EGYPT
and
the
people
devout.
The
worship
of
animals
was
probably
restricted
to
a
few
sacred
individuals
in
early-
Egypt,
but
a
degree
of
sanctity
was
afterwards
ex-tended
to
the
whole
of
a
species,
and
to
almost
every
species.
1.
The
History
of
Egypt
was
divided
by
Manetho
(who
wrote
for
Ptolemy
i.
or
ii.)
into
31
dynasties
from
Menes
to
Alexander.
The
chronology
is
very
un-certain
for
the
early
times:
most
authorities
in
Germany
place
the
1st
Dyn.
about
b.c.
3300,
and
the
12th
Dyn.
at
B.C.
2000-1800.
These
dates,
which
depend
largely
on
the
interpretation
of
records
of
astronomical
phe-nomena,
may
perhaps
be
taken
as
the
minimum.
The
allowance
of
time
(200
years)
for
the
dark
period
be-tween
the
12th
and
the
18th
Dyns.
seems
insufficient:
some
would
place
the
12th
Dyn.
at
B.C.
2500-2300,
or
even
a
whole
'Sothic'
period
of
1460
years
earlier
than
the
minimum;
and
the
1st
Dynasty
would
then
be
pushed
back
at
least
in
equal
measure.
From
the
18th
Dyn.
onwards
there
is
close
agreement.
The
historic
period
must
have
been
preceded
by
a
long
pre-historic
age,
evidenced
in
Upper
Egypt
by
extensive
cemeteries
of
graves
containing
fine
pottery,
instruments
in
flint
exquisitely
worked,
and
in
bone
and
copper,
and
shapely
vessels
in
hard
stone.
Tradi-tion
points
to
separate
kingdoms
of
Upper
and
Lower
Egypt
towards
the
close
of
this
period.
Menes,
the
founder
of
the
1st
Dyn.,
united
the
two
lands.
He
came
probably
from
This,
near
Abydos,
where
royal
tombs
of
the
first
three
Dyns.
have
been
found;
but
he
built
Memphis
as
his
capital
near
the
dividing
line
between
the
two
halves
of
his
kingdom.
The
earliest
pyramid
dates
from
the
end
of
the
3rd
dynasty.
The
stupendous
Pyramids
at
Gizeh
are
of
Cheops,
Chephren,
and
Mycerinus
of
the
4th
Dyn,,
from
which
time
we
have
also
very
beautiful
statues
in
wood,
limestone,
and
diorite.
In
the
6th
Dyn.
the
relief
sculpture
on
tombs
reached
its
highest
excellence.
The
6th
Dyn.
is
notable
for
long
inscriptions,
both
religious
texts
in
the
pyramids
and
biographical
inscriptions
in
the
lesser
tombs.
The
first
eight
Dyns.,
of
which
the
7th
and
8th
are
utterly
obscure,
constitute
the
Old
Kingdom.
After
the
first
two
Dyns.,
best
represented
at
Abydos,
its
monuments
are
concentrated
at
Memphis,
but
important
records
of
the
6th
Dyn.
are
widely
spread
as
far
south
as
the
First
Cataract,
parallel
with
the
growing
power
and
culture
of
the
nomarchs.
Expedi-tions
were
made
even
under
the
1st
Dyn.
to
the
copper
and
turquoise
mines
in
the
peninsula
of
Sinai,
and
cedar
wood
was
probably
then
already
obtained
from
Lebanon
by
sea.
Under
the
6th
Dyn.
Nubia
furnished
troops
to
the
Egyptian
armies
from
the
distant
south
as
far
perhaps
as
Khartum.
But
at
the
end
of
it
there
was
a
collapse,
probably
through
insufficient
control
of
the
local
princes
of
that
time
by
the
nomarch.
In
the
next
period,
the
Middle
Kingdom
(Dyns.
9-17),
we
see
the
rise
of
Thebes;
but
the
9th
and
10th
Dyns.
were
from
Heracleopohs,
partly
contemporary
with
the
11th
Dyn.,
which
eventually
suppressed
the
rival
house.
The
monuments
of
the
11th
Dyn.
are
almost
confined
to
the
neighbourhood
of
Thebes.
Under
the
Ame-nemhes
and
Senwosris
of
the
12th
Dyn.,
Egypt
was
as
great
as
it
was
in
the
4th
Dyn.,
but
its
power
was
not
concentrated
as
then.
The
break-up
of
the
old
King-dom
had
given
an
opportunity
to
a
number
of
powerful
families
to
grow
up
and
establish
themselves
in
local
princedoms:
the
family
that
triumphed
over
the
rest
by
arms
or
diplomacy
could
control
but
could
not
ignore
them,
and
feudalism
was
the
result,
each
great
prince
having
a
court
and
an
army
resembling
those
of
the
king,
but
on
a
smaller
scale.
The
most
notable
achievement
of
these
Dyns.
was
the
regulation
of
the
lake
of
Mceris
by
Amenemhe
iir.,
with
much
other
important
work
for
irrigation
and
improvement
of
agriculture.
Literature
also
flourished
at
this
period.
The
traditional
exploits
of
the
world-conqueror
Sesostris
EGYPT
seem
to
have
been
developed
in
late
times
out
of
the
petty
expeditions
of
Senwosri
iii.
into
Nubia,
Libya,
and
Palestine.
The
13th
and
14th
Dyns.
are
repre-sented
by
a
crowd
of
150
royal
names:
they
are
very
obscure,
and
some
scholars
would
make
them
con-temporary
with
each
other
and
with
the
following.
The
15th
and
16th
Dyns.
were
of
the
little-known
Hyksos
or
'Shepherd
kings,'
apparently
invaders
from
the
East,
who
for
a
time
ruled
all
Egypt
(c.
b.c.
1650).
Excepting
scarabs
engraved
with
the
names
of
the
kings,
monuments
of
the
Hyksos
are
extremely
rare.
Their
names
betray
a
Semitic
language:
they
were
probably
barbarian,
but
in
the
end
took
on
the
culture
of
Egypt,
and
it
is
a
strange
fact
that
inscribed
reUcs
of
one
of
them,
Khyan,
have
been
found
in
places
as
far
apart
as
at
Cnossus
in
Crete
and
Baghdad
;
no
other
Egyptian
king,
not
even
Thetmosi
iii.,
has
quite
so
wide
a
range
as
that
mysterious
Hyksos.
The
foreign
rulers
are
said
to
have
oppressed
the
natives
and
to'have
forbidden
the
worship
of
the
Egyptian
deities.
The
princes
of
Thebes,
becoming
more
or
less
independent,
formed
the
17th
Dyn.,
and
succeeded
in
ousting
the
hated
Hyksos,
now
probably
diminished
in
numbers
and
weakened
by
luxury,
from
Upper
Egypt.
The
first
king
of
the
18th
Dyn.,
Ahmosi,
drove
them
across
the
N.E.
frontier
and
pursued
them
into
Palestine
(c.
B.C.
1580).
The
18th
Dyn.
ushers
in
the
most
glorious
period
in
Egyptian
history,
the
New
Kingdom,
or,
as
it
has
been
called
on
account
of
its
far-reaching
sway,
the
Empire,
lasting
to
the
end
of
the
20th
Dynasty.
The
prolonged
effort
to
cast
out
the
Hyksos
had
welded
together
a
nation
in
arms
under
the
leadership
of
the
Thehan
kings,
leaving
no
trace
of
the
old
feudalism
;
the
hatred
of
the
oppressor
pursued
the
'pest'
far
into
Syria
in
succes-sive
campaigns,
until
Thetmosi
i.,
the
second
successor
of
Ahmosi,
reached
the
Euphrates.
Thetmosi
ii.
and
a
queen,
Hatshepsut
(c.
1500),
ruled
for
a
time
with
less
vigorous
hands,
and
the
latter
cultivated
only
the
arts
of
peace.
Meanwhile
the
princes
of
Syria
strengthened
themselves
and
united
to
offer
a
formidable
opposi-tion
to
Thetmosi
iii.
when
he
endeavoured
to
recover
the
lost
ground.
This
Piiaraoh,
however,
was
a
great
strategist,
as
well
as
a
valiant
soldier:
as
the
result
of
many
annual
campaigns,
he
not
only
placed
his
tablet
on
the
bank
of
the
Euphrates,
by
the
side
of
that
of
Thetmosi
i.,
but
also
consolidated
the
rule
of
Egypt
over
the
whole
of
Syria
and
Phoenicia.
The
wealth
of
the
conquered
countries
poured
into
Egypt,
and
the
temple
of
the
Theban
Ammon,
the
god
under
whose
banner
the
armies
of
the
Pharaohs
of
two
dynasties
had
won
their
victories,
was
ever
growing
in
wealth
of
slaves,
lands,
and
spoil.
Amenhotp
iii.
enjoyed
the
fruits
of
his
predecessors'
conquests,
and
was
a
mighty
builder.
His
are
the
colossi
at
Thebes
named
Memnqn
by
the
Greeks.
The
empire
had
then
reached
its
zenith.
Under
Amenhotp
iv.
(c.
1370),
in
some
ways
the
most
striking
figure
in
Egyptian
history
[the
latest
discoveries
tend
to
show
that
the
king
was
not
more
than
14
years
old
when
the
great
innovation
took
place.
He
may
thus
have
been
rather
a
tool
in
the
hands
of
a
reformer],
it
rapidly
declined:
the
Hittites
were
pressing
into
Syria
from
the
north,
and
all
the
while
the
Pharaoh
was
a
dreamer
absorbed
in
establishing
a
monotheistic
worship
of
Aton
(the
sun)
against
the
polytheism
of
Egypt,
and
more
especially
against
the
Theban
and
national
worship
of
Ammon.
He
changed
his
own
name
to
Akhenaton,
built
a
new
capital,
the
'Horizon
of
Aton,'
in
place
of
Thebes,
and
erased
the
name
and
figure
of
Ammon
wherever
they
were
seen.
Art,
too,
found
in
him
a
lavish
patron,
and
struck
out
new
types,
often
bizarre
rather
than
beautiful.
But
for
the
empire
Pharaoh
had
no
thought
or
leisure.
The
cuneiform
letters
found
in
the
ruins
of
his
new-fangled
capital
at
el-Amarna
show
us
his
distracted
agents
and
vassals
in
Syria
appealing
to
him
in
vain
