The Decline and Fall of Ancient Egypt
a collaborative report by Mike Radine, Ruthemma Rush, Megan Darnton, and Laura Stengle
The Nubians
by Megan Darnton
The Nubians were conquered various times by Egypt, once during the Old Kingdom and again during the Middle Kingdom. The major one came during the New Kingdom, during the eighteenth and twentieth dynasties. The dates for these dynasties are approximately 1567 B.C. to 1085 B.C.. After the twentieth dynasty, the Nubians separated themselves from Egypt. In 750 B.C. they conquered Egypt. They ruled Egypt until the Assyrians took over in 670 B.C. This particular group of people were one of the first to conquer Egypt. They began the fall of the Egyptian Empire. They were only in Egypt for eighty years, before the Assyrians took over.
King Mentuhoptep I tried to bring Nubia back under Egyptian control during the sixth dynasty. Nubia was reconquered during the Middle Kingdom. Again it was brought back under Egyptian control during the New Kingdom. It would stay this way for almost four-thousand years, when Nubia broke away from Egypt and then turned around and conquered it.
As a part of the Egyptian Empire, Nubia did a lot of trading. Egypt used the resources there. In Nubia there was a lot of gold and copper which was used during Egypt's Middle Kingdom. This trade helped the Egyptian Empire. They sent stones that were used for buildings, ebony for furniture and gold that was used in gold working;. The Nubians had contacts that the Egyptians did not have. They were able to trade with other cultures in Asia and other places.
During the Middle kingdom, this group of people was not very receptive of the Egyptians. They would lead raids against the military posts that Egypt set up. They were recruited by Egypt to fight in its wars.
Ancient Persia's Conquest of Egypt
by Mike Radine
As Egypt was torn by Civil War, with those fighting for a return of the Old Kingdom, and those pushing for the acceptance of foreigners as powerful members of the government, Persia was quickly building an empire.
Led by Cyrus the Great, the Persians conquered Babylon, then, with their newly gained armies' help, sacked Nineveh, capital of Assyria. With this newfound power, Persia sent Cambyses, son of Cyrus II (his relation to Cyrus the Great can only be presumed) to conquer Egypt.
In approximately 525 BC, Cambyses began his assault on Egypt with the victory at Pelsium. He continued into the country until arriving at the Pharaoh's city, Memphis. Cambyses went to lay siege on the city, and, after this final victory, had the Pharaoh, Psammetichus III, executed (Another source has it as the Pharaoh Amasis being executed [David, 1975]).
After the death of Psammetichus, Cambyses becomes the first ruler of the 27th Dynasty. As the Greek observer Herodotus has it, Cambyses was a sacrilegious, evil king. Cambyses then pronounces Egypt as a Satrapy (state) of the Persian empire, himself the satrap (Governor). However, he is eventually forced back to the Persia, leaving Egypt behind (Again, other sources suggest he returned to the Asian conquests by his choice [David, 1975]). After his leave, Darius I takes over, and, contrary to Cambyses, sees Egypt not as a Satrapy but it's own kingdom, and makes himself it's Pharaoh. Throughout his reign he shows continual interest in Egypt's ways, to the point of adopting its religion as his own.
Egypt's Internal Breakdown
by Ruthemma Rush
The last really masterful king of independent Egypt was Ramesses III. During and following his rule the breakdown of Egypt was apparent. Ramesses III was almost certainly murdered. Judicial investigation revealed a conspiracy throughout the court, administration and army. Kings who succeeded were shadowy, ephemeral figures. In Ramesses III's lifetime, elite workers strike at the royal necropolis, because they weren't being paid, suggests corruption within administration. A mid-twentieth Dynasty papyrus reveals dishonest dealings among senior clergy in the Temple of Khnum at the First Cataract and another papyrus describes the looting of the royal tombs on the West Bank at Thebes under Ramesses IX (about 1142-1123 BC) Other tomb-robbing crimes went on and the state could not stop the robberies. The authorities resorted to hiding the mummies in other places so they would be protected. Foreign bandits, described as Libyans appeared. Riots, mutinies and popular unrest were common throughout Egypt. Egypt ran out of metals, especially gold, and could not pay its mercenaries. State employees and high officials took their pay from the royal tombs.
The state could not afford to pay mercenary armies and lost a great deal of power. The church gained more power than the pharaoh because they had more money.
Money and public dissent were not Egypt's only problems, however. Its internal unrest made Egypt easily susceptible to attack from the outside. Kushite's (also known as the Nubians) and Assyrian's took over around 656 BC and from 535-404 BC Egypt became a province of the Persian empire. Egypt then gained independence from Persia, but it could only hold its independence with the help of the Greeks.
The post-Persian Egypt lived in fear of Persian dominance and depended greatly on the Greeks. Egypt didn't have enough money to pay the Greeks, however.
In 380 BC Control was passed to a military officer named Nectanebo I, the first king of Dynasty XXX. His son, Teôs, was the next ruler. Teôs had a bad military strategy and he launched an attack on Phoenicia, which was weakened by a feud between him and the commander of his mercenaries; 80 year old Spartan king, Agesilaus. Teôs taxed the public and became very unpopular. The army ended up deserting him to the King's nephew, Nectanebo II, the next ruler.
Nectanebo II was the last native ruler of Egypt. Persian invasions, and revolts by the satraps of Phoenicia persisted throughout his rule. Artaxerxes Ochus attacked the frontier city of Pelsium with an army three times that of Nectanebo. But Persian rule was short, in 330 BC Alexander of Macedon entered Egypt and became Pharaoh. Egypt became a province of the Hellenistic world and its independent kingdom was at an end.
Alexander the Great on the Fall of Egypt
by Laura Stengle
Every once in awhile the world is given a leader who is able to accomplish great deeds and transforms or changes the world. Alexander The Great was one of these individuals. Alexander The Great was born in 356 BC and later became King of Macedonia when he was only twenty years old. He studied with Aristotle, one of the best known Greek teachers in world history. His goal was to conquer Greece's greatest enemy, Persia. He did this very quickly. He then continued his conquests and ultimately conquered Egypt. Alexander's conquest of Egypt led to fall of the Egyptian culture.
Alexander the Great conquered more land than anyone before. He conquered Macedonia, Egypt, Phoenicia, the Asia Minor, Babylon, Gaugameia, Ecatana, Susa, Persepolis, Parthia, Gedrosia, Alexandra (Kandahar), Alexandra (Herat), Alexandra (Ghazni), Alexandra (Merv), Alexandra Eskhate, Bactria, Bactra (Balkh), Sogdiana and Bucephata.
Alexander the Great had many goals in his life. He achieved them with good leadership and persistence. Many people thought that Alexander had good leadership skills which enabled him to conquer Egypt. He was considered to be a brave person, and had put himself in lots of danger when he conquered Egypt. Alexander the Great wanted to do more than just conquer. He wanted his empire to last. To guard against revolts and invasions, Alexander founded many colonies in the Greek way. These colonies were made up of Alexander's soldiers, and he encouraged his soldiers to marry local people. He himself married one, and led by example. Alexander was able to conquer Egypt, which was once the most powerful nation in the world. For many years Egypt and Greece had enjoyed a close bond with each other. Egypt had been profitable to Greek traders who had been going there since the 8 th century BC. Greek philosophers had gone to Egypt to study and Greek soldiers had helped the Egyptians rulers by the time Alexander came. Egypt had been taken over by the Persians. The Egyptians welcomed Alexander's invasions and gave in easily. Another example that Alexander was a shrewd leader was that he had respect for local religious customs. In Egypt he recognized the Egyptians gods and his own gods. He even visited a famous temple of Zeus-Ammon and had himself proclaimed the son of Zeus.
Alexander the Great died in 323 BC. After his death the Egyptian Empire fell apart, because people relied too much on his control and leadership. He changed so many things, for example, the Greek language, and the Egyptian script changed, then it went back to it's original form to the creation of the kingdom.
Because of his conquest of Egypt. Egyptian culture declined. Even though Alexander respected Egyptian culture, he changed the language and customs of the Egyptians. This caused the Egyptian culture to decline.
last edited 2005-02-18