The evolution of writing from 40 000 and 35 000 BCE to 0 CE: Lecture Summary

The earliest cave paintings were found in Europe and Asia. They date from 40 000 to 35 000 BCE. These drawings are the starting point of  humanity’s history in visual communication. Later rock art dating from 4000 BCE can be found in America, Australia and Africa. At this same time, the earliest form of writing appears in what is now called the “cradle of civilization” (Fertile Crescent in Iraq and Iran), as well as in the Indus River region.

The presentation followed the creation of writing systems alongside the development of visual communication as it spread from Western Africa and Eastern Asia to the Mediterranean, to West and to South Asia.

Writing continued to change everywhere as it became a necessity to civilization. It started from drawings portraying objects, to simpler pictographs, to symbols and then characters.

Gradually most alphabets went from having large amounts of characters representing specific things to having fewer phonetic characters. It was interesting how various civilizations and groups developed their writing system differently according to the resources available to them; the Egyptians who had an abundance of papyrus made it into paper; the Sumerians used clay tablets and styluses to create imprints; the Greeks used chisels and blocks of stone. It is fascinating that almost every civilization felt the necessity of creating a form or another of written communication as it grew and expanded, no matter where it was situated or how much they had been in contact with other groups. Humanity evolved, and continues to evolve, in the same basic way all over the world.

An Outline of Ancient Egyptian Political History

Ancient Egyptian History can be generally divided into five distinct periods. The period before the invention of writing is known at the Prehistoric period. It is the long length of time in which early man inhabited the Nile Valley. This period is followed by was is identified as the Predynastic period. Not much is known about this time, but it is generally thought that two loose confederations made up of several communities existed. Political centres such as Haqada in the south and Behdet in the north were formed. Later in the Predynastic period, leaders of the separate confederations became distinct. The king of Lower Egypt wore a red crown, and the kind of Upper Egypt wore a white crown. Two new capital cities had also emerged: Huto in the Delta, and Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt. The final conquest of the North by the South unified the two kingdom of Egypt. The unifying king was Menes, and with him began the first truly historic period of Egypt: The Dynastic Period.

The Dynastic period, whose beginning is characterized by the unification of Egypt and the invention of writing, lasted from 3100 BC to 332 BC. 31 dynasties came to pass in this time, whose successive kings divided in a scheme were preserved by the priestly historian Manetho who lived in the early Ptolemaic era.

The long Dynastic period was divided into sections:
The Early Dynastic period, which lasted from 3100 to 2686 BC, engulfed the first and second dynasties.

The Old Kingdom (2686 – 2181 BC), held the third to sixth dynasties.

The First Intermediate Period (2181 – 2050 BC) with the seventh to tenth dynasties.
The Middle Kingdom (2050-1750 BC) with the eleventh and twelfth dynasties.
The Second Intermediate Period (1750 – 1567 BC) the time from the thirteenth to seventeenth dynasties.

New Kingdom (1567 -1085 BC), lasted from the eighteenth to twentieth dynasties.

The Late New Kingdom (1085 – 715 BC), twenty-first to twenty-fourth dynasties.

The Late Period (715- 332 BC) which is the period from the twenty-third dynasty to the Ptolemaic period.

 

Following is a summary of essential political events that occurred during the Dynastic Period.

Events of the Early Dynastic Period, also called the Archaic/Thinite period:

After the Unification of Egypt, a New administrative capital was established at Memphis, a city at the junction of the former Upper and Lower Egypt. Very little is known of these first two dynasties; Abydos is the tomb site of the first royals, and Saqqara held the mummies of high officials.

Events of the Old Kingdom:

King Djoser of the third dynasty and his architect Imhotep ushered in this new period with the building of the first step pyramid at Saqqara. Later, during the fourth dynasty, an expansion of power occurred, and pyramid building reached its peak. In this time the pyramid of Sneferu, then the Great Pyramid Of Cheops at Giza, followed by the pyramid of Chephren and the Sphinx were constructed. However, this proved to put a heavy stain on the economy of the country, and the later king Mycerinus built one far smaller in size because of this. During the fourth dynasty, trade with Western Asia through Byblos flourished. The decline of the old kingdom was caused by a dwindle in the power of the pharaohs in favour of that of nobles. This lead to a struggle to maintain the unity of Egypt due to lack of central power. The kings of the sixth dynasty prosecuted vigorous policies inside the country and abroad, to Nubia, Libya, Western Asia, Sinai and Punt. These expeditions were aimed to collect foreigners for the Egyptian army, but also meant the expansion of foreign policy. However, due to political fragmentation of Egypt, central administration ultimately collapsed under King Pepi II’s reign.

Events of the First Intermediate Period:

This period started after the death of Pepi II, and is a time of political anarchy and internal chaos. It lasted for 130 years, and during this time Egypt was ruled by regional princes. In 2050 BC, the period came to an end when the southern king Smatowy united the two lands under his rule.

Events of the Middle Kingdom:

Campaigns under Smatowy (1st king of the 11th dynasty) pushed out invaders that had come during the intermediate period, and the mines, quarries and trade routes of the Old Kingdom were reopened. The Egyptian state gained much power and authority over the course of the Middle Kingdom. Under the 12th dynasty, Egypt became once more a highly organized, well administered country with vigorously prosecuted policies. The Egyptian capital was moved from Thebes to Itj-towy, and prosperity and contact between Egypt and other kingdoms was enjoyed. This period ended with the death of the last member of the 12th dynasty, Sobkneferu.

Events of the Second Intermediate Period:

The period began with Egyptian rule in 13th dynasty. However, Egypt was subsequently invaded by the Hyksos people in 1670 BC. The Hyksos ruled in the manner of Egyptian kings; fostered culture and enforced strict policy. In 1650 BC, the Hyksos were replaced in Upper Egypt by the Egyptian 17th dynasty, who attempted to maintain the culture and tradition of the Middle Kingdom. Eventually they clashed with the Hyksos rulers, and the final defeat of the Hyksos took place in 1567 BC by Amosis, the founder of the 18th dynasty.

Events of the New Kingdom:

Policies were set early in this period by the 18th dynasty kings to ensure the security of the United Kingdom. The securing of the fortress of the north, the east and the west of the delta, the re-establishment of central administration, the consolidation of Egyptian control in Nubia and the reopening of trade routes to Africa and Asia were all accomplished during this time by Amosis. Egypt also seized southern Palestine, the kingdom of Mitanni, and conquered Nubia. The expansion southwards up the Nile as well of the resetting of Egyptian borders in the west in Libya were successfully accomplished by Tuthmosis I.

After the short reign of Thutmosis ll, Queen Hatshepsut assumed regency and later on asserted her personal claim to the throne, secured her coronation and supplanted her young stepson. She ruled with complete control for 20 years and constructed a funerary monument at Deir El-Bahri. In 1482 BC, Tuthmosis lll succeeded to the throne after the (suspicious) death of Hatshepsut. At the end of his reign, Thuthmosis lll started a hostile campaign aimed to efface the memory of Hatshepsut. He had statues and monuments of her destroyed, and her name scratched out of writings.

Tuthmosis lll led a successful military campaign across the Euphrates all the way to the Hittite Empire. The Egyptian border was also expanded south past Sudan. Egypt’s fortunes had reached its zenith during his reign.

The Egyptian empire’s fall came with Amenophis IV, who introduced a new religion with Aten as the new sole god. He forbade the worship of Amun and changed his name to Akhenaten. He then moved the capital to a new city (called Akhenaten) and devoted himself to the promotion of his new religion. His inactivity and lack of interest for the empire caused it to weaken and retract.

Akhenaten was succeeded by his son, Tutankhamun, who returned to the worship of Amun and moved the capital back to Thebes. He died young, however, and subsequent Kings worked to restore the Egyptian empire to it former glory. Pharaoh Ramses II established peace with the threatening Hittite Empire through his marriage to a Hittite princess. Peace prevailed during his reign. More monuments were erected during his reign than in any other king’s. After his reign, the Egyptian Asiatic empire slowly declined with other kings then was lost, causing serious economic consequences. (1166 to 1085 BC).

Events of the Late Dynastic Period:

Egypt was ruled by the first 21st dynasty King Manetho, but the south was mostly governed by the priests of Amun at Thebes. These two powers coexisted in peace. King Sheshonq l, first king of the 22nd dynasty, attempted to attach the priests of Thebes closer to the monarchy by appointing his son to the office. However, the forces of separation in Thebes were continually exerted. From 818 BC, The lack of unity of Egypt caused further fragmentation to take place.

In 727 BC a conqueror from the south, Prince of lower Nubia, took southern Egypt and his brother, Shabaka, conquered the rest of Egypt, establishing the 25th dynasty.
However, a subsequent attack by Assyrian kings in 671 BC divided the country into locally governed states. The 26th dynasty was established by king Psammetichus, descendant of the 25th dynasty, who united Egypt once more and discontinued tribute to Assyria in 656 BC.

By 526 BC, Egypt was captured by the Persian Empire, leaders of which founded the 27th dynasty. They introduced policies that greatly benefited Egypt, codified laws and undergo great public works. From 465-454 BC, prince Inarus of the delta, descendant of the 26th dynasty, attempted to retake Egypt and was aided by the Athenians, but he failed. Resistance in the north was continued by another prince, but it was soon crushed.

In 405 BC the king Amyrtaeus, founder and only ruler of the 28h dynasty, expelled the Persians from Egypt. The 29th and 30th dynasties are characterized by a long struggle by the kings of Egypt to maintain independence against the Persian attempts of re-annexation. Egypt relied heavily on Greek alliance during this time. In 343 BC, the king of Egypt fled to Nubia after a successful attack by the Persians on Egypt. Egypt once more  became a part of the Persian empire until 332 BC with the arrival of Alexander the great. Recognized as a deliverer, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria and was formally installed as Pharaoh as he reorganized the administration of the country. He then left Egypt to continue his campaign against the Persians.

Events of the Ptolemaic period:

During this time, Egypt was ruled by kings of Greek descent. It was organized as a province of the Macedonian Empire by Alexander the Great. In 323 BC, Alexander died, and Ptolemy Lagus was sent to Egypt as satrap.
In the dissolution of the Macedonian empire which occurred in the following years, Ptolemy controlled an increasingly independent Egypt and was crowned King in 305 BC. His coronation established the Ptolemaic Dynasty. In his reign, the Egyptian army was reorganized on Macedonian lines and became very efficient, acquiring an empire in Asia. The great library of Alexandria was also created by Ptolemy l.

By the 1st century BC, internal control in Egypt began to slacken and the empire was lost. During the reign of Ptolemy Xll (80-51 BC), Roman intervention caused the Egyptian kings became dependants of Rome. The Ptolemaic dynasty eventually ended with the death of Cleopatra VII and Cesarion in 30 BC.

After 30 BC, Egypt as a whole is a province of the Roman Empire.


Works Cited:

An Introduction to Ancient Egypt, TGH James, published 1987 London

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Egypt