Egyptian rulers (Notes)

Egyptian Rulers

Kingship

Only some of Egypt’s kings were smart and good at trade, those kings lead the country well, others were merciless and greedy, this caused them many things including the thrown.

From Dynasty to Dynasty

The history of ancient Egypt is the history of its Dynasties

A dynasty is a series of rulers from the same royal family

Egypt had 31 dynasties in total, from 3100 BC to 332 BC when Egypt was conquered.

The dynasties were grouped into three kingdoms the early kingdom, the middle kingdom and the new kingdom.

The gaps between the kingdoms are times of troubles such as wars.

All Powerful Pharaohs

Pharaohs had absolute power over the people because they were believed to be earthly forms of gods

They could appoint new rules that suite their needs and wants, one example is: a portion of the crops must go to the ruler during the harvest

Advisors were at their sides to help them in important decision making, and they could turn to Ma’ Ta

Egypt is unified

Medes united Upper and Lower Egypt

During his reign he built a city called Memphis, it was the capital from which he ruled.

According to legend the pharaoh Narmer craved during Mendes’s time, some archeologist believe that they were the same person

The Three Kingdoms

The Old kingdom

Egypt was in good relations with Nubian, they traded with only small and eventual conflicts.

The kingdom ended because governors started questioning the power of the pharaohs and that is what leads to a mutiny and total havoc in the cities.

This weakened the dynasty.

The Middle kingdom

The rulers restored the peace and managed to reunite Upper and Lower Egypt once again.

The countries money was spent on the public works, this meant new schools and the towns will be fixed

This earned the country even more money, which they weren’t willing to put into the war and military. This caused them to lose to the invaders.

The New kingdom

Egyptian princes became strong enough to drive out the foreign invaders. This marked the beginning of the New kingdom

The first pharaoh to rule wanted an empire, they had a huge army, some on horses others in chariots.

They were nearly unbeatable.

Tutankhamen was only a child when he inherited the thrown, he ruled until he was 18, at that age he died. He was buried with riches and his tomb was found in 1992

The pharaoh queen

Huteshput was one of the greatest rulers of Egypt; she was bold and concentrated on economics.

During her lead Egypt had traded with far away lands and countries, this brought new materials and items.

Her rule was ended because she died and proceeded the thrown to Thutmose he III

Thutmose III

He was an educated man who ruled based on his army.

Together with the soldiers he conquered many lands, but had mercy over them.

He was also unusual because he studied plants in his spare time.

Questions

1      a: Egyptians believed that their kings were half gods, that is why they had tremendous power over the people.

b: Compared to other rulers pharaohs were the only ones who had so much power because they were believed to be earthly versions of the gods this gave them more power than any one else.

2      a: Early kingdom: The early kingdom had good trading relations with Nubia

           Middle kingdom: The middle kingdom had a weak army but was very rich and had great schooling.

           New kingdom: The new kingdom had a grand army; they also had good rulers who conquered many lands

3: Pharaohs of Egypt were successful for such a long time and held the country together, because the fundamentals of the country were based on religion. This means that as long as the people believe, the pharaohs have power. They also had slaves which worked and built amazing cities, they also went to war with chariots and advance tactics.