Ancient Egypt:The New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period

By Lily Tagg, Samuel Law, Riley Lasda and Mark

Dates1550 - 1069 b.c.e.

18th Dynasty- 1550-1292 b.c.e.19th Dynasty- 1292-1185 b.c.e.20th Dynasty- 1186-1069 b.c.e.

Geography-Centered around the Nile River-Expanded to territories in Syria-Palestine-Conquered territories in Nubia and Modern Day Turkey

Surrounding PeoplesHyskos-Asiatic people-known as foreign rulers of Egypt-Influx of immigration to Egypt from asia minor lead to gradual infiltration of hyskos-Drove out by Pharaohs marking the beginning of the new kingdom

Syria-Palestine-Ahmose conquered the civilizations along the eastern Mediterraneanknown today as palestine

Nubia- Civilization located to South of Egypt-Culturally similar to Egyptians-At height of Egyptian expansion, nubia was controlled as far south as the 4th cataract of the Nile River

Hittites-Mysterious culture who had conquered the Babylonians and posed such a serious threat that Egypt was forced to make peace treaties to avoid confrontation

Hyskos Syria-Palestine

Nubia Hittites

Relationship with Surrounding Peoples

Government of the New Kingdom:

-During the New Kingdom the ancient egyptians moved their Capital to Thebes and then at the end of the era, to Akenton.

-Egypt was ruled by a theocratic supreme ruler called a Pharaoh.

-Priests held a lot of power, advising the pharaoh.

-The ancient egyptians of the new kingdom were quite dominating and conquered many lands. including nubia where some future pharaohs would come from.

New Kingdom Art

- Hieroglyphs printed on papyrus: represented religious, political life and historical depictions

- Pottery made from steatite & soapstone, often carved to show animals or dieties- Discovered coating pottery with enamelcould preserve works better- Pottery resembling body parts (heart, lungs, kidneys) were buried in tombswith the dead, as well as stoneware cones engraved with the name, office, etc of the deceased

- Sculpture depicted famous pharohs, dieties in a timeless manner to show the figure's "ka" (eternal afterlife)

Book of the Dead

Beginning during the New Kingdom, the dead were buried with the Book of the Dead to assist in the afterlife. The book comprised of writing and depictions of the afterlife. Stylistically, the paintings were very flat and showed only profile views of people and animals. Men were traditionally shown as having darker skin than women.

Amarna Art- Amarna art developed after the rule of Akhenaten and the 18th Dynasty.

- Very different from other Egyptian art: showed movement, activity, and crowded areas

- People depicted differently: more feminine (i.e. big hips) but still shown only in profile; women and men shown with the same skin tone

- Sculpture placed emphasis on the chin & long necks

Architecture

- used mainly mud blocks and stone - the prosperity of New Kingdom allowed investment in buildings, temples, & obelisks- pharaohs used engravings on temple walls as a form of propaganda to tell their versions of history- Ramesses II rebuilt, redecorated, or expanded almost all temples in Egypt during his rule- change from building pyramids to carving tombs into stone walls