ATS 2 - Egypt Flashcards
When was the Early Dynastic period?
3050 - 2686
Dynasties 1-2
ATS 2aa
When was the Old Kingdom period?
2686 - 2181
Dynasties 3-6
ATS 2ab
When was the First intermediate period?
2181 - 2055
Dynasties 7-10
ATS 2ac
When was the Middle Kingdom period?
2055 - 1650
Dynasties 11-13
ATS 2ad
When was the Second intermediate period?
1650 - 1550
Dynasties 14-17
ATS 2ae
When was the New Kingdom period?
1550 - 1069
Dynasties 18-20
ATS 2af
When was the Third intermediate period?
1069 - 664
Dynasties 21-25
ATS 2ag
When was the Late period?
664 - 332
Dynasties 26-31
ATS 2ah
When was the Ptolemaic Dynasty period?
332 - 30
ATS 2ai
What happened to Egypt during the 3ʳᵈ intermediate period & Late Period?
Transition from the Early Egyptian period and Egypt integrating into the classical world.
Transition from the Early Egyptian period and Egypt integrating into the classical world.
ATS 2aj
ATS 2ak
What characterised Egypt in the 3ʳᵈ Intermediate & Late Period?
- Periods of foreign rule, and fragmentation
- The increasing ‘interconnectedness’ of the Mediterranean world in the first millennium BCE
- The dynamics of cultural contact
ATS 2al
What are the ideologies of kingship and the state?
- Egypt must remain unified, or risk slipping into a state of chaos -
- The king was divinely ordained, but responsible for looking after Egypt on behalf of the gods (including keeping it unified)
ATS 2am
What was characteristic about the Early Dynastic period?
Emergence & consolidation of the Egyptian state
ATS 2an
What was characteristic about the Old Kingdom period?
Age of the pyramids
Increasingly complex administration
Divine kingship
ATS 2ao
What was characteristic about the Middle Kingdom period?
An age of art & literature.
ATS 2ap
What was characteristic about the New Kingdom period?
Monumental Building
Imperialistic Goals
ATS 2aq
What were the internal problems at the end of the New Kingdom?
- Widespread corruption
* Tomb robbery * Workers' strikes
- Egypt lost control of gold mines in Nubia
- Rivalry for the throne and several short, destabilising reigns
- Administration of Egypt divided into north and south
ATS 2ar
What were the external problems at the end of the New Kingdom?
- ‘Bronze Age collapse’
- Natural disaster(s) and likely famine in the northern Mediterranean
- Mass migration of the ‘Sea Peoples’
- Consecutive long-term migration of Libyans into Egypt
ATS 2as
What was characteristic of the Libyans?
- Nomadic pastoral groups in desert west of Egypt
- Poor archaeological record; reliance on Egyptian accounts
- Protracted infiltration of Egypt during New Kingdom
- Acquired elevated status in Delta over 8me
ATS 2at
What was the Tale of Wenamun?
- Tale of an Egyptian diplomat named Wenamun
- Probably set in the reign of Ramesses XI, last king of the New Kingdom
- Wenamun is sent to retrieve wood to build a new barque (boat) for the cult statue of Amun
- Encounters various difficulties along the way
- Text is probably fictional, but indicates nonetheless the political fragmentation in Egypt and Egypt’s diminished status in the Mediterranean
ATS 2au
Key points
Dynasty 21 (1069-941 BCE)
Power shared with Priesthood of Amun
Priests weren’t kings but had great influence
21 Kings
ATS 2av
Key points
Dynasty 22 (941-736 BCE)
Of Libyan extraction
Reduced the power of the Theban priesthood
Undertook a military campaign in the Near East
Adopted the conventions of Egyptian kingship
For a time, Egypt was again relatively stable
ATS 2aw
What were the Royal tombs at Tanis?
- Tombs of Dynasty 21 and 22 kings discovered by Pierre Montet in 1939
- Simple tombs, located inside the grounds of the temple of Amun
- Rich burial goods, including gold and silver coffins and burial masks (and much more)
- Family tombs used for multiple generations (and also including some high officials)
- Burial goods are of traditional Pharaonic style
- Possible ‘Libyan’ elements: family tombs, location inside temple? [or is this more to do with security?]
ATS 2ax
What happened during dynasties 22-24?
Eventual fragmentation of the country
Dynasties 22, 23 and 24 hold power in different regions
Minor principalities elsewhere (including at Thebes)
Socio-political unrest (the country becomes heavily fragmented)
ATS 2ay
Where was the Kushite invasion recorded?
Campaign recorded on Piankhy Stela, found at Napata
ATS 2az
What happened during the Kushite invasion?
- Kushite king Piankhy/Piye pushed northwards into Egypt
- Claims to want to reinstate the cult of Amun to its former glory
- Piankhy and his successor Shabaka are successful in subjugating Egypt
ATS 2ba
What happened during Dynasty 25?
- The Kushite kings ruled all or part of Egypt for c. 100 years
- Rule from Napata, in the Sudan, leaving the Egyptian governors in place in Egypt
- Adopted the trappings of Egyptian kingship and supported Egyptian temples
- Buried in Kush (Nubia/Sudan) in pyramids
ATS 2bb
Late Period
What happened during Dynasty 26?
Egyptian rulers, under control of Assyria
Period of relative stability
ATS 2bc
What happened during Dynasty 27?
Egypt under Persian control, ruled by a satrap (governor)
ATS 2bd
What happened during Dynasty 28-30?
- Egyptian fight-back
- Short successive Egyptian dynasties in the Delta
- Eventual loss again to Persians
ATS 2be
What happened in 332 BCE?
- Alexander the Great invades Egypt
- End of the Late Period
- Beginning of Ptolemaic Period in Egypt
ATS 2bf
Who were the Kushites?
- Powerful entity occupied modern day Sudan.
- Through close relations Kushite and Egyptian culture start to merge
- Kushites, however, do not see themselves as Egyptian
ATS 2bg
Key points
Kushites & Pyramids
Kushites buried their kings in pyramids
There are more pyramids in Sudan than in Egypt
Kushites set their sites further northward and into Mediterranean (proved to be a mistake)
ATS 2bh
What happened in 671 BCE?
Assyrians invaded Egypt in 671 BC and take control of Egypt
Kushites withdraw to Nubia
ATS 2bi
How did the Assyrians relate to Egypt?
- Assyrians don’t stay but install Kings to rule on their behalf.
- Egypt grows from a vassal state of Assyria to something of an ally
ATS 2bj
How did the Babylonians deal with Egypt?
- Egypt was initially invaded by Babylonia but then unite to fight Persia
- Persia eventually invaded and took over Egypt
- Persians rule in their own style, not adopting Egyptian Kingship but instead install a local governor
- Egyptians try to fight back and are able to establish several short lived dynasties but are eventually defeated again by Persia.
ATS 2bk
