Egypt is home to one of the earliest civilizations in the world, with the earliest settlements in North Africa dating back to 17,000 BC. date. Ancient Egypt was a powerful, influential and expansionist empire that grew out of the Nile Valley and encompassed much of the eastern Mediterranean. Civilization has brought many inventions and advancements, including agriculture, art, architecture, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, religion, writing, and more.
In this four-part series, Egyptology professor Joann Fletcher examines the extraordinary rise and fall of ancient Egypt. It traces the mighty empire from its humble, nomadic beginnings to its apex as a first-rate architect and pyramid builder, and of course its lineage from revered pharaoh to tomb raider and eventual submission to the Romans.
In “Road to the Pyramids,” she examines the makeup of ancient Egypt. The earliest Egyptians were nomadic hunters as early as 17,000 BC, who later developed into settled farmers. As the ancient lakes of the Nile dwindled, communities moved closer to the banks, where the land was (and still is) extremely fertile. Around 3,500 BC Egypt was a mature society with a unique culture and polytheism. Influenced by the annual flooding of the Nile, they believed that death was a transitional state to new life, developed the art of writing in taxation, and built the Great Pyramids of Egypt.
In Chaos, Joann deals with the Dark Ages that followed the Age of the Pyramids. This period was marked by major political, economic and climate upheavals. Famine was widespread, the kingdom had no source of income, and civil wars split the empire into smaller city-states ruled by local leaders and warlords. The empire eventually came back and began building more temples, palaces, and tombs for powerful pharaohs.
The peak of ancient Egypt was undoubtedly its golden age, epitomized by the Colossi of Memnon built by Pharaoh Amenhotep III. Episode three delves into this glorious phase of Egyptian civilization, particularly how the lives of the pharaohs, priests and all the workers involved intertwined during the construction of the sprawling Valley of the Kings project. At this point, the pharaoh Akhenaten, his queen Nefertiti, and her son Tutankhamun ruled while struggling to rein in the growing priestly power.
The Invasion is the final episode that outlines the eventual decline of the Egyptian Empire. The country suffers from internal turmoil, which makes it easy for invaders to take advantage of its weak state. In the south, Nubian kings ruled for over a century, followed by a string of invasions. They were then annexed successively by the Assyrian and Persian empires until they were ruled by Alexander the Great and the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Some 300 years later, under Queen Cleopatra, the Romans took control and brought an end to the Egyptian Empire once and for all.
Although more than 2,000 years have passed since the Egyptian Empire finally fell and lay in ruins, it left a long shadow that had a huge impact on subsequent cultures and contributed greatly to what we are today.
