Dr. Vess's World Civilization Virtual Library

Egypt

Class Outline


OBJECTIVES:



1.  Be able to explain the impact of the geography of ancient Egypt

on religion and society.



2.  Be able to trace the rise and fall of the three kingdoms into

which ancient Egyptian history is divided.



3.  Be able to explain how ancient Egyptian history is divided into

periods of time.



4.  Be able to explain and discuss the major contributions of each

important period of Egyptian history.



5.  Be able to explain the social and religious structure of

ancient Egypt.



6.  Be able to discuss and describe citing specific evidence the

views of the Egyptians on the meaning of human life and their hopes

for the afterlife.  



7.  Be able to compare and contrast your response to #6 to the

views of the Mesopotamians on these same issues.



                                

FOOD FOR THOUGHT



What accounts for the exuberance of the Egyptians and their sheer

optimism concerning life and the afterlife?  



If the pyramids are monuments to the afterlife, how was life itself

viewed by the Egyptians?  Do you agree with their outlook or

disagree?  Does their emphasis on the afterlife deemphasize life or

give it deeper meaning?





     The ancient Egyptians were one of the most remarkable

phenomena of human civilization.  Noted for monumental building

projects such as the pyramids, the developed a rigid society

dominated by the pharaoh, a living god, and an optimistic view of

life and the afterlife.  The last of the great builders, Ramses II,

dotted the landscape with colossal figures, which stand as timeless

monuments to one of the greatest of all ancient civilizations.  But

did their focus on the afterlife distract them from life itself? 

Theirs was a society which could harness 100,000 men for twenty

years to construct a pyramid, but could not harness the energy to

survive the migration of the People of the Sea, the Assyrians,

Persians or Alexander the Great.  This once-great society finally

collapsed in the seventh century b.c., yet one may wonder whether

it had not already collapsed from rigid stagnation and the

timelessness of its preoccupation with the glory of the pharaoh in

the life after life.   



     "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

     Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

     Nothing beside remains.  Round the decay

     Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,

     The lone and level sands strech far away.

                    Shelley, Ozymandias 



     

                     OUTLINE



I.  Importance of the Nile River



     i.  other features of Egyptian geography and its effects on

               culture

     ii. Historical evidence for the study of Egypt



II.   Major periods of Egyptian History



       A. Archaic  3100-2686 b.c.

       B. Old Kingdom  2686-2181 b.c. -- age of Pyramids

       C. Middle Kingdom  2133-1603 b.c. --  Civil War

       D. New Kingdom  1567-1085 b.c. --  Prosperity and Warfare

       E. Late Period  1085-525 b.c. -- Egypt is incorporated

               into the Assyrian and Persian Empire, and later   

               falls to the youthful Alexander the Great.

       F.  Thirty total Dynasties

          i.   first dynasty -- Narmer (Menes)

               a.an image of the Narmer palette

               b) unification of Upper and Lower Egypt



III.   The Old Kingdom (third-sixth dynasties)

     

          A.  rigid bureaucracy

               i. Pharaoh as completely Divine

               ii.  Osiris of the underworld, living Horus on

                         earth     

               iii. The Book of the Dead

          B.  pyramids and the cult of the pharaoh

               i. the importance of the afterlife

               ii.  mumification

                    a) Herodotus's account

                              

          C.  How the pyramids were constructed

               i.   the stepped pyramid at Sakkarah (Zoser)

               iii.      The great pyramids at Giza

                    a.  Herodotus's account

                    b.  current research on the pyramids

                    c. inner construction 

                    d. the Grand Gallery and the inner passageways:

                         an astronomical observatory?       

                    e. slavery or social control

          D.  cost of pyramids to Egyptian society

               i.   rising power of the priests

               ii.  collapse of Old kingdom after rule of Pepi 



IV.  The Middle Kingdom (6-18th dynasties)



     A. Civil War:

          i. Memphis and the Memphite Theology

     B. reunited by 12th dynasty

          i. expansion

          ii. dominance of Thebes 

               a. development of Amon-Re

                    i. use of myth in politcs

               b. The Hymn to Amon Re (see Andrea Overfield)

                    i. warlike language

                    ii. unification

     C. separation of Upper and Lower Egypt in 13th Dynasty

     D. Hyksos invasion

          i. the Hebrews?



V.  The New Kingdom -- begins with the 18th dynasty



     A.  Begins with the defeat of the Hyksos

     B.   reunification of Upper and Lower Egypt

     C.   Characterized by military conquest 

          i. Thutmose I

          ii.  Hatshepsut (daughter of Thutmose I, wife of Thutmose

               II, stepmother of Thutmose III.)

          iii.  Thutmose III -- 17 successful military campaigns

     D.  Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton)

          i. appraisal of his reign

          ii.  loss of frontiers to Hittites

          iii. possible reasons for focus on internal affairs

          iv. The Amarna revolution:

               a. monotheism in the ancient world

               b. meaning (etymology) of his old and new names

               c. his capital at Akhetaton

               d. the art of his era: The Amarna Gallery

          v. The aftermath:

               a. his image, temples and religion destroyed by his

                    son-in-law Tutankhamen.

               b. The legacy of Tutankhamon

                    i) his original name

                    ii) domination by generals

                    iii) his tomb

                         a) discovery in 1922

                         b) contents: a media overview

     E.  Ramses II

          a. the greatest builder of all time?

          b.   statues at Abu Simbel

          c.   the Ramesseum

          d.   the Great Hyppostyle Hall

          e. warrior: the conquest of Asia 

          f. pharaoh of the exodus?

          g. the legacy of a name: the twentieth dynasty



VI.  The collapse of Egypt



          A.  The People of the Sea -- 1200 b.c.       

          B.  The Assyrians -- 7th b.c.

          C.  The Persians -- 525 b.c.

          D.  Alexander the Great -- 331 b.c.



VII.  Cultural Contributions



          A.  Akhenaton's monotheism and western religions

          B. evidence of development of sophisticated creation   

          theology as opposed to animal and nature worship

               i) the Memphite Theology      

          C. The Egyptian calendar and Julius Caesar

          D. water clocks

          E. Egyptian medicine and its influence on the early

          Greeks

          F. Black Athena: discussion of current controversies on

          the influence of Egypt