Foreign Relations: Maintenance and Administration of the Empire Flashcards
Egypt’s “Empire”
- Egypt’s “empire” was not very large, with borders that constantly changed depending on the pharaoh in power
- Governing Nubia can be considered an empire due to the permanent and imposed power over the region. Syria-Palestine is more of a “sphere of influence”
- Empire definition: political unit that has an extensive territory or nations ruled by a single supreme authority
Why expand?
- Security
- Resources
- Economy
- Warrior pharaoh has to restore/uphold ma’at
Development and role of the army
Army was developed under successive pharaohs but became increasingly important in military administration
- Were rewarded for their service, keeping them loyal.
- Horemheb rewarded with gold collars by Tutankhamun, depicted in Horemheb’s mortuary temple/tomb (?)
- Seti I “increased rations to the army in ointment, meat, fish, and vegetables without limit […] they worked for His Majesty with a loving heart”
- Assisted with trade, building programs, the spread of the “empire”
Divisions
- 2 divisions: Amun at Thebes, and Re at Heliopolis
- Structure: host - company - platoon - squad (in increasing specificity)
Relations with Nubia
Date to Old Kingdom times
- Comprised two parts: Wawat, which lies between 1st and 2nd Cataracts, and Kush, beyond the 2nd cataract
- Made up of a number of independent tribes that sometime combined to attack but mostly lacked the unity to win
- Kush was an important source of gold
- Nubia payed tribute and taxes to the pharaoh in cattle and agricultural products
- Slaves
- Exotic goods were also imported from tropical Africa, e.g. ebony, ivory, animal skins, ostrich feathers, slaves
Syria-Palestine relations
- Over 300 independent city states controlled by local chieftains in the Syria-Palestine region
- Had access to profitable trade routes
- Trade with this region allowed Egypt to access cedar wood from Lebanon, and resin for mummification
- Kadesh was economically and politically significant
- Mittani kingdom seen as a possible threat when they aligned themselves with Kadesh during the reign of Thus III
Establishment of the Empire
JUST CONTEXT
Stage 1: Ahmose I enacted military raids to protect borders and trade, creating buffer zones with the Hyksos
Stage 2 (Early Empire): Amenhotep I re-conquered Nubia and consilidated control to extend the borders of Egypt and began the administration process. Thutmose I led campaigns into Nubia and western Asia, building forts at Tombos (Third Cataract) to mark control of Nubia.
Stage 3 (Sustained Campaigning): Thutmose III…
- Staged a series of campagins through Syria, Palestine, and Mitanni, eventuating in the defeat of Kadesh
- First campaign was the Battle of Megiddo, which was most likely started by Palestine and Syria when Thutmose III came to the throne
- Implemented oaths, colonisation, hostages and “Egyptianisation”, parades of power, annual tribute, garirisons, supply depots in coastal cities, and the administration positions of overseer of all northern lands, envoys, and messengers to bring the conquered areas under permanent Egyptian subjugation
Stage 4 (Consolidation): Amenhotep II and Thutmose IV used diplomacy, marriage, and treaties to maintain the “empire” sphere of influence
Consequences of empire
- By AIII’s reign, the work of successive pharaohs had established a strong phere of influence. Egypt was a powerful political presnece in the region, and warfare against Egypt became rare
- AIII maintained Thutmose IV’s diplomatic treaty and foreign marriage practice
Other regions maintained by the empire
- Babylonia
- Assyria
- Mittani
- Emerging Hittite Empire
- Direct trade with Aegaen powers (Crete and Mycenae), evidenced from tomb reliefs and artefacts in Akhetaten
- Inscriptions on the statue bases from AIII’s reign attest to Aegean trade
TABLE IN PT
Administration of Nubia
- Existing forts along the Nile were strengthened at valued trade routes
- Egyptian colonies established around temple towns, such as Buhen
- Walled towns acted as adminstrative centres and bases for mining operations (e.g. Soleb had two red granite lions)
- An imperial administration system headed by the Viceroy of Nubia was created, with the new post of “The King’s Son of Kush” and “Overseer of the Gold Lands
- Annals of Thutmose I refer to taxes from Nubia
- Control of Nubia can be seen through the changing pattern of building: Ahmose and Amnehotep I built fortifications, Thutmose IIi focused more on temples
- Exploitation of mineral resources (gold, amethyst, copper, green diorite, quality stone, carnelian, jasper)
Egyptian imperialism
- Permanent military occupation of territories, referred to as colonies
- Administrative control of the area
- Economic exploitation of the area
- Imposition of the dominant culture on the area
- Addition of a Tushrat in every state
Nubia
- The term “empire” is more applicable to Nubia, because Egypt had a permanent military occupation of the regio with garrisons at fortified towns, and a direct administration by an Egyptian governor, the Viceroy of Kush. Nubia was also exploited for resources beneficial to Egypt (e.g. gold, slaves, exotic goods from Africa), and Egyptian culture was imposed on the Nubian population
Syria-Palestine
- The term empire is less applicable, it was more of a sphere of influence (less direct control)
Barry Kemp on Egyptian empire
- Control is based on the divine nature of kingship, not control… the conquest theme is one element in the broader and more fundamental role of divine kingship: that of reducing chaos to order
Royal Inscriptions
Egyptian Sources
Records of campaigns, which the pharaoh ordered to be inscribed…
- on stelae within temples in Egypt and conquered territories
- into rocks bordering the Nile recording victories in that region
Tomb Inscriptions of Officials
Egyptian Sources
Record the public careers of members of Egyptian administration who served abroad or worked on foreign affairs.
Often accompanied by wall paintings depiciting achievements.
Amarna Letters
Foreign Sources
Diplomatic correspondence sent to Amenhotep III and Akhenaten from foreign rulers in Syria and Palestine.
- Clay tablets written in the cuneiform language
- Provided insight into Egypt’s administration of the empire in Syria-Palestine
Problems:
- Undated and many in damaged condition (problem for scholars)
- With very few exceptions, there are no replies from pharaohs available
Hittite Sources
Foreign Sources
The Hittite Peace Treaty that Ramesses II negotiated in year 21 of his reign.
- Hittite version of the event was excavated from the Hittite capital, Hattusas, enabling scholar to test the reliability to the Egyptian account
Amenhotep III
Nubia
His image as warrior pharaoh maintained power despite there being only one recorded military campaign.
- Warrior pharaoh quotes!
Campaign against Nubia in year 5 recorded in Konosso Stela (First Cataract) and Tablet of Victory (AIII’s Mortuary Temple)
- ‘annihilator of the wretched Kush’
- 312 ‘hands’ were captured
Semna Inscription (Tomb of Merymose)
- Merymose was viceroy of Nubia and supervised the campaign, so detailed accounts can be found here
Amarna Letters
- Mention maintenance of forts and garrisons from the reign of Thutmose III through the appointment of governors, tax gatherers and garrison commanders
Akhenaten
Nubia
Nubian Campaign
- Conducted during his reign to deal with rebellion but was authorised by his Nubian viceroy, Thutmose, not him
- Victory Stela erected at Buhen: records Thutmose’s victory and the capture of 145 Nubians and 361 heads of cattle
- A number of rebels were impaled on stakes as a symbol of ruthlessness
Resettlement of Apiru
- The nomadic and warlike Apiru, who had been attacking vassal towns in Palestine, were resettled into Nubia
- Curbed rebellion in Nubia and rid the perennial threat of th Apiru
Army
- Contingents of Nubian bowmen were employed as mercenaries and used as garrison troops in Syria-Palestine by Egyptian governors
- The policy may not have been very successful
Abdu-heba, Egyptian vassal prince of Jerusalem, complaining about Nubian vandalism
Akhenaten and Nubia
“With reference to the Nubians, let my king ask the commissioners whether my house is not very strong! Yet they attempted a very great crime; they took their implements and breached…the roof. [If] you send troops into the land, let there be an [Egyptian] officer with them for regular service.”
Post Amarna
Nubia
Tutankhamun
- Huy was viceroy of Nubia, and the reliefs in his Theban tomb includes information of the products of the region
Horemheb
- Increasing power was a result of military success abroad
- Tomb in Memphis: number of reliefs of military exploits in both Nubia and Syria-Palestine
- Shows long lines of Nubians being paraded before Horemheb or waiting to be transported to work camps/confinement
19th Dynasty
Nubia
Seti I
- Year 8: punitive raid into Nubia to put down rebellion of the Irem tribe (660 prisoners taken)
- May have increased the number of garrisons in Palestine
Ramesses II
- Nubia was relatively quiet
- Between years 15-20: another rebellion by the Irem tribe was ruthlessly suppressed (7000 taken prisoner and no further rebellions)
Both attempted to increase water supply to the regions of gold mines by sinking new wells (workers’ rights??).
Control exercised through the office of the Egyptian viceroy, the king’s son of Kush.
Great mortuary temples erected for Ramesses II and Nefertari as a reminder of their ruling and power at Abu Simbel.
Features of Relationship with Nubia
- Permanent military occupation with garrisons at fortified towns which mobilised quickly to quash rebellions
- Direction administration by Egyptian governor (King’s son of Kush, Viceroy of Nubia)
- Economic exploitation of resources for the benefit of Egypt
- Imposition of Egyptian culture
Control of Syria-Palestine
Vassal Princes
- Egypt did not interfere with internal affairs as long as vassal princes kept the peace and paid annual tax/tribute (e.g. crops, livestock, other produce)
Armies
- Garrisons of soldiers kept in forts at strategic areas
- Egyptian governors appointed to supervise garrisons and the activities of the vassal princes
Syria-Palestine Context
SYRIA = area north of Kadesh to the border of the Hittite kingdom, bounded by the Euphrates River to the north-east and the land of Naharin (Mitanni) on the other side.
- Natural resources: Orontes (fertile river valley) and other natural resources attracted other kingdoms.
- Trade: Syria was an important trade corridor for access to seaports, such as Byblos on the Phoenician coast
Thutmose III: Minor campaigns into the region were common, but as it was far away, power was often contested with Mitanni. Raids ensured that tribute was paid and ensured the flow of trade.
Amarna Letters (SYRIA-PALESTINE)
Surviving letters cover the reign of Amenhotep III to year 4 of Tutankhamun’s reign.
Great Kings: Independent rulers of important kingdoms
- Organised inter-dynastic marriages (Egypt did not marry off princesses) and sent gifts of gold/other valuables
- Only the kings of Mitanni, Babylon and the Hittites referred to the king of Egypt as ‘brother’, while the lesser kings referred to him as ‘my god’, ‘my sun’ and ‘my lord’.
- King Tushratta of Naharin sent a statue of the goddess Ishtar to Amenhotep III towards the end of his life
“To Nimmuaria the great king, king of Egypt, my brother, my brother-in-law, who loves me and whom I love, speak as follows: thus says Tushratta the great king your father-in-law who loves you, the king of Mitanni, your brother.”
Vassal Princes: Local rulers (not independent) who owed great allegience to the king through treaty obligations
- Payed taxes, trading rights and supplied troops to the king’s army
- Majority situated in Palestine
- Sons and daughters brought up in the Egyptian court to act as hostages, ensuring the loyalty of the vassal princes (e.g. sons of rulers from Byblos, Tyre and Jerusalem)
- Letters proclaim loyalty to Egypt, denounce rival princes and request resources (gold, soldiers, other provisions)
“To the king, my lord and my sun-god: Thus speaks Lab’ayu, your servant, and the dirt on which you tread. At the feet of the king, my lord, and my sun-god, seven times and seven times I fall…If the king should write to me ‘Plunge a bronze daggar into your heart and die!’, how could I refuse to carry out the command of the king?”
