1.
Ancient history
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Ancient history is the aggregate of past events from the beginning of recorded human history and extending as far as the Early Middle Ages or the Postclassical Era. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with Sumerian Cuneiform script, the term classical antiquity is often used to refer to history in the Old World from the beginning of recorded Greek history in 776 BC. This roughly coincides with the date of the founding of Rome in 753 BC, the beginning of the history of ancient Rome. In India, ancient history includes the period of the Middle Kingdoms, and, in China. Historians have two major avenues which they take to better understand the ancient world, archaeology and the study of source texts, primary sources are those sources closest to the origin of the information or idea under study. Primary sources have been distinguished from secondary sources, which cite, comment on. Archaeology is the excavation and study of artefacts in an effort to interpret, archaeologists excavate the ruins of ancient cities looking for clues as to how the people of the time period lived. The study of the ancient cities of Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, the city of Pompeii, an ancient Roman city preserved by the eruption of a volcano in AD79. Its state of preservation is so great that it is a window into Roman culture and provided insight into the cultures of the Etruscans. The Terracotta Army, the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor in ancient China, the discovery of Knossos by Minos Kalokairinos and Sir Arthur Evans. The discovery of Troy by Heinrich Schliemann, most of what is known of the ancient world comes from the accounts of antiquitys own historians. Although it is important to take account the bias of each ancient author. Some of the more notable ancient writers include Herodotus, Thucydides, Arrian, Plutarch, Polybius, Sima Qian, Sallust, Livy, Josephus, Suetonius, furthermore, the reliability of the information obtained from these surviving records must be considered. Few people were capable of writing histories, as literacy was not widespread in almost any culture until long after the end of ancient history, the earliest known systematic historical thought emerged in ancient Greece, beginning with Herodotus of Halicarnassus. He was also the first to distinguish between cause and immediate origins of an event, the Roman Empire was one of the ancient worlds most literate cultures, but many works by its most widely read historians are lost. Indeed, only a minority of the work of any major Roman historian has survived, prehistory is the period before written history. The early human migrations in the Lower Paleolithic saw Homo erectus spread across Eurasia 1.8 million years ago, the controlled use of fire occurred 800,000 years ago in the Middle Paleolithic. 250,000 years ago, Homo sapiens emerged in Africa, 60–70,000 years ago, Homo sapiens migrated out of Africa along a coastal route to South and Southeast Asia and reached Australia
2.
Civilization
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Historically, a civilization was a so-called advanced culture in contrast to more supposedly primitive cultures. As an uncountable noun, civilization also refers to the process of a society developing into a centralized, urbanized, stratified structure, Civilization concentrates power, extending human control over the rest of nature, including over other human beings. The earlier neolithic technology and lifestyle was established first in the Middle East, and later in the Yangtze and Yellow River basins in China, similar pre-civilized neolithic revolutions also began independently from 7,000 BCE in such places as northwestern South America and Mesoamerica. These were among the six civilizations worldwide that arose independently, Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BCE, with civilizations developing from 6,500 years ago. Towards the end of the Neolithic period, various elitist Chalcolithic civilizations began to rise in various cradles from around 3300 BCE. Chalcolithic civilizations, as defined above, also developed in Pre-Columbian Americas and, despite an early start in Egypt, Axum and Kush, the English word civilization comes from the 16th-century French civilisé, from Latin civilis, related to civis and civitas. The fundamental treatise is Norbert Eliass The Civilizing Process, which traces social mores from medieval courtly society to the Early Modern period, in The Philosophy of Civilization, Albert Schweitzer outlines two opinions, one purely material and the other material and ethical. Adjectives like civility developed in the mid-16th century, the abstract noun civilization, meaning civilized condition, came in the 1760s, again from French. The word was therefore opposed to barbarism or rudeness, in the pursuit of progress characteristic of the Age of Enlightenment. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, during the French revolution, civilization was used in the singular, never in the plural and this is still the case in French. The use of civilizations as a noun was in occasional use in the 19th century. Only in this sense does it become possible to speak of a medieval civilization. Already in the 18th century, civilization was not always seen as an improvement, one historically important distinction between culture and civilization is from the writings of Rousseau, particularly his work about education, Emile. From this, a new approach was developed, especially in Germany, first by Johann Gottfried Herder and this sees cultures as natural organisms, not defined by conscious, rational, deliberative acts, but a kind of pre-rational folk spirit. Civilization, in contrast, though more rational and more successful in material progress, is unnatural and leads to vices of social life such as guile, hypocrisy, envy and avarice. In World War II, Leo Strauss, having fled Germany, argued in New York that this opinion of civilization was behind Nazism, Social scientists such as V. Gordon Childe have named a number of traits that distinguish a civilization from other kinds of society. Andrew Nikiforuk argues that civilizations relied on shackled human muscle and it took the energy of slaves to plant crops, clothe emperors, and build cities and considers slavery to be a common feature of pre-modern civilizations. All civilizations have depended on agriculture for subsistence, grain farms can result in accumulated storage and a surplus of food, particularly when people use intensive agricultural techniques such as artificial fertilization, irrigation and crop rotation
3.
North Africa
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North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of Africa. The United Nationss definition of Northern Africa is, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, the countries of Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya are often collectively referred to as the Maghreb, which is the Arabic word for sunset. Egypt lies to the northeast and encompasses part of West Asia, while Sudan is situated on the edge of the Sahel, Egypt is a transcontinental country because of the Sinai Peninsula, which geographically lies in Western Asia. North Africa also includes a number of Spanish possessions, the Canary Islands and Madeira in the North Atlantic Ocean northwest of the African mainland are included in considerations of the region. From 3500 BC, following the abrupt desertification of the Sahara due to changes in the Earths orbit. The Islamic influence in the area is significant, and North Africa is a major part of the Muslim world. Some researchers have postulated that North Africa rather than East Africa served as the point for the modern humans who first trekked out of the continent in the Out of Africa migration. The Atlas Mountains extend across much of Morocco, northern Algeria and Tunisia, are part of the mountain system that also runs through much of Southern Europe. They recede to the south and east, becoming a steppe landscape before meeting the Sahara desert, the sediments of the Sahara overlie an ancient plateau of crystalline rock, some of which is more than four billion years old. Sheltered valleys in the Atlas Mountains, the Nile Valley and Delta, a wide variety of valuable crops including cereals, rice and cotton, and woods such as cedar and cork, are grown. Typical Mediterranean crops, such as olives, figs, dates and citrus fruits, the Nile Valley is particularly fertile, and most of the population in Egypt and Sudan live close to the river. Elsewhere, irrigation is essential to improve yields on the desert margins. The inhabitants of Saharan Africa are generally divided in a manner corresponding to the principal geographic regions of North Africa, the Maghreb, the Nile valley. The edge of the Sahel, to the south of Egypt has mainly been inhabited by Nubians, Ancient Egyptians record extensive contact in their Western desert with people that appear to have been Berber or proto-Berber, as well as Nubians from the south. They have contributed to the Arabized Berber populations, the official language or one of the official languages in all of the countries in North Africa is Arabic. The people of the Maghreb and the Sahara regions speak Berber languages and several varieties of Arabic, the Arabic and Berber languages are distantly related, both being members of the Afroasiatic language family. The Tuareg Berber languages are more conservative than those of the coastal cities. Over the years, Berbers have been influenced by contact with cultures, Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, Europeans
4.
Nile
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The Nile is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It is generally regarded as the longest river in the world, in particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and Sudan. The Nile has two tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile. The White Nile is considered to be the headwaters and primary stream of the Nile itself, the Blue Nile, however, is the source of most of the water and silt. The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa and it flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast, the two rivers meet just north of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. The northern section of the river flows north almost entirely through the Sudanese desert to Egypt, then ends in a large delta, Egyptian civilization and Sudanese kingdoms have depended on the river since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of Aswan, in the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥpī or Iteru, meaning river. In Coptic, the words piaro or phiaro meaning the river come from the ancient name. The English name Nile and the Arabic names en-Nîl and an-Nîl both derive from the Latin Nilus and the Ancient Greek Νεῖλος, beyond that, however, the etymology is disputed. One possible etymology derives it from a Semitic Nahal, meaning river, the standard English names White Nile and Blue Nile, to refer to the rivers source, derive from Arabic names formerly applied only to the Sudanese stretches which meet at Khartoum. Above Khartoum, the Nile is also known as the White Nile, at Khartoum the river is joined by the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia, both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift. The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers, the source of the Nile is sometimes considered to be Lake Victoria, but the lake has feeder rivers of considerable size. It is either the Ruvyironza, which emerges in Bururi Province, Burundi, or the Nyabarongo, the two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on the Rwanda-Tanzania border. Gish Abay is reportedly the place where the water of the first drops of the Blue Nile develop. The Nile leaves Lake Nyanza at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda and it flows north for some 130 kilometers, to Lake Kyoga. For the remaining part it flows westerly through the Murchison Falls until it reaches the very northern shores of Lake Albert where it forms a significant river delta
5.
Egypt
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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
6.
Upper and Lower Egypt
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Upper and Lower Egypt also referred to as The Two Lands is a name used for Ancient Egypt. The concept appears in titles of Egyptian Kings and Queens and appears in scenes in temple, tombs, the concept also refers to an innate sense of duality in the Ancient Egyptian culture. The Egyptian expression sema-tawy is usually translated as The Uniter of the Two Lands and was depicted as a human trachea entwined with the papyrus, the trachea stood for unification, while the papyrus and lily plant represent Lower and Upper Egypt. Standard titles of a King of Egypt was King of Upper and Lower Egypt, similarly a Queen might use titles such as Lady of The Two Lands, Mistress of the Entire Two Lands, and Mistress of the Two Lands. Ancient Egypt was divided into two regions, namely Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt, to the north was Lower Egypt, where the Nile stretched out with its several branches to form the Nile Delta. To the south was Upper Egypt, stretching to Syene, Lower Egypt mostly consists of the Nile Delta. The two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were united c.3000 BC, but each maintained its own regalia, the hedjet or White Crown for Upper Egypt and the deshret or Red Crown for Lower Egypt. Thus, the pharaohs were known as the rulers of the Two Lands, and wore the pschent, Ancient Egyptian tradition credited Menes, now believed to be the same as Narmer, as the king who united Upper and Lower Egypt. On the Narmer Palette the king is depicted wearing the Red Crown in one scene and the White crown in another, the union of Upper and Lower Egypt is depicted by knotted papyrus and reed plants. The binding motif represents both harmony through linkage and domination through containment, the duality is an important part of royal iconography. Sometimes the duality is further extended by having the knotted plants extend and bind foreign foes as well, during the first dynasty dualistic royal titles emerge, including the King of Upper and Lower Egypt title which combines the plant representing Upper Egypt and a bee representing Lower Egypt. The other dualistic title is the Two Ladies name or Nebty name, the two ladies as Nekhbet, the vulture goddess associated with Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt, and Wadjet, the cobra goddess associated with Buto in Lower Egypt. There are many depictions of the ritual unifications of the Two Lands and it is not known if this was perhaps a rite that would have been enacted at the beginning of a reign, or merely a symbolic representation. Many of the depictions of the show two gods binding the plants. Often the gods are Horus and Set, or on occasion Horus, there are several examples of Barque stands from the reigns of Amenhotep III, Taharqa, and Atlanersa that show two river gods performing the rite. This matches a scene from the Temple at Abu Simbel from the time of Ramesses II, there are only a handful of scenes that show the King himself performing the ritual. All of these are from barque stands and date to the reigns of Amenhotep III, Sety I, the latter two may be copies of the first one. Upper Egypt Lower Egypt Narmer History of ancient Egypt
7.
Pharaoh
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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
8.
History of ancient Egypt
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The history of ancient Egypt spans the period from the early prehistoric settlements of the northern Nile valley to the Roman conquest, in 30 BC. The Pharaonic Period is dated from the 32nd century BC, when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified, until the country fell under Macedonian rule, note For alternative revisions to the chronology of Egypt, see Egyptian chronology. Egypts history is split into different periods according to the ruling dynasty of each pharaoh. The dating of events is still a subject of research, the conservative dates are not supported by any reliable absolute date for a span of about three millennia. The following is the list according to conventional Egyptian chronology, traces of these early people appear in the form of artifacts and rock carvings along the terraces of the Nile and in the oases. To the Egyptians the Nile meant life and the desert meant death, evidence also indicates human habitation and cattle herding in the southwestern corner of Egypt near the Sudan border before the 8th millennium BC. Despite this, the idea of an independent bovine domestication event in Africa must be abandoned because subsequent evidence gathered over a period of thirty years has failed to corroborate this, the oldest-known domesticated cattle remains in Africa are from the Faiyum c.4400 BC. Continued desiccation forced the early ancestors of the Egyptians to settle around the Nile more permanently, however, the period from 9th to the 6th millennium BC has left very little in the way of archaeological evidence. The Nile valley of Egypt was basically uninhabitable until the work of clearing and irrigating the land along the banks was started, however it appears that this clearance and irrigation was largely under way by the 6th millennium. By that time, Nile society was already engaged in organized agriculture, at this time, Egyptians in the southwestern corner of Egypt were herding cattle and also constructing large buildings. Mortar was in use by the 4th millennium, the people of the valley and the Nile Delta were self-sufficient and were raising barley and emmer, an early variety of wheat, and stored it in pits lined with reed mats. They raised cattle, goats and pigs and they wove linen, prehistory continues through this time, variously held to begin with the Amratian culture. Between 5500 BC and the 31st century BC, small settlements flourished along the Nile, the Tasian culture was the next to appear, it existed in Upper Egypt starting about 4500 BC. This group is named for the burials found at Deir Tasa, the Tasian culture is notable for producing the earliest blacktop-ware, a type of red and brown pottery painted black on its top and interior. The Badari culture, named for the Badari site near Deir Tasa, followed the Tasian, however, the Badari culture continued to produce the kind of pottery called blacktop-ware, and was assigned the sequence dating numbers between 21 and 29. The Amratian culture is named after the site of el-Amreh, about 120 kilometres south of Badari, el-Amreh was the first site where this culture was found unmingled with the later Gerzeh culture. However, this period is attested at Nagada, and so is also referred to as the Naqada I culture. The Amratian period falls between S. D.30 and 39, newly excavated objects indicate that trade between Upper and Lower Egypt existed at this time
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
10.
Roman Empire
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Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
11.
Egypt (Roman province)
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The province encompassed most of modern-day Egypt except for the Sinai Peninsula. Aegyptus was bordered by the provinces of Creta et Cyrenaica to the West, the province came to serve as a major producer of grain for the empire and had a highly developed urban economy. Aegyptus was by far the wealthiest Eastern Roman province, in Alexandria, its capital, it possessed the largest port, and the second largest city, of the Roman Empire. As a province, Egypt was ruled by a uniquely styled Augustal prefect, the prefect was a man of equestrian rank and was appointed by the Emperor. The second prefect, Aelius Gallus, made an expedition to conquer Arabia Petraea. The Red Sea coast of Aegyptus was not brought under Roman control until the reign of Claudius, the third prefect, Gaius Petronius, cleared the neglected canals for irrigation, stimulating a revival of agriculture. Petronius even led a campaign into present-day central Sudan against the Kingdom of Kush at Meroe, failing to acquire permanent gains, in 22 BC he razed the city of Napata to the ground and retreated to the north. From the reign of Nero onward, Aegyptus enjoyed an era of prosperity which lasted a century, under Trajan a Jewish revolt occurred, resulting in the suppression of the Jews of Alexandria and the loss of all their privileges, although they soon returned. Hadrian, who twice visited Aegyptus, founded Antinoöpolis in memory of his drowned lover Antinous, from his reign onward buildings in the Greco-Roman style were erected throughout the country. Under Antoninus Pius oppressive taxation led to a revolt in 139, of the native Egyptians and this Bucolic War, led by one Isidorus, caused great damage to the economy and marked the beginning of Egypts economic decline. Avidius Cassius, who led the Roman forces in the war, declared emperor in 175. On the approach of Marcus Aurelius, Cassius was deposed and killed, a similar revolt broke out in 193, when Pescennius Niger was proclaimed emperor on the death of Pertinax. The Emperor Septimius Severus gave a constitution to Alexandria and the capitals in 202. There was a series of revolts, both military and civilian, through the 3rd century, under Decius, in 250, the Christians again suffered from persecution, but their religion continued to spread. This warrior queen claimed that Egypt was a home of hers through a familial tie to Cleopatra VII. She was well educated and familiar with the culture of Egypt, its religion, two generals based in Aegyptus, Probus and Domitius Domitianus, led successful revolts and made themselves emperors. Diocletian captured Alexandria from Domitius in 298 and reorganised the whole province and his edict of 303 against the Christians began a new era of persecution. This was the last serious attempt to stem the growth of Christianity in Egypt
12.
Nomad
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A nomad is a member of a community of people who live in different locations, moving from one place to another. Among the various ways nomads relate to their environment, one can distinguish the hunter-gatherer, as of 1995, there were an estimated 30–40 million nomads in the world. Nomadic hunting and gathering, following seasonally available wild plants and game, is by far the oldest human subsistence method, pastoralists raise herds, driving them, or moving with them, in patterns that normally avoid depleting pastures beyond their ability to recover. Nomadism is also a lifestyle adapted to regions such as steppe, tundra, or ice and sand. For example, many groups in the tundra are reindeer herders and are semi-nomadic and these nomads sometimes adapt the use of high technology such as solar photovoltaics to reduce their dependence on diesel fuel. These groups are known as peripatetic nomads, a nomad is a person with no settled home, moving from place to place as a way of obtaining food, finding pasture for livestock, or otherwise making a living. The word Nomad comes from a Greek word that one who wanders for pasture. Most nomadic groups follow an annual or seasonal pattern of movements and settlements. Nomadic peoples traditionally travel by animal or canoe or on foot, today, some nomads travel by motor vehicle. Most nomads live in tents or other portable shelters, Nomads keep moving for different reasons. Nomadic foragers move in search of game, edible plants, the Australian Aborigines, Negritos of Southeast Asia, and San of Africa, for example, traditionally move from camp to camp to hunt and to gather wild plants. Some tribes of the Americas followed this way of life, Pastoral nomads make their living raising livestock, such as camels, cattle, goats, horses, sheep, or yaks. These nomads travel to find more camels, goats, and sheep through the deserts of Arabia, the Fulani and their cattle travel through the grasslands of Niger in western Africa. Some nomadic peoples, especially herders, may move to raid settled communities or avoid enemies. Nomadic craftworkers and merchants travel to find and serve customers and they include the Lohar blacksmiths of India, the Romani traders, and the Irish Travellers. Most nomads travel in groups of families called bands or tribes and these groups are based on kinship and marriage ties or on formal agreements of cooperation. A council of adult males makes most of the decisions, though some tribes have chiefs, in the case of Mongolian nomads, a family moves twice a year. These two movements would generally occur during the summer and winter, the winter location is usually located near mountains in a valley and most families already have their fixed winter locations
13.
Old Kingdom of Egypt
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The term itself was coined by eighteenth-century historians and the distinction between the Old Kingdom and the Early Dynastic Period is not one which would have been recognized by Ancient Egyptians. The Old Kingdom is most commonly regarded as the period from the Third Dynasty through to the Sixth Dynasty, many Egyptologists also include the Memphite Seventh and Eighth Dynasties in the Old Kingdom as a continuation of the administration centralized at Memphis. During the Old Kingdom, the king of Egypt became a god who ruled absolutely and could demand the services. Under King Djoser, the first king of the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, the capital of Egypt was moved to Memphis. A new era of building was initiated at Saqqara under his reign, King Djosers architect, Imhotep is credited with the development of building with stone and with the conception of the new architectural form—the Step Pyramid. Indeed, the Old Kingdom is perhaps best known for the number of pyramids constructed at this time as burial places for Egypts kings. For this reason, the Old Kingdom is frequently referred to as the Age of the Pyramids, the first king of the Old Kingdom was Djoser of the third dynasty, who ordered the construction of a pyramid in Memphis necropolis, Saqqara. An important person during the reign of Djoser was his vizier and it was in this era that formerly independent ancient Egyptian states became known as nomes, under the rule of the king. The former rulers were forced to assume the role of governors or otherwise work in tax collection, Egyptians in this era worshipped their king as a god, believing that he ensured the annual flooding of the Nile that was necessary for their crops. Egyptian views on the nature of time during this period held that the worked in cycles. They also perceived themselves as a specially selected people, the Old Kingdom and its royal power reached a zenith under the Fourth Dynasty, which began with Sneferu. Using more stones than any king, he built three pyramids, a now collapsed pyramid in Meidum, the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur. However, the development of the pyramid style of building was reached not at Saqqara. Sneferu was succeeded by his son, Khufu who built the Great Pyramid of Giza, after Khufus death, his sons Djedefra and Khafra may have quarrelled. The latter built the pyramid and the Sphinx in Giza. Recent reexamination of evidence has led Egyptologist Vassil Dobrev to propose that the Sphinx had been built by Djedefra as a monument to his father Khufu, alternatively, the Sphinx has been proposed to be the work of Khafra and Khufu himself. There were military expeditions into Canaan and Nubia, with Egyptian influence reaching up the Nile into what is today the Sudan, the later kings of the Fourth Dynasty were king Menkaure, who built the smallest pyramid in Giza, Shepseskaf and, perhaps, Djedefptah. The Fifth Dynasty began with Userkaf and was marked by the importance of the cult of sun god Ra
14.
Nubia
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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
15.
Sinai Peninsula
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The Sinai Peninsula or simply Sinai is a peninsula in Egypt, situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, serving as a land bridge between Asia and Africa. It is the part of Egyptian territory located in Asia. Sinai has an area of about 60,000 km2. The bulk of the peninsula is divided administratively into two of Egypts 27 governorates, the Sinai Peninsula has been a part of Egypt from the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt. In periods of occupation, the Sinai was, like the rest of Egypt, also occupied and controlled by foreign empires, in more recent history the Ottoman Empire. Israel invaded and occupied Sinai during the Suez Crisis of 1956, on 6 October 1973, Egypt launched the Yom Kippur War to retake the peninsula, which was the site of fierce fighting between Egyptian and Israeli forces. Today, Sinai has become a tourist destination due to its setting, rich coral reefs. Mount Sinai is one of the most religiously significant places in Abrahamic faiths, in addition to its formal name, Egyptians also refer to it as Arḍ ul-Fairūz. The ancient Egyptians called it Ta Mefkat, or land of turquoise, Sinai is triangular in shape, with northern shore lying on the southern Mediterranean Sea, and southwest and southeast shores on Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba of the Red Sea. It is linked to the African continent by the Isthmus of Suez,125 kilometres wide strip of land, the eastern isthmus, linking it to the Asian mainland, is around 200 kilometres wide. The peninsulas eastern shore separates the Arabian plate from the African plate, the southernmost tip is the Ras Muhammad National Park. Most of the Sinai Peninsula is divided among the two governorates of Egypt, South Sinai and North Sinai, together, they comprise around 60,000 square kilometres and have a population of 597,000. Three more governates span the Suez Canal, crossing into African Egypt, Suez is on the end of the Suez Canal, Ismailia in the centre. The largest city of Sinai is Arish, capital of the North Sinai, other larger settlements include Sharm el-Sheikh and El-Tor, on the southern coast. Inland Sinai is arid, mountainous and sparsely populated, the largest settlements being Saint Catherine, Sinai is one of the coldest provinces in Egypt because of its high altitudes and mountainous topographies. Winter temperatures in some of Sinais cities and towns reach −16 °C, the mines were worked intermittently and on a seasonal basis for thousands of years. Modern attempts to exploit the deposits have been unprofitable and these may be the first historically attested mines. According to the Hebrew Bible, the peninsula was crossed by the Israelites during the Exodus from Egypt and this included numerous halts over a 40-year period of travel sometime towards the end of the Bronze Age
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Canaan
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Canaan was a Semitic-speaking region in the Ancient Near East during the late 2nd millennium BC. The name Canaan occurs commonly in the Hebrew Bible, in particular, the references in Genesis 10 and Numbers 34 define the Land of Canaan as extending from Lebanon southward to the Brook of Egypt and eastward to the Jordan River Valley. References to Canaan in the Bible are usually backward-looking, referring to a region that had something else. The term Canaanites serves as an ethnic catch-all term covering various indigenous populations—both settled, the Amarna Letters and other cuneiform documents use Kinaḫḫu, while other sources of the Egyptian New Kingdom mention numerous military campaigns conducted in Ka-na-na. Canaan had significant geopolitical importance in the Late Bronze Age Amarna period as the area where the spheres of interest of the Egyptian, Hittite, Mitanni and Assyrian Empires converged. Much of the knowledge about Canaan stems from archaeological excavation in this area at sites such as Tel Hazor, Tel Megiddo. The English term Canaan comes from the Hebrew כנען, via Greek Χαναάν Khanaan and it appears as KUR ki-na-ah-na in the Amarna letters, and knʿn is found on coins from Phoenicia in the last half of the 1st millennium. It first occurs in Greek in the writings of Hecataeus as Khna, scholars connect the name Canaan with knʿn, Kanaan, the general Northwest Semitic name for this region. An early explanation derives the term from the Semitic root knʿ to be low, humble, purple cloth became a renowned Canaanite export commodity which is mentioned in Exodus. The dyes may have named after their place of origin. The purple cloth of Tyre in Phoenicia was well known far, however, according to Robert Drews, Speisers proposal has generally been abandoned. The Late Bronze Age state of Ugarit is considered quintessentially Canaanite archaeologically, Jonathan Tubb states that the term ga-na-na may provide a third millennium reference to Canaanite while at the same time stating that the first certain reference is in the 18th century BC. See Ebla-Biblical controversy for further details, Mari letters A letter from Mutu-bisir to Shamshi-Adad I of the Old Assyrian Empire has been translated, It is in Rahisum that the brigands and the Canaanites are situated. It was found in 1973 in the ruins of Mari, an Assyrian outpost at that time in Syria, additional unpublished references to Kinahnum in the Mari letters refer to the same episode. Alalakh texts A reference to Ammiya being in the land of Canaan is found on the Statue of Idrimi from Alalakh in modern Syria. After a popular uprising against his rule, Idrimi was forced into exile with his mothers relatives to seek refuge in the land of Canaan, the other references in the Alalakh texts are, AT154 AT181, A list of Apiru people with their origins. All are towns, except for Canaan AT188, A list of Muskenu people with their origins, the letters are written in the official and diplomatic East Semitic Akkadian language of Assyria and Babylonia, though Canaanitish words and idioms are also in evidence. May the king ask Yanhamu about these matters, may the king ask his commissioner, who is familiar with Canaan EA151, Letter from Abimilku to the Pharaoh, The king, my lord wrote to me, write to me what you have heard from Canaan
17.
Nome (Egypt)
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A nome was a subnational administrative division of Ancient Egypt. Todays use of the Greek νομή, nomé rather than the Egyptian term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic period, the availability of Greek records on Egypt influenced the adoption of Greek terms by later historians. The division of ancient Egypt into nomes can be traced back to the Predynastic Period and these nomes originally existed as autonomous city-states, but later began to unify. According to ancient tradition, the ruler Menes completed the final unification, not only did the division into nomes remain in place for more than three millennia, the areas of the individual nomes and their ordering remained remarkably stable. Some, like Xois in the Delta or Khent in Upper Egypt, were first mentioned on the Palermo stone, the names of a few, like the nome of Bubastis, appeared no earlier than the New Kingdom. Under the system that prevailed for most of pharaonic Egypts history, lower Egypt, from the Old Kingdom capital Memphis to the Mediterranean Sea, comprised 20 nomes. The first was based around Memphis, Saqqara, and Giza, the nomes were numbered in a more or less orderly fashion south to north through the Nile delta, first covering the territory on the west before continuing with the higher numbers to the east. Thus, Alexandria was in the Third Nome, Bubastis was in the Eighteenth, Upper Egypt was divided into 22 nomes. The first of these was centered on Elephantine close to Egypts border with Nubia at the First Cataract – the area of modern-day Aswan, from there the numbering progressed downriver in an orderly fashion along the narrow fertile strip of land that was the Nile valley. Waset was in the Fourth Nome, Amarna in the Fourteenth, some nomes were added or renamed during the Graeco-Roman occupation of Egypt. For example, the Ptolemies renamed the Crocodilopolitan nome to Arsinoe, hadrian created a new nome, Antinoopolites, for which Antinoopolis was the capital. The nomes survived into Roman times, under Roman rule, individual nomes minted their own coinage, the so-called nome coins, which still reflect individual local associations and traditions. The nomes of Egypt retained their importance as administrative units until the fundamental rearrangement of the bureaucracy during the reigns of Diocletian. From AD 307/8, their place was taken by units called pagi. Eventually powerful local officials arose who were called pagarchs, through whom all patronage flowed, the pagarchs essential role was as an organizer of tax-collection. Later the pagarch assumed some military functions as well, the pagarchs were often wealthy landowners who reigned over the pagi from which they originated. For most of the history, each nome was headed by a nomarch, the position of the nomarch was at times hereditary, while at others they were appointed by the pharaoh. Generally, when the government was stronger, nomarchs were the kings appointed governors
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Composite bow
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A composite bow is a traditional bow made from horn, wood, and sinew laminated together, cf. laminated bow. The horn is on the belly, facing the archer, when the bow is drawn, the sinew and horn store more energy than wood for the same length of bow. The strength can be similar to that of all-wood self bows, with similar draw-length. However, making a bow requires more varieties of material than a self bow, its construction takes much more time. Composite bows have been known from archaeology and art since the second millennium BCE and they originated among Asiatic pastoralists who used them as daily necessities, classically for mounted archery although they can also be used on foot. The use of horn in a bow was even remarked on in Homers epic, The Odyssey, the details of manufacture varied between the various cultures that used them. Initially the tips of the limbs were made to bend when the bow was drawn. Later, the tips were stiffened with bone or antler laths, post-classical bows usually have stiff tips, known as siyahs, like other bows, they lost importance with the introduction and increasing accuracy of guns. In some areas composite bows were used and were further developed for leisure purposes. Later Turkish bows are specialized for flight archery, Composite bows are still made and used in Korea and in China, and the tradition has been revived elsewhere. Modern replicas are available, often made with fiberglass bellies and backs with a natural or man-made core, the wooden core gives the bow its shape and dimensional stability. It is often made of pieces, joined with animal glue in V-splices. Pieced construction allows the sharp bends that many designs require, the wood of the bending part of the limb must endure intense shearing stress, and denser woods such as hard maples are normally used in Turkish bows. Bamboo, and wood of the family, are traditional in China. Some composite bows have nonbending tips, which need to be stiff and light, a thin layer of horn is glued onto what will be the belly of the bow, the side facing the archer. Water buffalo horn is very suitable, as is horn of several such as gemsbok, oryx, ibex. Goat and sheep horn can also be used, most forms of cow horn are not suitable, as they soon delaminate with use. The horn can store more energy than wood in compression, the sinew, soaked in animal glue, is then laid in layers on the back of the bow, the strands of sinew are oriented along the length of the bow
19.
Hyksos
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The Hyksos were a people of mixed origins from Western Asia, who settled in the eastern Nile Delta, some time before 1650 BC. The arrival of the Hyksos led to the end of the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt, in the context of Ancient Egypt, the term Asiatic – which is often used of the Hyksos – may refer to any people native to areas east of Egypt. Immigration by Canaanite populations preceded the Hyksos, canaanites first appeared in Egypt towards the end of the 12th Dynasty c.1800 BC, and either around that time or c.1720 BC, established an independent realm in the eastern Nile Delta. The Canaanite rulers of the Delta, regrouped in the Fourteenth Dynasty, coexisted with the Egyptian Thirteenth Dynasty, the power of the 13th and 14th Dynasties progressively waned, perhaps due to famine and plague. In about 1650 BC, both dynasties were invaded by the Hyksos, who formed the Fifteenth Dynasty. The collapse of the Thirteenth Dynasty created a vacuum in the south, which may have led to the rise of the Sixteenth Dynasty, based in Thebes. The Hyksos eventually conquered both, albeit for only a time in the case of Thebes. From then on, the 17th Dynasty took control of Thebes and reigned for some time in peaceful coexistence with the Hyksos kings, eventually, Seqenenre Tao, Kamose and Ahmose waged war against the Hyksos and expelled Khamudi, their last king, from Egypt c.1550 BC. The Hyksos practiced horse burials, and their deity, their native storm god, Baal, became associated with the Egyptian storm and desert god. The Hyksos were a people of mixed Asiatic origin with mainly Semitic-speaking components, although some scholars have suggested that the Hyksos contained a Hurrian component, most other scholars have dismissed this possibility. The Hyksos brought several innovations to Egypt, as well as cultural infusions such as new musical instruments. The changes introduced include new techniques of working and pottery, new breeds of animals. In warfare, they introduced the horse and chariot, the bow, improved battle axes. Because of these advances, Hyksos rule became decisive for Egypt’s later empire in the Middle East. There are various hypotheses as to the Hyksos ethnic identity, most archaeologists describe the Hyksos as multi-ethnic, to include all of the peoples who occupied the Nile Delta. The origin of the term Hyksos derives from the Egyptian expression hekau khaswet, the German Egyptologist Wolfgang Helck once argued that the Hyksos were part of massive and widespread Hurrian and Indo-Aryan migrations into the Near East. According to Helck, the Hyksos were Hurrians and part of a Hurrian empire that, most scholars have rejected this theory, and Helck himself abandoned this hypothesis in a 1993 article. The Hyksos were likely Semites who came from the Eastern Mediterranean, khyans name has generally been interpreted as Amorite Hayanu which the Egyptian form represents perfectly, and this is in all likelihood the correct interpretation
20.
Mentuhotep II
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Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II was a Pharaoh of the 11th Dynasty who reigned for 51 years. Around his 39th year on the throne he reunited Egypt, thus ending the First Intermediate Period, consequently, he is considered the first pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom. Mentuhotep II was the son of Intef III and Intef IIIs wife Iah who may also have been his sister. This lineage is demonstrated by the stele of Henenu, an official who served under Intef II, Intef III and his son, as for Iah, she bore the title of mwt-nswt, Kings mother. The parentage of Mentuhotep II is also confirmed by a relief at Shatt er-Rigal. f Kings wife, his beloved. She gave Mentuhotep II two children, one of which was certainly Mentuhotep III since Tem was also called mwt-nswt, Kings mother and mwt-nswt-bitj, apparently she died after her husband and was buried by her son in Mentuhotep temple. Her tomb was discovered in 1859 by Lord Duffering and fully excavated in 1968 by D. Arnold, Neferu II was called Kings wife and hmt-nswt-mryt. f, Kings wife, his beloved. She was buried in the tomb TT319 of Deir el-Bahri, kawit was one of Mentuhotep IIs secondary wives. She bore the titles of hmt-nswt mryt. f Kings wife, his beloved and khkrt-nswt and she was a Priestess of the goddess Hathor. It has been suggested that she was Nubian and she was buried under the terrasse of Mentuhotep IIs mortuary temple where E. Naville uncovered her sarcophagus in 1907. Sadeh, Ashayet, Henhenet and Kemsit were all Mentuhotep IIs secondary wives and they bore the title of hmt-nswt mryt. f Kings wife, his beloved and khkrt-nswt-w3tit Unique embellishment of the King. They were priestesses of Hathor and each of them was buried in a pit dug under the terrasse of Mentuhotep IIs temple. Note that an alternative theory holds that Henhenet was one of Intef IIIs secondary wives, Henhenet might have died in childbirth. Mwyt, a girl buried with Mentuhotep IIs secondary wives. It is not clear if she was one of Mentuhoteps wives herself or one of his daughters, Mentuhotep II is considered to be the first ruler of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. The Turin Canon credits him with a reign of 51 years, when he ascended the Theban throne, Mentuhotep II inherited the vast land conquered by his predecessors from the first cataract in the south to Abydos and Tjebu in the north. Mentuhotep IIs first fourteen years of reign seem to have been peaceful in the Theban region as there are no surviving traces of conflict firmly datable to that period, in the 14th year of his reign, an uprising occurred in the north. This uprising is most probably connected with the conflict between Mentuhotep II based in Thebes and the rival 10th Dynasty based at Herakleopolis who threatened to invade Upper Egypt
21.
Cataracts of the Nile
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In some places, these stretches are punctuated by whitewater, while at others the water flow is smoother, but still shallow. Counted going upstream, In Egypt, The First Cataract cuts through Aswan and its former location was selected for the construction of Aswan Low Dam, the first dam built across the Nile. However, none of the Niles six primary cataracts could be described as waterfalls, and given a broader definition. Geologists indicate that the region of the northern Sudan is tectonically active, the Nubian Swell has diverted the rivers course to the west, while keeping its depth shallow and causing the formation of the cataracts. Even as the bed is worn down by erosion, the land mass is lifted. The geological distinction between two portions of the river is considerable. This created a vast canyon that is now filled by the sediment, for more information, see the Eonile as well as the Messinian salinity crisis. Despite these characteristics, some of the cataracts which are impassable by boat because of the shallow water have become navigable during the flood season. Eratosthenes gave a description of the Cataract-Nile, “It has a similar shape to a backwards letter N. Then it makes another turn, and flows northward 5300 stadia to the cataract, curving slightly to the east, then 1200 stadia to the smaller cataract at Syene. Cataract photos links, First Cataract Second Cataract & Second Cataract Third Cataract & Third Cataract & Third Cataract Fifth Cataract
22.
Senusret I
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Senusret I, also anglicized as Sesostris I and Senwosret I, was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 BC to 1926 BC, and was one of the most powerful kings of this Dynasty and he was the son of Amenemhat I and his wife Nefertitanen. His wife and sister was Neferu and she was also the mother of the successor Amenemhat II. Senusret I was known by his prenomen, Kheperkare, which means the Ka of Re is created and he also organized an expedition to a Western Desert oasis. Senusret I established diplomatic relations with rulers of towns in Syria. He also tried to centralize the countrys political structure by supporting nomarchs who were loyal to him and his pyramid was constructed at el-Lisht. Senusret I dispatched several quarrying expeditions to the Sinai and Wadi Hammamat and built numerous shrines and temples throughout Egypt and he rebuilt the important temple of Re-Atum in Heliopolis which was the centre of the sun cult. He erected 2 red granite obelisks there to celebrate his Year 30 Heb Sed Jubilee, one of the obelisks still remains and is the oldest standing obelisk in Egypt. It is now in the Al-Masalla area of Al-Matariyyah district near the Ain Shams district and it is 67 feet tall and weighs 120 tons or 240,000 pounds. A shrine with fine, high quality reliefs of Senusret I, was built at Karnak to commemorate his Year 30 jubilee and it has subsequently been successfully reconstructed from various stone blocks discovered by Henri Chevrier in 1926. Finally, Senusret remodelled the Temple of Khenti-Amentiu Osiris at Abydos, some of the key members of the court of Senusret I are known. The vizier at the beginning of his reign was Intefiqer, who is known from many inscriptions and he seems to have held this office for a long period of time and was followed by a vizier named Senusret. Two treasurers are known from the reign of the king, Sobekhotep and Mentuhotep, the latter had a huge tomb next to the pyramid of the king and he seems to have been the main architect of the Amun temple at Karnak. Hor is known from several stelae and from an inscription in the Wadi el-Hudi where he was evidently the leader of an expedition for amethyst, one of the stelae is dated to year nine of the king. A certain Nakhr followed in office attested around year 12 of the king, a certain Antef, son of a woman called Zatamun is known again from several stelae, one dates to year 24 another one to year 25 of Senusret I. Another Antef was the son a woman called Zatuser and was most likely also high steward in the kings reign, Senusret was crowned coregent with his father, Amenemhat I, in his fathers 20th regnal year. Towards the end of his own life, he appointed his son Amenemhat II as his coregent, the stele of Wepwawetō is dated to the 44th year of Senusret and to the 2nd year of Amenemhet, thus he would have appointed him some time in his 43rd year. Senusret is thought to have died during his 46th year on the throne since the Turin Canon ascribes him a reign of 45 Years, loyalist Teaching Senusret Kheperkare Sesostris I
23.
Buhen
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Buhen was an ancient Egyptian settlement situated on the West bank of the Nile below the Second Cataract in what is now Northern State, Sudan. On the East bank, across the river, was located an ancient settlement of Wadi Halfa, in the Old Kingdom it was the site of a small trading post in Nubia that was also used for copper working. The settlement may have been established during the reign of Sneferu, nevertheless, there is evidence of still earlier, 2nd dynasty, occupation at Buhen. An archaeological investigation in 1962 revealed what was described as an ancient copper factory, graffiti and other inscribed items from the site show that the Egyptians stayed about 200 years, until late in the 5th dynasty, when they were probably forced out by immigration from the south. Buhen is known for its fortress, probably constructed during the rule of Senusret III in around 1860 BC. Senusret III conducted four campaigns into Kush and established a line of forts within signalling distance of one another, the other forts along the banks were Mirgissa, Shalfak, Uronarti, Askut, Dabenarti, Semna, and Kumma. The Kushites captured Buhen during the 13th dynasty, and held it until Ahmose I recaptured it at the beginning of the 18th dynasty and it was stormed and recaptured by indigenous forces at the end of Egypts 20th dynasty. The fortress itself extended more than 150 metres along the west bank of the Nile and it covered 13,000 square metres, and had within its wall a small town laid out in a grid system. At its peak it probably had a population of around 3500 people, the fortress also included the administration for the whole fortified region of the Second Cataract. Its fortifications included a moat three metres deep, drawbridges, bastions, buttresses, ramparts, battlements, loopholes, the walls of the fort were about 5 metres thick and 10 metres high. The fortress at Buhen is now submerged under Lake Nasser as a result of the construction of the Aswan Dam in 1964, before the site was covered with water, it was excavated by a team led by Walter Bryan Emery. Buhen had a temple of Horus built by Hatshepsut, which was moved to the National Museum of Sudan in Khartoum prior to the flooding of Lake Nasser, brian Yare, The Middle Kingdom Egyptian Fortresses in Nubia
24.
Ancient Egypt
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Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. It is one of six civilizations to arise independently, Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh Narmer. In the aftermath of Alexander the Greats death, one of his generals, Ptolemy Soter and this Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom ruled Egypt until 30 BC, when, under Cleopatra, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province. The success of ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture, the predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which supported a more dense population, and social development and culture. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities carried off to far corners of the world and its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for centuries. The Nile has been the lifeline of its region for much of human history, nomadic modern human hunter-gatherers began living in the Nile valley through the end of the Middle Pleistocene some 120,000 years ago. By the late Paleolithic period, the climate of Northern Africa became increasingly hot and dry. In Predynastic and Early Dynastic times, the Egyptian climate was less arid than it is today. Large regions of Egypt were covered in treed savanna and traversed by herds of grazing ungulates, foliage and fauna were far more prolific in all environs and the Nile region supported large populations of waterfowl. Hunting would have been common for Egyptians, and this is also the period when many animals were first domesticated. The largest of these cultures in upper Egypt was the Badari, which probably originated in the Western Desert, it was known for its high quality ceramics, stone tools. The Badari was followed by the Amratian and Gerzeh cultures, which brought a number of technological improvements, as early as the Naqada I Period, predynastic Egyptians imported obsidian from Ethiopia, used to shape blades and other objects from flakes. In Naqada II times, early evidence exists of contact with the Near East, particularly Canaan, establishing a power center at Hierakonpolis, and later at Abydos, Naqada III leaders expanded their control of Egypt northwards along the Nile. They also traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the desert to the west. Royal Nubian burials at Qustul produced artifacts bearing the oldest-known examples of Egyptian dynastic symbols, such as the crown of Egypt. They also developed a ceramic glaze known as faience, which was used well into the Roman Period to decorate cups, amulets, and figurines. During the last predynastic phase, the Naqada culture began using written symbols that eventually were developed into a system of hieroglyphs for writing the ancient Egyptian language. The Early Dynastic Period was approximately contemporary to the early Sumerian-Akkadian civilisation of Mesopotamia, the third-century BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties, a system still used today
25.
Chariot
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A chariot is a type of carriage driven by a charioteer using primarily horses to provide rapid motive power. Chariots were used by armies as transport or mobile platforms, for hunting or for racing. The word chariot comes from the Latin carrus, itself a loanword from Gaulish, a chariot of war or one used in military parades was called a car. In ancient Rome and some other ancient Mediterranean civilizations, a required two horses, a triga three, and a quadriga four. The critical invention that allowed the construction of light, horse-drawn chariots was the spoked wheel, the earliest spoke-wheeled chariots date to ca.2000 BCE. The use of chariots peaked around 1300 BCE, Chariots had lost their military importance by the 1st century CE, but chariot races continued to be popular in Constantinople until the 6th century. The domestication of the horse was an important step toward civilization, an increasing amount of evidence supports the hypothesis that horses were domesticated in the Eurasian Steppes approximately 4000-3500 BCE. The invention of the used in transportation most likely took place in Europe. Evidence of wheeled vehicles appears from the mid 4th millennium BCE near-simultaneously in the Northern Caucasus, the earliest vehicles may have been ox carts. Starokorsunskaya kurgan in the Kuban region of Russia contains a grave of the Maikop Culture. The two solid wooden wheels from this kurgan have been dated to the half of the fourth millennium. Soon thereafter the number of burials in this Northern Caucasus region multiplied. As David Anthony writes in his book The Horse, the Wheel and Language, in Eastern Europe and it is a clay pot excavated in a Funnelbeaker settlement in Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship in Poland. The oldest securely dated real wheel-axle combination in Eastern Europe is the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel, horses were introduced to Transcaucasia at the time of the Kura-Araxes culture, beginning about 3300 BCE. Prior to that, horse bones were not found, during the Kura-Araxes period, horses seem to become rather widespread, with signs of domestication. It is widely believed that wheeled transport was invented in Mesopotamia, nevertheless, recent archaeological evidence seems to indicate otherwise, pointing to Neolithic Europe. At the same time, in Mesopotamia, some intriguing early pictograms of a sled that rests on wooden rollers or wheels have been found and they date from about the same time as the early wheel discoveries in Europe and may indicate knowledge of the wheel. The earliest depiction of vehicles in the context of warfare is on the Standard of Ur in southern Mesopotamia, the hybrids were used by the Eblaite, early Sumerian, Akkadian and Ur III armies
26.
Merneferre Ay
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Merneferre Ay was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the mid 13th Dynasty. The longest reigning pharaoh of the 13th Dynasty, he ruled a fragmented Egypt for over 23 years in the early to mid 17th century BC, a pyramidion bearing his name shows that he possibly completed a pyramid, probably located in the necropolis of Memphis. Merneferre Ay is the last pharaoh of the 13th dynasty to be attested outside Upper Egypt and this may point to problems in Egypt at the time and indeed, by the end of his reign, the administration seems to have completely collapsed. It is possible that the capital of Egypt since the early Middle Kingdom, for this reason, some scholars consider Merneferre Ay to be the last pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. The king list records Ays name on column 8 line 3 and establishes that Merneferre Ay was preceded by Wahibre Ibiau and succeeded by Merhotepre Ini, similarly the absolute datation of Ays reign is debated and varies by 17 years between Ryholts 1701–1677 BC and Schneiders 1684–1661 BC. The dispute was settled in the latest study of the Turin canon by Kim Ryholt who confirms that Merneferre Ays reign length as recorded on the papyrus is 23 years,8 months and 18 days. Ryholt insists that the tick that distinguishes 20 and 30 from 10 is preserved, accordingly,23 years or, less likely,33 years must be read. This makes Merneferre Ay the longest-ruling pharaoh of the 13th Dynasty at a time when numerous short-lived kings ruled Egypt. As a king of the mid 13th Dynasty, Merneferre Ay reigned over Middle and Upper Egypt concurrently with the 14th Dynasty, the egyptologists Kim Ryholt and Darrell Baker contend that Mernferre usurped the throne at the expense of his predecessor Wahibre Ibiau. They base this conclusion on the absence of filiative nomina. They believe that this should have been the case had his father been a pharaoh, little is known of Ays consorts, he was possibly married to Ineni whose scarabs are stylistically similar to those of Ay. The rest of the scarabs of known provenance are from Abydos, Coptos and Lisht, the pyramidion was confiscated from robbers by the Egyptian police in 1911 at Faqus, close to the ancient city of Avaris. It is carved with the name of Ay and shows him offering to Horus Lord of heaven, egyptologists believe that the pyramidion originates in fact from Memphis, in the necropolis of which Ays pyramid must be located. Accordingly, this suggests that the pyramid was looted at the time of the Hyksos invasion c.1650 BC and this is vindicated by the damaged text on the pyramidion originally invoked four gods two of whom were Ptah and Re-Horus. The cults of gods were based in the Memphite necropolis. Other objects which suffered the same fate include two statues of the 13th Dynasty king Imyremeshaw. Even though Merneferre Ay is well attested, the number of objects attributable to him is relatively small given his nearly 24 year-long reign. This may point to problems in Egypt at the time and indeed Ryholt
27.
Memphis, Egypt
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Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Mit Rahina,20 km south of Giza, according to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an important city throughout ancient Mediterranean history and it occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile delta, and was home to feverish activity. Its principal port, Peru-nefer, harboured a high density of workshops, factories, during its golden age, Memphis thrived as a regional centre for commerce, trade, and religion. Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah and its great temple, Hut-ka-Ptah, was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of temple, rendered in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς by the historian Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt. The history of Memphis is closely linked to that of the country itself and its eventual downfall is believed to be due to the loss of its economic significance in late antiquity, following the rise of coastal Alexandria. Its religious significance also diminished after the abandonment of the ancient religion following the Edict of Thessalonica, the ruins of the former capital today offer fragmented evidence of its past. They have been preserved, along with the complex at Giza. The site is open to the public as an open-air museum, Memphis has had several names during its history of almost four millennia. Its Ancient Egyptian name was Inbu-Hedj, because of its size, the city also came to be known by various other names that were actually the names of neighbourhoods or districts that enjoyed considerable prominence at one time or another. For example, according to a text of the First Intermediate Period, it was known as Djed-Sut, the city was also at one point referred to as Ankh-Tawy, stressing the strategic position of the city between Upper and Lower Egypt. This name appears to date from the Middle Kingdom, and is found in ancient Egyptian texts. At the beginning of the New Kingdom, the city known as Men-nefer. The name Memphis is the Greek adaptation of this name, which was originally the name of the pyramid of Pepi I, in the Bible, Memphis is called Moph or Noph. The city of Memphis is 20 km south of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile. The modern cities and towns of Mit Rahina, Dahshur, Abusir, Abu Gorab, the city was also the place that marked the boundary between Upper and Lower Egypt. The island of the city is today uninhabited, the closest settlement is the town of Mit Rahina
28.
Thebes, Egypt
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Thebes, known to the ancient Egyptians as Waset, was an ancient Egyptian city located east of the Nile about 800 kilometers south of the Mediterranean. Its ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor, Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome. It was close to Nubia and the desert, with their valuable mineral resources. It was a center and the wealthiest city of ancient Egypt at its heyday. The Ancient Egyptians originally knew Thebes as Wose or Wase A was was the scepter of the pharaohs, a staff with an animals head. Thebes is the Latinized form of the Greek Thebai, the form of the Demotic Egyptian Ta-pe. This was the name not for the city itself but for the Karnak temple complex on the northern east bank of the city. As early as Homers Iliad, the Greeks distinguished the Egyptian Thebes as Thebes of the Hundred Gates, as opposed to the Thebes of the Seven Gates in Boeotia, from the end of the New Kingdom, Thebes was known in Egyptian as Niwt-Imn, the City of Amun. Amun was the chief of the Theban Triad of gods whose other members were Mut and this name appears in the Bible as the Nōʼ ʼĀmôn of the Book of Nahum and probably also as the No mentioned in Ezekiel and Jeremiah. In the interpretatio graeca, Amun was seen as a form of Zeus, the name was therefore translated into Greek as Diospolis, the City of Zeus. To distinguish it from the other cities by this name. The Greek names came into use after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. Thebes was located along the banks of the Nile River in the part of Upper Egypt about 800 km from the Delta. It was built largely on the plains of the Nile Valley which follows a great bend of the Nile. As a natural consequence, the city was laid in a northeast-southwest axis parallel to the river channel. Thebes had an area of 93 km2 which included parts of the Theban Hills in the west that culminates at the sacred 420-meter al-Qurn, in the east lies the mountainous Eastern Desert with its wadis draining into the valley. Significant of these wadis is Wadi Hammamat near Thebes and it was used as an overland trade route going to the Red Sea coast. In the fourth Upper Egyptian nome, Thebes was found to have neighboring towns such as Per-Hathor, Madu, Djerty, Iuny, Sumenu, according to George Modelski, Thebes had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2000 BC
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Avaris
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Avaris was the capital of Egypt under the Hyksos. It was located at modern Tell el-Daba in the region of the Nile Delta. As the main course of the Nile migrated eastward, its position at the hub of Egypts delta emporia made it an administrative capital of the Hyksos. The name in the Egyptian language of the 2nd millennium BC was probably pronounced *Ḥaʔat-Wūrat Great House, today, the name Hawara survives, referring to the site at the entrance to Faiyum. Alternatively, Clement of Alexandria referred to the name of city as Athyria. In 1885, the Swiss Édouard Naville started the first excavations in the area around Tell-el-Daba, between 1941 and 1942, Labib Habachi, an Egyptian Egyptologist first forwarded the idea that the site could be identified with Avaris. Between 1966 and 1969 and since 1975, the site has been excavated by the Austrian Archaeological Institute. Using radar imaging technology, its scientists could identify in 2010 the outline of the city including streets, houses, a port, artifacts excavated at a temple erected in the Hyksos period have produced goods from all over the Aegean world. The temple even has Minoan-like wall paintings that are similar to found on Crete at the Palace of Knossos. A large mudbrick tomb has also excavated to the west of the temple. Avaris was absorbed into the new city of Pi-Ramesses constructed by Ramesses II of the Nineteenth dynasty when he moved the back to the Delta. Avaris, along with Tel Kabri in Israel and Alalakh in Syria, also has a record of Minoan civilization, french archaeologist Yves Duhoux proposed the existence of a Minoan colony on an island in the Nile delta. Ancient Egypt, the discoveries, a year-by-year chronicle. Entry on Rameses in Geoffrey W. Bromiley, the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Q-Z. Avaris, the capital of the Hyksos, recent excavations at Tell el-Dabʻa, British Museum Press for the Trustees of the British Museum. Tell el-Dabʿa Homepage - available in German and English
30.
Seqenenre Tao
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Seqenenre Tao, called The Brave, ruled over the last of the local kingdoms of the Theban region of Egypt in the Seventeenth Dynasty during the Second Intermediate Period. He probably was the son and successor to Senakhtenre Ahmose and Queen Tetisheri, the dates of his reign are uncertain, but he may have risen to power in the decade ending in 1560 BC or in 1558 BC. Seqenenre Tao is credited with starting the opening moves in the war of liberation against the Hyksos, new Kingdom literary tradition states that Seqenenre Tao came into contact with his Hyksos contemporary in the north, Apepi or Apophis. Seqenenre Tao participated in active diplomatic posturing, which went beyond simply exchanging insults with the Asiatic ruler in the North. He seems to have led military skirmishes against the Hyksos and, judging from the head wound on his mummy in the Cairo Museum. On an adjacent hillside overlooking the river, the foundations of a building were found that almost certainly was a observation post. Interestingly, a large amount of pottery known as Kerma-ware was found at the site. It is thought that they were there as allies of the pharaoh in his wars against the Hyksos, seqenenres mummy was discovered in the Deir el-Bahri cache, revealed in 1881. He was interred along with those of later, eighteenth and nineteenth dynasty leaders, Ahmose I, Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Thutmose III, Ramesses I, Seti I, Ramesses II, the mummy was unwrapped by Gaston Maspero on June 9,1886. There are no wounds on his arms or hands, which suggests he was not able to defend himself, until 2009 the main hypotheses have been that he died either in a battle against the Hyksos or was killed while sleeping. His mummy appears to have been hastily embalmed, x-rays that were taken of the mummy in the late-1960s show that no attempt had been made to remove the brain or to add linen inside the cranium or eyes, both normal embalming practice for the time. In the opinion of James E and he is the earliest royal mummy on display in the recently revamped Royal Mummies Hall at the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Egypt, From the Death of Ammenemes III to Sequenenre II, in Volume 2, Chapter 2 of the Cambridge Ancient History, Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament
31.
Kamose
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Kamose was the last king of the Theban Seventeenth Dynasty. He was possibly the son of Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep I and his reign fell at the very end of the Second Intermediate Period. Kamose is usually ascribed a reign of three years, although scholars now favor giving him a longer reign of approximately five years. His reign is important for the decisive military initiatives he took against the Hyksos and his father had begun the initiatives and, quite possibly, lost his life in battle with the Hyksos. It is thought that his mother, as regent, continued the campaigns after the death of Kamose, Kamose was the final king in a succession of native Egyptian kings at Thebes. Originally, the Theban Seventeenth dynasty rulers were at peace with the Hyksos kingdom to their north prior to the reign of Seqenenre Tao and they controlled Upper Egypt up to Elephantine and ruled Middle Egypt as far north as Cusae. Kamose sought to extend his rule northward over all of Lower Egypt and this apparently was met with much opposition by his courtiers. Kamose sought to regain by force what he thought was his by right, Kamose states his reasons for an attack on the Hyksos was nationalistic pride. He was also likely merely continuing the military policies of his immediate predecessor. In Kamoses third year, he embarked on his campaign against the Hyksos by sailing north out of Thebes on the Nile. He first reached Nefrusy, which was just north of Cusae and was manned by an Egyptian garrison loyal to the Hyksos, a detachment of Medjay troops attacked the garrison and overran it. The Carnavon Tablet recounted this much of the campaign, but breaks off there, nonetheless, Kamoses military strategy probably can be inferred. This kind of tactic probably allowed him to travel very quickly up the Nile, a second stele also found in Thebes, continues Kamoses narrative again with an attack on Avaris. Because it does not mention Memphis or other cities to the north, it has long been suspected that Kamose never did attack Avaris. Kim Ryholt recently has argued that Kamose probably never advanced farther than the Anpu or Cynopolis Nome in Middle Egypt and did not enter either the Nile Delta, nor Lower Egypt proper. Kamose promptly ordered a detachment of his troops to occupy and destroy the Bahariya Oasis in the western desert, Kamose, called the Strong in this text, ordered this action to protect his rearguard. Atfih, hence, formed either the new border or a land between the now shrunken Hyksos kingdom and Kamoses expanding seventeenth dynasty state. This information confirms that Kamose confined his activities to this Egyptian nome and his Year 3 is the only attested date for Kamose and was once thought to signal the end of his reign
32.
Ahmose I
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Ahmose I was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty. He was a member of the Theban royal house, the son of pharaoh Seqenenre Tao and brother of the last pharaoh of the Seventeenth dynasty, during the reign of his father or grandfather, Thebes rebelled against the Hyksos, the rulers of Lower Egypt. When he was seven years old his father was killed, and he was ten when his brother died of unknown causes. Ahmose I assumed the throne after the death of his brother, the name Ahmose is a combination of the divine name Ah and the combining form -mose. This building program culminated in the construction of the last pyramid built by native Egyptian rulers, Ahmoses reign laid the foundations for the New Kingdom, under which Egyptian power reached its peak. His reign is dated to the mid-16th century BC. Ahmose descended from the Theban Seventeenth Dynasty and his grandfather and grandmother, Senakhtenre Ahmose and Tetisheri, had at least twelve children, including Seqenenre Tao and Ahhotep. The brother and sister, according to the tradition of Egyptian queens, married, their children were Kamose, Ahmose I, Ahmose I followed in the tradition of his father and married several of his sisters, making Ahmose-Nefertari his chief wife. They had several children including daughters Meritamun B, Sitamun A and sons Siamun A, Ahmose-ankh, Amenhotep I and they may also have been the parents of Mutnofret, who would become the wife of later successor Thutmose I. Ahmose-ankh was Ahmoses heir apparent, but he preceded his father in death sometime between Ahmoses 17th and 22nd regnal year, Ahmose was succeeded instead by his eldest surviving son, Amenhotep I, with whom he might have shared a short coregency. There was no break in the line of the royal family between the 17th and 18th dynasties. Manetho supposedly gives Ahmose a reign of 25 years and 4 months and this figure is seemingly supported by a Year 22 inscription from his reign at the stone quarries of Tura. A medical examination of his mummy indicates that he died when he was about thirty-five, the radiocarbon date range for the start of his reign is 1570–1544 BC, the mean point of which is 1557 BC. Alternative dates for his reign were suggested by David Rohl, Kamose evidently had a short reign, as his highest attested regnal year is year 3, and was succeeded by Ahmose I. Apepi may have died near the same time, Ahmose ascended the throne when he was still a child, so his mother, Ahhotep, reigned as regent until he was of age. Ahmose began the conquest of Lower Egypt held by the Hyksos starting around the 11th year of Khamudis reign, analyzing the events of the conquest prior to the siege of the Hyksos capital of Avaris is extremely difficult. First month of akhet, day 23, this southern prince broke into Tjaru, for if the date refers to Ahmose, then the scribe must have been an adherent of that ruler. To me, the very indirect reference to Ahmose—it must be Ahmose—ought to indicate a supporter of the Hyksos dynasty, hence, the Rhind Papyrus illustrates some of Ahmoses military strategy when attacking the Delta
33.
Khopesh
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Khopesh is an Egyptian sickle-sword that evolved from battle axes. A typical khopesh is 50–60 cm in length, though smaller examples do also exist, the blunted edge of the weapons tip also served as an effective bludgeon, as well as a hook. These weapons changed from bronze to iron in the New Kingdom period, the earliest known depiction of a khopesh is from the Stele of Vultures, depicting King Eannatum of Lagash wielding the weapon, this would date the khopesh to at least 2500 BC. The word khopesh may have derived from leg, as in leg of beef, the hieroglyph for ḫpš is found as early as during the time of the Coffin Texts. The blade is sharpened on the outside portion of the curved end. The khopesh evolved from the epsilon or similar crescent shaped axes that were used in warfare, note, however, that the khopesh is not an axe. The khopesh went out of use around 1300 BC, however, in the 196 BC Rosetta Stone it is referenced as the sword determinative in a hieroglyphic block, with the spelled letters of kh, p, and sh to say, Shall be set up a statue. The Avenger of Baq-t-, the interpretation whereof is Ptolemy, the one of Kam-t-. Various pharaohs are depicted with a khopesh, and some have found in royal graves. Although some examples are clearly sharpened, many examples have dull edges which apparently were never intended to be sharp and it may therefore be possible that some khopeshes found in high status graves were ceremonial variants. Falcata Falx Kopis Shotel Harpe Budge,1989, the Rosetta Stone, E. A. Wallace Budge, c 1929, Dover edition,1989
34.
Sea Peoples
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The Sea Peoples were a purported seafaring confederation of groups known to have attacked ancient Egypt prior to the Late Bronze Age collapse. The various Sea Peoples have been proposed to have originated either from western Anatolia or from Southern Europe. French Egyptologist Emmanuel de Rougé first used the term peuples de la mer in 1855 in a description of reliefs on the Second Pylon at Medinet Habu documenting Year 8 of Ramesses III. Gaston Maspero, de Rougés successor at the Collège de France, since the early 1990s, the theory has been brought into question by a number of scholars. Hypotheses regarding the origin of the groups identified as Sea Peoples remains the source of much speculation. De Rougé later became chair of Egyptology at the Collège de France, the theory was taken up by other scholars such as Eduard Meyer, and became the generally accepted theory amongst Egyptologists and orientalists. Since the early 1990s, the theory has been brought into question by a number of scholars, the years of this long-lived pharaohs reign are not known exactly, but they must have comprised nearly all of the first half of the 13th century BCE. In his Second Year, an attack of the Sherden, or Shardana, on the Nile Delta was repulsed and defeated by Ramesses, the event is recorded on Tanis Stele II. The Sherden prisoners were incorporated into the Egyptian army for service on the Hittite frontier by Ramesses. Another stele usually cited in conjunction with one is the Aswan Stele. It is plausible to assume that the Tanis and Aswan Stelae refer to the same event, the Battle of Kadesh was the outcome of a campaign against the Hittites and allies in the Levant in the pharaohs Year 5. The imminent collision of the Egyptian and Hittite empires became obvious to both, and they both prepared campaigns against the strategic midpoint of Kadesh for the next year, Ramesses divided his Egyptian forces, which were then ambushed piecemeal by the Hittite army and nearly defeated. At home, Ramesses had his scribes formulate an official description, ten copies survive today on the temples at Abydos, Karnak, Luxor and Abu Simbel, with reliefs depicting the battle. The Poem of Pentaur, describing the battle survived also, there is no evidence of any collaboration with the Hittites or malicious intent on their part, and if Ramesses considered it, he never left any record of that consideration. The poem lists the peoples which went to Kadesh as allies of the Hittites, depredations of this confederacy had been so severe that the region was forsaken as pasturage for cattle, it was left waste from the time of the ancestors. The pharaohs action against them is attested in a narrative found in three sources. The Athribis stela is a stela found in Athribis and inscribed on both sides, which, like the Cairo column was first published by Maspero, two years later in 1883. The Merneptah Stele from Thebes describes the reign of peace resulting from the victory, the Nine Bows were acting under the leadership of the king of Libya and an associated near-concurrent revolt in Canaan involving Gaza, Ashkelon, Yenoam and the people of Israel
35.
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
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Some scholars also include the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt wholly into this period as well, in which case the Middle Kingdom would finish c. 1650, while others only include it until Merneferre Ay c.1700 BC, during the Middle Kingdom period, Osiris became the most important deity in popular religion. The period comprises two phases, the 11th Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes and the 12th Dynasty onwards which was centered on el-Lisht, after the collapse of the Old Kingdom, Egypt entered a period of weak Pharaonic power and decentralization called the First Intermediate Period. Towards the end of period, two rival dynasties, known in Egyptology as the Tenth and Eleventh, fought for power over the entire country. The Theban 11th Dynasty only ruled southern Egypt from the first cataract to the Tenth Nome of Upper Egypt, to the north, Lower Egypt was ruled by the rival 10th Dynasty from Herakleopolis. The struggle was to be concluded by Mentuhotep II, who ascended the Theban throne in 2055 B. C, during Mentuhotep IIs fourteenth regnal year, he took advantage of a revolt in the Thinite Nome to launch an attack on Herakleopolis, which met little resistance. After toppling the last rulers of the 10th Dynasty, Mentuhotep began consolidating his power over all Egypt, for this reason, Mentuhotep II is regarded as the founder of the Middle Kingdom. Mentuhotep II commanded military campaigns south as far as the Second Cataract in Nubia and he also restored Egyptian hegemony over the Sinai region, which had been lost to Egypt since the end of the Old Kingdom. He also sent the first expedition to Punt during the Middle Kingdom, by means of ships constructed at the end of Wadi Hammamat, Mentuhotep III was succeeded by Mentuhotep IV, whose name significantly is omitted from all ancient Egyptian king lists. The Turin Papyrus claims that after Mentuhotep III came seven kingless years, despite this absence, his reign is attested from a few inscriptions in Wadi Hammamat that record expeditions to the Red Sea coast and to quarry stone for the royal monuments. The leader of expedition was his vizier Amenemhat, who is widely assumed to be the future pharaoh Amenemhet I. Mentuhotep IVs absence from the king lists has prompted the theory that Amenemhet I usurped his throne, while there are no contemporary accounts of this struggle, certain circumstantial evidence may point to the existence of a civil war at the end of the 11th dynasty. Inscriptions left by one Nehry, the Haty-a of Hermopolis, suggest that he was attacked at a place called Shedyet-sha by the forces of the reigning king, but his forces prevailed. Khnumhotep I, an official under Amenemhet I, claims to have participated in a flotilla of 20 ships to pacify Upper Egypt, donald Redford has suggested these events should be interpreted as evidence of open war between two dynastic claimants. What is certain is that, however he came to power, from the 12th dynasty onwards, pharaohs often kept well-trained standing armies, which included Nubian contingents. These formed the basis of larger forces which were raised for defence against invasion, however, the Middle Kingdom was basically defensive in its military strategy, with fortifications built at the First Cataract of the Nile, in the Delta and across the Sinai Isthmus. Early in his reign, Amenemhet I was compelled to campaign in the Delta region, in addition, he strengthened defenses between Egypt and Asia, building the Walls of the Ruler in the East Delta region. Perhaps in response to this perpetual unrest, Amenemhat I built a new capital for Egypt in the north, known as Amenemhet Itj Tawy, or Amenemhet, the location of this capital is unknown, but is presumably near the citys necropolis, the present-day el-Lisht
36.
Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt
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The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is the best known ancient Egyptian dynasty. It boasts several of Egypts most famous pharaohs, including Tutankhamun, the dynasty is also known as the Thutmosid Dynasty for the four pharaohs named Thutmosis. Famous pharaohs of Dynasty XVIII include Hatshepsut, longest-reigning woman-pharaoh of a dynasty, and Akhenaten. Dynasty XVIII is the first of the three dynasties of the Egyptian New Kingdom, the period in which ancient Egypt reached the peak of its power, radiocarbon dating suggests that Dynasty XVIII may have started a few years earlier than the conventional date of 1550 BC. The radiocarbon date range for its beginning is 1570–1544 BC, the point of which is 1557 BC. The pharaohs of Dynasty XVIII ruled for two hundred and fifty years. The dates and names in the table are taken from Dodson and Hilton, many of the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes. More information can be found on the Theban Mapping Project website, several diplomatic marriages are known for the New Kingdom. These daughters of kings are often only mentioned in cuneiform texts and are not known from other sources. The marriages were likely a way to confirm good relations between these states, Dynasty XVIII was founded by Ahmose I, the brother or son of Kamose, the last ruler of the Dynasty XVII. Ahmose finished the campaign to expel the Hyksos rulers and his reign is seen as the end of the Second Intermediate Period and the start of the New Kingdom. Ahmose was succeeded by his son, Amenhotep I, whose reign was relatively uneventful, Amenhotep I probably left no male heir and the next pharaoh, Thutmose I, seems to have been related to the royal family through marriage. During his reign the borders of Egypts empire reached their greatest expanse, extending in the north to Carchemish on the Euphrates, Thutmose I was succeeded by Thutmose II and his queen, Hatshepsut. Thutmose III who later became known as the greatest military pharaoh ever and he had a second co-regency in his old age with his son Amenhotep II. Amenhotep II was succeeded by Thutmose IV, who in his turn was followed by his son Amenhotep III, the reign of Amenhotep III is seen as a high point in this dynasty. Amenhotep III undertook large scale building programmes, the extent of which can only be compared with those of the much longer reign of Ramesses II during Dynasty XIX. Amenhotep III may have shared the throne for up to twelve years with his son Amenhotep IV, there is much debate about this proposed co-regency. Some experts believe there was a lengthy co-regency, while others prefer to see a short one, there are also many experts who believe no such co-regency existed at all
37.
Armour
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Personal armour is used to protect soldiers and war animals. Vehicle armour is used on warships and armoured fighting vehicles, a second use of the term armour describes armoured forces, armoured weapons, and their role in combat. After the evolution of armoured warfare, mechanised infantry and their weapons came to be referred to collectively as armour, the word armour began to appear in the Middle Ages as a derivative of Old French. It is dated from 1297 as a mail, defensive covering worn in combat, the word originates from the Old French armure, itself derived from the Latin armatura meaning arms and/or equipment, with the root armare meaning arms or gear. Armour has been used throughout recorded history and it has been made from a variety of materials, beginning with rudimentary leather protection and evolving through mail and metal plate into todays modern composites. For much of history the manufacture of metal personal armour has dominated the technology. Its production was influential in the revolution, and furthered commercial development of metallurgy. Armour was the single most influential factor in the development of firearms, significant factors in the development of armour include the economic and technological necessities of its production. For instance, plate armour first appeared in Medieval Europe when water-powered trip hammers made the formation of plates faster and cheaper, also, modern militaries usually do not equip their forces with the best armour available because it would be prohibitively expensive. The samurai warriors of feudal Japan utilised many types of armour for hundreds of years up to the 19th century, Japanese lamellar armour passed through Korea and reached Japan around the 5th century. These early Japanese lamellar armours took the form of a sleeveless jacket, armour did not always cover all of the body, sometimes no more than a helmet and leg plates were worn. The rest of the body was protected by means of a large shield. Examples of armies equipping their troops in this fashion were the Aztecs, in East Asia many types of armour were commonly used at different times by various cultures including, scale armour, lamellar armour, laminar armour, plated mail, mail, plate armour and brigandine. Around the dynastic Tang, Song, and early Ming Period, cuirasses and plates were also used, the Chinese, during that time used partial plates for important body parts instead of covering their whole body since too much plate armour hinders their martial arts movement. The other body parts were covered in cloth, leather, lamellar, in pre-Qin dynasty times, leather armour was made out of various animals, with more exotic ones such as the rhinoceros. Mail, sometimes called chainmail, made of interlocking iron rings is believed to have first appeared some time after 300 BC and its invention is credited to the Celts, the Romans were thought to have adopted their design. Gradually, small plates or discs of iron were added to the mail to protect vulnerable areas. Hardened leather and splinted construction were used for arm and leg pieces, the coat of plates was developed, an armour made of large plates sewn inside a textile or leather coat
38.
Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
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The Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt was one of the periods of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Founded by Vizier Ramesses I, whom Pharaoh Horemheb chose as his successor to the throne, the warrior kings of the early 18th Dynasty had encountered only little resistance from neighbouring kingdoms, allowing them to expand their realm of influence easily. The situation had changed radically towards the end of the 18th Dynasty, the Hittites gradually extended their influence into Syria and Canaan to become a major power in international politics, a power that both Seti I and his son Ramesses II would need to deal with. The Pharaohs of the 19th dynasty ruled for one hundred and ten years. Seti Is reign is considered to be 11 years and not 15 years by both J. von Beckerath and Peter Brand, who wrote a biography on this pharaohs reign. Consequently, it will be amended to 11 years or 1290-1279 BC, therefore, Setis father and predecessor would have ruled Egypt between 1292-1290 BC. Many of the pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes, more information can be found on the Theban Mapping Project website. New Kingdom Egypt reached the zenith of its power under Seti I and Ramesses II, who campaigned vigorously against the Libyans and the Hittites. The city of Kadesh was first captured by Seti I, who decided to concede it to Muwatalli of Hatti in a peace treaty between Egypt and Hatti. He ultimately accepted that a campaign against the Hittites was a drain on Egypts treasury and military. In his 21st regnal year, Ramesses signed the first recorded peace treaty with Urhi-Teshubs successor, Hattusili III, Ramesses II even married two Hittite princesses, the first after his second Sed Festival. At least as early as Josephus, it was believed that Moses lived during the reign of Ramesses II and this dynasty declined as internal fighting between the heirs of Merneptah for the throne increased. Amenmesse apparently usurped the throne from Merneptahs son and successor, Seti II, after his death, Seti regained power and destroyed most of Amenmesses monuments. Both Bay and Setis chief wife Twosret had a reputation in Ancient Egyptian folklore. After Siptahs death, Twosret ruled Egypt for two years, but she proved unable to maintain her hold on power amid the conspiracies. She was likely ousted in a revolt led by Setnakhte, founder of the Twentieth Dynasty, Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt Family Tree
39.
Mitanni
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Mitanni, also called Hanigalbat in Assyrian or Naharin in Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian-speaking state in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia from ca.1500 BC–1300 BC. Mitanni came to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of Amorite Babylon, at the beginning of its history, Mitannis major rival was Egypt under the Thutmosids. However, with the ascent of the Hittite empire, Mitanni, the Mitanni dynasty ruled over the northern Euphrates-Tigris region between c.1475 and c.1275 BC. Eventually, Mitanni succumbed to Hittite and later Assyrian attacks, and was reduced to the status of a province of the Middle Assyrian Empire. While the Mitanni kings were Indo-Iranians, they used the language of the people which was at that time a non Indo-Iranian language. Their sphere of influence is shown in Hurrian place names, personal names and the spread through Syria, the Mitanni controlled trade routes down the Khabur to Mari and up the Euphrates from there to Charchamesh. For a time also controlled the Assyrian territories of the upper Tigris and its headwaters at Nineveh, Arbil, Assur. To the east, they had relations with the Kassites. The land of Mitanni in northern Syria extended from the Taurus mountains to its west and as far east as Nuzi, in the south, it extended from Aleppo across to Mari on the Euphrates in the east. Its centre was in the Khabur River valley, with two capitals, Taite and Washshukanni called Taidu and Ushshukana respectively in Assyrian sources, the whole area allows agriculture without artificial irrigation, cattle, sheep and goats were raised. It is very similar to Assyria in climate, and was settled by both indigenous Hurrian and Amoritic-speaking populations, the Mitanni kingdom was referred to as the Maryannu, Nahrin or Mitanni by the Egyptians, the Hurri by the Hittites, and the Hanigalbat by the Assyrians. The different names seem to have referred to the kingdom and were used interchangeably. Hittite annals mention a people called Hurri, located in northeastern Syria, a Hittite fragment, probably from the time of Mursili I, mentions a King of the Hurri. The Assyro-Akkadian version of the text renders Hurri as Hanigalbat, Tushratta, who styles himself king of Mitanni in his Akkadian Amarna letters, refers to his kingdom as Hanigalbat. Egyptian sources call Mitanni nhrn, which is pronounced as Naharin/Naharina from the Assyro-Akkadian word for river. The name Mitanni is first found in the memoirs of the Syrian wars of the astronomer and clockmaker Amenemhet. The ethnicity of the people of Mitanni is difficult to ascertain, a treatise on the training of chariot horses by Kikkuli contains a number of Indo-Aryan glosses. Kammenhuber suggested that this vocabulary was derived from the still undivided Indo-Iranian language, the common peoples language, the Hurrian language, is neither Indo-European nor Semitic
40.
Hittites
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The Hittites were an Ancient Anatolian people who established an empire centered on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia around 1600 BC. Between the 15th and 13th centuries BC the Hittite Empire came into conflict with the Egyptian Empire, Middle Assyrian Empire, the Assyrians eventually emerged as the dominant power and annexed much of the Hittite empire, while the remainder was sacked by Phrygian newcomers to the region. They referred to their land as Hatti. The conventional name Hittites is due to their identification with the Biblical Hittites in 19th century archaeology. Before the discoveries, the source of information about Hittites had been the Old Testament. Francis William Newman expressed the view, common in the early 19th century. Uriah was a captain in King Davids army and counted among one of his mighty men in 1 Chronicles 11, french scholar Félix Marie Charles Texier discovered the first Hittite ruins in 1834, but did not identify them as Hittite. The first archaeological evidence for the Hittites appeared in tablets found at the Assyrian colony of Kültepe, some names in the tablets were neither Hattic nor Assyrian, but clearly Indo-European. The script on a monument at Boğazköy by a People of Hattusas discovered by William Wright in 1884 was found to match peculiar hieroglyphic scripts from Aleppo, in 1887, excavations at Tell El-Amarna in Egypt uncovered the diplomatic correspondence of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and his son Akhenaton. Shortly after this, Archibald Sayce proposed that Hatti or Khatti in Anatolia was identical with the kingdom of Kheta mentioned in these Egyptian texts, as well as with the biblical Hittites. Others, such as Max Müller, agreed that Khatti was probably Kheta, sayces identification came to be widely accepted over the course of the early 20th century, and the name Hittite has become attached to the civilization uncovered at Boğazköy. He also proved that the ruins at Boğazköy were the remains of the capital of an empire that, at one point, under the direction of the German Archaeological Institute, excavations at Hattusa have been under way since 1907, with interruptions during the world wars. Kültepe was successfully excavated by Professor Tahsin Özgüç from 1948 until his death in 2005, the Hittites used Mesopotamian Cuneiform script. The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, Turkey houses the richest collection of Hittite, the Hittite kingdom was centred on the lands surrounding Hattusa and Neša, known as the land Hatti. For example, the reward for the capture of a slave after he managed to flee beyond the Halys is higher than that for a slave caught before he could reach the river. To the west and south of the core territory lay the region known as Luwiya in the earliest Hittite texts and this terminology was replaced by the names Arzawa and Kizzuwatna with the rise of those kingdoms. Nevertheless, the Hittites continued to refer to the language originated in these areas as Luwian. Prior to the rise of Kizzuwatna, the heart of territory in Cilicia was first referred to by the Hittites as Adaniya
41.
Assyria
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Assyria was a major Mesopotamian East Semitic-speaking kingdom and empire of the ancient Near East and the Levant. Centered on the Tigris in Upper Mesopotamia, the Assyrians came to rule powerful empires at several times. Assyria is named after its capital, the ancient city of Aššur. In the 25th and 24th centuries BC, Assyrian kings were pastoral leaders, Assyria can also refer to the geographic region or heartland where Assyria, its empires and the Assyrian people were centered. The indigenous modern Eastern Aramaic-speaking Assyrian Christian ethnic minority in northern Iraq, north east Syria, southeast Turkey, in prehistoric times, the region that was to become known as Assyria was home to a Neanderthal culture such as has been found at the Shanidar Cave. The earliest Neolithic sites in Assyria were the Jarmo culture c.7100 BC and Tell Hassuna, during the 3rd millennium BC, a very intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians and the Akkadians throughout Mesopotamia, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian, and vice versa, is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a scale, to syntactic, morphological. This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the third millennium BC as a sprachbund and it is highly likely that the city was named in honour of its patron Assyrian god with the same name. The city of Aššur, together with a number of other Assyrian cities, however it is likely that they were initially Sumerian-dominated administrative centres. In the late 26th century BC, Eannatum of Lagash, then the dominant Sumerian ruler in Mesopotamia, similarly, in c. the early 25th century BC, Lugal-Anne-Mundu the king of the Sumerian state of Adab lists Subartu as paying tribute to him. Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is known, in the Assyrian King List, the earliest king recorded was Tudiya. According to Georges Roux he would have lived in the mid 25th century BC, Tudiya was succeeded on the list by Adamu, the first known reference to the Semitic name Adam and then a further thirteen rulers. The earliest kings, such as Tudiya, who are recorded as kings who lived in tents, were independent semi-nomadic pastoralist rulers and these kings at some point became fully urbanised and founded the city state of Ashur in the mid 21st century BC. During the Akkadian Empire, the Assyrians, like all the Mesopotamian Semites, became subject to the dynasty of the city state of Akkad, the Akkadian Empire founded by Sargon the Great claimed to encompass the surrounding four quarters. Assyrian rulers were subject to Sargon and his successors, and the city of Ashur became an administrative center of the Empire. On those tablets, Assyrian traders in Burushanda implored the help of their ruler, Sargon the Great, the name Hatti itself even appears in later accounts of his grandson, Naram-Sin, campaigning in Anatolia. Assyrian and Akkadian traders spread the use of writing in the form of the Mesopotamian cuneiform script to Asia Minor, the Akkadian Empire was destroyed by economic decline and internal civil war, followed by attacks from barbarian Gutian people in 2154 BC. The rulers of Assyria during the period between c.2154 BC and 2112 BC once again fully independent, as the Gutians are only known to have administered southern Mesopotamia
42.
Babylonia
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Babylonia was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in central-southern Mesopotamia. A small Amorite-ruled state emerged in 1894 BC, which contained at this time the city of Babylon. Babylon greatly expanded during the reign of Hammurabi in the first half of the 18th century BC, during the reign of Hammurabi and afterwards, Babylonia was called Māt Akkadī the country of Akkad in the Akkadian language. It was often involved in rivalry with its older fellow Akkadian-speaking state of Assyria in northern Mesopotamia and it retained the Sumerian language for religious use, but by the time Babylon was founded, this was no longer a spoken language, having been wholly subsumed by Akkadian. The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad. During the 3rd millennium BC, a cultural symbiosis occurred between Sumerian and Akkadian-speakers, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian and vice versa is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a scale, to syntactic, morphological. This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the millennium as a sprachbund. Traditionally, the religious center of all Mesopotamia was the city of Nippur. The empire eventually disintegrated due to decline, climate change and civil war. Sumer rose up again with the Third Dynasty of Ur in the late 22nd century BC and they also seem to have gained ascendancy over most of the territory of the Akkadian kings of Assyria in northern Mesopotamia for a time. The states of the south were unable to stem the Amorite advance, King Ilu-shuma of the Old Assyrian Empire in a known inscription describes his exploits to the south as follows, The freedom of the Akkadians and their children I established. I established their freedom from the border of the marshes and Ur and Nippur, Awal, past scholars originally extrapolated from this text that it means he defeated the invading Amorites to the south, but there is no explicit record of that. More recently, the text has been taken to mean that Asshur supplied the south with copper from Anatolia and these policies were continued by his successors Erishum I and Ikunum. During the first centuries of what is called the Amorite period and his reign was concerned with establishing statehood amongst a sea of other minor city states and kingdoms in the region. However Sumuabum appears never to have bothered to give himself the title of King of Babylon, suggesting that Babylon itself was only a minor town or city. He was followed by Sumu-la-El, Sabium, Apil-Sin, each of whom ruled in the same manner as Sumuabum. Sin-Muballit was the first of these Amorite rulers to be regarded officially as a king of Babylon, the Elamites occupied huge swathes of southern Mesopotamia, and the early Amorite rulers were largely held in vassalage to Elam
43.
Late Period of ancient Egypt
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It ran from 664 BC until 332 BC. Libyans and Persians alternated rule with native Egyptians, but traditional conventions continued in the arts and it is often regarded as the last gasp of a once great culture, during which the power of Egypt steadily diminished. The Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, also known as the Saite Dynasty after Sais, reigned from 672 BC to 525 BC, canal construction from the Nile to the Red Sea began. One major contribution from the Late Period of ancient Egypt was the Brooklyn Papyrus and this was a medical papyrus with a collection of medical and magical remedies for victims of snakebites based on snake type or symptoms. Artwork during this time was representative of animal cults and animal mummies and this image shows the god Pataikos wearing a scarab beetle on his head, supporting two human-headed birds on his shoulders, holding a snake in each hand, and standing atop crocodiles. The First Achaemenid Period period saw Egypt conquered by an expansive Achaemenid Empire under Cambyses, a total of eight pharaohs from this dynasty ruled over Egypt. The initial period of Achaemenid Persian occupation when Egypt became a satrapy, the Twenty-Eighth Dynasty consisted of a single king, Amyrtaeus, prince of Sais, who rebelled against the Persians. He left no monuments with his name and this dynasty reigned for six years, from 404 BC to 398 BC. The Twenty-Ninth Dynasty ruled from Mendes, for the period from 398 BC to 380 BC, the Thirtieth Dynasty took their art style from the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. A series of three pharaohs ruled from 380 BC until their defeat in 343 BC led to the re-occupation by the Persians. The final ruler of dynasty, and the final native ruler of Egypt until nearly 2,300 years later, was Nectanebo II. There was a Second Achaemenid Period of the Thirty-First Dynasty, and consisted of four pharaohs, Artaxerxes III, Artaxerxes IV, Khababash, gozzoli, The Writing of History in Ancient Egypt During the First Millennium BCE. Trend and Perspectives, London 2006, ISBN 0-9550256-3-X Lloyd, Alan B.2000, the Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, edited by Ian Shaw. Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press, 71-74 Primary sources Herodotus Fragments of Ctesias Thucydides Diodorus Siculus Fragments of Manetho Flavius Josephus
44.
Alexander the Great
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Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of twenty and he was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of historys most successful military commanders. During his youth, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16, after Philips assassination in 336 BC, he succeeded his father to the throne and inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. Alexander was awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his fathers Panhellenic project to lead the Greeks in the conquest of Persia, in 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Following the conquest of Anatolia, Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of battles, most notably the battles of Issus. He subsequently overthrew Persian King Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety, at that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River. He sought to reach the ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea and invaded India in 326 BC and he eventually turned back at the demand of his homesick troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, the city that he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in the establishment of several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexanders surviving generals, Alexanders legacy includes the cultural diffusion which his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt, Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and mythic traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and he is often ranked among the most influential people in human history. He was the son of the king of Macedon, Philip II, and his wife, Olympias. Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his wife for some time. Several legends surround Alexanders birth and childhood, sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wifes womb with a seal engraved with a lions image. Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations of dreams, that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb. On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice. That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies, and it was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, burnt down. This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his own instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception
45.
Hellenization
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In modern times, Hellenization has been associated with the adoption of modern Greek culture and the ethnic and cultural homogenization of Greece. Other tribes that underwent varying degrees of Hellenization included Thracians, Dardanians, Paeonians and Illyrians south of the Jireček Line, Hellenization during the Hellenistic period, however, had its limitations. For example, areas of southern Syria that were affected by Greek culture mostly entailed Seleucid urban centers where Greek was commonly spoken, the countryside, on the other hand, was largely unaffected since most of its inhabitants spoke Syriac and continued to maintain their native traditions. Moreover, Hellenization did not necessarily involve assimilation of ethnic groups since Hellenistic Greeks in regions such as Asia Minor were conscious of their ancestral lineages. Hellenization can also refer to the medieval Byzantine Empire and Constantines founding of Constantinople, moreover, it can refer to the primacy of Greek culture and the Greek language after the reign of Emperor Heraclius in the 7th century AD. Hellenization during the period of Ottoman imperial rule entailed the higher status which Greek culture, in 1909, a commission appointed by the Greek government reported that one third of the villages of Greece should have their names changed, often because of their non-Greek origin. In other instances, names were changed from a name of Greek origin to the ancient Greek toponym. Some village names were formed from a Greek root word with a foreign suffix, the majority of the name changes took place in areas populated by ethnic Greeks, where a strata of foreign, or divergent, toponyms had accumulated over the centuries. However, in parts of northern Greece the population was not Greek-speaking. The process of the change of toponyms in modern Greece has been described as a process of Hellenization and this led to the diminution of the community of Corfiot Italians, resident in Corfu since the Middle Ages, by the 1940s there were only four hundred Corfiot Italians left. The twentieth century witnessed a debate over the extent of Hellenization in the Levant. Rudolf Bultmann thus argued that Christianity arose almost completely within those Hellenistic confines, in his Introduction to the 1964 book Meditations, the Anglican priest Maxwell Staniforth discussed the profound influence of Stoic philosophy on Christianity. In particular, Again in the doctrine of the Trinity, the conception of Father, Word
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