Egypt and Iron age

BUHHH

geography of egypt

Nile River dominates Egypt's geography. The Nile descends into 6 cataracts. Desert surrounds the Nile. Floods deposit silt creating fertile areas especially in Lower Egypt.

Why did egypt’s geography provide safety?

Surrounding deserts, the mediterranean sea and the red sea made it hard for foreign invaders to reach egypt.

what was ancient egyptian culture?

Hieroglyphs make up the Egyptian writing. Less abstract than cuneiform: the symbols represent what they look like.

hieratic

Short, informal handwritten form of Egyptian writing. Usually used in paper form and not on stone.

Rosetta Stone

a stone with 3 different languages on it leading to the deciphering of the hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics, demotic, and Greek. Same message in all 3 languages: “Khufu was the Old Kingdom pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid”

describe ancient Egyptian religion

Egyptians were polytheistic. Each city had its own patron god. Just like the greeks.

Isis

Chief goddess in Egyptian religion

Osiris

God of the dead and Isis mate. Portrayed in green because he is the vegetation god.

Set

god of the desert, war violence, and chaos

Horus (symbolized with a falcon head)

God of kingship. King of the living.

Ra

Shown as the sun god by the red circle above his head. Represented as having the head of the falcon.

ka

spirit/soul

maat

Justice, order, truth. What the ka was measured against to determine if you went on to the afterlife or not.

what were egyptian kings considered

Egyptian kings were considered gods. Horus was reborn with each new king.

lower egypt symbolism

bee/cobra

upper egypt symbolism

reed/vulture

what does the flail and the shepherd's crook represent

the king is tasked with being both master and protector. Crook (to guide and protect) Flail (order and discipline).

Short description of both: the crook allowed the shepherd to protect and rescue sheep thus symbolizes protection. The flail was a whip with 4 wooden things thus represents the pharaohs power, protection and punishment

social structure

1. Pharaoh/ruler

2. priests

3. Nobles

4. craftsmen

5. agricultural workers/peasants

what rights were women allowed in egypt

inheritance, divorce, enter business deals, and could own 1/3 of property but they could not be scribes or hold government office

which folk tale in egypt was similar to the epic of gilgamesh for the babylonians?

The Tale of Sinuhe

egyptian history definitions

Periods of unity are called kingdoms. Intermediate periods were times of transition due to weak rulers, or rival kingdoms.

Dynasty

family of kings

Menes/Narmar

considered the unifier of Egypt using Nile as a linking highway. Begins the first dynasty of Egypt. Capital is Memphis. According to legend is killed by a hippo!

Old Kingdom

It is the time of pyramid building

Djoser

wanted a new type of tomb built (aka the step pyramid)

Imhotep

Djoser’s architect/vizier

Red Pyramid

The earliest tomb constructed as a “true” (smooth-sided, not stepped) pyramid. It was built in Dahshur, one of three burial structures built for the first king of the fourth dynasty, Sneferu. It was named for the color of the limestone blocks used to construct the pyramid's core.

Khufu

Sneferu’s son. He is responsible for the Great Pyramid. His pyramid is the biggest in Giza

Khafre

Son of Khufu. Also has a pyramid in Giza and built the sphinx.

Menkaure

Son of Khafre. He built his smaller pyramid at Giza, eventually completing the last of the famous pyramids at Giza.

1st intermediate period

The Nile floods ceased, famine caused by droughts, civil wars against a weakened throne, and outside invaders caused a period of chaos. The other issue is that the Egyptians ran out of money. There was no money to buy food for the people because they spent all their money on the pyramids.

middle kingdom

The role of the pharaoh has changed to that of a benevolent shepherd of the people. Many building projects were completed during this time, including large scale drainage and irrigation projects. Trade expands into Nubia. Fort of Amun is built. Racism emerges as Nubians must stop and get written permission to proceed and trade.

PEPI II

Longest ruling monarch in world history at 94 years! Sent traders to Nubia.

The Second Intermediate Period

A people known as the Hyksos, an Semitic speaking Asiatic people move into Egypt and take control.

Hyksos

Long haired people who introduced horses and chariot warfare to Egypt. They are pastoralist and nomadic.

Adopted Egyptian customs, and way of life, but were still outsiders. EX = Adopted Seth, the god of evil, as their favorite god.

Only conquered parts of Egypt along the Nile River.

Pastoralist

people who survive on animals (herders not farmers)

Ahmose

the pharaoh who drives the Hyksos out of Egypt

The New Kingdom

A time of expansion and conquest. A lot of monumental construction.

They will reach the Euphrates River in northern Syria and move south into Nubia. This is punishment for the Nubians making an alliance with the Hyksos. Nubia will become an Egyptian colony.

Hatshepsut

comes to throne after death of husband/brother. Rules 22 years, longest reigning female in Egyptian history.

Portrayed herself as a man, wearing a beard and men's clothes

What did Hatshepsut do?

Engages in peaceful pursuits

1. Commercial expeditions for luxury

goods.

2. Pyramids are replaced by secret

tombs to prevent tomb raiding.

3. Mortuary temples become site of

worship.

Thutmose III

(i just want to say his name is so aura uss uss uss)

He is a warrior king

replaces peace with war: 19 campaigns in 17 years.

He begins to deface, destroy, and build over Hatshepsut's monuments because he is angry that he had less time to rule and that a female had taken his right to the throne.

Akhenaten( Amenhotep IV)

Reign is mostly peaceful. Best known for being considered the ruler to introduce monotheism to the world. Changed Egyptian religion to the worship of a single sun god: Aten ( Aton).

Akhenaten moved the capital from Thebes to Amarna, perhaps to reduce the power of the priests of the other gods.

Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun was Akhenaten's brother and replaced him on the throne. He returned to the worship of the previous gods. Tutankhamun and his successors tried to remove all memory of Akhenaten and his religion. Tut is famous for his untouched tomb, but the kingdom was run mostly by bureaucrats during his reign.

I don’t know if you need to know this for the test but it was in the lecture notes and on the power point

Haremheb was a general and advisor who replaced Tut as king. He appointed his vizier Paramessu as his successor, and he took the throne name Ramses I. His son Seti I was a prolific builder and is considered to have the best-preserved mummy ever found.

Ramses II

Ruled Egypt for over 60 years

building projects rival the pyramid building age ex = built Abu Simbel.

responsible world’s 1st peace treaty (with the Hittites, signed after the battle of Kadesh).

This is the first battle in history in which we have accounts from both sides. They both claimed victory!!

He is known as Ramses the great

Merneptah

Son of Ramses II

first time we see israel from the stele (of merneptah)

Rameses III

the most prolific king of the 20th Dynasty. Tried to emulate

Ramses II.

Fought extensively with the Sea Peoples

GUYS

The Sea People helped bring the Bronze Age society to an end.

The 3rd Intermediate Period

a time of political chaos

The high priests of Amon establish their rule over Upper Egypt. In Lower Egypt merchant prince establish their own dynasty.

The power of the great pharaoh has declined.

The capital is moved to Tanis.

Psussennes I

royal mask does not contain large amounts of lapis lazuli, a blue ore used to created blue dye, suggesting that long range trade from Afghanistan is on the decline.

What is the role of the pharaoh?

A pharaoh was the king and was considered a god.

Old: was considered a god and was worshiped

Middle: The people rely on the pharaoh to provide for them. He was the benevolent sheperd

New: power declined, he was considered the protector because the Hyksos invaded them

Lydian

Asia Minor civilization considered the inventors of coinage.

Croesus

Lydian’s most famous king. Very rich.

Nebuchadnezzar II

A Chaldaean ruler of Babylon.

He led the Battle of Carchemish.

Built the gate of Ishtar.

In charge of thee Babylonian captivity

the last of the great Mesopotamian kings

Battle of Carchemish

Assyrians lose and are wiped out

Cyrus II

cyrus the great

successfully rebels against the Medians, leading to the creation of the Persian Empire

he defeated Croesus and the Lydians

and the Babylonians

allowed the captives of Judah to return from Babylonian captivity

Nabonidus

last king of the Babylonians and was defeated by cyrus

worshipped the Babylonian moon god Sin

Cambyses II

The son of Cyrus II, conquered Egypt under Psamtik III and expanding the Persian Empire from India all the way to the Mediterranean.

In a matter of a few decades, the Persians became the largest and most successful empire in the Near East.

Darius I

he overcame nine other claimants to the Persian throne

He also claimed that that Ahuramazda (the major god of Zoroastrianism, the religion of the Persians) ordained his kingship. Considered the 2nd founder of Persian Empire (after Cyrus II), he builds much of the empire’s infrastructure. He built the royal audience hall and the apadana

Satrapies

The empire was divided into roughly 20 provinces/satrapies with the ruler of these called provinces called Satraps.

satraps 3 main responsibilities

1. Collect taxes

2. recruit new soldiers

3. Administrate justice

Eyes and ears of the king

Military officials and special inspectors that traveled throughout realm to visit and check on the satraps

Royal Road

connected the satraps to each other in Persia. The Royal Road had a post every 14 miles where couriers could obtain fresh horses, allowing them to complete the 1600 mile route in one week. This system allowed for the creation of an early version of a postal system.

PERSIAN RELIGION

Zoroastrianism it is called dualism; the religion centers on concepts of maintaining a balance of good and evil.

Zoroaster

a prophet, founder of the Persian religion, Zoroastrianism

Ahuramazda

chief god of Zoroastrianism. god of light, good, and arta. Ahuramazda is counterbalanced by the god Ahriman.

Arta

truth, justice and order

Persia rulers have to rule by arta

Ahriman

The secondary god of Zoroastrianism

god of dark, chaos, and evil, he is counterbalanced by the

god Ahuramazda

lesser Zoroastrianism deities

Anahita, a mother goddess, and

Mithra, a solar deity who helps Ahuramazda.

good luck

remember what where and why

Book of the Dead

a collection of ancient Egyptian magical spells, prayers, and instructions to help a dead person navigate the underworld and reach the afterlife

3 reasons why we build roads

1. Trade

2. Military transportation

3. Communication