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Neighboring Lands
Nubia
In antiquity, Egypt’s southern neighbor was known as Nubia. From earliest times the Egyptians had exploited Nubia to gain access to the region’s products stone, minerals, and later, gold and used it as a route to obtain exotic goods from central Africa. As early as the Archaic Period the Egyptians had annexed the area around Elephantine and made it part of Egypt’s southernmost nome (district), fixing the boundary at the First Cataract. By the Old Kingdom the Egyptian rulers were sending an increasing number of trading expeditions to Nubia. Some of the men who led these enterprises were buried in the rockcut tombs near Elephantine where the wall inscriptions are very informative. When necessary the expeditions were supported by military force. The Egyptians sought exotic products such as incense, ivory, ebony, and panther skins. One particularly interesting account in the tomb of the local governor Harkhuf (Dynasty 6) at Aswan provides details of four expeditions to Nubia; these were probably undertaken partly by river and partly overland by donkey. The inscription also includes the text of a letter, sent to Harkhuf by the boy-king Pepy II, anxiously inquiring about the dwarf that the expedition was bringing back for him. Trading expeditions ceased during the troubled times of the First Intermediate Period, and this policy was replaced in the Middle Kingdom by colonization of Nubia and direct military control. The Egyptians conquered Nubia as far as Semna, south of the Second Cataract, and the area was now systematically organized and exploited. Kings Senusret I and Senusret III, who campaigned in Nubia and consolidated the area, subsequently built a string of brick fortresses between Semna South and Buhen at the Second Cataract. During the Second Intermediate Period when the Hyksos ruled Egypt, the Nubians gained power and independence and even helped the Hyksos to hold onto Egypt. With the establishment of the New Kingdom, however, the kings of Dynasty 18 reaffirmed Egyptian control over Nubia. Tuthmosis I extended his dominion beyond the Fourth Cataract, and his grandson Tuthmosis III fixed the last major outpost at Napata near the Fourth Cataract. The Middle Kingdom fortresses were now either augmented or largely superseded by additional fortresses built to protect the new boundary. These, also garrisoned by Egyptian soldiers, incorporated temples, cemeteries, and living quarters. Important fortresses were built at Sai, Sedeinga, Sulb, and Napata. Nubia was effectively Egyptianized during this period and became an integrated part of the Egyptian political system. Nubia was divided into the subprovinces of Wawat (from Elephantine to the Second Cataract), or Lower Nubia, and Kush (from the Second to the Fourth Cataracts), or Upper Nubia. In the New Kingdom the whole area south of the First Cataract was administered autonomously for the pharaoh by a viceroy; in the reign of Tuthmosis IV he received the title “King’s Son of Kush,” although none of these deputies was actually a royal relative. By the middle of Dynasty 18 the viceroy’s area also included the three southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt. The main duty of the viceroy was to oversee Nubia’s natural resources and ensure that the annual tribute was paid into Egypt’s treasury. The name “Nubia” is derived from the Egyptian word nub, meaning “gold,” and since the Middle Kingdom the Egyptians had extensively exploited the region for gold. This came mainly from mines in Wawat that were worked by slaves, prisoners of war, and convicted criminals. In wall scenes such as those in the Tomb of Huy, viceroy of Nubia, at Thebes the Nubians are depicted bringing gold deben (rings) to King Tutankhamun as part of their annual tribute; gold also arrived in Egypt as bars or ingots or stored as gold dust in bags. Gold was a government monopoly by the New Kingdom, but since early times Nubia had also been an important source for hard stone (granite) for monumental buildings in Egypt. The great temples of the New Kingdom continued this tradition with their granite doorways and obelisks. Other tribute brought to Egypt included ostrich plumes, precious stones, exotic animals, leopard skins, and slaves. These items are depicted in some of the wall scenes in contemporary tombs; the Egyptian artists also depicted the black peoples of central Africa with whom, through Nubia, they now came into contact for the first time. The local inhabitants of Nubia had gradually adopted Egyptian religion, customs, and writing. Egyptian influence now reached its zenith, and, under Amenhotep III and Ramesses II, personal cults were established for these kings in Nubia, where they were worshiped as gods in magnificent temples built at Soleb and Sedeinga by Amenhotep III and at Abu Simbel by Ramesses II. Nubia became so Egyptianized that major campaigns were no longer required to subdue the population, and expeditions were only sent to control the desert tribesmen. For many centuries Nubians had been recruited to serve as “Medjay” in the Egyptian police; they also joined the army. When pharaonic power began to decline after the New Kingdom, however, the Nubians reasserted their independence. A great kingdom now emerged in which the Egyptianized rulers of Napata (Gebel Barkal), situated near the Fourth Cataract, achieved great power and reversed the process of colonization by taking control of the Nile Valley. They imposed their rule on Egypt for about 100 years until they were driven out by the Assyrians. Their intervention in Egypt stopped, and they broke off all political association with the north. In their kingdom to the south of the Fourth Cataract the Nubians continued their own form of Egyptian civilization. After the Napatan Kingdom was finally overthrown by the Abyssinians and the capital was moved south to Meroë (north of Khartoum) in AD c.300–350, rival rulers continued to reside at both Napata and Meroë where they continued to build temples and pyramids. The term “Meroitic culture” is sometimes applied to this period; hieroglyphs continued to be used for writing, and two distinctive scripts were developed which are known today as Meroitic. With their construction of Egyptian-style temples and burial of their royalty in pyramids, these people continued to develop Egyptian culture long after it had died out in Egypt. The end came when Aeizanes, ruler of Axum, destroyed Meroë in 350. Nubia, therefore, was of great importance to Egypt for thousands of years. .
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Egypt’s Empire
In the Middle Kingdom the rulers of Dynasty 12 pursued active domestic and foreign policies. Both military and trading considerations influenced their conduct with neighboring countries, but at the same time foundations were also laid for Egypt’s future empire-building role. The kings restored trading contracts with Asia Minor, particularly Byblos and Phoenicia, and possible connections between Egypt and the Aegean Islands are the subject of considerable scholarly interest and debate. Expeditions sent to Punt (an area of the Red Sea coast, possibly modern Somalia) in the Old Kingdom were reintroduced, and the Egyptians again brought back the highly valued incense and incense trees that grew there. The copper and turquoise mines in Sinai were also reopened. When a new and more aggressive people settled in Nubia during the First Intermediate Period, the Egyptian rulers were forced to adopt a strong policy in this area in order to ensure safe passage of the valuable and essential commodities (gold, hard stone, and exotic goods) that Egypt sought from the south. Military campaigns were sent to subdue the local population and impress them with the pharaoh’s might and authority. The Egyptians built a string of large brick fortresses along the river between the cataracts in Nubia; they eventually became permanent stations staffed by Egyptian soldiers and officials. These actions established the concept of the colonization of Nubia and laid the foundations for Egypt’s empire. During the Hyksos Period (Dynasties 15 and 16) when a line of foreign kings ruled Egypt, the Nubians became powerful and independent. The Hyksos Period marked a turning point in Egypt’s history and profoundly changed the national character. The Egyptians became aware that if they did not adopt an aggressive policy, other people would attempt to seize their country as the Hyksos had done. Egypt could no longer remain an isolated society. It had to seek to impose control over neighboring lands not only to gain access to their resources but to found the first empire. The Egyptian princes of Thebes, who eventually drove out the Hyksos and became the first kings of the New Kingdom, adopted new skills and war techniques, introduced from the north by the last Hyksos rulers, in their attempt to subdue the Egyptians. Also, for the first time, New Kingdom rulers established a professional army, paid by gifts from the king of land, which remained in the family only as long as they continued in military service. Egypt’s first step to establish this empire was to repossess Nubia. Several kings of Dynasty 18 campaigned vigorously in this area, including Amenhotep I and Tuthmosis I who extended Egyptian control to its furthermost point beyond the Fourth Cataract. His grandson, Tuthmosis III, finally established the frontier at Napata near the Fourth Cataract, and a series of new fortresses were built. Nubia was integrated into the Egyptian administration and governed by a viceroy on behalf of the pharaoh. His main tasks were to ensure that the district remained peaceful and to supply the treasury with its annual quota of tribute. Egypt’s relations with Syria/Palestine during the New Kingdom were rather different. At the beginning of Dynasty 18, the situation was dominated by events surrounding the expulsion of the Hyksos and their subsequent overthrow by the Egyptian rulers who besieged them in southwestern Palestine. By the beginning of Dynasty 18, ethnic movements in the Near East had created a power vacuum that was now filled by a people known as the Mitannians. Their homeland (Mitanni) occupied the land of Naharin, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, where the Hurrian population (who had originated in the region to the south of the Caspian Sea) were ruled by an aristocracy of Indo-Aryan origin. The Mitannians were to be Egypt’s first adversary in Syria/Palestine although they later became their allies. Having first secured their southern flank in Nubia the Egyptian kings were now ready to launch aggressive campaigns in Syria/Palestine where the Mitannians had attempted to push southward. Egypt’s aims were to break the Mitannian power and to establish Egypt’s northern boundary at the Euphrates. The petty city-states that occupied Syria/Palestine were not a threat to either Egypt or Mitanni, but they did become involved in the conflict between the two great powers. Tuthmosis I launched the first major offensive in Syria and crossed the Euphrates into Mitanni (Naharin). His son, Tuthmosis II, also campaigned in Palestine, but it was his grandson, Tuthmosis III, who really established Egypt’s power. He fought seventeen campaigns and drove the Mitannians back beyond the Euphrates; details of his campaigns are preserved in the inscriptions and wall scenes in several temples and on stelae (inscribed stones). Tuthmosis III regarded his victory at Megiddo (a fortified town overlooking the Plain of Esdraelon) as his most significant achievement. An important aspect of Tuthmosis III’s campaigns was the detailed organization and preparation of his troops and supplies. For example, in his eighth campaign, he crossed the Euphrates and defeated the king of Mitanni. He achieved this by using boats to cross the river; these had been built at Byblos on the Syrian coast and then transported overland by wheeled wagons drawn by oxen. The subjugation of Byblos and other harbors along the Syria/Palestine coast was a key preliminary strategy, for Tuthmosis III could use them to provision his campaign in the hinterland. Another fruitful policy was to bring the princelings of Syria/Palestine firmly into Egypt’s sphere of influence. Egypt controlled these areas through methods that differed from those employed in Nubia. Here, the native governors were left in charge of their own cities, but the Egyptians, to obtain their loyalty, removed their children or brothers as hostages to Egypt where they were educated as Egyptians. Egypt thus controlled the first empire in the region with boundaries fixed in southern Nubia and at the Euphrates. It was, however, small in comparison with the later empires established by the Assyrians and Persians. As the greatest military power, Egypt now received vast wealth not only in terms of gifts sent by other countries but also as booty brought back from military campaigns. Much of this booty was presented to the god Amen-Re and his priesthood in the Temple of Karnak at Thebes because the early rulers of Dynasty 18 credited their military success to Amen-Re as their patron deity. Consequently this temple and its priesthood became so wealthy and powerful that, by the end of Dynasty 18, the priests posed a considerable political threat to the royal line. Tuthmosis III was Egypt’s greatest military leader, and his son, Amenhotep II, tried to emulate his victories. However, his successors, Tuthmosis IV and Amenhotep II, pursued different policies. It became clear to both Egyptians and Mitannians that neither would succeed in permanently establishing supremacy in northern Syria; therefore, they concluded a peace, and Tuthmosis IV married a daughter of the Mitannian king. Friendship between the two royal families continued under Amenhotep III, who himself married two Mitannian princesses, and correspondence between the two families is preserved in the archive of clay tablets (the Amarna Letters) discovered at Tell el-Amarna. Toward the end of this period another power, the Hittites, emerged as the new threat to Egypt. The Hittite king Suppiluliumas attacked Mitanni and destroyed the kingdom. In Dynasty 19, the Egyptian kings Sethos I and Ramesses II faced this new enemy, but again total supremacy was unachievable, and Ramesses II eventually made a peace treaty with the Hittite ruler and received a Hittite princess as his wife. It was the arrival of the Sea Peoples (a collection of itinerants who were seeking new homelands) that eventually marked the final decline of the Egyptian Empire. Although the later Ramesside kings successfully repulsed them, their effect upon Egypt and her Mediterranean neighbors was profound. The Sea Peoples dramatically changed the balance of power in the area, and after Dynasty 20 there was a rapid disintegration of Egypt’s oncegreat possessions. .
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Neighboring Lands
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