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What caused the fall of ancient Egypt?
2024-12-04 16:59:50 / MISTERE&KURIOZITETE
Ancient Egyptian civilization reached the height of its power, wealth and influence in the New Kingdom period (1550-1070 BC), during the reign of famous pharaohs such as Tutankhamun, Thutmose III and Ramses II, who may have was the biblical pharaoh of the Jewish Exodus story.
At its height, the Egyptian Empire controlled a vast territory stretching from present-day Egypt to the northern Sinai Peninsula, and the ancient land of Canaan (which includes modern-day Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan and southern parts of Syria and Lebanon).
But after the assassination of Ramesses III in 1155 BC, the once great empire was slowly brought to its knees by a centuries-long drought, economic crisis and foreign invaders. Ramesses III ruled Egypt for 31 years, and is often considered the last of the "great" pharaohs.
His reign coincided with one of the most turbulent and challenging periods in the ancient history of the Mediterranean, known as the conquest of the "Sea Peoples". The exact identity of the latter is still unknown, but most scholars believe they were an ethnically diverse group of refugees from the Western Mediterranean, displaced by drought and famine eastward in search of new lands to conquer. and to dwell.
Marauding fleets of the Sea Peoples may have attacked Egypt at least 2 times during the reigns of Merenptah and Ramesses III. In 1177, Ramses III and the Egyptian navy successfully repelled the second major invasion of the Sea Peoples. The pharaoh commemorated the victory on the walls of his temple and tomb at Medinet Habu.
But the celebration turned out to be short, says Erik Klajn, archaeologist and historian of the Bronze Age, author of the book "1177 BCE: The Year Civilization Collapsed." Ramesses III was able to fight against the Sea Peoples, but not to avoid a plot organized against him by one of the jealous women of his harem.
According to CT scans of the mummy of Ramses III, the pharaoh was stabbed in the neck and killed in 1155 BC. "That moment was the beginning of the end of the empire. After Ramses III, Egypt would no longer be the same" - emphasizes Klein.
In the 12th century BC, the entire Mediterranean region experienced a cataclysmic event known as the "Bronze Age Collapse". For the kingdoms that fell under the rule of the Sea Peoples – or simultaneously experienced other disasters such as drought and famine – the decline was swift and absolute.
For example, the cities, cultures and even the written languages of the Mycenaeans in Greece and the Hittites in Anatolia disappeared. Partly because Ramesses III was able to repel the Sea Peoples, Egypt held out a little longer, says Klein. But in the end Egypt also fell victim to the same problems affecting the region: a "mega drought" that lasted 150 years or more, and the disintegration of a once-thriving Mediterranean trade network.
“The international connections that had been so prominent and widespread during the Late Bronze Age all but ceased. In Egypt after Ramses III, there were constant food shortages and political wars. At this time, a rapid decline in Egypt's role as a major international power was observed," the expert emphasizes.
After the death of Ramesses III, Egypt was ruled by a line of weak pharaohs who were also called Rameses. (Ramses XI, who died around 1070 BC, was the last pharaoh of the New Kingdom). Archaeological records from that period provide insight into why Egypt experienced such a rapid decline. For example, the mummy of Ramesses V appears to have signs of smallpox on his face.
While historians aren't sure if he actually died of smallpox, records show that Ramesses V and his family were buried in new tombs, and that there was a 6-month curfew for anyone visiting the Valley of the Kings after the funerals. Some scholars suggest that this may have been one of the first quarantine orders due to a contagious disease, and a possible sign that Egypt was ravaged by a smallpox epidemic at the time.
In addition, during the reigns of Ramses V and Ramses VI, Egypt appears to have lost control of the important copper and turquoise mines in the Sinai Peninsula, as their names were the last of the Egyptian pharaohs to be inscribed there. Klein says that Egypt probably withdrew completely from Sinai and Canaan by 1140 BC.
Then, under Ramesses IX, who ruled in the late 12th century BC, Egypt was rocked by a series of grave robberies. Economic conditions were so dire—and respect for the pharaoh's authority so low—that robbers raided the pharaohs' tombs for gold and other treasures.
After the New Kingdom, Egypt was ruled by a series of foreign powers, further evidence of its decline as an independent empire. First from the Libyans, a nomadic people who came from the western border of Egypt, whose influence and culture gradually took a leading place.
Shoshenq I, a pharaoh of Libyan origin, was the first pharaoh of the 22nd dynasty, who attempted to restore the glory days of Ramses III by conquering the kingdoms of Israel and Judea in the 10th century BC. Then, in the 8th century, the Nubians or Kushites peacefully claimed the Egyptian throne during a time of political turmoil.
A line of Kushite pharaohs ruled Egypt for nearly a century as the 25th Dynasty, before being driven out by Assyrian invaders. "The rise of the Kushite kings to the top marked the end of Egypt as an independent power. Then came the Assyrians, followed by the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans and then Islam" - the historian emphasizes.
Egypt experienced its last gasp of greatness under the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305 PES-30 CE), when a succession of Greek pharaohs ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great. Cleopatra VII is the most famous of the Ptolemaic pharaohs, who built a magnificent Hellenistic capital at Alexandria. When Cleopatra and Mark Antony were defeated by the Roman emperor Octavian Augustus in 30 BC, Egypt became a province of the Roman Republic, ending the last of the ancient Egyptian dynasties. / "History.com" - Bota.al
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