# GEP1005 Week 4 Part 1

**Channel:** BAUGO
**Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDKbNUKNCE4
**Transcript page:** https://www.withtranscript.ai/video/iDKbNUKNCE4

## Chapters

- 0:16 — Egypt and Mesopotamia Compared
- 3:14 — Pharaohs, Bureaucracy, and Writing
- 7:05 — Religion and the Age of Pyramids
- 10:28 — Middle and New Kingdom Expansion
- 14:28 — Decline, Foreign Rule, and Kush

## Transcript

**[0:16]:** hello everyone this week we are going to learn about one more river valley civilization egypt and mediterranean civilizations let's begin with egypt after listening this chapter you will learn about the differences between mesopotamian civilization and its neighbor egyptian civilization political structure of egypt the role of pharaoh in ancient egypt minoan civilization in crete island phoenicians the most distinctive contribution of the phoenicians to the humanity and the political structure of the missionian and minoanian civilizations and the trade network between mesopotamian and egyptian civilization the first euroville civilization we saw was the mesopotamian one which was long divided into a number of city-states in contrast to this egypt was a united into a single centralized state key concepts of this chapter are nail river centralized government papyrus pharaoh pyramids trade periods egypt a contemporary civilization with the mesopotamia emerged along the night river in north africa around 3000 bc similarly farming developed around the nile river and

**[1:44]:** people became sedentary through agricultural activity the records of both civilizations indicated that there was a trade between these civilizations which provided economic development for both parties sedentary life began in southern northern egypt with two different political and economic systems during the bronze age narmer king of southern egypt conquered the northern part and created a unified state which was lasted more than two thousand years although mesopotamia and egypt were in interaction in technological and economic terms they produced different civilizations egypt was more stable than mesopotamia in political terms geographically egypt was more isolated and protected against inner invasions by the desert it flourished for more than 2000 years until the beginning of its decline about 1000 bc during its 2000 years of lifetime the egyptian society went to three major periods the all kingdom around 2700 bc and 2000 bc the middle kingdom around 2200 bc and 1630 bc and the new kingdom

**[3:14]:** 1630 bc and 1075 bc in all these periods egyptian civilization displayed an enormous stability unlike mesopotamia unlike sumerian civilization there was a highly centralized political structure in egypt pharaoh was the ruler in the centralized system pharaohs were believed to be descended from gods they were perceived by common people as semi-gods with supernatural power like they were able to control the flaws of the nile the heart of their lives pharaohs had some duties which were to ensure prosperity to control rituals to make sure regular flow of nile and fertility derived from the irrigation channels most of the people were farmers or peasants in egypt they were closely monitored and heavily taxed by pharaoh governors were appointed to the crucial areas as responsible for supervising the irrigation activity the well-being of irrigation channels and public works since this was the heart of the agricultural economy in egypt its economy was dependent on agriculture the recourse proved that

**[4:40]:** egyptians traded with mesopotamians the writing system appeared in egypt around 3000 bc egyptian alphabet is called hieroglyph alphabet it is more pictorial than sumerian cuneiform it had simplified pictures of if objects to represent sounds and concepts egyptians had written on peppers which was a material made from a certain kind of a plant it was cheaper than clay tablet or animal skins and easy to store imagine is it easy to store tablets of mesopotamia or tin and light peppers papers of the egyptians egypt had an extensive recording system which enabled to develop an efficiently working bureaucracy easy to use peppers played major role in the development of this highly bureaucratic structure writing was monopolized by powerful periods just like in mesopotamia egyptians did not produce an epic tradition gilgamesh of mesopotamia they were less developed than mesopotamians in terms of mathematics and astronomy they had a considerable knowledge of medicine they had the knowledge of various

**[6:04]:** drugs and some contraceptive devices later greeks learned the egyptian knowledge of medicine passed to it later near and middle eastern cultures slavery existed in egyptian society as well like other river valley civilizations like mesopotamia for example it became widespread during the middle kingdom about 2000 bc in this period black africans from nubia and asians from the east were captured during the wars and brought to egypt as slaves during the new kingdom when egypt expanded and reached to its most powerful age slaves tremendously increased like in mesopotamia they had a distinct style of dressing for identification and prevention of their escape they served in various jobs they worked in artisans shops they served as domestic servants

**[7:05]:** some worked as soldiers many work in the construction of the temples which are the main symbols of egyptian civilization the hallmark of the religion was afterlife everything was organized according to the idea of afterlife their religion was polytheistic they worshipped to many gods like gods of rey taught osiris and goddesses of hathor mood and issues periods were very influential elites in the society to conduct rituals or serving to the gods pyramids were built by the pharaohs in order to house themselves and their family members after that egyptians constructed immense monuments using various technologies as far as it has been accepted up until today they did not have police and similar devices to elevate the larger block of stones therefore the pyramids are accepted as the accomplishment of human coordination and discipline egyptian gods and goddesses had human bodies and animal or human heads and wore chrome celestial discs or torns in the figures they were

**[8:26]:** able to reside in their cults or temples which were run by periosts egyptians worshiped at small shrines in their local region they put their offerings and water inscriptions they truly believed in the power of magic oracles and used variety of amoled to keep to evil away egypt's political history has been examined in three periods the all kingdom the middle kingdom and the new kingdom the old kingdom is a period of internal stability and prosperity therefore it has been also called as the period of pyramids the opt-in was the period of internal stability and prosperity the old kingdom is the most famous as a time when many pyramids were built therefore it has been also called the period of pyramids the historical records of this period the fourth and sixth dynasties are scarce thus historians could obtain information about this period through architectural constructions the fourth dynasty of the old kingdom was a time of progress

**[9:49]:** and a strong centralized government which commanded the kind of respect necessary for such huge constructions however during the fifth and sixth dynasties the periods hood gained more power primarily through their hold over the very mortary practices which gave rise to the great pyramids empowering the local officials of the districts the old kingdom began to collapse as more and more local governors assumed more power over their regions and the central government at memphis was seen increasingly as

**[10:28]:** irrelevant the old kingdom declined and a decentralized structure occurred the founder of the 12th dynasty um had gained the political contest and founded the middle kingdom during this kingdom upper and lower egypt were reunited and three significant changes were done in the administration by pharaoh he moved his royal quarters from memphis to the newtown it became the capital city he reorganized the provincial structure through giving local rulers some local autonomy within the centralized system some people were trying to enter into egypt in this period from mediterranean in order to prevent this fortification walls were established however eventually these invaders managed to enter the delta gradually during the middle kingdom the non-egyptians rulers of the 15th dynasty was called hixos ruled the delta region hexos means in egyptian chief of foreign lands almost after a century hixo's rule was ended by kamose and his brother ahmose established the new kingdom during the new kingdom egypt's political

**[11:51]:** and economic power was at its highest strength foreign expansions with the military expeditions reached to as far as euphrates in syria major temples were founded in the south which was 13 miles away from the memphis there was a cosmopolitanism and luxury life in the diagnostic circles in this period the pharaohs toms were put in deep rock cliffs in the valley in tevas first time in this period today what is called the valley of the kings only one intact top had been discovered there of the tutankhamun's tomb after him the most influential dynasty became the ramsay's dynasty ramses ii is the famous pharah who battled against high tides and signed the first written agreement of humanity with them kadesh treaty we know about this through many pictorial and textual records during the rule of new kingdom egypt's economic context increased with the middle east the eastern vegetarian including minons in the island of crete egypt became

**[13:06]:** an international empire in this period along with assyria babylon and the high tide and the kingdom of the mitanni all of whom participating in trade and diplomatic relationships i cannot unruled egypt around 1350 and 1334 bc replacing polytheism pantheon of egypt attempting to install a new single god religion his he could not successful because of the powerful strong resistance of the purists in the new kingdom ramses was known to the egyptians as keeper of harmony and balance strong in right elect of ra he claimed to have won a decisive victory over the high tides at the battle of kadesh and used this event to enhance his reputation as a great warrior in reality the battle was more of a draw than a decisive victory for either side but resulted in the world's first known peace treaty in 1258 bc after ramses ii a gradual decline had begun as a result of new invasions internal conflicts

**[14:28]:** social protests and strikes furthermore centralized power began to wane as the periods of ammon gained greater world and influence hence political power of the pharaoh diminished the power of the cult of amon can best be understood by the signs of the temple the god at karnak by the end of the new kingdom there were over 80 000 purists have employed by the temple at febus alone not counting the other cities in various districts the most notable of these periods were richer and owned more land than the pharaoh the following years witnessed persian invasion and alexander the grey's conquest futolamele's rule in the hellenistic period and finally roman conquest of egypt in 30 bc the last egyptian queen in the ptolemaic period in the roman empire was cleopatra when she fell into a dispute with his half-brother he asked help from the roman empire roman emperor augustus caesar the roman general julius caesar however she sided

**[15:46]:** with the roman general mark antoni against augustus caesar in the battle of actium in bc and lost the war and egypt became a roman province and another state in this region cush in the upper reaches of nile a kingdom in africa cush was established it was the first known african state other than egypt it emerged as an independent political unity and highly influenced by egypt in terms of politics economy agriculture and religion the kush used iron and had access to african ore the writing system derived from hieroplakes under the rule of the several significant cities were established as egypt declined kush invaded its northern neighbor and ruled it for several centuries this conquest ended by the assyrian invasion from the middle east and when assyrians reached the south egyptian influence considerably

**[17:02]:** reduced

**[17:43]:** you