The History of Ancient Egypt: One of the Most Magnificent Civilizations in History -See U in History

mesopotamia is considered the cradle of the first gray civilizations among them are the sumerians who created well-organized kingdoms at the beginning of the bronze age obviously at that time human beings did not only live in mesopotamia they were in much of the globe and most lived as nomads or in small villages some tribes migrated to north africa in about 5500 bc where they created villages and spread out along the nile valley more precisely in the regions now known as upper egypt and lower egypt the region was chosen for the existence of the famous nile river besides being the most extensive river in the world it was also responsible for the development of egyptian culture the ancient egyptians called the nile river iteru meaning great river they considered it a gift from the gods to all living beings every year the nile river has periods of high tide irrigating the soil around it the debris makes the land dark and fertile and makes it possible to farm and graze rural animals one of the names that the egyptians used to refer to their land was commet a term that can be translated as black earth underlining the importance of fertility in the soil the most prominent region is the delta of the nile where the river is divided into several branches flowing into the mediterranean sea where the largest number of settlements are as with the mesopotamian peoples the dominance of agriculture was the main stimulus to boost trade and cultural development of the early egyptians as time went by settlements became independent cities soon the first rulers began to emerge who declare themselves sovereign kings of their territories in 3100 bc a king of upper egypt began a military campaign against the other cities the identity of this king is discussed among historians archaeological records indicate the existence of a semi-legendary king who according to the beliefs at the time would be a descendant of horus this mysterious king was probably known by the name of narmer or meanes there are strong indications that narmer would be the name used more complete studies indicate that meanies was an honorary title which means he who perseveres narmer was successful in his campaign and unified the people of lower and upper egypt under his command he was the first pharaoh of egypt narmer began the first egyptian dynasties this was followed by 30 dynasties over the centuries the city of memphis was founded by narmer for a long time it was the capital of ancient egypt due to its geographical location which guaranteed a strategic control point in egyptian territory the city had a port on the banks of the nile river where factories and workshops are built producing ceramic jars clothes or dyes that were transported to the neighboring cities by boats along the river even in this period of their history the egyptians already had conflicts with the neighboring peoples for example some nubian and lebanese tribes who did not accept the dominant power of the egyptians in most fertile territories these tribes constantly rebelled against egyptians and attacked smaller villages and cities provoking violent fighting and making it difficult to distribute goods throughout the region it is possible that pharaoh narmer married nathotep a princess from north africa the marriage would have political objectives to appease disputes on egyptian territory naithotep was the first queen of egypt perhaps she was the first female pharaoh after narmer's death if so she was the first woman in history to rule a dynasty nathothep's name was found in several places such as tombstones and sacred objects this underlines its importance as co-founder of the first dynasty she is the oldest queen of ancient egypt whose name is known by historians during the great history of ancient egypt the pharaohs played a more important role than traditional figure attributed to kings and emperors the egyptians considered us sacred beings to the egyptians according to the beliefs of the time the pharaohs had inherited divine blood they were descendants of horus and for that reason only those who belonged to that same lineage were entitled to the throne this explains why some women have taken over throughout egyptian history in contemporary peoples only men had the right to rule but the egyptians always chose a woman with divine blood over a man without that trait the pharaohs were not only in charge of governing they were also the supreme commanders of the army the highest magistrates and the highest priests the pharaoh was the human figure closest to the gods despite all the benefits available to the pharaohs their lives were not particularly easy some took on the burden of governance of a nation before the age of 12. the heir to the royal throne was prepared from childhood to fill the position he had to learn military tactics the history of kingdoms and military conquests he also had to learn to read write and memorize religious rights despite the authority of the pharaohs they rarely remained in power for long their reign was often interrupted by invaders or coups to prolong the reign of the pharaohs every year ritualistic festivals took place the opet festivals the objective was to rejuvenate the pharaoh and his bond with the gods when a pharaoh was able to remain in power for about 30 years a great party was organized to exalt his reign at death he was honored with parties songs and rituals a passage to the other world around 2686 bc the phase known as the ancient empire also known as the pyramid age began in this period egypt was already established as an empire having commercial relations with the lebanese palestinian and mesopotamian peoples egypt had become a land of great riches during the ancient empire there were great artistic and architectural breakthroughs the paintings that adorned the temples and palaces were made with great skill whose proportions were calculated with high precision the dye came for the extract of plants and minerals insects and animal blood were even used to achieve more vivid colors as a result many paintings maintain their colors and splendor today the paintings could represent from everyday life to great events such as bountiful harvests the crowning of pharaohs or natural disasters the gods and sacred rituals were prominent in the artistic representations many of the most famous stories of the egyptian pantheon were told through paintings and carvings of palace walls and tombs and the economy all production was accounted for and recorded which enabled a more accurate allocation resources government officials collected taxes recruited peasants to work on crops or in construction and headed the legal system commanding patrols as soldiers and prosecuting crimes during the ancient empire the military area also progressed the soldiers already had breastplates made of wool or leather shields made of wood and covered with leather and the iconic kopesh sword also of this period around 2200 bc there was a great period of drought in egypt which lasted 140 years it caused hunger in the population and a decline in economic and social power instability ravaged egypt and the pharaoh's government lost control of his territories some provinces further away from the capital revolted and declared independence the leaders of the rebel provinces stopped paying taxes to the central government and began to enrich their own coffers in the end a kind of mafia leader was born as they hired criminals and deserters as personal protectors two groups stood out one commanded lower egypt from the city of hericonpolis and the other commanded upper egypt from the city of thebes around 2055 bc the forces of thebes commanded by mintuhotep ii defeated the rulers of hericonpolis unifying egypt again and beginning the period of the middle empire the sands of egypt hold secrets and stories that awaken our imagination and will to unravel the past of one of the greatest civilizations in history after the difficult times of the ancient empire the egyptians managed to recover their ancient territories and trade routes it was the beginning of a new era of prosperity this new phase in egyptian history is known as the middle empire between 2050 bc and 1710 bc after re-establishing military control in egypt the economy had to recover new irrigation systems were built besides new monuments to the gods pharaoh mentuhotep ii began a military campaign to conquer nubia a region rich in gold and precious jewelry and very lucrative for the debilitated egyptian coffers the fight against anubians lasted many years and despite their insistence the egyptians were unable to totally subjugate their opponents proving the great military capability of the african tribes mentuhotept ii died after reigning for 51 years he was buried together with his six wives in a funeral complex in der al-bahri after egypt regained his financial power without facing great external threats the empire entered an erudite period during the middle empire the concept of life beyond death gained notoriety dying something that was already seen as a rite of passage became even more important in the daily life of the egyptians the rulers also recovered the habit of erecting pyramids as tombs ordering the construction of ever larger monuments the construction of the pyramids began in the ancient empire jose's pyramid was the first built around 2630 bc located northwest of the city of memphis the joseph pyramid and his tomb complex are considered the oldest monumental structures in the world designed by architect imhotep during his life imhotep was probably one of the most important men in egypt with knowledge in several areas such as medicine architecture religion and carpentry imhotep belongs to a small group of plebs who received the status of deities in egypt this distinction was usually reserved for the most important members of the nobility immotep's historical existence is proven through two contemporary inscriptions on the base or pedestal of one of jose's statues immotep was such an important figure that even after his death he continued to be revered his grave was hidden in complete secrecy and remains unknown to this day so far 123 pyramids have been found and accounted for in egypt some of them already practically in ruins the decision to build pyramidal tombs is justified because this is the safest way to erect a monument because the base is wider and heavier than the top even so some pyramids collapsed in antiquity due to irregularities in their shape or the wrong choice a terrain when this happened the builder responsible for the work was executed there is also the famous bent pyramid which remains to this day however its shape has changed during construction the construction of the pyramids required great physical effort and complete logistics each granite stone weighs approximately 2.5 tons having been extracted from quarries sometimes located 800 kilometers away from the construction site they were then placed on barges and transported along the nile river after being unloaded the stones were transported with ropes and sleds to the construction site there they were cut and sanded until they reached the necessary shape only then they were dragged on ramps to the final destination the exact number of workers participating in construction is unknown it is believed that more than 30 000 men took part in the efforts to erect these monuments the majority were free men who received a salary and tax exemption many slaves were also used entrusted with the most arduous and tiring tasks the pyramids were built by order of the pharaohs who wanted to use them as a tomb and symbol of power and authority the pyramids also had a symbolic character for the egyptians who believe that the origin of the earth came from a primordial mount in pyramidal form the most famous pyramids are the pyramids of giza in the necropolis of giza near cairo the necropolis has three pyramids the highest is chiops the middle is kaphra and the smallest is menkaure there are still some smaller monuments near the pyramids known as the pyramids of queens the great sphinx is also part of the necropolis at their peak the pyramids were finished with a cover of polish white limestone which reflected the sunlight at great distances and at the top were placed stones adorned with hieroglyphic writing possibly some pyramids would have a top made of or coated in gold it was a breathtaking vision the pyramid of triops was an impressive 146.5 meters high today there are 138.8 meters left it is the oldest of the seven wonders of the ancient world and the only one that still exists almost all the pyramids were plundered inside and out the limestone cover and the granite stones were removed for use in other buildings over the centuries the justification for this enormous dedication to building gigantic funerary monuments lay in the religion of the ancient egyptians which strongly influenced the people's view of life and death the egyptians left no written sources that clearly explained their beliefs for this reason modern historians used the paintings and scriptures left in temples pyramids and tombs as their source another source of this research are the three collections of hieroglyphic texts from different periods these texts are the book of pyramids the book of sarcophagi and the book of the dead the ancient egyptians believed that those who had divine blood could be resurrected after a few hundred years recovering their place as rulers this concept of death and rebirth explains why the pharaohs created environments where they could preserve their bodies and return to life mummification was intended to preserve the body that would be retrieved by the sovereign in the pharaoh's tomb were also placed precious objects clothes and jewelry during the ancient empire his personal servants animals and priests were also sacrificed in many cases his wife or wives were also buried together with the pharaoh but this practice has lost importance in the middle empire the sarcophagi were also vital importance in the incarnation of the pharaoh the pharaoh's phase was carved into the sarcophagus with the greatest possible precision thus when the spirit returned to the body he could remember what his physical appearance was like in life today islam is the official religion of egypt most of the population follow sunni precepts even so there are neo-pagan groups that follow religion and the ancient gods this practice is known as chemism the last pharaoh who ruled egypt in the middle empire was aminahat iii during his reign he allowed for tribes of semitic asiatic peebles to settle in the delta of the nile river these tribes sought refuge from the growing threats of the assyrian empire these people were known as the hicks's a term that can be translated to shepherd kings in 1650 bc uncontrolled floods in the nile destroyed parts of the egyptian plantations affecting the economy and weakening the empire again the hexes took advantage of the instability and controlled some cities built in the nile delta the hicks established their dynasty and elected a pharaoh following the egyptian model a government the egyptian rulers were treated to thieves where they were trapped between the hicks's kingdom in the north and the cushit kingdom in the south this phase of egyptian history became known as the second intermediate period despite being invaders the hexes also added their influence to the egyptian culture bringing good quality horses more advanced war chariots and new weaving techniques for 30 years the egyptians fought against the hexes then the military pharaoh amasses won several military victories and expelled the hicks's from egypt this regaining a power by the egyptians started the new kingdom egypt the land of pyramids and the pharaohs full of lavish stories and impressive deeds which survived in time thanks to the paintings and monuments built by the ancient egyptians during the new kingdom it became clear that the egyptian pharaohs and their military forces were not up to foreign threats as a solution the egyptians started to hire troops of mercenaries from nubia and libya as a reward for their services the mercenaries received land where they put their families to live and work for the pharaoh prisoners were also used in the army usually on the front lines better combat tactics were also developed autonomous troops of up to some six thousand men were commanded by well-trained officers soldiers from humble families received a salary for their enlistment but they practically had no chance to advance in their military career as this right was reserved for the children of nobler families also during the new kingdom the egyptians began to develop their maritime fleet the egyptians already had well-designed and maneuverable boats however they were not enough to carry many soldiers and equipment this led to the creation of beautiful war galleys with a slender and threatening design the pharaohs of the new kingdom created a period of unprecedented prosperity by protecting borders and strengthening diplomatic ties with their neighbors military campaigns led by pharaoh tutmos the first led to the conquest of new lands guaranteeing the dominance of palestine syria and lebanon tutmostafa's ordered new constructions in several cities and elaborated new works of art among them estella where his achievements as a ruler were recorded his successors maintained territorial control fighting rebellions in the conquered lands his grandson tutmose iii was considered one of the most important pharaohs of ancient egypt tutmos iii had a great military activity with more than 17 campaigns and maintained his grandfather's building momentum during the reign of topmost iii there was a revolt in canaan the canaanites were led by the king of the city of kadesh and assembled troops to expel the egyptians from their territories this dispute originated the famous battle of megiddo which has enormous archaeological importance it was the first battle to be recorded and detailed in writing in history the egyptians described the details of the battle on the walls of the temple of amon ra which today is in the city of luxor the ancient thieves tutmos iii gathered his army and fought against the rebels in a plane his victory caused the canaanites to retreat into the city of megiddo on top of a hill the battle ended after megiddo was besieged for seven months which led to the surrender of the city also in the battle of megiddo was used for the first time the compound bow a more effective version than the bose used previously the victory was very profitable for the egyptians according to the reports they captured 894 war chariots two of them covered in gold and 2 000 horses after this victory and subsequent conquest of the territories egypt reached its peak its territorial domination started at the euphrates river in syria and went to napata in the kusha territory tutmos iii still attacked the kingdom omitani that belonged to the haridis he won again and annexed new lands to egypt and a new contingent of catcher soldiers tutmos iii is believed to have visited the greek city of crete probably the first pharaoh of upper egypt to travel by sea and visit a foreign nation but not everything went well for the egyptians during the new kingdom a turbulent period erupted when a new pharaoh took the throne pharaoh akhenaten was one of the most controversial figures in egyptian history and his life is full of mysteries and questions akhenaten wanted to extinguish the cult and traditional deities of egypt he challenged more than 1500 years of religious traditions when he decided to adopt only one god decreeing that the god of aton was the only creator of all things and living beings the god aton was the personification of the sun source of light and warmth to the world the pharaoh chose akhenaten's name which can be translated as he who praises aton akhenaten was a sloppy pharaoh in diplomatic and military relations neighboring kingdoms severed relations with egypt and some became threats again the ancient egyptians later referred to akhenaten as the mad pharaoh the monarch constantly showed his religious fervor affirming aton lives there is no other except him this behavior infuriated many priests and citizens causing riots and violence in parts of the new kingdom akhenaten's main wife was queen nefertiti who became world renowned when her bust was found in 1912 by german archaeologists nevertiti is believed to have been a beautiful woman the sculpture was never finished with one eye missing so that her image would not provoke the anger and jealousy of the egyptian goddesses after akhenaten's death neferfiti disappeared from the historical records and her fate is unknown akinaten reigned for about 17 years this time was enough for egypt to lose much influence and dominion akhenaten's cause of death is unknown there are suspicions that he was murdered by a group of priests who worshipped the ancient gods akhenaten had many children one of them would have a special prominence in egyptian history his son was the famous tutankhamun after akhenaten's death egypt went through a troubled period his son was still too young to assume the throne and his daughters could not take power because there is a living male heir an enigmatic figure took over smenkare there are debates about whether spankare was actually nefertiti who would have assumed the throne and changed her name another possibility is that mencade was akhenaten's son-in-law taking the throne by marrying one of the daughters of the former pharaoh noble eye and a general name harem heb also appeared bossert akhenaten and nefertiti it's probably that i was never titi's father i aspired to reach the throne and had members of the royal family murdered the young tutankhamun and his half-sister anke sanamoon were rescued and taken to thebes tutankhamun was crowned pharaoh at only nine years of age to strengthen the lineage he married his half-sister who was only 11 years old due to to takamun's age i ruled egypt with the position of vizier a kind of regent his government was supported by general harimhib as the years progressed tutankhamun had a more active and authoritarian voice ordering the construction of temples for the ancient gods of egypt this allowed to restore the cult of different deities in 1324 bc tutankhamun died at the age of 14. the reason for his death has given rise to various speculations disease poisoning or murder the last option was not unlikely because judan kamun was a threat to ai's plans another event that reinforces the hypothesis of murder is that right after tutankhamun's death his wife anki sanamun sent letters to the king of the hittites asking him to send one of his children to marry her and be crowned pharaoh of egypt the hittites and egyptians were always enemies this shows that anka sanamun's request was motivated by fear and urgency with reluctance the king of the hittites sent one of his sons to meet ankisanamun but mysteriously this prince never entered egypt it is likely that he was murdered by spies following ai's orders ankisanamun ended up marrying i most probably against her will a few months later after her marriaged eye poor ankysanamun died abruptly it is not difficult to deduce that this too was the order of the cruel eye tutankhamun has a great importance for the history of ancient egypt his tomb although small in comparison with other pharaohs was almost intact when it was discovered tutankhamun's tomb was found in the valley of the kings in 1922 by howard carter the tomb was not desecrated by thieves and this originated the famous legend of the tutankhamun curse in which if someone violated the pharaoh's tomb he would suffer a terrible death in the tomb were found 3 and 4a of wine one of them with white wine and a dagger whose blade was created with the iron of a meteorite the tomb also had baskets with cereals jewels clothes statues of the god anubis and two small mummies of female fetuses probably daughters a tutankhamun born prematurely the mummy of tutankhamun was kept in three sarcophagi the smaller one which kept the young pharaoh's body was made of gold although short tujunkamun's story is full of murder betrayal and intrigue it deserves to be known and remembered to this day as for regent i he seems to have died of old age as he had no heirs he was succeeded by general haremheb haramheb although he was a military general was accepted by the people as a pharaoh because he successfully served egypt in the wars egyptian history would still have many twists and turns in the future and the arrival of famous pharaoh ramses ii would cause fear in the hearts of egypt's enemies the great egyptian pyramids have remained firm over the centuries their monumental splendor showed the effort of the egyptian people to maintain the glory of their empire after the tragic reign of pharaoh tuntan kamun egypt was ruled by a former general named harim hebb harim had established order in egypt creating stricter laws which included as punishment for crimes cutting off the nose of the evil doer and exiling him into the desert harem heb continued the struggle to re-establish the cult of the ancient gods he even tried to erase the records of akhenaten's reign referring to the ancient pharaoh as a demon who wanted to destroy the beliefs in the true gods harem heb had no heirs so he was named as a successor ramses the first his closest friend and a general of the egyptian army ramses the first assumed the throne at about 50 years of age and reigned for only two years he was replaced by his son seti the first seti the first fought against the hittites and conquered the city of kadesh the hittites established a peace agreement with the egyptians that lasted 15 years seti the first recovered other territories that had belonged to egypt before the reign of akhenaten but seti of the first also stayed a short time on the throne as he died at only 40 years of age the mummy of seti the first is considered one of the most beautiful and most preserved until today it is currently in the egyptian museum in cairo seti the first successor was his son the famous ramses ii there were 11 sovereigns named ramses in the history of egypt but only ramses ii is known as ramses the great he is considered the greatest pharaoh in egypt and his reign was the most prosperous and extensive in egyptian history when ramses ii was about 10 years old his father took him with him in the military campaigns ramses was present in battles in libya canaan and sinai ramses grew up as a young warrior prince and was considered impetuous and arrogant at the beginning of his reign he traveled to phoenicia to define new boundaries for the egyptian territories however he entered the territory of the hittites and claimed the lands conquered at the time atmos iii the proud hittites considered it an offense and the war between two empires started again the king of the hittites summoned many soldiers and asked for reinforcements of cities and towns allied to the hittites ramses ii also had a large army composed of egyptian soldiers african and lebanese mercenaries ramses had a strong and impatient personality this made him take the initiative and marched towards kadesh which had been reconquered by the hittites the egyptian army was organized in four divisions although they were numerically inferior to the hittites they were better trained and disciplined suddenly two hittite soldiers gave themselves to the egyptians they claimed to be deserters but in fact they were spies after gaining the trust of the egyptians the spies passed a false information that the hittite army was still far from kadesh ramses wanted to take the opportunity to quickly reconquer the city and advance with his personal guard and a division of his army while the other egyptian forces advanced in slower pace already near the city of kadesh ramses realized that he had fallen into a trap the hittites emerged from different directions and surrounded the egyptian troops it was such an unexpected event that it was recorded as the first military ambush in history even surrounded ramses and his personal guard used their war chariots and managed to make way against the enemy troops breaking the siege meanwhile the egyptian infantry contained the advance of the enemies ramses managed to regroup with the other divisions of his army that came to his aid that he launched a counter-attack that quickly disbursed the hittites that day the king of the hittites lost his brother who was killed during the battle finally the two forces retreated both with many casualties and exhausted soldiers ramses retreated to egypt and king hitai to the north of his territory technically the fight had ended in a tie but both leaders declared to have come out as winners of the battle after a few more years of conflict and hostilities egypt finally signed a peace treaty with the hittite empire it was a remarkable event as it was the first peace treaty in history the peace treaty was also motivated by the growing threat of the assyrian empire they were increasingly strong and were a danger to egyptians and hittites in the peace treaty the egyptian empire and the hittite empire promised to support each other against external threats something that delayed the events of the syrians for some time for almost being defeated ramses ii became wiser and more cautious during his reign he maintained the alliance with the hittites strange as it may seem ramses ii married three or four daughters but there are discussions about whether this really happened also during the reign of ramses ii the cities grew in size and population many temples and other works were built bringing more prosperity to egypt today the name ramses ii became famous for being used in hollywood movies where he is pointed out as the pharaoh of the biblical exodus responsible for imprisoning and enslaving the hebrews in egypt however more complete studies point out that tutmos iii as the pharaoh of the exodus ramses ii will have died at over 90 years of age something quite unusual at that time after the death of ramses egypt entered again an unstable period his children died abruptly and the egyptian throne became empty several times something very dangerous for a powerful nation the responsibility was assumed by mrnata the thirteenth son of ramses ii myrnata was already over 60 years old when he assumed the throne he did not have the strength to govern the great number of cities and provinces with the government weakened the priests of the temple of amun came to have even more political power since they claimed to be the link between the gods and the people to further complicate matters egypt's wealth attracted other greedy kingdoms egypt was attacked by pirus from the coast of the greek islands of western anatolia these pirates became known as sea peoples the sea peoples were no ordinary pirates the brutality and frequency of their attacks destabilized the economy and the government of the great bronze age empires they destroyed almost the entire minoan and mycean kingdom they also devastated the hittite empire which was already weakened after several civil wars we don't know if the sea peoples were a single tribe or a confederation of tribes that joined together to loot and invade the near east but they were numerous skilled sailors and combatants on land the invasions of the sea peoples are probably motivated by natural disasters earthquakes and tsunamis that devastated the aegean islands and the coastal regions of greece and turkey these natural disasters destabilized much of the dominant kingdoms and were responsible for the decline of the minoan civilization on the island of crete pharaoh menenta managed to stop the invasion of the sea peoples in the battle of the delta but some years later pharaoh ramses iii managed to expel the sea peoples from egypt the sea peoples continued to devastate and dominate territories in palestine the impact of these invasions was so great that the sea peoples are held responsible for the collapse of the bronze age finally ramses iii followed the egyptian tradition of turning enemies into allies he established agreements with the nubians and the libyans egypt started to hire mercenaries from the sea peoples ramses iii was the strong pharaoh but his reign was turbulent he was murdered at the age of 65 in a coup organized by one of his wives who wanted his son as the next heir to the throne egypt was financially exhausted its coffers were emptied by the war against the pirate invaders the situation was so bad that the population's food was rationed during this period the first labor strike in history occurred when workers from various areas did not receive their grain they refused to work for the pharaoh egypt has entered a vertiginous decline marked by hunger violence and corruption the empire was devastated for about two decades egypt was again divided into different dynasties ambitious leaders confronted each other in small battles to dominate territories egypt enter a phase known as the third intermediate period during this period chaos reigned part of egypt was commanded by pharaohs a lebanese origin while another part was ruled by pharaohs of nubian origin the cunning priests of the temple of amun took advantage of the situation and controlled thieves and other nearby territories the syrians also took advantage of the fall of the hittite empire and the weakening of the egyptians they invaded egypt and in the conquered cities they placed assyrian rulers to control the population under the rule of the foreign forces the once-proud egyptian empire was subjugated and impotent but it would not be the end of its history there were still many unexpected events throughout its history egypt went through periods of glory and power but it also faced difficulties during the terrible droughts that brought hunger and suffering the wealthiness of egypt also attracted the attention of many powerful realms many enemies wanted to invade the egyptian territories in 525 bc the persians invaded egypt commanded by king cambisius ii the persians had already defeated the babylonian empire and nothing seemed to satisfy their ambitions for new territories the persian domination of egypt lasted until 332 bc and was overthrown by a young and ambitious conqueror alexander the great alexander seemed unstoppable he conquered city after city winning battles even under unfavorable conditions for his army he dominated many persian territories and after defeating king darius iii in a great battle besieged the city of tyre and phoenicia great siege the city was conquered alexander destroyed it as a punishment for non-surrender alexander and his army headed for egypt the persian ruler who commanded egypt had the good sense to surrender without offering much resistance alexander was received by the egyptian people as a liberator he was proclaimed as the son of the god of moan receiving many treasures alexander spent a short time in egypt but during his stay he founded the city of alexandria one of the most important cities of the ancient world it would become the capital of egypt in the following thousand years with egypt's dominion secured alexander set out for mesopotamia to attack the heart of the persian empire after the death of alexander the great the egyptian government was controlled by the macedonian general ptolemy the first he declared himself pharaoh of egypt and began the ptolemaic dynasty the influence of greek culture brought by macedonians influenced much of egyptian life but this happened in a natural way the macedonian rulers respected and encouraged the traditional customs of egypt over the years pharaohs of macedonian origin were represented as egyptians marriages between greeks and egyptians became common and gods of both cultures were merged one example is the deity that received the name of amon zeus the military equipment of the egyptians almost completely assumed the greek style even commercial boats and war galleys began to be built in the greek style which was more advanced and robust all the male pharaohs of this period of egyptian history used the name ptolemy to honor the founder of the ptolemaic dynasty the ptolemaic established a great trade route mainly by sea and this made egypt prosper again during the ptolemaic dynasty the famous alexandria library was also built which had thousands of papyruses and clay tablets with the most diverse registers and studies in areas of mathematics philosophy and architecture the ptolemaic kingdom went into decline with ptolemy he was a detestable king lazy in political affairs easily corruptable and cruel he had relatives killed including his brother father and mother at the end of the ptolemaic kingdom egypt was plunged into political chaos many ptolemaic pharaohs were cruel tyrants murders within the family were common while egypt was going through another turbulent period a new threat from the mediterranean sea was aimed at reaching the land of the pharaohs rome had already conquered vast territories in much of the european continent and wanted to further expand its domains the roman senate decided to intervene in the political situation of the egyptians because rome depended a lot on grains exported from egypt if another civil war occurred rome would run out of food for its legions the famous cleopatra was not the first with this name she was part of the ptolemaic dynasty direct descendant of ptolemy the first in her childhood she studied with greek teachers and was educated in religious cults of different cultures it was said that cleopatra could speak eight languages cleopatra became queen at 18. despite sharing power with ptolemy the 13th her younger brother she seems to have dealt with the kingdom's problems alone at the beginning of her reign she had serious problems egypt was facing another drought and period of hunger as time went by cleopatra's younger brother began to confront his sister he had the support of his childhood tutors and other nobles who preferred a male ruler cleopatra married ptolemy the 13th but it was a merely symbolic marriage for they never had a good relationship nor did they consummate the union ptolemy the 13th eventually removed cleopatra for her position and began to reign alone the egyptian population revolted and of course rome was watching everything fearing another civil war in egypt in 48 bc julius caesar arrived in egypt with his troops staying in the palace of alexandria cleopatra knowing the fame of the roman general did not waste time and sought to establish an alliance with him cleopatra was successful in her negotiations with julius caesar the two became allies and lovers now they needed to overthrow the usurper brother and recover the egyptian lathe caesar called troops to besiege alexandria this was followed by a series of clashes between the romans and ptolemy the 13th troops finally a great battle took place on the west bank of the nile river chalabi the 13th had about 20 000 men and julius caesar had a smaller number of troops but caesar advanced with his army which received greek reinforcements both military forces advanced by land while the boats traveled along the nile river it was a battle that took place on land and water caesar and ptolemy followed the movements of the troops as they sailed on their boats the battle on land was brutal ptolemy's troops were on higher ground and forced the romans to retreat many roman soldiers fled and swam towards the boat during the confusion caesar's galley capsized with the weight of the men who climbed the board julius caesar had to swim to the riverbank to survive at the height of this confusion the greeks arrived to support caesar the romans managed to regroup their troops and counter-attack with the help of the greek allies they conquered the egyptian camp where ptolemy's troops were with this turnaround ptolemy's troops fled to the egyptian boats ptolemy's boat also capsized ptolemy was not as lucky as caesar he drowned because of his heavy armor which dragged him to the bottom of the nile after the battle cleopatra returned to the throne most of the conspirators were arrested or executed in 44 bc julius caesar was murdered in the senate of rome cleopatra's sought a new alliance with general mark anthony mark anthony and cleopatra were married in egypt but rome never considered this marriage official since marc anthony was already married to a roman marc anthony offered cleopatra vast territories that belonged to rome in his will he affirmed his desire to be buried in alexandria the roman senate rebelled and gave general octavian permission to go to war against marc anthony and cleopatra to face the situation cleopatra joined her army to that of mark antony it was the largest maritime fleet ever seen in history they left for greece where they were intercepted by the fleet of roman ships the maritime battle was disastrous for marc anthony and cleopatra their naval fleet was destroyed by the romans luckily both managed to escape alive a year later octavian besieged alexandria and defeated the city's defenses without much difficulty destroying the plans and ambitions of marc anthony and cleopatra cleopatra was an enormously powerful woman she managed to keep egypt united and throughout her life protected the territory from being swallowed by rome cleopatra's life and personality were so remarkable that they continue to be an inspiration to this day in our channel we have a mini-series that tells in detail the incredible story of this great woman take a look at the videos after millennia of existence memorable battles and political intrigues pharonic egypt lost its independence and became a province under roman rule the legacy of the ancient egyptians is extremely valuable to human history and of course egypt will continue to be remembered as the cradle of one of the greatest civilizations ever [Music] [Music] you

Channel: See U in History / Mythology

Views: 906,324

Keywords: history, mythology, egypt, ancient egypt, history o egypt, great civilizations, civilizations, rameses, cleopatra, see u in history, assyrians, Hittites, pharaohs, nile, sea people, ptolomy, alexander the great, romans, julius ceasar, marcus anthonius

Id: BvcJXoyhm0U

Length: 46min 41sec (2801 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 08 2021