The Pharaohs

In Ancient Egypt

Egypt used to be the land of pharaohs and pyramids.

The Pharaoh was the king of Egypt, the most powerful person there.

The Pharaoh had 2 titles

Lord of the Two LandsHe was the ruler of all Egypt. He owned all the land, made laws, collected taxes and defended Egypt against foreigners.

High Priest of Every TempleHe represented the Gods on Earth. He performed rituals and and built temples to honour the Gods.

Many pharaohs went to war when their land was threatened or when they wanted to control foreign lands. If the pharaoh won the battle, the conquered people had to recognise the Egyptian pharaoh as their ruler and offer him the finest and most valuable goods from their land.

The Pharaohs

Djoser

• He commissioned the first Pyramid in Egypt, The Step Pyramid. It was constructed by Djosers' chief architect and scribe Imhotep.

• Date: Circa 2630 BC (Before Christ).

• Location: Saqqara.

• Height: 62 metres.

The Pharaohs

Khufu

• Built the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Earth’s largest pyramid. It’s the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis.

• Date: Circa 2550 BC (Before Christ).

• Location: Giza.

• Height: 147 metres.• Base: 230 metres.

The Pharaohs

Khafra

• He built the second largest Pyramid of Giza. Some egyptologists say that he was the builder of the Great Sphinx of Giza.

• Date: Circa 2540 BC (Before Christ).

• Location: Giza.

• Height: 143 metres.• Base: 215 metres.

Menkaura

The Pharaohs

• He built the smallest of the three Pyramids of Giza.

• Date: Circa 2540 BC (Before Christ).

• Location: Giza.

• Height: 66 metres.• Base: 103 metres.

The Pharaohs• He ruled Egypt for 17 years.

• He was especially noted for abandoning traditional Egyptian polytheism and introducing worship centered on the Aten, which is sometimes described as monotheistic (believe in one only God). He gave the solar deity a status above mere gods.

• Date: Circa 1351 – 1334 BC (Before Christ).

• Nefertiti was his Great Royal Wife. She was beautiful. They were known for the religion revolution. They both reigned at what was arguably the wealthiest period of Ancient Egyptian history. Some scholars believe that Nefertiti ruled briefly after her husband's death and before the accession of Tutankhamun, although this identification is a matter of ongoing debate.

Akhenaten

The Pharaohs• He was Akhenaten’s son, but not

Nefertiti’s. Nefertiti only had daughters. Tutankhamun was Akhenaten and one of his sister’s son.

• He was the king of Egypt when he was 8 years old.

• He is known as the boy king.

• He probably reinstated the polytheistic religion.

• Date: 1333 – 1324 BC (Before Christ). He ruled Egypt for 8 years.

Tutankhamun

The Pharaohs

Ramesses II

• Date: reigned 1279–1213 BC (Before Christ).

• At age 14, Ramesses was appointed Prince Regent by his father Seti I. He is believed to have taken the throne in his late teens (18-19 years old) and is known to have ruled Egypt for 66 years. It is estimated that he died when he was 90 or 91 years old.

• He was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Now, it is displayed in the Cairo Museum.

• He is considered as the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh of the Egyptian Empire. He is known as Ramesses the Great.

• He built many cities, temples and monuments. In 1255 BC Ramesses and his queen Nefertari traveled into Nubia (Southern Egypt) to inaugurate a new temple, the great Abu Simbel.

The Pharaohs

• Nefertari Meritmut’s lavishly decorated tomb, QV66, is the largest and most spectacular in the Valley of the Queens.

• Abu Simbel is formed by 2 temples. The biggest one is dedicated to Amun, Ra-Horakhty, and Ptah, the 3 main Gods in Ancient Egypt, and it has 4 colossal statues of Ramesses II in the front part of the temple. It took 20 years to build it. And the smallest temple is dedicated to Goddess Hathor and Ramesses wife Nefertari. This was in fact the second time in ancient Egyptian history that a temple was dedicated to a queen. The first time, Akhenaten dedicated a temple to his great royal wife, Nefertiti.

The Pharaohs

Cleopatra VII

• Date: 51 - 30 BC (Before Christ).

• She was the last queen of Ancient Egypt. She became queen when she was 18 years old.

• The Ptolemies spoke Greek and refused to speak Egyptian. But Cleopatra did learn to speak Egyptian and represented herself as the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess, Isis.

• Cleopatra originally ruled Egypt with her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, and later with her brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whom she married as per Egyptian custom, but eventually she became sole ruler. As pharaoh, she consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. She later elevated her son with Caesar, Caesarion, to co-ruler in name.

• After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar's legal heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as Augustus). With Antony, she bore the twins Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios, and another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus (her unions with her brothers had produced no children). After losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian's forces, Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra followed suit, according to tradition killing herself by means of an asp bite on August 12, 30 BC. She was briefly outlived by Caesarion, who was declared pharaoh by his supporters but soon killed on Octavian's orders.

Cleopatra VII