List of Illustrations xii
Maps xxviii
Preface to the Second Edition xxix
1 Introductory Concerns 1
1.1 What is Ancient Egypt? 1
Chronological boundaries 1
Geographical boundaries 2
What is ancient Egyptian history? 3
Who are the ancient Egyptians? 4
1.2 Egypt’s Geography 6
The Nile River 8
The desert 9
Climate 10
Frontiers and links 11
1.3 The Makeup of Egyptian Historical Sources 12
Papyri and ostraca 12
Monumental inscriptions 14
Historical criticism 14
1.4 The Egyptians and Their Past 15
King lists 15
Egyptian concepts of kingship 19
1.5 The Chronology of Egyptian History 20
Modern subdivisions of Egyptian history 20
Absolute chronology 20
1.6 Prehistoric Developments 21
The beginning of agriculture 21
Naqada I and II periods 24
2 The Formation of the Egyptian State (ca. 3400–2686) 27
2.1 Sources 29
2.2 Royal Cemeteries and Cities 31
The Late Naqada culture 31
Dynasty 0 31
2.3 The First Kings 33
Images of war 33
The unification of Egypt 34
2.4 Ideological Foundations of the New State 35
Kings 35
Cemeteries 36
Festivals 36
Royal annals and year names 37
Gods and cults 38
Bureaucracy 40
2.5 The Invention of Writing 42
Precursors at Abydos 42
Hieroglyphic script 42
2.6 Foreign Relations 47
The Uruk culture of Babylonia 47
Late 4th?millennium Nubia 50
Late 4th?millennium Palestine 50
3 The Great Pyramid Builders (ca. 2686–2345) 52
3.1 Sources 53
3.2 The Evolution of the Mortuary Complex 55
Djoser’s step pyramid at Saqqara 56
Sneferu’s three pyramids 57
The great pyramids at Giza 58
Solar temples of the 5th dynasty 61
3.3 Administrating the Old Kingdom State 62
Neferirkara’s archive at Abusir 62
Officialdom 64
3.4 Ideological Debates? 67
Problems of royal succession 67
The gods Horus and Ra 69
3.5 Foreign Relations 70
Contacts with Nubia 71
Contacts with Asia 72
The western desert 72
3.6 Later Traditions about the Old Kingdom 73
Djoser and Imhotep 73
Sneferu 74
The great pyramid builders 74
4 The End of the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period (ca. 2345–2055) 77
4.1 Sources 78
4.2 The Rise of the Regions and Political Fragmentation 79
Nomes and nomarchs 79
Officials’ biographies 79
Pepy II 83
Why did the Old Kingdom dissolve? 84
4.3 Foreign Relations 87
Nubian independence 87
The eastern desert and the Levant 89
Mercenaries 90
4.4 Competition between Herakleopolis and Thebes 90
Herakleopolis 90
Thebes 90
4.5 Appraising the First Intermediate Period 92
Middle Kingdom literary reflections 92
Historical critique 93
5 The Middle Kingdom (ca. 2055–1650) 95
5.1 Sources and Chronology 96
5.2 Kings and Regional Elites 98
Reunification and the 11th dynasty 99
The start of the 12th dynasty and the foundation of Itj?tawi 99
Provincial powers in the early Middle Kingdom 101
Royal interference in the provinces 102
Administrative reorganization 104
Royal power in the 13th dynasty 104
5.3 Kings as Warriors 107
The annexation of Nubia 110
5.4 Egypt in the Wider World 112
The early Kingdom of Kush 112
The eastern desert and Sinai 112
Syria and Palestine 114
The world beyond 114
Rhetoric and practice in foreign relations 115
5.5 The Cult of Osiris 116
5.6 Middle Kingdom Literature and its Impact on Egyptian Culture 118
6 The Second Intermediate Period and the Hyksos (ca. 1700–1550) 122
6.1 Sources and Chronology 123
6.2 Avaris: Multiple Transformations of a Delta Harbor 124
A history of Avaris 124
Cultural hybridity 125
Other immigrants 127
6.3 The Hyksos 127
The name Hyksos 127
Hyksos origins 127
Egyptian cultural influences 128
Political history 130
The 14th and 16th dynasties 131
Hyksos rule in Palestine? 131
6.4 Nubia and the Kingdom of Kush 131
The independence of Lower Nubia 131
The Kingdom of Kush 132
Kerma 132
The extent of the Kingdom of Kush 134
6.5 Thebes in the Middle 136
Royal tombs 136
Seqenenra Taa 137
Kamose’s war 137
6.6 The Hyksos in Later Perspective 138
Queen Hatshepsut 139
The gods Ra and Seth 139
Manetho and Josephus 141
7 The Birth of Empire: The Early 18th Dynasty (ca. 1550–1390) 145
7.1 Egypt in a New World Order 148
7.2 Sources and Chronology 149
7.3 Egypt at War 150
War and society in the New Kingdom 150
The “war of liberation” 152
The annexation of Nubia 153
Wars in western Asia 157
7.4 Egypt and the Outside World 159
7.5 Domestic Issues 162
Royal succession 162
Hatshepsut 163
Royal funerary customs 167
New Kingdom bureaucracy 169
Building activity in the early 18th dynasty 171
8 The Amarna Revolution and the Late 18th Dynasty (ca. 1390–1295) 175
8.1 An International Age 177
The Club of the Great Powers 178
The administration of Syria and Palestine 179
The rise of the Hittites 181
A failed marriage alliance 182
8.2 Amenhotep III: The Sun King 182
Amenhotep III’s divinity and his building projects 183
The king’s family 186
The king’s court 187
8.3 From Amenhotep III to Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten 188
8.4 Akhenaten 189
Theban years (years 1 to 5) 191
Akhetaten (years 5 to 12) 192
Turmoil (years 12 to 17) 196
Akhenaten’s successors 197
8.5 Akhenaten’s Memory 199
9 The Ramessid Empire (ca. 1295–1213) 203
9.1 Domestic Policy: Restoration and Renewal 205
Sety I 205
Rameses II 206
9.2 International Relations: Reforming the Empire 209
Wars in Syria 209
Egyptian–Hittite peace 212
A new imperial structure 212
Foreigners in Egypt 214
9.3 Rameses’s Court 217
Officials 217
The royal family 219
9.4 A Community of Tomb Builders 222
10 The End of Empire (ca. 1213–1070) 229
10.1 Problems at Court 231
Sety II and Amenmessu 232
Saptah and Tausret 233
Sethnakht 233
10.2 Breakdown of Order 235
Tomb robberies 235
Workers’ strikes 236
10.3 The Decline of Royal Power 237
10.4 Pressures from Abroad 239
Libyans and Sea Peoples 239
The end of the international system 244
10.5 End of the New Kingdom 244
11 The Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1069–715) 249
11.1 Sources and Chronology 250
11.2 Twin Cities: Tanis and Thebes (the 21st dynasty, 1069–945) 253
Tanis 254
Thebes 256
A peaceful coexistence 258
11.3 Libyan Rule (22nd to 24th dynasties, 945–715) 260
Centralization and diffusion of power 260
The God’s Wife of Amun 263
11.4 The End of the Third Intermediate Period 265
Nubian resurgence 265
Saite expansion 267
12 Egypt in the Age of Empires (ca. 715–332) 272
12.1 Sources and Chronology 273
12.2 The Eastern Mediterranean in the 1st Millennium 275
12.3 Egypt, Kush, and Assyria (ca. 715–656) 279
Military incidents 279
12.4 Egypt, Greeks, and Babylonians (656–525) 283
Greek–Egyptian relations 283
Military activity 286
12.5 Recollections of the Past Under the Kings of Kush and Sais 286
12.6 Egypt and Persia (525–332) 290
Domination and resistance 291
Mixing cultures 296
13 Greek and Roman Egypt (332 bc–ad 395) 301
13.1 Sources and Chronology 302
13.2 Alexandria and Philae 304
Alexandria 304
Philae 307
13.3 Kings, Queens, and Emperors 308
The Ptolemies 309
Queen Cleopatra VII 311
Roman Egypt 312
13.4 Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians 313
Administration 313
Culture and religion 316
13.5 Economic Developments: Agriculture, Finance, and Trade 319
13.6 The African Hinterland 321
13.7 The Christianization of Egypt 324
Epilogue 327
Guide to Further Reading 329
Glossary 340
King List 343
Bibliography 349
Index 368
