169-549: The Sea Peoples were a group of tribes hypothesized to have attacked Egypt and other Eastern Mediterranean regions around 1200 BC during the Late Bronze Age . The hypothesis was first proposed by the 19th century Egyptologists Emmanuel de Rougé and Gaston Maspero , on the basis of primary sources such as the reliefs on the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu . Subsequent research developed
338-639: 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, 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
507-469: 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
676-417: 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
845-523: 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 ; a system of mathematics , a practical and effective system of medicine , irrigation systems, and agricultural production techniques,
1014-444: 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
1183-607: 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
1352-719: A campaign against the Hittites and their allies in the Levant in the pharaoh's Year 5. The imminent collision of the Egyptian and Hittite empires became obvious to both, and they both prepared campaigns against the strategic midpoint of Kadesh for the next year. Ramesses divided his Egyptian forces, which were then ambushed piecemeal by the Hittite army and nearly defeated. Ramesses was separated from his forces and had to fight singlehandedly to get back to his troops. He then mustered several counterattacks while waiting for reinforcements. Once
1521-698: A campaign. Instead, there are various references made to it in the context of other events. That is especially true of Hattusili III for whom the battle marked an important milestone in his career. Sources: Goetze, A., "The Hittites and Syria (1300–1200 B.C.)", in Cambridge Ancient History (1975) p. 253; Gardiner, Alan, The Kadesh Inscriptions of Ramesses II (1975) pp. 57ff.; Breasted, James Henry, Ancient Records of Egypt; Historical Records (1906) pp. 125ff.; Lichtheim, Miriam , Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol. 2: The New Kingdom (1978), pp. 57ff. In addition to these allies,
1690-710: 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
1859-463: A contemporary great movement of peoples in the eastern Mediterranean, as a result of which "the lands were removed and scattered to the fray. No land could stand before their arms, from Hatti , Kode , Carchemish , Arzawa , Alashiya on being cut off. [ie: cut down]" Ramesses' comments about the scale of the Sea Peoples' onslaught in the eastern Mediterranean are confirmed by the destruction of
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#17327661033762028-542: 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 the populations of the area to concentrate along the river region. In Predynastic and Early Dynastic times,
2197-477: A fact causing some to doubt they were Greek. A number of primary sources about the Sea Peoples pertain to the reign of Ramesses III , who reigned from 1186 to 1155 BC. The battles were later recorded in two long inscriptions from his Medinet Habu mortuary temple, which are physically separate and somewhat different from one another. The Year 8 campaign is the best-recorded Sea Peoples invasion. The fact that several civilizations collapsed around 1175 BC has led to
2366-584: A fortified settlement in Cyprus. The Weshesh are the most sparsely attested among the Sea People. They are only found in documents pertaining to the reign of Ramesses III , and no visual representation of them has ever been identified. Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeast Africa . It was concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River , situated within
2535-434: A large weapons order by Ramesses II in the year before the expedition he led to Kadesh in his fifth regnal year. At some point, both regions may have lapsed back under Hittite control. What exactly happened to Amurru is disputed. Hittitologist Trevor R. Bryce suggests, that although it may have fallen once again under Hittite control, it is more likely Amurru remained a Hittite vassal state. The immediate antecedents to
2704-576: 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
2873-495: A long siege of the walled city of Kadesh, Ramesses gathered his troops and headed south towards Damascus and ultimately back to Egypt. Ramesses proclaimed he had routed his enemies and that he had not attempted to capture Kadesh. The battle was a personal triumph for Ramesses. After moving into the ambush, facing defeat and death, the king had managed to rally his scattered troops and save the day. His new lighter and faster two-man chariots had shown their usefulness in catching up to
3042-811: 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 the Roman Empire and became a Roman province . Egypt remained under Roman control until 642 AD, when it
3211-576: 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
3380-508: 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
3549-614: A prose account similar to that recorded by other pharaohs. The Bulletin is a caption accompanying the reliefs. The inscriptions are repeated multiple times (seven for the Bulletin and eight for the Poem , in temples in Abydos , Temple of Luxor , Karnak , Abu Simbel and the Ramesseum ). In addition to these narratives, numerous small captions point out elements of the battle. Besides
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#17327661033763718-689: 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
3887-595: A reference to the prisoners depicted at the base of the Fortified East Gate. In 1867, de Rougé published his Excerpts of a dissertation on the attacks directed against Egypt by the peoples of the Mediterranean in the 14th century BC , which focused primarily on the battles of Ramesses II and Merneptah and which proposed translations for many of the geographic names included in the hieroglyphic inscriptions. De Rougé later became chair of Egyptology at
4056-608: 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
4225-714: A separate revolt in the following year involving peoples from the eastern Mediterranean, including the Kheta (or Hittites), or Syrians, and (in the Israel Stele) for the first time in history, the Israelites. In addition to them, the first lines of the Karnak inscription include some sea peoples, which must have arrived in the Western Delta or from Cyrene by ship: [Beginning of the victory that his majesty achieved in
4394-662: 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
4563-589: A similar result. The campaign is recorded more extensively on the inner northwest panel of the first court. It is possible, but not generally believed, that the dates are only those of the inscriptions and both refer to the same campaign. In Ramesses' Year 8, the Nine Bows appear as a "conspiracy in their isles". This time, they are revealed unquestionably as Sea Peoples: the Peleset, Tjeker, Shekelesh, Denyen and Weshesh, which are classified as "foreign countries" in
4732-531: A turning point for the Egyptians, who had developed new technologies and rearmed against years of territorial incursions by the Hittites. The Hittite king, Muwatalli II, continued to campaign as far south as the Egyptian province of Upi (Apa), which he captured and placed under the control of his brother Hattusili, the future Hattusili III . Egypt's sphere of influence in Asia was now restricted to Canaan, but
4901-468: Is sparse, and proposals vary as to whether Sicily was their original homeland, or if they settled there after the Bronze Age. The Sherden are previously mentioned in the records of Ramesses II , who claimed to have defeated them in his second year (1278 BC) when they attempted to raid Egypt's coast. The pharaoh subsequently incorporated many of them into his personal guard. They may also appear in
5070-416: Is the earliest pitched battle in recorded history for which details of tactics and formations are known. It is believed to be the largest battle ever fought involving chariots , numbering at a total of 5,000 to 6,000. After being outmaneuvered, ambushed, and surrounded, Ramesses II personally led a charge through the Hittite ranks with his bodyguard. They broke through and avoided the capture or death of
5239-741: The Amarna Letters , with their name rendered in Akkadian as "še-er-ta-an-nu". Based on onomastic similarities, similar weapons, presence in the same places of the Mediterranean and similar relationships with other peoples there, and other analysis of historical and archaeological sources, some archaeologists have proposed to identify the Sherden with the Nuragic civilization of Sardinia . Potential further evidence for this position comes from 12th century Nuragic pottery found at Pyla-Kokkinokremos ,
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5408-475: 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
5577-539: The Battle of Kadesh in his Year 5. The years of this long-lived pharaoh's reign are not known exactly, but they must have comprised nearly all of the first half of the 13th century BC. In his Second Year, an attack of the Sherden , or Shardana, on the Nile Delta was repulsed and defeated by Ramesses, who captured some of the pirates. The event is recorded on Tanis Stele II. An inscription by Ramesses II on
5746-709: The Bronze Age . Healy in Armies of the Pharaohs observes: It is not possible to be precise about the size of the Egyptian chariot force at Kadesh though it could not have numbered less than 2,000 vehicles spread through the corps of Amun, P'Re, Ptah and Sutekh, assuming that approx. 500 machines were allocated to each corps . To this we may need to add those of the Ne'arin, for if they were not native Egyptian troops their number may not have been formed from chariots detached from
5915-543: The Collège de France and was succeeded by Gaston Maspero . Maspero built upon de Rougé's work and published The Struggle of the Nations , in which he described the theory of the seaborne migrations in detail in 1895–96 for a wider audience, at a time when the idea of population migrations would have felt familiar to the general population. The migration theory was taken up by other scholars such as Eduard Meyer and became
6084-508: 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 is also the period when many animals were first domesticated . By about 5500 BC , small tribes living in
6253-501: 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
6422-570: The Hittite frontier by Ramesses and fought as Egyptian soldiers in the Battle of Kadesh. Another stele usually cited in conjunction with this one is the " Aswan Stele " (there were other stelae at Aswan ), which mentions the king's operations to defeat a number of peoples including those of the " Great Green (the Egyptian name for the Mediterranean)". The Battle of Kadesh was the outcome of
6591-640: The Karnak walls record the details of his campaigns into Canaan and ancient Syria . He took 20,000 men and reoccupied abandoned Egyptian posts and garrisoned cities. He made an informal peace with the Hittites, took control of coastal areas along the Mediterranean Sea , and continued campaigning in Canaan. A second campaign led to his capture of Kadesh and the Amurru kingdom . His son and heir, Ramesses II , campaigned with him. Historical records show
6760-580: The Louvre , in his 1855 work Note on Some Hieroglyphic Texts Recently Published by Mr. Greene , as an interpretation of the battles of Ramesses III described on the Second Pylon at Medinet Habu, based upon recent photographs of the temple by John Beasley Greene . De Rougé noted that "in the crests of the conquered peoples the Sherden and the Teresh bear the designation of the peuples de la mer ", in
6929-560: The Lukka , as well as others such as the Weshesh whose origins are unknown. Hypotheses regarding the origin of the various groups are the source of much speculation. Several of them appear to have been Aegean tribes, while others may have originated in Sicily , Sardinia , Cyprus , and Western Anatolia . The concept of the Sea Peoples was first proposed by Emmanuel de Rougé , curator of
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7098-915: 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
7267-496: 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 ,
7436-584: 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 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
7605-467: 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
7774-598: 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 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
7943-549: 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
8112-619: 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
8281-417: The United Nations , as the earliest international peace treaty known to historians. Its text, in the Hittite version, appears in the links below. An Egyptian version survives on papyrus . There is more evidence in the form of texts and wall reliefs for this battle than for any other in the Ancient Near East . Almost all of it is from an Egyptian perspective. The first scholarly report and reconstruction of
8450-427: 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
8619-451: 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
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#17327661033768788-459: 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
8957-523: 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
9126-445: The "Bulletin"] Year 5, 3rd month of the third season, day 9, under the majesty of (Ramesses II)... The lord proceeded northward, and his majesty arrived at a vicinity south of the town of Shabtuna. As Ramesses II and the Egyptian advance guard were about 11 kilometers from Kadesh, south of Shabtuna, he met two Shasu nomads who told him that the Hittite king was "in the land of Aleppo, on the north of Tunip " 200 kilometers away, where,
9295-405: The 13th century BC between the Egyptian Empire led by pharaoh Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire led by king Muwatalli II . Their armies engaged each other at the Orontes River , just upstream of Lake Homs and near the archaeological site of Kadesh , along what is today the Lebanon–Syria border . The battle is generally dated to May 1274 BC, as accounted by Egyptian chronology , and
9464-462: The Amun camp, all the while being pursued by Hittite chariots. The Hittite chariotry rounded north and attacked the Egyptian camp through the Amun shield wall, creating panic among the Amun division. The momentum of the Hittite attack began to wane as chariots were impeded by and in some cases crashing into obstacles in the large Egyptian camp. In the Egyptian account, Ramesses describes himself as being deserted and surrounded by enemies: "No officer
9633-440: 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
9802-402: The Battle of Kadesh ). The major event of the reign of the Pharaoh Merneptah (1213–1203 BC), 4th king of the 19th Dynasty, was his battle at Perire in the western delta in the 5th and 6th years of his reign, against a confederacy termed "the Nine Bows". Depredations of this confederacy had been so severe that the region was "forsaken as pasturage for cattle, it was left waste from the time of
9971-429: The Battle of Kadesh were the early campaigns of Ramesses II into Canaan . In the fourth year of his reign, he marched north into Syria to recapture Amurru or as a probing effort to confirm his vassals' loyalty and explore the terrain for possible battlegrounds. In the spring of the fifth year of his reign, in May 1274 BC, Ramesses II launched a campaign from his capital Pi-Ramesses (modern Qantir). The army moved beyond
10140-419: 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
10309-435: 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
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#173276610337610478-401: 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
10647-451: 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
10816-486: The Hittite ranks along with his personal guard, some chariots from his Amun division, and survivors from the routed Re division. The Hittites, believing their enemies to be routed, stopped to plunder the Egyptian camp. They were subsequently driven back towards the Orontes River and away from the camp by an Egyptian counterattack. In the ensuing pursuit, Hittite chariots were overtaken and dispatched by lighter Egyptian chariots. Having suffered this significant reversal in
10985-432: The Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh , most likely as mercenaries. The name has been argued to be related to later terms for Caria , though the linguistic connection is not certain. Historians generally identify the Peleset with the later Philistines . The Peleset are generally regarded as originating somewhere within the Aegean cultural area; evidence for this identification comes from Genesis 10:14 , which associates
11154-422: The Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh . Karkiya was a region in western Anatolia known from references in Hittite and Egyptian records. Karkiya was governed by a council of chiefs rather than a king, and was not a unified political entity. The Karkiyans had relations with the Hittite Empire, but were never part of the empire proper. Relations with the Hittites had ups and downs, and Karkiyan soldiers fought for
11323-430: The Hittites or malicious intent on their part, and if Ramesses considered it, he never left any record of that consideration. The poem lists the peoples who went to Kadesh as allies of the Hittites. Amongst them are some of the sea peoples spoken of in the Egyptian inscriptions previously mentioned, and many of the peoples who would later take part in the great migrations of the 12th century BC (see Appendix A to
11492-485: 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
11661-452: 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
11830-422: The Lukka lands were located in the later region of Lycia , Lukka people appear to have been highly mobile. The Lukka were never a unified kingdom, instead having a decentralized political structure. The Lukka people were famously fractious, with Hittite and Egyptian records describing them as raiders, rebels, and pirates. Lukka people fought against the Hittites as part of the Assuwa confederation , later fought for
11999-417: 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
12168-569: 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 the Western Desert ; it was known for its high-quality ceramics, stone tools , and its use of copper. The Badari
12337-553: 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
12506-582: 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
12675-405: 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
12844-701: The Philistines with Caphtor and Casluhim , and Deuteronomy 2:23 , which mentions the Caphtorim settling in Gaza. Aegean-style material remains such as Philistine Bichrome ware , as well as genetic evidence suggesting that immigrants from Europe settled in sites such as Ashkalon at the beginning of the Iron Age. Both genetic and archaeological evidence suggests that any newcomers quickly acculturated and intermarried with local populations. The Shekelesh appear in
13013-565: The Ptah and Seth divisions. The Re division had almost arrived at the camp. While Ramesses II was talking with the princes and ordering the Amun division to prepare for battle, the Hittite chariots crossed the river and charged the middle of the Ra division as they were making their way toward Ramesses II's position. The Ra division was caught in the open and scattered in all directions. Some fled northward to
13182-528: The Ptah division arrived from the south, threatening the Hittite rear. After six unsuccessful Hittite charges, their forces were almost surrounded and the survivors were pinned against the Orontes. The remaining Hittite elements were forced to abandon their chariots and attempt to swim the river "as fast as crocodiles" (according to Egyptian accounts). Many drowned. Following the battle, the Hittites were routed, but they held on to Kadesh. Unable to support
13351-512: 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
13520-676: The Sea Peoples is believed to be attested in Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Abishemu obelisk found in the Temple of the Obelisks at Byblos by Maurice Dunand . The inscription mentions kwkwn son of rwqq- (or kukun son of luqq), transliterated as Kukunnis , son of Lukka, "the Lycian ". The date is given variously as 2000 or 1700 BC Some Sea Peoples appear in four of the Ugaritic texts ,
13689-489: The Sea Peoples. The inner west wall of the second court describes the invasion of Year 5. Only the Peleset and Tjeker are mentioned, but the list is lost in a lacuna . The attack was two-pronged, one by sea and one by land. That is, the Sea Peoples divided their forces. Ramesses was waiting in the Nile mouths and trapped the enemy fleet there. The land forces were defeated separately. The Sea Peoples attacked again Year 8 with
13858-598: The Shasu said, he was "(too much) afraid of Pharaoh, L.P.H. , to come south". This was, according to Egyptian texts, a false report ordered by the Hittites "with the aim of preventing the army of His Majesty from drawing up to combat with the foe of Hatti ". An Egyptian scout then arrived at the camp bringing two Hittite prisoners. The prisoners revealed that the entire Hittite army and the Hittite king were actually close at hand: When they had been brought before Pharaoh, His Majesty asked, "Who are you?" They replied "We belong to
14027-718: The Tjeker in Dor at that time. The fact that the Biblical maritime Tribe of Dan was initially located between the Philistines and the Tjekker, has prompted some to suggest that they may have originally been Denyen. Sherden seem to have been settled around Megiddo and in the Jordan Valley , and Weshwesh (connected by some with the Biblical tribe of Asher ) may have been settled further north. Other Egyptian sources refer to one of
14196-499: 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
14365-587: The ancestors". The pharaoh's action against them is attested in a single narrative found in three sources. The most detailed source describing the battle is the Great Karnak Inscription ; two shorter versions of the same narrative are found in the "Athribis Stele" and the "Cairo Column". The "Cairo column" is a section of a granite column now in the Cairo Museum , which was first published by Maspero in 1881 with just two readable sentences –
14534-557: 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
14703-417: The army corps. On the Hittite side, King Muwatalli II had mustered several of his allies, among them Rimisharrinaa, the king of Aleppo . Ramesses II recorded a long list of 19 Hittite allies brought to Kadesh by Muwatalli. This list is of considerable interest to Hittitologists, as it reflects the extent of Hittite influence at the time. Muwatalli had positioned his troops behind "Old Kadesh". Ramesses II
14872-451: The battle was done by James Henry Breasted in 1903, based on Egyptian sources. Egyptian influence over Amurru and Qadesh seems to have been lost forever. The main source of information is in the Egyptian record. The bombastic nature of Ramesses' version is recognized. The Egyptian version of the battle is recorded in two primary forms, known as the Poem and the Bulletin . The Poem has been questioned as actual verse, as opposed to
15041-409: The battle, Muwatalli II still commanded a large force of reserve chariotry and infantry, as well as the walls of the town. As the retreat reached the river, he ordered another thousand chariots to counter-attack, led by high nobles close to the king. As the Hittite forces approached the same Egyptian camp again, the Ne'arin troop contingent from Amurru suddenly arrived, surprising the Hittites. Finally,
15210-407: The camp, and he has reached the western boundary in the fields of Perire" "His majesty was enraged at their report, like a lion", assembled his court and gave a rousing speech. Later, he dreamed he saw Ptah handing him a sword and saying, "Take thou (it) and banish thou the fearful heart from thee." When the bowmen went forth, says the inscription, " Amun was with them as a shield." After six hours,
15379-410: 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
15548-530: 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 a series of stable kingdoms interspersed by periods of relative instability known as "Intermediate Periods". The various kingdoms fall into one of three categories:
15717-505: 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
15886-401: 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
16055-403: 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,
16224-421: 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
16393-407: The division of Re was crossing the ford in a district south of the town of Shabtuna at the distance of one iter from the place where his majesty was; the division of Ptah was on the south of the town of Arnaim; the division of Set was marching on the road. His majesty had formed the first ranks of battle of all the leaders of his army, while they were [still] on the shore in the land of Amurru. [From
16562-542: The dynasty. Horemheb (d. 1292 BC), the last ruler of this dynasty, campaigned in this region, finally beginning to turn Egyptian interest back to the area. This process continued in the Nineteenth Dynasty . Like his father Ramesses I , Seti I was a military commander who set out to restore Egypt's empire to the days of the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaohs almost a century before. Inscriptions on
16731-632: The earlier Great Karnak Inscription , where they are described as auxiliary troops of the Libyan ruler Meryey . In the inscription, the Pharaoh Merneptah claims that he killed between 200 and 222 of them. They may also appear in Hittite records as the seafaring Shikalayu ( Hittite : 𒅆𒅗𒆷𒅀𒌋 ši-ka-la-ia/u-u ), though this connection is speculative. It has been hypothesized that the Shekelesh have some connection to Sicily , though evidence
16900-411: 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 the Nile gave humans the opportunity to develop a settled agricultural economy and a more sophisticated, centralized society that became
17069-572: 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
17238-424: The fertile delta region, as well as 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
17407-524: 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
17576-522: The first confirming the date of Year 5 and the second stating: "The wretched [chief] of Libya has invaded with ——, being men and women, Shekelesh (S'-k-rw-s) ——". The "Athribis stela" is a granite stela found in Athribis and inscribed on both sides, which like the Cairo column, was first published by Maspero two years later in 1883. The Merneptah Stele from Thebes describes the reign of peace resulting from
17745-562: 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 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
17914-613: 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
18083-427: 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
18252-417: 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
18421-400: The following nine peoples. The Medinet Habu inscriptions from which the Sea Peoples concept was first described remain the primary source and "the basis of virtually all significant discussions of them". Three separate narratives from Egyptian records refer to more than one of the nine peoples, found in a total of six sources. The seventh and most recent source referring to more than one of
18590-598: The fortress of Tjaru on the Horus Military Route and along the coast leading to Gaza . The recovery of Amurru was Muwatalli II 's stated motivation for marching south to confront the Egyptians. Ramesses led an army of four divisions: Amun , Re (pRe), Set , and the apparently newly-formed Ptah division. There was also a poorly documented troop called the nrrn (Ne'arin or Nearin), who were possibly Canaanite military mercenaries or Egyptians, that Ramesses II had left in Amurru in order to secure
18759-507: The general destabilization of Djahy , a region in southern Canaan . During the reigns of Thutmose IV and Amenhotep III , Egypt continued to lose territory to the Mitanni in northern Syria. During the late Eighteenth Dynasty , the Amarna letters tell the story of the decline of Egyptian influence in the region. The Egyptians showed little interest in this region until almost the end of
18928-433: The generally accepted theory amongst Egyptologists and Orientalists. Since the early 1990s, however, it has been brought into question by a number of scholars. The historical narrative stems primarily from seven Ancient Egyptian sources and although in these inscriptions the designation "of the sea" does not appear in relation to all of these peoples, the term "Sea Peoples" is commonly used in modern publications to refer to
19097-412: 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
19266-410: The grains of sand on the beach. Behold, they stand equipped and ready for battle behind the old city of Kadesh." After this, Ramesses II called his princes to meet with him and discuss the fault of his governors and officials in not informing the position of Muwatalli II and the Hittite army. Ramesses was alone with his bodyguard and the Amun division. The vizier was ordered to hasten the arrival of
19435-432: The hypothesis further, attempting to link these sources to other Late Bronze Age evidence of migration, piracy, and destruction. While initial versions of the hypothesis regarded the Sea Peoples as a primary cause of the Late Bronze Age collapse , more recent versions generally regard them as a symptom of events which were already in motion before their purported attacks. The Sea Peoples included well-attested groups such as
19604-536: The idea that the Ramesside kings settled the Sea Peoples in Canaan. Dated to about 1100 BC (at the end of the 22nd dynasty) this document simply lists names. After six place names, four of which were in Philistia, the scribe lists the Sherden (Line 268), the Tjeker (Line 269) and the Peleset (Line 270), who might be presumed to occupy those cities. The Story of Wenamun on a papyrus of the same cache also places
19773-592: The individual groups without reference to any of the other groups. The Amarna letters , around the mid-14th century BC, including four relating to the Sea Peoples: Padiiset's Statue refers to the Peleset, the Cairo Column refers to the Shekelesh, the Story of Wenamun refers to the Tjekker, and 13 further Egyptian sources refer to the Sherden. The earliest ethnic group later considered among
19942-456: The inscription. They camped in Amor and sent a fleet to the Nile. He had built a fleet especially for the occasion, hidden it in the mouths of the Nile, and posted coast watchers. The enemy fleet was ambushed there , their ships overturned, and the men dragged up on shore and executed ad hoc. The land army was also routed within Egyptian controlled territory. Additional information is given in
20111-477: The inscriptions, there are textual occurrences preserved in Papyrus Raifet and Papyrus Sallier III , and a letter from Ramesses to Hattusili III written in response to a complaint by Hattusili about the pharaoh's claims of victory in the battle. Hittite references to the battle, including the above letter, have been found at Hattusa , but no annals have been discovered that might describe it as part of
20280-411: 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
20449-433: The king of Hatti. He has sent us to spy on you." Then His Majesty said to them, "Where is he, the enemy from Hatti? I had heard that he was in the land of Aleppo." They of Tunip replied to His Majesty, "Lo, the king of Hatti has already arrived, together with the many countries who are supporting him... They are armed with their infantry and their chariots. They have their weapons of war at the ready. They are more numerous than
20618-593: 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
20787-528: 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
20956-554: The land battle [against Ramesses III] are accompanied in the reliefs by women and children loaded in ox-carts." The inscriptions of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu record three victorious campaigns against the Sea Peoples that are considered bona fide, in Years 5, 8 and 12, as well as three considered spurious, against the Nubians and Libyans in Year 5 and the Libyans with Asiatics in Year 11. During Year 8, some Hittites were operating with
21125-495: The land of Libya] -i, Ekwesh , Teresh , Lukka , Sherden , Shekelesh, Northerners coming from all lands. Later in the inscription Merneptah receives news of the attack: ... the third season, saying: "The wretched, fallen chief of Libya, Meryey , son of Ded, has fallen upon the country of Tehenu with his bowmen – Sherden, Shekelesh, Ekwesh, Lukka, Teresh, Taking the best of every warrior and every man of war of his country. He has brought his wife and his children – leaders of
21294-507: The land, labor, and resources that were essential to 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
21463-475: The last three of which seem to foreshadow the destruction of the city around 1180 BC. The letters are therefore dated to the early 12th century. The last king of Ugarit was Ammurapi ( c. 1191–1182 BC), who, throughout this correspondence, is quite a young man. The list of Sea Peoples groups include some which are securely identified and others which are not. The Lukka people are known from numerous other Hittite and ancient Egyptian records. While
21632-497: The long line of kings from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties, 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
21801-464: 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,
21970-528: The mythical Menes may have been 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
22139-550: The new Hittite king Hattusili III was signed some 15 years after the Battle of Kadesh, in the 21st year of Ramesses II's reign (1258 BC). This concluded the borderland conflicts. The treaty was inscribed on a silver tablet, of which a clay copy was found in the Hittite capital Hattusa , now in Turkey , and is on display at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum . A large replica hangs on a wall at the headquarters of
22308-522: The nine peoples is a list (Onomasticon) of 610 entities, rather than a narrative. These sources are summarized in the table below. Possible records of sea peoples generally or in particular date to two campaigns of Ramesses II , a pharaoh of the militant 19th Dynasty : operations in or near the delta in Year ;2 of his reign and the major confrontation with the Hittite Empire and allies at
22477-405: 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
22646-682: 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
22815-676: 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
22984-521: The pharaoh. The battle is considered to have ended in a stalemate. After expelling the Hyksos ' 15th Dynasty around 1550 BC, the rulers of the New Kingdom of Egypt became more aggressive in reclaiming control of their state's borders. Thutmose I , Thutmose III , and his son and coregent Amenhotep II fought battles from Megiddo north to the Orontes , including conflict with Kadesh. Many Egyptian accounts between c. 1400 and 1300 BCE reflect
23153-405: The port of Sumur . This division would come to play a critical role in the battle. Also significant was the presence of Sherden troops fighting for the Egyptian army . This is the first record of them as Egyptian mercenaries. They would play an increasingly significant role in Late Bronze Age history, ultimately appearing among the Sea Peoples that ravaged the east Mediterranean at the end of
23322-528: 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
23491-621: 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
23660-567: The region was threatened for a time by revolts among Egypt's vassal states in the Levant. Ramesses was compelled to embark on a series of campaigns to uphold his authority in Canaan, before he could again attack the Hittites. In the eighth and ninth years of his reign, Ramesses extended his military successes . This time, he successfully captured the Hittite-ruled cities of Dapur and Tunip , where no Egyptian soldier had been seen since
23829-508: The reinforcements from the South and East arrived, the Egyptians managed to drive the Hittites back to Kadesh. While it was a strategic Egyptian victory, neither side managed to attain their operational objectives. At home, Ramesses had his scribes formulate an official description, which has been called "the Bulletin" because it was widely published by inscription. Ten copies survive today on
23998-464: The relief on the outer side of the east wall. This land battle occurred in the vicinity of Djahy against "the northern countries". When it was over, several chiefs were captive: of Hatti, Amor and Shasu among the "land peoples" and the Tjeker, "Sherden of the sea", " Teresh of the sea" and Peleset or Philistines . The campaign of Year 12 is attested by the Südstele found on the south side of
24167-718: 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
24336-505: The sea" and settled them in Egypt. As he is called the "Ruler of Nine Bows" in the relief of the east side, these events probably happened in Year 8; i.e. the Pharaoh would have used the victorious fleet for some punitive expeditions elsewhere in the Mediterranean. The Rhetorical Stela to Ramesses III , Chapel C, Deir el-Medina records a similar narrative. The Onomasticon of Amenope , or Amenemipit (amen-em-apt), gives slight credence to
24505-402: 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
24674-400: The slower three-man Hittite chariots. In anger at the Amun division's failure at the beginning of the battle, Ramesess had the entire division executed. Hittite records from Hattusa tell a different conclusion to the conflict, in which Ramesses was forced to depart from Kadesh in defeat. Modern historians conclude that the battle ended in a draw from a practical point of view. It is held as
24843-415: The so-called "Poem" and the "Bulletin": (From the "Poem") Now then, his majesty had prepared his infantry, his chariotry, and the Sherden of his majesty's capturing... in the Year 5, 2nd month of the third season, day 9, his majesty passed the fortress of Sile. [and entered Canaan] ... His infantry went on the narrow passes as if on the highways of Egypt. Now after days had passed after this, then his majesty
25012-637: The states of Hatti , Ugarit , Ascalon and Hazor around this time. As the Hittitologist Trevor Bryce observes, "It should be stressed that the invasions were not merely military operations, but involved the movements of large populations, by land and sea, seeking new lands to settle." This situation is confirmed by the Medinet Habu temple reliefs of Ramesses III which show that "the Peleset and Tjekker warriors who fought in
25181-422: The stela from Tanis which recorded the Sherden raiders' raid and subsequent capture speaks of the continuous threat they posed to Egypt's Mediterranean coasts: the unruly Sherden whom no one had ever known how to combat, they came boldly sailing in their warships from the midst of the sea, none being able to withstand them. The Sherden prisoners were subsequently incorporated into the Egyptian army for service on
25350-423: The suggestion that the Sea Peoples may have been involved at the end of the Hittite , Mycenaean and Mitanni kingdoms. The American Hittitologist Gary Beckman writes, on page 23 of Akkadica 120 (2000): A terminus ante quem for the destruction of the Hittite empire has been recognized in an inscription carved at Medinet Habu in Egypt in the eighth year of Ramesses III (1175 BC). This text narrates
25519-465: The surviving Nine Bows threw down their weapons, abandoned their baggage and dependants, and ran for their lives. Merneptah states that he defeated the invasion, killing 6,000 soldiers and taking 9,000 prisoners. To be sure of the numbers, among other things, he took the penises of all uncircumcised enemy dead and the hands of all the circumcised, from which history learns that the Ekwesh were circumcised ,
25688-477: The temple. It mentions the Tjeker, Peleset, Denyen, Weshesh and Shekelesh. Papyrus Harris I of the period, found behind the temple, suggests a wider campaign against the Sea Peoples but does not mention the date. In it, the persona of Ramses III says, "I slew the Denyen (D'-yn-yw-n) in their isles" and "burned" the Tjeker and Peleset, implying a maritime raid of his own. He also captured some Sherden and Weshesh "of
25857-419: The temples at Abydos , Karnak , Luxor and Abu Simbel , with reliefs depicting the battle. The " Poem of Pentaur ", describing the battle, also survived. The poem relates that the previously captured Sherden were not only working for the Pharaoh but were also formulating a plan of battle for him; i.e. it was their idea to divide Egyptian forces into four columns. There is no evidence of any collaboration with
26026-408: The time of Thutmose III almost 120 years earlier. Ramesses's victory proved ephemeral. The thin strip of territory pinched between Amurru and Kadesh was not a defensible possession. Within a year, it had returned to Hittite control. Ramesses had to march against Dapur once more in his tenth year. Neither Egypt nor Hatti could decisively defeat the other in the region. An official peace treaty with
26195-494: 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
26364-399: 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 was a bureaucracy of elite scribes , religious leaders, and administrators under the control of
26533-575: The victory but does not include any reference to the Sea Peoples. The Nine Bows were acting under the leadership of the king of Libya and an associated near-concurrent revolt in Canaan involving Gaza , Ascalon , Yenoam and the Israelites . Exactly which peoples were consistently in the Nine Bows is not clear, but present at the battle were the Libyans, some neighboring Meshwesh , and possibly
26702-519: 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 a more dense population, and social development and culture. With resources to spare, the administration sponsored mineral exploitation of
26871-592: 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. Battle of Kadesh 20,000–53,000 troops (half engaged) 23,000–50,000 troops The Battle of Kadesh took place in
27040-542: 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 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
27209-423: 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
27378-421: 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
27547-432: 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 the Levant was established during Naqada II ( c. 3600–3350 BC ); this period
27716-414: Was in Ramses Meri-Amon, the town which is in the Valley of the Cedar. His majesty proceeded northward. After his majesty reached the mountain range of Kadesh, then his majesty went forward... and he crossed the ford of the Orontes, with the first division of Amon (named) "He Gives Victory to User-maat-Re Setep-en-Re". His majesty reached the town of Kadesh... The division of Amon was on the march behind him;
27885-405: Was misled by two captured nomads who said the Hittite army was still far off at Aleppo. The nomads were Hittite spies sent to mislead the pharaoh. Ramesses ordered his forces to set up camp. He marched hastily towards Kadesh, completely unaware of the large enemy force waiting for him. Ramesses II describes his arrival on the battlefield in the two principal inscriptions concerning the battle,
28054-425: 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,
28223-419: 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
28392-420: 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
28561-444: Was with me, no charioteer, no soldier of the army, no shield-bearer[.]" Ramesses II was able to defeat the initial attackers and return to the Egyptian lines: "I was before them like Set in his moment. I found the mass of chariots in whose midst I was, scattering them before my horses[.]" The pharaoh, forced into a desperate fight for his life, called upon his god Amun and faced the enemy. Ramesses II personally led several charges into
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