Geography
The ancient Egyptians thought of the land as two parts the red land and the black land. The black land was the only fertile land in Egypt that bordered the Nile river. The red land was the dessert This dessert land protected them from invaders.
OLD KINGDOM , MIDDLE KINGDOM and NEW KINGDOM
Old Kingdom: The rise of the Third dynasty in about 2650 was the start of a lengthy period of stable rule in Egypt which lasted about 500 years. Pyramids were sculptures made by the Egyptians and are widely known, the largest and most well known pyramids are near the town of Giza. The Pyramids were made to act as tombs for their pharaohs and rulers and often had traps hidden inside of them to stop thieves. Pharaohs had absolute power and their word was law, they acted as judges and were leaders of the Egyptian Army. The pharaoh did not rule Egypt on his own, it was far to big to govern by one man. A bureaucracy was made to advise and help the pharaoh rule, the highest adviser was called a Vizier and was chosen for their ability but was usually a relative of the pharaoh.
Middle Kingdom: The pharaohs of the Old Kingdom eventually lost some of their power, because of powerful local nobles asserting their own authority. Egypt's stability and order slowly decayed. The government of the Old Kingdom collapsed around 2100 BC. Economic problems, invasions, civil war crippled Egypt in its weakest state. In about 2055 BC a new dynasty rose to power to start the Middle Kingdom. By strong leadership of the new dynasty order was restored and stability in the economy was achieved again. The new pharaohs encouraged trade and merchants from surrounding lands. But the trade routes were not safe and the pharaohs sent armies to protect the routes and built fortresses down the entire Nile River. Although Egypt had all of these defenses they were invaded by Syrian raiders called Hyksos.
Middle Kingdom: The pharaohs of the Old Kingdom eventually lost some of their power, because of powerful local nobles asserting their own authority. Egypt's stability and order slowly decayed. The government of the Old Kingdom collapsed around 2100 BC. Economic problems, invasions, civil war crippled Egypt in its weakest state. In about 2055 BC a new dynasty rose to power to start the Middle Kingdom. By strong leadership of the new dynasty order was restored and stability in the economy was achieved again. The new pharaohs encouraged trade and merchants from surrounding lands. But the trade routes were not safe and the pharaohs sent armies to protect the routes and built fortresses down the entire Nile River. Although Egypt had all of these defenses they were invaded by Syrian raiders called Hyksos.
New Kingdom: The Hyksos ruled Egypt for about 100 years but were not mean rulers, but the Egyptians hated being ruled by foreigners and drove the Hyksos out of Egypt. As Egypt grew so was its trade, one pharaoh that encouraged trade was Hatshepsut she was one of few women to ever rule Egypt she took power when her husband died in 1500 BC.. When she died her nephew took power and destroyed everything she had created. After the reign of Ramses II his successors had many challenges towards their authority. Most of these challenges were threats of invasions. One group of invaders were called the "Sea People" their previous invasions of empires in the area were devastating. The empire started to split and priests and nobles tried to gain power. And Egypt fell into small states, and made Egypt easy to invade. Over 700 years multiple foreigners ruled over Egypt: The Libyans, Kushites from Nubia, Assyrians, and in the late 500 BC. Persia. Egypt managed to drive Persia out eventually but they returned soon after in 343 BC., and removed the last Egyptian pharaoh. The last Egyptian-born pharaoh.
Monotheism: Around 1353 BC. a new pharaoh took power named Amenhotep IV and believed that everyone should believe in one god, Aten the Sun God. He banned worship of any other gods and stripped power from priests of other gods and destroyed images of other gods.
Ramses: Ramses ruled Egypt for 67 years in 12th century BC. He was the first king to ever sign a peace treaty. This peace treaty was with the Hittites and ended many years of long war. As part of the peace treaty Ramses married a Hittite princess.
Monotheism: Around 1353 BC. a new pharaoh took power named Amenhotep IV and believed that everyone should believe in one god, Aten the Sun God. He banned worship of any other gods and stripped power from priests of other gods and destroyed images of other gods.
Ramses: Ramses ruled Egypt for 67 years in 12th century BC. He was the first king to ever sign a peace treaty. This peace treaty was with the Hittites and ended many years of long war. As part of the peace treaty Ramses married a Hittite princess.