Laval University

From the SelectedWorks of Fathi Habashi

July, 2019

Pharaohs in EgyptFathi Habashi

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/fathi_habashi/416/

Pharaohs of Egypt Introduction Pharaohs were the mighty political and religious leaders who reigned over ancient Egypt for more than 3,000 years. Also known as the god-kings of ancient Egypt, made the laws, and owned all the land. Warfare was an important part of their rule. In accordance to their status as gods on earth, the Pharaohs built monuments and temples in honor of themselves and the gods of the land. Egypt was conquered by the Kingdom of Kush in 656 BC, whose rulers adopted the pharaonic titles. Following the Kushite conquest, Egypt would first see another period of independent native rule before being conquered by the Persian Empire, whose rulers also adopted the title of Pharaoh. Persian rule over Egypt came to an end through the conquests of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, after which it was ruled by the Hellenic Pharaohs of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. They also built temples such as the one at Edfu and Dendara. Their rule, and the independence of Egypt, came to an end when Egypt became a province of Rome in 30 BC. The Pharaohs who ruled Egypt are large in number - - here is a selection. Narmer King Narmer is believed to be the same person as Menes around 3100 BC. He unified Upper and Lower Egypt and combined the crown of Lower Egypt with that of Upper Egypt.

Narmer or Mena with the crown of Lower Egypt

The crown of Lower Egypt

Narmer combined crown of Upper and Lower Egypt

Djeser Djeser of the third dynasty around 2670 BC commissioned the first Step Pyramid in Saqqara created by chief architect and scribe Imhotep. His capital was at Memphis.

Pharaoh Djoser (ca. 2670 BC)

Step pyramid at Saqqara

Snefru Snefru was of the 4th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom ca. 2600 BC. He reigned for at least 24 years and moved his court to Dahshur. During this time, he conducted military expeditions into Nubia and Libya and received ships carrying cedar, likely from Lebanon. He mined turquoise and copper in the Sinai. He developed methods for large scale quarrying and experimented to make pyramids. He built three pyramids which included funerary complexes. His first pyramid at Meydum was a large step pyramid which partially collapsed in ancient times. The Bent Pyramid at Dahshur was the second with slope 55 degrees, but the rock under the pyramid was unstable which caused the pyramid to crack. The rest of the pyramid has a 43 degrees angle, which gives it a bent shape. The Red Pyramid, also at Dahshur, was made out of red limestone which gave the pyramid its name. It is believed to be Egypt's first successful attempt at constructing a "true" smooth-sided pyramid. No one has yet found the pharaoh's body and burial chamber.

Snefru's Pyramid at Meydum, height 65 meters

Snefru's Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, height 104 meters

Snefru's Red Pyramid at Dahshur, height 104 meters

Map of Lower Egypt showing Giza, Saqqara, Dahshur, and Meydum

Khufu and his successors Cheops or Khufu (2589–2566 BC) who ruled at Memphis was the son of Snefru. He built the Great Pyramid of Giza. This was followed by other smaller pyramids built by his successors Khafra [son] and Mankara [grandson]. The Old Kingdom rapidly collapsed after the death of Pepi II (2375 BC – 2281 BC) , son of Pepi I (2400 BC – 2375 BC), who ruled at Heliopolis and had reigned for about 64 years. The latter years of his reign were marked by inefficiency because of his advanced age. After 20 to 45 years, the kings of the 7th and 8th Dynasties were overthrown. After these events, a rival line based at Thebes revolted against their northern overlords and united Upper Egypt. Around 2055 BC, the two lands were united, thereby starting the Middle Kingdom.

Pyramids of Giza. The Great pyramid is at the extreme right, height 138.8 meters

Khufu

Khafra

Mankara

Pepi I (2400 BC-2375 BC)

Pepi II (2375 BC –2281 BC)

Amenemhat I Amenemhat I (1991BC-1962 BC), was the first ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty. The dynasty considered to be the golden-age of the Middle Kingdom. Amenemhat I moved the capital from Thebes to Itjtawy in the present Faiyum region.

Amenemhat I (1991 BC-1962 BC)

Ancient Faiyum

Sesostris I In Herodotus' Histories there appears a story told by Egyptian priests about a Pharaoh Sesostris I (1971 BC – 1928 BC) who once led an army northward overland to Asia Minor, then fought his way westward until he crossed into Europe, where he defeated the Scythians and Thracians - -possibly in modern Romania and Bulgaria.

Sesostris I (1971 BC – 1928 BC)

Amenemhat II Amenemhat II (1929 BC – 1895 BC) is commonly assumed to be a son of his predecessor Senusret I. His successor Senusret II was likely Under him several mining expeditions. A well-known finding associated with him is the Great Sphinx of Tanis at Louvre.

Amenemhat II, Berlin

Great Sphinx of Tanis, Louvre

Amenemhat III Amenemhat III ruled from 1842 BC to 1797 BC. He built a temple known as the "Labyrinth" which was praised by Roman writers as a wonder of the world.

Amenemhat III, ruled from 1842 BC to 1797 BC

The Hyksos The downfall of the Twelfth Dynasty was due to the invasion of the Hyksos who ruled from 1674 to 1535 BC. They controlled of the town of Avaris and brought several technical innovations to Egypt, as well as cultural imports such as new musical instruments. The changes introduced include new techniques of bronze-working and pottery, new breeds of animals, and new crops. They introduced the horse and chariot, the composite bow, improved battle axes, and advanced

fortification techniques. The coming of the Hyksos with the sojourn in Egypt of Joseph and his brothers, and led some authors identify their expulsion with the Exodus.

Invasion of the Hyksos

The Egyptians adopted and modified late the horse and chariot used by the Hyksos

New Kingdom Ahmose I (ruled c. 1549 BC – 1524 BC) expelled the Hyksos and succeeded in re-uniting the country and thus founded the New Kingdom. Thebes replaced Memphis as the capital of Egypt. In the New Kingdom the Egyptian civilization was at its height. Ahmose reorganized the administration of the country, re-opened quarries, mines and trade routes, and began massive construction projects. The New Kingdom is the period covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasty of Egypt, from the 16th to the 11th century BC. Through military dominance abroad, the New Kingdom saw Egypt's greatest territorial extent. It expanded far into Nubia in the south, and held wide territories in the Near East. Egyptian armies fought with Hittite armies for control of modern-day Syria.

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ruled from 1386 BC to 1349 BC, after his father Thutmose IV (1425 BC – 1417 BC) died. His reign was a period of prosperity and artistic splendor. His enormous temple on the west bank of the Nile was the largest religious complex in Thebes, but unfortunately it was built close to the floodplain and less than two hundred years later, it stood in ruins. The two massive stone statues, 18 m high, stood at the gateway of his mortuary temple. When he died his son initially ruled as Amenhotep IV, but then changed his own royal name to Akhenaten.

Thutmose IV in Louvre, Paris

Amenhotep III in British Museum

Two massive stone statues 18 m high of Amenhotep III at the gateway of his mortuary temple in

present day Luxor

Details of side of Amenhotep III statute

Akhenaten Akhenaten (ruled ca. 1353-1336) also known as Amenhotep IV, introduced monotheistic worship of Aton, the deified solar disc. He suppressed the worship of most other deities and attacked the power of the temple that had become dominated by the priests of Amun in Thebes. He moved the capital to the new city of Akhenaten (modern-day Amarna). Akhenaten absorbed himself in his new religion. His wife was Nefertiti and their son Tutankhamun. After his death, the cult of the Aten was abandoned, the priests of Amun soon regained power, and returned the capital to Thebes. Under their influence the subsequent pharaoh Tutankhamun (ruled ca. 1332 BC -1323 BC) attempted to erase all mention of Akhenaten's heresy. After regaining their power, the priests at the temple of Amun accumulated vast tracts of land and wealth. Internal problems such as corruption, tomb robbery, and civil unrest were widespread. Egypt's wealth, however, made it a tempting target for invasion, particularly by the Libyan Berbers to the west, and the Assyrians to the east.

Akhenaten (ca. 1350 BC)

Nefertiti

Gold mask of Tutankhamun

Akhenaten and the sun disc

Amarna capital of Akhenaten

Eighteenth Dynasty The Eighteenth Dynasty ruled from c. 1550 to 1292 BC. Thutmose I (reigned 1506 BC–1493 BC) campaigned into the Levant and Nubia. Thutmose II reigned from 1493 to 1479 BC, built some minor monuments, and was probably influenced by his wife, Hatshepsut (1507–1458 BC). Thutmose III son of Thutmose II may have ruled jointly with Hatshepsut, his aunt and step-mother, during the early part of her reign. Famous for his territorial expansion into Levant and Nubia. Under his reign, the Egyptian Empire was at its greatest extent. Before the end of his reign, he obliterated Hatshepsut's name and image from temples and monuments.

Thutmose I

Thutmose II

Thutmose III

Queen Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut temple in Thebes

Hatshepsut temple in Thebes

Hatshepsut built a temple in Karnak in Thebes, present-day Luxor, and constructed twin obelisks at the entrance to the temple. She also sent a mission to the Land of Punt during her reign to bring frankincense, myrrh, and foreign trees.

Hatshepsut twin obelisks in Karnak

Rameses II Rameses II (ruled ca. 1303 BC-1213 BC) is the son of Seti I (ruled 1318 BC– 1304 BC) and grandson of Rameses I (ruled from1320 BC to 1318 BC), regarded as the most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire. He led several military expeditions into the Levant, re-asserting Egyptian control over Canaan, led the Egyptian armies against the Hittite in the battle of Qadesh, and to Nubia. He quarried large masses of stone for constructing impressive structures.

Rameses I, Boston Museum

Seti I

Rameses II

Rameses II at Karnak and his wife

In 1255 BC Ramses and his Queen Nefertari had travelled into Nubia to inaugurate a new temple at Abu Simbel. To prevent the inondation of the temple during the construction of the High Dam in Egypt, the UNESCO elevated the temple to higher site.

Temple of Abu Simbel on original site

Elevating Abu Simbel Temple to higher site

Temple of Abu Simbel elevated to higher site became a tourist attraction

One of the colossal monuments of Ramses II near Giza

View of the colossal monuments in Karnak

Colossal columns in Karnak

Egyptian Empire

Seti II Seti II (ruled 1212 BC – 1207 BC), the son of Merneptah who was a son of Rameses II, had to deal with many plots, most significantly the accession of a rival king possibly a half-brother, who seized control over Thebes and Nubia in Upper Egypt during his regnal years.

Seti II in Turin Egyptian Museum Seti II obelisk in Karnak

Rameses III Rameses III (1194 BC -1162 BC) was the son of Setnakhte and Queen Tiy-Merenese. He was assassinated in the Harem conspiracy led by one of his secondary wives, Tiye, her son Pentawer, and a group of high officials. His Mortuary Temple at Medinet Habu was an important New Kingdom period temple structure in Karnak. Aside from its size and artistic importance, the temple is probably best known as the source of inscribed reliefs depicting the advent and defeat of the Sea Peoples during his reign. The Sea Peoples originated from western Asia Minor, the Aegean, the Mediterranean islands, and Southern Europe. These peoples have sailed around the eastern Mediterranean and invaded Anatolia, Syria, Phoenicia, Canaan, Cyprus and Egypt toward the end of the Bronze Age.

Ramesses III at Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem

Rameses III temple in Karnak

Medinet Habu Sheshonk I Sheshonk I ca. 950 BC, of Libyan origin, ruled at Tanis (Arabic San Al Hagar) in the northeast of the Nile Delta. Tanis became the seat of power of the pharaohs of the 21st and 22nd dynasties. Sheshonk I is frequently identified with the Egyptian king Shishak, referred to in the Hebrew Bible. Accordingly, Jeroboam fled from Solomon and stayed with Shishaq until Solomon died, and Shishaq invaded Judah during the fifth year of the reign of Rehoboam, taking with him most of the treasures of the temple built by Solomon. Many of these rulers were buried at Tanis. It was abandoned in Roman times.

Sheshonk I as Sphinks in Brooklyn Museum, New York City

Tanis in the northeast of Nile Delta

Nubian invasion Around 1000 BC, following the collapse of the New Kingdom in Egypt (1555-1090 BC), the Nubian kingdom of Kush re-emerged as a great power in the Middle Nile. Between 712-657 BC, Sudanese kings conquered and ruled Egypt. They seized Thebes and eventually the Nile Delta. By about 300 BC the center of the kingdom had shifted south to the Meroe region in central Sudan where the pyramids and tombs were built to house the bodies of their kings and queens but were much smaller than the pyramids in Giza being 6 to 30 m high. All of these pyramid tombs were built on the west bank of the Nile and were plundered in ancient times. Prior to the building these pyramids, there had been no pyramid construction in Egypt for more than 500 years.