Ancient Egypt: New Kingdom
The Egyptian civilization emerged along the Nile River in northern Africa. The ancient Egyptians owed much of their prosperity to this location. Behind the power of the Egyptian empire lay a vast wealth of natural resources. The Nile River provided huge expanses of fertile farming ground that kept Egypt self-sufficient and usually there was abundance of food.
MAPS
The New Kingdom Egypt is considered the third great era of the Egyptian culture. The two achievements during this period are the unification of Egypt and 500 years of political stability and economic prosperity. During the third period of centralized rule in Egypt there were more dealings with the other kingdoms of the eastern Mediterranean than in
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The New Kingdom Egypt lasted from 1550 to 1069 B.C.E. The Empire was maintained through both force and diplomacy. In the process, Egypt won vast amounts of gold, influence and respect.
After 25 years on the throne Ahmoses died, but his legacy would live on, to ensure that foreigners would never rule his country again; he had pushed Egypt’s borders beyond the Saini desert in the north and deep into Nubia in the south. The warrior Pharaoh had laid the foundations of an empire.
Writing and Art
The rhythmic cycle of the sun’s journey and the dependability of the seasons influenced ancient Egyptian culture and art. Both art and writing used recognizable images from the environment to convey specific ideas. However, Egyptian art was not intended to be realistic. It served to perpetuate the cults of the gods and the dead.
Glass vessels began to be produced in New Kingdom Egypt early in the 18th dynasty (1150-1295 B.C.E.). During the reign of King Amenhotep III (1390-1352 B.C.), glass was a highly prized, luxury industry under royal control. Glass inlays were used to create colorful decorations for architecture, furniture, and ornaments. An example is this
Architecture
Although the rulers of Dynasty 19 established an administrative capital near their home in the Delta, Thebes remained a cultural and religious center. The pharaohs built their mortuary temples here and were buried in huge rock-cut tombs Egyptian Tombs Life Along the Nile
The second Intermediate Period was a time of great disunity in Egypt. There was no centralised rule with the country being broken up into independently administered regions. Hyksos sources are archaeological rather than written and are incomplete. Excavations at Tell el- Dab’a in the north-eastern Delta by Manfred Bietak (archaeologist), have identified this site as an ancient Avaris, the capital of a foreign people known as the Hyksos.
Egypt has one of the longest histories of any nation in the world. Written history of Egypt dates back to about 5,000 years, the commencement of civilization. While there is divergence in relation to Early Egyptian times, it is said that Egypt came to be around 3200 B.C., during the reign of a king by the name of Menes and unified the northern and southern cities of Egypt into one government. In 1675 B.C., Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos, people from the east, bringing along the very first of chariots and horses ever to come across Egyptian soil. Approximately 175 years later in 1500 B.C., the Egyptians had gotten rid of the Hyksos and driven them out. In 1375 B.C., Amenhotep IV had become the king of Egypt.
The Nile shaped Egypt by influencing its geography, popular distribution, and settlements. The majority of settlements in Ancient Egypt were located around the Nile River Delta (Doc. A), where land was fertile, trade was good, and there were many natural resources. Because of geography in this civilization, Egyptians could easily protect and defend themselves, as well as settle down and have good lives.
Pharaoh was really responsible for the welfare of Egypt. Pharaoh had great partnerships with the gods assured affluence and banned natural disasters such as drought, insect pests and epidemics. The last Pharaoh ended the reign that ravaged the Persian invaders.
Despite the ancient Egyptians' conservative nature and keeping to their core values, there were many changes within the infrastructure of their society during the middle kingdom. When Historians and scholars study the Old Kingdom, and the Middle Kingdom, One will notice that alterations to their religion, art, and architecture changed through both periods in history. Internal forces, as well as outside influences, shaped ancient Egyptian civilization. One would argue that the terms Old, middle and knew Kingdoms were of a hellenistic idea, instead of a Ancient Egyptian Ideology. The Old Kingdom founds its reign lasted from 2700- 2200 B.C. This time period consisted of the third through the sixth dynasty, beginning with Djoser and ending
Just as the Tigris and Euphrates rivers shaped the worldview of early Mesopotamians, The Nile shaped the world view of the Egyptians. The Nile River was easily navigated and fairly temperate, which made for one of the greatest agricultural regions in the world at that time. Like clockwork, each year the Nile River would flood the land, leaving behind nutrient-rich silt that provided a bountiful harvest the following season. Due to the agricultural success of the land that followed the Nile the majority of Egyptians would settle close to it shores. The Nile Rivers benevolent waters also allowed the Egyptians to transport its most valuable resources to the southern regions of Africa, especially the divine metal that had been endowed by the gods to Egypt's elite. Even today the Egyptians are considered to be the pioneers of water management.
The understanding of Egyptian history has been greatly influenced by the work of Manetho, a historian and priest who lived in Egypt around 300 BC who organized the country’s history. He created 30 Dynasties to divide history under the ruling pharaohs and their related royal families. The most influential and important period of Egyptian history is labeled the New Kingdom, covering the 18th, 19th, and 20th Dynasty. During this time Egypt expanded and reached its highest point as an empire under the rule of the great Thutmose III. Thutmose III was able to expand Egypt’s prominence through the use of administration and governance as king. This was supported by his new strategy for Egyptian foreign policy and the use of its adapted military. Egypt
The early cities of Mesopotamia fell from one warlord to another, and were constantly changing, unlike the kingdoms of Ancient Egypt that kept its stability. The Egyptians lived along the Nile River, which probably made it easier to govern the people. The King was the owner and ruler of all Egypt and was considered a god by the people. The economy was a royal monopoly, the peoples duties was to serve the King. In the old Kingdom
Ancient Egypt is such an interesting and amazing society to study due to the various factors that allowed the city and population to thrive. The culture, quite different to other cultures around the world in ancient times, developed quite unique traditions, technologies and ideas. Small features of this society including aligning the 4 corners of the pyramids and being able to divide the year into 365 days makes it truly fascinating, The main reason that this society was able to thrive and be successful can be attributed to the great Nile River. Due to this people were able to settle which lead to the creation of a surplus, which could be sustained for around 2000 years.
The New Kingdom Renaissance of ancient Egypt was time of riches, luxury and lavish living for those of the upper class. This was also known as the the Golden Age, which provided ancient Egypt with an abundant amount of expensive resources, as well. Throughout the time of the New Kingdom, many pharaohs ruled. However, some were more productive, dominant, powerful, and successful than others. The three most significant pharaohs were Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, and Akhenaten.
Egypt had exploited Nubian for resources such as gold since the Old Kingdom, yet expansion of empire into Nubia wasn’t seen as a political and economical necessity until the New Kingdom. Expansion into Nubia politically protected Egypt’s southern borders from further threat, economically it meant safe trade routes and access to further resources that would allow the empire to flourish. From the Middle Kingdom forth, Egypt had built fortresses along the Palestinian border of the Sinai Desert. This ensured protection of their Northern border as well as the establishment of extensive trade routes that would aid economic stability and allow for further expansion North. Ahmose’s expulsion of the Hyksos not only created both the 18th Dynasty and New Kingdom, but lead to a new age of militarism with a succession of ‘warrior pharaohs’. His invasion of the Hyksos territory paved the way for Egypt’s northern expansion, with his conquest of Nubian Hyksos allies at Buhen allowing for expansion south. Evidence of Ahmose’s reign initiating expansion and early stages of the empire comes from the Biography of Ahmose son of
Egyptians began to settle along the banks of the Nile River, Starting as far north as to the city of Alexandria all the way down south to Aswan. They developed into a well-structured society as Far East to the Red Sea and west to Dakhia, Oasis among many (Figure 1.). The Nile River reached far lending a hand in creating a well-known civilization that consisted of building pyramids and producing crops for their pharaoh. Evolving from hunters and gatherers into agriculturalists throughout history, Egypt has claimed to be one of the earliest and most spectacular civilizations of ancient times. One could wonder if, what led to the collapse of this great society resulted from the Egyptians interaction with the environment by overusing
Have you ever wondered how Ancient Egypt helped shape the world today? Ancient Egyptians were a group of folks who were heavily influenced by religion. They feared dying anywhere but Egypt. The Egyptian Empire held a fascinating and very distinctive culture. Being one of the world 's most advanced cultures and creating tons of wealth is what separated them from everybody else. Between the outstanding artwork, teaching methods, and amazing pyramids is what helped their society advance altogether. No other civilization of the ancient world history had such a popular appeal and none as important as human society and its organization. Egyptians have made great steps in shaping the world we all know today, which have made studying their culture and society easier than some previous historical eras.
There are many different areas that ancient Egypt excelled in to help make them successful. The reason that ancient Egypt was able to become so successful was the various ways the ancient Egyptians used the Nile River. Some of the ways the ancient Egyptians used the Nile River was as a water source for agriculture and as a way of transportation for trade.
The story of Ancient Egypt began about 8000 years ago when people began to settle in the Nile Valley and started to raise their own crops and animals. (Ancient Egypt) From 3400BC to 1786BC, the Egyptians themselves ruled Egypt. Lower and Upper Egypt was united with the lands upstream to form one country under one king. The first period of Egyptian civilization -- The Old Kingdom, lasted from 2686BC to 2181BC. Soon after that, the Egyptians gained control of Nubia, and extended the land that was being farmed from 2050BC to 1786BC. From 1663BC to 332BC, the Egyptians were ruled by many different groups, such as the Hyksos (a group of Asian settlers who ruled for 100 years), the Thebans (who established the New Kingdom), and the Greeks. However, in 30BC, conquest was finally complete as Egypt fell under the control of the Roman Empire. (Illustrated Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt)