Studies of Pharaonic PowerPower of the Pharaoh

Studies of Pharaonic Power

Through this theme, students will come to understand the nature of pharaonic power in the history of Ancient Egypt, including the rise and decline of the pharaohs during the Archaic, Old and Middle Kingdoms, and important historic events of the New Kingdom. Students will also investigate changes and continuities over time, and major aspects of the culture of the above periods.

QSA Ancient History Syllabus (2004)

Brainstorm: Pharaonic Power

Crash Course in Ancient Egypt

As you watch this video, write down five points that you can identify about Ancient Egypt - it could be a person, place, event, year etc.

Video

Power

http://www.nmimages.com/thumbs/L501_Pyramids.jpg

What is it?

Power is the ability to do things and control others. Simply put, power is the ability to get the outcomes you want and to affect the behaviour of others to make this happen.

Source: Held & Koenig-Archibugi, American Power in the 21st Century, p.125

Soft power

Soft power is about getting others to want what you want…if I can get you to want to do what I want, then I do not have to force you to do what you do not want. Simply put, soft power is attractive power.Source: Held & Koenig-Archibugi, American Power in the 21st Century, p.125

Hard power

Military and economic power are examples of “hard” and command power that can be used to get others to change their position.Source: Held & Koenig-Archibugi, American Power in the 21st Century, p.125

Power is universal and generational

Barry Kemp claims that the “ancient world contains the seeds of the modern world: TV news - presidential motorcades on thronged boulevards, excited crowds cheering a leader, public acts of worship”.

Source: www.ancientegyptmagazine.com/reviews05.htm

Leaders & RevolutionariesDalai Lama Vladimir Putin Barack Obama Hillary Clinton Hu Jintao Kevin Rudd

HeroesBrad Pitt & Angelina Jolie Oprah Winfrey Hugh JackmanRoger Federer

Who has power/influence in society today?

Who had power in Ancient Egypt? Why?

Key Question: How do the surviving sources portray the construction and implementation of power by Hatshepsut and Ramessess the Great?

Our hypothesis:

Both Hatshepsut and Ramesses II exemplify the nature of Pharaonic power.

Power of the PharaohBackground

The physical environment of ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt owes much of its character to the nature of the Nile River, the length and shape of the river valley, the enclosing deserts and the climate.

The physical environment of ancient Egypt

“Not only is the Egyptian climate peculiar and the Nile different in its behaviour from other rivers elsewhere, but the Egyptians themselves in their manners and customs seem to have reversed the ordinary practices of mankind” Herodotus

The physical environment of ancient Egypt

Nile river and the sun were the two great forces which dominated the lives of the ancient Egyptians

Their gifts of water, fertile soil and warmth created life and potentially brought death

The Nile River

The Nile’s source is in tropical Africa Every year at the same time the Nile flooded Flood referred to as the inundation – most important

event in the lives of the Egyptian people Nile’s life-giving waters and annual deposits of rich,

black soil enabled the Egyptians to develop a prosperous agricultural society instead of remaining as desert-dwelling nomads

The Nile River

May – River at its lowest

June – Nile began to rise and flood the

valley between Aswan and Memphis

September – Flood waters reach their

peak

The Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt

Upper Egypt (Shemau) amount of land available for growing food was

limited and it was a constant battle for the inhabitants to keep the desert sands from covering their valuable farmland

Lower Egypt (To-mehu) more naturally fertile than Upper Egypt Desert was further away from the settlements of

Lower Egypt More contact with other cultures due to being on the

Mediterranean coastline More vulnerable to invasion

The Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt

Before the Two Lands were united into one kingdom (c. 3100 BC), each one had its own ruler who wore a distinctive crown The tall conical White Crown of Upper Egypt The Red Crown of Lower Egypt

Egyptian Lifestyle Almost all activities in Egypt, from the

more mundane tasks of the farmer to the coronation of the king, were determined by the Nile and its annual flood

Egyptian Lifestyle Three seasons in the yearly calendar

Akhet Season of the flood (approx July) The first day of the inundation, was one of only

two days when a king could hold his coronation Large-scale building activities carried out

Perit Began approx November The time of sowing the seeds The first day of this season was the only other

time that the king could be officially crowned Shemu

Began approximately early March Season of harvest

Administration

Survival of Egypt depended on the Nile A central bureaucratic government was required:

To make predictions about the timing and nature of the flood To plan irrigation works To organise local community effort to get the land back in

order after the flood To re-survey the land and mark out farm boundaries which had

disappeared under the floodwaters Local nobles, responsible to the central government,

conscripted, organised and supervised large work gangs to build and maintain irrigation schemes

Religious beliefs and morality

Egyptian religious beliefs were partly inspired by the nature of the land and its climate

Physical environment reflected in: Their view of creation The nature of their gods Their belief in life after death and the nature

of the afterlife

Activity

OneNote - Key definitions and concepts

Activity

Using Microsoft PowerPoint, create a one slide timeline which identifies the key time periods of Ancient Egyptian history.

This will include the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom. Also look to refer to the intermediate periods. Based on your research, try to include some key events. Try your best to make the timeline visually attractive.