1.
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, also known as the Nubian Dynasty or the Kushite Empire, was the last dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt. The 25th dynasty was a line of rulers originating in the Nubian Kingdom of Kush – in present-day northern Sudan and southern Egypt – and they reigned in part or all of Ancient Egypt from 760 BCE to 656 BCE. The dynasty began with Kashtas invasion of Upper Egypt and culminated in several years of successful and unsuccessful war with the Mesopotamian based Assyrian Empire. The 25th Dynastys reunification of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and they assimilated into society by reaffirming Ancient Egyptian religious traditions, temples, and artistic forms, while introducing some unique aspects of Kushite culture. It was during the 25th dynasty that the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids since the Middle Kingdom, war with Assyria resulted in the end of Kushite power in Northern Egypt and the conquest of Egypt by Assyria. They were succeeded by the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt, initially a puppet dynasty installed by and vassals of the Assyrians, the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest. The known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the dynasty are the following, The period starting with Kashta. The later Kings from the dynasty ruled over Napata, Meroe. The seat of government and the palace were in Napata during this period. The kings and queens were buried in El-Kurru and Nuri, alara, the first known Nubian king and predecessor of Kashta was not a 25th dynasty king since he did not control any region of Egypt during his reign. While Piye is viewed as the founder of the 25th dynasty, the twenty-fifth dynasty originated in Kush, or, which is presently in Northern Sudan. The city-state of Napata was the capital and it was from there that Piye invaded. Piye personally led the attack on Egypt and recorded his victory in a lengthy hieroglyphic filled stele called the Stele of Victory, Piye revived one of the greatest features of the Old and Middle Kingdoms, pyramid construction. An energetic builder, he constructed the oldest known pyramid at the burial site of El-Kurru. Although Manetho does not mention the first king, Piye, mainstream Egyptologists consider him the first Pharaoh of the 25th dynasty, Manetho also does not mention the last king, Tantamani, although inscriptions exist to attest to the existence of both Piye and Tantamani. Piye made various attempts to extend Egyptian influence in the Near East. In 720 BC he sent an army in support of a rebellion against Assyria in Philistia and Gaza, however Piye was defeated by Sargon II, Shabaka conquered the entire Nile valley, including Upper and Lower Egypt, around 710 BC. Shabaka had Bocchoris of the preceding Sais dynasty burned to death for resisting him, after conquering Lower Egypt, Shabaka transferred the capital to Memphis
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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Kushite Egypt in 700 BC.
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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25th Dynasty royal monumental statues from Doukki-Gel
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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25th Dynasty pyramids at Nuri
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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Temple of Amun at the sacred mountain, Jebel Barkal
2.
Kushan empire
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The Kushan Empire was a syncretic empire, formed by Yuezhi, in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. Emperor Kanishka was a patron of Buddhism, however, as Kushans expanded southward. The Kushans were one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, the Kushans possibly used the Greek language initially for administrative purposes, but soon began to use Bactrian language. Kanishka sent his armies north of the Karakoram mountains, capturing territories as far as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkant, in the Tarim Basin of modern-day Xinjiang, China. A direct road from Gandhara to China remained under Kushan control for more than a century, encouraging travel across the Karakoram, the Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, Aksumite Empire and Han China. The Kushan empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, in the 4th century, the Guptas, an Indian dynasty also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Sasanian kingdoms were overwhelmed by invaders from the north. Historian H. G. Rawlinson states that the Kushana Period is a prelude to the age of Guptas. Chinese sources describe the Guishuang, i. e, as the historian John E. Hill has put it, For well over a century. There have been arguments about the ethnic and linguistic origins of the Da Yuezhi, Kushans, and the Tochari. The five tribes constituting the Yuezhi are known in Chinese history as Xiūmì, Guìshuāng, Shuāngmǐ, Xìdùn, the Yuezhi reached the Hellenic kingdom of Greco-Bactria around 135 BC. The displaced Greek dynasties resettled to the southeast in areas of the Hindu Kush, some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the area of Bactria and Sogdiana. Archaeological structures are known in Takht-I-Sangin, Surkh Kotal, and in the palace of Khalchayan, various sculptures and friezes are known, representing horse-riding archers, and significantly men with artificially deformed skulls, such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan. The Chinese first referred to people as the Yuezhi and said they established the Kushan Empire. On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known to have built fortresses, the earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler, was Heraios. He calls himself a tyrant on his coins, and also exhibits skull deformation and he may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises, Ban Gus Book of Han tells us the Kushans divided up Bactria in 128 BC. He invaded Anxi, and took the Gaofu region and he also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda and Jibin
Kushan empire
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Kushan territories (full line) and maximum extent of Kushan dominions under
Kanishka the Great (dotted line), according to the
Rabatak inscription.
Kushan empire
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History of Afghanistan
Kushan empire
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Head of a Kushan prince (Khalchayan palace,
Uzbekistan).
Kushan empire
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A Buddhist devotee in Kushan dress, Mathura, 2nd century. The Kushan dress is generally depicted as quite stiff, and it is thought it was often made of leather (Francine Tissot, "Gandhara").
3.
Kerma
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Kerma was the capital city of the Kerma Culture, which was located in present-day Sudan at least 5500 years ago. Kerma is one of the largest archaeological sites in ancient Nubia and it has produced decades of extensive excavations and research, including thousands of graves and tombs and the residential quarters of the main city surrounding the Western/Lower Deffufa. Around 3000 BCE, a tradition began around Kerma. It was an urban center that was built around a large adobe temple known as the Western Deffufa. As a capital city and location of burials, it sheds light on the complex social structure present in this society. Kerma contains a cemetery with over 30,000 graves, the cemetery shows a general pattern of larger graves ringed by smaller ones, suggesting social stratification. The site includes at its southern boundary burial mounds, with four extending upwards of 90 metres in diameter and these are believed to be the graves of the citys final kings, some of which contain motifs and artwork reflecting Egyptian deities such as Horus. Generally, influence from Egypt may be observed in numerous burials, especially with regards to material evidence such as pottery, for example, Second Intermediate Egyptian ceramics from Avaris, such as Tell el-Yahudiyeh Ware, have been discovered within Kerma burials. In addition, artifacts such as seals and amulets are prolific. After the sacking of Kerma, the cemetery was used to host the kings of the 25th or Napatan dynasty of the Kingdom of Kush from Upper Nubia. Early archaeology at Kerma started with an Egyptian and Sudanese survey made by George A. Reisner, an American with joint appointments at Harvard University, Reisner later led these two institutions, the so-called Harvard-Boston expedition during three field seasons at Kerma. He worked in Egypt and Sudan for 25 years, 1907-1932, as one of the earliest sites to be excavated in this region, Kerma and Reisner’s contributions to the region’s archaeology are fundamental. A basic chronology of Kerman culture was established based on the work of Reisner’s Harvard-Boston expedition, Reisner’s precise excavation techniques, site reports, and other publications made later reinterpretation of his results possible. The Lower/Western Deffufa was found closer to the river, the Upper/Eastern Deffufa is a few kilometers away from the river in a cemetery, most burials were slightly flexed, lying on their sides. Reisner saw many links to ancient Egyptian culture through architectural techniques and he assumed it was a fort. He did not conduct further excavations of the settlement suspected to surround the Lower Deffuffa, the Upper/Eastern Deffufa was located amidst thousands of low, round graves, with clear stylistic differences between the northern, middle, and southern parts of the cemetery. The most elaborate tombs were found in the part of the cemetery. Reisner assumed that the large, quadrangular deffufa structures were funerary chapels associated with the largest mound graves and he interpreted these based on his knowledge of ancient Egyptian funerary practices, and since many of the grave goods found were Egyptian, he had no reason to think otherwise
Kerma
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Kerma ancient city
Kerma
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Statues of Kerma rulers.
Kerma
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The Western Deffufa
4.
Napata
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Napata was a city-state of ancient Nubia on the west bank of the Nile River, at the site of modern Karima, Northern Sudan. Napata was founded by Thutmose III in the 15th century BC after his conquest of Nubia, the nearby Jebel Barkal was taken to mark the southern border of the New Kingdom. In 1075 BC, the High Priest of Amun at Thebes, capital of Egypt and this was the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period. The fragmentation of power in Egypt allowed the Nubians to regain autonomy and they founded a new kingdom, Kush, and centered it at Napata. In 750 BC, Napata was a city, while Egypt was still suffering political instability. King Kashta profited from it, and attacked Upper Egypt and his policy was pursued by his successors Piye, and Shabaka, who eventually brought the whole Nile Valley under Kushitic control in the second year of his reign. Shabaka also launched a policy in Egypt and Nubia. Overall, the Kushite kings ruled Upper Egypt for approximately one century and they constitute the Twenty-fifth Dynasty in Manetho’s work, Aegyptiaca. The reunited Nile valley empire of the 25th dynasty was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom, the 25th dynasty ushered in a renaissance period for Ancient Egypt. Religion, the arts, and architecture were restored to their glorious Old, Middle, pharaohs, such as Taharqa, built or restored temples and monuments throughout the Nile valley, including at Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, Jebel Barkal, etc. It was during the 25th dynasty that the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids since the Middle Kingdom, however, Pharaoh Taharqas reign and that of his successor, Tanutamun, was filled with constant conflict with the Assyrians. In 664 BC the Assyrians laid the blow, sacking Thebes. The 25th dynasty ended with its rulers retreating to their homeland at Napata. It was there that all 25th dynasty pharaohs are buried under the first pyramids that the Nile valley had seen in centuries, the Napatan dynasty led to the Kingdom of Kush, which flourished in Napata and Meroe until at least the 2nd century AD. When King Assurbanipal succeeded Esarhaddon, the Kushite king Taharqa convinced some rulers of Lower Egypt to break with Assyrians, however, Asshurbanipal overpowered the coalition and deported the Egyptian leaders to his capital, Niniveh. He appointed the Libyan chief Necho, ruler of Memphis and Sais, Necho I was the first king of the Saite Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt. A new Kushite King Tantamani killed him the year that Taharqa died. However, Tantamani was unable to defeat the Assyrians who backed Necho’s son Psammetichus I, Tantamani eventually abandoned his attempt to conquer Lower Egypt and retreated to Napata
Napata
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Napatan necklace spacer made of gold (6th century BC). It is inscribed with
Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Napata
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The last standing pillars of the temple of Amun at the foot of
Jebel Barkal
Napata
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Nuri pyramids
5.
Meroitic language
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The Meroitic language was spoken in Meroë and the Sudan during the Meroitic period and became extinct about 400 CE. It is poorly understood owing to the scarcity of bilingual texts, the classification of Meroitic is uncertain due to the scarcity of data and difficulty in interpreting it. Since the alphabet was deciphered in 1909, it has proposed that Meroitic is related to the Nubian languages. Claude Rilly is the most recent proponent of the Nilo-Saharan idea, he proposes that it is Eastern Sudanic, rowan, on the other hand, notes that the Meroitic sound inventory and phonotactics are similar to those of the Afroasiatic languages, and dissimilar from Nilo-Saharan languages. For example, very rarely does one find the sequence CVC and this is similar to consonant restrictions found throughout the Afroasiatic language family, suggesting that Meroitic might have been an Afroasiatic language like Egyptian. The issue is unresolved and most classifications list Meroitic either as questionably Nilo-Saharan or as unclassified, finally, Meroë was conquered by a Beja dynasty in the first century AD and the later cursive Meroitic script may represent a Nubian-Beja creole. Böhm, Gerhard, Die Sprache der Aithiopen im Lande Kusch in Beiträge zur Afrikanistik,34, Rilly, Claude and Alex de Voogt. The Meroitic Language and Writing System, Cambridge University Press,2012, Rilly, Claude The Linguistic Position of Meroitic, Sudan Electronic Journal of Archaeology and Anthropology. ———— La langue du Royaume de Meroe, ———— Meroitic - An Afroasiatic Language. SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics 14, 169–206, the Kingdom of Kush, 189-195, ISBN 071410986X. Meroitic 1 ROCZNIK ORIENTALISTYCZNY, T. LXIV, Z.2,2011, francis Breyer, Einführung in die Meroistik, LIT Verlag, Berlin 2014
Meroitic language
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A hieroglyphic Meroitic inscription adorns this royal
votive plaque of king
Tanyidamani. It is from the temple of Apedemak in
Meroë. Circa 100 BCE,
Walters Art Museum,
Baltimore.
Meroitic language
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Meroitic funerary
stele of Waleye, son or daughter of Kadeye, from
Saï, North
Sudan, now at the Sudan National Museum
6.
Egyptian language
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The language spoken in ancient Egypt was a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. The earliest known complete sentence in the Egyptian language has been dated to about 2690 BCE, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the seventeenth century in the form of Coptic. The national language of modern Egypt is Egyptian Arabic, which gradually replaced Coptic as the language of life in the centuries after the Muslim conquest of Egypt. Coptic is still used as the language of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It has several hundred fluent speakers today, the Egyptian language belongs to the Afroasiatic language family. Of the other Afroasiatic branches, Egyptian shows its greatest affinities with Semitic, in Egyptian, the Proto-Afroasiatic voiced consonants */d z ð/ developed into pharyngeal ⟨ꜥ⟩ /ʕ/, e. g. Eg. Afroasiatic */l/ merged with Egyptian ⟨n⟩, ⟨r⟩, ⟨ꜣ⟩, and ⟨j⟩ in the dialect on which the language was based. Original */k g ḳ/ palatalize to ⟨ṯ j ḏ⟩ in some environments and are preserved as ⟨k g q⟩ in others, Egyptian has many biradical and perhaps monoradical roots, in contrast to the Semitic preference for triradical roots. Egyptian probably is more archaic in this regard, whereas Semitic likely underwent later regularizations converting roots into the triradical pattern, scholars group the Egyptian language into six major chronological divisions, Archaic Egyptian language Old Egyptian language Middle Egyptian language, characterizing Middle Kingdom. Demotic Coptic The earliest Egyptian glyphs date back to around 3300 BC and these early texts are generally lumped together under the general term Archaic Egyptian. They record names, titles and labels, but a few of them show morphological and syntactic features familiar from later, more complete, Old Egyptian is dated from the oldest known complete sentence, found in the tomb of Seth-Peribsen and dated to around 2690 BCE. It reads, dmḏ. n. f t3wj n z3. f nswt-bjt pr-jb. snj He has united the Two Lands for his son, extensive texts appear from about 2600 BCE. Demotic first appears about 650 BCE and survived as a written language until the fifth century CE and it probably survived in the Egyptian countryside as a spoken language for several centuries after that. Bohairic Coptic is still used by the Coptic Churches, Old, Middle, and Late Egyptian were all written using hieroglyphs and hieratic. Demotic was written using a script derived from hieratic, its appearance is similar to modern Arabic script and is also written from right to left. Coptic is written using the Coptic alphabet, a form of the Greek alphabet with a number of symbols borrowed from Demotic for sounds that did not occur in ancient Greek. Arabic became the language of Egypts political administration soon after the early Muslim conquests in the seventh century, today, Coptic survives as the sacred language of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and the Coptic Catholic Church
Egyptian language
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Seal impression from the tomb of
Seth-Peribsen, containing the oldest known complete sentence in Egyptian
Egyptian language
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Ebers Papyrus detailing treatment of
asthma
Egyptian language
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3rd-century Coptic inscription
7.
Monarchy
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The actual power of the monarch may vary from purely symbolic, to partial and restricted, to completely autocratic. Traditionally and in most cases, the monarchs post is inherited and lasts until death or abdication, occasionally this might create a situation of rival claimants whose legitimacy is subject to effective election. Finally, there have been cases where the term of a reign is either fixed in years or continues until certain goals are achieved. Thus there are widely divergent structures and traditions defining monarchy, Monarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer prevalent. Currently,47 sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state,19 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognise Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state. The monarchs of Cambodia, Japan, and Malaysia reign, the word monarch comes from the Greek language word μονάρχης, monárkhēs which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. In current usage the word usually refers to a traditional system of hereditary rule. Depending on the held by the monarch, a monarchy may be known as a kingdom, principality, duchy, grand duchy, empire, tsardom, emirate, sultanate, khaganate. The form of societal hierarchy known as chiefdom or tribal kingship is prehistoric, the Greek term monarchia is classical, used by Herodotus. The monarch in classical antiquity is often identified as king, the Chinese, Japanese and Nepalese monarchs continued to be considered living Gods into the modern period. Since antiquity, monarchy has contrasted with forms of democracy, where power is wielded by assemblies of free citizens. In antiquity, monarchies were abolished in favour of such assemblies in Rome, much of 19th century politics was characterised by the division between anti-monarchist Radicalism and monarchist Conservativism. Many countries abolished the monarchy in the 20th century and became republics, advocacy of republics is called republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called monarchism. In the modern era, monarchies are more prevalent in small states than in large ones, most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the centre of the royal household and court. Growing up in a family, future monarchs are often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule. Different systems of succession have been used, such as proximity of blood, primogeniture, and agnatic seniority. While most monarchs have been male, many female monarchs also have reigned in history, rule may be hereditary in practice without being considered a monarchy, such as that of family dictatorships or political families in many democracies. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the continuity of leadership
Monarchy
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Richard I of England being anointed during his coronation in
Westminster Abbey, from a 13th-century chronicle.
Monarchy
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Thutmose I, the third
Pharaoh of the
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt.
Monarchy
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King George III of the United Kingdom, Portrait by
Allan Ramsay, 1762
Monarchy
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King
Salman of Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarch.
8.
List of countries by population
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This is a list of countries and dependent territories by population. For instance, the United Kingdom is considered as a single entity while the constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands are considered separately, in addition, this list includes certain states with limited recognition not found in ISO 3166-1. The population figures do not reflect the practice of countries that report significantly different populations of citizens domestically, some countries, notably Thailand, do not report total population, exclusively counting citizens, for total populations an international agency must issue an estimate. Also given in percent is each countrys population compared to the population of the world, figures used in this chart are based on the most up to date estimate or projections by the national census authority where available, and are usually rounded off. Where updated national data are not available, figures are based on the projections for 2016 by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Because the compiled figures are not collected at the time in every country, or at the same level of accuracy. Furthermore, the addition of figures from all countries may not equal the world total, a handful of nations have not conducted a census in over 30 years, providing high error margin estimates only. Areas that form parts of sovereign states, such as the countries of the United Kingdom, are counted as part of the sovereign states concerned. Note, All dependent territories or constituent countries that are parts of states are shown in italics
List of countries by population
–
A map of world population in 2014
9.
New Kingdom of Egypt
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Radiocarbon dating places the exact beginning of the New Kingdom between 1570–1544 BC. The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period and it was Egypt’s most prosperous time and marked the peak of its power. The later part of period, under the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties is also known as the Ramesside period. It is named after the pharaohs that took the name of Ramesses I. Egyptian armies fought Hittite armies for control of modern-day Syria, the Eighteenth Dynasty contained some of Egypts most famous Pharaohs, including Ahmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun. Queen Hatshepsut concentrated on expanding Egypts external trade by sending an expedition to the land of Punt. Thutmose III expanded Egypts army and wielded it with success to consolidate the empire created by his predecessors. This resulted in a peak in Egypts power and wealth during the reign of Amenhotep III, during the reign of Thutmose III, Pharaoh, originally referring to the kings palace, became a form of address for the person who was king. Akhenatens religious fervor is cited as the reason why he was written out of Egyptian history. Under his reign, in the 14th century BC, Egyptian art flourished and attained a level of realism. Towards the end of the 18th Dynasty, the situation had changed radically, Ramesses II sought to recover territories in the Levant that had been held by the 18th Dynasty. His campaigns of reconquest culminated in the Battle of Kadesh, where he led Egyptian armies against those of the Hittite king Muwatalli II. Ramesses was caught in historys first recorded military ambush, although he was able to rally his troops, the outcome of the battle was undecided with both sides claiming victory at their home front, ultimately resulting in a peace treaty between the two nations. The last great pharaoh from the New Kingdom is widely considered to be Ramesses III, in the eighth year of his reign the Sea Peoples invaded Egypt by land and sea. Ramesses III defeated them in two great land and sea battles and he incorporated them as subject peoples and settled them in Southern Canaan although there is evidence that they forced their way into Canaan. Their presence in Canaan may have contributed to the formation of new states, such as Philistia and he was also compelled to fight invading Libyan tribesmen in two major campaigns in Egypts Western Delta in his sixth year and eleventh year respectively. The heavy cost of this warfare slowly drained Egypts treasury and contributed to the decline of the Egyptian Empire in Asia. Something in the air prevented much sunlight from reaching the ground, one proposed cause is the Hekla 3 eruption of the Hekla volcano in Iceland but the dating of this remains disputed
New Kingdom of Egypt
–
New Kingdom at its maximum territorial extent in the 15th century BC.
New Kingdom of Egypt
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Relief of a Nobleman, ca. 1295-1070 B.C.E.
Brooklyn Museum
New Kingdom of Egypt
–
Queen Ahmose-Nefertari
10.
Nobatia
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Nobatia /noʊˈbeɪʃə/ or Nobadia was an ancient Christian period kingdom in Lower Nubia, and subsequently a region of the larger Nubian Kingdom of Makuria. Its name is given as al-Maris in Arabic histories. Nobatia was likely founded by the Nobatae /ˈnɒbəti/, who had been invited into the region from the Western Desert by the Roman Emperor Diocletian to help defeat the Blemmyes in AD297, early Nobatia is quite likely the same civilization that is known to archeologists as the Ballana culture. Eventually the Nobatae were successful, and an inscription by Silko, Basiliskos of the Nobatae, around this time the Nobatian capital was established at Pakhoras, soon after, Nobatia converted to non-Chalcedonian Christianity. By 701, Nobatia had been annexed to its southern neighbor, the circumstances of this merger are unknown. It most likely occurred before the Muslim conquest in 652, since the Arab histories speak of only one Christian state in Nubia, Nobatia seems to have maintained some autonomy in the new state. It was ruled by an eparch of Nobatia who was titled the Domestikos of Pakhoras. These were originally appointed but seem to be dynastic in the later period, some of their records have been found at Fort Ibrim, presenting a figure with a great deal of power. However, some Arab writers refer to the state as the Kingdom of Makuria and Nobatia. Nobatia was the closest part of Nubia to Egypt and was the most subject to the influence of Arabization and Islamization
Nobatia
–
Near East in 480 AD, showing Nobatia and its neighbors.
Nobatia
–
Nobatia and the other Christian Nubian kingdoms.
11.
Makuria
–
The Kingdom of Makuria was a kingdom located in what is today Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt. Makuria originally covered the area along the Nile River from the Third Cataract to somewhere between the Fifth and Sixth Cataracts and it also had control over the trade routes, mines, and oases to the east and west. Its capital was Dongola, and the kingdom is known by the name of its capital. By the end of the 6th century it had converted to Christianity, but in the 7th century Egypt was conquered by the Islamic armies, and Nubia was cut off from the rest of Christendom. In 651 an Arab army invaded, but it was repulsed, Makuria expanded, annexing its northern neighbour Nobatia either at the time of the Arab conquest or during the reign of King Merkurios. The period from roughly 750 to 1150 saw the stable and prosperous. Increased aggression from Egypt, and internal discord led to the collapse in the 14th century. Makuria is much better known than its neighbor Alodia to the south, the most important source for the history of the area is various Arab travelers and historians who passed through Nubia during this period. These accounts are often problematic as many of the Arab writers were biased against their Christian neighbours and these works generally focus on only the military conflicts between Egypt and Nubia. One exception is Ibn Selim el-Aswani, an Egyptian diplomat who traveled to Dongola when Makuria was at the height of its power in the 10th century, the Nubians were a literate society, and a fair body of writing survives from the period. These documents were written in the Old Nubian language in a variety of the Greek alphabet extended with some Coptic symbols. Written in a language that is related to the modern Nobiin tongue. However, the vast majority of them are dealing with religion or legal records that are of little use to historians. The largest known collection, found at Qasr Ibrim, does contain some valuable governmental records, the construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1964 promised to flood what had once been the northern half of Makuria. In 1960, UNESCO launched an effort to do as much archaeological work as possible before the flooding occurred. Thousands of experts were brought from around the world over the few years. All of these sites are in what was Nobatia, the major archaeological site in Makuria itself is the partial exploration of the capital at Old Dongola. The origins of Makuria are uncertain, ptolemy mentions a Nubian people known as the Makkourae, who might be ancestors to the Makurians
Makuria
–
A page from an Old Nubian translation of Liber Institutionis Michaelis Archangelis from the 9th–10th century, found at
Qasr Ibrim, now housed in the
British Museum. The name of
Michael appears in red.
Makuria
–
Christian Nubia in the three states period. Makuria would later absorb
Nobatia. Note that the border between
Alodia and Makuria is unclear, but it was somewhere between the 5th and 6th
Cataracts of the Nile
Makuria
–
Near East in 700 AD, showing Makuria and its neighbors
Makuria
–
A painting from the
Faras Cathedral depicting the birth of Jesus
12.
Alodia
–
Alodia, also referred to as Alwa or Aloa, was a Medieval Nubian kingdom in what is now Sudan. Its capital was Soba, located near the confluence of the Blue, compared to its two Nubian cousins in the north, Nobatia and Makuria, Alodia is still rather badly understood. This is mostly due to the scarcity of sources as well as the limited amount of fieldwork undertaken in its territory. Long before the kingdom of Alodia becomes tangible several similar-sounding variations of its name appear in various sources, the earliest reference to Alodia might be a Kushitic stela from the reign of Nastasen, which mentions a region called Alut. It is however not yet possible to connect named Alut with any region or town. A reference made by Pliny the Elder is more interesting, He not only includes Alwa on his list of towns in Meroitic Kush, sadly, Pliny does not give us any concrete details about its location. Therefore, we can guess that his Alwa is related to the later kingdom. The last ancient source which should be noted is the most important one and we are dealing with a Geez inscription of the Aksumite king Ezana, who lived in the mid 4th century AD. This inscription mentions a city named Alwa. It is however assumed that this Alwa has to be located near the confluence of the Nile, not all towns were in the hands of Kushites though. Instead, the account makes it clear that in fact, the heartland of the Kingdom of Kush was partially occupied by the Nubians. Be it as it may, it doesnt seem as if Aksums presence in the Middle Nile Valley was overly long-lasting and this era of transformation is known as the Post-Meroitic period. While the formation of Nobatia and Makuria are both fairly well studied and understood, same cant be said for Alodia, what seems clear is that several aspects of Meroitic culture were largely dismissed during that period, like pyramids and mastabas, wheel-made pottery and faiences. When Alodia came into existence is unknown, just as much as when, archaeology suggests that Soba was already settled during the Meroitic period, but it was not until the later post-Meroitic period, perhaps during the 6th century that it became a major urban center. This dating coincides with the first mention of Alodia and its conversion to Christianity, as the southernmost of the three Nubian kingdoms, Alodia was the last to be converted to Christianity. If we can believe John, the Alodian king was aware of the baptisms of Nobadia in 543. He describes how the Alodian king sent a delegation to the king of Nobadia, requesting a bishop to be sent to him to instruct his people, the request was granted in 580, leading to the baptism of the king, his family and the local nobility. This event marked the end of the period and the dawn of the Medieval or Christian period of central Sudan
Alodia
–
Near East in 565 AD, showing Alodia and its neighbors.
Alodia
–
Approximate extension of Alodia in the 10th century
13.
Aksumite Empire
–
The Kingdom of Aksum or Axum, also known as the Aksumite Empire, was a Habasha trading nation in the modern-day area of Eritrea and the Tigray region of Ethiopia. It existed from approximately 100 AD to 940 AD, the Persian Prophet Mani regarded Axum as one of the four great powers of his time, alongside Persia, Rome, and China. The Axumites erected a number of stelae, which served a religious purpose in pre-Christian times. One of these columns is the largest such structure in the world. In the 7th century, early Muslims from Mecca sought refuge from Quraysh persecution by travelling to the kingdom and its ancient capital, also called Aksum, was in northern Ethiopia. The Kingdom used the name Ethiopia as early as the 4th century, tradition claims Axum as the alleged resting place of the Ark of the Covenant and the purported home of the Queen of Sheba. Aksum is mentioned in the 1st-century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as an important market place for ivory, which was exported throughout the ancient world. It states that the ruler of Aksum in the 1st century AD was Zoskales and he is also said to have been familiar with Greek literature. They also cite evidence indicating that the Sabaean settlers resided in the region for more than a few decades. Over 95% of Aksum remains unexplored beneath the city and its surrounding area. The Kingdom of Aksum was an empire centered in Eritrea. It existed from approximately 100–940 AD, growing from the proto-Aksumite Iron Age period c. 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD, according to the Book of Aksum, Aksums first capital, Mazaber, was built by Itiyopis, son of Cush. The capital was moved to Aksum in northern Ethiopia. The Kingdom used the name Ethiopia as early as the 4th century, the Empire of Aksum at its height at times extended across most of present-day Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The capital city of the empire was Aksum, now in northern Ethiopia, today a smaller community, the city of Aksum was once a bustling metropolis, cultural and economic center. Two hills and two lie on the east and west expanses of the city, perhaps providing the initial impetus for settling this area. Along the hills and plain outside the city, the Aksumites had cemeteries with elaborate grave stones called stelae, other important cities included Yeha, Hawulti-Melazo, Matara, Adulis, and Qohaito, the last three of which are now in Eritrea. By the reign of Endubis in the late 3rd century, it had begun minting its own currency and was named by Mani as one of the four powers of his time along with Persia, Rome
Aksumite Empire
Aksumite Empire
–
Aksum and
South Arabia at the end of
GDRT 's reign in the 3rd century AD.
Aksumite Empire
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The
Ezana Stone records negus Ezana's conversion to Christianity and his subjugation of various neighboring peoples, including
Meroë.
14.
Sudan
–
Sudan, also known as North Sudan since South Sudans independence and officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northern Africa. It is the third largest country in Africa, the River Nile divides the country into eastern and western halves. Before the Sudanese Civil War, South Sudan was part of Sudan, Sudan was home to numerous ancient civilizations, such as the Kingdom of Kush, Kerma, Nobatia, Alodia, Makuria, Meroë and others, most of which flourished along the Nile. During the pre-dynastic period Nubia and Nagadan Upper Egypt were identical, by virtue of its proximity to Egypt, the Sudan participated in the wider history of the Near East inasmuch as it was Christianized by the 6th century, and Islamized in the 15th. As a result of Christianization, the Old Nubian language stands as the oldest recorded Nilo-Saharan language, Sudan was the largest country in Africa and the Arab world until 2011, when South Sudan separated into an independent country, following an independence referendum. Sudan is now the third largest country in Africa and also the third largest country in the Arab world and its capital is Khartoum, the political, cultural and commercial centre of the nation. It is a representative democratic federal republic. The politics of Sudan are regulated by an organization called the National Assembly. The Sudanese legal system is based on Islamic law, the countrys place name Sudan is a name given to a geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to eastern Central Africa. The name derives from the Arabic bilād as-sūdān, or the lands of the Blacks, during the fifth millennium BC migrations from the drying Sahara brought neolithic people into the Nile Valley along with agriculture. The population that resulted from this cultural and genetic mixing developed social hierarchy over the centuries become the Kingdom of Kush at 1700 BC. The Kingdom of Kush was an ancient Nubian state centered on the confluences of the Blue Nile and White Nile, and the Atbarah River and it was established after the Bronze Age collapse and the disintegration of the New Kingdom of Egypt, centered at Napata in its early phase. After King Kashta invaded Egypt in the eighth century BC, the Kushite kings ruled as pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt for a century before being defeated and driven out by the Assyrians. At the height of their glory, the Kushites conquered an empire that stretched from what is now known as South Kordofan all the way to the Sinai, pharaoh Piye attempted to expand the empire into the Near East, but was thwarted by the Assyrian king Sargon II. Sennacheribs successor Esarhaddon went further, and invaded Egypt itself, deposing Taharqa, Taharqa fled back to his homeland where he died two years later. Egypt became an Assyrian colony, however, king Tantamani, after succeeding Taharqa, Esarhaddon died while preparing to leave the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in order to eject him. However, his successor Ashurbanipal sent an army into southern Egypt and routed Tantamani. During Classical Antiquity, the Nubian capital was at Meroë, in ancient Greek geography, the Meroitic kingdom was known as Ethiopia
Sudan
–
The large mud brick temple, known as the shrek or Western Deffufa, in the ancient city of
Kerma
Sudan
–
Flag
Sudan
–
Nubian pyramids in
Meroë.
Sudan
–
Ruins of
Old Dongola.
15.
Egypt
–
Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
Egypt
–
The
Giza Necropolis is the oldest of the
ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.
Egypt
–
Flag
Egypt
–
The Greek Ptolemaic queen
Cleopatra VII and her son by Julius Caesar,
Caesarion at the
Temple of Dendera.
Egypt
–
The 1803
Cedid Atlas, showing
Ottoman Egypt.
16.
South Sudan
–
South Sudan, officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in northeastern Africa that gained its independence from Sudan in 2011. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city and it was planned that the capital city would be changed to the more centrally located Ramciel in the future before civil war broke out. It includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd, formed by the White Nile, following the First Sudanese Civil War, the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region was formed in 1972 and lasted until 1983. A second Sudanese civil war soon developed and ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, later that year, southern autonomy was restored when an Autonomous Government of Southern Sudan was formed. South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011, following a referendum passed with 98. 83% of the vote. It is a United Nations member state, a state of the African Union, of the East African Community. In July 2012, South Sudan signed the Geneva Conventions, South Sudan has suffered ethnic violence and has been in a civil war since 2013, as of 2016 it has the second highest score on the Fragile States Index. The Nilotic people of South Sudan—the Acholi, Anyuak, Bari, Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Kaligi, Zande, the Azande, Mundu, Avukaya and Baka, who entered South Sudan in the 16th century—established the regions largest state of Equatoria Region. The Dinka are the largest, Nuer the second largest and Azande are the third-largest ethnic group in South Sudan while the Bari are fourth-largest. They are found in the Maridi, Yambio, and Tombura districts in the tropical rainforest belt of Western Equatoria, in the 18th century, the Avungara sib rose to power over the rest of Azande society and this domination continued into the 20th century. The major reasons include the history of British policy preference toward developing the Arab north. After Sudans first independent elections in 1958, the ignoring of the south by Khartoum led to uprisings, revolt. As of 2012, peoples include Acholi, Anyuak, Azande, Baka, Balanda Bviri, Bari, Boya, Didinga, Dinka, Jiye, Kaligi, Kuku, Lotuka, Mundari, Murie, Nilotic, Nuer, Shilluk, Toposa and Zande. Slavery had been an institution of Sudanese life throughout history, the slave trade in the south intensified in the 19th century and continued after the British had suppressed slavery in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Annual Sudanese slave raids into non-Muslim territories resulted in the capture of thousands of southern Sudanese. In the 19th century, the Azande fought the French, the Belgians, Egypt, under the rule of Khedive Ismail Pasha, first attempted to control the region in the 1870s, establishing the province of Equatoria in the southern portion. Egypts first governor was Samuel Baker, commissioned in 1869, followed by Charles George Gordon in 1874, the Mahdist Revolt of the 1880s destabilized the nascent province, and Equatoria ceased to exist as an Egyptian outpost in 1889. Important settlements in Equatoria included Lado, Gondokoro, Dufile and Wadelai, european colonial maneuverings in the region came to a head in 1898, when the Fashoda Incident occurred at present-day Kodok, Britain and France almost went to war over the region
South Sudan
–
John Garang de Mabior led the
Sudan People's Liberation Army until his death in 2005.
South Sudan
–
Flag
South Sudan
–
A South Sudanese girl at independence festivities
South Sudan
–
Salva Kiir Mayardit, the first President of South Sudan. His trademark
hat was a gift from United States President
George W. Bush.
17.
Nubia
–
Nubia is a region along the Nile river located in what is today northern Sudan and southern Egypt. It was the seat of one of the earliest civilizations of ancient Africa, with a history that can be traced from at least 2000 B. C. onward, and was home to one of the African empires. Nubia was again united within Ottoman Egypt in the 19th century, the name Nubia is derived from that of the Noba people, nomads who settled the area in the 4th century following the collapse of the kingdom of Meroë. The Noba spoke a Nilo-Saharan language, ancestral to Old Nubian, Old Nubian was mostly used in religious texts dating from the 8th and 15th centuries AD. Before the 4th century, and throughout classical antiquity, Nubia was known as Kush, or, in Classical Greek usage, until at least 1970, the Birgid language was spoken north of Nyala in Darfur, but is now extinct. Nubia was divided into two regions, Upper and Lower Nubia, so called because of their location in the Nile river valley. Early settlements sprouted in both Upper and Lower Nubia, Egyptians referred to Nubia as Ta-Seti, or The Land of the Bow, since the Nubians were known to be expert archers. Modern scholars typically refer to the people from this area as the “A-Group” culture, fertile farmland just south of the Third Cataract is known as the “pre-Kerma” culture in Upper Nubia, as they are the ancestors. The Neolithic people in the Nile Valley likely came from Sudan, as well as the Sahara, by the 5th millennium BC, the people who inhabited what is now called Nubia participated in the Neolithic revolution. Saharan rock reliefs depict scenes that have been thought to be suggestive of a cult, typical of those seen throughout parts of Eastern Africa. Megaliths discovered at Nabta Playa are early examples of what seems to be one of the worlds first astronomical devices, around 3500 BC, the second Nubian culture, termed the A-Group, arose. It was a contemporary of, and ethnically and culturally similar to. The A-Group people were engaged in trade with the Egyptians and this trade is testified archaeologically by large amounts of Egyptian commodities deposited in the graves of the A-Group people. The imports consisted of gold objects, copper tools, faience amulets and beads, seals, slate palettes, stone vessels, and a variety of pots. Around 3300 BC, there is evidence of a kingdom, as shown by the finds at Qustul. The Nubian culture may have contributed to the unification of the Nile Valley. The earliest known depiction of the crown is on a ceremonial incense burner from Cemetery at Qustul in Lower Nubia. New evidence from Abydos, however, particularly the excavation of Cemetery U, around the turn of the protodynastic period, Naqada, in its bid to conquer and unify the whole Nile Valley, seems to have conquered Ta-Seti and harmonized it with the Egyptian state
Nubia
–
Nubians in worship
Nubia
–
Nubian woman circa 1900
Nubia
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Head of a Nubian Ruler
Nubia
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Ramesses II in his war chariot charging into battle against the Nubians
18.
Blue Nile
–
The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. With the White Nile, the river one of the two major tributaries of the Nile. The upper course of the river is called the Abbay in Ethiopia, some Ethiopians have long identified the Blue Nile as the River Gihon mentioned as flowing out of the Garden of Eden, in Genesis 2 and encircling the entire land of Cush. In the local Sudanese language, the word for black is used for the colour blue. The distance of the river from its source to its confluence has been reported as being between 1,460 kilometres and 1,600 kilometres. According to materials published by the Central Statistical Agency, the Blue Nile has a length of 1,450 kilometres. The Blue Nile flows generally south from Lake Tana and then west across Ethiopia, within 30 km of its source at Lake Tana, the river enters a canyon about 400 km long. This gorge is an obstacle for travel and communication from the north half of Ethiopia to the southern half. The power of the Blue Nile may best be appreciated at the Blue Nile Falls and this stream, known as the Lesser Abay River, flows north into Lake Tana. Other affluents of this include, in clockwise order from Gorgora, the Magech River, the Northern Gumara, the Reb River, the southern Gumara River. Lake Tanas outflow then flows some 30 kilometres before plunging over the Blue Nile Falls, the river then loops across northwest Ethiopia through a series of deep valleys and canyons into Sudan, by which point it is only known as the Blue Nile. There are numerous tributaries of the Abay between Lake Tana and the Sudanese border. Those on the side, also in downstream order, include the Handassa, Tul, Abaya, Sade, Tammi, Cha, Shita, Suha, Muga, Gulla, Temcha, Bachat, Katlan, Jiba, Chamoga, Weter. The flow of the Blue Nile reaches maximum volume in the rainy season, the Blue Nile was a major source of the flooding of the Nile that contributed to the fertility of the Nile Valley and the consequent rise of Ancient Egypt and Egyptian mythology. With the completion in 1970 of the Aswan Dam in Egypt, the Blue Nile is vital to the livelihood of Egypt. The Blue Nile, the most significant tributary of the Nile, though shorter than the White Nile, 59% of the water that reaches Egypt originates from the Blue Nile branch of the great river. The river is also an important resource for Sudan, where the Roseires Dam and these dams also help irrigate the Gezira Scheme, which is most famous for its high quality cotton. The region also produces wheat and animal feed crops, in November 2012, Ethiopia began a six-year project for the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a 6000-megawatt hydroelectric dam on the river
Blue Nile
–
Blue Nile Falls (Tis Issat) at
Lake Tana
Blue Nile
–
Confluence of Blue and White Nile near Khartoum
Blue Nile
–
White and Blue Niles merge
Blue Nile
–
Men pull each other across Blue Nile River by rope prior to the building of a new bridge
19.
White Nile
–
The White Nile is a river of Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the other is the Blue Nile. In the strict meaning, White Nile refers to the river formed at Lake Victoria, at the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal, in the wider sense, White Nile refers to the rivers draining from Lake Victoria into the White Nile proper. The White Niles true source was not discovered until 1937, when the German explorer Burkhart Waldecker traced it to a stream in Rutovu, when in flood, the Sobat River tributary carries a large amount of sediment, adding greatly to the White Niles color. The source of the Nile can be considered to be either the Ruvyironza, which emerges in Bururi Province, Burundi, near Bukirasaz or the Nyabarongo, the two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on the Rwanda-Tanzania border. The Kagera forms part of the Rwanda–Tanzania and Tanzania–Uganda borders before flowing into Lake Victoria, the river arising from Lake Victoria is known as the Victoria Nile. The place where it arises, just outside Jinja, is marked by a monument, after Nalubaale Power Station and Kiira Power Station at the mouth, the river goes through Bujagali Falls about 15 kilometres downstream from Jinja. It then flows north and westwards through Uganda, feeding into Lake Kyoga in the centre of the country, at Karuma Falls, the river sweeps under Karuma Bridge at the south-eastern corner of Murchison Falls National Park. In 2009, the government of Uganda announced plans to construct a 750-megawatt hydropower project several kilometres north of the bridge, the World Bank had approved funding a smaller 200-megawatt power plant, but Uganda opted for a bigger project, which the Ugandans will fund internally, if necessary. Just before entering Lake Albert, the river is compressed into a passage 7 metres in width at Murchison Falls, the river flows into Lake Albert opposite the Blue Mountains in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The river exiting Lake Albert to the north is known as the Albert Nile and it separates the West Nile sub-region of Uganda from the rest of the country. A bridge passes over the Albert Nile near its inlet in Nebbi District, a powered ferry connects the roads between Adjumani and Moyo, navigation of the river is otherwise done by small boat or canoe. The Albert Nile continues north to Nimule, where it enters South Sudan and becomes known as the Mountain Nile or Baḥr al-Jabal, Bahr al Jabal also formerly lent its name to the state of Central Equatoria. The Bahr al-Jabal then winds through rapids before entering the Sudan plain and it makes its way to Lake No, where it merges with the Bahr el Ghazal and there forms the White Nile. An anabranch river called Bahr el Zeraf flows out of the Bahr al-Jabal at and flows through the Sudd, to eventually join the White Nile. The river flows north into Sudan and lends its name to the Sudanese state of White Nile, before merging with the larger Blue Nile at Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, List of rivers of Sudan List of rivers of South Sudan
White Nile
–
A steel
Bailey bridge spans the White Nile at
Juba, South Sudan
White Nile
–
The
Rusumo Falls
White Nile
–
Rafters flipping in
Bujagali Falls near the mouth of the Victoria Nile
White Nile
–
Confluence of Blue and White Nile near Khartoum
20.
River Atbara
–
The Atbarah River in northeast Africa rises in northwest Ethiopia, approximately 50 km north of Lake Tana and 30 km west of Gondar. It flows about 805 km to the Nile in north-central Sudan and its tributary, the Tekezé River, is perhaps the true upper course of the Atbarah, as the Tekezé follows the longer course prior to the confluence of the two rivers in northeastern Sudan. The Atbarah is the last tributary of the Nile before it reaches the Mediterranean, for much of the year, it is little more than a stream. However during the season, the Atbarah rises some 18 ft above its normal level. At this time it forms a barrier between the northern and central districts of the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Besides the Tekezé, important tributaries of the Atbarah include the Shinfa River which rises west of Lake Tana, the earliest surviving mention of the Atbarah is by Strabo, who called the river Astaboras. Other ancient authors mentioning the name include Agatharchides, who called it Astabaras, pliny the Elder provides a slightly different etymology of Astaboras, stating that in the language of the local people the name means water coming from the shades below. In 2010 started the building of a new dam, the Rumela and Burdana Dams, close to the junction of Upper Atbara. The new dams are located ca.80 km upstream from the Khashm El Girba Dam
River Atbara
–
Map of the river's course
21.
Bronze Age collapse
–
The palace economy of the Aegean Region and Anatolia that characterised the Late Bronze Age broke down to the isolated village cultures of the Greek Dark Ages. In the first phase of period, almost every city between Pylos and Gaza was violently destroyed, and many abandoned, examples include Hattusa, Mycenae. A very few states, particularly Assyria and Elam, were largely unaffected by the Bronze Age collapse. Before the Bronze Age collapse, Anatolia was dominated by a number of Indo-European peoples, Luwians, Hittites, Mitanni, and Mycenaean Greeks, together with the Semitic Assyrians, and Hurrians. From the 17th century BC, the Mitanni formed a ruling class over the Hurrians, similarly, the Hittites absorbed the Hattians, a people speaking a language that may have been of the North Caucasian group or a Language Isolate. Hattusas, the Hittite capital, was burned, abandoned, karaoğlan, near the present day city of Ankara, was burned and the corpses left unburied. Many other sites that were not destroyed were abandoned, the Hittite Empire was destroyed by the Indo-European-speaking Phrygians and by the Semitic-speaking Aramaeans. Troy was destroyed at least twice, before being abandoned until Roman times, other groups of Indo-European warriors followed into the region, most prominently the Lydians, the Cimmerians, and Scythians. The Semitic Arameans, Kartvelian-speaking Colchians, and Hurro-Urartuans also made an appearance in parts of the region, during the reign of the Hittite king Tudhaliya IV, the island was briefly invaded by the Hittites, either to secure the copper resource or as a way of preventing piracy. Shortly afterwards, the island was reconquered by his son around 1200 BC, some towns show traces of destruction at the end of LCII. Whether or not this is really an indication of a Mycenean invasion is contested, originally, two waves of destruction in c.1230 BC by the Sea Peoples and c.1190 BC by Aegean refugees have been proposed. The smaller settlements of Ayios Dhimitrios and Kokkinokremnos, as well as a number of sites, were abandoned. Kokkinokremos was a settlement, where various caches concealed by smiths have been found. That no one returned to reclaim the treasures suggests that they were killed or enslaved. Recovery occurred only in the Early Iron Age with Phoenician and Greek settlement and these sites in Cyprus show evidence of the collapse, Palaeokastro Kition Sinda Enkomi Ancient Syria had been initially dominated by a number of indigenous Semitic-speaking peoples. The East Semitic speaking Eblaites, the Canaanites language speaking Amorites, Syria during this time was known as The land of the Amurru. Levantine sites previously showed evidence of links with Mesopotamia, Egypt. Evidence, at Ugarit, shows that the destruction there occurred after the reign of Merneptah, the last Bronze Age king of the Semitic state of Ugarit, Ammurapi, was a contemporary of the Hittite king Suppiluliuma II
Bronze Age collapse
–
The
fall of Troy, an event recounted in
Greek mythology at the end of the Bronze Age, as represented by the 17th century painter
Kerstiaen De Keuninck
22.
Kashta
–
Kashta was a king of the Kushite Dynasty and the successor of Alara. His nomen k3š-t3 of the land of Kush is often translated directly as The Kushite, Kashta is thought to be a brother of his predecessor Alara. Both Alara and Kashta were thought to have married their sisters and these theories date back to the work of Dunham and Macadam, but Morkot points out that there is no clear evidence to support these assumptions. Kashtas only known wife was Pebatjma, several children and possible children are recorded, King Piye - Thought to be a son of Kashta. Possibly a son of Pebatjma King Shabaka - Mentioned as a brother of Amenirdis I, queen Khensa - Wife of Piye, thought to be a daughter of Kashta and possibly Pebatjma. Queen Peksater - She was married to Piye and was buried in Abydos and she may have died while accompanying Piye on a campaign to Egypt. Laming and Macadam suggest she was a daughter of Pebatjma. Gods Wife of Amun Amenirdis I, a statue of Amenirdis mentions she is the daughter of Kashta and Pebatjma. Neferukakashta - Thought to be a daughter of Kashta and possibly Pebatjma, a stela from Kashtas reign has been found in Elephantine --at the local temple dedicated to the god Khnum—which attests to his control of this region. It bears his name or prenomen, Nimaatre. Some sources credit Kashta as the founder of the 25th dynasty since he was the first Kushite king known to have expanded his kingdoms influence into Upper Egypt, the pyramids of el-Kurru contain the tombs of Kashta and several of his successors. The highest part of the cemetery contains 4 tumulus tombs, to the east of the tumulus tombs we find a row of at least eight pyramids. One of them partially intrudes on a tumulus tomb, the southernmost of this row of pyramids belong to Kashta his wife Pebatjma. Before this row is another row of pyramids which includes those of Piye, Shabaka, to the south of the pyramid of Pebatjma one has to cross the southern wadi to reach the southern pyramids. These are the pyramids of the Queens, Naparaye, Khensa, Qalhata, and Arty
Kashta
–
Bronze
situla with the names of Kashta and Amenirdis I.
Walters Art Museum.
23.
Pharaoh
–
The word pharaoh ultimately derive from the Egyptian compound pr-ˤ3 great house, written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr house and ˤ3 column, here meaning great or high. It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ˤ3 Courtier of the High House, with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the twelfth dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula Great House, may it live, prosper, and be in health, but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person. During the reign of Thutmose III in the New Kingdom, after the rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. During the eighteenth dynasty the title pharaoh was employed as a designation of the ruler. From the nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ˤ3 on its own was used as regularly as hm. f, the term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler, particularly by the twenty-second dynasty and twenty-third dynasty. For instance, the first dated appearance of the pharaoh being attached to a rulers name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun and this new practice was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the twenty-second dynasty kings. Shoshenq I was the successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the old custom of referring to the sovereign simply as pr-ˤ3 continued in traditional Egyptian narratives, by this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced *par-ʕoʔ whence Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Φερων. In the Bible, the title also occurs as פרעה, from that, Septuagint φαραώ pharaō and then Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Quran likewise spells it فرعون firawn with n, interestingly, the Arabic combines the original pharyngeal ayin sound from Egyptian, along with the -n ending from Greek. English at first spelt it Pharao, but the King James Bible revived Pharaoh with h from the Hebrew, meanwhile in Egypt itself, *par-ʕoʔ evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ prro and then rro. Scepters and staves were a sign of authority in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, kings were also known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The scepter with the longest history seems to be the heqa-scepter, the earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to pre-dynastic times. A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to the late Naqada period, another scepter associated with the king is the was-scepter. This is a long staff mounted with an animal head, the earliest known depictions of the was-scepter date to the first dynasty
Pharaoh
–
Den
Pharaoh
–
Narmer Palette
Pharaoh
–
Nomen and prenomen of
Ramesses III
Pharaoh
–
Royal titulary
24.
Neo-Assyrian Empire
–
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was an Iron Age Mesopotamian empire, in existence between 911 and 612 BC. The Assyrians perfected early techniques of imperial rule, many of which became standard in later empires, the Neo-Assyrian Empire succeeded the Old Assyrian Empire, and the Middle Assyrian Empire of the Late Bronze Age. During this period, Aramaic was also made a language of the empire. Upon the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 BC, the empire began to due to a brutal. In 616 BC, Cyaxares king of the Medes and Persians made alliances with Nabopolassar ruler of the Babylonians and Chaldeans, Assyria was originally an Akkadian kingdom which evolved in the 25th to 24th centuries BC. The urbanised Akkadian speaking nation of Assyria emerged in the mid 21st century BC, during the 20th century BC, it established colonies in Asia Minor, and under the 20th century BC King Ilushuma, Assyria conducted many successful raids against the states of the south. Ashur-uballit extended Assyrian control over the farming lands of Nineveh. Tiglath-Pileser controlled the caravan routes that crossed the fertile crescent from the Mediterranean to the Persian Gulf. Much campaigning by Tiglath-Pileser and succeeding kings was directed against Aramaean pastoralist groups in Syria, by the end of the 2nd millennium BC, the Aramaean expansion had resulted in the loss of much Assyrian territory in Upper Mesopotamia. After the death of Tiglath-Pileser I in 1076 BC, Assyria was in decline for the next 150 years. The period from 1200 BC to 900 BC was an age for the entire Near East, North Africa, Caucasus, Mediterranean and Balkan regions, with great upheavals. Adad-nirari II and his successors campaigned on a basis for part of every year with an exceptionally well-organized army. He subjugated the areas previously under only nominal Assyrian vassalage, conquering and deporting Aramean and Hurrian populations in the north to far-off places. Adadinirari II then twice attacked and defeated Shamash-mudammiq of Babylonia, annexing an area of land north of the Diyala river. He made further gains over Babylonia under Nabu-shuma-ukin I later in his reign and he was succeeded by Tukulti-Ninurta II in 891 BC, who further consolidated Assyrias position and expanded northwards into Asia Minor and the Zagros Mountains during his short reign. The next king, Ashurnasirpal II, embarked on a vast program of expansion, during his rule, Assyria recovered much of the territory that it had lost around 1100 BC at the end of the Middle Assyrian period. Ashurnasirpal II also campaigned in the Zagros Mountains in modern Iran, repressing a revolt against Assyrian rule by the Lullubi, the Assyrians began boasting in their ruthlessness around this time. Ashurnasirpal II also moved his capital to the city of Kalhu, the palaces, temples and other buildings raised by him bear witness to a considerable development of wealth and art
Neo-Assyrian Empire
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Map of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and its expansions.
Neo-Assyrian Empire
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An Assyrian winged bull, or
lamassu, from Sargon's palace at
Dur-Sharrukin.
Neo-Assyrian Empire
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Assyrian warship, a
bireme with pointed bow, 700 BC
25.
Esarhaddon
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Esarhaddon was a king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire who reigned 681 –669 BC. He was the youngest son of Sennacherib and the West Semitic queen Naqia, when, despite being the youngest son, Esarhaddon was named successor by his father, his elder brothers tried to discredit him. Oracles had named him as the person to free the exiles and rebuild Babylon, Esarhaddon remained crown prince, but was forced into exile at an unknown place beyond Hanilgalbat, that is, beyond the Euphrates, most likely somewhere in what is now southeastern Turkey. Sennacherib was murdered in 681 BC, the biblical account is that Esarhaddons brothers killed their father after the failed attempt to capture Jerusalem. Esarhaddon returned to the capital of Nineveh in forced marches and defeated his brothers in six weeks of civil war. He was formally declared king in the spring of 681 BC and his brothers fled to the land of Ararat and their followers and families were put to death. In the same year Esarhaddon began the rebuilding of Babylon, including the well-known Esagila, the statues of the Babylonian gods were restored and returned to the city. He also ordered the reconstruction of the Assyrian sanctuary of Esharra in Ashur as well, foreigners were forbidden to enter the temple. Both buildings were dedicated almost on the date, the second year of his reign. The first military campaigns of Esarhaddon were directed against nomadic tribes of southern Mesopotamia, the Dakkuri and Gambulu, in 679 BC, the Cimmerians, who had already killed his grandfather Sargon II, reappeared in Cilicia and Tabal under their new ruler Teushpa. Esarhaddon defeated them near Hubushna, and defeated the rebellious inhabitants of Hilakku as well, the Cimmerians withdrew to the west, where, with Scythian and Urartuan help, they were to destroy the kingdom of Phrygia in 676 BC. The Sidonian king Abdi-Milkutti, who had risen up against the Assyrian king, was defeated in 677 BC, the town of Sidon was destroyed and rebuilt as Kar-Ashur-aha-iddina, the Harbor of Esarhaddon. The population was deported to Assyria, a share of the plunder went to the loyal king of rival Tyre, Baal I, himself an Assyrian puppet. In 676 BC, Esarhaddon took the towns of Sissu and Kundu in the Taurus Mountains, the Mannaeans, the Scythians under their king Ishpakaia, and the Gutians of the Zagros proved to be a nuisance as well, as is attested by numerous oracle-texts. After the fall of Phrygia, a daughter of Esarhaddon was wedded to the Scythian prince Partatua of Sakasene in order to improve relations with the nomads, the Medes under Khshathrita had been the target of a campaign as well, the date of which is unclear. Later, Assyrian hosts reached the border of the salt-desert near the mountain Bikni, a number of fortresses secured the Zagros, Bit-Parnakki, Bit-kari and Harhar. A certain Mugallu had taken possession of parts of the Syro-Hittite state of Melid, the city of Melid was besieged in 675 BC, but without success. That same year, Humban-Haltash II of Elam began a campaign against Sippar, but was defeated by the Babylonians and his brother and successor Urtaki restored peace with Assyria
Esarhaddon
–
Victory stele.
26.
Classical antiquity
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It is the period in which Greek and Roman society flourished and wielded great influence throughout Europe, North Africa and Southwestern Asia. Conventionally, it is taken to begin with the earliest-recorded Epic Greek poetry of Homer, and continues through the emergence of Christianity and it ends with the dissolution of classical culture at the close of Late Antiquity, blending into the Early Middle Ages. Such a wide sampling of history and territory covers many disparate cultures, Classical antiquity may refer also to an idealised vision among later people of what was, in Edgar Allan Poes words, the glory that was Greece, and the grandeur that was Rome. The culture of the ancient Greeks, together with influences from the ancient Near East, was the basis of art, philosophy, society. The earliest period of classical antiquity takes place before the background of gradual re-appearance of historical sources following the Bronze Age collapse, the 8th and 7th centuries BC are still largely proto-historical, with the earliest Greek alphabetic inscriptions appearing in the first half of the 8th century. Homer is usually assumed to have lived in the 8th or 7th century BC, in the same period falls the traditional date for the establishment of the Ancient Olympic Games, in 776 BC. The Phoenicians originally expanded from Canaan ports, by the 8th century dominating trade in the Mediterranean, carthage was founded in 814 BC, and the Carthaginians by 700 BC had firmly established strongholds in Sicily, Italy and Sardinia, which created conflicts of interest with Etruria. The Etruscans had established control in the region by the late 7th century BC, forming the aristocratic. According to legend, Rome was founded on April 21,753 BC by twin descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas, Romulus and Remus. As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins and the Sabines. Archaeological evidence indeed shows first traces of settlement at the Roman Forum in the mid-8th century BC, the seventh and final king of Rome was Tarquinius Superbus. As the son of Tarquinius Priscus and the son-in-law of Servius Tullius, Superbus was of Etruscan birth and it was during his reign that the Etruscans reached their apex of power. Superbus removed and destroyed all the Sabine shrines and altars from the Tarpeian Rock, the people came to object to his rule when he failed to recognize the rape of Lucretia, a patrician Roman, at the hands of his own son. Lucretias kinsman, Lucius Junius Brutus, summoned the Senate and had Superbus, after Superbus expulsion, the Senate voted to never again allow the rule of a king and reformed Rome into a republican government in 509 BC. In fact the Latin word Rex meaning King became a dirty and hated throughout the Republic. In 510, Spartan troops helped the Athenians overthrow the tyrant Hippias, cleomenes I, king of Sparta, put in place a pro-Spartan oligarchy conducted by Isagoras. Greece entered the 4th century under Spartan hegemony, but by 395 BC the Spartan rulers removed Lysander from office, and Sparta lost her naval supremacy. Athens, Argos, Thebes and Corinth, the two of which were formerly Spartan allies, challenged Spartan dominance in the Corinthian War, which ended inconclusively in 387 BC
Classical antiquity
–
The
Parthenon is one of the most iconic symbols of the classical era, exemplifying ancient Greek culture
27.
Aethiopia
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Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north and northeast, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. With nearly 100 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and it occupies a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres, and its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa. Some of the oldest evidence for modern humans has been found in Ethiopia. It is widely considered as the region from modern humans first set out for the Middle East. According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations settled in the Horn region during the ensuing Neolithic era, tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BC, Ethiopia was a monarchy for most of its history. During the first centuries AD, the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region, subsequently, many African nations adopted the colors of Ethiopias flag following their independence. It was the first independent African member of the 20th-century League of Nations, Ethiopias ancient Geez script, also known as Ethiopic, is one of the oldest alphabets still in use in the world. The Ethiopian calendar, which is seven years and three months behind the Gregorian calendar, co-exists alongside the Borana calendar. A slight majority of the population adheres to Christianity, while around a third follows Islam, the country is the site of the Migration to Abyssinia and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash. A substantial population of Ethiopian Jews, known as Bete Israel, resided in Ethiopia until the 1980s, Ethiopia is a multilingual nation with around 80 ethnolinguistic groups, the four largest of which are the Oromiffa, Amhara, Somali, and Tigrayans. Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches, additionally, Omotic languages are spoken by ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern regions. Nilo-Saharan languages are spoken by the nations Nilotic ethnic minorities. Ethiopia is the place of origin for the coffee bean which originated from the place called Kefa and it is a land of natural contrasts, with its vast fertile West, jungles, and numerous rivers, and the worlds hottest settlement of Dallol in its north. The Ethiopian Highlands are Africas largest continuous mountain ranges, and Sof Omar Caves contain Africas largest cave, Ethiopia has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. Ethiopia is one of the members of the UN, the Group of 24, the Non-Aligned Movement, G-77. In the 1970s and 1980s, Ethiopia suffered from civil wars, the country has begun to recover recently however, and now has the largest economy in East Africa and Central Africa. According to Global Fire Power, Ethiopia has the 42nd most powerful military in the world, the origin of the word Ethiopia is uncertain
Aethiopia
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Coins of the
Axumite king
Endybis, 227–235 AD, at the
British Museum. The inscriptions in
Ancient Greek read "AΧWMITW BACIΛEYC" ("King of Axum") and "ΕΝΔΥΒΙC ΒΑCΙΛΕΥC" ("King Endybis").
Aethiopia
Aethiopia
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Dawit II (Lebna Dengel),
Ethiopia (nəgusä nägäst) (Emperor) of Ethiopia and a member of the
Solomonic dynasty.
Aethiopia
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King Fasilides' Castle.
28.
Kingdom of Aksum
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The Kingdom of Aksum or Axum, also known as the Aksumite Empire, was a Habasha trading nation in the modern-day area of Eritrea and the Tigray region of Ethiopia. It existed from approximately 100 AD to 940 AD, the Persian Prophet Mani regarded Axum as one of the four great powers of his time, alongside Persia, Rome, and China. The Axumites erected a number of stelae, which served a religious purpose in pre-Christian times. One of these columns is the largest such structure in the world. In the 7th century, early Muslims from Mecca sought refuge from Quraysh persecution by travelling to the kingdom and its ancient capital, also called Aksum, was in northern Ethiopia. The Kingdom used the name Ethiopia as early as the 4th century, tradition claims Axum as the alleged resting place of the Ark of the Covenant and the purported home of the Queen of Sheba. Aksum is mentioned in the 1st-century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as an important market place for ivory, which was exported throughout the ancient world. It states that the ruler of Aksum in the 1st century AD was Zoskales and he is also said to have been familiar with Greek literature. They also cite evidence indicating that the Sabaean settlers resided in the region for more than a few decades. Over 95% of Aksum remains unexplored beneath the city and its surrounding area. The Kingdom of Aksum was an empire centered in Eritrea. It existed from approximately 100–940 AD, growing from the proto-Aksumite Iron Age period c. 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD, according to the Book of Aksum, Aksums first capital, Mazaber, was built by Itiyopis, son of Cush. The capital was moved to Aksum in northern Ethiopia. The Kingdom used the name Ethiopia as early as the 4th century, the Empire of Aksum at its height at times extended across most of present-day Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The capital city of the empire was Aksum, now in northern Ethiopia, today a smaller community, the city of Aksum was once a bustling metropolis, cultural and economic center. Two hills and two lie on the east and west expanses of the city, perhaps providing the initial impetus for settling this area. Along the hills and plain outside the city, the Aksumites had cemeteries with elaborate grave stones called stelae, other important cities included Yeha, Hawulti-Melazo, Matara, Adulis, and Qohaito, the last three of which are now in Eritrea. By the reign of Endubis in the late 3rd century, it had begun minting its own currency and was named by Mani as one of the four powers of his time along with Persia, Rome
Kingdom of Aksum
Kingdom of Aksum
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Aksum and
South Arabia at the end of
GDRT 's reign in the 3rd century AD.
Kingdom of Aksum
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The
Ezana Stone records negus Ezana's conversion to Christianity and his subjugation of various neighboring peoples, including
Meroë.
29.
Egyptian hieroglyphs
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Egyptian hieroglyphs were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt. It combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with a total of some 1,000 distinct characters, cursive hieroglyphs were used for religious literature on papyrus and wood. The later hieratic and demotic Egyptian scripts are derived from hieroglyphic writing, the writing system continued to be used throughout the Late Period, as well as the Persian and Ptolemaic periods. Late survivals of hieroglyphic use are found well into the Roman period, with the closing of pagan temples in the 5th century, knowledge of hieroglyphic writing was lost, and the script remained undeciphered throughout the medieval and early modern period. The decipherment of hieroglyphs would only be solved in the 1820s by Jean-François Champollion, the word hieroglyph comes from the Greek adjective ἱερογλυφικός, a compound of ἱερός and γλύφω, supposedly a calque of an Egyptian phrase mdw·w-nṯr gods words. The glyphs themselves were called τὰ ἱερογλυφικὰ γράμματα the sacred engraved letters, the word hieroglyph has become a noun in English, standing for an individual hieroglyphic character. As used in the sentence, the word hieroglyphic is an adjective. Hieroglyphs emerged from the artistic traditions of Egypt. For example, symbols on Gerzean pottery from c.4000 BC have been argued to resemble hieroglyphic writing, proto-hieroglyphic symbol systems develop in the second half of the 4th millennium BC, such as the clay labels of a Predynastic ruler called Scorpion I recovered at Abydos in 1998. The first full sentence written in hieroglyphs so far discovered was found on a seal found in the tomb of Seth-Peribsen at Umm el-Qaab. There are around 800 hieroglyphs dating back to the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, by the Greco-Roman period, there are more than 5,000. However, given the lack of evidence, no definitive determination has been made as to the origin of hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt. Since the 1990s, and discoveries such as the Abydos glyphs, as writing developed and became more widespread among the Egyptian people, simplified glyph forms developed, resulting in the hieratic and demotic scripts. These variants were more suited than hieroglyphs for use on papyrus. Hieroglyphic writing was not, however, eclipsed, but existed alongside the other forms, especially in monumental, the Rosetta Stone contains three parallel scripts – hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek. Hieroglyphs continued to be used under Persian rule, and after Alexander the Greats conquest of Egypt, during the ensuing Ptolemaic and Roman periods. It appears that the quality of comments from Greek and Roman writers about hieroglyphs came about, at least in part. Some believed that hieroglyphs may have functioned as a way to distinguish true Egyptians from some of the foreign conquerors, another reason may be the refusal to tackle a foreign culture on its own terms, which characterized Greco-Roman approaches to Egyptian culture generally
Egyptian hieroglyphs
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A section of the
Papyrus of Ani showing cursive hieroglyphs.
Egyptian hieroglyphs
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Hieroglyphs on a funerary stela in
Manchester Museum
Egyptian hieroglyphs
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The
Rosetta Stone in the
British Museum
Egyptian hieroglyphs
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Hieroglyphs typical of the Graeco-Roman period
30.
Brooklyn Museum
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The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum is New York Citys third largest in physical size, the museum initially struggled to maintain its building and collection, only to be revitalized in the late 20th century, thanks to major renovations. Significant areas of the collection include antiquities, specifically their collection of Egyptian antiquities spanning over 3,000 years, African, Oceanic, and Japanese art make for notable antiquities collections as well. American art is represented, starting at the Colonial period. Artists represented in the collection include Mark Rothko, Edward Hopper, Norman Rockwell, Winslow Homer, Edgar Degas, Georgia OKeeffe, the museum also has a Memorial Sculpture Garden which features salvaged architectural elements from throughout New York City. The roots of the Brooklyn Museum extend back to the 1823 founding by Augustus Graham of the Brooklyn Apprentices’ Library in Brooklyn Heights, in 1890, under its director Franklin Hooper, Institute leaders reorganized as the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences and began planning the Brooklyn Museum. The initial design for the Brooklyn Museum was four times as large as the actualized version, Daniel Chester French, the noted sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial, was the principal designer of the pediment sculptures and the monolithic 12. 5-foot figures along the cornice. The figures were created by 11 sculptors and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, by 1920, the New York City Subway reached the museum with a subway station, this greatly improved access to the once-isolated museum from Manhattan and other outer boroughs. The Brooklyn Institutes director Franklin Hooper was the museums first director and he was followed by Philip Newell Youtz, Laurance Page Roberts, Isabel Spaulding Roberts, Charles Nagel, Jr. and Edgar Craig Schenck. Thomas S. Buechner became the director in 1960, making him one of the youngest directors in the country. Buechner oversaw a major transformation in the way the museum displayed art and brought some one thousand works that had languished in the museums archives and put them on display. Buechner played a role in rescuing the Daniel Chester French sculptures from destruction due to an expansion project at the Manhattan Bridge in the 1960s. The Brooklyn Museum changed its name to Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1997, on March 12,2004, the museum announced that it would revert to its previous name. In April 2004, the museum opened the James Polshek-designed entrance pavilion on the Eastern Parkway façade, in September 2014, Lehman announced that he was planning to retire around June 2015. In May 2015, Creative Time president and artistic director Anne Pasternak was named the Museums next director, member institutions occupy land or buildings owned by the City of New York and derive part of their yearly funding from the City. The Brooklyn Museum also supplements its earned income with funding from Federal and State governments, as well as donations by individuals. Major benefactors include Frank Lusk Babbott, the museum is the site of the annual Brooklyn Artists Ball which has included celebrity hosts such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Liv Tyler. The Brooklyn Museum exhibits collections that seek to embody the rich heritage of world cultures
Brooklyn Museum
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Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
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Replica of the
Statue of Liberty in back lot.
Brooklyn Museum
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Book of the Dead of the Goldworker of Amun, Sobekmose, 31.1777e
Brooklyn Museum
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Brooklyn Papyrus 664-332 BCE
Sudan
Egypt
South Sudan
Media related to Kingdom of Kush at Wikimedia Commons
