Egyptian and Nubian Empires

Chapter 4 Section 1

Main Idea and Key Terms

• Two empires along the Nile, Egypt and Nubia, forged commercial, cultural, and political connections

• Hyksos• New Kingdom• Hatshepsut• Thutmose III• Nubia• Ramses II• Kush• Piankhi• Meroë

Nomadic Invaders Rule Egypt

• After the prosperity of the Middle Kingdom, Egypt descended into war and violence

• Weak pharaohs and power disputes led to the fall of Egypt to the Hyksos

• During the Hyksos rule was when the Hebrews arrived in Egypt

• The Egyptians resented the Hebrews

Egyptian & Nubian Empires

• Around 1600, Queen Ahhotep helped drive out the Hyksos

• The next pharaoh, Kamses, and his successors drove the Hyksos out of Egypt to Palestine

• The Hebrews that remained in Egypt were enslaved

• They left during the “Exodus”

The New Kingdom

• The pharaohs of the New Kingdom sought to build an empire

• Using bronze weapons and two-wheeled chariots, the Egyptians became conquerors

New Kingdom

• Hatshepsut declared herself pharaoh around 1472 b.c.e.

• She encouraged trade instead of war

• She sent a trade expedition to the Land of Punt, near present day Somalia

• They brought back many items for ceremonies, as well as gold and ivory

New Kingdom

• Hatshepsut’s stepson, Thutmose III, was much more warlike

• May have murdered his stepmother to take the throne

• He invaded Palestine and Syria, as well as south into Nubia, along the upper Nile

• This was the height of the Egyptian Empire

Hatshepsut

New Kingdom

• Later, the Egyptians faced the Hittites

• Ramses II signed a treaty • Like the Old Kingdom, rulers of

the New Kingdom erected great buildings

• They hid their tombs beneath desert cliffs at the Valley of the Kings near Thebes

• www.thebanmappingproject.com

Decline

• Shortly after Ramses died, the entire Eastern Mediterranean faced a series of invasions

• After the invasions, Egypt never recovered

• The empire broke apart, and became regional kingdoms

• Eventually the Nubians came north and seized power

New Kingdom

The Kush

• For centuries, Egypt dominated Nubia and the kingdom of Kush

• After the fall of the Egyptian empire, Kush began to rise

• Nubia then established a Kushite throne in Egypt

• The Kushites adopted clothing, Gods, writing, and customs from the Egyptians

Kush

• In 751 b.c.e., a Kushite king named Piankhi overthrew the Libyan dynasty ruling Egypt

• The Assyrians invaded in 671 b.c.e. and drove out the Kushites

• They fled south, where they experienced a golden age, despite their loss of Egypt

The Golden Age of Meroë

• After the defeat in Egypt, the Kushite royal family moved south to Meroë

• Meroë lay along the Red Sea• It became active in trade with Arabia,

Africa, and India• Unlike Egypt, Meroë enjoyed significant

rainfall and had iron ore• Became a manufacturer of weapons and

tools

Meroë

• Natural resources flowed out of Africa and luxury goods from India and Arabia flowed in

• After four centuries of prosperity, from about 250 b.c.e. to 150 c.e., Meroë began to decline

• Aksum began to dominate North African trade