History of ancient Egypt
Inhabited since the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages, the remaining archeological traces show the existence of a culture characterized by the cultivation of barley, wheat, the raising of domestic animals (oxen, pigs, sheep, goats), the fairly advanced and varied manufacture of pottery, and the fabrication of weapons and objects of use made of stone. With the discovery of the use of metals, the Aeneolithic phase begins, the beginning of which can be dated around 6000 BCE. Already many centuries before the Aeneolithic, the Nile had normalized its course and achieved roughly the appearance it has today, and the climate of the country had also become what it is today.
Life had become organized and evolved.
Along with the first metal objects, lithic and ceramic objects reached an extraordinary technical perfection, far greater than in other countries at the same time. In this age, which is also usually called predynastic and which lasted over two thousand five hundred years and reached the founding of the first empire (ca 3238 B.C.), hieroglyphic writing appeared, which, having passed the ideographic stage, soon became alphabetic; the 365-day calendar was also introduced.
The peoples who inhabited Egypt in the prehistoric age showed such close and consequent unity of cultural development that they are to be considered indigenous and not influenced by other cultures. It seems that many centuries before the historic age, in the region closest to the Mediterranean, east and west of the Delta, two distinct kingdoms were formed, later unified into a single kingdom in the north that would overwhelm the kingdom that had been established in the south in the meantime, implementing for a time the unity of the country. A new split would then occur. In fact, and this seems certain, in centuries closer to the historical age there existed in Upper Egypt a kingdom with capital Nhen (Hierancopolis), and in Lower Egypt another kingdom with capital Seb'ewe (Tell el-Farain). Between these two states did not run substantial differences in civilization, customs, etc., but undoubtedly in the north, because of the different climate and productivity of the soil, economic conditions must have been more prosperous. These diversities drove, southern men to conquer the Delta of the Nile. A southern king, Scorpio, would overpower the northern king, Nefer (whom some want to identify with Mene), again achieving the unity of the territory According to tradition Mene (for the Greeks Menes) would in fact be the first king or Pharaoh of the two united kingdoms. He would found the "White Fortress," which later became Memphis (perhaps from Men-Nefer = the good dwelling). This brings us to the beginning of the historical age.
This is divided according to the following periods:
- ANCIENT EMPIRE (3238-2065 BCE):
- Tinite Epoch (1st and 2nd Dynasties) 3238-2778;
- Memphite Epoch (III-V Dynasty) 2778-2423;
- I Intermediate Epoch (VI-X Dynasty) 2423-2065.
- MIDDLE EMPIRE (2065-1580 BC).
- I Theban Epoch (11th and 12th Dynasties) 2065-1785;
- II Intermediate Epoch (13th-17th Dynasty) 1785-1580, conquest of the Hyksos.
- NEW EMPIRE (18th-XXth Dynasty) 1580-1090 BCE.
- LOWER EMPIRE (1090-332 BCE):
- Epoch of Priest-Kings (XXI Dynasty) 1090-950;
- Epoch of Libyan Kings (XXII and XXIII Dynasty) 950-730;
- I Epoch of the Saite Kings (XXIV Dynasty) 730-715;
- Epoch of the Ethiopian Kings (XXV Dynasty) 715-663;
- II Epoch of the Saiti Kings (XXVI Dynasty) 663-525;
- Epoch of Persian rule (XXVII-XXX Dynasty) 525-332.
- EMPIRE OF THE TOLOMEANS AND ROMAN Epoch (332 B.C.-640 A.D.).
- MUSLIM ERA (640-1922).
- NEW KINGDOM (1922-1953).
In the Tinite era, under the first two dynasties, the spiritual fusion of the country took place and the central state was organized. The inhabited country (the valley of the Nile fertilized by silt from the floods) was called Keme (= black land) or even Ti-mure (= hoed land) by the natives, to distinguish it from the desert, called Tosre (= red land); the Nile was called Horpe or even Jetr-o (= great current). The name Egypt, given to the whole territory by the Greeks, derives from the indigenous toponym of Memphis, transliterated by the Babylonians into Hikuptah. At the time of the First Dynasty the whole country was divided into 42 districts or names (22 in Upper and 20 in Lower Egypt). Pharaoh was considered absolute ruler; however, he surrounded himself with advisers and his government was rather democratic and almost paternalistic. He was assisted by a prime minister, who was also entrusted with the administration of justice. Hierarchically, after him came the ministers of the treasury, public works, and the supreme military commander. The central and peripheral bureaucratic organization was highly developed and well structured. Under the two Memphite dynasties continued the development of the Egypt, which reached one of its most prosperous phases.
By Imhotep, architect of Soser, the great monuments of el-Saqqarah arose, to be followed by the false pyramid of Meidum and the three pyramids of el-Gizah. Under the 5th Dynasty the Egypt extended its conquests into Syria, Libya, Nubia and as far as Somalia. Although under the 6th Dynasty fortunate wars were fought on the southern borders of Palestine, however, decadence began, which was accentuated during the short 7th Dynasty of Manetho and even more so during the 8th. The office of prime minister, until then always held by a prince of royal blood, passed to mere officials, and the power of governors and nomarchs, whose offices became hereditary, increased. Egypt thus became a country with a feudal regime. Rather little is known about the Pharaohs of the 10th and 11th Dynasties, but it is known that during their reign the Bedouins invaded the Delta and an independent kingdom was reconstituted in Upper Egypt under the scepter of the monarch of Thebes. Moreover, the monarch of Heracleopolis had himself recognized as a legitimate descendant of the Memphite kings. A struggle then broke out between the King of Heracleopolis and the King of Thebes, which ended in 2060 with the victory of Montuhotep II King of Thebes, who reunited the whole of Egypt under his scepter. With him began (11th Dynasty) the Middle Empire. During the long and glorious reign of his son Montuhotep III and that of Montuhotep IV, the internal administration was strengthened, the feudal power of the monarchs was reduced, and conquests were extended into Libya, Nubia and on the Palestinian border, which was reinforced and garrisoned with forts to prevent the clandestine infiltration of Semite groups. Montuhotep IV was ousted by his minister Amenemhê-e who began the 13th Dynasty. For two hundred years the kings of this Dynasty kept Egypt's prestige high, but with the death of Queen Sebknofrewie (1785-84 B.C.) a rapid decline began and soon anarchy raged.
The five succeeding Dynasties were of usurpers of low origin and low standing. The country was invaded to the south by the Cushites and to the north by the Hyksos (v.) (Heq'ew-he' sôve = princes of the mountain) who penetrated the Delta about 1730 B.C., placing their capital in Avaris and, after about fifty years, from Avaris invaded all of Egypt. This conquest was facilitated by their superior armament (horse-drawn war chariots, hitherto unknown to the Egyptians) and the miserable conditions of the country. The Hyksos's dominance, which was real and stable over the Delta and Middle Egypt, precarious in the southern provinces left to the tribute-paying Theban rulers, lasted about 150 years. The Theban King Kamose led between 1580 and 1575 the war of liberation, which was brought to an end by his brother Ahmose I (1571-1549 B.C.E.) who conquered Avaris, pursued the Hyksos into Palestine and annihilated them after three years of resistance. With this Pharaoh the new empire and the real recovery of the country effectively began. Under the kings who followed, the Thutmose, the Amenofi (Amenhotpe) the Ramesses, the Egypt experienced a period of extraordinary splendor and prosperity at home and prestige abroad. Thutmose III (1496-1442), in particular, understood the need to bring Egypt out of its isolation and secure its power by firmly conquering an empire in Asia: he thus occupied Syria and Palestine and forced Hittites, Cilician Cypriots, Assyrians and Babylonians into tribute. Contact with those peoples and flourishing civilizations benefited Egypt greatly, and their tribute enabled the spread of widespread prosperity and the construction of admirable public works. Under Amenophis III (the Memnon of the Greeks) the country reached perhaps its greatest splendor. Amenophis IV, a fanatical mystic, shocked the country with his religious struggle to try to introduce monotheism, but the imposition of the cult of Aton did not survive him. His successor, the very young Tutankhamun, moved the capital back from el-Amarna to Thebes and restored the cult of Ammon. Setohe I reinforced the conquests with successful wars, and Ramesses II (1299-1233 BCE) after a long struggle folded the Hittites in 1278. But under his successor began a period of anarchy and depression that was ended by Ramesses III (1200-1168), who regained the previously subjugated countries and defeated the "sea peoples," but granted too many privileges to the encroaching priests of Ammon. These became increasingly powerful under Pharaohs that followed until, in 1090, the high priest Herithor usurped the scepter proclaiming himself Pharaoh. However, the latter failed to pacify the country and to tame the frequent uprisings he hired Libyan mercenaries whose leaders became de facto arbiters of the country and, after 60 years, one of them, Sesonk, became Pharaoh and founded the XXII Dynasty. Decadence and ever-increasing confusion and anarchy increased under the Dynasties that followed. Some recovery occurred only with Psammêtek I of the XXVI Dynasty (2nd Saite Era). He reconquered the whole country, tamed the feudal lords, fostered trade, strengthened the borders, defeated the Assytes in Syria, and thereby gave the country a period of prosperity. He died in 610 B.C. while taming a Scythian revolt. His successors Nekô, Psammêtek II, Apriês, and Amasis showed good will but not always equal skill and certainly did not have equal fortune: Egypt declined again. Finally, while Psammêtek III reigned, in 525 Cambyses conquered Egypt, which had been abandoned by the allies. The Persian kings considered themselves successors to the Pharaohs. Various attempts by the Egyptians to revolt in order to regain independence had no effect. Finally in 404 Amyrtaios, Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty succeeded in proclaiming the independence of the country, which was also kept free of Persian interference by his successors. But in 342 Nectanebis was defeated by Artaxerxes III (the Persians had never given up the idea of reconquering Egypt) and took refuge in Nubia. In 332 it was easy for Alexander the Great to occupy the whole country, which was not defended by either the Persians or Pharaoh. After him the Ptolemy Lagids ruled over Egypt; the last of them, Cleopatra, died in 30 BC, and the Romans, who already occupied the country, reduced Egypt to their province.
In the nearly five centuries of the Protohistoric Age, under the two Dynastic Dynasties, architecture developed greatly and larger and more complex royal tombs appeared than the predynastic ones (at Saqqarah, e.g.). The primitive mastaba became complicated by taking the form of a pyramid: the link between the two types is given by the tomb of Nebekta. The actual pyramids were typical of the Memphite period (Dahshur's rhomboid pyramid of Snefru at Meidum, and finally the el-Gizah complex, all from the 27th century and the first half of the 26th century BCE). Next to the pyramids arose the funerary temples, complex buildings where in addition to the sanctuary there were large porticoes, storehouses, dwellings, etc. During the 4th Dynasty the temples were generally small, but very varied in plan and structure, each appropriate to the worship of a single deity. Under the 5th Dynasty solar temples began to prevail, which were built according to the pattern that would later become traditional and perpetuated. In this period already all the most important types of capitals appeared: palmiform, lotiform, open and closed papyriform, and protodoric. Throughout the Old Empire, private tombs perfected and fixed the type of the mastaba, consisting of the funerary shaft and the building with several rooms, among which the chapel and the typical corridor (Serdah) where the statues of the deceased were kept were essential. The exterior was characterized by the false door and the offering table. None of the essential elements of the royal tomb (except the pyramid) are missing. In the age of the two First Dynasties, sculpture became increasingly expressive, and technical achievements and mastery of the material increased from generation to generation. The statues of Soser, Rahotpe and Nofre are conspicuous examples. Small statuary, figures of men and animals in stone or alabaster or shale, also melted away from archaic and conventional forms. But the age of great statuary was the Memphitic age: the most conspicuous works were the statues of Chephren, of Mycerinus, that of Ranofer, the portrait of the governor (the so-called sheikh el-balad), the two scribes in the Louvre and Cairo, the dwarf Gnemhopte, the bust of Ankhaf (now in Boston), the group of the official with his wife (now in the Louvre). Bas-relief, too, made great progress from the 3rd Dynasty onward: fluency of drawing, delicacy and softness of low modeling were its characteristics. Painting followed closely the achievements of bas-relief (to which it was closely linked, since the bas-reliefs of this age were painted): the famous geese of Meidum, to name one decorative panel of the best known of those that have come down to us, would alone suffice to testify to the excellence of Egyptian painting of this period. The so-called intermediate period, and even the whole period of the Middle Empire, marked a halting phase. Not that there was a lack of conspicuous works of architecture, painting, and sculpture, but in general the strength and purity of drawing and modeling that had characterized the great art of the Old Empire were lacking. With the New Empire, Egypt, freed from foreign domination, resurrected to new life, and art also gained experience from other peoples. The temple complexes of el-Karnak and Luxor, from this period, the temples of the Valleys of the Kings and Queens, and the rock temple of Abu Simbel, are among the most extraordinary architectures created by man's imagination.
During the 18th Dynasty and much of the following dynasty, statuary produced works of unparalleled beauty. The statue of the youthful Thutmosi III (now in Turin) is perhaps the supreme achievement of Egyptian sculpture. This was greatly influenced, becoming more veristic and loose, during the Tell el-Amarnah period. The statues and reliefs of Amenhotep IV and his family (beautiful portraits of Nefertite), already largely in Berlin, are admirable works of art. So are the later statues of Tutankhamun, Setohe I, and Ramesses II. Painting and the minor arts (stupendous works of goldsmithing) also reached their peak of perfection in this age. Then a new decline began. Great technical skill remained, but the breath of the life-giving spirit of art, that breath that had fused into one the realism of the Memphite school and the idealization of the early Theban Empire, nourishing them with new ferments, failed. A graceful mannerism would dominate the whole of the lower epoch, soft in the Saite period, cruder later, until the conquest of Alexander. Then the spirit of Hellenism, without destroying the traditional forms of Egyptian art, insensibly crept in with its refinement, elegance, and even pedantry and vanity. Christianity seemed to bring a breath of renewal beginning in the late 4th century (Coptic art: see Copts), but the Arab conquest prevented those germs from developing. The language spoken in ancient Egypt underwent considerable variations over the centuries, due to and evolution over time and dialectal multiplicity. These variations, though attenuated, are reflected in the literary language, which is distinguished into three periods, Ancient Egyptian, Neo Egyptian, and Demotic. The written documents we possess range from c. 3250 BCE to the end of the fifth century CE.
