Encyclopedia of society and culture in the ancient world ( PDFDrive ) 443

392 empires and dynasties: Egypt EGYPT BY KIRK H BEETZ In modern works Egyptian history is subdivided into three kingdoms—Old, Middle, and New—and 31 dynasties However, the ancient Egyptians did not divide their history into kingdoms or dynasties; instead, they recorded one continuous line of kings The modern subdivisions are derived from those of Greek historians of the later first millennium b.c.e., who may have been inspired by Egyptian hieroglyphic lists that are now lost Although the Greek historians made some significant mistakes, historians and archaeologists still use their list of dynasties They also continue to use the labels Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom for convenience, because at the end of each was a period in which the succession of kings was muddled, usually because two, three, or even more people were claiming to rule Egypt at the same time PREDYNASTIC ERA Egyptians were forming large communities for cooperative farming by 5000 b.c.e Based on artifacts discovered by archaeologists, it appears the southern part of Egypt had formed a single culture by 4000 b.c.e This is known as the Naqâda I Period, named for an ancient settlement on the west side of the Nile River By 3500 b.c.e the Naqâda II Period had begun Artifacts from that time indicate a common culture had spread from southern Egypt throughout northern Egypt Burials indicate that by 3000 b.c.e Egyptian society was forming an elite class At this time they also were building small cities EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD (CA 2920–CA 2575 B.C.E.) Sometime between 3200 and 2900 b.c.e Egypt was united under the rule of a single king He was called Meni by the Egyptians of later ages and Menes by Greek historians Menes is credited with founding the First Dynasty (ca 2920–ca 2770) and creating the capital city of Memphis Supposedly, he was the king of Upper Egypt, or southern Egypt, and he conquered the kingdom of Lower Egypt, or northern Egypt The double crown worn by Egyptian pharaohs represented a combination of the crowns of the two kingdoms, and Egyptians called their rulers dual kings Archaeologists now believe Menes was a mythical figure and that Lower Egypt was not a kingdom when it was absorbed by Upper Egypt Historians continue to dispute the names of the First Dynasty kings The first king for whom there is evidence is Narmer, who appears in written artifacts from his own time He became king of all Egypt in about 2950 b.c.e He either founded a dynasty of kings whose names are lost in mythological Egyptian tales, united Egypt without founding a dynasty, or founded the First Dynasty Some historians name Narmer and Aha as two separate kings, and some assert that Aha was the legendary Menes, calling him Aha Men; others say Narmer and Aha were the same person Before Narmer’s rule, there may have been six leaders who were kings of parts of Egypt, including Ip, the legendary Scorpion King The kings of the First Dynasty developed a centralized government and established the belief that the king of Egypt ruled as a god on earth All government officials derived their authority from the king, and they had to attend the king at his court periodically to show they served only at his whim The term for king was nyswt The word pharaoh did not come into use until late during the New Kingdom Second in command to the king was a vizier, who during the Old Kingdom remained at the king’s court The Second Dynasty (ca 2770–ca 2649 b.c.e.) had seven kings of uncertain date Because these kings came and left quickly, some historians believe there was a civil war during the Second Dynasty, though archaeological discoveries reveal no disruptions during this time Perhaps the number of kings is incorrect, or the kings’ names represent palace coups that did not disturb the common people The most famous king of the Third Dynasty (ca 2649– ca 2575 b.c.e.) was Netjerykhet (r ca 2630–ca 2611 b.c.e.), better known in later times as Djoser, meaning something like “the special one.” Until Djoser’s reign a king’s tomb consisted of underground chambers, often carved out of solid rock, topped aboveground by a platform of mud brick called a mastaba When the mastaba for Djoser’s tomb at Saqqara was built, either he or his vizier, Imhotep, decided to make it grander Imhotep designed the resulting Step Pyramid, Egypt’s first great stone pyramid, which is built of limestone blocks and was coated with polished white limestone The Step Pyramid is surrounded by a temple complex where spirits could roam OLD KINGDOM (CA 2575–CA 2134 B.C.E.) The Old Kingdom consisted of the Fourth through Seventh/ Eighth Dynasties Imhotep’s grand design marked the beginning of the age of the giant pyramids, the most characteristic structures built during the Old Kingdom The foremost public work of each royal reign was the king’s tomb, and Egyptians devoted parts of each year to working on its construction Contrary to popular myth, slaves were not used The building of a pyramid served to unify Egyptians by focusing them on a project to honor their god-king The biggest of these works was the Great Pyramid built near Giza for Khufu (r ca 2551– ca 2528 b.c.e.), a ruler of the Fourth Dynasty (ca 2575–ca 2465 b.c.e.) The Fift h Dynasty lasted from about 2465 to 2323 b.c.e and the Sixth Dynasty from about 2323 to 2150 b.c.e The last king of the Sixth Dynasty was Pepi (or Pepy) II (r ca 2246–ca 2150 b.c.e.) His was the longest reign of any Egyptian ruler, and his was the last great pyramid built on the Giza plateau During his reign, Pepi II solidified Egypt’s domination of the Nubians of the south, but the king’s central authority diminished for unknown reasons