A History of Ancient Egypt

Description

A History of Ancient Egypt provides a chronological survey of ancient Egypt from the beginning of the Egyptian state around 3000 BC until the time when the Roman Empire banned the writing of hieroglyphs in the late fourth century AD. This narrative history outlines major political and cultural events, and considers both social and economic life. Written in an authoritative and accessible style, and incorporating the latest scholarship, A History of Ancient Egypt is an invaluable resource for students of ancient Egyptian history. Front Cover Title Page Contents List of Illustrations List of Color Plates List of Maps List of Boxed Texts List of Summaries of Dynastic History Preface 1 Introductory Concerns 1.1 What Is Ancient Egypt? Chronological boundaries Geographical boundaries What is ancient Egyptian history? Who are the ancient Egyptians? 1.2 Egypt’s Geography The Nile River The desert Climate Frontiers and links 1.3 The Makeup of Egyptian Historical Sources Papyri and ostraca Monumental inscriptions Historical criticism 1.4 The Egyptians and Their Past King lists Egyptian concepts of kingship 1.5 The Chronology of Egyptian History Modern subdivisions of Egyptian history Absolute chronology 1.6 Prehistoric Developments The beginning of agriculture Naqada I and II periods 2 The Formation of the Egyptian State (ca. 3400–2686) 2.1 Sources 2.2 Royal Cemeteries and Cities The Late Naqada culture Dynasty 0 2.3 The First Kings Images of war The unification of Egypt 2.4 Ideological Foundations of the New State Kings Cemeteries Festivals Royal annals and year names Gods and cults Bureaucracy 2.5 The Invention of Writing Precursors at Abydos Hieroglyphic script 2.6 Foreign Relations The Uruk culture of Babylonia Late-fourth-millennium Nubia Late-fourth-millennium Palestine 3 The Great Pyramid Builders (ca. 2686–2345) 3.1 Sources 3.2 The Evolution of the Mortuary Complex Djoser’s step pyramid at Saqqara Sneferu’s three pyramids The Great Pyramids at Giza Solar temples of the 5th dynasty 3.3 Administrating the Old Kingdom State Neferirkara’s archive at Abusir Officialdom 3.4 Ideological Debates? Problems of royal succession The gods Horus and Ra 3.5 Foreign Relations Contacts with Nubia Contacts with Asia 3.6 Later Traditions about the Old Kingdom Djoser and Imhotep Sneferu The Great Pyramid builders 4 The End of the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period (ca. 2345–2055) 4.1 Sources 4.2 The Rise of the Regions and Political Fragmentation Nomes and nomarchs Mortuary texts Officials’ biographies Pepy II Why did the Old Kingdom dissolve? 4.3 Foreign Relations Nubian independence Beyond the Nile Valley Mercenaries 4.4 Competition between Herakleopolis and Thebes Herakleopolis Thebes 4.5 Appraising the First Intermediate Period Middle Kingdom literary refl ections Historical critique 5 The Middle Kingdom (ca. 2055–1650) 5.1 Sources and Chronology 5.2 Kings and Regional Elites Reunification and the 11th dynasty The start of the 12th dynasty and the foundation of Itj-tawi Provincial powers in the early Middle Kingdom Royal interference in the provinces Administrative centralization Royal power in the 13th dynasty 5.3 Kings as Warriors The annexation of Nubia 5.4 Egypt in the Wider World The early Kingdom of Kush The eastern desert and Sinai Syria and Palestine The world beyond Rhetoric and practice in foreign relations 5.5 The Cult of Osiris 5.6 Middle Kingdom Literature and Its Impact on Egyptian Culture 6 The Second Intermediate Period and the Hyksos (ca. 1700–1550) 6.1 Sources and Chronology 6.2 Avaris: The Multiple Transformations of a Delta City A history of Avaris Cultural hybridity Other immigrants 6.3 The Hyksos The name Hyksos Hyksos origins Egyptian cultural influences Political history The 14th and 16th dynasties Hyksos rule in Palestine? 6.4 Nubia and the Kingdom of Kush The independence of Lower Nubia The Kingdom of Kush Kerma The extent of the Kingdom of Kush 6.5 Thebes in the Middle Royal tombs Seqenenra Taa Kamose’s war 6.6 The Hyksos in Later Perspective Queen Hatshepsut The gods Ra and Seth Manetho and Josephus 7 The Birth of Empire: The Early 18th Dynasty (ca. 1550–1390) 7.1 Egypt in a New World Order 7.2 Sources and Chronology 7.3 Egypt at War War and society in the New Kingdom The “war of liberation” The annexation of Nubia Wars in western Asia 7.4 Egypt and the Outside World 7.5 Domestic Issues Royal succession Hatshepsut Royal mortuary customs New Kingdom bureaucracy Building activity in the early 18th dynasty 8 The Amarna Revolution and the Late 18th Dynasty (ca. 1390–1295) 8.1 An International Age The Club of the Great Powers The administration of Syria and Palestine The rise of the Hittites A failed marriage alliance 8.2 Amenhotep III: The Sun King Amenhotep III’s divinity and his building projects The king’s family The king’s court 8.3 From Amenhotep III to Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten 8.4 Akhenaten Theban years (years 1 to 5) Akhetaten (years 5 to 12) Turmoil (years 12 to 17) Akhenaten’s successors 8.5 Akhenaten’s Memory 9 The Ramessid Empire (ca. 1295–1203) 9.1 Domestic Policy: Restoration and Renewal Sety I Rameses II 9.2 International Relations: Reforming the Empire Wars in Syria Egyptian–Hittite peace A new imperial structure Foreigners in Egypt 9.3 Rameses’s Court Officials The royal family 9.4 A Community of Tomb Builders 10 The End of Empire (ca. 1213–1070) 10.1 Problems at Court Sety II and Amenmessu Saptah and Tausret Sethnakht 10.2 Breakdown of Order Tomb robberies Workers’ strikes 10.3 The Decline of Royal Power 10.4 Pressures from Abroad Libyans and Sea Peoples The end of the international system 10.5 End of the New Kingdom 11 The Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1069–715) 11.1 Sources and Chronology 11.2 Twin Cities: Thebes and Tanis (the 21st dynasty, 1069–945) Thebes Tanis The concordat 11.3 Libyan Rule (22nd to 24th dynasties, 945–715) Centralization and diffusion of power The God’s Wife of Amun 11.4 The End of the Third Intermediate Period Nubian resurgence Saite expansion 12 Egypt in the Age of Empires (ca. 715–332) 12.1 Sources and Chronology 12.2 The Eastern Mediterranean in the First Millennium 12.3 Egypt, Kush, and Assyria (ca. 715–656) Military incidents 12.4 Egypt, Greeks, and Babylonians (656–525) Greek–Egyptian relations Military activity 12.5 Recollections of the Past under the Kings of Kush and Sais 12.6 Egypt and Persia (525–332) Domination and resistance Mixing cultures 13 Greek and Roman Egypt (332 BC–AD 395) 13.1 Sources and Chronology 13.2 Alexandria and Philae Alexandria Philae 13.3 Kings, Queens, and Emperors The Ptolemies Queen Cleopatra VII Roman Egypt 13.4 Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians Administration Culture and religion 13.5 Economic Developments: Agriculture, Finance, and Trade 13.6 The African Hinterland 13.7 The Christianization of Egypt Epilogue Guide to Further Reading Glossary King List Bibliography Index Back Cover