A tour of Egyptian history

A tour of Egyptian history

Part 1

The  Egypt’s history before Upper and Lower Egypt were united is called the Predynastic era (5000–3150 b.c.e.). These were busy times of intense cultural and agricultural development, It is very difficult to establish accurate dates for Egyptian history. the Egyptians did not keep a timetable of years and events. Some dates can be checked against records of other ancient peoples, or against known events in astronomy records. But all dates before 664 B.C.E. are estimates. Early dates were recorded based on the years of a king’s reign (such as “year five of Djet”) or some major or unusual event (such as “the second year after Djet’s first expedition to nubia”). Sometimes, dates were given based on when the national cattle census was taken—a major event that happened every two years (“the year after pepy’s sixth counting of the oxen”). When a new king took the throne, the year was reset to one. During the middle Kingdom and later, dates were given only relative to each king’s reign (“the 12th year of Tuthmosis”). often, several kings had the same name, and this makes understanding Egyptian dates even more complicated. there is still much controversy among Egyptologists about dates. As new information has come to light, Egyptologists have revised Egyptian dates several times. In the new Kingdom, dates from different sources can vary by as much as 20 years. for the old and middle Kingdoms, dates might differ as much as 50 years more or less. Egyptian Dates 13 population growth, widespread settlement, and the adoption of the Egyptian writing system, called hieroglyphs. Egypt’s population was about 1 million by the time King Narmer united the two lands in 3100 b.c.e. During the 375 years of the Early Dynastic Period (3000–2625 b.c.e.), Upper and Lower Egypt were united under strong central rule. In Dynasties 0 to 3, the capital city of Memphis was founded and Egypt’s huge government systems and departments rapidly developed. The Old Kingdom (2625–2130 b.c.e.) was the age of the great pyramids. In statues of themselves, Old Kingdom rulers have a calm, godlike peacefulness. They knew they were going to enjoy eternal life. They probably did not care much about the everyday matters of the world or the troubles of ordinary people. They are shown speaking directly to the gods and thinking important thoughts. They did not hesitate to use all of Egypt’s resources to build grand tombs for themselves. By the end of the Old Kingdom, Egypt’s population had grown to 2 million. Most were extremely poor peasants (farmers). There was general unhappiness with increasingly expensive royal building projects. Powerful, wealthy local rulers started ignoring the king. Egypt was divided up into independent provinces. Climate changes in the First Intermediate Period (2130–1980 b.c.e.) brought a series of low Niles. This caused crop failures and widespread famine. For 150 years, Egypt suffered chaos (complete disorder and confusion) and civil war. The Middle Kingdom (1980–1630 b.c.e.) was a glorious era of political and economic reform when Egyptian culture was restored. In statues of themselves, Middle Kingdom rulers have the worried expressions of men facing many real-world problems. They were wealthy and powerful. But they were also hard workers, running a huge, complex government. They saw what chaos and civil war could do to their country. They did not want a repeat. For 350 years, Egypt enjoyed peace, prosperity, increased trade, and great practical achievements. The population grew to about 2.5 million. For the first time, Egypt had a middle class. The Second Intermediate Period (1630–1539 b.c.e.) brought Egypt’s worst nightmare: rule by foreigners. Another period of climate change brought crop failure, famine, and civil disorder. The Hyksos (the name means “rulers of foreign lands”), foreigners of Semitic origin

took advantage of the chaos. They grabbed the throne of Egypt and held it for more than 100 years. The Hyksos brought much-needed fresh ideas to Egypt. But the Egyptians hated them because they were foreigners. After a long, difficult power struggle, a group of princes from the city of Thebes drove the Hyksos from Egypt.