2. Middle Kingdom: Chaos
By 220 BC, the Pharaoh’s power declined along with it’s
wealth. Their monumental projects required a lot of
money and money was scarce.
Greedy nobles attempted to seize power for themselves
for 160 years. The kingdom had no central ruler and
famine struck the land.
3. Mentuhotep II
Around 2050 BC a powerful
pharaoh named Mentuhotep
II defeated his rivals, uniting
all of Egypt once again.
This period lasted until 1750
BC, because his successors
could not hold Egypt together.
Also, an invasion of Asian
people called Hyksos
disrupted the peace.
4. The Hyksos
The Hyksos conquered Egypt by using bronze weapons and battle
chariots.
They had Semitic background (coming from Canaan, in modern day
Israel).
They ruled Egypt for 200 years.
The Egyptians resented paying tribute to them decided to expel them.
Ahmose of Thebes drove them out and declared himself king of Egypt.
5. The New Kingdom
During this period, Egypt
reached the height of it’s
power. It lasted from 1550
BC to 1050 BC.
Conquest and trade brought
tremendous wealth to the
pharaohs.
6. Building an Empire
Fearing future invasions, the
Egyptians sought to block all the
“entrances” into the kingdom.
The conquered the homeland of the
Hyksos and then moved north to
Syria.
The Egyptians took over the
southern kingdom of Kush.
These conquests made the Empire
rich.
Also, thanks to their power, other
kingdoms (Assyrians, Babylonians,
Hittites) sent gifts to the pharaohs to
maintain good relations with them.
7. Growth and Trade
With an extended empire, traders
could contact far away people.
Trade routes, or paths followed by
traders, developed.
Those new lands also had valuable
resources.
Queen Hatshepsut sent traders as
far as Punt to the south and Greece
to the north.
She left a legacy of support of the
arts and architecture. Her most
important monument is located
near the city of Thebes.
8. Invasions
Event though it was a powerful
nation, it didn’t go unchallenged.
In the 1200s BC, Ramses II also
known as The Great, came to
power.
His reign was one of the longest
of Egypt.
Ramses spent a lot of time fighting
the Hittites, both armies fighting
fiercely.
Battle of Kadesh: 6000 battle
chariots involved.
Neither side won, and they
eventually signed a truce and
became allies.
9. Invasions
Ramses also fought against other
invaders like the Tehenu from
the west.
After he died, some people
known as The Sea People
invaded Egypt.
They had crushed the Hittites!
They turned all the invasions
back, but they were weakened
and never regained full power
again.
10. Ask Yourselves
Identify:
Where were the Hyksos from?
Who was Hatshepsut?
Analyze:
What were two reasons why the pharaohs’ power declined at
the end of the Old Kingdom?
What weakened the New Kingdom?
Evaluate:
What may the Hyksos’ success indicate about Egypt’s level of
technological advance?
Judge:
Why do you think Egyptian leaders wanted to control all of the
eastern Mediterranean shore?
11. Homework
At home, read the biography
of queen Hatshepsut (page 97)
and Ramses’ (page 101).
1. In a paragraph (5 typed lines
at least):
Try to identify important facts
of their lives.
Compare them.
2. When you are done, imagine
you are one of them (choose
one) and answer the following
question:
What was the biggest challenge
you faced as a ruler?
