Chapter 11 Summary - Egypt.docx

WA 2.2

The Human Past Summaries

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Chapter 11| Holocene Africa   

Nubia, Sinaï, & Oases in the Western desert Nile-centric cultures Annual inundation of the Nile valley created an area with high agricultural potential

Palaeolithic 

Flake tools

The Predynastic & Early Dynastic period  

Ca. 30,000-5500 BCE

Ca. 5500-2700 BCE

Badarian, Naqada, Hu, Abadiyah (predominantly upper Egypt) Trading contacts with SW Asia

3100 BCE  emergence of Dynastic state  

Centred on Hierakonpolis King Narmer – Narmer tablets (earliest depiction of a pharaoh)

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Abydos – finds show early writing systems o Hieratic (developed from hieroglyphs) o Demotic (Greco-Roman period)

The Early Dynastic period (c. 2950-2575 BCE)    

Dynasties 1-3 Marked by an increase in the use of writing Founding of Memphis Djoser (3rd Dynasty)  Stepped pyramid, Saqqara o Start of monumental grave architecture

The Old Kingdom   

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Ca. 2575-2150 BCE

Dynasties 4-8 Economic prosperity and political stability Period of monumental construction and bureaucracy o Great pyramids of Giza (Khufu; Cheops) o Sphinx Coastal trade through the red sea

The First and Second Intermediate periods & the Middle Kingdom

ca. 2125 – 1540 BCE

1st intermediate (c. 2125- 1975 BCE)  rival city Thebes and Herakleopolis grew in power 

Mentuhotep (Theban dynasty) reunited the Egyptian state.

Middle Kingdom (c. 1975-1640 BCE) CONNECTIVITY+COMPLEXITY!!!    

Less despotic pharaohs = more bureaucracy Capital moved from Thebes to Memphis o Thebes became centre of worship of Amun Resumption of pyramid building + Domestic/city architecture Military campaigning and long-distance trade  Nubia, Levant

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2nd Intermediate (c. 1630-1540 BCE)    

1630 BCE - Hyksos (Semitics from Levantine Canaan) took over parts of northern Egypt o Introduced the horse and chariot Egyptian capital became Thebes Kingdom of Kush (Nubians) moving towards the centre basin valley Period of disintegration with a weakening central power o Introduction of Bronzeworking, new crops, composite bows, musical instruments.

The New kingdom   

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Ca. 1540-1075 BCE

Ahmose (XVII Dynasty) conquers the Hyksos territory in Egypt and the Levant (1520 BCE) Dynasties 18-20 Expansion into Nubia (gold) & the Levant (trade networks/vassalage) o Kingdom was at its greatest extent under Thutmose III o Incoming wealth facilitated major construction (e.g: Luxor, Karnak) Contemporary to the Kassites, Hittites and Mittani etc.

Amarna Period (XVIII Dynasty) 

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Amenhotep IV (also Akhenaten) o Reforms Egyptian religion to monotheistic worship of Aten o Founded a new capital – Akhetaten Focus on international policies and loses control of Levant Quasi-naturalistic art style  bust of Nefertiti Amarna letters – written in cuneiform indicate relations between Egypt and the Levant. Changes reversed soon after his death (Damnatio memoriae)

Ramesside Period (XIX Dynasty)  

Ramesses II (1279-1213 BC) Massive construction projects o New capital Pi-Ramesse o Abu Simble/Luxor/Thebes o Valley of the kings  Deir-el-medina

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Battle of Kadesh (1274 BC): o Against Hittites o “Pyrrhic” victory  source: prayer to Amun o Loss of northern Levant o Peace treaty between Mursilli II & Egypt solidified through marriage

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Ramesses succeeded by Sety I who reinitiates Levantine campaigns

Third Intermediate Period and After 

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Dynasties 21-25 o Mostly foreign rulers o ended with reunification of Egypt by Nubian ruler Piye Assyrian expansion (9th-7th centuries)

Ca. 1075-715 BCE

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Late Period (c. 715-332)  

Foreign rulers Later Persian empire “liberated” Egypt from Assyrian rule

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Ended with Alexander the Great introducing the Greco-Roman period o Macedonian & Ptolemaic dynasties 30 BCE  colony of Roman Empire

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The Human Past Summaries

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Chapter 14| The Mediterranean World c. 3500-1000 BCE - The Bronze Age   

Cupellation of silver – metallurgical technology from the Cycladic islands Bronze production o Copper-smelting sites (Troödos Mountains, Cyprus) Cultures and areas of the Aegean were a complex of interrelated units

The Cyclades:  

Central Cyclades renowned for white marble  vases, anthropomorphic figurines Cist graves

Troy (c. 3000 BCE-500 CE)    

9 successive settlements superimposing one another. c. 2500 BCE – important regional centre Troy II – 16 treasure troves (Homer’s Troy? According to Schliemann) Troy VI – fortified citadel. Destroyed c. 1250 BCE (Homer’s Troy?) Crete

Pre-palatial period (c. 3500-2000 BCE) – also early Minoan  

Circular tholos tombs o gravegoods include arsenical copper daggers, sealstones rd 3 millennium BCE – initial indication of contact with Egypt & the near East (through Levantine polities as Byblos) o Presence of faience, ivory, lapis lazuli

Palatial Period (c. 2000-1700-1490 BCE)   

Linear A Heterarchical, complex society Palace culture and villa complexes – Tylissos, Vathypetro

Knossos/Phaistos/Kato Zakros  

Large open-air central court, residential quarters, places for ritual/entertainment Magazines, granaries subterranean pits  centre for collection/storage

Aligned to peak sanctuaries – shrines located in high places Greek mainland  

Rectangular, two-story ‘corridor house’ Characteristic pottery (e.g “sauceboat”)

Early & Middle Helladic (c. 3100-1700 BCE) Mycenaean Period (c. 1700-1000)   

Peloponnese peninsula, Southern Greece Palace based territorial kingdoms (e.g. citadel of Mycenae) Linear B tablets (Knossos, Pylos, Thebes, Tiryns) – expressed the Greek language

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The Human Past Summaries

Socio-political stratification o Range of tomb types: Shaft graves, Tholos tombs (Treasury of Atreus), chamber tombs Fortified cities with heavy infrastructure. o Cyclopean fortifications at Tiryns Growing presence on Mediterranean coasts (Levant, Egypt, Cyprus, Crete) o Presence of pottery o Uluburun shipwreck th 14 -13th centuries – Annexation of Minoan Crete

Dark Ages/ Geometric period (c. 1180-750 BCE)       

Destruction of Mycenaean palaces “Dorian” invasion & arrival of the sea peoples Tiryns, Lefkandi Linear B, prestige goods production cease Increased presence of Iron Changing burial customs Formative period for later Greek Archaic and Classical periods

“Orientalizing” and Archaic Period (c. 750-480 BCE)     

Development of the Greek polis Appearance of monumental temple architecture, sanctuaries Cult  civic territories Reconfiguration of domestic, urban and mortuary space Corinth/Syracuse/

Classical Period (c. 480-338 BCE)       

Endemic warfare between city-states  political and military alliances Athens/Thebes (central Greece), Argos/Sparta (Peloponnese) Persian wars catalysed a quasi-unification and allying frenzy 5th Century BCE  Delian League – Athens and tax-paying allies 431-404 BCE  Peloponesian War o Athens and Sparta Celebration of the Hellenic identity o Panhellenic sanctuaries: Delphi, Olympia, Nemea, Isthmia Features of a polis: o Astu – urban centre o Chora – rural hinterland o Acropolis – ‘high city’ o Agora – market place

Greek colonization:   

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8th century BCE Magna Graecia – Sicily/southern Italy o Syracuse, Agrigento, Sybaris, Massalia (Marseille) Overpopulation/internal civic tensions?

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Contact with greater Europe  Hallstatt etc. Phoenicians

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1st millennium BCE Levant, coast of Lebanon  Tyre & Sidon Moved to: o Spain – Gadir, Ibiza o North Africa – Carthage, Utica o Sicily – Motya Centres for craft production – of Ivory and Glass Known for long-distance seafaring and trade Basis of Greek alphabet Kommos (Crete) – demonstrates aspects of Phoenician architecture Colonised sites were based on their potential for economic, exchange potential o Strong bias towards metal-bearing regions Etruscans & Italian Peninsula

Greek Colonies (South); Etruscans (west-central); Samnites/Umbrians (Central)  

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c. 700-400 BCE Independent city-states (Veii, Cerveteri, Tarquinia) o Well fortified o Hill-top locations Later saw an expansionist policy moving south to the Bay of Naples and North into the Po river plain Active connection with the Greeks, Phoenicians (and Carthigians) o Greek influence in art/architecture Class hierarchy o Necropoleis elite tombs  circular tumuli with internal rock structure/rectangular constructions o Cemetery at Tarquinia

Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World Phillip II of Macedon (383-336 BCE)  

338 BCE – Defeated Greek cities at the battle of Chaeronea Sophistication of Macedonian court culture

Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE)    

Layed groundwork for the Hellenistic world Conquests built an empire spanning the Balkans to the Persian empire and Northwestern India Associated himself with the divine o Decendent from Zeus Ammon Founded Alexandria, Egypt

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The Hellenistic world c. 323-31 BCE After Alexander died his empire was split into the Diadochi. Leaders claimed legitimacy through their connections to Alexander:   

Antigonid (Macedonia) Seleucid (Syria, near east) Ptolemaic (Egypt)

Development of a cultural koine, “commonality”, a shared communicative culture based on Greek ideals  

Pergamon (Great altar of Zeus) Adoption and spread of local art styles

ROME Carthaginian Empire      

Later 1st millennium BCE Expansion of a Punic culture Territorial empire Economy sustained by maritime and trans-saharan trade o Carpets, purple dyes, jewellery, timber, hides City sees influences from Greece and Egypt Landowning aristocracy

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Tensions between Carthage and Rome  Punic Wars (3rd-2nd centuries BCE) 146 BCE – Sacking of Carthage Rome

Regal Period (c. 753-509 BCE)   

Strong Etruscan influence Symbol = fasces Ended with expulsion of Etruscan king Tarquinius Superbus after rape of Lucretia

Roman Republic (c. 509-30)  

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Gradually expanded to include Etruscan city-states, Greek colonies, Hellenistic Pergamon (c. 133 BCE) System of Roman values and honours that rewarded military service and success with political and social authority o Elitism led to factional disputes Greek influence among the Roman elite although some saw Greek culture as antithetical to Roman principles  civil wars 31 BCE – Battle of Actinium saw the downfall of the Ptolemaic dynasty o Winner – Octavian (Augustus)  first emperor!  Instigator of the pax romana (period of militarily enforced peace)

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 Died 14 CE Loser – Mark Antony (Kleopatra VII)

Early Roman Empire (c. 30-235 CE)    

Pompei: o 79 CE – eruption of Vesuvius Fall of Masada by siege 122 CE – Hadrian’s wall Conquests and process of ‘Romanisation’ o Still a religious plurality as long as the imperial cult maintained the foreground

Late Roman Empire (c. 30-470 CE)     

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Cults of Mithras, Isis, Serapis, Artemis of Ephesus and Christianity 312 CE – Constantine converts to christianity 313 CE – edict of Milan  proclaimed toleration for Christianity and other forms of worship 330 CE – founding of Constantinople  undercutting pagan centre of Rome Diminishing central authority of Rome o Creation of imperial capitals o Destabalisation by Barbarian forces o Military & economic reforms 410 CE – Visigothic sack of Rome Eastern Roman Empire (with Constantinople as its capital) became the Byzantium o Fell in 1453 CE to the Ottomans