Bonaparte said in his fi rst interview with the governor of St.
Helena, where he was imprisoned after his fi nal defeat in 1815. This
sounds grandiose, but Egypt does rank high among the countries of the
world for its longevity as a civilization, the roles it has played in history,
and its strategic location. Most people in the world have heard of it. No
doubt Egypt owes its fame in part to its historic infl uence over other
civilizations and countries. We may include the infl uence of pharaonic
Egypt on the ancient Hebrews, Mesopotamians, and Syrians, and on
classical Greece and Rome. It appears often in both the Bible and the
Quran. Egypt has been a leading player in the history of Islam, at times
as its political leader, usually as a trading entrepot, and almost always
as a religious and cultural center. Modern Egypt is the most populous
Arab state, and it has led the Arabs in education, literature, music,
architecture, cinema, radio, and television. Its capital, Cairo, is the largest
city in Africa and in the Arab world, and it hosts the headquarters
of the Arab League. Hardly any Middle Eastern political issue, from the
War on Terror to the Arab-Israeli Confl ict, can be addressed without
considering Egypt.
Egypt is important and indeed interesting to study because of the
Egyptian people. Although it is hard to generalize, most Egyptians are
friendly, hospitable, patient in a crowded and hence challenging environment,
and fond of cracking jokes. Devoted to their families, they
believe that nothing is as important as loving one’s spouse, rearing one’s
children wisely, caring for one’s aging parents, and standing up for one’s
brothers, sisters, and cousins. Although Egyptians are rightly proud of
their nation’s history, they worry about its present and future condition.
They also want to be liked and respected by foreigners, and some are
sensitive to critical remarks about Egypt, Arabs, or Islam.
The people of Egypt possess at least three identities: Egyptian, Arab,
and Muslim. They carry Egyptian identity cards or passports and usually
introduce themselves to new acquaintances as Egyptians. They
speak a dialect of Arabic, either the colloquial Arabic of Cairo and the
Nile Delta or that of Upper Egypt, or what they call al-lahga al-masriya.
If educated, they read and write classical Arabic, or al-lugha al-‘arabiyya
A BRIEF HISTORY OF EGYPT
al-fusha. Command of Arabic grammar and calligraphy has traditionally
been the mark of a cultivated person. Egyptians identify with other
Arabs because of their culture, values, and shared historical experience.
Having lived through more than a century of European colonialism,
followed by several decades of American political infl uence, Egyptians
as well as other Arabs bear some psychological scars. Because of their
history, Egyptians tend to side with the Palestinians in the West Bank
and Gaza against Israel. They support the Iraqis who have resisted the
U.S. invasion and occupation of their country.
Finally, although Egypt has an important Christian minority, the
Copts, more than 90 percent of the Egyptian people are Sunni Muslims.
They are committed to the Islamic community and are proud of Egypt’s
historic leadership in Muslim education and architecture. Many hope
for a revival of the caliphate, which provided leadership for Sunni
Muslims from the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632 until the
rise of Atatürk in 1924. Some are involved in al-Qaeda, the network
of organizations that claim to fi ght for the independence of Muslims
worldwide from the rule of non-Muslims.
As later chapters will show, these three identities matter: They shape
the political attitudes of the Egyptian people. However, they do not
supersede loyalty to one’s family (possibly including a clan or tribe),
city, town, village, or favorite soccer team.
A Brief History of Egypt is meant to introduce the country and the
civilization, in both words and images, for readers who wish to know
more about Egypt. It barely scratches the surface of this broad and
complex subject. The chronology and the glossary supplement the text,
the pictures, and the maps, but some readers may feel they need more
information than these aids provide. For this reason, a list of books
appears at the end as suggested reading. Many museums have strong
collections of Egyptian artifacts, which would be well worth a visit,
either in person or by going to the museum’s Web site.
For a really ambitious reader with the time and the means, a visit
to Egypt is the best way to get to know the country, its people, its
monuments, and its culture. This brief history is one small step toward
understanding this important and fascinating land. As an Egyptian
would say, “Ahlan wa-sahlan” (You have come as folk to a level plain).
THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
Egypt is one of the oldest countries in the world. It has at least
5,000 years of recorded history, and many Egyptians claim for it
even more. Egypt is centrally located in relation to other concentrated
population centers in Europe, Asia, and Africa. For most of its recorded
past, at present, and probably well into the future we may view Egypt as
being set in the middle of commercial, migration, and invasion routes
that matter to Egyptians and foreigners.
Depending on how you look at the map, you can say that Egypt
occupies the northeast corner of Africa or the land between the Red
Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. It takes up a 30th of Africa’s total land
area and is 665 miles long (1,073 km) from north to south and 720
miles wide (1,226 km) from east to west. Its existence is bound up with
the River Nile; without the river, almost all the land would be desert,
and only a few people would live there. Because of the Nile, Egypt is a
vibrant country with 80 million inhabitants. In the words of the ancient
Greek historian Herodotus, “Egypt is the gift of the Nile.”
Geography
The country can be divided into fi ve regions: the Nile River Valley,
the Nile Delta, the Western Desert, the Eastern Desert, and the Sinai
Peninsula. Let us look at each in turn.
The Nile River Valley
The river Nile enters Egypt from Sudan, to the south, but its headwaters
lie in the lakes of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Tanzania and
in the Ethiopian Highlands. It is the longest river in the world and it
drains about one-tenth of the African continent, yet its volume of fresh
water is far less than that of the Amazon or the Mississippi. It has long
eased the transport of people and goods in Egypt and parts of Sudan,
A BRIEF HISTORY OF EGYPT
but no boat has ever gone the whole distance from any of its sources
to its current mouths at Rosetta and Damietta. For the ancients, Egypt
included only the lands along the last 500 miles of the Nile, from the
First Cataract (narrow rapids) at Aswan to the Mediterranean. The
upper Nile Valley is relatively narrow and fl at-fl oored; it widens after
the bend at Qena, reaching a width of 11 miles (18 km) at Cairo. After
that point the river fans out, forming the Nile Delta as it reaches the
Mediterranean Sea.
In Upper Egypt, the Nile Valley is never more than six miles across.
The area where crops were grown traditionally formed a narrow band
of green hugging the river shores and contrasting with the desert waste-
3
THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
land beyond, a no-man’s-land to the valley farmers. The Nile Valley
itself was for centuries distinguished—and made habitable—by the
annual Nile fl ood, which carries water and rich silt from the Ethiopian
Highlands. Moisture-laden trade winds blow into Africa from the south
Atlantic and meet dry winds from the north, producing heavy spring
rains that swell the Sobat, Blue Nile, and Atbara Rivers in Ethiopia and
cause the fl ood. Before the Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960s,
dwellers in the valley would see the Nile starting to rise between mid-
May and early July, with the peak fl ood in September. Agricultural land
was inundated, not only in the valley and Delta but also in the Fayyum
Oasis connected to the Nile. The receding waters left behind a layer of
sedimentary mud that fertilized the next year’s crops.
To take advantage of this benefi cence, the Egyptian people learned how
to build dams, weirs, embankments, and basins, channeling and storing
the river waters to facilitate raising their crops. The river fl ood occurred
annually, with slight variations in the dates of its rising and falling, but
the amount of water could differ greatly from one year to the next. Too
much water could sweep away houses, food stores, animals, and people;
too little might leave the land hard and cracked, unable to support crops.
Other Middle Eastern rivers fl ood in springtime, damaging crops and
settlements; only the Nile rises at a time when it would otherwise be too
Nile River Valley. In Upper Egypt only a narrow stretch of cultivable land separates the Nile
from the desert. (Shutterstock)
A BRIEF HISTORY OF EGYPT
hot for agriculture. In ancient times, the Egyptians thought that their king
controlled these variations in the annual Nile fl ood. Only in the last two
centuries have people come to understand how and why the fl ood occurs
when it does.
The Nile Delta
The Nile Delta lies along Egypt’s northern coast, where the river empties
into the Mediterranean Sea. This region includes more than half
of contemporary Egypt’s farmland. A widening fl at area, totaling some
8,500 square miles (22 thousand sq. km), it has been built up over
time as the Nile deposited sediment near the river’s mouth. The Delta
is mostly level, though it contains low mounds, or tells, that mark the
sites of ancient settlements. One of the most intensely cultivated areas
in the world, it is dotted by thousands of agricultural villages as well as
cities such as Alexandria at its northwest corner and Mahalla and Tanta
in its center. Population density is as high as 4,000 people per square
mile (1,545 per sq. km).
The Nile Valley and Delta regions are home to nearly all of Egypt’s
population. Both ancient and modern Egyptians have differentiated
between dwellers in the Nile Valley south of Cairo (Upper Egypt), or
Delta fi eld. North of Cairo the Nile expands, creating a widening, almost totally fl at delta that
contains some of the world’s fi nest agricultural land. (Torben Larsen/Saudi Aramco World/PADIA)
THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
“Saidis,” and those living in the Delta north of Cairo, or “Bahrawis.”
Depictions of Egypt’s ancient kings contain symbols indicating a double
kingship, as ancient Egypt was thought to represent the unifi cation of
the valley and Delta.
The Western Desert
The Western Desert constitutes more than two-thirds of Egypt’s total
land area, but is home to a tiny percent of the population; the population
density of Egypt’s deserts is about 1 person per 2.5 square miles (6
sq. km). The Western Desert is an extension of the Libyan Desert and
hence the easternmost part of the Sahara. The land is basically a low
plateau, mainly sandstone in the south, some limestone in the north,
and covered by the Great Sand Sea in its western half. Some underground
strata contain large quantities of water that have not yet been
fully exploited. Five oases lie in depressions watered by springs: Siwa,
Bahriya, Farafra, Dakhla, and Kharga. The northwest contains the very
low-lying, uninhabited Qattara Depression. The sandy white beaches
and coastal towns along the Mediterranean were developed during the
1990s as an area of resorts and vacation homes. Some oil and natural
gas deposits have been discovered and are being exploited, as exploration
in the Western Desert continues.
Dakhla Oasis. Egypt’s Western Desert contains fi ve oases large enough to support agriculture
and some settled inhabitants. (Jason Thompson)
The Eastern Desert
The Eastern Desert does not resemble its western counterpart. It consists
mainly of elevated and mostly rugged mountains paralleling the
Red Sea coast. The western and northern hills contain a lower, limestone
plateau. The loftiest of the southern mountains is more than
7,000 feet (2,000 m) above sea level. Some of the mountains near the
Red Sea contain mineral deposits that are not commercially exploitable.
The Red Sea coastal beaches are being developed as a resort area for
swimmers, scuba divers, and seashell collectors.
The Sinai Peninsula
Many people think of the triangular Sinai Peninsula as belonging more
to Asia than to Africa, but its mountainous south is closely related to
the Red Sea hills, from which it was separated by the geological faults
that form the Gulf of Suez and have provided Egypt’s largest petroleum
deposits. Southern Sinai is especially renowned for Jabal Katarina
(Mount Saint Catherine, the site of the famous Greek Orthodox
monastery of that name) and Jabal Musa, popularly called Mount
Eastern Desert. Between the Nile and the Red Sea, high mountains often contain deposits,
such as the porphyry mined by the Romans and other minerals used by ancient and modern
Egyptians. (Lorraine Chittock/Saudi Aramco World/PADIA)
Sinai. (However, scholars differ on just where Moses received the Ten
Commandments.) Sinai has developed rapidly since Israel returned it
to Egypt between 1975 and 1982. It is now a center for oil production,
mineral mining, and international tourism. The northern Sinai is a
limestone plateau, relatively fl at, and extremely accessible to invading
armies and migrating peoples throughout history. The Isthmus of Suez
was pierced in 1869 by the Suez Canal, a major maritime waterway
connecting Europe with Asia and East Africa and also a barrier to
migrating Bedouin.
Climate
Egypt is a hot, dry country. Summer temperatures go up as high as
104°F (40°C), and seldom do winter temperatures drop to freezing
(32°F, 0°C). In Cairo, the average temperature ranges from 57°F (14°C)
in January to 85°F (29°C) in July. The temperature range in Alexandria
is 57°F (14°C) in January and 80°F (26°C) in August. Upper Egypt
and the deserts have hotter days and colder nights throughout the
Suez Canal. This waterway, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Seas, became a vital
link between Europe and Asia as soon as it was opened in 1869. (Library of Congress)
year. A prevailing north wind has a cooling effect on the country, but
in spring the infamous khamsin winds may blow from the southwest,
spewing sand, dust, and hot air through the Nile Valley and Delta,
making people and animals miserable until the winds subside. Only
a thin band of land along the Mediterranean coast can count on rainfall,
averaging about four inches per year. Frosts are rare and snow
is unknown. Egyptians and foreign residents traditionally praise the
Egyptian climate as healthful. However, air and water quality have both
deteriorated in recent years owing to the increased crowding of the
population, especially in the cities. These trends have been exacerbated
by industrialization, the spread of motor vehicles, and climatic changes
caused by the Aswan High Dam, completed in 1970.
Natural Resources
Although ancient Egyptians made copious use of copper, silver, and
gold, the country today has few mineral resources that can be easily
developed. Limestone and sand are abundant and vital to construction
throughout Egypt’s history. Some iron deposits are found near Aswan,
and a large coal deposit has been found in northern Sinai. Phosphates,
salt, and gypsum exist. The main natural resources, as in many other
Middle Eastern countries, are petroleum and natural gas. Egypt’s main
oil fi elds are in the Western Desert and lands surrounding the Gulf of
Suez. Egypt is currently a net exporter of oil, but it is likely to become
a net importer by 2010 unless new fi elds are discovered. Natural gas,
found near Suez, has become Egypt’s major earner of foreign exchange.
Egyptians hope further exploration will uncover other sources of mineral
wealth.
Economy
For most of Egypt’s history the mainstay of the economy was agriculture,
especially growing and exporting cereal grains around the
Mediterranean basin. Egypt made the transition from a subsistencebased
economy to a cash crop economy long before most other Middle
Eastern countries. By the late 19th century long-staple (Egyptian)
cotton had become its leading export, followed by tobacco, indigo,
and sugar. Due to the rising use of synthetic fi bers worldwide, cotton
exports dwindled in the late 20th century. As Egypt’s arable land has
decreased in relation to its total population, other crops have overtaken
cotton, notably maize, rice, vegetables, and fruit.
More recently, the Egyptian economy has shifted away from agriculture
toward industry and services. The Egyptian government has tried
to promote manufacturing. However, industries such as construction,
transportation, and extraction of oil, natural gas, and minerals currently
add more to the gross domestic product. International tourism
is a service industry that employs millions of Egyptians, as is fi tting in
a culture that places great value on hospitality. But it is often disrupted
by political instability and terrorism. The country remains a leader in
education, fi nance, and culture in the Arab world.
The People
Because of its central location on routes of trade, conquest, and migration,
through the centuries of its recorded history, Egypt has become home to
many temporary residents and permanent immigrants. With the passage
of time, each wave of new immigrants has assimilated into the local mix
of peoples, making modern Egypt a combination of Libyans, Nubians,
Syrians, Persians, Macedonians, Romans, Arabs, Turks, Circassians,
Greeks, Italians, and Armenians, along with the descendants of the
people of ancient Egypt. Upper Egyptians in antiquity were largely small
and fi ne boned, with narrow skulls and dark wavy hair. Those of the
Nile Delta, who had more contact with southwest Asian peoples, were
heavier and taller and their skulls were broader. Although the artistic
conventions of ancient Egypt were highly stylized, paintings and statues
show men with reddish-brown skin, while women are shown with much
fairer skin, perhaps because they spent more time indoors. Their facial
features resemble those of sub-Saharan Africans. Assumptions about
appearance must, however, be cautious.
Limestone statues, found at Maidum and now in the Egyptian Museum, depicting Prince Re-
Hotep and his wife Nofret, c. 2620 B.C.E. Ancient Egyptian portraiture tends to be highly stylized,
but these statues give an idea of what men and women actually looked like. (Jason Thompson)
Language and Religion
The ancient Egyptian language is considered by linguists to belong to the Afro-Asiatic language group, which includes many other languages spoken by ancient peoples. It survives in Coptic, which was a spoken
language from ancient times until about 1500, but now is used byEgyptian Christians only in religious services.Modern Egyptians speak Arabic, with a few words and phrases that may be derived from the language of ancient Egypt. Written Arabic is the same from Morocco to Kuwait, and is also the language of religious law and ritual for the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims. The spoken language of Egypt is not quite the same as written Arabic, which has elaborate rules about grammar and syntax. Many Egyptians believe
that having Arabic as their native tongue makes them Arabs; in popular usage, though, settled Egyptians call the Bedouins “Arabs,” but not themselves. The vernacular dialects of Cairo and of Upper Egypt differ
from the colloquial Arabic of the Bedouins and from that of other Arab countries, but Egyptians (like other Arabs) tend to view their spoken dialects as “slang” and written Arabic as their “true” language, eventhough it must be learned in school. Egypt’s pharaonic religious beliefs gave way to Coptic Christianity,but many ancient practices survived, especially among farmers. For example, the months of modern Egypt’s agricultural calendar are the same as those of ancient and Coptic Egypt. From the seventh-century
Arab conquest until modern times, Christianity has slowly given way to Islam, but conversion to Islam was gradual and rarely forced. Although Christians and Muslims celebrate holidays limited to their own religions,
in Egypt they share a spring holiday, Shamm al-Nasim (smelling the breeze), observed on Easter Monday of the Coptic calendar, whenfamilies go out from their houses to enjoy a picnic. In addition, as long
as the Nile fl ooded its banks each year, all Egyptians, whether Jewish,Christian, or Muslim, joined in seasonal festivities marking the onset, the progress, and the climax of the inundation that gave life and prosperity to their country (Lane 1836, chapter 26).
ANCIENT EGYPT
(c. 10,000 B.C.E.–525 B.C.E.)
Ancient Egypt was one of the world’s great civilizations. It was blessed by a moderately warm climate, a river that fl ooded regularly and fertilized the land with soil carried by the fl oodwaters from the highlands of Ethiopia, and relative isolation from foreign invaders for the fi rst 10 centuries of its existence. The people were industrious,obedient to a government that ensured cooperation and justice, and faithful to a pantheon of gods and goddesses who they believed ensured their well-being in this life and after death.The accomplishments of the ancient Egyptians are many and varied.They pioneered in architecture, building comfortable homes as well as monumental temples and tombs. Their builders devised every method
of joining wood (scarce even in ancient Egypt) known to carpentry, as well as methods of air-cooling houses and even building latrines. Their scribes developed one of the world’s fi rst writing systems, which they
used to keep records and to create stories, poems, and religious texts.They also developed an early system of numbers, which they used to survey land, calculate taxes, and measure weight, distance, and time.
Their artisans developed techniques and tools for working with copper,tin, bronze, and precious metals such as silver and gold. Their scientists explored astronomy, engineering, and medicine, and their artists created
sculptures ranging from miniature fi gures found in tombs to the Great Sphinx of Giza, which rises 65 feet (20 m) above the bedrock out of which it was carved.Since ancient times historians have customarily divided Egypt’s past by dynasties (ruling families), usually numbering 30. Egypt’s history is generally divided into the following periods: the Predynastic Period (to 3100 B.C.E.), the Early Dynastic Period (First–Second Dynasties, 3100–2686 B.C.E), the Old Kingdom (Third–Sixth Dynasties, 2686–2181 B.C.E)
the First Intermediate Period (Seventh–Tenth Dynasties, 2181–2040 B.C.E), the Middle Kingdom (Eleventh–Thirteenth Dynasties, 2040–1750 B.C.E), the Second Intermediate Period (Fourteenth–Seventeenth Dynasties, 1750–1550 B.C.E), New Kingdom (Eighteenth–Twentieth Dynasties, 1550–1069 B.C.E), the Third Intermediate Period (Twentyfirst–Twenty-fourth Dynasties, 1069–715 B.C.E), and the Late Period (Twenty-fi fth–Thirtieth Dynasties, 747–332).Predynastic Egypt (to 3100 B.C.E.)
The environment was the single most infl uential factor on the peopleof early Egypt. As the wet climatic phase at the end of the last IceAge receded, North Africa began to dry up, and peoples near the Nile, accustomed to grassy plains and ample wild animals to hunt, had to adjust to increasing scarcity. Probably organized into tribes,these early peoples had begun to grow barley and emmer wheat and to domesticate the wild cattle that abounded in their area, as well as sheep and goats. In addition to the probability that these ancient tribes migrated on land, there is some evidence that they were already building boats and navigating both the Nile and the Red Sea before they settled there.It was not easy to adapt to living along a large river that fl ooded
annually, and people had to learn how to grow crops on shifting soil and to channel and store the fl oodwaters to ensure an adequate harvest to feed their families. Developing these skills by trial and error must
have taken centuries. For a long period Egyptians migrated between the increasingly desiccated Western and Eastern Deserts and the Nile Valley, following seasonal patterns of vegetation and animal life.
The earliest human remains in Egypt have been found in a desert region called Nabta Playa (west of Abu Simbel). Ten thousand years ago this area was covered with trees and grass. It supported such game
animals as elephant, rhinoceros, giraffe, ibex, deer, antelope, wild ass,and ostrich. Nabta contains tombs not only for humans but also for wild cattle, foreshadowing the cow cult that would prevail in ancient
Egypt. By about 7000 B.C.E. these early peoples had erected stone structuresaligned to the movement pattern of stars and constellations. The oldest village site, dating to about 5000 B.C.E., is in the Eastern Desert,near a modern village called al-Badari. Its people farmed, baked bread,brewed beer, herded cattle, caught fi sh from the Red Sea, sailed boats,fi red pots, and carved religious objects from bone and wood. They traded with peoples of Southwest Asia and may have been the earliest
Narmer Palette. Both sides of this sheet of siltsone, incised in about 3000 B.C.E., show Narmer(sometimes called Menes) as the king of Upper Egypt (wearing a white crown) and Lower Egypt (wearing a red crown). Most scholars think that the palette shows the conquest of Lower by Upper Egypt. (Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY) link between the peoples of Egypt and Sumer. Probably this trade connection
went via the Red Sea and the Arabian Peninsula. Recent archaeological discoveries are uncovering many such settlements,pushing back the dates for ancient Egyptian civilization well before the dynastic era, which began around 3100 B.C.E. The predynastic Egyptians had already learned to harness the Nile to irrigate their crops and to transport their goods. They had domesticated dogs, donkeys, cattle, sheep, and goats. They had created religious cults, built small temples, founded a city known as Hierakonpolis that had a surrounding wall and a ceremonial gateway, and set up a social hierarchy and political system. Tribal organization gave way to city-states along the Nile.By the fourth millennium B.C.E. the cities were becoming united into two kingdoms, one for the Delta or Lower Egypt, called the Red Land; the other for Upper Egypt, called the White Land. The earliest Egyptians did all this while their country changed from a fertile
savanna and hunting ground into a desert punctuated only by oases and the mighty river Nile. For ancient Egypt to emerge in all its glory,though, someone had to unite the kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt
under a single crown.The Early Dynastic Period (3100–2686 B.C.E) Narmer (also sometimes known as Menes, but this was a title applied to several archaic kings), the fi rst pharaoh to rule a united kingdom of the
Upper Nile and Delta, is said to have ruled for 67 years. He is memorialized by a stone tablet called the Narmer Palette, which was excavated in the temple at Hierakonpolis, that depicts him wearing a conical crown that may stand for Upper Egypt and grasping a kneeling man (possibly representing Lower Egypt) by the hair. The palette’s exact date is disputed by scholars, but is estimated to be about 3000 B.C.E. It is conceivable that the Upper and Lower Kingdoms had already united and broken up and that Narmer reunited them. Whatever might have happened, every one of Narmer’s successors is represented as wearing the crowns of both Upper and Lower Egypt, and the pattern of dynastic rule was established. Narmer is responsible for founding the fi rst capital of ancient Egypt,Men Nefer, which the Greeks called Memphis, located some 12 miles (19 kilometers) south of Cairo on the west bank of the Nile. It remained
the principal city of Egypt’s rulers until it was eclipsed by Thebes around 1300 B.C.E. South of Memphis is the vast cemetery of Saqqara, which includes the earliest mastabas (free-standing tombs). In use for royalty
and nobility, some of them were decorated with reliefs depicting the
lives the deceased hoped to fi nd in the next world. Ancient Egyptians believed that, if a dead body decomposed, its owner would not be able to enjoy the afterlife. The priests of the early dynasties discovered how to preserve the bodies of their deceased kings, commonly called “mummies,”so that they might enjoy the afterlife. Since Egypt’s climate is hot and dry, some bodies might have been preserved naturally, but the processes of mummifi cation ensured their continued existence. Theseessential features of the Archaic Period would set a pattern for the culture of all subsequent Egyptian dynasties.
Key Features of Dynastic Egypt By the time of the Third Dynasty and the beginning of the Old Kingdom,
Egypt had become a centralized theocracy with a complex religious and political system, whose basic features are outlined below.The Religious and Political System The religious system developed by the Egyptians included a multitude of gods who controlled every aspect of this life and a detailed vision of
the afterlife. Tied in with the religious beliefs was the ruling system,which included the idea of divine kingship. This concept turned an otherwise human pharaoh into a god on earth, a living connection between what was mortal and what was eternal. The pharaoh alone could worship the gods and maintain cosmic harmony. His crown,scepter, other visible symbols of his authority, and titles connected him to various gods, especially to Horus. His death and ritual rebirth served to reconfi rm him.Divine kingship was one solution to a problem faced by every society: how to ensure that people will work together to survive and prosper, and to defend themselves if need be. The ancient tribes in the area had been hunter-gatherers as long as their climate could support woods and plains. As the region dried up, people settled in oases or on the banks of rivers, where they adapted to farming and trade. In hard times one tribe might prey on its neighbors to take its food or
other goods. The leaders of the strongest tribes evolved into warlords.Usually they were male and aggressive, gaining control by fi ghting their challengers. They stayed in power by attracting other men to
their side and granting them special privileges. Over time each leader extended control over a wider area, but the need to support retainers was costly. Claiming divinity was a way of ensuring obedience without needing to pay so much or take so many men away from their fi elds,fl ocks, and families.In Egypt the institution of divine kingship was reinforced by the Nile flood. Managing its waters required the organized labor of most ablebodied
adults. A fl ood that inundated and fertilized fi elds that would later be sown with grain was a blessing. A high one that swept away houses, animals, and children was not. Needless to say, a low Nile that left much of the ground hard and parched was just as bad. A powerful king who commanded a corps of offi cials and engineers could usually make the fl ood benefi t the people. It was natural for Egyptians to believe that the king could control how much the Nile fl ooded each year. Together, they called upon the gods who controlled the forces of nature to bring a benefi cent fl ood and a bountiful harvest. By the same
logic, the people thanked the gods for a good harvest, hoping that the next annual flood would serve them as well.
Life and Death
The ancient Egyptians built temples and pyramids and sought to prolong the existence of their deceased rulers by embalming, wrapping, and thus preserving their bodies. The pyramids—or, later, the tombs—that
they erected were intended to guard the bodies of their kings, along with their possessions, forever. People often assert that the ancient Egyptians were preoccupied with death. In reality, they were obsessed with life. The ancient Egyptians, protected by seas and deserts, did not fear invasion by alien armies, navies, or nomadic tribes. Their religion celebrated the good life and sought to prolong it for the king and his nobles, assuming that life after death would resemble the life they already knew. A divine king, well cared for during and after his life, would ensure his subjects’prosperity, for he was the emissary of the gods.Rulers and Their DutiesThe King The king was charged with maintaining the balance of maat, the rule of order that protected the world from the constant threat of chaos. It is hard to translate or to define maat, the principle of truth, order, balance,and justice. Ancient Egyptians believed that unless the king and his people preserved maat, forces outside creation would move in and destroy it. The many gods of ancient Egypt were aspects of the Creator. All people and all gods belonged to the created world, which encompassed all
levels of existence. Egyptians saw every act in life as part of a divine will, mediated for them by the king.
In practical terms the king was expected to protect his people from outside enemies and natural misfortunes, maintain justice, and above all perform the religious rituals that would ensure the people’s continued
prosperity.The rulers of ancient Egypt are customarily known as pharaohs. The ancients did not use the term in the Old and Middle Kingdoms; only around 1500 B.C.E. did the term pharaoh, originally applied to the palace in which the king lived, come to be used as a royal title.
GODS AND GODDESSES OF
ANCIENT EGYPT
The ancient Egyptians believed that many gods and goddesses influenced their lives in this world and the next. As time passed the importance and function of each deity changed, but here are some
commonly seen in Egyptian art:
Amun: Principal god during the New Kingdom, closely associated with Re
Anubis: God of burial and the afterlife, usually depicted with a jackal’s head
Apis: The sacred bull of Memphis, closely associated with kingly authority
Aten: The sun disk; the sole deity during Akhnaten’s reign
Bastet: Goddess of motherhood, usually depicted as a cat
Hapy: God of the fl ood, depicted as a pot-bellied man
Hathor: Goddess of kingship, music, joyfulness, and fertility, depicted as a cow
Horus: God of kingship and the sunrise, often depicted with a falcon’s head
Imhotep: Deifi ed architect of the Step Pyramid, god of learning and medicine
Isis: Goddess of motherhood and healing, wife of Osiris and mother of Horus
The Vizier and Other Officials
The king was aided by a vizier, or chief minister, or often by one vizier for Upper Egypt and one for the Nile Delta. They headed a large and increasingly elaborate class of scribes who collected dues and taxes,supervised the construction of temples and other public works, and kept government records. A separate hierarchy of priests helped the rulers to carry out the religious rituals, especially those concerned with ensuring their immortality. A class of judges settled disputes, especially over land ownership, although some priests also served as judges. In addition, there were local administrators for the 42 nomes (provinces)
Khonsu: God of the moon, associated with healing Maat: Goddess of truth, justice, and harmony, the daughter of Re,depicted as a woman with a feather on her head
Min: God of male fertility, dating from the Predynastic Period, depicted as a man with an erect penis
Mut: Goddess of motherhood, wife of Amun
Nun: God of water or primeval chaos, from which order was created,depicted as a man carrying a boat
Nut: Goddess of the sky overarching the earth; important in funerary rites
Osiris: God of death, resurrection, and fertility
Ptah: God of craftsmen and creation, associated with the city of Memphis
Re: The sun god during the Old Kingdom, later the god of the underworld Sekhmet: Goddess of pestilence, usually depicted as a lioness
Seth: God of confusion, storms, and desert, depicted as an animal
Tawaret: Hippo-headed protectorates of women during pregnancy and childbirth
Thoth: God of knowledge and writing, patron of scribes, guardian of
the deceased during their time in the underworld, depicted with the head of an ibis of ancient Egypt. Egypt during the Middle and New Kingdoms also had a large army that conquered some of the lands of the Upper Nile, mainly Nubia, and also ancient Syria and Palestine.
The Old Kingdom (2686–2181 B.C.E) It is worth noting how many of the features we ascribe to ancient
Egypt generally developed during the Early Dynastic Period (First– Second Dynasties) or the Old Kingdom (Third–Sixth Dynasties): monumental stone architecture, wall paintings, elaborate burial customs,hieroglyphic writing, gold and copper jewelry, and a structured bureaucracy. The step pyramid at Saqqara, the great pyramids of Giza, indeed almost all of Egypt’s pyramids were built for the Third and Fourth Dynasties. It is impressive that these early Egyptians, who lacked iron tools or draft animals, could cut, move, fi t together,
arrange with both geometrical and astronomical exactitude, and lift such massive granite blocks to shelter and protect the bodies of their pharaohs. They hoped that by preserving, wrapping, and hiding the
Giza pyramids. These great structures, erected during the Fourth Dynasty, were the burial
sites of Kings Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Chephron), and Menkaure (Mycerinus). The Pyramid
of Khufu, who reigned from 2551 to 2528 B.C.E., is 756 feet square at its base and 480 feet
high. It was higher with its original limestone facing, all of which was taken away by later builders.
Of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, the pyramids alone remain. (Jason Thompson)
pharaohs’ corpses, these divine kings might live happily in the next world and assure the people’s prosperity in this one. Solar boats and the Great Sphinx complemented some of the pyramids. Later Egyptians built many temples to honor their pharaohs, but none was as massive as the Great Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu), which remained the world’s tallest building until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was
erected in Paris. However, the massive pyramids built during this period became an economic drain on Egypt’s resources and ultimately contributed to the decline of the Old Kingdom. Egypt was both a priestly and a bureaucratic kingdom. The state was preoccupied with managing the Nile flood, dividing the land, ensuring an adequate harvest, and storing grain and beer as a precaution against years when the flood was unsatisfactory, endangering the harvest. The early development of writing (the earliest Egyptian script was in use before 3100 B.C.E.) served both to uphold religious beliefs and rituals and to record governmental decrees and imposts. Written symbols might have a Egyptian writing systems. These are samples of the hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic scripts used by ancient Egyptian scribes.
magical function, propitiating the gods, or they could convey commands from the pharaoh to his provincial governors, or reports from the provinces to the capital. The writing system evolved from pictures of objects
to representations of concepts and, in later centuries, from hieroglyphic (pictures) and hierarchic (symbols) to simplified, or demotic, letters. The Old Kingdom had a central bureaucracy and provincial governors
but only a rudimentary defense force. At that time Egypt was not invaded by outsiders, but it did go through periods of relative political disunity, when a ruler or the dynasty was weak. During the Sixth
Dynasty, the pharaoh’s power was challenged by small kingdoms in Egypt’s provinces. As the government became less centralized, the pharaohs ceased to be absolute monarchs, funerary customs were broadened,
and the pharaoh was no longer viewed as exceptional. The idea of an afterlife was extended beyond the pharaoh to his wives, officials, provincial governors, and other fortunate Egyptians.
The First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom
(2181–1750 B.C.E)
During the First Intermediate Period (Seventh–Tenth Dynasties), a term used by historians for any era when ancient Egypt was divided, the provinces assumed powers that had formerly been exercised by
the central government. Egypt did not necessarily grow weaker; it dispatched more traders and explorers to adjacent parts of Africa and Southwest Asia. Some Semitic peoples did enter northeastern Egypt
from Palestine, seeking refuge or trading opportunities more than conquest. After a time of power struggles, the kings of Upper Egypt triumphed over those of the Delta, and Egypt was reunited.
The Middle Kingdom (Eleventh–Thirteenth Dynasties), especially the very vigorous Twelfth Dynasty, was a high period for ancient Egypt. The pharaohs gradually regained the powers that had been usurped during
the Intermediate Period by the provincial governors. The arts, including temple building, sculpture, tomb decoration, and literary and moralistic works, flourished. The Egyptian written language grew more flexible and precise, setting high standards for literary production and bureaucratic efficiency. One surviving literary work is the “Tale of Senuhe,” which purports to be the autobiography of a scribe who fl ed to Syria to escape the tumult of Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. It became a classic copied by generations of scribes, attesting to its popularity. During this period improved irrigation works, especially in the
Middle Nile region near Al Fay yum, enriched Egypt. This led to the
ANCIENT EGYPT’S NEIGHBORS
Assyrians: Semitic people in northern Mesopotamia who around 935 B.C.E. established an empire that included Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and western Iran, lasting until 612 B.C.E.
Babylonians: Semitic people in southern Mesopotamia who established several empires of which the one most relevant to Egypt is also called Chaldean and lasted from 626 to 539 B.C.E.
Hittites: Indo-European people, among the first to use iron tools and weapons, who ruled an empire in western Antaolia from about 1600 to 1200 B.C.E.
Hyksos: Semitic nomadic migrants into the Nile Delta from Palestine during the Second Intermediate Period whose chiefs became Egypt’s Fifteenth Dynasty (1678–1570 B.C.E.)
Israelites: Semitic nomads, ancestors of the Jews, who lived in Egypt at the time of Ramses II (1304–1237 B.C.E.), and later formed the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah in Palestine.Kush: Ancient African kingdom in Nubia that flourished 1700–1500 B.C.E., revived after 1000 B.C.E., and provided Egypt’s Twenty-fi fth
Dynasty (715–656 B.C.E.) Libyans: Term applied to a number of nomadic tribal peoples who traded with Egypt or occasionally invaded it from the west Mesopotamia: The valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and the lands situated between them, roughly corresponding to modern Iraq
Nubia: The land directly south of Egypt, from the confluence of the Blue and White Niles to the first cataract, and the site of several kingdoms similar to Egypt, notably Kush Persians: Indo-European people, originally from Central Asia, who established a large Middle Eastern empire and ruled over Egypt from
525 to 404 and from 343 to 332 B.C.E. Sea Peoples: An obscure group, possibly related to the Philistines,
who invaded Egypt and other lands of the eastern Mediterranean in the 13th century B.C.E. Sumerians: Earliest people in Mesopotamia to form a civilization, probably around 3000 B.C.E. and trading partners with predynastic and Old Kingdom Egypt influx of growing numbers of migratory tribes from southwest Asia and
Nubia. Egypt bought or took as tribute gold, ivory, ebony, incense, and
slaves from the Nubians. The Middle Kingdom began sending expeditionary
forces up the Nile and even built a series of fortresses in Nubia,
but ruled over that land only occasionally.
The Second Intermediate Period (1750–1550 B.C.E)
The Second Intermediate Period (Fourteenth–Seventeenth Dynasties)
is marked by the rule of a migratory tribe, the Hyksos. The Hyksos are
often depicted as invaders. In fact, they were probably Semitic immigrants
from Palestine whose numbers gradually grew until they managed
to seize control over parts of the Delta, though Egyptian pharaohs
continued to rule the Nile Valley. Egyptian daily life was enriched by
Southwest Asian imports during this period: the horse and the chariot;
the upright loom for weaving; such musical instruments as the lyre,
long-necked lute, and tambourine; the hump-backed bull; and the olive
and pomegranate trees. The Hyksos were perceived as foreign conquerors,
however, and their rule was deeply resented by Egypt’s chroniclers
because Egyptians expected foreign chiefs to pay tribute and not to rule
over them. By 1550 B.C.E. the Hyksos had been driven out of the Delta
by the Seventeenth-Dynasty pharaohs. From then on Egypt would
maintain a standing army, using horse-drawn chariots and composite
bows introduced into Egypt by the Hyksos.
The New Kingdom (1550–1069 B.C.E)
The Egyptian pharaohs of the Nile Valley who had succeeded in driving
out the Hyksos established their own dynasty (the Eighteenth),
which united Egypt and founded an empire. Once it had restored
control over Nubia, its armies crossed the Sinai into what we now call
the Middle East. The areas of Syria and Palestine were then composed
of small, competing city-states, easy for the Egyptians to subdue but
hard to rule for long periods, especially once the Hittites rose to power
around 1350 and challenged them. At this time the Egyptians controlled
the world’s fi rst empire, stretching from Nubia to the Euphrates
River in Asia.
For the next century the tides of war shifted between the Hittites
and the Egyptians. At last the two parties drew up a defensive treaty
sealed by a marriage in 1283 B.C.E. between Pharaoh Ramesses II
(1290–1224 B.C.E.) and the daughter of the Hittite king. By the end of
the century, however, Egypt faced invasions by Libyans from the west
and by the piratical “Sea Peoples,” whose identity remains a mystery, in
the Mediterranean. Egypt had to withdraw from its conquered lands in
Nubia and Palestine. Although Egyptians often blame foreign invaders
for their misfortunes, it was rebellious viceroys and generals, however,
not Libyans or Sea Peoples, who brought the New Kingdom to an end
in 1069 B.C.E.
The power of the pharaohs during the New Kingdom is evident in
their monumental art and their brief foray into theology. Ramesses II
was especially active as a patron of poets, sculptors, and architects, who
CITIES OF ANCIENT EGYPT
Abydos: Major religious site on the west bank of the Nile in Upper
Egypt, containing First and Second Dynasty royal tombs, as well as
New Kingdom temples of Seti I and Ramses II
Hierakonpolis: Largest and most developed urban complex of the
Predynastic Period, located in the southern part of Upper Egypt, it
contains a mud-brick enclosure, a painted tomb, and a temple dedicated
to Horus, as well as many statues and votive offerings
Karnak: A vast religious complex on the east bank of the Nile near
the modern city of Luxor, it contains an immense temple complex
dedicated to Amun-Ra and a slightly smaller complex devoted to the
goddess Mut
Memphis: Commercial center and administrative capital, located on
the west bank of the Nile near the junction of Upper and Lower
Egypt and 12 miles (19 km) south of Cairo, it contained the royal
residence and administrative offi ces, the building for embalming the
sacred bull, or Apis, the fallen colossus of Ramses II, and two temples
devoted to Ptah
Thebes: Extensive site in Upper Egypt on both sides of the Nile,
including the modern cities of Luxor and Gurna, it contains the
tombs of the Eleventh Dynasty kings, the mortuary temples for the
Eighteenth to Twentieth Dynasties, the valley of the kings, and the
tombs of the nobles, and was prominent in the Middle and New
Kingdoms as an administrative center.
After the death of Akhenaton
his successor, Tutankhamun (r.
1333–1323 B.C.E.), gave up this
early attempt at monotheism,
restored the temples, and revived
the rites familiar to the priests
and the people. By a quirk of fate, Tutankhamun would become the
most famous pharaoh in the modern world. His tomb in the Western
Desert was almost untouched by grave robbers. In 1923 the tomb, with
its contents largely intact, was found by archaeologists. This discovery
has added greatly to our knowledge and understanding of ancient
Egypt. Aside from Tutankhamun’s death mask, the tomb contained coffi
ns within coffi ns, fi ne furniture, guardian statues, papyri containing
protective spells, decorated chests, and 143 golden objects wrapped in
various parts of his mummy.
The Third Intermediate Period and Late Period
(1069–525 B.C.E)
By the Third Intermediate Period (Twenty-fi rst–Twenty-fourth Dynasties),
Egypt was entering a period of decline both as a culture and as a military
and economic power in the region. This was a time of division, with some
pharaohs ruling only in the Delta or only in Upper Egypt, and invasions
by Libyans from the west and Nubians from the south. The Nubians had
created a kingdom called Kush between 1700 and 1500 B.C.E. Although
Head of Nefertiti. In 525 B.C.E. Egypt ceased to be ruled by Egyptians. With very few
exceptions, the head of the Egyptian state would always be a foreigner
until the 1952 revolution. For most of this time Egyptians would
still serve as administrators, scribes, judges, religious leaders, and village
headmen. Egypt’s subordination to the Persians, Macedonians,
Greeks, Romans, and Arabs, described in this chapter, set the pattern
for later colonization by other outsiders. Usually the Egyptians
accepted their lot, but sometimes they rebelled openly and often they
subverted or infl uenced their foreign masters. A modern Arabic proverb
sums up the popular view: Fi bilad Misr khayruha li-ghayriha (In the
land of Egypt, its good things belong to others).
Persian Rule
The year 525 was when Cambyses II, the Persian emperor, defeated
the last Saite pharaoh, conquered Egypt, and established the Twentyseventh
Dynasty. The Persians, originally tribal nomads in what now is
Iran, were united by Cyrus, a powerful king, in the middle of the sixth
century B.C.E. He and his sons conquered a vast empire, the largest
one known up to that time, extending from the Indus River in what is
now Pakistan across the Middle East to North Africa and southeastern
Europe. Cambyses was a son of Cyrus, a proud Persian, but he found it
politic to honor Egyptian customs. Taking the name Mesut-i-Re (“offspring
of Re,” one of the gods of ancient Egypt), he ruled for three years
as a pharaoh. Hoping to ensure that the Egyptians would obey their
orders, the new rulers took the titles and followed the forms of their
pharaonic predecessors. Maintaining the ancient rituals, they built newtemples and public works, reformed the legal system, and strengthened the economy. Persian rule facilitated Egyptian trade with southwest
Asia. Egypt’s agriculture, and hence its people, prospered.
Cambyses’s successor, Darius (r. 521–486 B.C.E.), made Egypt a
Persian province and appointed a satrap, or provincial governor, to
govern it. The satraps’ rule was challenged by three Egyptian dynasties.
The Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth Dynasties ruled only in the Nile
Delta. In 380 B.C.E. Nectanebo, an Egyptian general, overthrew the last
ruler of the Twenty-ninth Dynasty, declaring himself king. He gained
control of all Egypt and founded the Thirtieth Dynasty. This dynasty is
remembered for its naturalistic portraiture, statuary, and new temples,
most notably the Philae Temple near Aswan. The Thirtieth Dynasty
marked ancient Egypt’s fl ickering revival; it ended when the Persians
reoccupied the country in 343 B.C.E. under Artaxerxes III. This Thirtyfi
rst Dynasty came to an end in 332 B.C.E. when Alexander the Great,
hailed by the Egyptians as their savior from Persian domination, conquered
the country.
