1.
Sphinx of Taharqo
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The Sphinx of Taharqo is a granite gneiss statue of a sphinx with the face of Taharqo. He was a Nubian Pharaoh, who was one of the 25th Egyptian Dynasty rulers of the Kingdom of Kush and it is now in the British Museum in London. While the Sphinx of Taharqo is significantly smaller than the Giza Sphinx, it is notable for its prominent Egyptian, the lion portrayed in the sphinx is done in classic Egyptian style, while the face of the Sphinx is clearly that of Taharqo. The sphinx is made of grey granite. Taharqo was the last Nubian king who ruled over Egypt and he was defeated by the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Aššurbanipal. His reign lasted from 690 when he succeeded Shebitqo to his death in 664 and he was the son of Piye and Abar and the father to his daughter, Amenirdis II. Taharqo was one of the rulers of Kush who dominated Egypt as the Twenty-fifth Dynasty and he was a significantly important ruler, initiating a golden age for his new kingdom. Although Taharqo was not of Egyptian descent, he worshipped the Egyptian god Amun, built pyramids and temples in the Egyptian model, the statue is a sphinx, representing here the immense power of the Egyptian and Kushite pharaoh Taharqo, whose face is shown. The headdress bears two uraei, the symbols of kingship, and Taharqos name appears in a cartouche on the sphinxs chest, the statue is called a masterpiece of Kushite art. Construction of the temple was started in 683 BC by Taharqo. Statues of Amun in the form of a ram protecting King Taharqa Caygill, the British Museum A-Z Companion London, The British Museum Press,1999 Hochfield, S. and Riefstahl, E. Africa in Antiquity Brooklyn, N. Y. Brooklyn Museum,1978, pp. 50–51,168 James, T. G. H. and Davies, Egyptian sculpture London, The British Museum Press,1983 Laming Macadam, M. F. Masterpieces of Ancient Egypt London,2006, pp. 262–3, taylor, J. H. Egypt and Nubia London, The British Museum Press,1991 Welsby, D. A. The object reference is EA1770 / Reg No.1932,0611.1
Sphinx of Taharqo
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front view
Sphinx of Taharqo
–
Building
2.
Sudan
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Sudan, also known as North Sudan since South Sudans independence and officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northern Africa. It is the third largest country in Africa, the River Nile divides the country into eastern and western halves. Before the Sudanese Civil War, South Sudan was part of Sudan, Sudan was home to numerous ancient civilizations, such as the Kingdom of Kush, Kerma, Nobatia, Alodia, Makuria, Meroë and others, most of which flourished along the Nile. During the pre-dynastic period Nubia and Nagadan Upper Egypt were identical, by virtue of its proximity to Egypt, the Sudan participated in the wider history of the Near East inasmuch as it was Christianized by the 6th century, and Islamized in the 15th. As a result of Christianization, the Old Nubian language stands as the oldest recorded Nilo-Saharan language, Sudan was the largest country in Africa and the Arab world until 2011, when South Sudan separated into an independent country, following an independence referendum. Sudan is now the third largest country in Africa and also the third largest country in the Arab world and its capital is Khartoum, the political, cultural and commercial centre of the nation. It is a representative democratic federal republic. The politics of Sudan are regulated by an organization called the National Assembly. The Sudanese legal system is based on Islamic law, the countrys place name Sudan is a name given to a geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to eastern Central Africa. The name derives from the Arabic bilād as-sūdān, or the lands of the Blacks, during the fifth millennium BC migrations from the drying Sahara brought neolithic people into the Nile Valley along with agriculture. The population that resulted from this cultural and genetic mixing developed social hierarchy over the centuries become the Kingdom of Kush at 1700 BC. The Kingdom of Kush was an ancient Nubian state centered on the confluences of the Blue Nile and White Nile, and the Atbarah River and it was established after the Bronze Age collapse and the disintegration of the New Kingdom of Egypt, centered at Napata in its early phase. After King Kashta invaded Egypt in the eighth century BC, the Kushite kings ruled as pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt for a century before being defeated and driven out by the Assyrians. At the height of their glory, the Kushites conquered an empire that stretched from what is now known as South Kordofan all the way to the Sinai, pharaoh Piye attempted to expand the empire into the Near East, but was thwarted by the Assyrian king Sargon II. Sennacheribs successor Esarhaddon went further, and invaded Egypt itself, deposing Taharqa, Taharqa fled back to his homeland where he died two years later. Egypt became an Assyrian colony, however, king Tantamani, after succeeding Taharqa, Esarhaddon died while preparing to leave the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in order to eject him. However, his successor Ashurbanipal sent an army into southern Egypt and routed Tantamani. During Classical Antiquity, the Nubian capital was at Meroë, in ancient Greek geography, the Meroitic kingdom was known as Ethiopia
Sudan
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The large mud brick temple, known as the shrek or Western Deffufa, in the ancient city of
Kerma
Sudan
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Flag
Sudan
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Nubian pyramids in
Meroë.
Sudan
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Ruins of
Old Dongola.
3.
Pharaoh
–
The word pharaoh ultimately derive from the Egyptian compound pr-ˤ3 great house, written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr house and ˤ3 column, here meaning great or high. It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ˤ3 Courtier of the High House, with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the twelfth dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula Great House, may it live, prosper, and be in health, but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person. During the reign of Thutmose III in the New Kingdom, after the rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. During the eighteenth dynasty the title pharaoh was employed as a designation of the ruler. From the nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ˤ3 on its own was used as regularly as hm. f, the term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler, particularly by the twenty-second dynasty and twenty-third dynasty. For instance, the first dated appearance of the pharaoh being attached to a rulers name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun and this new practice was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the twenty-second dynasty kings. Shoshenq I was the successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the old custom of referring to the sovereign simply as pr-ˤ3 continued in traditional Egyptian narratives, by this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced *par-ʕoʔ whence Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Φερων. In the Bible, the title also occurs as פרעה, from that, Septuagint φαραώ pharaō and then Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Quran likewise spells it فرعون firawn with n, interestingly, the Arabic combines the original pharyngeal ayin sound from Egyptian, along with the -n ending from Greek. English at first spelt it Pharao, but the King James Bible revived Pharaoh with h from the Hebrew, meanwhile in Egypt itself, *par-ʕoʔ evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ prro and then rro. Scepters and staves were a sign of authority in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, kings were also known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The scepter with the longest history seems to be the heqa-scepter, the earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to pre-dynastic times. A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to the late Naqada period, another scepter associated with the king is the was-scepter. This is a long staff mounted with an animal head, the earliest known depictions of the was-scepter date to the first dynasty
Pharaoh
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Den
Pharaoh
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Narmer Palette
Pharaoh
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Nomen and prenomen of
Ramesses III
Pharaoh
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Royal titulary
4.
Egyptian chronology
–
The majority of Egyptologists agree on the outline and many details of the chronology of Ancient Egypt. Scholarly consensus on the outline of the conventional chronology current in Egyptology has not fluctuated much over the last 100 years. For the Old Kingdom, consensus fluctuates by as much as a few centuries and this is illustrated by comparing the chronology as given by two Egyptologists, the first writing in 1906, the second in 2000. The disparities between the two sets of result from additional discoveries and refined understanding of the still very incomplete source evidence. For example, Breasted adds a ruler in the Twentieth dynasty that further research showed did not exist, following Manetho, Breasted also believed all the dynasties were sequential, whereas it is now known that several existed at the same time. These revisions have resulted in a lowering of the chronology by up to 400 years at the beginning of Dynasty I. The backbone of Egyptian chronology are the years as recorded in Ancient Egyptian king lists. In addition, some Egyptian dynasties may have overlapped, with different pharaohs ruling in different regions at the same time, not knowing whether monarchies were simultaneous or sequential results in widely differing chronological interpretations. However, further research has shown that these censuses were taken in consecutive years. The sed festival was celebrated on the thirtieth anniversary of the Pharaohs ascension. However, once again, this may not be the practice in all cases. In the early days of Egyptology, the compilation of regnal periods may also have been hampered due to bias on the part of the Egyptologists. This was most pervasive before the mid 19th century, when Manethos figures were recognized as conflicting with biblical chronology based on Old Testament references to Egypt, in the 20th century, such biblical bias has mostly been confined to alternative chronologies outside of scholarly mainstream. A useful way to work around these gaps in knowledge is to find chronological synchronisms, over the past decades, a number of these have been found, although they are of varying degrees of usefulness and reliability. While this does not fix a person or event to a specific year, another example are blocks from the Old Kingdom bearing the names of several kings, which were reused in the construction of Middle Kingdom pyramid-temples at Lisht in the structures of Amenemhat I. The poor documentation of these finds in the Serapeum also compounds the difficulties in using these records. The best known of these is the Sothic cycle, and careful study of this led Richard A. Parker to argue that the dates of the Twelfth dynasty could be fixed with absolute precision. More recent research has eroded this confidence, questioning many of the assumptions used with the Sothic Cycle and this is useful especially for the Early Dynastic period, where Egyptological consensus has only been possible within a range of about three or four centuries
Egyptian chronology
–
Astronomical ceiling from the tomb of
Seti I showing stars and constellations used in calendar calculations
Egyptian chronology
–
'Diagonal star table' from the
11th Dynasty coffin lid; found at
Asyut, Egypt.
Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum Hildesheim
5.
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, also known as the Nubian Dynasty or the Kushite Empire, was the last dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt. The 25th dynasty was a line of rulers originating in the Nubian Kingdom of Kush – in present-day northern Sudan and southern Egypt – and they reigned in part or all of Ancient Egypt from 760 BCE to 656 BCE. The dynasty began with Kashtas invasion of Upper Egypt and culminated in several years of successful and unsuccessful war with the Mesopotamian based Assyrian Empire. The 25th Dynastys reunification of Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and they assimilated into society by reaffirming Ancient Egyptian religious traditions, temples, and artistic forms, while introducing some unique aspects of Kushite culture. It was during the 25th dynasty that the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids since the Middle Kingdom, war with Assyria resulted in the end of Kushite power in Northern Egypt and the conquest of Egypt by Assyria. They were succeeded by the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt, initially a puppet dynasty installed by and vassals of the Assyrians, the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest. The known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the dynasty are the following, The period starting with Kashta. The later Kings from the dynasty ruled over Napata, Meroe. The seat of government and the palace were in Napata during this period. The kings and queens were buried in El-Kurru and Nuri, alara, the first known Nubian king and predecessor of Kashta was not a 25th dynasty king since he did not control any region of Egypt during his reign. While Piye is viewed as the founder of the 25th dynasty, the twenty-fifth dynasty originated in Kush, or, which is presently in Northern Sudan. The city-state of Napata was the capital and it was from there that Piye invaded. Piye personally led the attack on Egypt and recorded his victory in a lengthy hieroglyphic filled stele called the Stele of Victory, Piye revived one of the greatest features of the Old and Middle Kingdoms, pyramid construction. An energetic builder, he constructed the oldest known pyramid at the burial site of El-Kurru. Although Manetho does not mention the first king, Piye, mainstream Egyptologists consider him the first Pharaoh of the 25th dynasty, Manetho also does not mention the last king, Tantamani, although inscriptions exist to attest to the existence of both Piye and Tantamani. Piye made various attempts to extend Egyptian influence in the Near East. In 720 BC he sent an army in support of a rebellion against Assyria in Philistia and Gaza, however Piye was defeated by Sargon II, Shabaka conquered the entire Nile valley, including Upper and Lower Egypt, around 710 BC. Shabaka had Bocchoris of the preceding Sais dynasty burned to death for resisting him, after conquering Lower Egypt, Shabaka transferred the capital to Memphis
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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Kushite Egypt in 700 BC.
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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25th Dynasty royal monumental statues from Doukki-Gel
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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25th Dynasty pyramids at Nuri
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
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Temple of Amun at the sacred mountain, Jebel Barkal
6.
Shabaka
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Neferkare Shabaka was a Kushite pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt, who reigned from 721 BC–707/706 BC. Shabaka is thought to be the son of King Kashta and Pebatjma, although a text from the time of Taharqa could be interpreted to mean that Shabaka was a brother of Taharqa, Shabakas Queen Consort was Qalhata, according to Assyrian records, a sister of Taharqa. Shabaka and Qalhata were the parents of King Tantamani and most likely the parents of King Shebitku as well and it is possible that Queen Tabekenamun was a wife of Shabaka. She is thought by some to be a wife of Taharqa, Shabakas son Haremakhet became High Priest of Amun and is known from a statue and a fragment of a statue found in Karnak. A lady named Mesbat is mentioned on the sarcophagus of Haremakhet, Shabaka is the father of at least two more children, but the identity of their mother is not known. Piankharty later became the wife of her brother Tantamani and she is depicted on the Dream Stela with him. Isetemkheb H likely married Tantamani as well and she was buried in Abydos, Egypt. Shabaka succeeded his brother Piye on the throne, and adopted the name of the 6th-dynasty ruler Pepi II. Shabakas reign was dated from 716 BC to 702 BC by Kenneth Kitchen. This point was stressed by Danel Kahn in a 2006 article. Shabakas reign is significant because he consolidated the Nubian Kingdoms control over all of Egypt from Nubia down to the Delta region and it also saw an enormous amount of building work undertaken throughout Egypt, especially at the city of Thebes, which he made the capital of his kingdom. In Karnak he erected a granite statue of himself wearing the twin crowns of Egypt. Shabaka succeeded in preserving Egypts independence from outside foreign powers--especially the Assyrian empire under Sargon II, the most famous relic from Shabakas reign is the Shabaka stone which records several Old Kingdom documents that the king ordered preserved. Also notable is the Shabaka Gate, a stone door unearthed by archeologists in 2011. Despite being relative newcomers to Egypt, Shabaka and his family were interested in Egypts past. Shabaka would grant refuge to king Iamanni of Ashdod after the fled to Egypt following the suppression of his revolt by Assyria in 712 BC. Shabaka is assumed to have died in his 15th regnal year based on BM cube statue 24429, from the evidence of the Tang-i Var inscription, Shabaka was already dead by 707 or 706 BC. He was buried in a pyramid at el-Kurru and was succeeded by his nephew Shebitku, Piyes son, following the Kushite tradition of succession from brother to brother, Shebitku would eventually be succeeded by Tantamuni, a son of Shabaka
Shabaka
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Donation stela of Shabaka, on display at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Shabaka
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Head of Shabaka from the Louvre
7.
Tantamani
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Tantamani, Tanutamun or Tanwetamani or Tementhes was a Pharaoh of Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush located in Northern Sudan and a member of the Nubian or Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt. His prenomen or royal name was Bakare which means Glorious is the Soul of Re and he was the son of King Shabaka and the nephew of his predecessor Taharqa. In some sources he is said to be the son of Shebitku, assyrian records call Tantamani a son of Shabaka and refer to Qalhata as a sister of Taharqa. Once the Assyrians had appointed Necho I as king and left Egypt, Tantamani marched down the Nile from Nubia, Necho I, the Assyrians representative, was killed in Tantamanis campaign. In reaction, the Assyrians returned to Egypt in force, defeated Tantamanis army in the Delta and advanced as far south as Thebes, Tantamani died in 653 BC and was succeeded by Atlanersa, a son of Taharqa. He was buried in the cemetery at El-Kurru. The archaeologist Charles Bonnet discovered the statue of Tantamani at Kerma in 2003, robert Morkot, The Black Pharaohs, Egypts Nubian Rulers, The Rubicon Press,2000
Tantamani
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Head of a statue, perhaps showing Amun, bearing the name of Tantamani on its back pillar (
Ashmolean Museum)
8.
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
The royal titulary or royal protocol of an Egyptian pharaoh is the standard naming convention taken by the kings of Ancient Egypt. It symbolises worldly power and holy might and also acts as a sort of mission statement for the reign of a monarch. The full titulary, consisting of five names, did not come into standard usage until the Middle Kingdom, the Horus name is the oldest form of the pharaohs name, originating in the Predynastic Period. Many of the oldest-known Egyptian pharaohs were known only by this title, the Horus name was usually written in a serekh, a representation of a palace façade. The name of the pharaoh was written in hieroglyphs inside this representation of a palace, typically an image of the falcon God Horus was perched on top of or beside it. At least one Egyptian ruler, the 2nd dynasty Seth-Peribsen, used an image of the god Seth instead of Horus and he was succeeded by Khasekhemwy, who placed the symbols of both Seth and Horus above his name. Thereafter, the image of Horus always appeared alongside the name of the pharaoh, by the time of the New Kingdom the Horus name was often written without the enclosing serekh. The name is first definitively used by the First Dynasty pharaoh Semerkhet and this particular name was not typically framed by a cartouche or serekh, but always begins with the hieroglyphs of a vulture and cobra resting upon two baskets, the dual noun nebty. Also known as the Golden Horus Name, this form of the name typically featured the image of a Horus falcon perched above or beside the hieroglyph for gold. The meaning of this title has been disputed. One belief is that it represents the triumph of Horus over his uncle Seth, Gold also was strongly associated in the ancient Egyptian mind with eternity, so this may have been intended to convey the pharaohs eternal Horus name. Similar to the Nebty name, this particular name typically was not framed by a cartouche or serekh, the pharaohs throne name, the first of the two names written inside a cartouche, and usually accompanied the title nsw-bity. The term nsw-bity It has been suggested that the Berber term for strong man, the epithet neb tawy, Lord of the Two Lands, referring to valley and delta regions of Egypt, often occurs as well. This was the name given at birth and it was first introduced to the set of royal titles in the Fourth Dynasty and emphasizes the kings role as a representative of the solar god Ra. For women who became pharaoh, the title was interpreted as daughter also. Modern historians typically refer to the ancient kings of Egypt by this name, Middle Egyptian, An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Cairo, London, and New York, The American University in Cairo Press and Thames and Hudson. The Great Name, Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary, Egyptian Grammar, Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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Serekh containing the name of
Djet and an association with
Wadjet, on display at the
Louvre
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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Praenomen of the
Cartouche of
Thutmose II preceded by Sedge and Bee symbols, Temple of
Hatshepsut,
Luxor
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
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In the
Middle Kingdom, the full titulary was sometimes written in a single cartouche, as in this example from
Senusret I, from
Beni Hasan.
Ancient Egyptian royal titulary
–
Royal titulary
9.
Takahatenamun
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Takahatenamun was a Nubian queen dated to the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Takahatamun was the daughter of King Piye and the sister-wife of King Taharqa and she held several titles, Noble Lady, Great of Praises, Kings Wife, Lady of All Women, and Kings Sister. Takahatamun is known from a scene in Gebel Barkal where she is shown standing behind Taharqa who is offering to Amun-Re. George Andrew Reisner proposed that Takatamun might have been buried in Nuri in Tomb 21, the tomb is dated, however, to the time of King Senkamanisken, meaning that the queen would have had to have died in her seventies or later if she were buried there
Takahatenamun
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Taharqa followed by Queen Takahatamun at Gebel Barkal.
10.
Naparaye
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Naparaye was a Nubian queen dated to the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Naparaye was the daughter of King Piye and the sister-wife of King Taharqa and she held several titles, Great of Grace, Great of Praises, Sweet of Love, Kings Wife, Lady of the Two Lands, and Kings Sister. Naparayes name is known from her tomb in el-Kurru, at her pyramid an alabaster offering table was found
Naparaye
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A Queen from the
25th Dynasty of Egypt
11.
Tabekenamun
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Tabekenamun was a Nubian queen dated to the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Tabekenamun was a daughter of King Piye and may have been a queen consort to her brother Taharqa and she is known from Cairo Statue 49157 from Karnak. Others have suggested Tabekenamun was the wife of Shabaka and she was a Kings Daughter, Kings Sister and Kings Wife. In addition, she was a priestess of Hathor, Mistress of Tepihu, the priestly offices could suggest she was a daughter of one of the Libyan Pharaohs
Tabekenamun
–
A Queen from the
25th Dynasty of Egypt
12.
Amenirdis II
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Amenirdis adopted Nitocris, daughter of Psamtik I, to become her successor. Robert Steven Bianchi, Daily Life Of The Nubians, Greenwood Press 2004 Karol Myśliwiec, The Twilight of Ancient Egypt, cornell University Press 2000 I. E. S. Edwards, John Boardman, John B. Bury, S. A. Cook, The Cambridge Ancient History, Cambridge University Press 1969 Aidan Dodson, Monarchs of the Nile, American Univ. in Cairo Press 2000 Dodson, Aidan. The problem of Amenirdis II and the heirs of the office of Gods Wife of Amun during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty
Amenirdis II
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Amenirdis II (far right) at Karnak
13.
Piye
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Piye was an ancient Kushite king and founder of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt who ruled Egypt from 747 BCE to c. 722 BCE. He ruled from the city of Napata, located deep in Nubia, Piye adopted two throne names, Usimare and Sneferre. He was passionate about the worship of the god Amun, like many kings of Nubia and he revitalized the moribund Great Temple of Amun at Jebel Barkal, which was first built under Thutmose III of the New Kingdom, employing numerous sculptors and stonemasons from Egypt. He was once thought to have used the throne name Menkheperre. Piye was the son of Kashta and Pebatjma and he is known to have had three or four wives. Abar was the mother of his successor Taharqa, further wives are Tabiry, Peksater and probably Khensa. Piye is known to have had several children and he was the father of, King Shebitku. Said to be a son of Piye, or alternatively a brother of Piye and he would take the throne after his uncle Shabaka and another male relative Shebitku. Gods Wife of Amun Shepenwepet II, installed in Thebes during the reign of her brother Taharqa. Qalhata, wife of King Shabaka, she was the mother of king Tanutamun, known from an offering table of his daughter Wadjrenes from Thebes. Khaliut, Governor of Kanad according to a stela found at Barkal, princess Mutirdis, Chief Prophet of Hathor and Mut in Thebes and daughter of Piye according to Morkot. Thought to be a daughter of a ruler named Menkheperre Khmuny from Hermopolis by Kitchen. As ruler of Nubia and Upper Egypt, Piye took advantage of the squabbling of Egypts rulers by expanding Nubias power beyond Thebes into Lower Egypt. In reaction to this, Tefnakht of Sais formed a coalition between the kings of the Delta Region and enticed Piyes nominal ally—king Nimlot of Hermopolis—to defect to his side. Tefnakht then sent his army south and besieged Herakleopolis where its king Peftjauawybast. His military feats are chronicled in the Victory stela at Gebel Barkal, Piye viewed his campaign as a Holy War, commanding his soldiers to cleanse themselves ritually before beginning battle. He himself offered sacrifices to the great god Amun, Hermopolis fell to the Nubian king after a siege lasting five months. Tefnakht took refuge in an island in the Delta and formally conceded defeat in a letter to the Nubian king, satisfied with his triumph, Piye proceeded to sail south to Thebes and returned to his homeland in Nubia never to return to Egypt
Piye
–
Detail of a drawing of the Victory stele: Piye (left, partially erased) is tributed by four Nile Delta rulers.
Piye
–
Piye's pyramid at El-Kurru
14.
Hebrew Bible
–
They are composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew, with some passages in Biblical Aramaic. The term does not comment upon the naming, numbering or ordering of books, the term Hebrew Bible is an attempt to provide specificity with respect to contents but avoid allusion to any particular interpretative tradition or theological school of thought. Hebrew Bible refers to the Jewish biblical canon, in its Latin form, Biblia Hebraica, it traditionally serves as a title for printed editions of the Masoretic Text. Many biblical studies scholars advocate use of the term Hebrew Bible as a substitute to terms with religious connotations. Hebrew Bible Old Testament without prescribing the use of either, however, he accepts that there is no reason why non-Christians should feel obliged to refer to these books as the Old Testament, apart from custom of use. Modern Christian formulations of this tension include Supersessionism, Covenant Theology, New Covenant Theology, Dispensationalism, in terms of canon, Christian usage of Old Testament does not refer to a universally agreed upon set of books but, rather, varies depending on denomination. The Hebrew Bible includes small portions in Aramaic, written and printed in Aramaic square-script, the books that constitute the Hebrew Bible developed over roughly a millennium. The oldest texts seem to come from the 11th or 10th centuries BCE and they are edited works, being collections of various sources intricately and carefully woven together. Since the 19th century, most biblical scholars have agreed that the Pentateuch consists of four sources which have been woven together and these four sources are J, D, E and P sources. They were combined to form the Pentateuch sometime in the 6th century BCE and this theory is now known as the documentary hypothesis, and has been the dominant theory for the past two hundred years. The Deuteronomist credited with the Pentateuchs book of Deuteronomy is also said to be the source of the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, several editions, all titled Biblia Hebraica, have been produced by various German publishers since 1906. Between 1906 and 1955, Rudolf Kittel published nine editions of it,1966, the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft published the renamed Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia in six editions until 1997. Since 2004 the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft has published the Biblia Hebraica Quinta, other projects include, Hebrew University Bible Project Hebrew Bible, A Critical Edition Biblical canon Books of the Bible Non-canonical books referenced in the Bible Torah Brueggemann, Walter. An introduction to the Old Testament, the canon and Christian imagination, the People of Ancient Israel, an introduction to Old Testament Literature, History, and Thought, Harper and Row,1974. Sinai and Zion, An Entry into the Jewish Bible, archived from the original on 14 March 2012. The Ancient Near East, Volume I, Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press. An abridgement of Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament Noth, how the Bible Became a Book. The Old Testament, A Literary History, hebrew-English Tanakh, the Jewish Bible Complete, fully vocalized, contilated, Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible, together with the classic English translation by the Jewish Publication Society
Hebrew Bible
–
Page from an 11th-century
Aramaic Targum manuscript of the Hebrew Bible.
15.
Strabo
–
Strabo was a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus, Strabos life was characterized by extensive travels. He journeyed to Egypt and Kush, as far west as coastal Tuscany and as far south as Ethiopia in addition to his travels in Asia Minor and the time he spent in Rome. Travel throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, especially for scholarly purposes, was popular during this era and was facilitated by the relative peace enjoyed throughout the reign of Augustus. He moved to Rome in 44 BC, and stayed there, studying and writing, in 29 BC, on his way to Corinth, he visited the island of Gyaros in the Aegean Sea. Around 25 BC, he sailed up the Nile until reaching Philae and it is not known precisely when Strabos Geography was written, though comments within the work itself place the finished version within the reign of Emperor Tiberius. Some place its first drafts around 7 BC, others around 17 or 18 AD, the latest passage to which a date can be assigned is his reference to the death in AD23 of Juba II, king of Maurousia, who is said to have died just recently. He probably worked on the Geography for many years and revised it steadily, on the presumption that recently means within a year, Strabo stopped writing that year or the next, when he died. The first of Strabos major works, Historical Sketches, written while he was in Rome, is completely lost. Strabo studied under several prominent teachers of various specialties throughout his life at different stops along his Mediterranean travels. His first chapter of education took place in Nysa under the master of rhetoric Aristodemus, Strabo was an admirer of Homers poetry, perhaps a consequence of his time spent in Nysa with Aristodemus. At around the age of 21, Strabo moved to Rome, where he studied philosophy with the Peripatetic Xenarchus, despite Xenarchuss Aristotelian leanings, Strabo later gives evidence to have formed his own Stoic inclinations. In Rome, he learned grammar under the rich and famous scholar Tyrannion of Amisus. Although Tyrannion was also a Peripatetic, he was more relevantly a respected authority on geography, the final noteworthy mentor to Strabo was Athenodorus Cananites, a philosopher who had spent his life since 44 BC in Rome forging relationships with the Roman elite. Athenodorus endowed to Strabo three important items, his philosophy, his knowledge, and his contacts, moreover, from his own first-hand experience, Athenodorus provided Strabo with information about regions of the empire which he would not otherwise have known. Strabo is most notable for his work Geographica, which presented a history of people. Although the Geographica was rarely utilized in its antiquity, a multitude of copies survived throughout the Byzantine Empire. It first appeared in Western Europe in Rome as a Latin translation issued around 1469, the first Greek edition was published in 1516 in Venice
Strabo
–
Strabo as depicted in a 16th-century engraving
Strabo
–
Title page from
Isaac Casaubon 's 1620 edition of
Geographica.
Strabo
–
Statue of Strabo in his hometown (modern-day
Amasya, Turkey), beside the
Iris (Yeşilırmak) River.
Strabo
–
Map of Europe according to Strabo.
16.
Ancient Egypt
–
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
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Great Sphinx and the
pyramids of Giza are among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt
–
A typical Naqada II jar decorated with gazelles. (Predynastic Period)
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Narmer Palette depicts the unification of the Two Lands.
17.
Kingdom of Kush
–
The Kingdom of Kush or Kush was an ancient Nubian kingdom situated on the confluences of the Blue Nile, White Nile and River Atbara in what is now Sudan and South Sudan. The Kushite era of rule in Nubia was established after the Bronze Age collapse and the disintegration of the New Kingdom of Egypt, during Classical antiquity, the Kushite imperial capital was at Meroe. In early Greek geography, the Meroitic kingdom was known as Aethiopia, by the 1st century AD, the Kushite capital had been captured by the Beja Dynasty, who tried to revive the empire. The Kushite kingdom with its capital at Meroe persisted until the 4th century AD, the Kushite capital was eventually captured and burnt to the ground by the Kingdom of Axum. It is also a term for the native population who initiated the kingdom of Kush. The term is also displayed in the names of Kushite persons, geographically, Kush referred to the region south of the first cataract in general. Kush also was the home of the rulers of the 25th dynasty, the name Kush, since at least the time of Josephus, has been connected with the biblical character Cush, in the Hebrew Bible, son of Ham. Ham had four sons named, Cush, Put, Canaan, according to the Bible, Nimrod, a son of Cush, was the founder and king of Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar. The Bible also makes reference to someone named Cush who is a Benjamite, some modern scholars, such as Friedrich Delitzsch, have suggested that the biblical Cush might be linked to the Kassites of the Zagros Mountains. Mentuhotep II is recorded to have undertaken campaigns against Kush in the 29th and this is the earliest Egyptian reference to Kush, the Nubian region had gone by other names in the Old Kingdom. During the New Kingdom of Egypt, Nubia was an Egyptian colony, with the disintegration of the New Kingdom around 1070 BC, Kush became an independent kingdom centered at Napata in modern northern Sudan. The Kushites buried their monarchs along with all their courtiers in mass graves, archaeologists refer to these practices as the Pan-grave culture. This was given its due to the way in which the remains are buried. They would dig a pit and put stones around them in a circle, Kushites also built burial mounds and pyramids, and shared some of the same gods worshiped in Egypt, especially Ammon and Isis. With the worshiping of these gods the Kushites began to some of the names of the gods as their throne names. The Kush rulers were regarded as guardians of the religion and were responsible for maintaining the houses of the gods. Some scholars believe the economy in the Kingdom of Kush was a redistributive system, the state would collect taxes in the form of surplus produce and would redistribute to the people. Others believe that most of the society worked on the land and required nothing from the state, northern Kush seemed to be more productive and wealthier than the Southern area
Kingdom of Kush
Kingdom of Kush
Kingdom of Kush
–
Maximum extent of Kush in 700 BC
Kingdom of Kush
–
Sudan Meroe Pyramids –
UNESCO World Heritage.
18.
Napata
–
Napata was a city-state of ancient Nubia on the west bank of the Nile River, at the site of modern Karima, Northern Sudan. Napata was founded by Thutmose III in the 15th century BC after his conquest of Nubia, the nearby Jebel Barkal was taken to mark the southern border of the New Kingdom. In 1075 BC, the High Priest of Amun at Thebes, capital of Egypt and this was the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period. The fragmentation of power in Egypt allowed the Nubians to regain autonomy and they founded a new kingdom, Kush, and centered it at Napata. In 750 BC, Napata was a city, while Egypt was still suffering political instability. King Kashta profited from it, and attacked Upper Egypt and his policy was pursued by his successors Piye, and Shabaka, who eventually brought the whole Nile Valley under Kushitic control in the second year of his reign. Shabaka also launched a policy in Egypt and Nubia. Overall, the Kushite kings ruled Upper Egypt for approximately one century and they constitute the Twenty-fifth Dynasty in Manetho’s work, Aegyptiaca. The reunited Nile valley empire of the 25th dynasty was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom, the 25th dynasty ushered in a renaissance period for Ancient Egypt. Religion, the arts, and architecture were restored to their glorious Old, Middle, pharaohs, such as Taharqa, built or restored temples and monuments throughout the Nile valley, including at Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, Jebel Barkal, etc. It was during the 25th dynasty that the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids since the Middle Kingdom, however, Pharaoh Taharqas reign and that of his successor, Tanutamun, was filled with constant conflict with the Assyrians. In 664 BC the Assyrians laid the blow, sacking Thebes. The 25th dynasty ended with its rulers retreating to their homeland at Napata. It was there that all 25th dynasty pharaohs are buried under the first pyramids that the Nile valley had seen in centuries, the Napatan dynasty led to the Kingdom of Kush, which flourished in Napata and Meroe until at least the 2nd century AD. When King Assurbanipal succeeded Esarhaddon, the Kushite king Taharqa convinced some rulers of Lower Egypt to break with Assyrians, however, Asshurbanipal overpowered the coalition and deported the Egyptian leaders to his capital, Niniveh. He appointed the Libyan chief Necho, ruler of Memphis and Sais, Necho I was the first king of the Saite Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt. A new Kushite King Tantamani killed him the year that Taharqa died. However, Tantamani was unable to defeat the Assyrians who backed Necho’s son Psammetichus I, Tantamani eventually abandoned his attempt to conquer Lower Egypt and retreated to Napata
Napata
–
Napatan necklace spacer made of gold (6th century BC). It is inscribed with
Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Napata
–
The last standing pillars of the temple of Amun at the foot of
Jebel Barkal
Napata
–
Nuri pyramids
19.
Shebitku
–
Shebitku was the third king of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt who ruled from 707/706 BC-690 BC, according to Danel Kahns most recent academic research of the Tang-i Var inscription. Shebitku was the nephew and successor of Shabaka and he was a son of Piye, the founder of this dynasty. Shebitkus prenomen or throne name, Djedkare, means Enduring is the Soul of Re, in 1999, an Egypt-Assyrian synchronism from the Great Inscription of Tang-i Var in Iran was re-discovered and re-analysed. The pertinent section of the inscription by Sargon II reads, The Tang-i Var inscription dates to Sargons 15th year between Nisan 707 BC to Adar 706 BC. As Jansen-Winkeln writes, there has never been the slightest hint at any form of coregency of the Nubian kings of Dynasty 25, Sargon can also be expected to have named the regent of Egypt and senior king, rather than the distant viceroy Shebitku. If, on the hand, Shebitku was already Shabakas successor in 707/706. It had hitherto been assumed that the Nubian king handed over Yamani more or less immediately after his flight to Egypt, now it appears. certain that Yamani was only turned over to the Assyrians a couple of years later. Consequently, Shebitkus reign should be dated to c.707 or 706 BC to 690 BC, murnanes 1977 book on Ancient Egyptian Coregencies. However, the Turin Museum has subsequently acknowledged the statue to be a forgery, if correct, this would demonstrate that Shebitku had truly served as a coregent to Shabaka for 2 years. William Murnane also endorsed this interpretation by noting that Shebitkus Year 3 Nile Text need not refer to an accession or coronation at all. Rather, it simply to record an appearance of Shebitku in the temple of Amun during his third year. In other words, Shebitku was already king of Egypt and the purpose of his visit to Karnak was to receive, therefore, the evidence for a possible coregency between Shabaka and Shebitku is illusory at present. Recently the arguments for reversing the order of Shabaka and Shebitku have been taken up by Bányai, shebitku’s reign would then cover the years 712-704 BC. During Shebitkus reign, there was initially a policy of conciliation with Assyria which was marked by the extradition of Iamanni back into Sargon IIs hands. After Sargon IIs death, however, Shebitku appears to have adopted a different policy by actively resisting any new Assyrian expansion into Canaan under Sargons son, a stela from Kawa relates that Shebitku asked his brothers, including Taharqa, to travel north to Thebes from Nubia. The Nubian army travelled along with Taharqa presumably to fight the Assyrians at the Battle of Eltekeh in 701 BC, another stela records that when Jerusalem was under attack by the Assyrians, the king of Kush marched against Sennacherib. Shebitku joined in the resistance against Sennacherib and an Egyptian army was sent to Palestine, led by Shebitkus brother, Shebitku also completed the decoration of the Temple of Osiris Heqadjet in Thebes during his reign. The Temple had been constructed under Osorkon III, in 690 BC, Shebitku died and was succeeded by Taharqa, his younger brother
Shebitku
–
Shebitku's statue in the
Nubian Museum
20.
Serapeum
–
There were several such religious centers, each of which was a serapeion or, in its Latinized form, a serapeum. 31°10′55″N 29°53′49″E The Serapeum of Alexandria in the Ptolemaic Kingdom was a ancient Greek temple built by Ptolemy III Euergetes and dedicated to Serapis, by all detailed accounts, the Serapeum was the largest and most magnificent of all temples in the Greek quarter of Alexandria. Besides the image of the god, the temple housed an offshoot collection of the great Library of Alexandria. The geographer Strabo tells that this stood in the west of the city, excavations at the site of the column of Diocletian in 1944 yielded the foundation deposits of the Serapeion. These are two sets of ten plaques, one each of gold, silver, bronze, Egyptian faience, sun-dried Nile mud, the inscription that Ptolemy III Euergetes built the Serapeion, in Greek and Egyptian, marks all plaques, evidence suggests that Parmeniskos was assigned as architect. The foundation deposits of a dedicated to Harpocrates from the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator were also found within the enclosure walls. Subterranean galleries beneath the temple were most probably the site of the mysteries of Serapis. In 1895, a diorite statue representing Serapis in his Apis bull incarnation with the sun disk between his horns was found at the site, an inscription dates it to the reign of Hadrian. The Serapeum in Alexandria was destroyed by a Christian mob or Roman soldiers in 391, several conflicting accounts for the context of the destruction of the Serapeum exist. According to early Christian sources, bishop Pope Theophilus of Alexandria was the Nicene patriarch when the decrees of emperor Theodosius I forbade public observances of any rites but Christian. In Alexandria, Bishop Theophilus obtained legal authority over one such forcibly abandoned temple of Dionysus, during the renovations, the contents of subterranean spaces were uncovered and profaned, which allegedly incited crowds of non-Christians to seek revenge. The trapped pagans plundered the Serapeum, consequently, the Serapeum was levelled by Roman soldiers and monks called in from the desert, as were the buildings dedicated to the Egyptian god Canopus. An alternate account of the incident is found in writings by Eunapius, here, an unprovoked Christian mob successfully used military-like tactics to destroy the Serapeum and steal anything that may have survived the attack. Whichever the cause, the destruction of the Serapeum, described by Christian writers Tyrannius Rufinus and Sozomen, was but the most spectacular of such conflicts, according to Peter Brown. However, Peter Brown frames it against a backdrop of frequent mob violence in the city. Also, Eusebius mentions street-fighting in Alexandria between Christians and non-Christians, occurring as early as 249, there is evidence that non-Christians had taken part in citywide struggles both for and against Athanasius of Alexandria in 341 and 356. Similar accounts are found in the writings of Socrates of Constantinople, R. McMullan further reports that, in 363, George of Cappadocia was killed for his repeated acts of pointed outrage, insult, and pillage of the most sacred treasures of the city. Whatever the prior events, the Serapeum of Alexandria was not rebuilt, another Serapeum was located at Canopus, in the Nile Delta near Alexandria
Serapeum
–
"
Pompey's Pillar " (in reality erected by
Diocletian) above the original site of the Alexandrian Serapeum
Serapeum
–
Statue of
Apis,
30th Dynasty,
Louvre.
Serapeum
–
Theophilus, Gospel in hand, stands triumphantly atop the Serapeum in 391
Serapeum
–
The obelisk facing the Pantheon, in Rome
21.
Stele
–
A stele is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected in ancient Western culture as a monument. Grave steles were often used for funerary or commemorative purposes, Stelae as slabs of stone would also be used as ancient Greek and Roman government notices or as boundary markers to mark borders or property lines. The surface of the stele usually has text, ornamentation, or both, the ornamentation may be inscribed, carved in relief, or painted. Traditional Western gravestones may technically be considered the equivalent of ancient stelae. The most famous example of an inscribed stela leading to increased understanding is the Rosetta Stone, an informative stele of Tiglath-Pileser III is preserved in the British Museum. Two steles built into the walls of a church are major documents relating to the Etruscan language, unfinished standing stones, set up without inscriptions from Libya in North Africa to Scotland were monuments of pre-literate Megalithic cultures in the Late Stone Age. The Pictish stones of Scotland, often carved, date from between the 6th and 9th centuries. An obelisk is a kind of stele. The Insular high crosses of Ireland and Britain are specialized steles, totem poles of North and South America that are made out of stone may also be considered a specialized type of stele. Gravestones, typically with inscribed name and often with inscribed epitaph, are among the most common types of stele seen in Western culture. Most recently, in the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, the memorial is meant to be read not only as the field, but also as an erasure of data that refer to memory of the Holocaust. Steles have been the medium of stone inscription in China since the Tang dynasty. Chinese steles are generally rectangular stone tablets upon which Chinese characters are carved intaglio with a funerary, commemorative and they can commemorate talented writers and officials, inscribe poems, portraits, or maps, and frequently contain the calligraphy of famous historical figures. During the Han dynasty, tomb inscriptions containing biographical information on deceased people began to be written on stone tablets rather than wooden ones, erecting steles at tombs or temples eventually became a widespread social and religious phenomenon. Emperors found it necessary to promulgate laws, regulating the use of funerary steles by the population, Steles are found at nearly every significant mountain and historical site in China. The First Emperor made five tours of his domain in the 3rd century BC and had Li Si make seven stone inscriptions commemorating and praising his work, of which fragments of two survive. One of the most famous mountain steles is the 13 m high stele at Mount Tai with the calligraphy of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang commemorating his imperial sacrifices there in 725. A number of stone monuments have preserved the origin and history of Chinas minority religious communities
Stele
–
Stele N from
Copán,
Honduras, depicting King K'ac Yipyaj Chan K'awiil ("Smoke Shell"), as drawn by
Frederick Catherwood in 1839
Stele
–
The
funerary stele of Thrasea and Euandria, c. 365 BC
Stele
–
Chinese ink rubbings of the 1489 (left) and 1512 (right) steles left by the
Kaifeng Jews.
Stele
–
Grave Stela of Nehemes-Ra-tawy, ca. 760-656 B.C.E.,37.588E,
Brooklyn Museum
22.
Apis (Egyptian mythology)
–
In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis is a sacred bull worshipped in the Memphis region. Identified as the son of Hathor, a deity in the pantheon of Ancient Egypt. Initially, he was assigned a significant role in her worship, being sacrificed, later, Apis also served as an intermediary between humans and other powerful deities. Apis was very important among all of the animals in Egypt, and, as with the others. Auguste Mariettes excavation of the Serapeum of Saqqara revealed the tombs of more than sixty animals, at first, each animal was buried in a separate tomb with a chapel built above it. The current available historical documentary and archaeological evidence suggests the Apis was the first god of Egypt, worship of an Apis bull began during the First Dynasty, which is after the year 2686 BCE. The Apis as a bull experienced by ancient Egyptians as holy, was worshipped at Memphis, worship of the Apis as a god seems to belong to ancient culture of Egypt during the Second Dynasty. According to Manetho, worship of the Apis was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second Dynasty, Apis is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the New Kingdom. This Osorapis was identified with Serapis of the late Hellenistic period, creating parallels to their own religious beliefs, ancient Greek writers identified Apis as an incarnation of Osiris, ignoring the connection with Ptah. During the start of the Hellenistic period, Ptolemy Soter, who ruled for the period 323-283 BCE, Apis was the most popular of three great bull cults of ancient Egypt, the others being the cults of Mnevis and Buchis. All are related to the worship of Hathor or Bat, similar primary goddesses separated by region until unification that eventually merged as Hathor, the worship of Apis was continued by the Greeks and after them by the Romans, and lasted until almost 400 CE. This animal was chosen because it symbolized the heart, great strength. Apis came to being considered a manifestation of the king, as bulls were symbols of strength and fertility, strong bull of his mother Hathor was a common title for Egyptian gods and male kings, being unused for women serving as king, such as Hatshepsut. As early as the time of the Narmer Palette, the king is depicted with a tail on one side. Occasionally, Apis was pictured with the symbol of his mother, Hathor. When the disk was depicted on his head with his horns below and the marking on his forehead. That symbol always was associated with Hathor. Early on, Apis was the herald of Ptah, the deity in the area around Memphis
Apis (Egyptian mythology)
–
Statue of Apis, Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt (Louvre)
Apis (Egyptian mythology)
–
Api or Hapi (Apis, Taureau Consacré a la Lune), N372.2,
Brooklyn Museum
Apis (Egyptian mythology)
–
Stele dedicated to an Apis, dating to Year 21 of
Psamtik I (c.644 BCE)
Apis (Egyptian mythology)
–
Bust of the Hellenistic-Egyptian god Serapis, Roman copy of an original by
Bryaxis which stood at the Serapeion of
Alexandria,
Vatican Museums.
23.
Psammetichus I
–
Wahibre Psamtik I, known by the Greeks as Psammeticus or Psammetichus, who ruled 664–610 BC, was the first of three kings of that name of the Saite, or Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt. From cuneiform texts, it was discovered that twenty local princelings were appointed by Esarhaddon, the labyrinth built by Amenemhat III of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt is ascribed by Herodotus to the Dodecarchy, which must represent this combination of rulers. Necho I died in 664 BC when the Kushite king Tantamani tried unsuccessfully to control of lower Egypt from the Assyrian Empire. After his fathers death, Psamtik both united all of Egypt and freed it from Assyrian control within the first ten years of his reign, psamtiks victory destroyed the last vestiges of the Nubian Twenty-fifth Dynastys control over Upper Egypt under Tantamani since Thebes now accepted his authority. Nitocris would hold her office for 70 years from 656 BC until her death in 585 BC, thereafter, Psamtik campaigned vigorously against those local princes who opposed his reunification of Egypt. One of his victories over certain Libyan marauders is mentioned in a Year 10, Psamtik won Egypts independence from the Assyrian Empire and restored Egypts prosperity during his 54-year reign. The pharaoh proceeded to close relations with archaic Greece and also encouraged many Greek settlers to establish colonies in Egypt. In particular, he settled some Greeks at Tahpanhes, the Greek historian Herodotus conveyed an anecdote about Psamtik in the second volume of his Histories. During his travel to Egypt, Herodotus heard that Psammetichus sought to discover the origin of language by conducting an experiment with two children, the hypothesis was that the first word would be uttered in the root language of all people. When one of the children cried βεκός with outstretched arms, the shepherd concluded that the word was Phrygian because that was the sound of the Phrygian word for bread. Thus, they concluded that the Phrygians were a people than the Egyptians. There are no other extant sources to verify this story, psamtiks chief wife was Mehytenweskhet, the daughter of Harsiese, the vizier of the North and High Priests of Atum at Heliopolis. Psamtik and Mehytenweskhet were the parents of Necho II, Merneith, Harsiese was the son of vizier Harkhebi, and was related to two other Harsieses, both viziers, who were a part of the family of the famous Mayor of Thebes Montuemhat. On 9 March 2017, Egyptian and German archaeologists discovered a colossal statue about 7.9 metres in height at the Heliopolis site in Cairo. Made of quartzite, the statue was found in a state, with the bust, the lower part of the head. It is suggested to be of Psamtik I due to engravings found that one of the pharaohs names on the base of the statue. A spokesperson at the time commented that If it does belong to this king, the head and torso are expected to be moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
Psammetichus I
–
Relief of Psamtik I making an offering to Ra-Horakhty (Tomb of Pabasa)
Psammetichus I
–
7th century statue of Psamtik. Inscription reads, "Amphimeos' son Pedon brought me from Egypt and gave as a votive; Psammetichos, the king of Egypt gave him a city for his virtue and a golden diadem for his virtue."
Psammetichus I
–
Basalt wall depicting Psamtik I (
British Museum)
24.
Assyria
–
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
Assyria
–
Letter sent by the high-priest Lu'enna to the king of
Lagash (maybe
Urukagina), informing him of his son's death in combat, c. 2400 BC, found in
Girsu.
Assyria
–
Overview map of the Ancient Near East in the 15th century BC (Middle Assyrian period), showing the core territory of Assyria with its two major cities
Assur and
Nineveh wedged between
Babylonia downstream (to the south-east) and the states of
Mitanni and
Hatti upstream (to the north-west).
Assyria
–
Assyrian attack on a town with archers and a wheeled battering ram, 865–860 BC
Assyria
–
Jehu, king of
Israel, bows before Shalmaneser III of Assyria, 825 BC
25.
Sennacherib
–
Sennacherib was the king of Assyria from 705 BCE to 681 BCE. He is principally remembered for his campaigns against Babylon and Judah. He was assassinated in obscure circumstances in 681 BCE, apparently by his eldest son, the primary preoccupation of his reign was the so-called Babylonian problem, the refusal of the Babylonians to accept Assyrian rule, culminating in his destruction of the city in 689 BCE. Further campaigns were carried out in Syria in the mountains east of Assyria, against the kingdoms of Anatolia and his death was welcomed in Babylon as divine punishment for the destruction of that city. He was also a builder, it was under him that Assyrian art reached its peak. Assyria began as a Bronze Age city-state or small kingdom on the middle-Tigris, the empires rise aroused the fear and hatred of its neighbours, notably Babylon, Elam and Egypt, and the many smaller kingdoms of the region such as Judah. Any perceived weakness on the part of Assyria led inevitably to rebellion, solving the so-called Babylonian problem was Sennacheribs primary preoccupation. Sennacheribs grandfather Tiglath-pileser III had made himself king of Babylon, creating a monarchy in which the Babylonians retained a nominal independence. This arrangement was never accepted by local leaders, particularly an important tribal chief named Marduk-apla-iddina. Marduk-apla-iddina paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser, but when Tiglath-pilesers successor Shalmaneser V was overthrown by Sargon II he seized the opportunity to crown himself king of Babylon, the next thirty years saw a repeating pattern of Assyrian reconquest and renewed rebellion. His relations, instead, were military, and culminated in his complete destruction of Babylon in 689 BCE. He destroyed the temples and the images of the gods, except for that of Marduk, the creator-god and divine patron of Babylon and this caused consternation in Assyria itself, where Babylon and its gods were held in high esteem. Sennacherib attempted to justify his actions to his own countrymen through a campaign of religious propaganda, in Babylon itself, Sennachribs answer to the Babylonian problem sparked an intense hatred that would eventually lead to a war for independence and the destruction of Assyria. Sennacherib was probably not the son of Sargon II, but he was groomed for royal succession. Sargon died in battle, and ancient sources give three different years for Sennacheribs first reign-year—705 BCE,704 BCE, and 703 BCE—suggesting that the succession was not smooth, Sennacheribs first campaign began late in 703 BCE against Marduk-apla-iddina, who had once more taken the throne of Babylon. The rebellion was defeated, Marduk-apla-iddina fled, and Babylon was taken, a puppet king named Bel-ibni was placed on the throne and for the next two years Babylon was left in peace. In 701 BCE, Sennacherib turned from Babylonia to the part of the empire. Ekron called on Egypt for help but the Egyptians were defeated, Sennacherib then turned on Jerusalem, Hezekiahs capital
Sennacherib
–
Sennacherib during his Babylonian war, relief from his palace in
Nineveh
Sennacherib
–
Assyrian warriors armed with slings from the palace of Sennacherib, 7th century BCE
Sennacherib
–
View of ancient Nineveh, Description de L'Univers (
Alain Manesson Mallet, 1719).
Sennacherib
–
Limestone stele of king Sennacherib from Nineveh. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul Archeological Museums, Turkey
26.
Hezekiah
–
Hezekiah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Judah. Archaeologist Edwin Thiele has concluded that his reign was between c.715 and 686 BC and he is considered a very righteous king by the author of the Book of Kings. He is also one of the most prominent kings of Judah mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and is one of the mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Hezekiah enacted sweeping reforms, including a strict mandate for the sole worship of Yahweh. Isaiah and Micah prophesied during his reign, Hezekiah, more properly transliterated as Ḥizkiyyahu, or Ḥizkiyyah. It also spawns a number of nouns, including חוֹזֶק, חָזְקָה, חֶזְקָה strength, as well as the adjectives חָזָק, חָזֵק strong. Accordingly, חִזְקִיָּהוּ Ḥizkiyyahu can be said to mean something like Strengthened by Yahweh, the main account of Hezekiahs reign is found in 2 Kings 18–20, Isaiah 36–39, and 2 Chronicles 29–32 of the Hebrew Bible. Proverbs 25,1 mentions that it is a collection of King Solomons proverbs that were copied by the officials of King Hezekiah of Judah and his reign is also referred to in the books of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Micah. The books of Hosea and Micah record that their prophecies were made during Hezekiah’s reign, Hezekiah was the son of King Ahaz and Abijah. His mother, Abijah, was a daughter of the high priest Zechariah, based on Thieles dating, Hezekiah was born in c.741 BC. He died from natural causes at the age of 54 in c.687 BC, according to the Hebrew Bible, Hezekiah assumed the throne of Judah at the age of 25 and reigned for 29 years. Some writers have proposed that Hezekiah served as coregent with his father Ahaz for about 14 years and his sole reign is dated by William F. Albright as 715–687 BC, and by Edwin R. Thiele as 716–687 BC. Hezekiah purified and repaired the Temple, purged its idols, in an effort to abolish what he considered idolatry from his kingdom, he destroyed the high places and bronze serpent, recorded as being made by Moses, which became objects of idolatrous worship. In place of this, he centralized the worship of God at the Jerusalem Temple, Hezekiah also resumed the Passover pilgrimage and the tradition of inviting the scattered tribes of Israel to take part in a Passover festival. He sent messengers to Ephraim and Manasseh inviting them to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover, the messengers, however, were not only not listened to, but were even laughed at, only a few men of Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun came to Jerusalem. Nevertheless, the Passover was celebrated with solemnity and such rejoicing as had not been in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon. Hezekiah is portrayed by the Hebrew Bible as a great and good king, when Sargon II, the king of Assyria, died in 705 BC, states, including Judah, that were subject to Assyria saw an opportunity to throw off their subservience to the Assyrian kings. Hezekiah ceased to pay the tribute imposed on his father, in 703 BC Sennacherib, Sargons son and successor, began a series of major campaigns to quash opposition to Assyrian rule
Hezekiah
–
King Hezekiah from
Guillaume Rouillé 's
Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum, 1553
Hezekiah
–
Remnants of the
Broad Wall of biblical Jerusalem, built during Hezekiah's days against
Sennacherib 's siege
Hezekiah
–
Inside the
Siloam tunnel, 2010
Hezekiah
–
Siloam pool
27.
Jerusalem
–
Jerusalem is a city located on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is considered a city in the three major Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed at least twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, the part of Jerusalem called the City of David was settled in the 4th millennium BCE. In 1538, walls were built around Jerusalem under Suleiman the Magnificent, today those walls define the Old City, which has been traditionally divided into four quarters—known since the early 19th century as the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters. The Old City became a World Heritage Site in 1981, and is on the List of World Heritage in Danger, Modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the Old Citys boundaries. These foundational events, straddling the dawn of the 1st millennium BCE, the sobriquet of holy city was probably attached to Jerusalem in post-exilic times. The holiness of Jerusalem in Christianity, conserved in the Septuagint which Christians adopted as their own authority, was reinforced by the New Testament account of Jesuss crucifixion there, in Sunni Islam, Jerusalem is the third-holiest city, after Mecca and Medina. As a result, despite having an area of only 0, outside the Old City stands the Garden Tomb. Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, West Jerusalem was among the captured and later annexed by Israel while East Jerusalem, including the Old City, was captured. Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War and subsequently annexed it into Jerusalem, one of Israels Basic Laws, the 1980 Jerusalem Law, refers to Jerusalem as the countrys undivided capital. All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset, the residences of the Prime Minister and President, the international community does not recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the city hosts no foreign embassies. Jerusalem is also home to some non-governmental Israeli institutions of importance, such as the Hebrew University. In 2011, Jerusalem had a population of 801,000, of which Jews comprised 497,000, Muslims 281,000, a city called Rušalim in the Execration texts of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt is widely, but not universally, identified as Jerusalem. Jerusalem is called Urušalim in the Amarna letters of Abdi-Heba, the name Jerusalem is variously etymologized to mean foundation of the god Shalem, the god Shalem was thus the original tutelary deity of the Bronze Age city. The form Yerushalem or Yerushalayim first appears in the Bible, in the Book of Joshua, according to a Midrash, the name is a combination of Yhwh Yireh and the town Shalem. The earliest extra-biblical Hebrew writing of the word Jerusalem is dated to the sixth or seventh century BCE and was discovered in Khirbet Beit Lei near Beit Guvrin in 1961. The inscription states, I am Yahweh thy God, I will accept the cities of Judah and I will redeem Jerusalem, or as other scholars suggest, the mountains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem
Jerusalem
–
From upper left: Jerusalem skyline viewed from Givat ha'Arba,
Mamilla, the
Old City and the
Dome of the Rock, a
souq in the
Old City, the
Knesset, the
Western Wall, the
Tower of David and the
Ottoman Old City walls
Jerusalem
–
Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim)
Arabic: القُدس (al-Quds)
Aramaic: יְרוּשְׁלֶם (Yərushəlem)
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
–
Stepped Stone Structure in
Ophel /
City of David, the oldest part of Jerusalem
28.
Napatan
–
Napata was a city-state of ancient Nubia on the west bank of the Nile River, at the site of modern Karima, Northern Sudan. Napata was founded by Thutmose III in the 15th century BC after his conquest of Nubia, the nearby Jebel Barkal was taken to mark the southern border of the New Kingdom. In 1075 BC, the High Priest of Amun at Thebes, capital of Egypt and this was the beginning of the Third Intermediate Period. The fragmentation of power in Egypt allowed the Nubians to regain autonomy and they founded a new kingdom, Kush, and centered it at Napata. In 750 BC, Napata was a city, while Egypt was still suffering political instability. King Kashta profited from it, and attacked Upper Egypt and his policy was pursued by his successors Piye, and Shabaka, who eventually brought the whole Nile Valley under Kushitic control in the second year of his reign. Shabaka also launched a policy in Egypt and Nubia. Overall, the Kushite kings ruled Upper Egypt for approximately one century and they constitute the Twenty-fifth Dynasty in Manetho’s work, Aegyptiaca. The reunited Nile valley empire of the 25th dynasty was as large as it had been since the New Kingdom, the 25th dynasty ushered in a renaissance period for Ancient Egypt. Religion, the arts, and architecture were restored to their glorious Old, Middle, pharaohs, such as Taharqa, built or restored temples and monuments throughout the Nile valley, including at Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, Jebel Barkal, etc. It was during the 25th dynasty that the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids since the Middle Kingdom, however, Pharaoh Taharqas reign and that of his successor, Tanutamun, was filled with constant conflict with the Assyrians. In 664 BC the Assyrians laid the blow, sacking Thebes. The 25th dynasty ended with its rulers retreating to their homeland at Napata. It was there that all 25th dynasty pharaohs are buried under the first pyramids that the Nile valley had seen in centuries, the Napatan dynasty led to the Kingdom of Kush, which flourished in Napata and Meroe until at least the 2nd century AD. When King Assurbanipal succeeded Esarhaddon, the Kushite king Taharqa convinced some rulers of Lower Egypt to break with Assyrians, however, Asshurbanipal overpowered the coalition and deported the Egyptian leaders to his capital, Niniveh. He appointed the Libyan chief Necho, ruler of Memphis and Sais, Necho I was the first king of the Saite Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt. A new Kushite King Tantamani killed him the year that Taharqa died. However, Tantamani was unable to defeat the Assyrians who backed Necho’s son Psammetichus I, Tantamani eventually abandoned his attempt to conquer Lower Egypt and retreated to Napata
Napatan
–
Napatan necklace spacer made of gold (6th century BC). It is inscribed with
Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Napatan
–
The last standing pillars of the temple of Amun at the foot of
Jebel Barkal
Napatan
–
Nuri pyramids
29.
Kingdom of Judah
–
The Kingdom of Judah was an Iron Age kingdom of the Southern Levant. The Hebrew Bible depicts it as the successor to a United Monarchy, in the 10th and early 9th centuries BCE the territory of Judah appears to have been sparsely populated, limited to small rural settlements, most of them unfortified. Significant academic debate exists around the character of the Kingdom of Judah, archaeologists of the minimalist school doubt the extent of the Kingdom of Judah as depicted in the Bible. Around 1990–2010, an important group of archaeologists and biblical scholars formed the view that the actual Kingdom of Judah bore little resemblance to the portrait of a powerful monarchy. These scholars say the kingdom was no more than a tribal entity. Other archaeologists say that the identification of Khirbet Qeiyafa as an Israelite settlement is uncertain, the status of Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE is a major subject of debate. The oldest part of Jerusalem and its urban core is the City of David. However, unique structures such as the Stepped Stone Structure and the Large Stone Structure. According to the Hebrew Bible, the kingdom of Judah resulted from the break-up of the United kingdom of Israel after the tribes refused to accept Rehoboam. At first, only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David, the two kingdoms, Judah in the south and Israel in the north, coexisted uneasily after the split until the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel by Assyria in c. 722/721. The major theme of the Hebrew Bibles narrative is the loyalty of Judah, and especially its kings, to Yahweh, which it states is the God of Israel. Accordingly, all the kings of Israel and almost all the kings of Judah were bad, which in terms of Biblical narrative means that they failed to enforce monotheism. Of the good kings, Hezekiah is noted for his efforts at stamping out idolatry, for the first sixty years, the kings of Judah tried to re-establish their authority over the northern kingdom, and there was perpetual war between them. Israel and Judah were in a state of war throughout Rehoboams seventeen-year reign, Rehoboam built elaborate defenses and strongholds, along with fortified cities. In the fifth year of Rehoboams reign, Shishak, pharaoh of Egypt, brought a huge army, in the sack of Jerusalem, Rehoboam gave them all of the treasures out of the temple as a tribute and Judah became a vassal state of Egypt. Rehoboams son and successor, Abijah of Judah continued his fathers efforts to bring Israel under his control and he fought the Battle of Mount Zemaraim against Jeroboam of Israel and was victorious with a heavy loss of life on the Israel side. The Bible does not state whether Zerah was a pharaoh or a general of the army, the Ethiopians were pursued all the way to Gerar, in the coastal plain, where they stopped out of sheer exhaustion. The resulting peace kept Judah free from Egyptian incursions until the time of Josiah some centuries later, in his 36th year, Asa was confronted by Baasha of Israel, who built a fortress at Ramah on the border, less than ten miles from Jerusalem
Kingdom of Judah
–
Mesha Stele c. 850 BCE – An inscribed stone set up c. 840 BCE by
Mesha of
Moab tells how
Chemosh, the God of Moab, had been angry with his people and allowed them to be subjugated to Israel, but at length assisted Mesha to throw off the yoke of Israel and restore the lands of Moab.
Kingdom of Judah
–
Map of the region in the 9th century BCE
Kingdom of Judah
–
Stamped bulla of a servant of King Hezekiah used to seal a papyrus document
30.
Books of Kings
–
In the Hebrew Bible, Kings is a single book called the Book of Kings. The fourth book of Neviim, the division of the Tanakh. In the Septuagint, Samuel and Kings was divided into four books and Kings became III, the two Books of Kings presents a history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years. Solomon comes to the throne after Davids death, at the beginning of his reign he assumes Gods promises to David and brings splendour to Israel and peace and prosperity to his people. The centrepiece of Solomons reign is the building of the First Temple, at the end, however, he follows other gods and oppresses Israel. The kings who follow Rehoboam in Jerusalem continue the line of David, in the north, however, dynasties follow each other in rapid succession. At length God brings the Assyrians to destroy the northern kingdom, Yahweh saves Jerusalem and the kingdom from an invasion by Assyria. But Manasseh, the king, reverses the reforms. Manassehs righteous grandson Josiah reinstitutes the reforms of Hezekiah, but it is too late, God, speaking through the prophetess Huldah, affirms that Jerusalem is to be destroyed. God brings the Babylonians against Jerusalem, Yahweh deserts his people, Jerusalem is razed and the Temple destroyed, in the original Hebrew Bible First and Second Kings are a single book, as are First and Second Samuel. When this was translated into Greek in the last few centuries BCE, then, what it is now commonly known as 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel are called by the Vulgate, in imitation of the Septuagint,1 Kings and 2 Kings respectively. What it is now known as 1 Kings and 2 Kings would be 3 Kings and 4 Kings in old Bibles before the year 1516 such as the Vulgate. The division we know today, used by Protestant Bibles and adopted by Catholics, some Bibles still preserve the old denomination, for example, Douay Rheims bible. According to Jewish tradition the author of Kings was Jeremiah, who would have been alive during the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. The Deuteronomic perspective is particularly evident in prayers and speeches spoken by key figures at major transition points, a third source, or set of sources, were cycles of stories about various prophets, plus a few smaller miscellaneous traditions. The conclusion of the book was based on personal knowledge. A few sections were editorial additions not based on sources, judgement is not punishment, but simply the natural consequence of Israels failure to worship Yahweh alone. Another and related theme is that of prophecy, the main point of the prophetic stories is that Gods prophecies are always fulfilled, so that any not yet fulfilled will be so in the future
Books of Kings
–
Tanakh (Judaism)
Books of Kings
–
Solomon greeting the Queen of Sheba – gate of
Florence Baptistry
Books of Kings
–
Rembrandt, "Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem", c. 1630
Books of Kings
–
James Tissot, The Flight of the Prisoners – the fall of Jerusalem, 586 BCE.
31.
Book of Isaiah
–
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. While virtually no one today attributes the entire book, or even most of it, to one person, Isaiah 1–33 promises judgment and restoration for Judah, Jerusalem and the nations, and chapters 34–66 presume that judgment has been pronounced and restoration follows soon. It can thus be read as a meditation on the destiny of Jerusalem into. Isaiah speaks out against corrupt leaders and for the disadvantaged, Isaiah 44,6 contains the first clear statement of monotheism, I am the first and I am the last, besides me there is no god. This model of monotheism became the characteristic of post-Exilic Judaism. Isaiah was one of the most popular works among Jews in the Second Temple period, the scholarly consensus which held sway through most of the 20th century saw three separate collections of oracles in the book of Isaiah. God has a plan which will be realised on the Day of Yahweh, on that day all the nations of the world will come to Zion for instruction, but first the city must be punished and cleansed of evil. Israel is invited to join in this plan, chapters 5–12 explain the significance of the Assyrian judgment against Israel, righteous rule by the Davidic king will follow after the arrogant Assyrian monarch is brought down. The oppressor is about to fall, chapters 34–35 tell how Yahweh will return the redeemed exiles to Jerusalem. Chapters 36–39 tell of the faithfulness of king Hezekiah to Yahweh during the Assyrian siege as a model for the restored community, chapters 55–66 are an exhortation to Israel to keep the covenant. Gods eternal promise to David is now made to the people of Israel/Judah at large, the book ends by enjoining righteousness as the final stages of Gods plan come to pass, including the pilgrimage of the nations to Zion and the realisation of Yahwehs kingship. Chapters 56–66 assume an even later situation, in which the people are returned to Jerusalem. Anonymity → Isaiahs name suddenly stops being used after chapter 39, style → There is a sudden change in style and theology after chapter 40, numerous key words and phrases found in one section are not found in the other. These observations led scholars to the conclusion that the book can be divided into three sections, labeled Proto-Isaiah, Deutero-Isaiah, and Trito-Isaiah. Early modern-period scholars treated Isaiah as independent collections of sayings by three individual prophets, brought together at a later period, about 70 BCE, to form the present book. The second half of the 20th century saw a change in approach. The conquest of Jerusalem by Babylon and the exile of its elite in 586 BCE ushered in the stage in the formation of the book. Deutero-Isaiah addresses himself to the Jews in exile, offering them the hope of return, deutero-Isaiahs predictions of the imminent fall of Babylon and his glorification of Cyrus as the deliverer of Israel date his prophecies to 550–539 BCE, and probably towards the end of this period
Book of Isaiah
–
Tanakh (Judaism)
Book of Isaiah
–
The
Isaiah scroll, the oldest surviving manuscript of Isaiah: found among the
Dead Sea Scrolls and dating from about 150 to 100 BCE, it contains almost the whole Book of Isaiah and is substantially identical with the modern
Masoretic text.
Book of Isaiah
–
Michelangelo (c. 1508–12), Isaiah,
Vatican City:
Sistine Chapel ceiling
Book of Isaiah
–
detail of entrance to 30 Rockefeller Plaza showing verse from Isaiah 33:6
Rockefeller Center,
New York
32.
Biblical
–
The Bible is a collection of sacred texts or scriptures that Jews and Christians consider to be a product of divine inspiration and a record of the relationship between God and humans. Many different authors contributed to the Bible, what is regarded as canonical text differs depending on traditions and groups, a number of Bible canons have evolved, with overlapping and diverging contents. The Christian Old Testament overlaps with the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Septuagint, the New Testament is a collection of writings by early Christians, believed to be mostly Jewish disciples of Christ, written in first-century Koine Greek. These early Christian Greek writings consist of narratives, letters, among Christian denominations there is some disagreement about the contents of the canon, primarily the Apocrypha, a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect. Attitudes towards the Bible also differ amongst Christian groups and this concept arose during the Protestant Reformation, and many denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only source of Christian teaching. With estimated total sales of over 5 billion copies, the Bible is widely considered to be the book of all time. It has estimated sales of 100 million copies, and has been a major influence on literature and history, especially in the West. The English word Bible is from the Latin biblia, from the word in Medieval Latin and Late Latin. Medieval Latin biblia is short for biblia sacra holy book, while biblia in Greek and it gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as a singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe. Latin biblia sacra holy books translates Greek τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια ta biblia ta hagia, the word βιβλίον itself had the literal meaning of paper or scroll and came to be used as the ordinary word for book. It is the diminutive of βύβλος byblos, Egyptian papyrus, possibly so called from the name of the Phoenician sea port Byblos from whence Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece, the Greek ta biblia was an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books. Christian use of the term can be traced to c.223 CE, bruce notes that Chrysostom appears to be the first writer to use the Greek phrase ta biblia to describe both the Old and New Testaments together. The division of the Hebrew Bible into verses is based on the sof passuk cantillation mark used by the 10th-century Masoretes to record the verse divisions used in oral traditions. The oldest extant copy of a complete Bible is an early 4th-century parchment book preserved in the Vatican Library, the oldest copy of the Tanakh in Hebrew and Aramaic dates from the 10th century CE. The oldest copy of a complete Latin Bible is the Codex Amiatinus and he states that it is not a magical book, nor was it literally written by God and passed to mankind. In Christian Bibles, the New Testament Gospels were derived from traditions in the second half of the first century CE. Riches says that, Scholars have attempted to reconstruct something of the history of the oral traditions behind the Gospels, the period of transmission is short, less than 40 years passed between the death of Jesus and the writing of Marks Gospel. This means that there was time for oral traditions to assume fixed form
Biblical
–
The
Gutenberg Bible, the first printed Bible
Biblical
–
The Kennicott Bible, by
Benjamin Kennicott, with illustration, Jonah being swallowed by the fish, 1476
Biblical
–
Tanakh
33.
Commander
–
Commander is a common naval and air force officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organisations, Commander is also a generic term for an officer commanding any armed forces unit, for example platoon commander, brigade commander and squadron commander. In the police, terms such as commander and incident commander are used. Commander is a used in navies but is very rarely used as a rank in armies. In practice, these were usually unrated sloops-of-war of no more than 20 guns, the Royal Navy shortened master and commander to commander in 1794, however, the term master and commander remained in common parlance for several years. The equivalent American rank master commandant remained in use changed to commander in 1838. A corresponding rank in some navies is frigate captain, in the 20th and 21st centuries, the rank has been assigned the NATO rank code of OF-4. Various functions of commanding officers were also styled Commandeur, in the navy of the Dutch Republic, anyone who commanded a ship or a fleet without having an appropriate rank to do so, could be called a Commandeur. This included ad hoc fleet Commanders and acting Captains, in the fleet of the Admiralty of Zealand however, commandeur was a formal rank, the equivalent of Schout-bij-nacht in the other Dutch admiralties. The Dutch use of the title as a rank lives on in the Royal Netherlands Navy, in the Royal Netherlands Air Force, however, this rank is known by the English spelling of Commodore which is the Dutch equivalent of the British Air Commodore. The rank of commander in the Royal Australian Navy is identical in description to that of a commander in the British Royal Navy, RAN chaplains who are in Division 1,2 and 3 have the equivalent rank standing of commanders. This means that to officers and NCOs below the rank of commander, or wing commander, the chaplain is a superior. To those officers ranked higher than commander, the chaplain is subordinate, although this equivalency exists, RAN chaplains who are in Division 1,2 and 3 do not actually wear the rank of commander, and they hold no command privilege. In France, the rank of commander exists as capitaine de frégate and it is senior to capitaine de corvette, and junior to capitaine de vaisseau. The rank of commander was used in the Imperial Japanese Navy, though the modern rank is translated as commander in English, its literal translation is captain second rank. The rank is equivalent to that of a commander in the U. S. Navy, Commander is a rank in the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, and is denoted by the post-nominal letters CLJ. The corresponding rank in the Polish Navy is komandor porucznik, in the Russian Navy the equivalent rank to commander is captain of the second rank. The rank was introduced in Russia by Peter the Great in 1722, from the introduction of the Russian Table of Ranks to its abolition in 1917, captain of the second rank was equal to a court councillor, at the sixth level out of 14 ranks
Commander
–
Komandor porucznik, Poland
34.
Herodotus
–
Herodotus was a Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire and lived in the fifth century BC, a contemporary of Socrates. The Histories is the work which he is known to have produced. Despite Herodotus historical significance, little is known of his personal life and his place in history and his significance may be understood according to the traditions within which he worked. His work is the earliest Greek prose to have survived intact, of these only fragments of Hecataeuss work survive yet they allow us glimpses into the kind of tradition within which Herodotus wrote his own Histories. In his introduction to Hecataeus’s work, Genealogies, This points forward to the ‘folksy’ yet ‘international’ outlook typical of Herodotus. Yet, one scholar has described the work of Hecataeus as “a curious false start to history” since despite his critical spirit. It is possible that Herodotus borrowed much material from Hecataeus, as stated by Porphyry in a recorded by Eusebius. But Hecataeus did not record events that had occurred in living memory, unlike Herodotus, Herodotus claims to be better informed than his predecessors by relying on empirical observation to correct their excessive schematism. For example, He argues for continental asymmetry as opposed to the theory of a perfectly circular earth with Europe. Yet, he retains idealizing tendencies, as in his notions of the Danube. His debt to previous authors of prose ‘histories’ might be questionable, however, this point is one of the most contentious issues in modern scholarship. It is on account of the strange stories and the folk-tales he reported that his critics in early modern times branded him “The Father of Lies”. Even his own contemporaries found reason to scoff at his achievement, similarly, the Athenian historian Thucydides dismissed Herodotus as a “logos-writer”. Moreover, Thucydides developed a historical topic more in keeping with the Greek world-view, the interplay of civilizations was more relevant to Greeks living in Anatolia, such as Herodotus himself, for whom life within a foreign civilization was a recent memory. Modern scholars generally turn to Herodotus’s own writing for reliable information about his life, supplemented with ancient yet much later sources, modern accounts of his life typically go something like this, Herodotus was born at Halicarnassus around 484 BC. His name is not mentioned later in the tribute list of the Athenian Delian League, the epic poet Panyassis – a relative of Herodotus – is reported to have taken part in a failed uprising. Herodotus expresses affection for the island of Samos, and this is an indication that he might have lived there in his youth. So it is possible that his family was involved in an uprising against Lygdamis, leading to a period of exile on Samos, Herodotus wrote his Histories in the Ionian dialect, yet he was born in Halicarnassus, which was a Dorian settlement
Herodotus
–
A Roman copy (2nd century AD) of a Greek
bust of Herodotus from the first half of the 4th century BC
Herodotus
–
Fragment from the Histories VIII on
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2099, early 2nd century AD
Herodotus
–
Relief of Herodotus by
Jean-Guillaume Moitte (1806),
Louvre, Paris
Herodotus
–
The statue of Herodotus in his hometown of
Halicarnassus, modern
Bodrum, Turkey.
35.
Nubia
–
Nubia is a region along the Nile river located in what is today northern Sudan and southern Egypt. It was the seat of one of the earliest civilizations of ancient Africa, with a history that can be traced from at least 2000 B. C. onward, and was home to one of the African empires. Nubia was again united within Ottoman Egypt in the 19th century, the name Nubia is derived from that of the Noba people, nomads who settled the area in the 4th century following the collapse of the kingdom of Meroë. The Noba spoke a Nilo-Saharan language, ancestral to Old Nubian, Old Nubian was mostly used in religious texts dating from the 8th and 15th centuries AD. Before the 4th century, and throughout classical antiquity, Nubia was known as Kush, or, in Classical Greek usage, until at least 1970, the Birgid language was spoken north of Nyala in Darfur, but is now extinct. Nubia was divided into two regions, Upper and Lower Nubia, so called because of their location in the Nile river valley. Early settlements sprouted in both Upper and Lower Nubia, Egyptians referred to Nubia as Ta-Seti, or The Land of the Bow, since the Nubians were known to be expert archers. Modern scholars typically refer to the people from this area as the “A-Group” culture, fertile farmland just south of the Third Cataract is known as the “pre-Kerma” culture in Upper Nubia, as they are the ancestors. The Neolithic people in the Nile Valley likely came from Sudan, as well as the Sahara, by the 5th millennium BC, the people who inhabited what is now called Nubia participated in the Neolithic revolution. Saharan rock reliefs depict scenes that have been thought to be suggestive of a cult, typical of those seen throughout parts of Eastern Africa. Megaliths discovered at Nabta Playa are early examples of what seems to be one of the worlds first astronomical devices, around 3500 BC, the second Nubian culture, termed the A-Group, arose. It was a contemporary of, and ethnically and culturally similar to. The A-Group people were engaged in trade with the Egyptians and this trade is testified archaeologically by large amounts of Egyptian commodities deposited in the graves of the A-Group people. The imports consisted of gold objects, copper tools, faience amulets and beads, seals, slate palettes, stone vessels, and a variety of pots. Around 3300 BC, there is evidence of a kingdom, as shown by the finds at Qustul. The Nubian culture may have contributed to the unification of the Nile Valley. The earliest known depiction of the crown is on a ceremonial incense burner from Cemetery at Qustul in Lower Nubia. New evidence from Abydos, however, particularly the excavation of Cemetery U, around the turn of the protodynastic period, Naqada, in its bid to conquer and unify the whole Nile Valley, seems to have conquered Ta-Seti and harmonized it with the Egyptian state
Nubia
–
Nubians in worship
Nubia
–
Nubian woman circa 1900
Nubia
–
Head of a Nubian Ruler
Nubia
–
Ramesses II in his war chariot charging into battle against the Nubians
36.
Esarhaddon
–
Esarhaddon was a king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire who reigned 681 –669 BC. He was the youngest son of Sennacherib and the West Semitic queen Naqia, when, despite being the youngest son, Esarhaddon was named successor by his father, his elder brothers tried to discredit him. Oracles had named him as the person to free the exiles and rebuild Babylon, Esarhaddon remained crown prince, but was forced into exile at an unknown place beyond Hanilgalbat, that is, beyond the Euphrates, most likely somewhere in what is now southeastern Turkey. Sennacherib was murdered in 681 BC, the biblical account is that Esarhaddons brothers killed their father after the failed attempt to capture Jerusalem. Esarhaddon returned to the capital of Nineveh in forced marches and defeated his brothers in six weeks of civil war. He was formally declared king in the spring of 681 BC and his brothers fled to the land of Ararat and their followers and families were put to death. In the same year Esarhaddon began the rebuilding of Babylon, including the well-known Esagila, the statues of the Babylonian gods were restored and returned to the city. He also ordered the reconstruction of the Assyrian sanctuary of Esharra in Ashur as well, foreigners were forbidden to enter the temple. Both buildings were dedicated almost on the date, the second year of his reign. The first military campaigns of Esarhaddon were directed against nomadic tribes of southern Mesopotamia, the Dakkuri and Gambulu, in 679 BC, the Cimmerians, who had already killed his grandfather Sargon II, reappeared in Cilicia and Tabal under their new ruler Teushpa. Esarhaddon defeated them near Hubushna, and defeated the rebellious inhabitants of Hilakku as well, the Cimmerians withdrew to the west, where, with Scythian and Urartuan help, they were to destroy the kingdom of Phrygia in 676 BC. The Sidonian king Abdi-Milkutti, who had risen up against the Assyrian king, was defeated in 677 BC, the town of Sidon was destroyed and rebuilt as Kar-Ashur-aha-iddina, the Harbor of Esarhaddon. The population was deported to Assyria, a share of the plunder went to the loyal king of rival Tyre, Baal I, himself an Assyrian puppet. In 676 BC, Esarhaddon took the towns of Sissu and Kundu in the Taurus Mountains, the Mannaeans, the Scythians under their king Ishpakaia, and the Gutians of the Zagros proved to be a nuisance as well, as is attested by numerous oracle-texts. After the fall of Phrygia, a daughter of Esarhaddon was wedded to the Scythian prince Partatua of Sakasene in order to improve relations with the nomads, the Medes under Khshathrita had been the target of a campaign as well, the date of which is unclear. Later, Assyrian hosts reached the border of the salt-desert near the mountain Bikni, a number of fortresses secured the Zagros, Bit-Parnakki, Bit-kari and Harhar. A certain Mugallu had taken possession of parts of the Syro-Hittite state of Melid, the city of Melid was besieged in 675 BC, but without success. That same year, Humban-Haltash II of Elam began a campaign against Sippar, but was defeated by the Babylonians and his brother and successor Urtaki restored peace with Assyria
Esarhaddon
–
Victory stele.
37.
Arab
–
Arabs are an ethnic group inhabiting the Arab world. They primarily live in the Arab states in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabs are first mentioned in the mid-ninth century BCE as a tribal people dwelling in the central Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs appear to have been under the vassalage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, tradition holds that Arabs descend from Ishmael, the son of Abraham. The Arabian Desert is the birthplace of Arab, there are other Arab groups as well that spread in the land and existed for millennia. Before the expansion of the Caliphate, Arab referred to any of the largely nomadic Semitic people from the northern to the central Arabian Peninsula and Syrian Desert. Presently, Arab refers to a number of people whose native regions form the Arab world due to spread of Arabs throughout the region during the early Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries. The Arabs forged the Rashidun, Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates, whose borders reached southern France in the west, China in the east, Anatolia in the north, and this was one of the largest land empires in history. The Great Arab Revolt has had as big an impact on the modern Middle East as the World War I, the war signaled the end of the Ottoman Empire. They are modern states and became significant as distinct political entities after the fall and defeat, following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945. The Charter of the Arab League endorsed the principle of an Arab homeland whilst respecting the sovereignty of its member states. Beyond the boundaries of the League of Arab States, Arabs can also be found in the global diaspora, the ties that bind Arabs are ethnic, linguistic, cultural, historical, identical, nationalist, geographical and political. The Arabs have their own customs, language, architecture, art, literature, music, dance, media, cuisine, dress, society, sports, the total number of Arabs are an estimated 450 million. This makes them the second largest ethnic group after the Han Chinese. Arabs are a group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. In the pre-Islamic era, most Arabs followed polytheistic religions, some tribes had adopted Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, apparently observed monotheism. Today, Arabs are mainly adherents of Islam, with sizable Christian minorities, Arab Muslims primarily belong to the Sunni, Shiite, Ibadi, Alawite, Druze and Ismaili denominations. Arab Christians generally follow one of the Eastern Christian Churches, such as the Maronite, Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, or Chaldean churches. Listed among the booty captured by the army of king Shalmaneser III of Assyria in the Battle of Qarqar are 1000 camels of Gi-in-di-buu the ar-ba-a-a or Gindibu belonging to the Arab
Arab
Arab
–
Schoolgirls in
Gaza lining up for class, 2009
Arab
–
Syrian immigrants in New York City, as depicted in 1895
Arab
–
Lebanese–Mexican billionaire
Carlos Slim has been ranked by Forbes as the
second richest person in the world.
38.
Dead Sea
–
The Dead Sea, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. Its surface and shores are 430.5 metres below sea level, the Dead Sea is 304 m deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. With 34. 2% salinity, it is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean and this salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 50 kilometres long and 15 kilometres wide at its widest point and it lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River. The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the Mediterranean basin for thousands of years and it was one of the worlds first health resorts, and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from asphalt for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers. People also use the salt and the minerals from the Dead Sea to create cosmetics, the Dead Sea water has a density of 1.24 kg/litre, which makes swimming similar to floating. The Dead Sea is receding at an alarming rate, multiple canals and pipelines were proposed to reduce its recession, which had begun causing many problems. The Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance project, carried out by Jordan, will provide water to neighboring countries, the first phase of the project is scheduled to begin in 2018 and be completed in 2021. In Hebrew, the Dead Sea is Yām ha-Melaḥ, meaning sea of salt, the Bible uses this term alongside two others, the Sea of the Arabah, and the Eastern Sea. The designation Dead Sea never appears in the Bible, in prose sometimes the term Yām ha-Māvet is used, due to the scarcity of aquatic life there. In Arabic the Dead Sea is called al-Bahr al-Mayyit, or less commonly baḥrᵘ lūṭᵃ, another historic name in Arabic was the Sea of Zoʼar, after a nearby town in biblical times. The Greeks called it Lake Asphaltites, the Dead Sea is an endorheic lake located in the Jordan Rift Valley, a geographic feature formed by the Dead Sea Transform. This left lateral-moving transform fault lies along the plate boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. It runs between the East Anatolian Fault zone in Turkey and the end of the Red Sea Rift offshore of the southern tip of Sinai. It is here that the Upper Jordan River/Sea of Galilee/Lower Jordan River water system comes to an end. The Jordan River is the major water source flowing into the Dead Sea, although there are small perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea, forming pools. The Mujib River, biblical Arnon, is one the larger sources of the Dead Sea other than the Jordan. The Wadi Mujib valley,420 m below the sea level in the southern of Jordan valley, is a biosphere reserve, other more substantial sources are Wadi Darajeh /Nahal Dragot, and Nahal Arugot
Dead Sea
–
A view of the sea from the shore
Dead Sea
–
Satellite photograph showing the location of the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
–
Pebbles cemented with
halite on the western shore of the Dead Sea near Ein Gedi.
Dead Sea
–
Halite deposits (and teepee structure) along the western Dead Sea coast.
39.
Brook of Egypt
–
The Brook of Egypt is the name used in some English translations of the Bible for the Hebrew Nachal Mitzrayim used for the river defining the westernmost border of the Land of Israel. Popular Bible commentaries identify it with Wadi El-Arish although the identification is problematic, the related phrase is Nahar Mitzrayim, used in Genesis 15,18. This also means river of Egypt, and is recognized as referring to the Nile. The traditional Jewish understanding of the term Nachal Mitzrayim is that it refers to the Nile and this view is made explicit in the Jerusalem Targum, the Targum Jonathan, the Targum Neofiti and the Fragment Targums as well as in the commentaries of Rashi and Rabbi Yehuda Halevi. Rashi explicitly states in his commentary on Joshua 13,3 From the Shihor, nevertheless, the term Nachal Mitzrayim is only used when discussing the border of the Land of Israel whereas Yeor is typically used for the main body of the Nile. This suggests that there is indeed some difference in meaning, since the Land of Israel did not extend into the Nile Delta the most probable interpretation of the term is that it refers specifically to the Delta or the Pelusian arm of the Nile. Rabbi Yehuda Halevi explicitly identified it with the Pelusian arm, the name Nile is thought to be ultimately derived from the Semitic Nahal meaning river from which the Hebrew nachal is derived. The disappearance of the Pelusian arm of the Nile led to confusion regarding the Biblical geography of Sinai. According to Exodus 13, 18-20 the locality from which the Israelites journeyed after departing Egypt was Sukkot, the name Sukkot means palm huts in Hebrew and was translated El-Arish in Arabic. It lies in the vicinity of Fayyum, the hometown of the Jewish commentator Saadia Gaon who identified Nachal Mitzrayim with the wadi of El-Arish, later Jewish commentators from Egypt, Radbaz and Kaftor Vaferech followed suit. This description did not refer to the locality known as El-Arish as is seen from the fact that Kaftor Vaferach places it approximately 180 km from Gaza. This is in the vicinity of the former Pelusian arm of the Nile and is still consistent with the traditional interpretation. The modern El-Arish in contrast lies only 77 km from Gaza, the Septuagint translates Nachal Mitzrayim in Isaiah 27,12 as Rhinocorura. This name and its variant Rhinocolura were used for the region in Sinai containing Pelusium, however the name was also used for a coastal town in the region lying on the road to Egypt further east. The disappearance of the Pelusian arm of the Nile led to the interpretation of the Rhinocorura of the Septuagint as the wadi providing water to this town. The translation of the term nachal as brook in English, a word implying a small stream and its usage, even in modern Hebrew, does not match that of the Arabic wadi. The identification with the Wadi El-Arish is still accepted in popular literature but has been generally rejected by archaeologists. Thus the Rhinocorura mentioned in the Septuagint translation of Isaiah 27,12 cannot be assumed to be the Wadi El-Arish, the name was also used for an entire district in the vicinity of Pelusium
Brook of Egypt
–
The "Brook of Egypt" is traditionally identified with the
Nile.
40.
Regnal year
–
A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin regnum meaning kingdom, rule. The oldest dating systems were in years, and considered the date as an ordinal. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a year of rule, a third, and so on, but not a zero year of rule. Applying this ancient epoch system to modern calculations of time, which include zero, is led to the debate over when the third millennium began. Regnal years are finite era names, contrary to infinite era names such as Christian era, Jimmu era, Juche era, in ancient times, calendars were counted in terms of the number of years of the reign of the current monarch. Reckoning long periods of times required a king list, the oldest such reckoning is preserved in the Sumerian king list. In Canada, acts of Parliament are dated by the session, the Parliament, the year. While not strictly a regnal year, time in the United States of America can be derived from the Declaration of Independence, for example, the U. S.2017 is the 242nd year of the Independence of the United States of America. Time is also sometimes reckoned in terms of Congress, e. g. House of Representatives Bill 2 of the 112th Congress is dated 112th CONGRESS, 1st Session. An era name was assigned as the name of each year by the leader of the East Asian countries during some portion of their history, the people of the country referred to that year by that name. Era names were used for two millennia by Chinese emperors and are still used in North Korea, Japan and Taiwan. It could last from one year to the length of the leaders reign, if it lasted more than one year, numbers were appended to the era name. If it lasted the length of the leaders reign, then that leader is often referred to by that name posthumously. However, the leader was given a more complex formal posthumous name as well. It should not be confused with a name, by which many leaders are known. The Lanfang Republic era, Republic of Formosa era and Republic of China era are era names without an emperor, the Confucius era and Juche era are based on the year of birth of the thinker or eternal president. The Huangdi era, Dangun era and kōki were counted in terms of the number of years of the reign of the first monarch, some are transliterations of their Chinese era names. Chinese era names were employed in other East Asian countries
Regnal year
–
Key concepts
41.
Ashkelon
–
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast,50 kilometres south of Tel Aviv, and 13 kilometres north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age, the Arab village of al-Majdal or al-Majdal Asqalan, was established a few kilometres inland from the ancient site by the late 15th century, under Ottoman rule. In 1918, it part of the British Occupied Enemy Territory Administration. Al-Majdal on the eve of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War had 10,000 Arab inhabitants and in October 1948, al-Majdal was the forward position of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force based in Gaza. The town was initially named Migdal Gaza, Migdal Gad and Migdal Ashkelon by the new Jewish inhabitants, most of the remaining Arabs were evicted by 1950. In 1953, the neighborhood of Afridar was incorporated and the name Ashkelon was readopted to the town. By 1961, Ashkelon was ranked 18th among Israeli urban centers with a population of 24,000, in 2015 the population of Ashkelon was 130,660. The name Ashkelon is probably western Semitic, and might be connected to the root š-q-l perhaps attesting to its importance as a center for mercantile activities, scallion and shallot are derived from Ascalonia, the Latin name for Ashkelon. Ashkelon was the oldest and largest seaport in Canaan, one of the five cities of the Philistines, north of Gaza, the Neolithic site of Ashkelon is located on the Mediterranean coast,1.5 km north of Tel Ashkelon. It is dated by Radiocarbon dating to ca.7900 bp and it was discovered and excavated in 1954 by French archaeologist Jean Perrot. In 1997–1998, a large scale salvage project was conducted at the site by Yosef Garfinkel on behalf of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a final excavation report was published in 2008. In the site over a hundred fireplaces and hearths were found and numerous pits, various phases of occupation were found, one atop the other, with sterile layers of sea sand between them. This indicates that the site was occupied on a seasonal basis, the main finds were enormous quantities of animal bones and 20,000 flint artifacts. Usually at Neolithic sites flints far outnumber animal bones, the bones belong to domesticated and non-domesticated animals. When all aspects of this site are taken into account, it appears to have used by pastoral nomads for meat processing. The nearby sea could supply necessary for the conservation of meat. The city was built on a sandstone outcropping and has a good underground water supply. It was relatively large as an ancient city with as many as 15,000 people living inside the walls, Ashkelon was a thriving Middle Bronze Age city of more than 150 acres
Ashkelon
–
אַשְׁקְלוֹן (
help ·
info)
Ashkelon
–
Archaeological site with artifacts from the Neolithic era
Ashkelon
–
Ashkelon Pre-Pottery Neolithic C flint arrowheads
Ashkelon
–
Ancient sarcophagus in Ashkelon
42.
Memphis, Egypt
–
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
Memphis, Egypt
–
Ruins of the pillared hall of
Rameses II at Mit Rahina
Memphis, Egypt
–
This ritualistic object depicts the
god Nefertem, who was mainly worshipped in Memphis. The Walters Art Museum.
Memphis, Egypt
–
Rameses II flanked by Ptah and Sekhmet.
Memphis, Egypt
–
Sculpture from the Middle Kingdom restored in the name of Rameses II.
43.
Necho I
–
Menkheperre Necho I was a ruler of the Ancient Egyptian city of Sais. He was the first attested local Saite king of the 26th Dynasty of Egypt who reigned for 8 years according to Manethos Epitome, Egypt was reunified by his son Psamtik I. In 672 BCE Necho became ruler of Sais, assuming the pharaonic titulary, Necho became one of Esarhaddons vassals, and the latter confirmed Nechos office and his possessions, as well as giving him new territories, possibly including the city of Memphis. Esarhaddons death led to a crisis in the Assyrian Empire. The counteroffensive planned by his father took place in 667/666 BCE, the Assyrian king captured the conspirators, killed part of the population of the cities they governed, and deported the prisoners to Nineveh. This Nubian invasion into the Egyptian Delta was subsequently repelled by the Assyrians who proceeded to advance south into Upper Egypt, with the Nile Delta secured once again, Psamtik I was appointed with his dead fathers offices and territories. Later, he ultimately was successful in reuniting Egypt under his sole control, danish Egyptologist Kim Ryholt made claims regarding Necho I, studying a papyrus from Tebtunis, he stated that Necho I was the son of a king named Tefnakht, presumably Tefnakht II. French historian Christian Settipani believes that Necho married Istemabet, and they were the parents of Psamtik I, Necho I is primarily known from Assyrian documents but a few Egyptian objects are known too. Among these, a glazed pottery statuette of Horus which contains his cartouches, Necho Is Year 2 is now attested on a privately held donation stela that was first published by Olivier Perdu. The stela records a large donation to the Osirian triad of Per-Hebyt by the priest of Isis, Mistress of Hebyt. Media related to Necho I at Wikimedia Commons
Necho I
–
Horus statuette bearing the cartouches of Necho I. London,
Petrie Museum.
44.
Sais, Egypt
–
Sais or Sa El Hagar was an ancient Egyptian town in the Western Nile Delta on the Canopic branch of the Nile. Its Ancient Egyptian name was Zau, Herodotus wrote that Sais is where the grave of Osiris was located and that the sufferings of the god were displayed as a mystery by night on an adjacent lake. The citys patron goddess was Neith, whose cult is attested as early as the 1st Dynasty, the Greeks, such as Herodotus, Plato and Diodorus Siculus, identified her with Athena and hence postulated a primordial link to Athens. Diodorus recounts that Athena built Sais before the deluge that supposedly destroyed Athens, while all Greek cities were destroyed during that cataclysm, the Egyptian cities including Sais survived. Plato also notes the city as the birthplace of the pharaoh Amasis II. Plutarch said that the shrine of Athena, which he identifies with Isis, in Sais carried the inscription I am all that hath been, and is, and shall be, and my veil no mortal has hitherto raised. There are today no surviving traces of town prior to the Late New Kingdom due to the extensive destruction of the city by the Sebakhin leaving only a few relief blocks in situ. The Temple of Sais had a school associated with it. The medical school at Sais had many students and apparently women faculty as well, mainly in gynecology. Sonchis of Sais Archeological description of Sais Official site at the University of Durham
Sais, Egypt
–
Map of Sais ruins drawn by
Jean-François Champollion during his expedition in 1828.
45.
Commemorative stela of Nahr el-Kalb
–
The commemorative stelae of Nahr el-Kalb are a group of over 20 inscriptions and rock reliefs carved into the limestone rocks around the estuary of the Nahr al-Kalb in Lebanon, just north of Beirut. As such, the site has said to summarise all of Lebanons history in one place. The earliest European to identify the site was the 17th century traveller Henry Maundrell in 1697, in 2005, the stelae at the river were listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World initiative. Past generals and conquerors have traditionally built monuments at the mouth of the Nahr al-Kalb, Ramses II, Nebuchadnezzar, Esarhaddon, Caracalla, and even armies from modern-day France and Great Britain have engaged in this practice. The inscriptions are carved on a strategic location commanding the North-South coastal road along the Eastern Mediterranean, the earliest inscription is that of Ramesses II, and relates to the New Kingdom of Egypts control of the region. The earliest Egyptian incursions into the region were many centuries earlier, as recorded by the Autobiography of Weni and the Sebek-khu Stele. The memory of good work is perpetuated by an inscription, engraven on a table plained in the side of the natural rock. In passing this way, we observed, in the sides of the rock above us, several tables of figures carved, as if the old way had gone in that region, before Antoninus cut the other more convenient passage a little lower. In several places hereabouts, we saw strange figures of men, carved in the natural rock. Close by each figure was a table, plained in the side of the rock. Three Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions are known, all of which bear the cartouche of Ramses II and this was first identified by Karl Richard Lepsius. However, the inscription is so weathered that only the name Ramesses II, six cuneiform Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian inscriptions are known. The Esarhaddon stele refers to Esarhaddons seizure of Memphis from Egyptian Pharaoh Taharqa in 671 BC, the passage is badly damaged, but is understood to include reference to the cities of Ashkelon and Tyre, as well as Taharqa and 22 vassal kings. One inscription is attributed to Nebuchadnezzar II, a number of Greco-Roman inscriptions were carved at the site. The inscription relates to the road his forces there, the inscription includes the words Lyco Flumen, which provided scholars such as Edward Robinson to conclude that the Nahr el-Kalb was the ancient Lycus river. Two of the inscriptions are in Greek, one of which still can be read as commemorating road or engineering work left by Proclus, the earliest was dedicated to the Mamluk sultan Barquq. An inscription dedicated to Fakhr-al-Din II was noted by Henry Maundrell in 1697, the first colonial memorial is dedicated to Napoleon IIIs 1860-61 intervention in Lebanon. Two inscriptions mark the Pursuit to Haritan, when the Allied forces took Damascus, Homs, in October 1918, an inscription was carved to mark the British and French occupation of Beirut and Tripoli, during the Occupied Enemy Territory Administration
Commemorative stela of Nahr el-Kalb
Commemorative stela of Nahr el-Kalb
–
A group of the inscriptions as depicted by
Louis-François Cassas in 1799
Commemorative stela of Nahr el-Kalb
Commemorative stela of Nahr el-Kalb
46.
Victory stele of Esarhaddon
–
The Victory stele of Esarhaddon is a dolerite stele commemorating the return of Esarhaddon after his armys 2nd battle and victory over Pharaoh Taharqa in northern ancient Egypt in 671 BC. It was discovered in 1888 in Zincirli Höyük by Felix von Luschan and it is now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The prior battle of 674 BC was won by Taharqa after confronting Esarhaddon after his initial foray into the Levant, the second battle of 671 BC saw Taharqa retreat with his army to Memphis, Memphis was taken with Taharqa then fleeing to Kush. The root of Kush I tore up out of Egypt, the stele shows Esarhaddon standing on the left in an honorific pose. He is holding a club in his left hand, together with a rope ending in a ring that passes through the lips of the two conquered kings kneeling before him. His right hand is addressing the gods, cuneiform script covers the entire medium bas relief scene. The identity of the supplicant before him has been matter of debate. He may be the king of Tyre Baal I, mentioned in Esarhaddons Treaty with Baal of Tyre, or the king of Sidon Abdi-Milkutti. The kneeling figure between the two is prince Ushankhuru with a rope tied around his neck, others deem it to be Pharaoh Taharqa himself, title Ausgrabungen in Sendschirli -1, Orient-komitee, Berlin, Publisher, W. Spemann
Victory stele of Esarhaddon
–
The Victory Stele in its current location.
Victory stele of Esarhaddon
–
Close-up of prince Ushankhuru
47.
Ashurbanipal
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Ashurbanipal, also spelled Assurbanipal or Ashshurbanipal, was an Assyrian king, the son of Esarhaddon and the last strong king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. He is famed for amassing a significant collection of documents for his royal palace at Nineveh. This collection, known as the Library of Ashurbanipal, is now housed at the British Museum, in the Hebrew Bible he is called Asenappar. Ashurbanipal was born toward the end of a 1500-year period of Assyrian ascendancy and his father, Esarhaddon, the youngest son of Sennacherib, had become heir when the crown prince, Ashur-nadin-shumi, was deposed by rebels from his position as vassal for Babylon. Esarhaddon was the son not of Sennacheribs queen, Tashmetum-sharrat, but of the palace woman Zakutu, there are some suggestions Zakutu may have been an Israelite or Aramean concubine, while others point to her family origins being in the northern Assyrian city of Harran. The only queen known for Esarhaddon was Ashur-hamat, who died in 672 BC, Ashurbanipal grew up in the small palace called Bit Reduti, built by his grandfather Sennacherib when he was crown prince in the northern quadrant of Nineveh. In 694 BC, Sennacherib had completed the Palace Without Rival at the southwest corner of the acropolis, the House of Succession had become the palace of Esarhaddon, the crown prince. In this house, Ashurbanipals grandfather was assassinated by uncles identified only from the account as Adrammelech, Abimlech. From this conspiracy, Esarhaddon emerged as king in 681 BC and he proceeded to rebuild as his residence the Bit Masharti. The House of Succession was left to his mother and the younger children, the names of five brothers and one sister are known. Sin-iddin-apli, the crown prince, died prior to 672 BC. According to legend, Ashurbanipal was the only Assyrian king who learned how to read, Ashurbanipal succeeded his father Esarhaddon 681-669 BC as king of Assyria and ruler of the Assyrian Empire in 668 BC. Esarhaddon had prepared for the accession of his son by imposing a treaty upon his Persian, Median and Parthian subjects. He had also rebuilt Babylon and set up another of his sons Shamash-shum-ukin to rule there, despite being a popular king among his subjects, he was also known for his cruelty to his enemies. Some pictures depict him putting a dog chain through the jaw of a defeated Arab king, Ashurbanipal inherited from Esarhaddon not only the throne of the empire but also the ongoing war in Egypt with Kush/Nubia. His father had ended Egyptian interference in the Near East, destroyed the Kushite Empire, driven the Kushites/Nubians from Egypt, however the Nubians still had ambitions to regain control of Egypt and resurrect their empire. Ashurbanipal sent an army against them in 667 BC that defeated the Nubian king Taharqa, near Memphis, at the same time some Egyptian vassals rebelled and were also defeated. All of the vanquished leaders save one were sent to Nineveh, only Necho I, the native Egyptian Prince of Sais, convinced the Assyrians of his loyalty and was sent back to become the Assyrian puppet Pharaoh of Egypt
Ashurbanipal
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Ashurbanipal hunting, a palace
relief from
Nineveh
Ashurbanipal
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Ashurbanipal as High Priest
Ashurbanipal
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The famous library of king Ashurbanipal at Nineveh
Ashurbanipal
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Assyria. Assurbanipal [?] Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection
48.
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
Thebes (Egypt)
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Egypt - Temple of Seti, east entrance, Thebes. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection
Thebes (Egypt)
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Luxor Temple
Thebes (Egypt)
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The Theban Necropolis
49.
Nuri
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Nuri is a place in modern Sudan on the south side of the Nile. Nuri is situated about 15 km north of Sanam, and 10 km from Jebel Barkal and it is located nearby the site of several pyramids belonging to Nubian kings. These remains belonged to the ancient city Napata, the first capital of the Nubian kingdom of Kush, the earliest pyramid at Nuri belongs to king Taharqa which measures 51.75 meters square by 40 or by 50 metres high. His successor Tantamani was buried in el-Kurru, but all following Nubian kings, during the Christian era, a church was erected here. The church was built of old stones, including several stelae originally coming from the pyramids. The pyramids were systematically excavated by George Reisner, the pyramids of Nuri together with other buildings in the region around Gebel Barkal have been placed on the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage sites since 2003. See List of monarchs of Kush for more information, the royal family of Kush was buried in the cemeteries of Nuri and el-Kurru. The pyramids of Nuri are built on two separate plateaus, the highest point in the cemetery is taken up by Taharqas pyramid on the western plateau. The pyramids of the kings are located on the eastern plateau. The pyramids of the women are placed closer to Taharqas pyramid on the western plateau. The Kings Mothers were buried in the group, but this is not an area exclusively used for the burial of Kings Mothers. Most of the Kings Wives were buried in the parallel rows just north of Taharqas tomb, the tombs to the far north were much smaller and may have been built for wives of lesser rank. Wife of Taharqa Nuri 22 - Possibly Amanimalel, Queen, wife of King Senkamanisken Nuri 23 - Masalaye, Queen. Probably wife of King Senkamanisken Nuri 24 - Nasalsa Queen, daughter of Atlanersa, wife of King Senkamanisken Nuri 25 - Maletaral II, Queen. Time of King Amaninatakilebte Nuri 26 - Amanitakaye, Queen, daughter of Aspelta, sister-wife of Aramatle-qo, mother of Malonaqen Nuri 27 - Madiqen, Queen. Wife of Anlamani Nuri 28 - Henuttakhebi, Queen, wife of Aspelta Nuri 29 - Piankhqew-qa Queen. Possibly wife of King Siaspiqa Nuri 31 - Sakaaye, Queen, probably mother of King Malewiebamani Nuri 32 - Akhrasan, Queen. King Malewiebamani Nuri 34 - Henutirdis, Queen, from the time of King Harsiotef Nuri 35 - Possibly Queen Abar, wife of Piye, Mother of Taharqa Nuri 36 - Atakhebasken Queen
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Map of Jebel Barkal and Nuri
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View of the pyramids
Nuri
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A man walks among the pyramids
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Pyramids at the royal cemetery
50.
Ancient Greeks
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
Ancient Greeks
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The
Parthenon, a temple dedicated to
Athena, located on the
Acropolis in
Athens, is one of the most representative symbols of the culture and sophistication of the ancient Greeks.
Ancient Greeks
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Dipylon Vase of the late Geometric period, or the beginning of the Archaic period,
c. 750 BC.
Ancient Greeks
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Political geography of ancient Greece in the Archaic and Classical periods
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