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--- The New Kingdom --- |
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When Amenhotep II died, he had 5 sons. They all contended to succeed their
father.
In order to win the contest, Thutmose IV claimed that he saw a vision in
which he saw God Re. The details of his dream are recorded on a stela,
located between the paws of the Sphinx, better known as "the dream stela."
This that suggested he was not a natural heir and that he had to make
something up in order to claim the throne. Thutmose first led a military
campaign to Nubia and as usual it was successful. He also headed campaigns
to the Syrian territories, and he was called "the conqueror of Syria".
Thutmose made additions to earlier construction of temples. He erected an
obelisk previously cut by Thutmose III at Karnak temple. The obelisk was
later taken to Italy and it now dominates the Piazza di San Giovanni in
Laterano in Rome. The red granite obelisk is 32 meters height and is
reported to be the highest one in the world.
Thutmose ruled for about 10 years and died young, probably in his 30s. He
cut a tomb at the Valley of the Kings but his mummy was found in the royal
cache of Amenhotep II.
By the end of his reign, an era of military violence had ended and kings
who succeeded were unwilling to fight other nations as furiously as their
predecessors did.
Amenhotep III's reign was a peaceful period. He ruled for 38 prosperous
years. He was avoiding wars and so he directed his efforts to the inside
of Egypt. Thebes now became so important than ever. It was indeed, in his
reign, the capital of the civilized world.
Amenhotep married a woman called Tiye. She was belonging to non-royal
ranks. Amenhotep faced some skirmishes in Nubia but generally the rest of
his reign was stable. The stability resulted in a boom in Art and
architecture.
On the west bank of Thebes (Luxor), Amenhotep built a mortuary temple. It
was completely destroyed later but for the famous two statues of Memnon,
also known as "Colossi of Memnon," named by ancient Greek travelers after
the son of Eos (Aurora), Greek goddess of dawn.
We also know that he built a magnificent palace at the west bank and
several temples in Nubia. He is responsible for building most of Luxor's
temple and at Karnak He built the temples of Mut and Montu and contributed
to the Amun temple, the chief temple of Karnak, by building the third
pylon.
The social life now has distinguished features. The entertaining business
came to light. People were seen drinking beer. Singers and dancers
increased.
A story was found from this period in which a teacher advises his student
against frequenting amusement places. Amenhotep showed more loyalty for
God Re, the sun-god.
He finally died in his mid 40s after spending an opulent life, as he was
really a life-lover and a polygamous king. His mummy couldn't be
identified.
Amenhotep had a son called Thutmose who died during his life.
Amenhotep IV, the other son, was then set to succeed his father. He was
his son by chief mother Tiye and probably acted as a co-regent during his
father's lifetime.
At this point the rival kingdoms grew stronger. Egypt was in need of a
great man just like Thutmose III. Amenhotep IV ascended the throne but he
was great in other means than the military aspect; Amenhotep was a great
thinker and philosopher.
Amenhotep believed in the son-god, and so he chose one of its incarnations
-which is the solar disc or "Aten"- as his worshiped god.
He introduced his new religion to the Egyptian people. He didn't worship
other gods, so his cult is the first monotheistic thinking in Egypt.
Priests of God Amun strongly opposed the new cult as they felt they could
loose their power, and for that reason Amenhotep started to curb their
power.
Amenhotep ordered to alter the Amun temples as places for worshipping Aten,
the solar god. Moreover the king changed his name to Akhenaten which means
"servant of Aten".
He abandoned Thebes and established a new capital in Menya and called it
Akhetaten or "Horizon of Aten" (Modern village of Tell El-Amarna).
On the Asian scene, the Egyptian Empire was falling gradually, thanks to
the kingdom of Khatti (i.e. the Hittites) which captured most of these
Egyptian-ruled territories.
Some Egyptian rulers and pro-Egyptian native rulers sent some letters to
Akhenaten, seeking his help and pledged him to defend them but at no
avail. The king was deeply immersed in his new religion.
The era of Akhenaten was associated with a new artistic style, often
referred to as 'Amarna art style.' It was deeply affected with the new
religion which liberated artists from restrictions. Artists start
depicting the king in a more naturalistic way, including his physical
deformities and normal traits. He was also depicted in very intimate
familiar scenes coddling his wife and kissing his children in front of the
people. That was something different than the traditional rigid depictions
of the Pharaoh which usually ascribed to him an appearance of awe instead
of realism.
Nevertheless, the religion and styles of Akhenaten were limited to his
reign. On his death, the priests and the people were unwilling to carry on
Akhenaten's way in worshipping.
Akhenaten ruled for about 18 years before his death. His mummy was never
found which indicate it might be destroyed by his foes. His tomb was built
at the Amarna city.
Smenkhkare (r. 1335 - 1333) might be the younger brother of the Akhenaten.
He ascended the throne and he returned the capital to Thebes, probably
after pressures from the Amun priests. He ruled there for a mere 2 years.
He married Meritaten, Akhenaten's daughter and died in mystery when he was
about 25.
Tutankhamun (r. 1333 - 1323) then inherited the throne. The kinship
between him and Akhenaten is an issue of conjecture.
Some scientists were trying to make some DNA tests in order to determine
the relationship.
Tutankhamun was indeed an unknown Pharaoh for long times. He became in the
spotlight suddenly when Howard Carter discovered his almost intact tomb in
1922. His tomb was completely loaded with treasures.
The discovery could be the greatest of the human history.
Tutankhamun ascended the throne when he was 11 years old and he died at
20. Soon after taking power, he changed his name from Tutankhaten (which
was his original name) to Tutankhamun.
In his reign Amun priests recovered their powers.
He married Queen Ankhesenpaaten (Ankhesenamun). His final resting-place
was in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Ankhesenpaaten was a young
widow when her husband, Tutankhamun, died. She took the initiative of
writing to the Hittite king asking him to send one of his sons for her to
marry, and so as to continue the royal line. That move failed as the
prince died on his way to Egypt.
Ay was a senior statesman from the reign of Akhenaten. Now an old man, he
probably married Ankhesenamun, the widow of Tutankhamun.
Being an old man when he ascended the throne. Ay ruled for only 4 years
and then another statesman came to power called Horemheb.
General Horemheb was the great commander of the army under Akhenaten and
Tutankhamun. Horemheb showed his respect to God Amun and was close enough
to its priests.
He carried out reforms that were required especially after the chaos
followed the rise of Aten cult. The chaos ensued Akhenaten keenness to
spread his new religion and his negligence for the deteriorating security
situation of Egypt. He tilted to the army where he belongs to appoint
priests. Horemheb built two tombs; one in Saqqara when he was a statesman
and another one in the Valley of the Kings when he later became a Pharaoh.
Horemheb put strict laws against the crooked in an attempt to curb the
already spread corruption.
He made a great effort to secure peace and stability in the country. After
meeting his goals inside the state, he turned to defend the borders but he
died before fulfilling all of his reformative dreams.
As he was a great militant, he was also a great usurper as he appropriated
monuments of predecessors, including statues and wrote his name over them.
He also added to the Karnak temple, building pylons and decorating walls.
He also dismantled temples of Akhenaten using its blocks in his buildings.
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Ramesses I (r. 1307 - 1306) was probably a vizier for
Horemheb as well as an army officer.
He reigned for a short period, maybe for 2 years. His tomb at the Valley
of Kings was hastily cut and remained unfinished when he died.
Despite his short reign, he is said to have followed his predecessors'
footsteps in maintaining the country's peace and stability.
Seti I (a.k.a. Sethos I) ascended the throne after the death of Ramesses
I, his father, and he was also a vizier and an army officer.
Seti I (r. 1306 - 1290) is indeed one of the greatest kings of this
dynasty. He took the title of "repeater of births," in reference to his
intention to restore Egypt's superpower after the instability it went
through in the 18th dynasty.
Seti led military campaigns to Syria, aiming to curb rebellions in its
territories.
He also led campaigns against the Libyans in the west. His achievements
include his capture for the then-strong city of Kadesh and meeting the
Hittites in the battlefield.
He sent mining expeditions to the eastern deserts for quarries.
Seti I describes the details of his battles on the Karnak walls. He also
built a temple in Abydos and a mortuary temple in Thebes (Luxor). Seti
finally died after ruling for 16 years, and was buried in his tomb in the
valley of kings.
He was indeed one of those who restored Egypt's glorious past.
Ramesses IIis the son of King Seti I, he ascended the throne after the
death of his father. Ramesses himself was just another legacy of ancient
Egypt. Historians like to describe him as "the mightiest of Egyptian
kings". Others simply call him "Ramesses the Great".
Ramesses reigned for about 67 years, during which Egypt observed a big
boom in every aspect of civilization at that time. No other Pharaoh
constructed so much monuments and temples as he did. Ramesses took power
when he was 25.
As a youth, he decided to just follow the same military tendency of his
ancestors. As before he began to march his army to the Syrian territories
in organized army divisions. He gathered thousands of soldiers in four
divisions, named respectively after the Gods Amun, Re, Ptah and Seth to
meet the Hittite army.
In thriving battles, Egyptian army led highly organized battles very
similar to our modern times in terms of tactics, maneuvers and strategies.
Kadesh, Syrian City and Egypt's arch-foe, was at these times too strong to
be defeated, but Egypt was also much stronger, so Kadesh's king offered a
peace treaty that Ramesses approved later.
Relations then improved between the 2 kingdoms to the extent that a
Hittite king offered his daughter to be a wife for Ramesses. Another
Hittite daughter was presented to Ramesses later.
Ramesses, showing loyalty to his ancestors, completed their unfinished
constructions. He also added to the great temples of Karnak and Luxor,
completed his father's mortuary temple at Thebes and built one of his own
at Luxor's west bank, better known as the Ramesseum.
One of the greatest establishments of Ramesses is the incredible big
temple of Abu Simbel. It is indeed considered as a miracle of ancient
engineering.
Ramesses ruled for 67 years and he proudly holds the highest record of
sons and daughters. He had 52 sons and 32 daughters and many others from
his concubines.
He died at his 92, and was buried in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Merenptah is the 13th son of Ramesses. Merenptah (r. 1224 - 1214) must
have been in his 60s when his long-lived father died. He ruled for ten
years.
Merenptah had to carry out military campaigns to protect Egypt against the
Libyans and to crush Nubian revolts.
Merenptah rapidly built in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, feeling
he's approaching his death. However, he was never found there.
He didn't leave a legitimate heir so chaos followed his death for some
time during which the country was ruled by some weak rulers.
Some of those are Amenmesses, Seti II(a.k.a. Merenptah and Sethos in
Greek), Siptah (Merenptah), and finally Queen Twosret (a.k.a. Tausert).
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Setnakht (a.k.a. Sethnakht) (r. 1196 - 1194) intiated this dynasty and he
ruled for only 2-3 years. Scholars don't know actually how he got to the
throne as the 19th dynasty ended in confusion. After his short reign, his
son, Ramesses III, succeeded him.
Ramesses III (r. 1194 - 1163) was the last of the great Pharaohs who ever
ascended the ancient Egyptian monarchy.
Ramesses probably ruled as a co-regent with his father before his death.
Soon after taking over, he found himself facing many challenges. The world
outside was at time in turmoil and people were yearning for Egypt as a
prosperous country. Neighbors were actually trying to settle in Egypt to
enjoy its luxury.
Some of these made some alliance known as "the Sea Peoples". They were
tribes of Shekelesh (possibly from Sicily), Peleset (the Philistines),
Shardana (possibly from Sardis of Lydia or Sardinians), Danu or Danuna
(possible the Danaoi mentioned in Homer's Iliad), and other tribes like
the Tjekker and the Weshesh.
Those tribes carried out attacks initially against the Hittites. Their
military tactic was characterized by quick assaults along the coastline.
The Sea Peoples then began to raid the delta in Egypt. Ramesses III by his
great cunning set ambushes in the delta's waterways to finish off his
enemies. The battle was unprecedented, as Egyptians usually feared the
sea. Many of the Sea Peoples were slew and those who survived were taken
as slaves.
Ramesses III had all his battle glories recorded on the walls of his
mortuary temple at Medinet Habu.
Ramesses then faced another danger from the west as Libyan tribes were
also immigrating as immigrating groups when it turned to be an invasion.
Libyans were taught a strong lesson from Ramesses. They were also
defeated.
Another challenge came from Nubia but once more Ramesses curb its
rebellion. Internally, he allowed the Amun priests to regain their
authorities, a move that would lead to tragic consequences later.
On the other hand, workers in Thebes (Luxor) were suffering an economic
slump because they were running short of crops. They also had to go on
strike to have their wages increased. The unrest was like a prelude to the
chaos that took place later and resulted in the fall of the dynasty.
Ramesses III was also associated with a Harem conspiracy. A trial took
place, and many dignitaries and royal women were put to death.
Ramesses III erected shrines at Karnak temple and built a temple at
Medinet Habu. He also built his tomb at the Valley of the Kings and
finally died at the age of 65 after ruling for about 32 years.
Their influence on the dynasty was limited and their reigns were
associated with general confusion in the country.
Kinship between those kings is sometimes obscure. Some of those found
themselves facing severe problems as the economic crisis, foreign
infiltration and the rising power of the priests.
Corruption spread all over the country but incumbent kings didn't really
pay attention to that point. Even worse, some preferred to reside in the
royal castles, isolating themselves from people.
Things began to deteriorate when in the reign of Ramesses IX, the great
tomb robberies took place.
That was a result of the bad economic situation. Robbers were so mean and
dared to steal the tombs of their kings. The robberies were backed by some
collaborated officials in return of bribes.
They mainly targeted tombs in the valley of kings, but fortunately
Tutankhamun's tomb disappeared from view, thus remained intact for many
centuries until its rediscovery in 1922 by Howard Carter.
In the reign of Ramesses XI (r. 1100 - 1070), a priest called Herihor
served as the "high priest of Amun". His power increased until he finally
ascended the throne.
Ramesses was feeble and helpless, and upon his death Herihor easily kept
his firm grip over the power and succeeded to usurp it and end the
dynasty. This marked the start of a new era when Egypt plunged in another
dark age of its history or what is known as the third intermediate period.
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