Global 1 H Ancient Africa Test Mr. Calamari

geography of the Nile River and its importance to Ancient Egypt’s worldview and security

geography of the Nile River and its importance to Ancient Egypt’s worldview and security

Geography and security: TheNilee flowed South to North and the wind blew sout, makinge the Nile navigable in both directions. It was defensible because of barriers from the cataracts, and fertile sediment from predictable flooding.

Worldview: Egyptians viewed the Nile as a God while the Mesopotamians saw rivers as an example of the wrath of the gods, had to do with the predictability of the flooding.

meaning of “Upper Nile” and “Lower Nile

What were the 4 key cities and their god for their creation stories.

4 key cities were Heliopolis, Memphis,

Hermopolis, Esna each with a focus on a different god out of which the

Heliopolitan sun god Amun-Re emerged as the central god in the Egyptian

pantheon

Causes for the Nile flooding

seasonal rains south of Egypt in the mountainous Great Lakes region of Eastern central Africa.

benefits of the Nile

Held defense for Egypt, was navigable both directions, provided the Egypts with fertile soil and a fresh water source.

Scorpion King’s (Mene’s) contribution to Egyptian development

He united Upper Egypt with Lower Egypt by 3100 BCE and makes Memphis his capital, this started the dynastic cycle

What was the book of the dead

Was compiled in the Middle Kingdom, was abook of funerary confessions and Coffin Texts (middle kingdom) and Negative Confessions (New Kingdom)

role of the priestly class in Egypt

• Priests in ancient Egypt played important roles in religion and politics.

• They performed rituals, managed temples, and interpreted gods' intentions.

• Priests advised pharaohs and had influence in government.

• They conducted ceremonies, preserved texts, and oversaw burials.

• Priests held respect, power, and wealth in society.

meaning and importance of the Pharoah

military and religious leader throughout all 3 kingdoms. highest in the social class. was seen as a living god which was different from the Mesopotamian view which saw the king as a representative in all gods. In the middle kingdom the pharaoh’s power was reduced.

ka and ba and akh

-ka = life force or soul that commences at birth and inhabits the

mummified body after death

-ba = the mobile part of the soul which separates from the ka after

death and travels by day in the world of the living to influence it,

and reunites with the ka at night in the mummy

-akh = the name given to an effective spirit because a deceased

person’s ka and ba had been judged favorably by Osiris

status of women in ancient Egyptian society

women were more prepared for leadership than most cultures of the time

- served as government officials and receive an informal education

- owned and traded property including slaves

- proposed marriage

- sought divorce

- pass on inheritance

building of the pyramids and their purpose

age of period building was the old kingdom. it was supposed to be the god-king’s home after death. built before the use of the wheel and with copper tools before the bronze age. built by gangs of peasant and skilled artisan labor, not slaves.

meaning of “Illness” or Intermediate Periods in Egyptian history maat

Illness refers to a state of poor health or disease affecting an individual. In the context of Egyptian history, the term "Intermediate Periods" refers to the periods of political instability and division between the major dynasties of ancient Egypt. Maat is an ancient Egyptian concept representing the principles of truth, justice, and cosmic order. It was a fundamental concept in Egyptian society and influenced various aspects of their culture, religion, and governance.

nomes

farming districts

heiroglyphics

egyptian style of writing, symbolic

result of Hyksos invasion

ended the Middle Kingdom and caused the Second Intermediate Period

pattern of dynastic rule

The dynastic rule in ancient Egypt was characterized by divine pharaohs who inherited power through hereditary succession. This provided stability and allowed for centralized government and monumental construction. However, power struggles and challenges to the throne occurred during periods of weak or disputed succession.

Temple of Amon at Karnak

Amenophis III (r. 1391 -1353 BCE) at Thebes he built the largest and most

opulent mortuary temple of its time attributed to one pharaoh and unsurpassed in

area (86 acres) by any pharaoh since (Karnak was larger but it was built by

numerous pharaohs over a long period of time)

Rames II

Made the Egyptian empire reach its greatest size. His empire was stopped by the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh in the Levant. He rules for 67 years and was probably the pharaoh during the Hebrew Exodus story

Valley of the kings

New Kingdom. Were underground tombs to bury pharaohs in, not in pyramids like the old kingdom.

Rosetta Stone

Carved in 196 BCE and found in the town of Rosetta

• 3 scripts of which one was Greek and the other were hieroglyphics and demotic

• found in 1799

• Jean Francois Champollion decoded in 1822

• All three scripts were being used in Egypt at that time

Egyptian writing was undecipherable until we decoded this

Anubis

Jackal headed god of mummification

Osiris

the fertility God. The central myth of Ancient Egypt revolved around his death and rebirth. Became the God of the Dead charged with “judging souls by weighing the hearts of human souls laden with a sin against a feather’ to determine the quality of their after life.

Amon Re

Amon, the sun God. Akhenaton tried to make Egypt monotheistic and revolve around just this one God.

Horus

The falcon god. Isis’ son. He rules the earth as the pharaoh and takes the form of the falcon god to return to Osiris after death

Isis

Was the wife of Osiris and the mom of Horus. Hovers over a reconstituted Osiris and becomes pregnant with Horus.

Old Kingdom (Characteristics and events)

• 2660-2180 BCE

• Concept of the pharaoh as a living god

• age of pyramid building

• Memphis just south of the Nile Delta was the primary capital

• Ends because of prolonged and excessive flooding and drought beginning the First Intermediate Period

Middle Kingdom (Characteristics and events)

• Egypt reunited under the 11th dynasty and based at Thebes

• Concern for the welfare of the common people and society

• Classical period of Egyptian literature -Tale of Sinuhe written

• A canal was built from the Nile River to the Red Sea

• Irrigation projects were emphasized as dikes and canals were constructed in the Nile delta area to create new farm land and link the Nile to the Red Sea

• the power of the pharaoh was reduced

• commoners were seen as having souls and an afterlife

• Amenemhet of the 12th dynasty conquers Nubia and establishes the Egyptian frontier as the 2nd cataract

• ends with the Second Intermediate Period because the Hyksos invasion through the Ismus of Suez

• The Book of the Dead begins to be compiled from earlier funerary texts

• Amun joined with Ra to become the all encompassing god Amun Ra

• Pharaohs were buried in various necropolises at Thebes, Fayum, and Saqqara

New Kingdom (Characteristics and events)

• Egypt was wealthy

• Felt the need to be conquerers to defend themselves

• natural barriers = insufficient

• numerous capitals

• 18th dynasty created a military focus

• first female pharaoh - Hatshepsut

• Egyptian expansion under Ramesses II, but was stopped by the Hittites at the battle of Kadesh

• Buried pharaohs in underground tombs called the Valley of the Kings near Thebes not in pyramids as in the Old Kingdom

• Seti I was the father of Ramesses II

• Ramesses II ruled for 67 years and was probably the pharaoh during the Hebrew Exodus story

Battle of Kadesh in the Levant

1274 BCE, stopped the expansion under Ramesses the second

• Resulted in an alliance agiasnt future aggressions which was perhaps the world’s first recorded peace treaty and was followed by the creation of enormous stone figures at the Temple of Abu Simbel

Akhenaton

imposed monotheism on Egypt with the exclusive worship of Amon-Ra the sun God and himself as the “Son of the Sun”

• Represents a singular episode or aberration in Egyptian history

• his motives are unclear - he may have been influenced by the Monotheism of the Hebrews

• Ruled equal with his wife Nefertiti

• Changed art from idealistic figures to softer lines

Tutankhamun

• Son of Akhenaton

• Brought back polytheism

Nubian Kingdom of Kush

• Located south of Upper Egypt

• Represented gateway to luxury goods of the interior of Africa

• Trading partners and rivals with Egypt

• Ruled Egypt during the 25th dynasty during the eight and seventh centuries BCE

• Capitals were Kerma, Napata, and Meroe

• Less complex then Egypt

• Had sources of water other than Nile such as abundant rivers and seasonal rains

• Built smaller pyramids

• Demise was mostly related to the encroaching desert brought on by prolonged severe drought related to climate change which began around 200 CE

Queen Hatshepsut

• First female pharaoh

  • Co ruled and succeeded by stepson Thutmose III

    • Conquered as far as the Fourth Cataract in Nubia

    • height of Egyptian wealth and power

Queen Ahhotep

wife of Sekenre Ta’o II, becomes pharaoh after he is killed in battle

• Kamose I, her 1st son liberates part of Egypt from Hyksos rule

• Ahmose, her 2nd son drives out the Hyksos in 1550 BCE and begins the New Kingdom

slavery in Ancient Egypt

• lowest class,

• first appeared in the New Kingdom as a result of conquests

  • they were Nubians and Asians

  • could work for their freedom

  • Not based on race or color as in modern times

Social Hierarchy in Egypt?

Pharaoh-priests-vizier-nobles-commoners-slaves

keys to rising in ancient Egyptian society

• depended on ability to read and write which usually came from the wealthier classes

• quickest way to move up was service in the pharaoh’s service, especially military service

characteristics of the noble class

existed by birth right but measured in importance by wealth

• had working careers esp. in gov. bureaucracy - not merely landlords,

  • tax collectors, governors, generals

Herodotus’ description of ancient Egypt

he thought that everything in Egypt was completely different than the rest of the world, if the rest of the world did something one way, Egypt did it another

Egyptian creation story – Osiris and Isis

• Osiris: God of the afterlife and fertility

• Isis: Goddess of magic and motherhood, sister and wife of Osiris

• Set: Brother of Osiris, killed him and scattered his body parts

• Other gods: Assisted Isis in finding and reassembling Osiris

• Horus: Son of Osiris and Isis, conceived after Osiris was briefly revived

• Symbolizes the cycle of life, death, and rebirth in Egyptian mythology

Bantu migrations

• a series of incremental and intermittent groups over a very long period of time, spreading agriculture, cattle herding, knowledge of iron metallurgy, and diseases to Southern Africa

• people moving towards Egypt

iron metallurgy in Sub-Saharan Africa and its controversy and significance

• independently developed in Sub-Saharan Africa from 1000 BCE or earlier

• We really don’t know how far back it goes, because some evidence shows that it may have originated as far back to 2200 BCE

• Strongest argument is that African iron metallurgy went from ceramics and copper to iron with no intermediate stage of bronze showing a gap in the skill level

Nok Society

• West Africa

• 1200 BCE - 500 BCE

• earliest complex society of west africa

• complex artistic traditions that produces exquisite terracotta

• displayed what would become an enduring African cosmology that uncluded perhaps the earliest evidence of monotheism

Jenne-Jenno

Major trading hub where gold dust and copper ingots served as currency and metallurgy in copper, gold, and iron reached a high level of proficiency

Axum Society

• South of Meroe on the coast of the Red Sea

• 400 CE - 800 CE

• 90% of it remains unexcavated today

• had access to the largest supply of the natively grown commodity of frankincense which was as valuable as gold

• center of agriculture and bronze and iron metallurgy and a trading hub between the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean with artifacts from Iberia to India and as far away as China

• Gold coins minted with the face of King Ousanas were found as far away as India

• Imperial decline resulted from Over-Farming, reduced rainfall, political unrest, and the loss of trade with the Indian Ocean at the key port of Adulis on the Red Sea

Continuity/Discontinuity of the three kingdoms

Continuities

• style of rule with pharaohs

• pharaoh military and religious leader

• religion with its pantheon of gods

• basic social hierarchy

• dependence on the Nile

• patriarchal

• methods of social mobility

• Nubia as a constant competitor

• trade with regional neighbors of the Mediterranean and Southwest Asian world

• use of hieroglyphics, papyri, and cartouches

• artistic expression through wall and pylon art

• temple building

• social mobility remained tied to literacy and military service

Discontinuities

• after Old Kingdom, decline in the prestige of the Pharaoh

• metallurgy advances , copper to bronze, bronze to iron

• class of slaves emerged with the conquests of the NK

• arrival of foreign conquerors with the end of the MK

• episodes of temporary change- monothism, female Pharaohs

• burial site for the pharaohs shifted from pyramids to the Valley of the Kings

• art and architecture became less impressive

• wealth grew during the New Kingdom

• judgment and an afterlife for all souls was expanded to include all Egyptians, requiring mummification for everyone not just the pharaoh

• the MK became focused on the infrastructure building and literature

• aggresive territorial expansion began in MK and continued until Egypt’s decline at the end of the NK

• location of capital cities shifted often

syncretism

relationship between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon (Kingdom of Axum)

kandake

when women in Nubia served as regents

Ammut

if one’s heart was heavier than a feather (represented maat) then your sould was devoured by Ammut

Nefertiti

Wife of Akhenaton, rules as much as he did in Ancient Egypt

Nefertari

Ramesses II’s wife, was built a statue of

Abu Simbel

Temple of Abu Simbel where stone figures were created following the world’s first ever recorded peace treaty

Great Hymn to Aten and Psalm 104

The two texts were insanely similar and the Bible was recorded years and years after the Great Hymn

Dark Hours of the Night

• Amon-re had to travel underground during the night successfully past demons in the underworld to make the sun reappear the next morning

Kemet

“Black land” what the Egyptian’s referred to themselves as

the Great Hypostyle Hall

largest temple complex in the world built over a 1300-year period and begun during the twelfth dynasty of the Middle Kingdom

Luxor Temple

In ancient Thebes, begun in 1400 BC during the New Kingdom with significant additions made by several pharaohs including Hatshepsut

Abydos

A city, contained the most sacred site of ancient Egypt

vizier

chief administrator

Apedemak

lion god