Introduction

EGYPT, THE WORLD’S FIRST SUPERPOWER, WAS BORN ABOUT

5000 B.C.E. in the valley of the Nile River in northeastern Africa. Tucked
into a long, narrow gorge threaded by the river and bounded by steep
cliffs, Egypt enjoyed a predictable, mostly pleasant climate and natural
barriers against invasion. To the west lay the Sahara Desert, to the east a
harsh, mountainous wasteland. To the south, a series of six great rapids
(called cataracts) obstructed the river. To the north was the “Great Green:”
the Mediterranean Sea.
An Egyptian called his homeland Kemet. His world was divided
into lowland kemet (“black land”), the narrow ribbon of rich, black earth
on the valley floor, and highland deshret (“red land”), the pale, reddish
sand of the forbidding desert plateaus. Foreigners were “highlanders.”
“Going up” meant leaving the valley; “descending” was returning home.
Egypt was a long, narrow oasis carved by the Nile River through
the harsh desert. “The Egypt to which we sail nowadays is… the gift of the
river,” said Greek historian and traveler Herodotus. The Nile, one of the
world’s longest rivers, flows more than 4,200 miles north from central
Africa to the Mediterranean. The name “Nile” comes from the Greek
word Neilos, but the Egyptians called it simply iteru, “the river.”

The Two Lands

Because all life came from the Nile, geography was everything in ancient
Egypt. The narrow valley through which the Nile ran, and the wider Delta
where it flowed into the sea, were known as the “two lands” of ancient
Egypt. Upper Egypt, Ta-Shomu (“narrow land”), was a long, narrow, limestone
gorge, 10 to 30 miles wide, stretching from the first cataract at Aswan
to the edge of the Delta, 500 miles to the north. It was bounded by cliffs that
rose from a few hundred feet to almost 1,000 feet high. In ancient times,
Upper Egypt’s floodplain totaled 42,500 square miles. Cultivated lands extended
from just over one and a half miles wide at Aswan to about 13 miles
wide on the west bank opposite modern Tell el-Amarna.
About 100 miles south of the Mediterranean, the Nile split into two
streams and many smaller tributaries. It formed the fan-shaped Nile Delta,
an 8,500-square-mile region of marsh and heavily silted land called Lower
Egypt, Ta-Mehu (“water-filled land”).
The ancient Nile had at least five, and as many as 16, outlets to the
sea. (The modern Nile has only two, Rosetta and Damietta.) About 50
miles southwest of the Delta’s apex lay the Faiyum. Connected underground
to the Nile, the ancient Faiyum was a wetlands paradise, thick
with lotus and papyrus plants and teeming with birds and animals. Birket
Qaran, a lake in the northern Faiyum, was a favorite hunting spot.
The Nile (then and now) blends two major streams. The White Nile
rises from the clear waters of Lakes Victoria, Albert, and Edward in central
Africa. As it flows north, it gathers water from over 1,500 miles of
tributaries. The Blue Nile rises in Lake Tana, in the highlands of Abyssinia
(modern Ethiopia). It flows more than 1,000 miles before joining the
White Nile. The two streams join at Khartoum, capital of the modern
Republic of the Sudan, and flow another 1,900 miles to the sea. About
140 miles north of Khartoum, the Atbara River, rising from the Ethiopian
highlands, joins the Nile.
Near Khartoum, the Nile enters a region of hard sandstone. As it
runs through this difficult land, there are six lengths—the cataracts—where
it has been unable to carve a clear channel. Stony outcroppings, rapids,
and small but treacherous falls obstruct navigation. The northernmost
cataract (the first) is closest to Egypt. Once past the first cataract, near
the modern city of Aswan, sandstone gives way to softer limestone. This
made it much easier for the Nile to carve a relatively straight channel.
After passing the island of Elephantine, the Nile enjoys a 675-mile, unobstructed
passage to the Delta and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Inundation

Each year, spring rains and melting snows in the Ethiopian highlands
poured into the Blue Nile, carrying huge quantities of volcanic silt (fine
particles of earth) and decaying vegetation. These “green waters,” saturated
with minerals and organic material, started to reach Egypt by June.
A month later, a wave of muddy water, enriched with silt and red earth,
poured into the Nile from the Blue Nile and the Atbara. It washed over
the valley floor, depositing millions of tons of mineral-laden silt, potash,
and organic materials.
The waters continued rising until mid-September, then gradually
receded. In October, the waters rose again briefly, then receded until
spring. By the end of May, the Nile was at its lowest level of the year, and
the land was dry and cracked.
This annual flood—called the inundation—was treasured and feared.
It brought life and fertility; Egypt’s civilization would have been impossible
without it. But it could also bring trouble—from temporary inconvenience
to major catastrophe.
When the inundation arrived on time and was neither too high nor
too low, planting and harvesting went smoothly. If the inundation arrived
earlier or later than usual, crop yields might be dangerously low.
And a low Nile or a high Nile could spell disaster. With a low Nile, the
floodwaters did not reach some of the farmlands. These lands could not
be planted—there was no way to get enough water to them. A single low
Nile year caused some problems, but stored grain usually came to the
rescue. A series of low Niles could bring widespread famine.
In a high Nile, floodwaters swept away homes, villages, herds, dams,
and canals. Thousands of people drowned or were left homeless.
The Egyptians worshiped the vital inundation as Hapi, a chubby
god with a papyrus plant growing from his head. They held festivals to
honor Hapi at the site of modern Gebel el-Silsila, near Elephantine, where
they believed the inundation arose, and sang a hymn to Hapi: “When he
appears, the land jubilates, everybody rejoices.” Modern Egyptians honor
this tradition by throwing flowers into the river each summer at Awru el-
Nil, a national holiday that celebrates the inundation.

The Evidence of History

Ancient Egypt was one of the longest-lasting civilizations the world has
ever known, spanning more than 3,000 years from about 3100 B.C.E. to 30
B.C.E.. It left an enormous amount of material for Egyptologists to study:
tombs, temples, monuments, paintings, sculptures, papyrus scrolls, coffins,
mummies, pottery, household goods, jewelry, clothing, toys, and more. The
surviving materials are only a tiny, random fraction of what Egypt produced.
The first historian to take an interest in Egypt was Greek traveler and
writer Herodotus (c.480-425 B.C.E.) who visited Egypt around 450 B.C.E.
In Book 2 of his Histories, he documented places, people, and practices
he saw himself. He also recorded legends and tall tales. Scholars disagree
about Herodotus’s reliability on many matters, especially history.
Egyptologists have found several partial lists of kings, recorded at
various times during Egypt’s long history. Most of these are incomplete,
inaccurate, or both. Kings sometimes deliberately left out or erased the
names of previous rulers, or changed inscriptions to claim previous kings’
accomplishments as their own.
The king list considered most
complete (although it has many
mistakes) was written in Greek by
the Egyptian high priest and scribe
Manetho. His list extends from
3100 B.C.E. (the time of the unification
of Upper and Lower Egypt) to
332 B.C.E. (when Egypt was conquered
by Alexander the Great), dividing
the kings into 31 dynasties
(hereditary ruling families). This was
the first time the rulers had been
listed in this standardized way.
Manetho lived during the
Ptolemaic Period, which puts him
a thousand years further away in
time from the earliest dynasties than
we are today from his time. Neither
Manetho’s Histories nor his sources
have survived. Short passages from
his work, including his list of kings,
were later quoted by the Roman historians
Africanus, Josephus, and
Eusebius, preserving them for subsequent
study.
Modern Egyptologists recognize
34 dynasties: the 31 listed by
Manetho, two additional dynasties
for the Macedonian and Ptolemaic
kings, and what they call Dynasty
0, to account for a few very early
kings. Egyptian kings are often called pharaohs, but that term was not
used for the king until quite late in Egyptian history.
Because Egyptian history is so long, Egyptologists group the dynasties
into periods, based on political, social, economic, and other factors
they had in common. These divisions are modern inventions.

A Whirlwind Tour of Egyptian History

The 1,850 years of Egypt’s Predynastic era (5000 B.C.E.–3150 B.C.E.) were
busy times of intense cultural and agricultural development, population
growth, widespread settlement, and the adoption of hieroglyphic writing.
Egypt’s population was about 1 million by the time King Narmer
united the “two lands” in 3100 B.C.E.
The 375 years of the Early Dynastic Period (3000 B.C.E.–2625 B.C.E.)
saw the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under strong central rule.
During Dynasties 0 to 3 the capital city of Memphis was founded, and
Egypt’s huge, bureaucratic government rapidly developed.
The Old Kingdom (2625 B.C.E.–2130 B.C.E.) was the age of the great
pyramids. In statues of themselves, Old Kingdom rulers have a calm, godlike
peacefulness. They knew they were assured of eternal life. They probably
did not care much about everyday, earthly matters or the troubles
of the peasants. They are portrayed speaking directly to the gods and
thinking lofty thoughts. They did not hesitate to pour all Egypt’s resources
into building lavish tombs for themselves.
By the end of the Old Kingdom, Egypt’s population had grown to
2 million, mostly extremely poor peasants. There was general unhappiness
with increasingly expensive royal building projects. Powerful, wealthy
local rulers started ignoring the king, and splintered Egypt into independent
feudal provinces.
Climate changes brought a disastrous series of low Niles, causing
crop failures, widespread famine, and the miseries of the First Intermediate
Period (2130 B.C.E.–1980 B.C.E.). For 150 years, Egypt suffered chaos,
civil war, and famine.
The Middle Kingdom (1980 B.C.E.–1630 B.C.E.) was a glorious but
restrained era of reform and cultural restoration. In statues of themselves,
Middle Kingdom rulers have the worried, care-worn expressions of men
facing many real-world problems. They were wealthy and powerful, but
also hard workers, running a huge, unwieldy government. They saw what
chaos and civil war can do to their country. They did not want a repeat.
For 350 years, Egypt enjoyed peace, prosperity, increased trade, and great
practical achievements. The population grew to about 2.5 million. For
the first time, Egypt had a middle class.
The Second Intermediate Period (1630 B.C.E.–1539 B.C.E.) brought
Egypt’s worst nightmare: rule by foreigners. Another period of climate
change and unstable Nile years brought crop failure, famine, and civil
disorder. The Hyksos (“rulers of foreign lands”), foreigners of Semitic
origin, took advantage and seized the throne, holding it for more than
100 years. Because they were foreigners, the Hyksos were hated. But they
brought much-needed fresh ideas and cultural innovations to Egypt. After
a long, difficult power struggle, a group of princes from the city of Thebes
drove the Hyksos from Egypt.
The New Kingdom (1539 B.C.E.–1075 B.C.E.) was Egypt’s imperial
age. At its greatest extent, Egypt’s empire stretched from the fourth
cataract of the Nile deep in Nubia all the way to the Euphrates River in
Asia. Egypt was powerful and wealthy beyond compare—the world’s
first superpower. The imperial pharaohs of the New Kingdom have
proud, confident faces. They owned the world. They thought extremely
highly of Egypt, and even more highly of themselves. No boast was
too grand, no monument too large, no conquest too challenging for
these mighty pharaohs. For more than 450 years, Egypt, now home
to about 3 million people, was on top of the world. Gold, gifts, plunder,
and tribute flowed in like the Nile floods. But winds of change were
blowing.
During the 419 years of the Third Intermediate Period (1075
B.C.E.–664 B.C.E.) Egypt’s power weakened and, eventually, the empire
came to an end. By around 1000 B.C.E., Egypt was just about bankrupt.
The country splintered into numerous small kingdoms and fiefdoms,
constantly at war. Massive confusion reigned, enabling Egypt’s former
colony, Nubia, to seize the throne, which it held for more than 100 years.
During Egypt’s Late Period (664 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) outside influences
and invaders—Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Macedonian
Greeks—dominated Egypt. A dynasty of merchant-kings, the Saites, fell
to the Persian Cambyses in 525 B.C.E. The First Persian Occupation (525
B.C.E.–405 B.C.E.) was an unhappy time. Egypt did not like being part of
someone else’s empire. The Egyptians rebelled and won back their independence
for 66 years. Nakhthoreb (also known as Nectanebo II), the
last king of the Thirtieth Dynasty, who ruled from 362 B.C.E. to 343 B.C.E.,
was the last native Egyptian to rule Egypt for 2,300 years, until 1952.
The Second Persian Occupation (343 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) was brief and
troubled. Egypt longed for a savior. In 332 B.C.E., Alexander the Great
drove the hated Persians from Egypt, beginning the Hellenistic (Greek) Period
(332 B.C.E.–323 B.C.E.). The Egyptians considered Alexander a god—
the son of their god Amun-Re. In founding the city of Alexandria,
Alexander brought Egypt into the greater Mediterranean world. But
Egypt’s ancient, native civilization was swiftly passing away.
The Ptolemaic Period (323 B.C.E.–30 B.C.E.) saw the end of ancient
Egypt. The Ptolemies, ruling from Alexandria, were greatly influenced by
the Greeks, and Greek and Egyptian culture began to blend. In 30 B.C.E.,
Queen Cleopatra VII committed suicide rather than face defeat by the
Romans, and Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire.

Why Learn About Ancient Egypt?

Ancient Egypt did not leave what scholars call a successor community—
an identifiable group of people who carry on some or all of the practices,
beliefs, traditions, and customs of an earlier people or culture with a reasonable
degree of continuity. To be a true successor community to a culture
or civilization, the new culture must uphold beliefs and traditions that were
integral to the original culture, and that are identifiable and distinctive.
But once Egypt became part of the Roman Empire, her religion
gradually vanished. Hieroglyphic writing was abandoned, and the secret
to deciphering it was lost for thousands of years. Her spoken language
metamorphosed into Coptic. Her artistic styles were not adopted by other
cultures. Her imperial age lasted only a few hundred years, and left little
mark on a rapidly-changing world. Of all Egypt’s achievements, only the
365-day calendar, adopted by the Romans, remained.

For thousands of years, ancient Egypt lay buried in sand and obscurity.
But she was only sleeping. In 1798, French general Napoleon
Bonaparte shook her awake with a landmark expedition to Egypt.
Napoleon brought scientists, historians, artists, and scholars to explore
and document the ancient monuments and ruins. In 1802, the first edition
(of more than 40) of Travels in Upper and Lower Egypt by French artist
Vivant Denon (1747-1825) caused a huge sensation in Europe. The resulting
fascination produced waves of what came to be known as Egyptomania—
a trend that shows no signs of slowing 200 years later. Egyptian
styles of design and ornamentation have long influenced architecture,
fashion, make-up, hairstyles, home décor, graphic arts, jewelry and more.
In 1809, the first edition of Denon’s 36 illustrated volumes of
Description de l’Egypte (Description of Egypt) caused another wave of
Egyptomania. Denon’s books gave European scholars their first close
look at images of Egyptian objects and inscriptions, and helped speed up
the process of decoding the hieroglyphics. They also alerted potential
looters. Egyptian tourism skyrocketed.
Another huge wave of Egyptomania erupted after the discovery of
the tomb of Tutankhamun (popularly known as King Tut) in 1922. Egyptian
design, with its elegant, angular lines and geometrical forms based
on idealized plants and flowers, had a tremendous influence on the art
movement of the time known as Art Deco.
Hollywood quickly picked up on the popular myth of a “curse” on
King Tut’s tomb. An endless series of “curse of the mummy” movies followed.
Epic films “documented” the building of the pyramids and the life
of Cleopatra, taking extreme liberties with the facts.
Egypt becomes more fascinating with each passing year, each new
archaeological discovery, each television special, each old mystery solved,
each new mystery that emerges. In many ways, the modern world is
Egypt’s long-delayed “successor community.” We do not worship Egyptian
gods and goddesses or write in hieroglyphics. But no other ancient
civilization holds such intense fascination for us.