History of Ancient Egypt

Marc Van De Mieroop is Professor of History at Columbia University and Director of Columbia's Center for the Ancient Mediterranean. He has also taught at Oxford University and Yale University. He is the author of King Hammurabi of Babylon, The Eastern Mediterranean in the Age of Ramessess II, and A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 B.C.

• List of Illustrations xiiMaps xxviiiPreface to the Second Edition xxix1 Introductory Concerns 11.1 What is Ancient Egypt? 1Chronological boundaries 1Geographical boundaries 2What is ancient Egyptian history? 3Who are the ancient Egyptians? 41.2 Egypt’s Geography 6The Nile River 8The desert 9Climate 10Frontiers and links 111.3 The Makeup of Egyptian Historical Sources 12Papyri and ostraca 12Monumental inscriptions 14Historical criticism 141.4 The Egyptians and Their Past 15King lists 15Egyptian concepts of kingship 191.5 The Chronology of Egyptian History 20Modern subdivisions of Egyptian history 20Absolute chronology 201.6 Prehistoric Developments 21The beginning of agriculture 21Naqada I and II periods 242 The Formation of the Egyptian State (ca. 3400–2686) 272.1 Sources 292.2 Royal Cemeteries and Cities 31The Late Naqada culture 31Dynasty 0 312.3 The First Kings 33Images of war 33The unification of Egypt 342.4 Ideological Foundations of the New State 35Kings 35Cemeteries 36Festivals 36Royal annals and year names 37Gods and cults 38Bureaucracy 402.5 The Invention of Writing 42Precursors at Abydos 42Hieroglyphic script 422.6 Foreign Relations 47The Uruk culture of Babylonia 47Late 4th‐millennium Nubia 50Late 4th‐millennium Palestine 503 The Great Pyramid Builders (ca. 2686–2345) 523.1 Sources 533.2 The Evolution of the Mortuary Complex 55Djoser’s step pyramid at Saqqara 56Sneferu’s three pyramids 57The great pyramids at Giza 58Solar temples of the 5th dynasty 613.3 Administrating the Old Kingdom State 62Neferirkara’s archive at Abusir 62Officialdom 643.4 Ideological Debates? 67Problems of royal succession 67The gods Horus and Ra 693.5 Foreign Relations 70Contacts with Nubia 71Contacts with Asia 72The western desert 723.6 Later Traditions about the Old Kingdom 73Djoser and Imhotep 73Sneferu 74The great pyramid builders 744 The End of the Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period (ca. 2345–2055) 774.1 Sources 784.2 The Rise of the Regions and Political Fragmentation 79Nomes and nomarchs 79Officials’ biographies 79Pepy II 83Why did the Old Kingdom dissolve? 844.3 Foreign Relations 87Nubian independence 87The eastern desert and the Levant 89Mercenaries 904.4 Competition between Herakleopolis and Thebes 90Herakleopolis 90Thebes 904.5 Appraising the First Intermediate Period 92Middle Kingdom literary reflections 92Historical critique 935 The Middle Kingdom (ca. 2055–1650) 955.1 Sources and Chronology 965.2 Kings and Regional Elites 98Reunification and the 11th dynasty 99The start of the 12th dynasty and the foundation of Itj‐tawi 99Provincial powers in the early Middle Kingdom 101Royal interference in the provinces 102Administrative reorganization 104Royal power in the 13th dynasty 1045.3 Kings as Warriors 107The annexation of Nubia 1105.4 Egypt in the Wider World 112The early Kingdom of Kush 112The eastern desert and Sinai 112Syria and Palestine 114The world beyond 114Rhetoric and practice in foreign relations 1155.5 The Cult of Osiris 1165.6 Middle Kingdom Literature and its Impact on Egyptian Culture 1186 The Second Intermediate Period and the Hyksos (ca. 1700–1550) 1226.1 Sources and Chronology 1236.2 Avaris: Multiple Transformations of a Delta Harbor 124A history of Avaris 124Cultural hybridity 125Other immigrants 1276.3 The Hyksos 127The name Hyksos 127Hyksos origins 127Egyptian cultural influences 128Political history 130The 14th and 16th dynasties 131Hyksos rule in Palestine? 1316.4 Nubia and the Kingdom of Kush 131The independence of Lower Nubia 131The Kingdom of Kush 132Kerma 132The extent of the Kingdom of Kush 1346.5 Thebes in the Middle 136Royal tombs 136Seqenenra Taa 137Kamose’s war 1376.6 The Hyksos in Later Perspective 138Queen Hatshepsut 139The gods Ra and Seth 139Manetho and Josephus 1417 The Birth of Empire: The Early 18th Dynasty (ca. 1550–1390) 1457.1 Egypt in a New World Order 1487.2 Sources and Chronology 1497.3 Egypt at War 150War and society in the New Kingdom 150The “war of liberation” 152The annexation of Nubia 153Wars in western Asia 1577.4 Egypt and the Outside World 1597.5 Domestic Issues 162Royal succession 162Hatshepsut 163Royal funerary customs 167New Kingdom bureaucracy 169Building activity in the early 18th dynasty 1718 The Amarna Revolution and the Late 18th Dynasty (ca. 1390–1295) 1758.1 An International Age 177The Club of the Great Powers 178The administration of Syria and Palestine 179The rise of the Hittites 181A failed marriage alliance 1828.2 Amenhotep III: The Sun King 182Amenhotep III’s divinity and his building projects 183The king’s family 186The king’s court 1878.3 From Amenhotep III to Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten 1888.4 Akhenaten 189Theban years (years 1 to 5) 191Akhetaten (years 5 to 12) 192Turmoil (years 12 to 17) 196Akhenaten’s successors 1978.5 Akhenaten’s Memory 1999 The Ramessid Empire (ca. 1295–1213) 2039.1 Domestic Policy: Restoration and Renewal 205Sety I 205Rameses II 2069.2 International Relations: Reforming the Empire 209Wars in Syria 209Egyptian–Hittite peace 212A new imperial structure 212Foreigners in Egypt 2149.3 Rameses’s Court 217Officials 217The royal family 2199.4 A Community of Tomb Builders 22210 The End of Empire (ca. 1213–1070) 22910.1 Problems at Court 231Sety II and Amenmessu 232Saptah and Tausret 233Sethnakht 23310.2 Breakdown of Order 235Tomb robberies 235Workers’ strikes 23610.3 The Decline of Royal Power 23710.4 Pressures from Abroad 239Libyans and Sea Peoples 239The end of the international system 24410.5 End of the New Kingdom 24411 The Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1069–715) 24911.1 Sources and Chronology 25011.2 Twin Cities: Tanis and Thebes (the 21st dynasty, 1069–945) 253Tanis 254Thebes 256A peaceful coexistence 25811.3 Libyan Rule (22nd to 24th dynasties, 945–715) 260Centralization and diffusion of power 260The God’s Wife of Amun 26311.4 The End of the Third Intermediate Period 265Nubian resurgence 265Saite expansion 26712 Egypt in the Age of Empires (ca. 715–332) 27212.1 Sources and Chronology 27312.2 The Eastern Mediterranean in the 1st Millennium 27512.3 Egypt, Kush, and Assyria (ca. 715–656) 279Military incidents 27912.4 Egypt, Greeks, and Babylonians (656–525) 283Greek–Egyptian relations 283Military activity 28612.5 Recollections of the Past Under the Kings of Kush and Sais 28612.6 Egypt and Persia (525–332) 290Domination and resistance 291Mixing cultures 29613 Greek and Roman Egypt (332 bc–ad 395) 30113.1 Sources and Chronology 30213.2 Alexandria and Philae 304Alexandria 304Philae 30713.3 Kings, Queens, and Emperors 308The Ptolemies 309Queen Cleopatra VII 311Roman Egypt 31213.4 Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians 313Administration 313Culture and religion 31613.5 Economic Developments: Agriculture, Finance, and Trade 31913.6 The African Hinterland 32113.7 The Christianization of Egypt 324Epilogue 327Guide to Further Reading 329Glossary 340King List 343Bibliography 349Index 368