Throughout the Middle Kingdom, the economic and political boundaries of Egypt were expanded. By encouraging social mobility through the promotion of members of the middle class, the rulers of the Middle Kingdom were able to curtail and ambitions of the local princes. As a result, Egypt experienced two centuries of peace and stability during which the nation prospered.
External Relations: The Hyksos Invasion
Egypt's success was to be punctured by the invasion of the Hyksos, a warlike people, most likely from the area of what is now Syria and Palestine. While the Egyptians were culturally equal or superior to any of the civilization of the Mediterranean, they lagged behind some in technological development. The Egyptian army, using copper weapons, was no match for the improved bows, horse-drawn chariots, and bronze weapons of the Hyksos. Although the method of conquest is uncertain, the superior technology of the Hyksos was surely a factor in their ability to take over the administration of Egypt. For 150 years, the Hyksos ruled Egypt using the existing infrastructure. In the end, the Egyptians came to master the new weapons, and drove the Hyksos out of Egypt. Egypt emerged for the Second Intermediate Period strengthened and revitalized.
The Role of Trade in Promoting Change
By the time of the New Kingdom, Egypt was engaged in a vast trading network that centred on the Mediterranean Sea but reached as far as northern Europe, subtropical Africa, and the Near East. A dated to the fourteenth century BCE, has contributed greatly to our understanding of the cosmopolitan world of the late Bronze Age. The ship was discovered at Ulu Burun, off the coast of modern-day Turkey, by a Turkish sponge diver in 1982. The vessel was found to carry variety of items, including copper ingots from Cyprus, Mycenaean pottery from Greece, tin ingots from Asia Minor, amber beads from the Baltic, and glass and ivory from Syria. It is believed that ships such as this followed a circular pattern as they piled the waters of the Mediterranean. Setting out form Egypt, such a vessel would have traveled first to Syria and Palestine and then on to Cyprus, and Aegean Sea, and , occasionally, as far west as Sardinia, before heading back toward North Africa and Egypt.
The interchange of such a variety of cultures had a far greater significance than the simple exchange of materiel goods. It was through trade that idea,s forms of artistic expression, technology, and building methods were spread. It is not surprising to find that the Egyptians owed much to the Mesopotamians for their concepts of mathematics and writing. Early Greek art and medicine owed a great deal to the Egyptians. The calendar we used today was derived from the Roman (Julian) calender, which was also borrowed from the Egyptians. Although Egypt was a conservative society in which change was slow, trade and the exchange of ideas ensured that Egyptian civilization did not remain completely static, but was always evolving.
Political Structures and Traditions
Central to the development of Egypt's political institutions was the concept of the god-king. From relatively early in the history of ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh was believed to be the earthly embodiment of the god Horus, son of Osiris. To deny this would be to undercut the entire structure and basis of authority of Egyptian kings. The accepted partial divinity of the king allowed him to mediate between gods and people, perform the religious rituals central to Egyptian beliefs, and perhaps most importantly, to remain separate from his subjects and rule with divine right. Deriving power from the gods ensured considerable stability since there were few challengers to the king's authority, and the word of the king was seen to be divinely inspired. Despite the appearance of absolute power, the king was expected to rule over Egypt subject to Ma'at. Although pictured as a woman with ostrich feather, Ma'at was the goddess and symbol of the equilibrium of the universe. The king was expected to govern according to the principles of Ma'at, and to the precedents set by earlier kings. Kings attempting to alter society radically would be seen as destroying the equilibrium that was so important to the tradition-bound Egyptians; this could lead to a civil war or some other challenge to authority.
Succession
To ensure the purest line of succession , a Pharaoh passed on the throne to the eldest son born of the Principal Queen, or Great Royal Wife. This was usually the eldest daughter of the previous king and, therefore, the sister of the ruling king. If the king and the Great Royal Wife had no son to inherit the throne, succession would pass to a son of a secondary wife, who would then legitimize his claim to the throne by marrying the Great Royal Daughter. This would be the daughter of the king and the Principal Queen, or, if they had no daughter, the Principal Queen herself -- the stepmother of the new king.
The Pharaoh owned all the land of Egypt, the people, and their possessions. Any personal wealthy enjoyed by the Egyptian people was considered a result of the generosity of the king. Beneath the king was a hierarchy of government officials that advised him, enforced the laws, pleased to gods, oversaw the construction of the pyramids and oms, sought trade opportunities, and collected taxed. These civil servants were often rewarded well for their efforts, receiving grants of land and other valuable goods. Many top-ranking officials were quite wealthy and able to prepare fairly elaborate burial tombs for themselves.
Among the most important of these government officials were the scribes who recorded the deeds of the Pharaohs, real or imagines and kept stock of supplies. The value of the scribes is reflected in the fact that, most often, a scribe filled the role of vizier, or prime minister to the king. The vizier served several important roles. First, and above all else, the viziers were the advisors to the king from whom they received their orders, and to whom they were directly responsible. Viziers were also responsible for overseeing the entire administration of government, and served as the head of the judiciary. Next to the king, the vizier was the most important government official in Egypt. Beneath the vizier, were a number of minor officials who collected taxed, supervised agriculture and the granaries, coordinated trading expeditions, oversaw the construction of public works (including the pyramids and later tombs of the Pharaohs), managed the justice system, and supervised matters of public health. by the time of the Old Kingdom, Egypt was already a complex, bureaucratic state in which a centralized government was vital to stability and prosperity.
Legal Traditions
Egyptian law, like virtually all other areas of life, was governed by religious principles. The Egyptians believed that law was infused into the world by the gods at the time of creations. The goddess Ma'at personified the essential foundations of Egyptian law, which represented truth, righteousness, and justice. According to Ma'at, the goal of all people was to find and maintain the correct balance and order of the universe. This ideal seems to have been a central part of the lives of most Egyptians -- they were generally a very law-abiding people, who sought harmony and stability in their lives. As the head of the court of justice, the vizier was a priest of Ma'at, as were the officials who administered the judicial system.
Generally, Egyptian laws were fair and humane compared with those of other ancient civilizations. They were also applied equally to all people, regardless of class or gender. The law emphasized protecting the family -- providing protection to children and wives, who could divorce their husbands or be guaranteed compensation should their husbands divorce them. The Egyptians had no codified body precedents (previous cases). Each Pharaoh strove to ensured that the laws applied were consistent with past practices.
While the laws of Egypt were fair and equitably applied, punishments could often be quite severe. Two principles seem to have guided Egyptians in determining the appropriate punishment for a crime: that a severe punishment would act as a deterrent and that, in some cases, disgrace was more effective than death. Minor crimes were often punished with 100 lashes and forced labor in the mines and quarries. Escape attempts could lead to ears and noses being amputated. Men who raped a freeborn woman were castrated. Corrupt officials had their hands amputated, and those who released military secrets had their tongues cut out. For those who committed crimes punishable by death, there were several options for their execution. Some were devoured by crocodiles; those of high status were their parents had pieces of their flesh cut away, were placed on a bed of thorns, and burned alive. Parents who killed their children were forced to hold the dead child for three days and nights. Deserters from the army were publicly disgraced but could erase the humiliation by performing a courageous deed.
Economic Structure
Ancient Egypt's economic system could best be described as a mixed system blending elements of a traditional economy, a market economy, and a command economy. Despite being a relatively simple economy based primarily on the annual production of staple foods, a complex system of trade developed. The Pharaoh retained absolute control over the means of production and the distribution of wealth. Egyptian prosperity and stability were dependent on abundant harvest and the ability to manage food supplied in order to survive years in which harvest declined. The abundance of good supplies -- not the size of the royal treasury -- was the measure of Egypt's wealth. Full granaries, plenty of wildlife and fish, and thriving herds were the signs of prosperous times. These were the images used in the tombs of the Pharaohs to illustrate the wealth of their reigns.
Agricultural production was organized to provide a stable food supply for both the living and the dead. Any surplus was used in trade with neighboring peoples. An enormous amount of labor was needed to construct huge public works such as temples, royal tombs, and pyramids. Everyone could be asked to contribute to the Pharaoh's building projects, but officials, scribes, or artisans seldom were required to fulfill this role. Instead, the majority of labor came from Egypt's poor;this led to the creation of a class of serfs, who although not slaves, had little control over their own lives.
Throughout nearly all of ancient Egypt, trade, both within the country and with neighbouring countries, was carried out through the barter system. Widespread use of coinage would not come until the time of the Romans. The Egyptians sold goods, paid salaries, collected taxes, and even paid interest on loans entirely through the exchange of goods. As trade became increasingly complex, they developed a refined system of barter, which used an arbitrary standard (initially wheat), against which all goods were measured and adjustments made when necessary. For example, a peasant wanting to purchase new pottery might offer some dried fish in exchange. If the potter demanded slightly more for the pottery than the fish, the difference could be made up with a small amount of wheat. After around 1580 BCE, the Egyptians used gold, silver, and copper as arbitrary standard, and introduced a system of weights and measures. Despite these developments, the use of coinage as a generally accepted medium of exchange would still be a thousand years away.
Once of the features of ancient Egypt that contributed to the remarkable stability and continuity of the society was the passing of skilled trades from father to son. Few Egyptians grew up exploring a variety of career options. Instead, children would learn the trades of their parents, becoming skilled artisans who would then pass on the secrets of their trade to their children. Little is known about individual artisans, despite the numerous examples of fine sculpture, countless tomb paintings, and many impressive part, due to the system of production used in most trades. Artisans did not work independently; they were part of a team in a specialized workshop. Each item was produced in the workshop by several artisans who either worked together on the piece or passed it along the line. Complex works, such as furniture, were first designed by a master artisan, and then each part was crated and polished by other artisans before completion. Similar organization was used in the building of monumental structures; master planners designed and supervised the building, while skilled artisans each contributed to the project by shaping building blocks, carving sculpture, or painting walls.
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