Immediately after the above content, from the first intermediate period of chaos, the middle kingdom that gradually became rich and powerful, and then to the second intermediate period of foreign invasion, the traditional ancient Egyptian society began to undergo earth-shaking changes, in addition to agriculture, science and technology, industry and commerce and other fields have been progressed and prospered, under the influence of the Hyksos, Egypt's military skill points have been enlightened, not only tactics have been improved, the introduction of chariots and horses has greatly enhanced the strength of the army, and then ancient Egypt will enter the era of a strong empire, but it will also gradually decline.
- New Kingdom period
After destroying the Hyksos' home of Shalutine and overthrowing the Hyksos dynasty (the fifteenth dynasty), Ahmose I launched an attack on Nubia, which had been able to recuperate from foreign rule in Egypt, and he could not spare the Nubians who had tried to help the Hyksos, and finally seized the rule of the Lower Nubia region. His son Amenhotep I succeeded to the throne and continued to advance his sphere of influence to the Second Falls, then fought another battle westward with Libya; Amenhotep I's son-in-law, Thutmose I, succeeded to the throne, and continued south to the south of the Third Falls, and established the Governor of Nubia, the Governor of Kush. Since then, the rise of ancient Egypt and the establishment of a powerful empire have begun, laying a good foundation for the conquest of successors.
Territory of Thutmose I in 1495 BC
After conquering the kingdom of Kush established by the Nubians in the south, Thutmose I continued his expeditions to West Asia, and the city-states of Palestine and Syria surrendered, and soon he arrived at the Euphrates River in 1495 BC to meet the powerful kingdom of Mitanni. In 1490 BC, after The Nubians launched an uprising after Thutmose II succeeded to the throne, although he suppressed the rebellion, but died after only 8 years on the throne, a princess gave birth to an heir, but unfortunately this heir was in the stage of eating and feeding, which allowed his queen and his sister Hatshepsut to take charge of the government.
Temple of Hatshepsut
After being an acting pharaoh for a while, Hatshepsut began to indulge in the feeling of being a pharaoh, so he disguised himself as a man and became a pharaoh in the name of power granted by God. During her reign, Hatshepsut gave up foreign conquests and began to encourage trade, but in fact she had no talent for pharaohs, only for building temples and gardening, and soon the people of Canaan united to form an anti-Egyptian military alliance. Unexpectedly, it didn't take long for her to die bizarrely, and the cause of her death has always been a mystery. After Hatshepsut's death, the adult heir, Thutmose III, succeeded to the throne as pharaoh, and after a series of revenge on Hatshepsut, he decided to lead an army to conquer the formed Canaanite Alliance.
The conquest of Thutmose III
Thutmose III was undoubtedly a military genius and war maniac, known as the "Napoleon of the Ancient World". During his reign, through four wars of conquest of the Canaanite region, the local organized coalition was crushed, so that they did not dare to resist again, after the siege of Migido, Tyre, Sidon, Biblos, Damascus and other cities were successively subdued, and attacked the southern foothills of Mount Lebanon in one fell swoop, restoring Egyptian rule in the local area.
In 1450 BC, Thutmose III defeated the Mitanni army at Kadishi and destroyed the city of Kadishi, and the remains of the Hyksos disappeared completely; then he continued to march north to conquer the kingdom of Mitanni, capturing Carmekesh in 1447 BC, and the Mitanni king took advantage of the chaos to escape, and more than thirty concubines in his harem were tied up with ropes and brought back to Egypt. Since then, Egypt has established hegemony in Western Asia, hittites, Assyrians and Gassit Babylon have sent letters to Egypt, expressing their willingness to pay tribute, and King Gassett even chose the most beautiful daughter to marry Totemus III, and the empire of this period can be said to be at the peak of the entire ancient Egypt.
The largest territory under Thutmose III
In 1420 BC, after the death of Thutmose III, during the reign of Amenhotep II, taking advantage of the loosening of Egyptian rule, the northern Syrian city-states betrayed Egypt and fell to Mitanni, in 1400 BC, Amenhotep II reconciled with Artatama I, and in 1395 BC, Thutmose IV married Princess Mitanni, and the two countries formally formed an alliance against the rising Hittite Empire. In 1375 BC, the successor Amenhotep III married the daughter of MitaniShuttar II, and the peace and relatives allowed the two countries to live in harmony, at which time King Gasit also wanted to establish good diplomatic relations with the Egyptian peace relatives, but did not want to marry the princess, so he asked to marry the daughter of Amenhotep III, and the result was naturally rejected by the pharaoh on the grounds that the Egyptian princess would not marry.
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III reigned for 38 years and did not die until 1353 BC, although he was a lecherous pharaoh, who often asked his vassals to offer beautiful women, married princesses from many countries, and married Tai, the daughter of a wealthy commoner merchant, but simply chose an heir, Thutmose IV, thus preventing subsequent royal feuds. During the reign of Amenhotep III, he paid great attention to trade, which allowed Egypt to become rich and stable, and it is said that he presided over the construction of more buildings than Ramses II, but due to the busy governance of the country and pleasure, the control of Western Asia during his reign showed signs of loosening, hittites took advantage of the rise, and the great hidden danger was the rise of the priesthood, who began to occupy a large amount of wealth and property, and gradually increased their power.
Luxor Temple
After the death of Amenhotep III, he was succeeded by his son Tutmose IV (Ekhnatun), who reigned for a total of 17 years, the most important of which was the reformation of the religion, advocating the belief in the god Atun (the sun god), and initiating the earliest known monotheistic worship in order to combat the Amun priesthood, he closed the temple of Amun, confiscated the temple property, expelled the temple priests, and in addition to moving the capital from Thebes to the newly built Ehtatton. Influenced by domestic reforms during his reign, Echnathon's control over Western Asia continued to weaken, and he came into conflict with King Mitanni and chose to ally himself with the Hittites, but the Hittites were also able to occupy the city-states of northern Syria.
The Echnatun family under the illumination of the god Atun
Along with Ekhnatun's reforms was his beautiful and mysterious queen, Naftiti, who succeeded to the throne with his 9-year-old son Tutankhamun. After Tutankhamun succeeded to the throne, he restored the worship of the god Amun in 1330 BC and moved the capital back to Thebes, this pharaoh had a strange appearance like his father, presumably affected by the long-term marriage of close relatives, but the most curious thing is the reason for his mysterious death at the age of 19, and the mysterious curse event in his tomb caused by the mysterious death caused by the spell of the pharaoh's tomb, the resurrection of the mummy, is it true??
Tutankhamun mask with a statue of Nefertiti
The biggest thing that affected Egypt after Ekhnatun's death was a plague that swept through Egypt from the Middle East, the mysterious sea people who died of illness by the Hittite king Subiru Uliumah I, exploring the mystery of the fall of the Hittite civilization, the rapid decline of the city of Ekhtaton, and its abandonment shortly after Ekhnatun's death, which was one of the important reasons why Tutankhamun moved the capital to Thebes.
After Tutankhamun's death, the courtier Ay usurped the Pharaoh's throne, and after his death, the Pharaoh's throne was seized by the army commander Hollenheb. In 1300 BC, the Hittite king Murcili II took advantage of the internal turmoil in Egypt to actively expand abroad, seizing Damascus and trying to drive Egypt out of Syria. During the reign of Horenheb, he appointed the army commander Prames (Ramses I) as Vizier, the prime minister, and designated him as his heir, leading him to send troops to deal with the Hittite attack. In 1292 BC, Horenheb died and Ramses I succeeded to the throne, inaugurating the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, who had his son Seti I co-regent, but died not long after.
Frescoes of Ramses I
In 1282 BC, Seti I launched an attack on the City-States of Syria occupied by the Hittites, attempting to restore hegemony, and conquered the cities of Tyre, Sidon, and Biblos, and made peace treaties after fighting with the Hittites. During his reign, he began a major construction of many magnificent buildings, including the Ibostir Hall of the Karnak Temple, mainly a temple in Abydos dedicated to Seti's father Ramses I, and 7 sanctuaries in Abydos, including his own, behind which there was an Osriven building, in addition to his own memorial temple in Thebes, and the best tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Seti architecture.
Temple of AdobaisSetti I
In 1279 BC, After the succession of Ramses II, he built the city of Pyle Ramses in the Eastern Delta, which means the home of Ramses, where Seti I developed pottery and built a palace, which Ramses II chose to build palaces, residences, temples and other buildings on a large scale, and used it as a royal residence and administrative center. In 1274 BC, the Battle of Cardite officially broke out, Ramesses II decided to fight the Hittites, in 1272 BC, Egypt regained control of part of the Syrian city-state, in 1270 BC, the Hittite forces returned, Egypt lost control of these city-states, after years of continuous war, both sides suffered heavy losses, unable to fight again, and they also faced the threat of rising Assyria. Finally, in 1258 BC, Ramses II concluded a peace treaty with the hittite king Hatusili III, also known as the Silver Plate, the content of the peace treaty is very detailed, after the signing of this treaty, Ramses II also married a daughter of Hatusili III, and since then the two have maintained good diplomatic relations.
Battle of Kadishi
After concluding the peace treaty with the Hittites, Ramses II began to build a large number of buildings in the country, it is said that he reigned for 67 years, presided over the construction of countless buildings, but successive years of conquest and large-scale construction exhausted the country's resources, making the national treasury more and more empty, the Libyans also took the opportunity to harass the border, he could only build 6 fortresses in the western border area to resist their invasion. Ramses II had 8 queens and countless harem concubines who were difficult to verify, he had more than 100 children, but many of them died before he survived, in addition to the regular holding of various national festivals, which increased the burden on the country.
Life of Ramses II
After the death of Ramses II in 1213 BC, his son Melumpta seized the throne and moved the capital to Memphis, during his reign he defeated the alliance between the "Sea Peoples" and the Libyans, the rise and disappearance of the mysterious "Sea Peoples" recorded in ancient Egyptian history Unfortunately, Melempta was 60 years old when he succeeded to the throne, and soon after defeating the invading foreign enemy, he died in 1203 BC, after his death, the royal family fought for the throne, and Egypt fell into chaos. The Syrian slave Issur took the opportunity to lead the Great Uprising, which was eventually suppressed by the nobleman Setnakhet, and seized the pharaoh's scepter, overthrowing the rule of Queen Tevosra and inaugurating the Twentieth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt.
Defend against the invasion of the Sea Peoples
In 1178 BC, After succeeding to the throne, Semenacht's son Ramses III sent troops to the Syrian coast to fight the "sea peoples" that had sacked the coast; in 1175 BC, Ramses III defeated the joint invading army organized by the "sea peoples" in the Nile Delta, but the Philistines still had a foothold in the Gaza Strip; in 1160 BC, Egypt was no longer able to control Syria and Canaan, and the territory retreated to the Sinai Peninsula; Ramses III spent his life fighting and was busy defending against foreign invasions Unexpectedly, in 1155 BC, he died in a court conspiracy planned by the queen, and his son Ramses IV successfully succeeded to the throne.
Ramses III frescoes
Ramses III was the last powerful pharaoh in ancient Egypt, after his death, the kingship became increasingly weakened, while the Amun priesthood rose again and became more and more powerful, from Ramses IV to Ramses XI, each pharaoh did not maintain a long-term rule, the pharaoh became a puppet at the mercy of others, the domestic political instability was unstable, resulting in the economy began to weaken, prices soared, under a series of weak pharaohs, ancient Egypt gradually collapsed. In 1080 BC, during the reign of Ramses XI, the officer Hérihor became the high priest of Amun and took control of Upper Egypt, and the Kingdom of Kushi of the Nubians in the upper Nile also took advantage of the rise. In 1077 BC, Ramses XI died, and the nobleman Smendes established the Twenty-first Dynasty and carved up the remaining lands with the high priest of Amun, Herrihor. Since then, ancient Egypt has entered the third intermediate period.
Ancient Egypt fell apart
To be continued
The following is a brief review of the history of the rise and fall of ancient Egypt (from the Third Intermediate Period to the gradual decline)