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117-567: Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeast Africa . It was concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River , situated within the contemporary territory of modern-day Egypt . Ancient Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3100   BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology ) with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under pharaoh or king Menes (often identified with Narmer ). The history of ancient Egypt unfolded as

234-467: A corvée system. Artists and craftsmen were of higher status than farmers, but they were also under state control, working in the shops attached to the temples and paid directly from the state treasury. Scribes and officials formed the upper class in ancient Egypt, known as the "white kilt class" in reference to the bleached linen garments that served as a mark of their rank. The upper class prominently displayed their social status in art and literature. Below

351-416: A nomarch , who was accountable to the vizier for his jurisdiction. The temples formed the backbone of the economy. Not only were they places of worship , but were also responsible for collecting and storing the kingdom's wealth in a system of granaries and treasuries administered by overseers , who redistributed grain and goods. Much of the economy was centrally organized and strictly controlled. Although

468-443: A balanced relationship between people and animals was an essential element of the cosmic order; thus humans, animals and plants were believed to be members of a single whole. Animals, both domesticated and wild , were therefore a critical source of spirituality, companionship, and sustenance to the ancient Egyptians. Cattle were the most important livestock; the administration collected taxes on livestock in regular censuses , and

585-607: A brief but spirited resurgence in the economy and culture, but in 525   BC, the Persian Empire, led by Cambyses II , began its conquest of Egypt, eventually defeating the pharaoh Psamtik III at the Battle of Pelusium . Cambyses II then assumed the formal title of pharaoh, but ruled Egypt from Iran, leaving Egypt under the control of a satrap . A few revolts against the Persians marked the 5th century   BC, but Egypt

702-606: A competitive enterprise between Britain and France. A modern " Battle of the Nile " could hardly fail to stir renewed curiosity about Egypt beyond the figure of Cleopatra . At about the same moment, the tarot was brought to Europe's attention by the Frenchman Antoine Court de Gebelin as a purported key to the occult knowledge of Egypt. All this gave rise to "Egyptomania" and occult tarot . This legendary Egypt has been difficult, but not impossible to concile with

819-708: A confident, eloquent style. The relief and portrait sculpture of the period captured subtle, individual details that reached new heights of technical sophistication. The last great ruler of the Middle Kingdom, Amenemhat III , allowed Semitic -speaking Canaanite settlers from the Near East into the Delta region to provide a sufficient labor force for his especially active mining and building campaigns. These ambitious building and mining activities, however, combined with severe Nile floods later in his reign, strained

936-413: A detailed if selectively coloured and imaginative description of ancient Egypt. He praises peasants' preservation of history through oral tradition, and Egyptians' piety. He lists the many animals to which Egypt is home, including the mythical phoenix and winged serpent , and gives inaccurate descriptions of the hippopotamus and horned viper . Herodotus was quite critical about the stories he heard from

1053-575: A large-scale building campaign to promote the god Amun , whose growing cult was based in Karnak . They also constructed monuments to glorify their own achievements, both real and imagined. The Karnak temple is the largest Egyptian temple ever built. Around 1350   BC, the stability of the New Kingdom was threatened when Amenhotep IV ascended the throne and instituted a series of radical and chaotic reforms. Changing his name to Akhenaten , he touted

1170-445: A more dense population, and social development and culture. With resources to spare, the administration sponsored mineral exploitation of the valley and surrounding desert regions, the early development of an independent writing system , the organization of collective construction and agricultural projects, trade with surrounding regions, and a military intended to assert Egyptian dominance. Motivating and organizing these activities

1287-574: A period of economic and cultural renaissance known as the Middle Kingdom . The kings of the Middle Kingdom restored the country's stability and prosperity, thereby stimulating a resurgence of art, literature, and monumental building projects. Mentuhotep II and his Eleventh Dynasty successors ruled from Thebes, but the vizier Amenemhat I , upon assuming the kingship at the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty around 1985   BC, shifted

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1404-507: A piece of papyrus or an ostracon . A combination of favorable geographical features contributed to the success of ancient Egyptian culture, the most important of which was the rich fertile soil resulting from annual inundations of the Nile River. The ancient Egyptians were thus able to produce an abundance of food, allowing the population to devote more time and resources to cultural, technological, and artistic pursuits. Land management

1521-687: A queen who established herself as pharaoh, launched many building projects, including the restoration of temples damaged by the Hyksos, and sent trading expeditions to Punt and the Sinai. When Tuthmosis III died in 1425   BC, Egypt had an empire extending from Niya in north west Syria to the Fourth Cataract of the Nile in Nubia , cementing loyalties and opening access to critical imports such as bronze and wood . The New Kingdom pharaohs began

1638-607: A rival dynasty in the delta arose in Leontopolis , and Kushites threatened from the south. Around 727   BC the Kushite king Piye invaded northward, seizing control of Thebes and eventually the Delta, which established the 25th Dynasty . During the 25th Dynasty, Pharaoh Taharqa created an empire nearly as large as the New Kingdom 's. Twenty-fifth Dynasty pharaohs built, or restored, temples and monuments throughout

1755-662: A series of stable kingdoms interspersed by periods of relative instability known as "Intermediate Periods". The various kingdoms fall into one of three categories: the Old Kingdom of the Early Bronze Age , the Middle Kingdom of the Middle Bronze Age , or the New Kingdom of the Late Bronze Age . Ancient Egypt reached the pinnacle of its power during the New Kingdom, ruling much of Nubia and

1872-662: A series of vassals who became known as the Saite kings of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty . By 653   BC, the Saite king Psamtik I was able to oust the Assyrians with the help of Greek mercenaries, who were recruited to form Egypt's first navy . Greek influence expanded greatly as the city-state of Naucratis became the home of Greeks in the Nile Delta. The Saite kings based in the new capital of Sais witnessed

1989-401: A shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round

2106-860: A sizable portion of the Levant . After this period, it entered an era of slow decline. During the course of its history, ancient Egypt was invaded or conquered by a number of foreign powers, including the Hyksos , the Nubians , the Assyrians , the Achaemenid Persians , and the Macedonians under Alexander the Great . The Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom , formed in the aftermath of Alexander's death, ruled until 30   BC, when, under Cleopatra , it fell to

2223-517: A system of mathematics , a practical and effective system of medicine , irrigation systems, and agricultural production techniques, the first known planked boats, Egyptian faience and glass technology, new forms of literature , and the earliest known peace treaty , made with the Hittites . Ancient Egypt has left a lasting legacy. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities were carried off to be studied, admired or coveted in

2340-458: A system still used today. He began his official history with the king named "Meni" (or Menes in Greek), who was believed to have united the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt . The transition to a unified state happened more gradually than ancient Egyptian writers represented, and there is no contemporary record of Menes. Some scholars now believe, however, that the mythical Menes may have been

2457-533: Is a major contributor to the fantasy Egypt of modern culture. The cinematic spectacle of Egypt climaxed in sequences of Cecil B. deMille 's The Ten Commandments (1956) and in Jeanne Crain 's Nefertiti in the 1961 Italian Cinecittà production of Queen of the Nile , and collapsed with the failure of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra (1963). In 1978, Tutankhamun was commemorated in

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2574-502: Is also the period when many animals were first domesticated . By about 5500 BC , small tribes living in the Nile valley had developed into a series of cultures demonstrating firm control of agriculture and animal husbandry , and identifiable by their pottery and personal items, such as combs, bracelets, and beads. The largest of these early cultures in upper (Southern) Egypt was the Badarian culture , which probably originated in

2691-516: Is one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse regions of the world, being the home to many civilizations and located on an important trade route that connects multiple continents. This African location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Ancient Egypt in the Western imagination After late antiquity , the Old Testament image of Egypt as

2808-497: Is played by Lyndsey Marshal , and much of the second season is dedicated to events building up to the famous suicides of Cleopatra and her lover Mark Antony in 30 BCE. La Reine Soleil , a 2007 animated film by Philippe Leclerc, features Akhenaten, Tutankhaten (later Tutankhamun), Akhesa (Ankhesenepaten, later Ankhesenamun), Nefertiti, and Horemheb in a complex struggle pitting the priests of Amun against Akhenaten's intolerant monotheism. American singer Katy Perry released in 2013

2925-474: The Corpus Hermeticum of the great Hermes Trismegistus was actually a Greek work of about the 4th century CE (even though Casaubon's work was also criticized by Ralph Cudworth). Early in the 18th century, Jean Terrasson had written Life of Sethos , a work of fiction, which launched the notion of Egyptian mysteries. In an atmosphere of antiquarian interest, a sense arose that ancient knowledge

3042-529: The Amarna Period . Around 1279   BC, Ramesses II , also known as Ramesses the Great, ascended the throne, and went on to build more temples, erect more statues and obelisks, and sire more children than any other pharaoh in history. A bold military leader, Ramesses II led his army against the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh (in modern Syria ) and, after fighting to a stalemate, finally agreed to

3159-501: The Great Kenbet , over which the vizier or pharaoh presided. Plaintiffs and defendants were expected to represent themselves and were required to swear an oath that they had told the truth. In some cases, the state took on both the role of prosecutor and judge, and it could torture the accused with beatings to obtain a confession and the names of any co-conspirators. Whether the charges were trivial or serious, court scribes documented

3276-453: The Levant was established during Naqada II ( c.  3600–3350 BC ); this period was also the beginning of trade with Mesopotamia , which continued into the early dynastic period and beyond. Over a period of about 1,000 years, the Naqada culture developed from a few small farming communities into a powerful civilization whose leaders were in complete control of the people and resources of

3393-969: The Mouseion . The Lighthouse of Alexandria lit the way for the many ships that kept trade flowing through the city—as the Ptolemies made commerce and revenue-generating enterprises, such as papyrus manufacturing, their top priority. Hellenistic culture did not supplant native Egyptian culture, as the Ptolemies supported time-honored traditions in an effort to secure the loyalty of the populace. They built new temples in Egyptian style, supported traditional cults, and portrayed themselves as pharaohs. Some traditions merged, as Greek and Egyptian gods were syncretized into composite deities, such as Serapis , and classical Greek forms of sculpture influenced traditional Egyptian motifs. Despite their efforts to appease

3510-495: The Near East . The New Kingdom pharaohs established a period of unprecedented prosperity by securing their borders and strengthening diplomatic ties with their neighbours, including the Mitanni Empire, Assyria , and Canaan . Military campaigns waged under Tuthmosis I and his grandson Tuthmosis III extended the influence of the pharaohs to the largest empire Egypt had ever seen. Between their reigns, Hatshepsut ,

3627-467: The Nubians to the south of Egypt, but failed to defeat the Hyksos. That task fell to Kamose's successor, Ahmose I , who successfully waged a series of campaigns that permanently eradicated the Hyksos' presence in Egypt. He established a new dynasty and, in the New Kingdom that followed, the military became a central priority for the kings, who sought to expand Egypt's borders and attempted to gain mastery of

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3744-606: The Persians and was welcomed by the Egyptians as a deliverer. The administration established by Alexander's successors, the Macedonian Ptolemaic Kingdom , was based on an Egyptian model and based in the new capital city of Alexandria . The city showcased the power and prestige of Hellenistic rule, and became a centre of learning and culture, that included the famous Library of Alexandria as part of

3861-543: The Polish writer Bolesław Prus completed his only historical novel , Pharaoh , a study of mechanisms of political power , described against the backdrop of the fall of the Twentieth Dynasty and the New Kingdom . It is, at the same time, one of the most compelling literary reconstructions of life at every level of ancient Egyptian society. In 1966, the novel was adapted as a Polish feature film . In 1912,

3978-543: The Roman Empire and became a Roman province . Egypt remained under Roman control until 642 AD, when it was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate . The success of ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture . The predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which supported

4095-618: The Thirtieth , proved to be the last native royal house of ancient Egypt, ending with the kingship of Nectanebo II . A brief restoration of Persian rule, sometimes known as the Thirty-First Dynasty , began in 343   BC, but shortly after, in 332   BC, the Persian ruler Mazaces handed Egypt over to Alexander the Great without a fight. In 332   BC, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt with little resistance from

4212-548: The Wadi Natrun for mummification , which also provided the gypsum needed to make plaster. Ore-bearing rock formations were found in distant, inhospitable wadis in the Eastern Desert and the Sinai, requiring large, state-controlled expeditions to obtain natural resources found there. There were extensive gold mines in Nubia , and one of the first maps known is of a gold mine in this region. The Wadi Hammamat

4329-629: The Western Desert ; it was known for its high-quality ceramics, stone tools , and its use of copper. The Badari was followed by the Naqada culture : the Naqada I ( Amratian ), the Naqada II ( Gerzeh ), and Naqada III ( Semainean ). These brought a number of technological improvements. As early as the Naqada I Period, predynastic Egyptians imported obsidian from Ethiopia , used to shape blades and other objects from flakes . Mutual trade with

4446-449: The chaff from the grain, and the grain was then ground into flour, brewed to make beer, or stored for later use. The ancient Egyptians cultivated emmer and barley , and several other cereal grains, all of which were used to make the two main food staples of bread and beer. Flax plants, uprooted before they started flowering, were grown for the fibers of their stems. These fibers were split along their length and spun into thread, which

4563-579: The composite bow and the horse-drawn chariot . After retreating south, the native Theban kings found themselves trapped between the Canaanite Hyksos ruling the north and the Hyksos' Nubian allies, the Kushites , to the south. After years of vassalage, Thebes gathered enough strength to challenge the Hyksos in a conflict that lasted more than 30 years, until 1555   BC. The kings Seqenenre Tao II and Kamose were ultimately able to defeat

4680-521: The vizier and his court for redress. Although slaves were mostly used as indentured servants, they were able to buy and sell their servitude, work their way to freedom or nobility, and were usually treated by doctors in the workplace. Both men and women had the right to own and sell property, make contracts, marry and divorce, receive inheritance, and pursue legal disputes in court. Married couples could own property jointly and protect themselves from divorce by agreeing to marriage contracts, which stipulated

4797-636: The "Alexandrian Triad", Isis , who developed a widespread Roman following, Harpocrates , "god of silence", and the Ptolemaic syncretism of Serapis . Egypt is mentioned 611 times in the Bible , between Genesis 12:10 and Revelation 11:8 . The Septuagint , through which most Christians knew the Hebrew Bible, was commissioned in Alexandria , it was remembered, with the embellishment that though

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4914-467: The 1824 decryption of hieroglyphs by Jean-François Champollion . Inscriptions that a century earlier had been thought to hold occult wisdom, proved to be nothing more than royal names and titles, funerary formulae, boastful accounts of military campaigns, even though there remains an obscure part that might agree with the mystic vision. The explosion of new knowledge about actual Egyptian religion, wisdom and philosophy has been widely interpreted as exposing

5031-563: The 20th century. The 1922 discovery of the undamaged tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun revived public interest in ancient Egypt, the tomb's treasures influencing popular culture, including fashion and Art-Deco design. The discovery also led to the idea, promoted by the popular press , of a ' curse ' that allegedly led to the premature death of those who entered the tomb. These claims were dismissed by Howard Carter who called them 'foolish superstition' and 'tommy-rot' . A more recent study by James Randi showed that expedition members who entered

5148-634: The Antique world, seen through written documents, spurred the publication of a collection of Greek texts that had been assembled in Late Antiquity, which were published as the corpus of works of Hermes Trismegistus . But the broken ruins that sometimes appeared in paintings of the episode of the Rest on the Flight into Egypt were always of Roman character. With historicism came the first fictions set in

5265-571: The Assyrians. The effects of external threats were exacerbated by internal problems such as corruption, tomb robbery, and civil unrest . After regaining their power, the high priests at the temple of Amun in Thebes accumulated vast tracts of land and wealth, and their expanded power splintered the country during the Third Intermediate Period. Following the death of Ramesses XI in 1078   BC, Smendes assumed authority over

5382-474: The Christian emperor Theodosius introduced legislation that banned pagan rites and closed temples. Alexandria became the scene of great anti-pagan riots with public and private religious imagery destroyed. As a consequence, Egypt's native religious culture was continually in decline. While the native population continued to speak their language , the ability to read hieroglyphic writing slowly disappeared as

5499-434: The Delta, seized control of Egypt and established their capital at Avaris , forcing the former central government to retreat to Thebes . The king was treated as a vassal and expected to pay tribute. The Hyksos ('foreign rulers') retained Egyptian models of government and identified as kings, thereby integrating Egyptian elements into their culture. They and other invaders introduced new tools of warfare into Egypt, most notably

5616-563: The Egypt of the imagination. Shakespeare 's Antony and Cleopatra had been set partly in Alexandria, but its protagonists were noble and universal, and Shakespeare had not been concerned to evoke local color. The rationale for "Egyptomania" rests on a similar concept: Westerners looked to ancient Egyptian motifs because ancient Egypt itself was intrinsically so alluring. The Egyptians used to consider their religion and their government somewhat eternal; they were supported in this thought by

5733-452: The Egyptians, the Ptolemies were challenged by native rebellion, bitter family rivalries, and the powerful mob of Alexandria that formed after the death of Ptolemy IV . In addition, as Rome relied more heavily on imports of grain from Egypt, the Romans took great interest in the political situation in the country. Continued Egyptian revolts, ambitious politicians, and powerful opponents from

5850-581: The Graeco-Roman clothes worn by nobles such as Cleopatra , the video features the Eye of Horus a powerful symbol in Ancient Egypt and the paintings behind the throne that Katy Perry sits on appear to have been made based on real examples from Ancient Egyptian tombs. On the 2017 album, 20s A Difficult Age by recording artist Marcus Orelias, one of the songs is titled "Aset", an original spelling of

5967-502: The Greeks towards the Egyptians, some traditions such as mummification and worship of the traditional gods continued. The art of mummy portraiture flourished, and some Roman emperors had themselves depicted as pharaohs, though not to the extent that the Ptolemies had. The former lived outside Egypt and did not perform the ceremonial functions of Egyptian kingship. Local administration became Roman in style and closed to native Egyptians. From

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6084-543: The Late Period, the worship of the gods in their animal form was extremely popular, such as the cat goddess Bastet and the ibis god Thoth , and these animals were kept in large numbers for the purpose of ritual sacrifice. Egypt is rich in building and decorative stone, copper and lead ores, gold, and semiprecious stones. These natural resources allowed the ancient Egyptians to build monuments, sculpt statues, make tools, and fashion jewelry . Embalmers used salts from

6201-449: The Late Period. There is also evidence to suggest that elephants were briefly used in the Late Period but largely abandoned due to lack of grazing land. Cats , dogs, and monkeys were common family pets, while more exotic pets imported from the heart of Africa, such as Sub-Saharan African lions , were reserved for royalty. Herodotus observed that the Egyptians were the only people to keep their animals with them in their houses. During

6318-436: The Naqada culture began using written symbols that eventually were developed into a full system of hieroglyphs for writing the ancient Egyptian language. The Early Dynastic Period was approximately contemporary to the early Sumerian - Akkadian civilization of Mesopotamia and of ancient Elam . The third-century   BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of kings from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties,

6435-524: The Near East made this situation unstable, leading Rome to send forces to secure the country as a province of its empire. Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire in 30   BC, following the defeat of Mark Antony and Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII by Octavian (later Emperor Augustus) in the Battle of Actium . The Romans relied heavily on grain shipments from Egypt, and the Roman army , under

6552-517: The Nile gave humans the opportunity to develop a settled agricultural economy and a more sophisticated, centralized society that became a cornerstone in the history of human civilization. Nomadic modern human hunter-gatherers began living in the Nile valley through the end of the Middle Pleistocene some 120,000 years ago. By the late Paleolithic period, the arid climate of Northern Africa had become increasingly hot and dry, forcing

6669-470: The Nile valley, including at Memphis, Karnak, Kawa, and Jebel Barkal. During this period, the Nile valley saw the first widespread construction of pyramids (many in modern Sudan) since the Middle Kingdom. Egypt's far-reaching prestige declined considerably toward the end of the Third Intermediate Period. Its foreign allies had fallen under the Assyrian sphere of influence, and by 700   BC war between

6786-545: The Nile valley. Establishing a power center at Nekhen (in Greek, Hierakonpolis), and later at Abydos , Naqada III leaders expanded their control of Egypt northwards along the Nile . They also traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the western desert to the west, and the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean and Near East to the east. The Naqada culture manufactured a diverse selection of material goods, reflective of

6903-581: The Old Kingdom, and provided both honey and wax. The ancient Egyptians used donkeys and oxen as beasts of burden , and they were responsible for plowing the fields and trampling seed into the soil. The slaughter of a fattened ox was also a central part of an offering ritual. Horses were introduced by the Hyksos in the Second Intermediate Period . Camels, although known from the New Kingdom, were not used as beasts of burden until

7020-404: The Old Kingdom. Under the direction of the vizier , state officials collected taxes, coordinated irrigation projects to improve crop yield , drafted peasants to work on construction projects, and established a justice system to maintain peace and order. With the rising importance of central administration in Egypt, a new class of educated scribes and officials arose who were granted estates by

7137-510: The Ruler ", to defend against foreign attack. With the kings having secured the country militarily and politically and with vast agricultural and mineral wealth at their disposal, the nation's population, arts, and religion flourished. In contrast to elitist Old Kingdom attitudes towards the gods, the Middle Kingdom displayed an increase in expressions of personal piety. Middle Kingdom literature featured sophisticated themes and characters written in

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7254-924: The West ( illustration, right ). Dramatic settings of the Finding of Moses , the Plagues of Egypt , the Parting of the Red Sea and the story of Joseph in Egypt, and from the New Testament the Flight into Egypt often figured in medieval illuminated manuscripts . Biblical hermeneutics were primarily theological in nature, and had little to do with historical investigations. Throughout the Middle Ages " Mummia ", made, if it were genuine, by pounding mummified bodies,

7371-497: The administration, aside from the royal high priestesses, apparently served only secondary roles in the temples (not much data for many dynasties), and were not so probably to be as educated as men. The head of the legal system was officially the pharaoh, who was responsible for enacting laws, delivering justice, and maintaining law and order, a concept the ancient Egyptians referred to as Ma'at . Although no legal codes from ancient Egypt survive, court documents show that Egyptian law

7488-504: The ancient Egyptians did not use coinage until the Late period , they did use a type of money-barter system, with standard sacks of grain and the deben , a weight of roughly 91 grams (3 oz) of copper or silver, forming a common denominator. Workers were paid in grain; a simple laborer might earn 5 + 1 ⁄ 2  sacks (200 kg or 400 lb) of grain per month, while a foreman might earn 7 + 1 ⁄ 2  sacks (250 kg or 550 lb). Prices were fixed across

7605-431: The classical texts that thus evolved, a mythical Egypt emerges as the mother-country of Religion, Wisdom, Philosophy, and Science. Among the Romans, an Egypt that had been drawn into the Roman economic and political sphere was still a source of wonders: Ex Africa semper aliquid novi ; the exotic fauna of the Nile is embodied in the famous "Nilotic" mosaic from Praeneste , and Romanized iconographies were developed for

7722-409: The complaint, testimony, and verdict of the case for future reference. Punishment for minor crimes involved either imposition of fines, beatings, facial mutilation, or exile, depending on the severity of the offense. Serious crimes such as murder and tomb robbery were punished by execution, carried out by decapitation, drowning, or impaling the criminal on a stake. Punishment could also be extended to

7839-399: The control of a prefect appointed by the emperor, quelled rebellions, strictly enforced the collection of heavy taxes, and prevented attacks by bandits, which had become a notorious problem during the period. Alexandria became an increasingly important center on the trade route with the orient, as exotic luxuries were in high demand in Rome. Although the Romans had a more hostile attitude than

7956-399: The country and recorded in lists to facilitate trading; for example a shirt cost five copper deben, while a cow cost 140   deben. Grain could be traded for other goods, according to the fixed price list. During the fifth century   BC coined money was introduced into Egypt from abroad. At first the coins were used as standardized pieces of precious metal rather than true money, but in

8073-403: The country's economy. Regional governors could not rely on the king for help in times of crisis, and the ensuing food shortages and political disputes escalated into famines and small-scale civil wars. Yet despite difficult problems, local leaders, owing no tribute to the king, used their new-found independence to establish a thriving culture in the provinces. Once in control of their own resources,

8190-420: The criminal's family. Beginning in the New Kingdom, oracles played a major role in the legal system, dispensing justice in both civil and criminal cases. The procedure was to ask the god a "yes" or "no" question concerning the right or wrong of an issue. The god, carried by a number of priests, rendered judgement by choosing one or the other, moving forward or backward, or pointing to one of the answers written on

8307-418: The decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. Egyptian Revival architecture extended the repertory of classical design explored by the Neoclassical movement and widened the decorative vocabulary that could be drawn upon. The well-known Egyptian cult of the dead inspired the Egyptian Revival themes first employed in Highgate Cemetery , near London, which

8424-491: The discovery of a well-preserved painted limestone bust of Nefertiti , unearthed from its sculptor's workshop near the royal city of Amarna , raised interest in ancient Egypt. The bust, now in Berlin's Egyptian Museum , became well known through the medium of photography and is one of the most copied works of ancient Egyptian sculpture, with Nefertiti's strong-featured profile a notable influence on new ideals of feminine beauty in

8541-571: The economy and precipitated the slow decline into the Second Intermediate Period during the later Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties. During this decline, the Canaanite settlers began to assume greater control of the Delta region, eventually coming to power in Egypt as the Hyksos . Around 1785   BC, as the power of the Middle Kingdom kings weakened, a Western Asian people called the Hyksos , who had already settled in

8658-439: The enduring aspect of great public monuments which lasted forever and which appeared to resist the effects of time. Their legislators had judged that this moral impression would contribute to the stability of their empire. The culture of Romanticism embraced every exotic locale, and its rise in the popular imagination coincided with Napoleon 's failed Egyptian campaign and the start of modern Egyptology , beginning very much as

8775-448: The far corners of the world. Its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for millennia. A newfound respect for antiquities and excavations in the early modern period by Europeans and Egyptians has led to the scientific investigation of Egyptian civilization and a greater appreciation of its cultural legacy. The Nile has been the lifeline of its region for much of human history. The fertile floodplain of

8892-524: The financial obligations of the husband to his wife and children should the marriage end. Compared with their counterparts in ancient Greece, Rome, and even more modern places around the world, ancient Egyptian women had a greater range of personal choices, legal rights, and opportunities for achievement. Women such as Hatshepsut and Cleopatra VII even became pharaohs, while others wielded power as Divine Wives of Amun . Despite these freedoms, ancient Egyptian women did not often take part in official roles in

9009-611: The first recorded peace treaty , around 1258   BC. Egypt's wealth, however, made it a tempting target for invasion, particularly by the Libyan Berbers to the west, and the Sea Peoples , a conjectured confederation of seafarers from the Aegean Sea . Initially, the military was able to repel these invasions, but Egypt eventually lost control of its remaining territories in southern Canaan , much of it falling to

9126-426: The floodwaters had receded, the growing season lasted from October to February. Farmers plowed and planted seeds in the fields, which were irrigated with ditches and canals. Egypt received little rainfall, so farmers relied on the Nile to water their crops. From March to May, farmers used sickles to harvest their crops, which were then threshed with a flail to separate the straw from the grain. Winnowing removed

9243-415: The following centuries international traders came to rely on coinage. Egyptian society was highly stratified, and social status was expressly displayed. Farmers made up the bulk of the population, but agricultural produce was owned directly by the state, temple, or noble family that owned the land. Farmers were also subject to a labor tax and were required to work on irrigation or construction projects in

9360-411: The government, who relied on a bureaucracy of officials to manage his affairs. In charge of the administration was his second in command, the vizier , who acted as the king's representative and coordinated land surveys, the treasury, building projects, the legal system, and the archives . At a regional level, the country was divided into as many as 42 administrative regions called nomes each governed by

9477-482: The increasing power and wealth of the elite, as well as societal personal-use items, which included combs, small statuary, painted pottery, high quality decorative stone vases , cosmetic palettes , and jewelry made of gold, lapis, and ivory. They also developed a ceramic glaze known as faience , which was used well into the Roman Period to decorate cups, amulets, and figurines. During the last predynastic phase,

9594-531: The king Narmer , who is depicted wearing royal regalia on the ceremonial Narmer Palette, in a symbolic act of unification. In the Early Dynastic Period, which began about 3000   BC, the first of the Dynastic kings solidified control over lower Egypt by establishing a capital at Memphis , from which he could control the labor force and agriculture of the fertile delta region, as well as

9711-410: The king in payment for their services. Kings also made land grants to their mortuary cults and local temples , to ensure that these institutions had the resources to worship the king after his death. Scholars believe that five centuries of these practices slowly eroded the economic vitality of Egypt, and that the economy could no longer afford to support a large centralized administration. As the power of

9828-592: The kingdom's capital to the city of Itjtawy , located in Faiyum . From Itjtawy, the kings of the Twelfth Dynasty undertook a far-sighted land reclamation and irrigation scheme to increase agricultural output in the region. Moreover, the military reconquered territory in Nubia that was rich in quarries and gold mines, while laborers built a defensive structure in the Eastern Delta, called the " Walls of

9945-526: The kings diminished, regional governors called nomarchs began to challenge the supremacy of the office of king. This, coupled with severe droughts between 2200 and 2150   BC, is believed to have caused the country to enter the 140-year period of famine and strife known as the First Intermediate Period. After Egypt's central government collapsed at the end of the Old Kingdom, the administration could no longer support or stabilize

10062-505: The land of enslavement for the Hebrews predominated, and " Pharaoh " became a synonym for despotism and oppression in the 19th century. However, Enlightenment thinking and colonialist explorations in the late 18th century renewed interest in ancient Egypt as both a model for, and an exotic alternative to, Western culture , particularly as a Romantic source for classicizing architecture . Herodotus , in his Histories , Book II, gives

10179-440: The lucrative and critical trade routes to the Levant . The increasing power and wealth of the kings during the early dynastic period was reflected in their elaborate mastaba tombs and mortuary cult structures at Abydos, which were used to celebrate the deified king after his death. The strong institution of kingship developed by the kings served to legitimize state control over the land, labor, and resources that were essential to

10296-463: The mid-first century AD, Christianity took root in Egypt and it was originally seen as another cult that could be accepted. However, it was an uncompromising religion that sought to win converts from the pagan Egyptian and Greco-Roman religions and threatened popular religious traditions. This led to the persecution of converts to Christianity, culminating in the great purges of Diocletian starting in 303, but eventually Christianity won out. In 391,

10413-643: The most popular 19th-century level, all of ancient Egypt was reduced in the European imagination to the Nile , the Pyramids and the Great Sphinx in a setting of sand, characterized on a more literary level in the English poet Shelley 's " Ozymandias " (1818): I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk,

10530-436: The mythical image of Egypt as an illusion that had been created by the Greek and Western imaginations. In art, the development of Orientalism and the increased possibility of travel produced a large number of depictions, of varying degrees of accuracy. By the late 19th-century, exotic and carefully studied or researched decor was often dominant in depictions of both landscape and human figures, whether ancient or modern. On

10647-404: The nobility were the priests, physicians, and engineers with specialized training in their field. It is unclear whether slavery as understood today existed in ancient Egypt; there is difference of opinions among authors. The ancient Egyptians viewed men and women, including people from all social classes, as essentially equal under the law, and even the lowliest peasant was entitled to petition

10764-682: The north, while a rival clan based in Thebes , the Intef family , took control of Upper Egypt in the south. As the Intefs grew in power and expanded their control northward, a clash between the two rival dynasties became inevitable. Around 2055   BC the northern Theban forces under Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II finally defeated the Herakleopolitan rulers, reuniting the Two Lands. They inaugurated

10881-675: The northern part of Egypt, ruling from the city of Tanis . The south was effectively controlled by the High Priests of Amun at Thebes , who recognized Smendes in name only. During this time, Libyans had been settling in the western delta, and chieftains of these settlers began increasing their autonomy. Libyan princes took control of the delta under Shoshenq I in 945   BC, founding the so-called Libyan or Bubastite dynasty that would rule for some 200 years. Shoshenq also gained control of southern Egypt by placing his family members in important priestly positions. Libyan control began to erode as

10998-505: The populations of the area to concentrate along the river region. In Predynastic and Early Dynastic times, the Egyptian climate was much less arid than it is today . Large regions of Egypt were covered in treed savanna and traversed by herds of grazing ungulates . Foliage and fauna were far more prolific in all environs, and the Nile region supported large populations of waterfowl . Hunting would have been common for Egyptians, and this

11115-527: The previously obscure sun deity Aten as the supreme deity , suppressed the worship of most other deities, and moved the capital to the new city of Akhetaten (modern-day Amarna ). He was devoted to his new religion and artistic style . After his death, the cult of the Aten was quickly abandoned and the traditional religious order restored. The subsequent pharaohs, Tutankhamun , Ay , and Horemheb , worked to erase all mention of Akhenaten's heresy, now known as

11232-463: The priests (II,123), but Diodorus Siculus , who visited Hellenistic Egypt in the 1st century BCE, gave credit to what he was told by priests: that many famous Greek philosophers had studied in Egypt. Both Plutarch and Diogenes Laërtius (3rd century) mention that Thales studied in Egypt, while nothing is really known about Thales from his own time. Iamblichus of Chalcis in the 3rd century CE reports that Pythagoras studied in Egypt for 22 years. From

11349-619: The provinces became economically richer—which was demonstrated by larger and better burials among all social classes. In bursts of creativity, provincial artisans adopted and adapted cultural motifs formerly restricted to the royalty of the Old Kingdom, and scribes developed literary styles that expressed the optimism and originality of the period. Free from their loyalties to the king, local rulers began competing with each other for territorial control and political power . By 2160   BC, rulers in Herakleopolis controlled Lower Egypt in

11466-717: The role of the Egyptian temple priests and priestesses diminished. The temples themselves were sometimes converted to churches or abandoned to the desert. In the fourth century, as the Roman Empire divided, Egypt found itself in the Eastern Empire with its capital at Constantinople . In the waning years of the Empire, Egypt fell to the Sasanian Persian army in the Sasanian conquest of Egypt (618–628). It

11583-498: The seventy scholars set to work upon the texts independently, miraculously each arrived at the same translation. Following the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Egypt , the West lost direct contact with Egypt and its culture. In Medieval Europe, Egypt was depicted primarily in the illustration and interpretation of the biblical accounts. These illustrations were often quite fanciful, as the iconography and style of ancient Egyptian art , architecture and costume were largely unknown in

11700-401: The size of a herd reflected the prestige and importance of the estate or temple that owned them. In addition to cattle, the ancient Egyptians kept sheep, goats, and pigs. Poultry , such as ducks, geese, and pigeons, were captured in nets and bred on farms, where they were force-fed with dough to fatten them. The Nile provided a plentiful source of fish . Bees were also domesticated from at least

11817-420: The song Dark Horse and the plot of the music video for the song was set it ancient Memphis . The video features numerous ancient Egyptian symbols and many of the things featured in it are historically accurate even though no egyptologists were consulted during its production. The turquoise makeup worn by Katy Perry in the video would have been used in Ancient Egypt, the dress she wore is similar in style to

11934-606: The song, " King Tut ", by American comedian Steve Martin , and in 1986 the poses in some Egyptian mural art were evoked in the song " Walk Like an Egyptian " by The Bangles . The Metropolitan Museum of Art resurrected the Temple of Dendur within its own quarters in 1978. In 1989, the Louvre raised its own glass pyramid, and in 1993 Las Vegas 's Luxor Hotel opened with its replica tomb of Tutankhamun. A best-selling series of novels by French author and Egyptologist Christian Jacq

12051-451: The survival and growth of ancient Egyptian civilization. Major advances in architecture, art, and technology were made during the Old Kingdom , fueled by the increased agricultural productivity and resulting population growth, made possible by a well-developed central administration. Some of ancient Egypt's crowning achievements, the Giza pyramids and Great Sphinx , were constructed during

12168-525: The tomb died at an average age of 73, slightly above the life expectancy of their social class at that time. The idea of a "mummy's curse" inspired films such as The Mummy , starring Boris Karloff , which popularized the idea of ancient Egyptian mummies reanimating as monsters . Agatha Christie 's 1924 short story The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb also refers to mysterious deaths during an excavation. Hollywood 's depiction of ancient Egypt

12285-493: The two states became inevitable. Between 671 and 667   BC the Assyrians began the Assyrian conquest of Egypt . The reigns of both Taharqa and his successor, Tanutamun , were filled with constant conflict with the Assyrians, against whom Egypt enjoyed several victories. Ultimately, the Assyrians pushed the Kushites back into Nubia, occupied Memphis, and sacked the temples of Thebes . The Assyrians left control of Egypt to

12402-428: Was a bureaucracy of elite scribes , religious leaders, and administrators under the control of a pharaoh , who ensured the cooperation and unity of the Egyptian people in the context of an elaborate system of religious beliefs . The many achievements of the ancient Egyptians include the quarrying , surveying , and construction techniques that supported the building of monumental pyramids , temples , and obelisks ;

12519-570: Was a notable source of granite, greywacke , and gold. Flint was the first mineral collected and used to make tools, and flint handaxes are the earliest pieces of evidence of habitation in the Nile valley. Nodules of the mineral were carefully flaked to make blades and arrowheads of moderate hardness and durability even after copper was adopted for this purpose. Ancient Egyptians were among the first to use minerals such as sulfur as cosmetic substances. Northeast Africa Northeast Africa , or Northeastern Africa , or Northern East Africa as it

12636-535: Was a standard product of apothecary shops. During the Renaissance the German Jesuit scholar Athanasius Kircher gave an allegorical "decipherment" of hieroglyphs through which Egypt was thought of as a source of ancient mystic or occult wisdom. In alchemist circles, the prestige of "Egyptians" rose. A few scholars, however, remained skeptic: in the 16th century, Isaac Casaubon determined that

12753-421: Was based on a common-sense view of right and wrong that emphasized reaching agreements and resolving conflicts rather than strictly adhering to a complicated set of statutes. Local councils of elders, known as Kenbet in the New Kingdom, were responsible for ruling in court cases involving small claims and minor disputes. More serious cases involving murder, major land transactions, and tomb robbery were referred to

12870-420: Was crucial in ancient Egypt because taxes were assessed based on the amount of land a person owned. Farming in Egypt was dependent on the cycle of the Nile River. The Egyptians recognized three seasons: Akhet (flooding), Peret (planting), and Shemu (harvesting). The flooding season lasted from June to September, depositing on the river's banks a layer of mineral-rich silt ideal for growing crops. After

12987-564: Was inspired by the life of Pharaoh Ramses II ("the Great"). HBO 's miniseries Rome features several episodes set in Greco-Roman Egypt. The faithful reconstructions of an ancient Egyptian court (as opposed to the historically correct Hellenistic culture) were built in Rome's Cinecittà studios. The series depicts dramatized accounts of the relations among Cleopatra , Ptolemy XIII , Julius Caesar and Mark Antony . Cleopatra

13104-538: Was known in the past, encompasses the countries of Africa situated in and around the Red Sea . The region is intermediate between North Africa and East Africa , and encompasses the Horn of Africa ( Djibouti , Eritrea , Ethiopia , and Somalia ), as well as Egypt , Libya , South Sudan and Sudan . The region has a very long history of habitation with fossil finds from the early hominids to modern human and

13221-576: Was never able to overthrow the Persians until the end of the century. Following its annexation by Persia, Egypt was joined with Cyprus and Phoenicia in the sixth satrapy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire . This first period of Persian rule over Egypt, also known as the Twenty-Seventh Dynasty , ended in 402   BC, when Egypt regained independence under a series of native dynasties. The last of these dynasties,

13338-620: Was opened in 1839 by a company founded by the designer-entrepreneur Stephen Geary (1797–1854); its architectural features, which included a 'Gothic Catacomb' as well as an 'Egyptian Avenue', were brought to public attention once more by James Stevens Curl . Ancient Egypt provided the setting for the Italian composer Verdi 's stately 1871 opera Aida , commissioned by the Europeanized Khedive for premiere in Cairo . In 1895,

13455-797: Was somehow embodied in Egyptian monuments and lore. Egyptian imagery pervaded the European Freemasonry of the time and its imagery, such as the eye on the pyramid . Contemporaneously, the Great Seal of the United States (1782), which appears on the United States one-dollar bill also features this imagery. There are Egyptian references in Mozart 's Masonic-themed Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute, 1791), and his earlier unfinished "Thamos". The revival of curiosity about

13572-475: Was then recaptured by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (629–639), and was finally captured by Muslim Rashidun army in 639–641, marking the end of both Byzantine rule and of the period typically considered Ancient Egypt. The pharaoh was the absolute monarch of the country and, at least in theory, wielded complete control of the land and its resources. The king was the supreme military commander and head of

13689-419: Was used to weave sheets of linen and to make clothing. Papyrus growing on the banks of the Nile River was used to make paper. Vegetables and fruits were grown in garden plots, close to habitations and on higher ground, and had to be watered by hand. Vegetables included leeks, garlic, melons, squashes, pulses, lettuce, and other crops, in addition to grapes that were made into wine. The Egyptians believed that

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