egypt, stuff situated around the nile river egypt aka gift of the nile lower egypt is the north upper egypt is the south goes by direction of flow of the Nile Menes united upper and lower kingdoms old 2.7K-2.2K BC middle 2050-1652 BC new 1567-1085 BC 32 dynasties from Menes in 3100 BC to Cleopatra in 30 BC gods atum-ra - god of the sun tefnut - daybreak shu - air nut - sky seth - osiris - horus - in the west is the land of the dead around the nile is where people live in the east is the land of the gods heart of the pharaoh is weighed to determine if he gets to the afterlife religion is central, unified around 3100BC, aggressive priesthood in memphis, pharaohnic divinity, incest common, mummification mummification is fun! organs go in canopic jars, the brain is ripped out through nose social hierarchy royalty and priests merchants, craftsmen, artisans serfs, farmers slaves fluidity women treated with respect in egypt, and could even become pharaohs on occasion age of pyramids first true pyramid by sneferu, 1st king of the 4th dynasty, bent pyramid, changed from 60 to 55 degrees red pyramid giza plateau, just west of the nile river, menkaura, khafre khufu(cheops, first), 2.5mil limestone bricks, each is 2-15 tons, 6.3mil tons total, originally covered by white limestone menkaura(mycerinos, third) little pyramid, son of khafre three pyramids strongly resemble the configuration of orion's belt middle kingdom chaos for 150 years after end of old kingdom in 2200 mentuhotep II restored order and started 11th dynasty ruled from thebes in upper egypt amenemhet I restored order from civil war in 1990 BC rule until 1962 BC began 12th dynasty invoked goddess ma'at ended by invasion in 1652 BC by Hyksos, bronze age, chariots, compound bow new kingdom began 1567 BC hyksos expelled by ahmos I hatshepsut (1479-1457 BC) acted like a king bearded monuments monumental trade expeditions thutmose III (1289-1450 BC) defaced mother's monuments invaded canaan, reached euphrates pharaos lost power at teh end of the new kingdom viziers, generals, priesthoods came into power amenhotep IV - akhenaton (1352 - 1336 BC) world's first revolutionary shrunk borders rejected pantheon of gods aton-ra only, sun disk monotheism name means "aton is satisfied" capital to amarna, amarna age revolution died with him queen nefertiti, tomb KV35, defaced, co-regent?, possibly ruled after his death as smenkaure tutankhamun (king tut) (1347-1338 BC) rejected monotheism worshipped as a god and beloved became a pharaoh at 9-10 years old died around 18 most intact tomb ever found rosetta stone allowed champollion to decipher heiroglyphics vi a greek translation ramsses II lived to 96 years old, ruled from 1278 to 1213 BC 96 sons, 60 daughters conquered levant, syria, nubia great builder, temple of hathor moses? significance of egypt oriental despotism, monarch is divine solar calendar writing/papyrus gift of the nile monotheistic religion consistency of time greatness and wealth hebrews old testament - only source abraham, patriarch of israel from Ur moved to palestine around 1850 BC isaac, jacob, joseph, moved to egypt around 1750 BC covenant with god circumcision habiru - egyption servant class may have grown too numerous moses - perhaps from hebrew word mashah "to draw out" skilled diplomat, persuader,politician led hebrews out of egypt redefined hebrew religion their god did not have a name, sometimes called yahweh, el elyon, el shaddai 10 commandments, egalitarian, equality chosen people focus on individual mosaic covenant ark of covenant pentateuch or torah (first 5 books of old testament) 1st people to have a historical book 1 god move into israel area kings saul 1020-1004BC david 1000-970BC solomon 970-930BC splits into israel and judah israel conquered by assyrians in 722 BC judah survived chaldeans in 586 BC displaced israelites to Babylon solomon's temple replaced by dome of the rock in jerusalem, was destroyed by neo-babylonians 586BC rebuilt around 5BC destroyed again by romans in 70AD muslims conquered palestine in 8th century AD eventually built mosque - dome of the rock on site in jerusalem