1. The Egyptian and Nubian Empires

2. Read p. 89 “Setting the Stage”
Old Kingdom begins 2660 BC
Built pyramids
Declined around 2180 BC
Led to 1st Intermediate Period
Egypt was weak

3. Middle Kingdom 2080 BC – 1640 BC Strong pharaohs again Improved trade
Restored law and order
Prosperity
Later war/violence and weak pharaohs which led to………..

4. Nomadic Invaders Rule Egypt
1640 BC—Hyksos came from Asia with chariots and ruled Egypt from 1630 BC to 1523 BC (crossed deserts) (2nd Intermediate Period)
Hebrews move to Egypt from Canaan around 1650 BC; Egyptians resent the presence of Hebrews and Hyksos in Egypt
Egyptians drive out the hated Hyksos with help of Queen Ahhotep and later Pharaoh Kamose; Hebrews lose protection of Hyksos; are enslaved (later leave during the Exodus)

5. How did the invasion of Egypt by the Hyksos demonstrate the importance of military technology?
Hyksos used chariots, a form of military technology new to the Egyptians.

6. New Kingdom 1570 BC -1075 BC Became powerful again
Chariots and weapons
Began using the Valley of the Kings for burial of the pharaohs (near Thebes)

7. Valley of the Kings

8. New Kingdom Rulers cont.
Hatshepsut (1472 BC)
Peace, not war
Trade to Punt
Some sculptors depict her as a man (why?)
Stepson was male heir to the throne

9. Why would a ruler encourage trade rather than making war?
Trade is less expensive; troops may be needed elsewhere; failed war might weaken the ruler’s power

10. New Kingdom Rulers cont.
2. Thutmose III (1425 BC) Warlike
May have murdered Hatshepsut
Armies pushed into Syria and Palestine and Nubia (a region in Upper Egypt); ruled an empire
Egypt’s Napoleon

11. New Kingdom Rulers 3. King Tutankhamen (king 1361-52 BC)
Tomb discovered by Howard Carter in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings

12. New Kingdom Rulers cont.
4. Ramses II- ( BC)
Peace treaty with the Hittites
Great Builder of monuments and temples
Lived to 99 and had MANY children
After his death-weak rulers

13. Ramses at Battle of Kadesh with Hittites
An official account of the Battle of Kadesh describes how he charged a Hittite force of 2,500 chariots “alone by himself, none other with him” and routed it single-handedly.

14. Peace Treaty with Hittites

15. Mummy of Ramses

16. Empire Declines Invasion by Land and Sea
“Sea Peoples” (Philistines ?) cause great destruction in Egypt
Land invasions by Libyans; from 950 to 730 BC Libyan pharaohs rule Egypt, erect cities; adopt Egyptian way of life

17. Kushites Conquer the Nile Region
Egypt dominates the Nubian kingdom of Kush from 2000 BC to 1000 BC
Raided and occupied them
As Egypt declines, Kush became more powerful

18. People of Nubia Live south of Egypt Trade with Egypt
Nile serves as best north-south trade route
Connected the interior of Africa
Egyptians strongly influence the Nubian culture and adopted it as own

19. Egyptian Influence on Nubia
Kushite princes educated in Egypt
Egyptian language
Customs and clothing styles of upper class
Hieroglyphic writing

20. Egyptian Influence on Religion
Religious practices and burial traditions are blend
Worship some of the Egyptian gods

21. Egyptian Influence Figurines represented Nubian slaves.
Buried the Nubian kings to serve them in death
Reflect Egyptian style
Human faces reveal Nubian features

22. Piankhi, Kushite King Overthrows the Libyan dynasty of Egypt in 751 BC
Unites the entire Nile Valley
25th Egyptian dynasty
“Black Pharaohs of Egypt”
“Then the ships were laden with silver, gold, copper, clothing, and everything of the Norhtland, every product of Syria, and all sweet woods of God’s-land. His Majesty sailed upstream (south), with glad heart, the shores on his either side were jubilating. West and east were jubilating in the presence of His Majesty.” Piankhi, monument in Cairo Museum

23. What might have happened if the Kushites had imposed their own culture on Egypt?
Kushites might have faced rebellions.

24. End of Kushite Kings 671 BC Assyrians (bloody) conquer Egypt
Kushites forced to retreat south
Royal family goes to Meroe

25. Golden Age of Meroe
Meroe (city) becomes important center trade with Arabia, India, Africa
Lots of resources of iron ore = iron weapons and tools
Exchange for luxury goods
Silver lamps, cotton cloth, jewelry
Thrives from 250 BC to 150 AD
Declines when AKSUM, which has a port of the Red Sea, defeats Meroe in 350 AD

26. “Ozymandius” by Percy Shelley
To whom does this refer:
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert…Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear;
My name is Ozymandius, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”
Ramses II