Research+Summary

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 * Research Summary-The Early Years **



** By: Gemma Michael **


 * The most notable thing about Ancient Egyptians is their love of tradition. For thousands of years art, royal ceremonies, weaponry, literature etc. stayed roughly the same. The New Kingdom is the age of conquest-time to expand, gain wealth and enjoy the perks of living in the most influential Empire in ancient world. **



**Events and Leaders** -During the dynasties before the New Kingdom an Asian group of people now known as the Hyksos invaded and took over Egypt and ruled for 100 years. -Local Thebans stopped recognizing the Hyksos as legitimate leaders and Ahmose I expelled the Hyksos from Egypt. -The expulsion of the Hyksos began the 18th dynasty-the New Kingdom. -Ahmose never forgot the mortification of having a foreign group of people rule Egypt for so long, for that he was a strict ruler and was especially strict with foreigners. -One of the reasons why the New Kingdom is the most famous period of dynasties in Ancient Egypt is because of King Tutankhamen or King Tut. -King Tut’s tomb was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922 and is still the most intact tomb to ever be recovered. The tomb’s sacred possessions such amulets, and the extremely important solid gold burial mask were all there and not stolen by ancient and modern day grave robbers like almost all tombs in the “Valley of the Kings” are. -The new kingdom is often referred to as the age of conquest. This may be after many dynasties that embellished in things such as art and architecture it was time for Egypt to become it’s most powerful. -During the 18th dynasty the successful conquering's and military campaigns led to a lot of wealth, prosperity and international influence to Egypt. -Egypt seemed to be at its prime of the 18th dynasty until the country’s stability was briefly ruptured when the late 18th dynasty king Amenhotep IV changed Egypt’s religion. The huge change and upheaval reduced the countries influence over Asia and Nubia.



Climate and Geographic factors ** -Ancient Egypt was and still is essentially a desert. It isn’t the type of place normally to be thought of as the most sophisticated and advanced civilization of the ancient world-but it was. -The Saharan desert which Egypt occupies is hot, dry and rainfall was a huge rarity. What kept the society flourishing was the ever flowing ‘Nile River’. The Nile River kept the living conditions cool and always provided drinking water. The Ancient Egyptian society essentially formed itself around the Nile River -Ahmose I was adamant about never letting a disaster in which foreigners ruled Egypt ever happen again. For that he was a pioneer in expanding Egypt to restore it’s influence over Europe and Asia and show that nobody could attack and invade the country so successfully ever again. -Ahmose I conquered a territory stretching from Syria-Palestine in the north, to the 2nd cataract in Nubia in the south. -Thutmosis I and Thutmosis III continued Ahmose I aggressive policy and expanded the boundaries of Egypt as far as the 4th cataract to the south and as far as the Euphrates river near the modern day Turkish border in the north.



-The middle kingdom introduced shields and the sophistication of axes and spears. During the new kingdom weaponry was refined again. -a bow and arrow was always the common form of weaponry; though during the new kingdom the composite bow, a dagger, and unsophisticated short sword were introduced. -the Hyksos successful invasion of Egypt before the New kingdom was vastly attributed to Egypt’s unsophisticated and unadvanced weaponry. Egypt took advantage of the Hyksos advanced weaponry and used it to get the Hyksos out of Egypt at the beginning of the new kingdom. -The speedy chariot was introduced and revolutionized by the Hyksos. It became the elite force of the Egyptian army after the Hyksos were expelled. -the chariot cavalry revolutionized war and gave social status to young soldiers. -Horses were only used by the rich and of course the royal chariot was used as a mode of transportation for anyone apart of the royal family. -The world’s oldest known boats were built by ancient Egyptians; the Nile River has and continues to be a huge attribution to keeping a balanced society in Egypt. Early boats were used on the Nile River for transportation of mainly trading ships.
 * Transportation and Weaponry [[image:egypti2.jpg align="right" caption="Ancient Egyptian boats"]] **



Energy -The sun and the river were fundamental elements in Egyptian lives, spiritually and physically. -At the center of Ancient Egypt’s energy was the Nile River. The ever flowing River provided moisture for crops so agriculture was always abundant when rainfall was huge rarity, the river provided an easy pathway for trading ships to come in as well normal ancient Egyptian boats for transportation, and of course the River provided water to be used for hydration and hygienic reasons (though peasants rarely used it for hygienic reasons). -The Nile River was such a fundamental to ancient Egyptians the “Great River” was worshipped in the form of the god “Hapy”. -In the New Kingdom the rich natural resources of the country played a huge role in making ancient Egypt the wealthiest land of the ancient world. Gold was hugely abundant and recognized as a huge sign of wealth.

-doctors were good at treating injuries and a number of medical texts reveal Egyptians based most of their medicine on science not magic though ancient Egyptians had trouble distinguishing the two. -Ancient Egyptians identified approx. 200 different types of illnesses, some vindicated some still prominent in Egypt today. -Housing arrangements were the main cause of most illnesses: damp mud brick houses and lack of chimneys lead to various breathing disorders such as tuberculosis, and bronchitis. -contaminated water from the Nile led to diseases like billharzia -though royal and wealthy ancient Egyptians were obsessed with hygiene everyone else lived in very unsanitary conditions which can lead to any number of diseases.
 * Plagues and diseases [[image:medicine_middle.jpg width="161" height="193" align="right"]] **

Art, literature and music -Pyramids were built a long time before the new kingdom but this doesn’t mean the new kingdom wasn’t rich with artistry. -The successful conquering of new regions of Egypt brought much wealth to the country; this meant the building of new temples. -most temples honoured the favoured god of the time: Amun-Re, the chief of gods. -during the reign of queen Hatshepshut hieroglyphic paintings became more feminine: heart shaped faces, arched eyebrows, kindly smiles etc. -ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, paintings and sculptures rarely changed throughout all dynasties. Egyptian paintings were traditional; royal families were stood upright and conservative looking. -Ruler Akenhaten challenged the traditional ideals of Egyptian art by having paintings full of more abstract poses than in the past. Like many of Akenhaten’s ideas the style of paintings done during his reign stopped when Akenhaten died. -Many Egyptian instruments resemble instruments of today: percussion instruments like cymbals and bells, and string instruments like the lute and the lyre. The lute and the lyre were especially unique to the New Kingdom. -Literature didn’t flourish much in the new kingdom. Hieroglyphics-though visual, often tell a story. Egyptian stories were often mythological and similar to Greek mythology. Almost all literature from Ancient Egypt is anonymous (including the new kingdom).

Citation of Pictures: **  2. ****Transportation and Weaponry (unphotoshopped version) **  ** []  ** 3 **. Ancient Egyptian Boats []  4. **Climate and Geo. Factors (unphotoshopped version)   5 **. Energy (unphotoshopped version) []  6 **. Art, Lit., and Music (unphotoshopped version) [] <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> 7 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tempus Sans ITC'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. Musical Hieroglyphic [] <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Bibliography of Research: ** 2. ** Kinaar, Jacques. “New Kingdom”. Mar 2008 http://www.ancient-egypt.org/index.html 3. ** Badawy, Alexander M. "Egypt, Ancient: Life and Culture." //Encyclopedia Americana//. 2009. Grolier Online. 6 Apr. 2009 [] 4. ** Anton Gill. “Ancient Egyptians”. Britain: Harper Collins, 2003. 5. ** The Brothers Hildebrandt. “In Search OF King Tut’s Tomb”. USA: The Unicorn Publishing House, 1993.
 * <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tempus Sans ITC'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">1 **<span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Tempus Sans ITC'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">.King Tut Mask (unphotoshopped version) [] <span style="font-size: 10pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">
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 * 1. ** Wikipedia. “New Kingdom.” Wikipedia. Mar 2009 []