Development of Empire

1. Development of Empire

2. Periodisation • The political history of Egypt can be divided into six parts: • Archaic Period (c. 3100 – 2770 BCE) • Old Kingdom (2770 – 2200 BCE) • First Intermediate Period (2200 – 2050 BCE) • Middle Kingdom (2050 – 1786 BCE) • Second Intermediate Period (1786 – 1560 BCE) • New Kingdom (1560 – 1087 BCE) • Decline • Nubia (750 – 650BCE) • Persians (500 - 330BCE) • Macedonians / Greeks (330 – 30BCE) • Romans (30BCE – 450CE)

3. Archaic Period • Development of towns and villages and farmed. • Replaced stone tools with copper ones. • Development of hyroglyphics • Empire creation legend of Narmer • ancient ruler who conquered rival towns and unified them. Sometimes also called Menes. Was a warrior from the south. Was the ruler of Egypt, but never used the term “Pharaoh” - Bible.

4. Old Kingdom • Official unification of two Egypts, Upper and Lower - the combined crown. • The greatest king from this period was Zoser. He was the first to build a pyramid for himself. • Kings begin to promote themselves as children of the sun god Ra. • Despite the autocratic nature the period was peaceful. The king had no standing army but instead relied on local militias to defend the kingdom. • Period of building large monuments etc. Local administrators mobilised the people during the inundation to help construct them • The building of large monuments strained the revenues and led to rebellion by the nobility.

5. First Intermediate Period • Kings focused on building grand temples etc., • left the running of the kingdom to the nobles who developed feudalism. • Feudalism: A political and economic system based on the holding of all land by nobles who exact homage, legal and military service from their tenants. • This period was marked by infighting among the nobles and the king over control.

6. Middle Kingdom • The Pharaohs turned to the developing middle class for support. • The middle class had developed through trade in the towns and cities as well as serving as low level government administrators. • The kings moved the capital out of Memphis on the Southern edge of the Nile Delta and built a new capital further up river and called it Thebes. • Pharaohs stopped building large public works like temples and focused on infrastructure. • Religion changed by becoming more open and accessible to the peasants. • The period became the most stable and prosperous and is referred to as “Egypt’s Golden Age”.

7. Second Intermediate Period • Starting around 1786 BCE the nobles began to re-exert influence over the kings. • Around 1750 BCE Egypt was invaded from the east by the Hyskos. They were able to conqueror Egypt easily. • By 1600 BCE the Egyptians unified against the Hyskos invaders and over the next 40 years pushed them out of Egypt. • Egyptian military evolved due to this conflict - horses and chariots. • Final victory of the Hyskos in 1560 BCE was achieved by the king Ahmose.

8. New Kingdom • The Egyptians embarked on expansion and began to attack Palestine and Syria. They could not hold it and the Egyptians were quickly repelled from the region by 1100 BCE. • The rise of Ahmose also saw a return to more absolutist / autocratic forms of rule. • The last great king from this period was Ramses II (1182 – 1151 BCE). His death marks the beginning of the collapse of Egyptian civilisation. • The region is taken over by the Nubians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and finally Romans