setting the scene a timeline 3100 BC 2575 BC 1539 BC 1539 1514 BC 1473 1458 BC Pharaoh Narmer unites Upper and Lower Egypt into one unified nation-state Pharaoh Ahmose rules Egypt bringing stability to the country Powerful female pharaoh Hatshepsut reigns in Egypt The New Kingdom in Egypt is founded encompassing the 18th 19th and 20th ruling dynasties The Old Kingdom in Egypt which is famous for the construction of pyramids is founded 6 ancient egypt the land of pyramids and pharaohs
1274 BC 1174 BC 32 BC 1922 2017 Cleopatra VII the last pharaoh of Egypt dies Egypt engages in battle against the Sea Peoples Pharaoh Ramses III leads his people to victory The Battle of Kadesh is fought each side claims victory despite there being no clear winner Archaeologist Howard Carter discovers the tomb of King Tutankhamun Archaeologists discover a 3,700-year-old pyramid in Egypt setting the scene a timeline 7
Introduction opposing viewpoints of ancient egypt Egypt has been a subject of fascination fascination for many throughout history and researchers have studied artifacts artifacts for many years to learn what they can about their customs and ways of life While ancient Egypt is currently a popular topic in movies and books interest in ancient Egyptian history goes back as far as the first century BC However with this early fascination also came two different views of the Egyptians way of life One view was from foreign visitors some of whom traveled to Egypt and later wrote about it Among them were the Greek historians historians Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus the Greek biographer Plutarch and various Roman and European writers Suffering Under Foreign Rule Due to differences in cultures and visitors not speaking the Egyptian language language they did not understand many of Egypt’s customs and traditions The result was a vision of Egypt as a land of mystery Herodotus enjoyed his stay in the country and was also impressed by the giant pyramids and other architectural architectural wonders The land had more monuments which are difficult to describe than anywhere else in the world he stated However Herodotus was also quick to point out that in keeping with the odd climate which prevails there and the fact that their river behaves differently than any other river almost all Egyptian customs and practices are the opposite of those of everywhere else For instance women go out to the town square and retail goods while men stay at home and do the weaving and whereas everyone else weaves by pushing the weft upwards the Egyptians push it downwards Or again men carry loads on their heads while women do so on their shoulders animals and humans live together in Egypt Other people live off barley 8 ancient egypt the land of pyramids and pharaohs
nations They began to view Egypt not as the great power it was but as weak In Plutarch’s essay about Egypt Isis and Osiris he suggested that this was partly the fault of one of the ancient pharaohs pharaohs The pharaohs had in his eyes planted among them an everlasting superstition a ground for unceasing quarreling among themselves As a result of this they became involved in war and inflicted much harm upon each other And later they were brought to order through the intervention of the Romans 2 and ordinary wheat but Egyptians regard it as demeaning to make those grains one’s staple diet In addition they are exceedingly religious more so than any other people in the world 1 While Herodotus was critical of Egypt and took note of the cultural differences differences he also noticed that they had been under foreign rule for too long and suffering for it Many years before his trip to Egypt the Assyrians a warlike people who inhabited Mesopotamia what is now Iraq had invaded and conquered the country During Herodotus’s time that land was controlled by the Persians from Iran who had invaded in 525 BC Later in the fourth century BC the Macedonian Greek conqueror Alexander Alexander the Great took charge of Egypt After his death one of his generals Ptolemy declared declared himself pharaoh and established a Greek dynasty that ruled the country for three centuries Later Rome absorbed Egypt after defeating defeating the last of the Ptolemies Cleopatra VII in 31 BC Later still following Rome’s fall other foreigners including Arabs and Turks ruled Egypt well into modern times This frequent change of foreign rulers and centuries of defeat created a poor reputation reputation of Egypt among other Herodotus who is depicted in this bust was fascinated by ancient Egypt However he was also critical of their way of life in his book Histories opposing viewpoints of ancient egypt 9
