Beginning in the 12th century BC, under the impact of the sea peoples, ancient Egypt was washed across, the pharaohs after Ramses III were Liu Adou, the ancient Egyptians were unable to drive away the immigrants of these sea peoples, a large number of Libyans continued to infiltrate, they gradually gained a foothold in the Nile Delta, and scattered throughout ancient Egypt.
In fact, the Libyans had contacts with ancient Egypt, and have been in contact since the time of Narmai. But they have always been in a loose nomadic tribal social state, when ancient Egypt was strong, they were suppressed and beaten; when ancient Egypt was weak, they in turn harassed and plundered, a bit of our relationship with the northern nomads. Later, as the ancient Egyptian civilization became more and more powerful, the Libyans gradually accepted the ancient Egyptian civilization, especially the Libyans who settled in ancient Egypt, and had long been integrated into the ancient Egyptian society, when the ancient Egyptian army was filled with a large number of Libyan mercenaries, these Libyans were brave and good at war, and their status and influence in the military were also increasing.
By the time of the reign of Ramses XI, the local nobleman Smundis, the High Priest of Amun of Thebes, and the Pharaoh formed a three-legged situation. In 1078 BC, Ramses XI died, the three-legged rupture was broken, and Smondis established the Twenty-first Dynasty and gained control of northern Ancient Egypt. The south, on the other hand, was under the effective rule of Thebes, high priest of the Temple of Amun, who nominally recognized the authority of Smondis, but still competed with each other for power and profit, seriously dispersing the power of the state, so ancient Egypt was in fact divided again.
Pharaoh Sheshunk I
The mighty Libyan immigrants had long been eyeing ancient Egypt, and the opportunity could not be missed, and sher shunk, a noble officer of Libya who was the commander-in-chief of the ancient Egyptian army, was also the chief adviser of Pusasenes II (the last king of the Twenty-first Dynasty). When Prosenese II died, Sheshunk led an army, under the banner of mercenaries, to strike back and attack the Nile Delta. In 945 BC, the Twenty-first Dynasty was overthrown, he put on a double crown symbolizing the unity of upper and lower Egypt, fixed the capital of Bubatis (a city worshipping the cat god), and established the ancient Egyptian Libyan Dynasty (the Twenty-second and Twenty-third Dynasties). For the legitimacy of the throne, he married his son Osorcon I to the daughter of Prosenese II.
The cat god of Bubastis
At this time, however, Upper Egypt was still in the hands of the priesthood, who did not recognize the legitimate dominance of Sheshunk I. The wise Sheshunk I understood that the priestly forces of Amun now held a great deal of wealth and power in ancient Egypt, and that it would be difficult to defeat them by brute force alone and to gain the hearts and minds of the people. In 930 BC, he appointed his second son, Eupt, as high priest of Amun in Thebes and commander of the Upper Egyptian army, hoping to deter and control the local priestly forces, and placed his blood relatives in key positions throughout ancient Egypt, a arrangement of hidden blood relatives that was typical of the Libyan tribal system. After this operation, Sheshunk I quickly took control of the whole of ancient Egypt, but also left hidden dangers for the division of the late dynasty.
Map of the territory of ancient Egypt during the reign of Sheshunk I
Why did the ancient Egyptians allow foreign races to become pharaohs? One, I think, of course, is helpless, because there was not a single outstanding leader like Thutmose III or Ramses II in this era; the other is that the ancient Egyptians had lost their national cohesion.
Since the Reformation in Akhenaten in the 14th century BC, monotheism and polytheism have divided into two political blocs. But Akhenaten's monotheism was short-lived, and after his death, monotheism was strongly suppressed by polytheism, which soon gained the upper hand until it reached its peak by the time of Ramses II. At that time, each city had its own gods and priesthoods, and the people of each city worshipped the gods of the city, and the religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians were divided. The divided religious beliefs have affected the division of political forces, which has greatly reduced the cohesion of the entire nation. And when the Libyans, such a pharaoh of foreign blood, controlled the regime, most of the political forces in ancient Egypt were pregnant with ghosts, and they did not unify the country, and whether the pharaoh was a native or a foreigner already had an attitude of indifference, so from the inner and spiritual level, the ancient Egyptians had split.
This ancient country, which spanned more than two thousand years, began to be ruled and enslaved by powerful foreign races one after another, slowly losing itself, losing its own unique ancient Egyptian civilization, so that in the end even its own writing became unrecognizable, sad and lamentable!
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
After stabilizing the domestic situation, Sheshunk I began to use a large number of troops abroad, and the ancient Egyptian army swept through Syria, Philistine, Phoenician and Negev regions, successfully recovering Megiddo and plundering a large number of treasures. In the Old Testament, it is recorded that the holy city of Jerusalem at that time in the kingdom of Judah, the luxurious first temple in the city was looted by the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Shessa, and later theologians believed that this Pharaoh Shessa should be Sheshunk I.
A list of the cities conquered by Sheshunk I recorded on the stone slabs of the Karnak Temple, but there is no Jerusalem.
After the death of Sheshunk I, his eldest son Osorcon I succeeded to the throne, and the pharaoh reigned for 35 years, the most prosperous period of the entire Libyan dynasty. During this period, domestic and foreign wars subsided, the influence and status of ancient Egypt in West Asia were restored, and the small countries in the Canaan region took the initiative to submit and pay regular tribute. At the same time, construction of temples and a large number of jobs were being built throughout the country, which greatly stabilized society.
The throne then passed to the fifth pharaoh of the dynasty, Osorcon II, who was also a long-lived man who reigned for 35 years. In terms of generations, he was the great-grandson of Sheshunk I, and it was his turn to taste the bitter wine brewed by Sheshunk I. Before Osorcon II's ass was hot, in the second year of his reign, his cousin Halsis began to claim the throne in Thebes, controlling a large part of Upper Egypt and the Western Oasis, and Osorcon II could only hold back.
Until Halses died. Osorcon II immediately appointed his son Nimnot as high priest of Amun to consolidate his authority in Upper Egypt, and then divided his other sons into various places to suppress the uneasy forces everywhere. It seems that this Libyan pharaoh's ability to govern the country also stayed in the tribal era, hoping to rely on the theocratic system and blood family ties to maintain the unity of the entire country.
Left: God of Horus Medium: Pharaoh Osorcon II Right: Goddess Isis
In the 10th century BC, at this time, the New Assyrian Empire was rising in West Asia and was expanding westward, posing a great threat to the power of ancient Egypt in West Asia. The ancient Egyptians sent armies to unite the Palestinian and Syrian states against Assyria, and after the Battle of Kalkar, successfully blocked the expansion of Salma Nassar III.
In 837 BC, Pharaoh Osorcon II died, and princes from all over the world began to compete for the throne, and ancient Egypt soon split into twenty-two dynasties and twenty-three dynasties. Lower Egypt was ruled by the Twenty-second Dynasty by Sheshunk III, and Upper and Middle Egypt by the Twenty-third Dynasty established by Nimnot's son Tacloth II.
Shortly after the establishment of the Twenty-third Dynasty, the internal Pidubast established himself as king. The two factions fought a long civil war around Thebes. It was not until 798 BC that the civil strife of the dynasty was ended by Taklot II's son Osorcon III, who in his later years ruled with his son Takloth III, which was the last father-son co-rule in ancient Egyptian history.
During the reign of Takrot III, the monarchy weakened again, local restless forces began to emerge again, and the kushi kingdom of Southern Nubia rose up, successfully invading ancient Egypt and expanding its power to Ölefantin. What about the Twenty-Three Dynasties later? Later, it was split, split into four small countries, and was destroyed by the Kushi Kingdom. In 730 BC, the Ancient Egyptian Dynasty of Libya collapsed.