The Empires of Egypt and Nubia Collide

KEY IDEA After Egypt conquered Nubia, these two empires along the Nile began trading and cultural ties.

The Middle Kingdom 2080 BC –1640 BC

• The succession of weak pharaohs and power struggles among nobles resulted in chaos in Egypt and gave way to the emergence of the Middle Kingdom.

The Second Intermediate Period

The Hyksos Invasion of Egypt lasted for 70 years. They had used their horse drawn chariots to cross the desert.

This invasion left the Egyptians feeling vulnerable. Before the Hyksos invasion, the desert had always protected them from outsiders. Technology had made their barrier obsolete.

The New Kingdom

• After the Hyksos were driven out of Egypt, the new rulers were determined to restore the power of Egypt. They wanted to build a vast strong empire.

• They used the technology of the Hyksos, bronze weapons an horse-drawn chariots, to become conquerors throughout the region.

Hatshepsut- The Female Pharaoh

1472 BC – 1458 BC• Hatshepsut was a female

ruler of Egypt. She took over the role of ruler because her stepson, Thutmose III was just a child when he inherited the throne.

• She was more interested in creating a trade empire than waging war.

Thutmose III1458 BC – 1425 BC

• Thutemose III, Hatshepsut’s stepson, is believed to have ordered her assassination.

• He was not interested in peaceful relations with his neighbors, instead he wanted to increase the area of the Egyptian empire.

Thutmose’s Empire

• During his rule, Thutmose III increased the Egyptian empire to include Syria, Palestine and Nubia

The Battle of Kadesh• In 1285 B.C. The Egyptians

and the Hittites from the north found themselves competing over parts of Palestine. They fought many battles and neither side was able to claim victory. To settle the dispute, Ramses II and the Hittite king entered into a peace treaty that lasted nearly 20 years and brought peace to the region.

The Pharaohs and the Afterlife

• The Pharaohs of the New Kingdom did not want to suffer the fate of the earlier pharaohs whose bodies and treasure was looted from the pyramids.

• Instead of building their tombs in plain sight, they built their tombs hidden away in the desert away from tomb robbers and looters. They were buried near the city of Thebes in the Valley of the Kings.

The Valley of the Kings

• This is an aerial view of the Valley of the Kings

Tombs of the Pharaohs

Tombs and Treasure

Ramses II1290 BC – 1224 BC

• Ramses II, added to the architecture of the Egyptian Empire. He spent his vast wealth erecting great temples to glorify himself at Karnak and the main Egyptian god Amon at

Abu Simbel. He also commissioned hundreds of statues of himself to be erected throughout the empire.

Abu Simbel and Ramses’ Temple

Egypt is Invaded

• In about 1200 B.C. The “People of the Sea”, most likely Philistines or Phoenicians, invaded the Egyptian and Hittite kingdoms.

• The Egyptian empire was unable to recover, as a result, Egypt split into regional units.

• Fractured, Egypt suffered invasions by many of the neighboring people who had once been dominated by the empire.

The Libyans Take Control

• Their neighbors to the west took the opportunity to seize control of Egypt.

• The Libyans were able to easily defeat the disunited region. Instead of imposing their own culture upon the Egyptians, the Libyans adopted many ideas and practices of the Egyptians.

Nubia Restores The Egyptian Throne

• The Nubians (Sudan) had been connected to the Egyptians for over a thousand years. Their trade, governance and culture were intermixed.

• Nubia provided a trade corridor to the interior of Africa as well as a source of slaves and other trade goods.

Piankhi Defeats the Libyans

• After the invasions of the Libyans, the Nubians gained their independence. However, they did not cut their ties with Egypt. They saw themselves as the guardians of Egyptian culture.

• In 750 B.C. a strong Nubian king, Piankhi, from the kingdom of Kush defeated the Libyans and retook the Egyptian throne after 200 years of Libyan control.

Assyrians Defeat Kush

• The Kushite control of Egypt did not last long. In 671 B.C. the Assyrians, a war-like people from northern Mesopotamia, conquered the Nubian dynasty in Egypt.

• The royal family was forced to flee to the south where they settled in a coastal city of Meroë.

Meroë Become a Thriving City

• Under the control of the Kushites, Meroë becomes a thriving center for trade between Africa and Arabia and India.

• The Kushites found abundant supplies of iron ore not present in Egypt. Meroë became a main center for the manufacture of iron weapons and tools.