Ancient Egyptian Culture

1
Ancient Egyptian Culture

• The Middle New Kingdoms

2
The Middle Kingdom

• Lasted until 1700 B.C.
• A time of change and prosperity
• Ancient Egyptians gained more rights during this
  era.
• Increased pharaoh control replaced regional
  leaders with govenors.
• Expanded contacts with other parts of the ancient
  world.

3
What was Nubia?

• A wealthy African kingdom south of Egypt.
• Valued for its gold mines.
• Egyptian pharaohs conquered Nubia and used its
  wealth (natural resources).

4
What is an expedition?

• A journey undertaken for a specific purpose is an
  expedition.
• The Egyptians supported trading expeditions to
  Greece, the Fertile Crescent and Asia.
• As these trading relationships continued - new
  peoples migrated into Egypt .

5
Who were the Hyskos?

• People from the hills of Western Asia.
• Skilled in warfare they possessed horse drawn
  chariots, bronze weaponry and strong bows and
  arrows all technological advances unknown to
  the Egyptians at that time.
• As a result, the Hyskos were able to conquer
  Lower Egypt in 1650 B.C. and ruled for 100 years.

6
Who was Ahmose I?

• In 1570 Ahmose led an Egyptian Army into Lower
  Egypt and attacked and defeated the Hyskos.
• Ahmose became the pharaoh of the New Kingdom and
  he strengthened Egypts military power.

7
The New Kingdom

• The New Kingdom was believed to have begun in
  1570 B.C. when Ahmose I defeated the Hyskos.
• From this point on Ahmose Is goal was to keep
  foreigners from gaining control/ruling any parts
  of Egypt.

8
What was Kush?

• A wealthy African Kingdom that controlled a great
  amount of African trade routes.
• They traded gold, copper, and precious metals for
  a large array of resources - ebony, leopard
  skins and ivory.

9
Amenhotep I

• It was under Amenhoteps rule that Egypt reached
  its greatest glory.
• He became pharaoh in 1546 B.C.
• He created many allies and continued trade in
  Africa, Asia and southern Europe.
• Known as one of the greatest buildersespecially
  in relation to temples constructed at Karnak and
  in Nubia.

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Weakening of the Empire

• After Hatshepsuts death, the Egyptian Empire
  faced many challenges.
• Its legacy continued, influencing people in the
  ancient world but the unity and strength of the
  empire slowly weakened

11
Akhenaton

• Amenhotep IV became pharaoh in 1379 B.C.
• He angered Egypts priests by forbidding the
  worship of Amon, the chief god supported by
  previous pharaohs.
• He closed temples of Amon and destroyed the gods
  images.
• He replaced Amon with Aton and renamed himself
  Akhenaton.

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Akhenaton

• Unlike the other pharaohs Akhenaton practiced
  monotheism, or the worship of only one god.
• He also encouraged a new style of art where
  people were represented realisticallya departure
  from Egyptian tradition.
• After his death, his religion, his new captial
  city and even his name were forgotten.

13
Changes in the Empire

• Akhenaton neglected his empire.
• Some conquered people regained their
  independence, and the empire reduced in size.
• Pharaohs King Tut, and Ramses II would try to fix
  the mistakes of pharaohs like Akhenaton but
  eventually the empire would dissolve small
  kingdoms ruled by powerful priests or local
  princes.

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Was King Tut Murdered?

• The Discovery of King Tut

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The Discovery of King Tut

• In 1922 Howard Carter received an ultimatum from
  his boss, Lord Carnavon. He told Carter he would
  stop funding him but Carter was confident that
  there was a tomb of a relatively unknown pharaoh
  buried somewhere in the valley of the kings near
  LuxorHe was right.

16
Evidence for a Murder

• Bob Brier believed that Tut was killed in a
  conspiracy led by his chief adviser, Ay and that
  Ay later married Tuts widow, Ankhesenamen, so
  that he could ascend to the throne. Brier
  believed that Ay also had her killed before the
  marriage could be recorded.

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Evidence for Briers Murder Theory

• A cuneiform tablet containing a desperate plea by
  Ankehesenamen suggesting that she was being
  coerced into marriage
• A finger ring inscribed with her and Ays names
• X-rays of Tuts skull taken by a British
  scientist 3 decades ago.

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Evidence for a Murder

• X-ray analysis showed blunt trauma to the back of
  the head The blow was to a protected area at
  the back of the head which you dont injure in an
  accident, someone had to sneak up from behind.
• X-rays also show a thickening of a bone in the
  cranium which could occur only after a build-up
  of blood. Therefore the king might have been left
  bleeding for a long time before he actually died.
  The King was probably hit on the head while
  asleep and lingered, maybe for as long as 2
  months, before he died.

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Evidence for death by other causes

• While Dr. Gerald Irwin, medical director of the
  radiologic tech. program at the Brookville campus
  concluded that Tut might have died from a blow to
  the back of the head, causing a hematoma, or
  blood clot, at the base of the brain, he thought
  that Briers characterization of his findings,
  were a little much.

20
Evidence for death by other causes

• CT scan released in 2005 suggested that Tut might
  have broken his left thigh, puncturing the skin
  that could have caused a dangerous infection.
• Some believed that the he died due to a blow to
  the head, but when a CT scan was done the very
  first ever suggested no evidence for a blow to
  the back of the head, and no other indication of
  foul play.

21
Evidence for death by other causes

• Hawass suggested that the fragments came from
  royal funerary workers who drilled a hole into
  the skull to let embalmers pour resins and other
  fluids in to prepare the body for mummification.
• Some speculated that the damage to the skull and
  upper neck could have been caused by the
  archaeological team led by Howard Carter when
  they removed the pharaohs golden mask after
  discovering his tomb.

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The End of the New Kingdom
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Who was Ramses II?

• The last strong ruler of Egypt.
• He ruled for 67 years from 1304 B.C. to 1237 B.C.
• And yet, the New Kingdom collapsed after his
  death.
• This empire was followed by many small kingdoms
  ruled by powerful priests or local princes.

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Medicine, Mathematics and Astronomy

• Most Egyptian doctors were priests who learned
  their skills in temple schools they knew how to
  measure a persons heartbeat, or pulse.
• Egyptian priests also knew a great deal about
  mathematics. They used their skills to solve
  practical problems, such as the mathematics used
  to design and build the pyramids.
• They also used their math to study the stars.
  They developed a calendar based on 12 months of
  30 days each.

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The Collapse of the New Kingdom

• Religious arguments and weak pharaohs led to a
  breakup of the kingdom around 1000 B.C.
• After the collapse of united Egypt, rival princes
  and powerful priests ruled small kingdoms. They
  were easy to conquer one by one.
• For the next 1,000 years, Egypt was ruled by
  invading Nubians, Persians, Greeks and Romans