservative
A. Why?
1. geography & climate
2. divine order
B. Akhenaten = Mr. Change
1. name: Amunhotep→Akhenaten,
Amun is pleased → living spirit of Aten
1. capital: Thebes → Amurna
2. art style
3. religion: monotheism

II. Monotheism
A. Eliminated all dieties except Aten, & himself
1. closed temples
2. chizzled Amon’s name of temples
3. he & his family = sole intermediaries b/w ppl & Sun God

Akhenaten: Hymn to Aten

(4) You fill every land with your beauty….(47) O sole God without equal!
You made the Earth as You desired, You alone. With people, cattle, and all
creatures. With everything upon Earth that walks on legs, and all that is on
high and flies with its wings. The foreign lands of Syria and Nubia, and the
land of Egypt, You set everybody in his place and supply their needs. They
all have their food and their lifetimes are counted. Tongues differ in
speech, their characters as well. Their skins are distinct, for You
distinguished the peoples. You made the Nile in the Netherworld. You
bring it up when You will, to keep those of Egypt alive, for You have created
them for yourself. Lord of All who toils for them. Lord of All Lands who
shines for them.

QQ: What did the peasants and slaves think of a pharaoh who didn’t
discriminate against foreigners?
1) unaware of policies: huge disconnect between pharaoh and
lower classes
2) applauded: xenophobia confined to upper classes
3) disgusted: even the lower classes possessed Egyptian elitism
BP: how tolerant were people in the Ancient World in general, and Egypt in
particular?

B. Changed name

6
III. Built Amarna
A. capital
B. residence
1. holy city & I’ll never leave
2. neglects army
a. military correspondences beg for army, we’re losing
respect, ask why he
didn’t reply
b. “flower child”?
C. city for Aten
D. omissions
1. no battle scenes
2. no images of offering to gods
E. chased out of Thebes?
1. ↑ unemployment due to temple closures

IV. Why?
A. eccentric personality
1. early statues depict him as hermaphrodite
2. portrayed himself as father AND mother of his ppl
B. political
1. undercuts temple priests
C. true believer
1. change his name to the name of the God

V. excitement and upheaval

A. Mayor of Thebes Ramosa
1. Completed 2 walls of tomb in traditional style
2. Changed style to Akenaten’s
a. Long chins, aquiline nose,
B. Priests upset
1. Out of business

VI. Horemheb = hater

VII. Why important?

A. Negligent ruler insufficient to downfall

Tutankhamen (1332-23)
I. Tomb
A. Discovery (1922-5)
1. Flinders Petrie found objects w/ Tut’s name in Almurna
2. Howard Carter
1. 1st step discovered (1922)

7
 2. steps led down to a wall
3. cut hole in wall.
4. “What do you see?” “Wonderful things”
B. chariots, gilded chairs
C. burial chamber (1923)
1. huge sarcophagus
a. 250 lbs of solid gold
2. two fetuses in jars
a. 8 months & 5 months old
D. omissions
1. parents = unknown
2. historical or biographical papyrus
3. crown
II. Bio
A. Akhenaten’s son
1. 8-18 yrs old while pharaoh
a. Aye = regent
2. married 9yr-old half-sister
B. Changed name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamen
1. Old religion = back
2.
Skin color
I. Not black
A. pics Egyptians made of themselves (Tomb of Seti I)
B. mummy DNA

II. Nubians = black

A. Southern neighbors
B. trade, mercenaries, slaves

Why Important? Egypt’s afterlife & pop culture

I. Pyramidiots (aka pyramidology)
A. Charles Piazzi Smyth (1860)
1. Scottish astronomer
2. Invented “pyramid inch”
a. when “inch” applied to inner chamber, it predicts
future events
B. Edgar Cayce
1. psychic
2. Atlantis emigrants built pyramids
C. Maxine Asher, Discovering Atlantis
1. records of Atlantis lay under the pyramid
D. Max Toth Pyramid Power (1974)

8
 1. Taught ppl how to harness arcane energy associated with
pyramids for their own good such as preserving food,
boosting sexual vitality
2. best seller published in 11 languages
II. Film
A. The Mummy (1999) and The Pyramid (2014)

III. Why?
A. Flamboyantly exotic
1. Pyramids & mummies
B. Mysterious hidden knowledge & technology
1. Magical civilization

IV. Present determines WHAT & HOW to remember the past

9
III. Ramses III (1182-51) = last great pharaoh
A. Stopped 2 invasions
1. Libyan invasion
2. sea people invasion stopped (1176)
B. Egypt = defensive

IV. little known 1126-1098

A. lose Levant

Dynasty XVII begins overthrow (ca. 1570)

1. many Egyptians probably content w/ Hyksos
a. capture secret message from Hyksos king to Nubia.
Lets attack & split
Egypt
2. Smackdown!: Apophis (Hyksos) vs Seqenenre (Theban)
a. Seqenenre II started war
b. mummy has head wounds. axes & spears. No arm
wounds
3. bro Ahmose overthrew Hyksos
4. Hyksos chased to Palestine

10
First intermediate period: Admonitions of Ipuwer
Indeed, poor men have become owners of wealth, and he who could
not make sandals for himself is now a possessor of riches. Indeed,
men's slaves, their hearts are sad, and magistrates do not fraternize
with their people when they shout. Indeed, [hearts] are violent,
pestilence is throughout the land, blood is everywhere, death is not
lacking, and the mummy-cloth speaks even before one comes near it.
Indeed, many dead are buried in the river; the stream is a sepulcher
and the place of embalmment has become a stream. Indeed, noblemen
are in distress, while the poor man is full of joy. Every town says: "Let
us suppress the powerful among us." Indeed, men are like ibises.
Squalor is throughout the land, and there are none indeed whose
clothes are white in these times.

Hittite: 37,000 infantry; 3500 chariots

Egypt: 20,000 infantry;
4. Hittite king deceived Egyptians into thinking he’s far away
5. Hittites chariot attack 2nd brigade (Re) marching couple miles
behind other
brigade & tired after day of marching
6. Egypt 2nd division scatters
7. Ramses rallies troops; blunts Hittite assault
8. Egypt 4th division arrives, Hittites scatter
9. 2nd day: inconclusive

Rosetta Stone
I. How did we lose lang?
A. foreign occupation

II. 3 scripts; 2 langs

A. Hieroglyphs: sacred, formal (Egyptian)
B. Demotic: informal, quick, (Egyptian)
C. Greek
1. written by Ptolemy V (196 BC)

III. Decipherment (1822)

A. “Ptolemy” can’t be picture; therefore, phonetic (sound it out)

IV. Hieroglyphs
A. NOT logograms (duck ≠ duck)
B. Alphabet (duck = “sa”)

11
 1. Picture = sound
Can be read left→ right; right →left; up to down
C. maintained traditions
1. headdress
2. bro-sister marriage
D. invented Serapis
1. apis bull + Greek god

II. Roman (30 BC- AD 642)

A. Mummification continued until Christianity
B. Isis & Serapis = popular deities
C. Temples open until AD 200s

III. Arab (642)

IV. Greek, Roman, Arab tourists

Egyptians fighting Hyksos: Apophis (Hyksos) vs Seqenenre

(Egyptian):
(Papyrus Sallier I of the British Musuem collection 10185)

King Apophis (Hyksos) wished to send an insulting letter to King Seqenenre,

the prince of the Southern City…

The messenger said to Seqenenre: "It is King Apophis who sent me to you to
say 'You shall put an end to the pond of hippopotami which is in the lake of
the city, since they do not allow that sleep comes to me day or night, their
noise being in the ears of the (entire) city'".

Now the prince of the Southern City was so amazed with (this) great insult
that it so happened he knew not how to reply the messenger of King
Apophis. Now the prince of the Southern City said to him: "Let your Lord
hear the words ///.../// in the Lake of the Southern City"…

Now the prince of the Southern City made provisions for the messenger of
King Apophis of good products, meat, corn, ///...///

"As to anybody, you will say to him what I have done ///(for you?)///".
Now the messenger of King Apophis set about traveling to his Lord. The
Prince of the Southern City summoned his great magistrates as well as
every front and hindmost officer and he repeated to them the entire
message that King Apophis had sent to him. They were all silent with this
great insult, for they knew not how to give him an answer that was god in
this vile matter.
12
 --At this point, the papyrus breaks of. The rest of the story has been
lost.

Nubian conquest: Peftjuawybastet surrenders to Piye, victory stele

(700s BC)
Hail to you, Horus, might king,
bull attacking bulls!
The netherworld seized me,
I foundered in darkness,
Oh you who give me the rays of his face!
I could find no friend on the day of distress,
who would stand up on battle day,
except you, oh mighty king.
You drove the darkness from me!
I shall serve with my property…
You are Horakhty above the immortal stars!
As he is king so are you,
as he is immortal you are immortal,
King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Piye ever living!

Midterm = next Wednesday (Jan 27) OMG! OMG!

OMG!
I. Mult Choice (20 Q’s, 40%)
 2-4 Q’s/lecture: cavemen, N & S America, Egypt, India
 lectures, reading
 “how to think” tips = framed

II. Feats ofProof (60% total; 30% each chapter)

 I choose 4 chapters in each books
 You choose 2 of those four.
 What to write?
o 2 paragraphs for each chapter (4 total paragraphs)
o 1st paragraph: Prove you read (B-)
 facts, specifics, non-lecture info
 repeating lecture info (F)
o 2 paragraph: Prove brain (A+)
nd

 your ideas, criticisms, voice, opinion

______________________________________________________________________________

I. Assyrians defeat Nubians

13
 A. Assyrians take Memphis (671)
A. Memphis rebels against Assyrians
1. Assyrian king executes all nobles except Necho
B. Nubian pharaoh abandons Thebes, Assyrians control Egypt

II. Assyrians install Necho (Egyptian) as vassal

A. son inherits & told to control Egyptians

. sea ppl = multi-ethnic

a. SE & SW turkey
b. maybe Aegean islands
c. sometimes marauders; sometimes migrants

Priest kings ruled Thebes (1080-945)

B. Kings of Tanis ruled northern Delta (1069-945)
1. Psusennes I (1039-991) intact tomb rivals Tut’s
a. not poor
b. discovered around WWII & published only in French
2. Siamum’s (975-59) daughter married Hebrew Solomon
a. Egyptian daughters married abroad = weakness

A. Libyan mercenaries used as police

B. Takelot II (850-25)
1. Civil war: killed rebel leaders & burned bodies, denying them
immortality

C. Nubia 411
1. Egypt’s southern archnemisis
a. “vile Nubians”
2. Wannabe Egyptians
a. Worship Amun (Egypt = spiritual home)
b. title “pharaoh”
c. pyramids
B. Piye (747-17) conquers Egypt
1. united Nubia
a. previously tribal
2. victories over 4 Egyptian kingdoms
3. victory stela at Gebel Barkal (in Nubia)
a. metal cobra sculpted into mountain
b. Tim Kendall learned mountain climbing to discover it
(1980s)

Assyrian conquest (664)

Independent (664-525)
14
I. Archaising
A. Art
1. sculptures look like ones 1500 yrs earlier
B. Language
1. old phrases
C. nostalgia = mild form of depression

Persians
I. conquered Egypt (525)

II. Failed rebellions: 470s, 465, 454

IV. Hist analysis: Gone from predator to prey

A. resembled Mesopt.
B. more globalized. Egypt no longer isolated. Forced to be part of
Near East.

Influential temple priests

I. Maintain temples
A. god(dess) housed in temple

II. Wealthy
A. own land & slaves
B. receive tribute

II. A check on pharaoh’s power??

A. How to become priest?
1. low-level = hereditary
2. high priest appointed by pharaoh
a. lower priests can block appointment
b. pharaoh can remove high priest
B. oracles
1. priest consult god(dess) statue
2. statue gives answer
3. priestly courts that sometimes contradict pharaoh
C. can solve or exacerbate legitimacy troubles

Decline (1207-1100s)
I. External
A. Sea People & Libyans raid (1207-1176), Egyptians win
1. Ramses II defeated & survivors into army
2. Ramses III defeated & settled in Palestine (Philistines)
B. Egypt vulnerable from all sides, like Mesopotamia

II. Internal instability

15
 A. pharaoh’s names erased
B. smaller tombs
C. rebellions

III. Why decline?

A. omnidirectional threats: isolation gone. Internationally connected
1. sea, Libya, Nubia
2. Egypt didn’t change; enemies changed
B. civil wars
C. systems collapse (fall of other Bronze-Age powers)

Epilogue (1080-Islam 600s A.D.)

I. Egypt divided (1080-945)
II. Libyans (945-710)
III. Nubians (730-664)
IV. Assyrians (664)
V. Independence (late 600s-525)
VI. Persians (525-380; 343-332)

VII. Independence (380-343)

VIII. Greeks (332-30 BC)

A. Rosetta Stone
B. only Cleopatra learned Egyptian
IX. Romans (30 BC - AD 642)
X. Arabs (642)

Kadesh Youtube: Forgotten Empires: The Hittite Kingdom https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=VHYn4IDi19A (1:31:50-1:34:00)

IV. Cheops: Great pyramid at Giza (d. 2566 BC)

A. Grand daddy of pyramid
1. tallest building (480 ft) until Eiffel Tower (1889)
B. Caliph al Ma’mun chizzled into to find treasure
1. entrance today

V. Chephren (d. ca. 2540 BC)

A. 2nd largest
B. some limestone left on top
1. limestone take from pyramids used in Cairo mosques

16
YOUTUBE Hyksos in Egypt https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=rZZXOztBiUc&t=290s
0:43-4:00

Rameses II (1279-13)
I. Warrior
A. Battle of Kadesh (1274)
1. Hittites control Syria. Kadesh at border
2. revolt in Syria; Rameses invades
3. why important?
a. stopped Egyptian expansion
b. Hittite & Egyptian kings both said they won
c. Egypt version = Ramses larger than life, king leading
army to save the
d. battle = draw; Hittites keep Kadesh
B. Canaan revolts (1273-60s)
1. revolt quelled
C. repelled Sea Peoples

II. Edifice-complex
A. Moved capital from Memphis to Pi-Ramses
B. Temple at Abu Simbel carved into mountain
1. Architectural propaganda against Nubians
2. “I can do this. Can you?”
C. Ramesseum
1. Mortuary temple

III. Midlife crisis = sedentary pharaoh

A. Doesn’t want to fight anymore
1. Hittite bride (yr 34): wants peace
a. Boasted: “her dowry will be greater than that of the king
of Babylon’s daughter”
2. Hittite bride #2 (yr 44)
B. Family man
1. 200 wives: 96 sons, 60 daughters

17