September 3, 2025 • 58 mins
Dive into the captivating history of Egypt, exploring its journey from ancient times to the moment of Alexander the Greats conquest. This engaging overview delves into the remarkable development of Egyptian civilization, touching on science, religion, art, language, and literature. Written for curious minds without any prior knowledge of Egypt, this book uses clear and relatable language to make the rich tapestry of Egypts past accessible to everyone. (Summary by Beth Thomas)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter number five of the History of Egypt. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. The History of
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Egypt by F. C. H. Wendell from the expulsions of
the Hcoast to the close of the eighteenth dynasty. With
this dynasty begins the period commonly known as the New Empire,
which embraces the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth dynasties. The dynasty
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is memorable in several respects. In the first place, the
first great campaigns against Asia were undertaken in this time,
and Egypt was thus made a conquering power. And in
the second place, a great religious reform, which is of
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special interests to us moderns, was attempted by one of
the rulers of this line, one Ahemes the first. How
long the war between the kings of Tebes and the
High Cohasts lasted we can not tell, but it is
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safe to assume that it began late in the seventeenth
or early in the sixteenth century b C. An inscription
on the tomb of Akamis, one of King Ahame's admirals,
gave us an account of the closing scenes of the
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great struggle. It would seem that the predecessors of Aheimes
had driven the high coasts into the Delta, and that
they had thrown themselves into the city of hattur Avaris
in the northeastern part of the Delta, which they strongly fortified.
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After several battles had been fought on land and water
in the neighborhood of the city, the pharaoh laid siege
to it, and after a protracted resistance, the town finally
fell into his hands. Thus, about fifteen thirty b c.
Egypt was finally cleared of the foreign invaders that had
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held the land in subjugation for centuries. The fleeing high
coasts had gone to Asia, pursued by the Pharaoh. Crossing
the boundary, he proceeded against the town of Skarkan, which
is mentioned in Joshua nineteen six as belonging to the
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terror ratory allotted to the tribe of Simon, and captured
it in the fifth year of his reign. He then
invaded fo Encia and gained several victories. These successes secured
the Egyptian frontier from inroads of the Asiatics for a
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number of years. This was not, however, the only result
of this successful war. Ahame's Asiatic campaign had shown the
Egyptians the way into Asia, and many of his successors
gained their laurels in this country. The wars had also
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trained generals and armies, and Ahem's successors saw to it
that neither deteriorated. A new spirit had come over the
once peaceful people and army. After army set out on
warlike expeditions, Aman and meant to the great gods of Tebbs,
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became war gods in whose names the kings fought their wars,
and into the temples of Amon poured the lion's share
of the booty ie in war and the tribute wrung
from conquered nations. The entire character of the wars, too,
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was changed by the introduction of the horse from Asia.
The home of the horse was most probably the Tyrhanian steppe.
It was introduced into Egypt by the high coasts. Horses
were not used in this time as beasts a burden,
but only in war and on the chase. They were
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not used for riding, but only to draw the two
wheeled chariots. These chariots were imported into Egypt from Syria,
where chariot building was a flourishing industry. The very word
for chariot, Merkabet, is of Semantic origin. The new arm
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entirely changed the character and dimensions of battles. Moreover, chariots
and horses were expensive, and the charioteer required special training.
These two circumstances favored the formation of standing armies and
increased the advantage the greater states had over their smaller neighbors.
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These facts will account for the successes the Egyptians won
over the Syrian states in the ensuing countries. Ahemes had
scarcely finished his Asiatic campaign when he was compelled to
take the field against the Chentniffer, a mountain tribe of Ethiopia,
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in a great battle. This tribe was utterly routed, and
the king, glad of his easy victory, was already returning
home when the news reached him that the Ethiopians had
again invaded the country and were even desecrating the temples
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of the gods. Rapidly returning, he fought the Battle of
Tentada in northern Ethiopia, again completely routing the enemy. Not
dismayed by these repeated defeats, the Ethiopians a third time
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returned to the attack under a leader named tenta Ann,
But a third time they were defeated, and this time
was such frightful loss that they did not again venture
to attack their successful opponents. In these wars, the above
mentioned admiral Achmies, who had begun his career as adjunct
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of this king but had rapidly earned promotion, greatly distinguished
himself and received the Gold for Bravery several times. The
Gold for Bravery was a reward paid to the distinguished
soldiers and civilians out of the public treasury, and consisted
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of magnificent gifts of gold in the shape of dis bees, lions, etc.
Achimies received these gifts on seven different occasions. There are
indications in the inscription of Acmese that the pharaoh had
to put down a rebellion in the south. This rebellion
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probably stood in some connection with the Ethiopian wars, but
we know none of the details. In fact, we never
hear much of the civil wars of Egypt, of which
there were no doubt many. They always alluded to in
general terms, and the details are never entered in two.
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Having now secured Egypt against foreign invasion and having quelled
probably dangerous rebellion, Agnes was free to devote the remainder
of his reign to internal improvements. He ruled over twenty
two years. How much of this time was taken up
by his wars, we do not know. At all events,
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he had abundant time to strengthen his reign and to
make Theebs his capital, the greatest city in the land.
It was no easy task that was set this pharaoh.
Everywhere the temples had suffered from neglect, and during the
late Wars from the depredations of the Hexos in the
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north and the Ethiopians in the south. Acmees was, however,
equal to the task. He immediately set to work and
began the restoration and rebuilding of all the temples in
the land. His own city of Thebes was the special
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object of his care. The city had been the capital
of the land for several centuries, and already the kings
of the Twelfth Dynasty five hundred years and more before
Acme's time, had laid the first foundations of its future greatness.
They had laid two the first foundations of the great
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national temple of Egypt, the Temple of Ammon at Karnak.
This temple was enlarged by our King. The city steadily
grew from this time on, and in the course of
a few decades, became the greatest city of the land
and consequently of the then known world. The story of
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the rise, decline, and fall of Tews is an integral
part of Egyptian history. When Ahmies died after a reign
of over twenty two years, he was buried in the
Thebian Necropolis on the west bank of the Nile, opposite
the city at dra Abunega. His mummy, encased in a
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wooden casket, was recently discovered at del Ibrahi, together with
a large number of other royal mummies. Two Amenhotep, the
first amen Offis Ahmes, was succeeded by his son Ami
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Manhotep the first, the early part of whose reign was
shared with his mother, Aghme's nefari Ari. The queen was
after her death worshiped as a definity, an honor accorded
all kings, but very few kings. Early in this reign,
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the Athiopians again became troublesome, and the pharaoh marched against them.
He crossed the frontier and in the battle that ensued,
captured the opposing general with his own hand. The victory won,
the Egyptian army overran the country, and it would seem
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that some detachments even advanced as far as Moreau, the
Ethiopian capital. The southern campaign was brought to an abrupt
close by the news of trouble on the northern frontier.
In a remarkably short time, the king arrived at the
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seat of war, Libya and defeated the enemy. This king,
like his father, was frequently compelled to invade Asia, but
on the whole this reign was more peaceable than the
preceding one. Amman Tohope was a great builder and continued
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the work of improvement and restoration begun by his father.
He died after a reign of twenty two years. His
mummy was found at dear e Bahari. Three thut Moses
the first, the son of Amman Hotep the First, was
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a very young man when he ascended the throne, and
the conquered nation sought to take advantage of this fact
to regain their independence. Immediately after his ascension, the Ethiopians
began war. The pharaoh crossed the frontier, and after defeating
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the enemy in a decisive battle, overran and plundered the country,
drove off the cattle, and carried large numbers of the
inhabitants into slavery. This was the usual way of conducting
an Ethiopian campaign. It was, as a rule, no more
than a raid made to punish the Ethiopians for a
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similar raid on Egyptian territory. Tutumodus varied the usual program
by hanging the body of the Ethiopian leader by the
heels to the stern of the royal ship. Teutamosies now
instituted a new Ethiopian policy. The configuration of the land
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was much the same as that of Egypt, and it
was not over difficult to introduce the Egyptian system of
government in the land. Accordingly, he divided Ethiopia into a
number of districts over which he placed governors, while over
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the entire region he set a governor general with the
title of Prince of Kush. What the duties of this
official were is not clear. In all probability, he was
a sort of visceroy, invested with civil and military power
and responsible to the king alone. This official held a
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high position at the court, and was in later times
not unfrequently a royal prince. Colonists were sent out, temples built,
and forts erected and garrisoned. The chief of these forts
were he Sema An Aquin Cuma, which had been built
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by the great conqueror of Ethiopia urstin the third They
were no doubt greatly strengthened by Teutumosis. Ethiopia was then
secured and even made a province of Egypt, but the
mountain tribes continued to be troublesome all through Egyptian history.
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Early in this reign, too, a rebellion broke out in
the district of the city of Buto in the Delta,
and so serious did it become that the pharaoh was
compelled to proceed against it in person. He succeeded in
calling the outbreak, and at once marched against Asia. Crossing
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the Arabian Desert and Palestine, he entered the land of
Rutenu Syria. Here an army had been drawn up to
check his advance, but he defeated it with frightful slaughter
and took large numbers of prisoners. He then advanced to
the Euphrates River, on the banks of which he set
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up to Stella, to commemorate his victories and mark the
boundaries of his realm. Hereupon the Egyptian army retired, and
herein lay the radical fault of the Egyptian foreign policy.
This fault cost them dear, for they were compelled to
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send army after army into Asia. In fact, the Asiatic
campaigns were mostly plundering expeditions. On a large scale. The
Egyptians defeated the native army in a decisive battle, overran
and plundered the country, carried off a large number of prisoners,
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imposed a tribute, and retired. No attempts at colonization were made,
and no garrisons were left in the conquered lands. They
were left entirely to themselves, provided only they paid their
tributes regularly. Only in the larger states were the kings
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compelled to give up their children and other relatives as hostages,
the Egyptians binding themselves in case a king died to
send home his successor. The great danger to Egypt lay
in the fact that while it took the Egyptian armies
months and often years to subdue the Asiatics, the subdued
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land might all be lost and the combined forces of
the enemy be at the frontier in a few weeks,
and then it would again take months and offer years
to regain the lost ground. Though Tademosis was a great warrior,
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he found ample time to devote to internal improvements. His
wars had furnished large numbers of slaves that were put
to work building temples in all parts of Egypt. Tebbies was,
of course specially favored. After a short reign of only
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nine years, he died, leaving three children, two Tudomosis the
second and Madcrad by the queen, and one Tutmosis the
third by a concubine, his daughter Madcaa, who seemed to
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have been his special favorite. He had proclaimed co region
shortly before his death. Four Tudemosis the second. Dudemosis the
second succeeded to a mighty empire, but he seems to
have been a weak character, entirely controlled by his strong
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minded and utterly unscrupulous sister and wife, ma Carah, the
co regent. His reign was very short and uneventful, and
there is abundant ground for the suspicion that his sister
had caused his untimely death. As usual, he fought with
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the mountain tribes of Nubia and the nomads of Syria,
but he accomplished nothing that could give him any claim
to fame. The bummy of this ruler it was also
found at dir Il Bahi number five ma Carah Hatchus best.
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This Greek queen, who was sometimes called called Knemi Ammon,
is renowned not for any great wars, but for a
commercial exhibedition She sent to the shores of p Wint,
a name applied by the Egyptians to the shores of
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the southern portion of the Red Sea. II to southern
Arabia and the Somali coast. A fleet of five great
ships was fitted out and sent to the shores of
southern Arabia. The ruler of the country, Parahue, received the Egyptians,
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who were no unknown guests on these shores, with genial hospitality.
The expedition was a complete success. The ship's returned home
leaden with the products of these shores, consisting of incense plants,
which the queen attempted to transplant to Egypt, cosmetics, ebony, ivory, gold,
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leopard skins, and all sorts of animals, example, baboons, greyhounds
and giraffes. The entire undertaking bore a mercantile aspect, and
while Makaarah speaks of the goods brought back as a
tribute of the land of p Want, she evidently stretches
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a point. Par Acu certainly did not look upon the
matter in this light, and no doubt considered the transaction
a commercial success. How often these expeditions were repeated we
do not know, but it would seem that the connections
with per Wett were maintained for some time, as the
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annals of two Tomosis the third frequently mentioned the tribute
of the land of per Went. Ma Krah was not
the first Egyptian monarch to enter into relations with this country.
We have already seen that sie Ah Karrah, the last
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king of the eleventh dynasty, and two kings of the
twelfth dynasty, had already maintained connections with pi Want. The
expedition was, however, of great importance and must have greatly
stimulated the trade between the two countries. As no doubt
the Egyptian merchants followed in the footsteps of their queen.
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So important did Ma Karrah justly deem the expedition that
she had it represented on the walls of her beautiful
funeral temple at Der el Bahi on the west bank
of the Nile. This temple is one of the most
remarkable of all in Egypt. It lies directly opposite the
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Great Temple of Karnak, with which it was connected by
a broad avenue flanked with sphinxes. The temple is built
on four terraces, between the third and fourth of which
there is a beautiful flight of stairs. On the first
terrace was the courtyard ornamented with columns that have almost
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entirely disappeared. The third terrace is by far the finest,
bearing a beautiful hypostyle, the rear wall of which is
the limestone rock against which the temple is built. On
this wall is represented the expedition that is made this
rhin memorable. The pictures are executed with the most scrupulous care,
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even the fishes of the Red Sea being carefully drawn
and easily identified, They must be reckoned among the finest
specimens of the art of this period. How long this
queen ruled in conjunction with Tutumosis the second we do
not know. Nor can we say how long she ruled alone.
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It would even seem from the monuments that she never
was the sole ruler Tutamosis the second, having shortly before
his death, appointed his half brother Tutumois the third, co regent.
The queen was proud and overbearing, and seems to have
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felt sorry she was a woman. She frequently had herself
represented on the monuments in all the full official dress
of the king, even down to the false beard, and
no doubt she frequently wore this garb on state occasions.
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Her half brother she hated very cordially, showing her hatred
in no pleasant manner, and he cordially reciprocated her sentiments.
It is very probable that she died of violent death,
and that Tutomosis the third had a share in her murder.
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Six men jepper Ra Tutomosis fourteen eighty to fourteen twenty
seven b c. In the twenty second year of his
official reign, Tutomosis the third, the greatest of all the
great conquerors Egypt has produced, became through the death of
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his half sister, sole ruler of Egypt. One of the
first acts of his independence reign was to obliterate from
all public monuments, as far as possible, the name of
his half sister. This was a revenge on an obnoxious predecessor,
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which was quite popular with the Pharaoh, and one that
the Great Queen herself had visited on her brother and husband,
Tutumosis the second. As soon as Tutomodus had ridden himself
of his sisterly co regent, he began a long series
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of brilliant campaigns in Asia. On this continent, the conquered
nations had quietly paid tribute during the two preceding reins, and,
barring some minor disturbances, had all remained quiet. But now
they made a new attempt to throw off the galling
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yoke of Egypt. The Fairharo acted promptly. Crossing the Arabian Desert,
he entered Gaza, which city had remained loyal to him.
From here he advanced slowly northward against the Syrian Confederation.
All of the princes of Palestine and Syria were combined
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against him, and had taken a strong and well chosen
position in front of the strongly fortified city of Megadoo.
Here Tutemoses attacked them, and despite the fact that they
had decided advantage in position, utterly routed their forces. Part
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of the defeated army escaped into Megadoo, part took to
the hills behind the town. The pharaoh now invested the city,
which surrendered after a brief resistance. After this, the enemy
came down from the hills and made a spirited attack
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on the Egyptians, but they were repulsed with serious loss.
These victories regained for Tudemosis all of Palestine and Syria.
The rulers of the various states brought tribute and delivered
up thirty eight of their relatives and eighty seven of
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their children as hostages, under the usual stipulation that on
the death of a king, his successor should be allowed
to return home. The war gave Tudomosis a vast amount
of booty and seventeen hundred and ninety six prisoners. Even
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the distant king of assure As Syria, a country that
was just beginning to assert itself in Mesopotamia, began to
feed for his possessions and for two years sent tribute.
In the following year, the twenty third one of the
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Syrian princes sent the pharaoh his daughter as a present.
After the first campaign. Fourteen others were undertaken. In the
time between the twenty fifth and twenty eighth years of
the reign, several minor expeditions entered Syria. The twenty ninth
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year was marked by another coalition of Syrian princes, and
the pharaoh immediately set out to quell the new rebellion.
The king of Tunep, a state in northern Syria, stood
at the head of the new confederation, and in his
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country the decisive battle was fought. As usual, the enemy
was defeated, the city of Tuep was besie taken and plundered,
and the country overrun. After their defeat, all of the
rebels again returned to their allegiance, paid tribute and gave hostages.
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On his way home, the king surprised and captured the
city of Aradas, which he sacked. Meanwhile, a division of
the army under Amen m Hibb had addressed to the
city of Karchamis, which was captured and plundered, and returning
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had joined the king at Tire. In the thirtieth year,
new disturbances seemed to have occurred, for the pharaoh again
entered Palestine. This time the point of attack was the
Cheetah capital Quadesh on the Oriente River. This town met
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with the usual fate, Eredas was again taken and sacked,
and Tire suffered the same fate after a short siege.
The following two years were devoted to a great campaign
in Palestine. The fortress of en Ritu on Lake Nazarena
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was taken and sacked after a short siege, and the
entire country was overrun, as was also part of Syria.
In the thirty third year of his reign, Teutamosis again
invaded Syria, and this time advanced to the Euphrates River.
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Sailing down the stream, the pharaoh proceeded against the king
of Nekkarin Mesopotamia, who had massed his forces near that
his capital Kni. These forces were defeated and Knie was
taken and sacked. Sailing still farther down the river, Tutumoses
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took a number of forts. He then returned to Knie
and instituted a great elephant hunt, on which occasion one
hundred and twenty of those noble animals were killed. In
the following year, another rebellion broke out in Syria, where
three cities lying in the district of Anna Ukasa had
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formed a coalition again. The Pharaoh invaded the country, punished
the rebels, and returned home with a long string of
captives and laden with booty. In this same year, one
of the Ethiopian princes sent the king his daughter as
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a present. In the following six years, only two campaigns
of importance were undertaken. The first of these was against
the Syrian fortress of Arena in the thirty fifth year.
The second was against the fortress of Anu Casa in
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the same country, which city had given trouble before. Three
years later, in the forty first year of his reign,
the king set out on his last Asiatic campaign. Marching
along the sea coast. He first took the fortress of Arantu, and,
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then entering Palestine, captured several cities. Entering Syria, he next
took the town of teinepp and hereupon marsh against Quadesh,
which seems to have been the soul of the new coalition.
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He defeated the Cheka army before the city, which he
then laid the siege to a Mesopotamian army, which made
an attempt to raise the siege, was utterly routed and
left six hundred and ninety one prisoners in the hands
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of the victor. Quadesh was now stormed and sacked. This
ended all opposition to Egyptian rule in Asia. The backbone
of the country was broken. Teutamosis has left us long
lists of names of captured cities and conquered nations. Contained
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hundreds of names, but only very few of these can
be identified with names of cities occurring elsewhere, and we
are utterly in the dark as regards the situation of
most of these cities and countries. The extent of these
conquests has been greatly exaggerated. On the whole, the Emmenas
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Mountains and the Euphrates River seemed to have been the
boundaries of the conquered region. Although the king certainly did
cross the Euphrates twice and did defeat the armies of
Mespotenia and take Mesopotnian cities, he did not succeed in
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holding these conquests. That he reached the city of Nineva
is very doubtful. Ni may be the Egyptian name for Nineva,
but in all probability it is the name of a
city lying much farther up the river on the other
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side from the country of the Sella. Its king seems
to have been allied with the Syrian country with which
Tudomosis was at war. It is noteworthy that the king,
in the thirty third year of his reign, set up
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too Steli on the banks of the Euphrates near Ni,
by the side of those he set up his father,
Tutomodus the first The coast of Phoencia was under Egyptian control. Aradus, Semiria,
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Jopa and Tire submitted only after a siege. The other
cities seen to have yielded without a struggle. It was
obviously to their advantage to stand under Egyptian rule, for
Egyptian rule meant Egyptian protection, and the wily Phoenician merchants
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soon found that they could reap greater commercial advantages from
their connection with Egypt. The Phoenician colonies in Cyprus, example,
Assabie also submitted voluntarily and paid tribute, though standing in
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no danger of evasion from Egypt. This ready submission secured
for them great advantages the protection of Egypt, an unbroken
connection with the mother land, as Egypt did not interfere
in their internal affairs. The Fauician cities of the mainland
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and of Cyprus cheerfully paid tribute. The material prosperity of
Egypt was greatly augmented by the successes of this king,
and all the tombs, even those of the humbler citizens,
gave evidence of this fact. Generals and soldiers enriched themselves
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in these Asiatic campaigns, as well as the Pharaoh. The
lion's share of the booty and tribute, however, went to Ammon,
the great god of Thebes. In the name of Ammon,
Tu Dammnis had undertaken his campaigns, and with the aid
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of the god he had won his victories, And in
gratitude to him, the king erected the mighty buildings at Karnak,
on the walls of which he proclaimed these victories. But
the other gods were not forgotten. In all parts of Egypt,
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the king built, restored, or completed temples. A special importance
was the Temple of Semah, which was dedicated to the
defied king Ertsin the third, the conqueror of Ethiopia. In
the fifty fourth year of his reign, the mighty ruler
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died and was succeeded by his son. The mummy of
this king was found in a shaft at Del Elbadi.
The monarch was a small man. The mummy is only
five foot two inches long, but with a determined cast
of features somewhat resembling that of Napoleon the first seven.
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Amen Hotep the Second a men O Fis fourteen twenty
seven to fourteen twenty two b c. One day after
the death of his father, amen Hotep the Second extended
the throne. Already as crown prince, he had shown his
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ability in subjugating the nomadic tribes that dwelt in the
mountains between Nile and the Red Sea and compelling them
to pay tribute. Immediately after his coronation, the new pharaoh
invaded Asia and gained a series of brilliant victories. It
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seems that a new rebellion had broken out, and that
the distant city of Ni Alone had remained loyal, for
when he entered this town, the inhabitants received him with
demonstrations of great joy. The campaign came to an end
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with the capture of the fortress of Akati. His next
campaign was directed against the country of Takshi in Syria,
where he fought against a mighty coalition. Seven native kings
were killed, and the land was again subdued the bodies
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of the dead kings he took with him to Egypt.
Six of them he had hung up on the walls
of his capital, Tebbes, and one on the walls of
Naphta as a warning to the Ethiopians. Like all rulers
of the dynasty, he was a great builder. He died
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after a short reign of only five years. Eight Teutumosis
the Fourth fourteen twenty one to fourteen fourteen b C.
Of the son and successor of Amiohup. We know little
more than he ruled only seven years. He fought in Ethiopia, Phoenicia,
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and Syria, probably quelling minor revolts and repelling invasions of
nomadic tribes. In the first year of his reign, he
caused the great Sphinx of Geysa to be freed from
the sand which had accumulated about this vulnerable monument. Nine
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m men Cahop the third fourteen thirteen thirteen seventy seven BC.
In the fifth year of his reign, Amen Cahp the Third,
the son and successor of Teutemosis the fourth, invaded Ethiopia
and easily subdued a number of rebellious Nubian tribes. The
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victory did not amount to much, but the pharaoh made
a great fuss over it, having yet recorded on several
staay This rain marked a new era in their relations
with Asia. A number of tablets was recently found at
Tel l Armana which contained letters addressed by Asiatics kings
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to the kings of Egypt. A number of these is
addressed to Amenhotep. The third the most interesting one, is
that from King Dushirata of Mini example Satarina of niharn
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I e Mesopotamia, in which Amenda Hop is called the
son in law of duche Rata. This douche Rata is
no doubt identical with the king Sirana of niharen who,
in the tenth year of this reign sent Amnia Hop,
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his daughter Kerkipa, and three hundred and seventeen ladies for
the pharaoh's harem. Although already happily wedded to Queen Tea,
one of the most beautiful women in all antiquity, the
pharaoh had no recourse but to make the princess his
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legitimate wife. This marriage was in all probability entered into
after the final ratification of a treaty concluded between the
two monarchs, and in fact, the treaty concluded between Amanuephus's
son two and ten and Dushrata distinctly refers to this
(44:34):
previous treaty. It is a curious fact that the letters
addressed to this king and to his son are written
in Assyrian. The king was a passionate hunter, and an
inscription engraved on several Scarabi relates that in the first
(44:54):
ten years of his reign he killed a hundred and
two lions. Like all his predecessors, Amendahop was a great builder.
He was the builder of the celebrated temple of Ammon
Aarrah at luskor. The two celebrated statues of Maman on
(45:17):
the west bank of the river opposite Tibis, belonged to
this monarch. They stood originally in front of the pylon
of his temple in the necropolis, but every trace of
the temple has vanished. The statues were erected at his
orders by the architect and sculpture Amenhotep, the son of Happy.
(45:44):
They are of hard red crystalline sandstone, quarried at the
de Jebil de Ahmar example du Deshar in the desert
northeast of Memphis. The Greeks took the statues for those
of the Ethiopian king Memon mentioned by Homer, and explained
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the sound produced by the northern statue as the greeting
of Memon to his mother Eos. The explanation of the
sound is very simple. The upper portion of the statue
was broken, and when the sun rose, the change in
temperature caused the particles of stone in the crack to split,
(46:32):
and this splitting produced a musical sound. After the statue
was repaired by Septimus Severus reigned eighty one ninety three
to two eleven, the sound was no longer heard. Ten A.
Mendio hop four June not ten, thirteen seventy six to
(46:58):
thirteen sixty four b c. This pharaoh is to us
one of the most interesting of ancient monarchs, as the
first promuculator of monotheism. The Egyptian people up to this
time had possessed no uniform religion, but a large number
(47:19):
of religions had existed side by side, some being recognized
throughout the land, others having only local import While one religion,
that of the national capital, was the official religion of
the government at this time, Tebes was the capital of
(47:40):
the land, and the Thebian religion was the government faith. Consequently,
the head of the Thebian Panhalon, Ammon, was the official
head of the national Panthelon. But there had arisen in
Heliopolis examp On, the great seat of the ra religion,
(48:05):
already in early times, a movement towards a solar monotheism,
and in Chittenden's reign this movement was victorious. The new
king was a fanatical adherent of this doctrine. He moreover
seems to have stood entirely under the domination of the
(48:29):
Heliopolitan priests, and gladly lent his hand to accomplish their purposes.
A new official religion was accordingly proclaimed. This was a
solar monotheism. The new god was, with a studied avoidance
(48:49):
of the old names, called at ten the Solar disc,
and was proclaimed to the nation as the Soul. And
only if this had signified merely a change in the
official religion of Egypt, and not in the very inmost
(49:10):
nature of the religion, the people would have heeded a
little and gone on praying to their own local gods
and officially recognizing the new head of the Pentathlon, as
they had done herefore. But here was a complete and
utter religious revolution, pronouncing all the old faith heretical and
(49:36):
supplanting them by a faith the nature of which the
people did not and could not understand. A propaganda of
this character, no doubt, assisted by attempts to convert the
people by force, naturally led to discontent, and it was
(49:58):
probably only to this that the reformers graciously permitted the
solar difinities Horius, raw Red, Harmachis, and some few others
to continue in existence, explaining them as forms of their
(50:19):
new and only God. Attem Ammon, however, was persecuted in
the approved Orthodox manner wherever he could. Emi atop Or,
as he now called himself, Chu Ten, had the name
of this hated divinity obliterated from the monuments, even in
(50:44):
the names of his predecessors. After their reformation, Chutanen left
the tainted city of TEBs, the stronghold of the old
Aman cult, and built himself a new capital to the
north of this city, and called it choote at Ten,
(51:04):
the horizon of the solar disk. The ruins of this town,
which was never completed, lie at a place called tel
e Armana, and are of peculiar interest, as they, together
with the tombs in the necropolis of the city, give
us a life sized picture of the court of this
(51:27):
fantanatical and half graced king. One of his peculiarities was
to substitute for the conventional style of Egyptian sculpture a
more realistic style. The pharaoh himself was hideously ugly, owing
to a bodied deformity, and he commanded his artists henceforth
(51:51):
to depict him in his real shape. Naturally, his wife,
who seems, by the bye you have had quite a
lovely face, and daughters, who were pictured as equally ugly,
and the courtiers, as true courtiers, would ape royally and
(52:13):
had themselves depicted in the likeness of their king. Unfortunately,
the Reformation proved a failure, and we know but little
of the New Faith. Long and beautiful hymns, full of
fevering devotion addressed to atten have come down to us,
(52:35):
as have also various representations of religious ceremonies. The New
God is always depicted as a solar disk, the rays
of which terminate in hands, but the monuments do not
give us any deeper insight into the New religion. There
(52:57):
was in this reign no tie with Asia. This was
a result of the diplomatic negotiations begun under amendahop the
third and concluded by this pharaoh. Treaties of peace were
conducted with Dushrata of Medandi, sal Larna, King of Nehran
(53:24):
I e Mesopotamia, Berna, Burasha King of Kardushna Babylonia, and
ashru Balit, King of Assyria. All these treaties contained references
to former negotiations with Amia hop the third. They are
(53:46):
all written in Assyrian and are quite difficult of interpretation,
though the general import of these documents can easily be given.
After a reign of only twelve years, Cheutenen died, and
is not at all doubtful that he lost his life
(54:06):
in a revolt brought on by his fanatical attempts to
convert the people to his new faith by force. He
had no son, but seven daughters who were married to
Egyptian nobles. Disputes over this succession immediately arose, and the
country was plunged into all the horrors of a civil
(54:30):
war eleven. The struggle for this succession about b c.
Thirteen sixty three to thirteen forty. How long the civil
war lasted, we cannot say, nor do we know exactly
in what order the various kings that followed Chuttenen succeeded
(54:51):
one another. In all probability, the next successor at Chuttenden
was Senna ka Ra Senchet, the husband of his favorite
daughter Meratin. He was throughout his short reign affirm adherent
(55:13):
to the faith of his father in law, but the
revolution that had dethroned his father in law proved fatal
to him. Also, he was disposed by the priest I,
who was originally for a firm adherent to the Antin religion.
A was a brother of one of Chuttenden's nurses, and
(55:39):
had risen rapidly at court until he attained the position
of Lord Equeri, one of the highest offices in the
gift of the crown. At the time Aid dethroned send Chet,
the reaction was at its height. An A was not
(56:01):
the man to swim against the tide. He therefore returned
to the old faith and the old capital. But he
had nothing outside of this to recommend him to the people,
and so his apossy availed him little Four years after
(56:22):
he had wrestled the crown from Sanchet. He was overthrown
and dead, and Amman, the husband of Chuttenden's third daughter
and Chenese pah Aytin, who now changed her name to
anchides Ammon, ascended the throne. Like his predecessor, he was
(56:47):
an opposite from the atten religion, but this policy availed
him as little as it had his antagonist. After a
reign of only four years, he lost his throne and
his life, and with him, the last of Chuttan's heirs
(57:10):
sank into the grave. After his death, the confusion became
worse than ever. King after king ascended the throne, but
they all fell before they had tightened their grasp on
the reigns of state. How long this state of affairs
(57:30):
lasted we can not say, but in our opinion, the
entire period from the death of Chutnen to the end
of the civil war cannot have embraced less than about
twenty or twenty five years. At length. Har m Keb,
(57:51):
who was in some way, possibly through his wife moot Netjem,
connected with the royal family, succeeded in restoring order, and
with him begins the Nineteenth dynasty. End of Chapter five
Chapter number five of the History of Egypt. This is
a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org.
Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, BC. The History of
(00:24):
Egypt by F. C. H. Wendell from the expulsions of
the Hcoast to the close of the eighteenth dynasty. With
this dynasty begins the period commonly known as the New Empire,
which embraces the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth dynasties. The dynasty
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is memorable in several respects. In the first place, the
first great campaigns against Asia were undertaken in this time,
and Egypt was thus made a conquering power. And in
the second place, a great religious reform, which is of
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special interests to us moderns, was attempted by one of
the rulers of this line, one Ahemes the first. How
long the war between the kings of Tebes and the
High Cohasts lasted we can not tell, but it is
(01:30):
safe to assume that it began late in the seventeenth
or early in the sixteenth century b C. An inscription
on the tomb of Akamis, one of King Ahame's admirals,
gave us an account of the closing scenes of the
(01:50):
great struggle. It would seem that the predecessors of Aheimes
had driven the high coasts into the Delta, and that
they had thrown themselves into the city of hattur Avaris
in the northeastern part of the Delta, which they strongly fortified.
(02:12):
After several battles had been fought on land and water
in the neighborhood of the city, the pharaoh laid siege
to it, and after a protracted resistance, the town finally
fell into his hands. Thus, about fifteen thirty b c.
Egypt was finally cleared of the foreign invaders that had
(02:36):
held the land in subjugation for centuries. The fleeing high
coasts had gone to Asia, pursued by the Pharaoh. Crossing
the boundary, he proceeded against the town of Skarkan, which
is mentioned in Joshua nineteen six as belonging to the
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terror ratory allotted to the tribe of Simon, and captured
it in the fifth year of his reign. He then
invaded fo Encia and gained several victories. These successes secured
the Egyptian frontier from inroads of the Asiatics for a
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number of years. This was not, however, the only result
of this successful war. Ahame's Asiatic campaign had shown the
Egyptians the way into Asia, and many of his successors
gained their laurels in this country. The wars had also
(03:41):
trained generals and armies, and Ahem's successors saw to it
that neither deteriorated. A new spirit had come over the
once peaceful people and army. After army set out on
warlike expeditions, Aman and meant to the great gods of Tebbs,
(04:05):
became war gods in whose names the kings fought their wars,
and into the temples of Amon poured the lion's share
of the booty ie in war and the tribute wrung
from conquered nations. The entire character of the wars, too,
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was changed by the introduction of the horse from Asia.
The home of the horse was most probably the Tyrhanian steppe.
It was introduced into Egypt by the high coasts. Horses
were not used in this time as beasts a burden,
but only in war and on the chase. They were
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not used for riding, but only to draw the two
wheeled chariots. These chariots were imported into Egypt from Syria,
where chariot building was a flourishing industry. The very word
for chariot, Merkabet, is of Semantic origin. The new arm
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entirely changed the character and dimensions of battles. Moreover, chariots
and horses were expensive, and the charioteer required special training.
These two circumstances favored the formation of standing armies and
increased the advantage the greater states had over their smaller neighbors.
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These facts will account for the successes the Egyptians won
over the Syrian states in the ensuing countries. Ahemes had
scarcely finished his Asiatic campaign when he was compelled to
take the field against the Chentniffer, a mountain tribe of Ethiopia,
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in a great battle. This tribe was utterly routed, and
the king, glad of his easy victory, was already returning
home when the news reached him that the Ethiopians had
again invaded the country and were even desecrating the temples
(06:20):
of the gods. Rapidly returning, he fought the Battle of
Tentada in northern Ethiopia, again completely routing the enemy. Not
dismayed by these repeated defeats, the Ethiopians a third time
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returned to the attack under a leader named tenta Ann,
But a third time they were defeated, and this time
was such frightful loss that they did not again venture
to attack their successful opponents. In these wars, the above
mentioned admiral Achmies, who had begun his career as adjunct
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of this king but had rapidly earned promotion, greatly distinguished
himself and received the Gold for Bravery several times. The
Gold for Bravery was a reward paid to the distinguished
soldiers and civilians out of the public treasury, and consisted
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of magnificent gifts of gold in the shape of dis bees, lions, etc.
Achimies received these gifts on seven different occasions. There are
indications in the inscription of Acmese that the pharaoh had
to put down a rebellion in the south. This rebellion
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probably stood in some connection with the Ethiopian wars, but
we know none of the details. In fact, we never
hear much of the civil wars of Egypt, of which
there were no doubt many. They always alluded to in
general terms, and the details are never entered in two.
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Having now secured Egypt against foreign invasion and having quelled
probably dangerous rebellion, Agnes was free to devote the remainder
of his reign to internal improvements. He ruled over twenty
two years. How much of this time was taken up
by his wars, we do not know. At all events,
(08:43):
he had abundant time to strengthen his reign and to
make Theebs his capital, the greatest city in the land.
It was no easy task that was set this pharaoh.
Everywhere the temples had suffered from neglect, and during the
late Wars from the depredations of the Hexos in the
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north and the Ethiopians in the south. Acmees was, however,
equal to the task. He immediately set to work and
began the restoration and rebuilding of all the temples in
the land. His own city of Thebes was the special
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object of his care. The city had been the capital
of the land for several centuries, and already the kings
of the Twelfth Dynasty five hundred years and more before
Acme's time, had laid the first foundations of its future greatness.
They had laid two the first foundations of the great
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national temple of Egypt, the Temple of Ammon at Karnak.
This temple was enlarged by our King. The city steadily
grew from this time on, and in the course of
a few decades, became the greatest city of the land
and consequently of the then known world. The story of
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the rise, decline, and fall of Tews is an integral
part of Egyptian history. When Ahmies died after a reign
of over twenty two years, he was buried in the
Thebian Necropolis on the west bank of the Nile, opposite
the city at dra Abunega. His mummy, encased in a
(10:40):
wooden casket, was recently discovered at del Ibrahi, together with
a large number of other royal mummies. Two Amenhotep, the
first amen Offis Ahmes, was succeeded by his son Ami
(11:00):
Manhotep the first, the early part of whose reign was
shared with his mother, Aghme's nefari Ari. The queen was
after her death worshiped as a definity, an honor accorded
all kings, but very few kings. Early in this reign,
(11:21):
the Athiopians again became troublesome, and the pharaoh marched against them.
He crossed the frontier and in the battle that ensued,
captured the opposing general with his own hand. The victory won,
the Egyptian army overran the country, and it would seem
(11:44):
that some detachments even advanced as far as Moreau, the
Ethiopian capital. The southern campaign was brought to an abrupt
close by the news of trouble on the northern frontier.
In a remarkably short time, the king arrived at the
(12:04):
seat of war, Libya and defeated the enemy. This king,
like his father, was frequently compelled to invade Asia, but
on the whole this reign was more peaceable than the
preceding one. Amman Tohope was a great builder and continued
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the work of improvement and restoration begun by his father.
He died after a reign of twenty two years. His
mummy was found at dear e Bahari. Three thut Moses
the first, the son of Amman Hotep the First, was
(12:49):
a very young man when he ascended the throne, and
the conquered nation sought to take advantage of this fact
to regain their independence. Immediately after his ascension, the Ethiopians
began war. The pharaoh crossed the frontier, and after defeating
(13:10):
the enemy in a decisive battle, overran and plundered the country,
drove off the cattle, and carried large numbers of the
inhabitants into slavery. This was the usual way of conducting
an Ethiopian campaign. It was, as a rule, no more
than a raid made to punish the Ethiopians for a
(13:33):
similar raid on Egyptian territory. Tutumodus varied the usual program
by hanging the body of the Ethiopian leader by the
heels to the stern of the royal ship. Teutamosies now
instituted a new Ethiopian policy. The configuration of the land
(13:57):
was much the same as that of Egypt, and it
was not over difficult to introduce the Egyptian system of
government in the land. Accordingly, he divided Ethiopia into a
number of districts over which he placed governors, while over
(14:17):
the entire region he set a governor general with the
title of Prince of Kush. What the duties of this
official were is not clear. In all probability, he was
a sort of visceroy, invested with civil and military power
and responsible to the king alone. This official held a
(14:41):
high position at the court, and was in later times
not unfrequently a royal prince. Colonists were sent out, temples built,
and forts erected and garrisoned. The chief of these forts
were he Sema An Aquin Cuma, which had been built
(15:05):
by the great conqueror of Ethiopia urstin the third They
were no doubt greatly strengthened by Teutumosis. Ethiopia was then
secured and even made a province of Egypt, but the
mountain tribes continued to be troublesome all through Egyptian history.
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Early in this reign, too, a rebellion broke out in
the district of the city of Buto in the Delta,
and so serious did it become that the pharaoh was
compelled to proceed against it in person. He succeeded in
calling the outbreak, and at once marched against Asia. Crossing
(15:53):
the Arabian Desert and Palestine, he entered the land of
Rutenu Syria. Here an army had been drawn up to
check his advance, but he defeated it with frightful slaughter
and took large numbers of prisoners. He then advanced to
the Euphrates River, on the banks of which he set
(16:16):
up to Stella, to commemorate his victories and mark the
boundaries of his realm. Hereupon the Egyptian army retired, and
herein lay the radical fault of the Egyptian foreign policy.
This fault cost them dear, for they were compelled to
(16:38):
send army after army into Asia. In fact, the Asiatic
campaigns were mostly plundering expeditions. On a large scale. The
Egyptians defeated the native army in a decisive battle, overran
and plundered the country, carried off a large number of prisoners,
(17:01):
imposed a tribute, and retired. No attempts at colonization were made,
and no garrisons were left in the conquered lands. They
were left entirely to themselves, provided only they paid their
tributes regularly. Only in the larger states were the kings
(17:22):
compelled to give up their children and other relatives as hostages,
the Egyptians binding themselves in case a king died to
send home his successor. The great danger to Egypt lay
in the fact that while it took the Egyptian armies
months and often years to subdue the Asiatics, the subdued
(17:47):
land might all be lost and the combined forces of
the enemy be at the frontier in a few weeks,
and then it would again take months and offer years
to regain the lost ground. Though Tademosis was a great warrior,
(18:07):
he found ample time to devote to internal improvements. His
wars had furnished large numbers of slaves that were put
to work building temples in all parts of Egypt. Tebbies was,
of course specially favored. After a short reign of only
(18:29):
nine years, he died, leaving three children, two Tudomosis the
second and Madcrad by the queen, and one Tutmosis the
third by a concubine, his daughter Madcaa, who seemed to
(18:49):
have been his special favorite. He had proclaimed co region
shortly before his death. Four Tudemosis the second. Dudemosis the
second succeeded to a mighty empire, but he seems to
have been a weak character, entirely controlled by his strong
(19:12):
minded and utterly unscrupulous sister and wife, ma Carah, the
co regent. His reign was very short and uneventful, and
there is abundant ground for the suspicion that his sister
had caused his untimely death. As usual, he fought with
(19:34):
the mountain tribes of Nubia and the nomads of Syria,
but he accomplished nothing that could give him any claim
to fame. The bummy of this ruler it was also
found at dir Il Bahi number five ma Carah Hatchus best.
(19:57):
This Greek queen, who was sometimes called called Knemi Ammon,
is renowned not for any great wars, but for a
commercial exhibedition She sent to the shores of p Wint,
a name applied by the Egyptians to the shores of
(20:17):
the southern portion of the Red Sea. II to southern
Arabia and the Somali coast. A fleet of five great
ships was fitted out and sent to the shores of
southern Arabia. The ruler of the country, Parahue, received the Egyptians,
(20:38):
who were no unknown guests on these shores, with genial hospitality.
The expedition was a complete success. The ship's returned home
leaden with the products of these shores, consisting of incense plants,
which the queen attempted to transplant to Egypt, cosmetics, ebony, ivory, gold,
(21:06):
leopard skins, and all sorts of animals, example, baboons, greyhounds
and giraffes. The entire undertaking bore a mercantile aspect, and
while Makaarah speaks of the goods brought back as a
tribute of the land of p Want, she evidently stretches
(21:29):
a point. Par Acu certainly did not look upon the
matter in this light, and no doubt considered the transaction
a commercial success. How often these expeditions were repeated we
do not know, but it would seem that the connections
with per Wett were maintained for some time, as the
(21:53):
annals of two Tomosis the third frequently mentioned the tribute
of the land of per Went. Ma Krah was not
the first Egyptian monarch to enter into relations with this country.
We have already seen that sie Ah Karrah, the last
(22:16):
king of the eleventh dynasty, and two kings of the
twelfth dynasty, had already maintained connections with pi Want. The
expedition was, however, of great importance and must have greatly
stimulated the trade between the two countries. As no doubt
the Egyptian merchants followed in the footsteps of their queen.
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So important did Ma Karrah justly deem the expedition that
she had it represented on the walls of her beautiful
funeral temple at Der el Bahi on the west bank
of the Nile. This temple is one of the most
remarkable of all in Egypt. It lies directly opposite the
(23:05):
Great Temple of Karnak, with which it was connected by
a broad avenue flanked with sphinxes. The temple is built
on four terraces, between the third and fourth of which
there is a beautiful flight of stairs. On the first
terrace was the courtyard ornamented with columns that have almost
(23:30):
entirely disappeared. The third terrace is by far the finest,
bearing a beautiful hypostyle, the rear wall of which is
the limestone rock against which the temple is built. On
this wall is represented the expedition that is made this
rhin memorable. The pictures are executed with the most scrupulous care,
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even the fishes of the Red Sea being carefully drawn
and easily identified, They must be reckoned among the finest
specimens of the art of this period. How long this
queen ruled in conjunction with Tutumosis the second we do
not know. Nor can we say how long she ruled alone.
(24:22):
It would even seem from the monuments that she never
was the sole ruler Tutamosis the second, having shortly before
his death, appointed his half brother Tutumois the third, co regent.
The queen was proud and overbearing, and seems to have
(24:42):
felt sorry she was a woman. She frequently had herself
represented on the monuments in all the full official dress
of the king, even down to the false beard, and
no doubt she frequently wore this garb on state occasions.
(25:03):
Her half brother she hated very cordially, showing her hatred
in no pleasant manner, and he cordially reciprocated her sentiments.
It is very probable that she died of violent death,
and that Tutomosis the third had a share in her murder.
(25:27):
Six men jepper Ra Tutomosis fourteen eighty to fourteen twenty
seven b c. In the twenty second year of his
official reign, Tutomosis the third, the greatest of all the
great conquerors Egypt has produced, became through the death of
(25:52):
his half sister, sole ruler of Egypt. One of the
first acts of his independence reign was to obliterate from
all public monuments, as far as possible, the name of
his half sister. This was a revenge on an obnoxious predecessor,
(26:13):
which was quite popular with the Pharaoh, and one that
the Great Queen herself had visited on her brother and husband,
Tutumosis the second. As soon as Tutomodus had ridden himself
of his sisterly co regent, he began a long series
(26:34):
of brilliant campaigns in Asia. On this continent, the conquered
nations had quietly paid tribute during the two preceding reins, and,
barring some minor disturbances, had all remained quiet. But now
they made a new attempt to throw off the galling
(26:56):
yoke of Egypt. The Fairharo acted promptly. Crossing the Arabian Desert,
he entered Gaza, which city had remained loyal to him.
From here he advanced slowly northward against the Syrian Confederation.
All of the princes of Palestine and Syria were combined
(27:21):
against him, and had taken a strong and well chosen
position in front of the strongly fortified city of Megadoo.
Here Tutemoses attacked them, and despite the fact that they
had decided advantage in position, utterly routed their forces. Part
(27:44):
of the defeated army escaped into Megadoo, part took to
the hills behind the town. The pharaoh now invested the city,
which surrendered after a brief resistance. After this, the enemy
came down from the hills and made a spirited attack
(28:05):
on the Egyptians, but they were repulsed with serious loss.
These victories regained for Tudemosis all of Palestine and Syria.
The rulers of the various states brought tribute and delivered
up thirty eight of their relatives and eighty seven of
(28:27):
their children as hostages, under the usual stipulation that on
the death of a king, his successor should be allowed
to return home. The war gave Tudomosis a vast amount
of booty and seventeen hundred and ninety six prisoners. Even
(28:47):
the distant king of assure As Syria, a country that
was just beginning to assert itself in Mesopotamia, began to
feed for his possessions and for two years sent tribute.
In the following year, the twenty third one of the
(29:09):
Syrian princes sent the pharaoh his daughter as a present.
After the first campaign. Fourteen others were undertaken. In the
time between the twenty fifth and twenty eighth years of
the reign, several minor expeditions entered Syria. The twenty ninth
(29:30):
year was marked by another coalition of Syrian princes, and
the pharaoh immediately set out to quell the new rebellion.
The king of Tunep, a state in northern Syria, stood
at the head of the new confederation, and in his
(29:51):
country the decisive battle was fought. As usual, the enemy
was defeated, the city of Tuep was besie taken and plundered,
and the country overrun. After their defeat, all of the
rebels again returned to their allegiance, paid tribute and gave hostages.
(30:14):
On his way home, the king surprised and captured the
city of Aradas, which he sacked. Meanwhile, a division of
the army under Amen m Hibb had addressed to the
city of Karchamis, which was captured and plundered, and returning
(30:38):
had joined the king at Tire. In the thirtieth year,
new disturbances seemed to have occurred, for the pharaoh again
entered Palestine. This time the point of attack was the
Cheetah capital Quadesh on the Oriente River. This town met
(31:02):
with the usual fate, Eredas was again taken and sacked,
and Tire suffered the same fate after a short siege.
The following two years were devoted to a great campaign
in Palestine. The fortress of en Ritu on Lake Nazarena
(31:24):
was taken and sacked after a short siege, and the
entire country was overrun, as was also part of Syria.
In the thirty third year of his reign, Teutamosis again
invaded Syria, and this time advanced to the Euphrates River.
(31:45):
Sailing down the stream, the pharaoh proceeded against the king
of Nekkarin Mesopotamia, who had massed his forces near that
his capital Kni. These forces were defeated and Knie was
taken and sacked. Sailing still farther down the river, Tutumoses
(32:08):
took a number of forts. He then returned to Knie
and instituted a great elephant hunt, on which occasion one
hundred and twenty of those noble animals were killed. In
the following year, another rebellion broke out in Syria, where
three cities lying in the district of Anna Ukasa had
(32:34):
formed a coalition again. The Pharaoh invaded the country, punished
the rebels, and returned home with a long string of
captives and laden with booty. In this same year, one
of the Ethiopian princes sent the king his daughter as
(32:55):
a present. In the following six years, only two campaigns
of importance were undertaken. The first of these was against
the Syrian fortress of Arena in the thirty fifth year.
The second was against the fortress of Anu Casa in
(33:16):
the same country, which city had given trouble before. Three
years later, in the forty first year of his reign,
the king set out on his last Asiatic campaign. Marching
along the sea coast. He first took the fortress of Arantu, and,
(33:37):
then entering Palestine, captured several cities. Entering Syria, he next
took the town of teinepp and hereupon marsh against Quadesh,
which seems to have been the soul of the new coalition.
(33:58):
He defeated the Cheka army before the city, which he
then laid the siege to a Mesopotamian army, which made
an attempt to raise the siege, was utterly routed and
left six hundred and ninety one prisoners in the hands
(34:18):
of the victor. Quadesh was now stormed and sacked. This
ended all opposition to Egyptian rule in Asia. The backbone
of the country was broken. Teutamosis has left us long
lists of names of captured cities and conquered nations. Contained
(34:40):
hundreds of names, but only very few of these can
be identified with names of cities occurring elsewhere, and we
are utterly in the dark as regards the situation of
most of these cities and countries. The extent of these
conquests has been greatly exaggerated. On the whole, the Emmenas
(35:08):
Mountains and the Euphrates River seemed to have been the
boundaries of the conquered region. Although the king certainly did
cross the Euphrates twice and did defeat the armies of
Mespotenia and take Mesopotnian cities, he did not succeed in
(35:29):
holding these conquests. That he reached the city of Nineva
is very doubtful. Ni may be the Egyptian name for Nineva,
but in all probability it is the name of a
city lying much farther up the river on the other
(35:50):
side from the country of the Sella. Its king seems
to have been allied with the Syrian country with which
Tudomosis was at war. It is noteworthy that the king,
in the thirty third year of his reign, set up
(36:12):
too Steli on the banks of the Euphrates near Ni,
by the side of those he set up his father,
Tutomodus the first The coast of Phoencia was under Egyptian control. Aradus, Semiria,
(36:32):
Jopa and Tire submitted only after a siege. The other
cities seen to have yielded without a struggle. It was
obviously to their advantage to stand under Egyptian rule, for
Egyptian rule meant Egyptian protection, and the wily Phoenician merchants
(36:53):
soon found that they could reap greater commercial advantages from
their connection with Egypt. The Phoenician colonies in Cyprus, example,
Assabie also submitted voluntarily and paid tribute, though standing in
(37:13):
no danger of evasion from Egypt. This ready submission secured
for them great advantages the protection of Egypt, an unbroken
connection with the mother land, as Egypt did not interfere
in their internal affairs. The Fauician cities of the mainland
(37:37):
and of Cyprus cheerfully paid tribute. The material prosperity of
Egypt was greatly augmented by the successes of this king,
and all the tombs, even those of the humbler citizens,
gave evidence of this fact. Generals and soldiers enriched themselves
(38:03):
in these Asiatic campaigns, as well as the Pharaoh. The
lion's share of the booty and tribute, however, went to Ammon,
the great god of Thebes. In the name of Ammon,
Tu Dammnis had undertaken his campaigns, and with the aid
(38:27):
of the god he had won his victories, And in
gratitude to him, the king erected the mighty buildings at Karnak,
on the walls of which he proclaimed these victories. But
the other gods were not forgotten. In all parts of Egypt,
(38:47):
the king built, restored, or completed temples. A special importance
was the Temple of Semah, which was dedicated to the
defied king Ertsin the third, the conqueror of Ethiopia. In
the fifty fourth year of his reign, the mighty ruler
(39:10):
died and was succeeded by his son. The mummy of
this king was found in a shaft at Del Elbadi.
The monarch was a small man. The mummy is only
five foot two inches long, but with a determined cast
of features somewhat resembling that of Napoleon the first seven.
(39:36):
Amen Hotep the Second a men O Fis fourteen twenty
seven to fourteen twenty two b c. One day after
the death of his father, amen Hotep the Second extended
the throne. Already as crown prince, he had shown his
(39:56):
ability in subjugating the nomadic tribes that dwelt in the
mountains between Nile and the Red Sea and compelling them
to pay tribute. Immediately after his coronation, the new pharaoh
invaded Asia and gained a series of brilliant victories. It
(40:18):
seems that a new rebellion had broken out, and that
the distant city of Ni Alone had remained loyal, for
when he entered this town, the inhabitants received him with
demonstrations of great joy. The campaign came to an end
(40:39):
with the capture of the fortress of Akati. His next
campaign was directed against the country of Takshi in Syria,
where he fought against a mighty coalition. Seven native kings
were killed, and the land was again subdued the bodies
(41:01):
of the dead kings he took with him to Egypt.
Six of them he had hung up on the walls
of his capital, Tebbes, and one on the walls of
Naphta as a warning to the Ethiopians. Like all rulers
of the dynasty, he was a great builder. He died
(41:23):
after a short reign of only five years. Eight Teutumosis
the Fourth fourteen twenty one to fourteen fourteen b C.
Of the son and successor of Amiohup. We know little
more than he ruled only seven years. He fought in Ethiopia, Phoenicia,
(41:49):
and Syria, probably quelling minor revolts and repelling invasions of
nomadic tribes. In the first year of his reign, he
caused the great Sphinx of Geysa to be freed from
the sand which had accumulated about this vulnerable monument. Nine
(42:11):
m men Cahop the third fourteen thirteen thirteen seventy seven BC.
In the fifth year of his reign, Amen Cahp the Third,
the son and successor of Teutemosis the fourth, invaded Ethiopia
and easily subdued a number of rebellious Nubian tribes. The
(42:35):
victory did not amount to much, but the pharaoh made
a great fuss over it, having yet recorded on several
staay This rain marked a new era in their relations
with Asia. A number of tablets was recently found at
Tel l Armana which contained letters addressed by Asiatics kings
(43:00):
to the kings of Egypt. A number of these is
addressed to Amenhotep. The third the most interesting one, is
that from King Dushirata of Mini example Satarina of niharn
(43:21):
I e Mesopotamia, in which Amenda Hop is called the
son in law of duche Rata. This douche Rata is
no doubt identical with the king Sirana of niharen who,
in the tenth year of this reign sent Amnia Hop,
(43:47):
his daughter Kerkipa, and three hundred and seventeen ladies for
the pharaoh's harem. Although already happily wedded to Queen Tea,
one of the most beautiful women in all antiquity, the
pharaoh had no recourse but to make the princess his
(44:09):
legitimate wife. This marriage was in all probability entered into
after the final ratification of a treaty concluded between the
two monarchs, and in fact, the treaty concluded between Amanuephus's
son two and ten and Dushrata distinctly refers to this
(44:34):
previous treaty. It is a curious fact that the letters
addressed to this king and to his son are written
in Assyrian. The king was a passionate hunter, and an
inscription engraved on several Scarabi relates that in the first
(44:54):
ten years of his reign he killed a hundred and
two lions. Like all his predecessors, Amendahop was a great builder.
He was the builder of the celebrated temple of Ammon
Aarrah at luskor. The two celebrated statues of Maman on
(45:17):
the west bank of the river opposite Tibis, belonged to
this monarch. They stood originally in front of the pylon
of his temple in the necropolis, but every trace of
the temple has vanished. The statues were erected at his
orders by the architect and sculpture Amenhotep, the son of Happy.
(45:44):
They are of hard red crystalline sandstone, quarried at the
de Jebil de Ahmar example du Deshar in the desert
northeast of Memphis. The Greeks took the statues for those
of the Ethiopian king Memon mentioned by Homer, and explained
(46:08):
the sound produced by the northern statue as the greeting
of Memon to his mother Eos. The explanation of the
sound is very simple. The upper portion of the statue
was broken, and when the sun rose, the change in
temperature caused the particles of stone in the crack to split,
(46:32):
and this splitting produced a musical sound. After the statue
was repaired by Septimus Severus reigned eighty one ninety three
to two eleven, the sound was no longer heard. Ten A.
Mendio hop four June not ten, thirteen seventy six to
(46:58):
thirteen sixty four b c. This pharaoh is to us
one of the most interesting of ancient monarchs, as the
first promuculator of monotheism. The Egyptian people up to this
time had possessed no uniform religion, but a large number
(47:19):
of religions had existed side by side, some being recognized
throughout the land, others having only local import While one religion,
that of the national capital, was the official religion of
the government at this time, Tebes was the capital of
(47:40):
the land, and the Thebian religion was the government faith. Consequently,
the head of the Thebian Panhalon, Ammon, was the official
head of the national Panthelon. But there had arisen in
Heliopolis examp On, the great seat of the ra religion,
(48:05):
already in early times, a movement towards a solar monotheism,
and in Chittenden's reign this movement was victorious. The new
king was a fanatical adherent of this doctrine. He moreover
seems to have stood entirely under the domination of the
(48:29):
Heliopolitan priests, and gladly lent his hand to accomplish their purposes.
A new official religion was accordingly proclaimed. This was a
solar monotheism. The new god was, with a studied avoidance
(48:49):
of the old names, called at ten the Solar disc,
and was proclaimed to the nation as the Soul. And
only if this had signified merely a change in the
official religion of Egypt, and not in the very inmost
(49:10):
nature of the religion, the people would have heeded a
little and gone on praying to their own local gods
and officially recognizing the new head of the Pentathlon, as
they had done herefore. But here was a complete and
utter religious revolution, pronouncing all the old faith heretical and
(49:36):
supplanting them by a faith the nature of which the
people did not and could not understand. A propaganda of
this character, no doubt, assisted by attempts to convert the
people by force, naturally led to discontent, and it was
(49:58):
probably only to this that the reformers graciously permitted the
solar difinities Horius, raw Red, Harmachis, and some few others
to continue in existence, explaining them as forms of their
(50:19):
new and only God. Attem Ammon, however, was persecuted in
the approved Orthodox manner wherever he could. Emi atop Or,
as he now called himself, Chu Ten, had the name
of this hated divinity obliterated from the monuments, even in
(50:44):
the names of his predecessors. After their reformation, Chutanen left
the tainted city of TEBs, the stronghold of the old
Aman cult, and built himself a new capital to the
north of this city, and called it choote at Ten,
(51:04):
the horizon of the solar disk. The ruins of this town,
which was never completed, lie at a place called tel
e Armana, and are of peculiar interest, as they, together
with the tombs in the necropolis of the city, give
us a life sized picture of the court of this
(51:27):
fantanatical and half graced king. One of his peculiarities was
to substitute for the conventional style of Egyptian sculpture a
more realistic style. The pharaoh himself was hideously ugly, owing
to a bodied deformity, and he commanded his artists henceforth
(51:51):
to depict him in his real shape. Naturally, his wife,
who seems, by the bye you have had quite a
lovely face, and daughters, who were pictured as equally ugly,
and the courtiers, as true courtiers, would ape royally and
(52:13):
had themselves depicted in the likeness of their king. Unfortunately,
the Reformation proved a failure, and we know but little
of the New Faith. Long and beautiful hymns, full of
fevering devotion addressed to atten have come down to us,
(52:35):
as have also various representations of religious ceremonies. The New
God is always depicted as a solar disk, the rays
of which terminate in hands, but the monuments do not
give us any deeper insight into the New religion. There
(52:57):
was in this reign no tie with Asia. This was
a result of the diplomatic negotiations begun under amendahop the
third and concluded by this pharaoh. Treaties of peace were
conducted with Dushrata of Medandi, sal Larna, King of Nehran
(53:24):
I e Mesopotamia, Berna, Burasha King of Kardushna Babylonia, and
ashru Balit, King of Assyria. All these treaties contained references
to former negotiations with Amia hop the third. They are
(53:46):
all written in Assyrian and are quite difficult of interpretation,
though the general import of these documents can easily be given.
After a reign of only twelve years, Cheutenen died, and
is not at all doubtful that he lost his life
(54:06):
in a revolt brought on by his fanatical attempts to
convert the people to his new faith by force. He
had no son, but seven daughters who were married to
Egyptian nobles. Disputes over this succession immediately arose, and the
country was plunged into all the horrors of a civil
(54:30):
war eleven. The struggle for this succession about b c.
Thirteen sixty three to thirteen forty. How long the civil
war lasted, we cannot say, nor do we know exactly
in what order the various kings that followed Chuttenen succeeded
(54:51):
one another. In all probability, the next successor at Chuttenden
was Senna ka Ra Senchet, the husband of his favorite
daughter Meratin. He was throughout his short reign affirm adherent
(55:13):
to the faith of his father in law, but the
revolution that had dethroned his father in law proved fatal
to him. Also, he was disposed by the priest I,
who was originally for a firm adherent to the Antin religion.
A was a brother of one of Chuttenden's nurses, and
(55:39):
had risen rapidly at court until he attained the position
of Lord Equeri, one of the highest offices in the
gift of the crown. At the time Aid dethroned send Chet,
the reaction was at its height. An A was not
(56:01):
the man to swim against the tide. He therefore returned
to the old faith and the old capital. But he
had nothing outside of this to recommend him to the people,
and so his apossy availed him little Four years after
(56:22):
he had wrestled the crown from Sanchet. He was overthrown
and dead, and Amman, the husband of Chuttenden's third daughter
and Chenese pah Aytin, who now changed her name to
anchides Ammon, ascended the throne. Like his predecessor, he was
(56:47):
an opposite from the atten religion, but this policy availed
him as little as it had his antagonist. After a
reign of only four years, he lost his throne and
his life, and with him, the last of Chuttan's heirs
(57:10):
sank into the grave. After his death, the confusion became
worse than ever. King after king ascended the throne, but
they all fell before they had tightened their grasp on
the reigns of state. How long this state of affairs
(57:30):
lasted we can not say, but in our opinion, the
entire period from the death of Chutnen to the end
of the civil war cannot have embraced less than about
twenty or twenty five years. At length. Har m Keb,
(57:51):
who was in some way, possibly through his wife moot Netjem,
connected with the royal family, succeeded in restoring order, and
with him begins the Nineteenth dynasty. End of Chapter five
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