A land in northeastern Africa, home
to one of the earliest civilizations, and an important cultural and
political influence on ancient Israel.
Geography Egypt lies at the northeastern corner of Africa, separated
from Palestine by the Sinai Wilderness. In contrast to the modern
nation, ancient Egypt was confined to the Nile River valley, a long,
narrow ribbon of fertile land (the “black land”) surrounded by
uninhabitable desert (the “red land”). Egypt proper, from the first
cataract of the Nile to the Mediterranean, is some 750 miles long.
Classical historians remarked that Egypt was a gift of the Nile. The
river's three tributaries converge in the Sudan. The White Nile, with
its source in Lake Victoria, provides a fairly constant water flow.
The seasonal flow of the Blue Nile and Atbara caused an annual
inundation beginning in June and cresting in September. Not only did
the inundation provide for irrigation, but it replenished the soil
with a new layer of fertile, black silt each year. The Nile also
provided a vital communication link for the nation. While the river's
flow carried boats northward, prevailing northerly winds allowed easy
sailing upstream.
Despite the unifying nature of the Nile, the “Two Lands” of Egypt were
quite distinct. Upper Egypt is the arable Nile Valley from the First
Cataract to just south of Memphis in the north. Lower Egypt refers to
the broad Delta of the Nile in the north, formed from alluvial
deposits. Egypt was relatively isolated by a series of six Nile
cataracts on the south and protected on the east and west by the
desert. The Delta was the entryway to Egypt for travelers coming from
the Fertile Crescent across the Sinai.
History The numerous Egyptian pharaohs were divided by the ancient
historian Manetho into thirty dynasties. Despite certain difficulties,
Manetho's scheme is still used and provides a framework for a review
of Egyptian history.
The unification of originally separate kingdoms of Upper and Lower
Egypt about 3100 B.C. began the Archaic Period (First and Second
Dynasties). Egypt's first period of glory, the Third through Sixth
Dynasties of the Old Kingdom (2700-2200 B.C.) produced the famous
pyramids. The first, the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, was build for Djoser
of the Third Dynasty. The most famous, however, are the Fourth Dynasty
pyramids at Giza, especially the Great Pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu (Greek
Cheops). Much poorer pyramids demonstrate a reduction in royal power
during the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties.
Low Nile inundations, the resultant bad harvests, and incursions of
Asiatics in the Delta region brought the political chaos of the
Seventh through Tenth Dynasties, called the First Intermediate Period
(2200-2040 B.C.). Following a civil war, the Eleventh Dynasty reunited
Egypt and began the Middle Kingdom (2040-1786 B.C.). Under the able
pharaohs of the Twelfth Dynasty, Egypt prospered and conducted
extensive trade. From the Middle Kingdom onward, Egyptian history is
contemporary with biblical events. Abraham's brief sojourn in Egypt
(Genesis 12:10-20) during this period may be understood in light of a
tomb painting at Beni Hasan showing visiting Asiatics in Egypt about
1900 B.C.
Under the weak Thirteenth Dynasty, Egypt entered another period of
division. Asiatics, mostly Semites like the Hebrews, migrated into the
Delta region of Egypt and began to establish independent enclaves,
eventually consolidating rule over Lower Egypt. These pharaohs, being
Asiatics rather than native Egyptians, were remembered as Hyksos, or
“rulers of foreign lands.” This period, in which Egypt was divided
between Hyksos (Fifteenth and Sixteenth) and native Egyptian
(Thirteenth and Seventeenth) dynasties, is known as the Second
Intermediate or Hyksos Period (1786-1550 B.C.). Joseph's rise to power
(Genesis 41:39-45) may have taken place under a Hyksos pharaoh. See
Hyksos.
The Hyksos were expelled and Egypt reunited about 1550 B.C. by Ahmose
I, who established the Eighteenth Dynasty and inaugurated the Egyptian
New Kingdom. Successive Eighteenth Dynasty pharaohs made military
campaigns into Canaan and against the Mitannian kingdom of
Mesopotamia, creating an empire which reached the Euphrates River.
Foremost among the pharaohs was Thutmose III (1479-1425 B.C.), who won
a major victory at Megiddo in Palestine. Amenhotep III (1391-1353
B.C.) ruled over a magnificent empire in peace—thanks to a treaty with
Mitanni—and devoted his energies to building projects in Egypt itself.
The great successes of the Empire led to internal power struggles,
especially between the powerful priesthood of Amen-Re and the throne.
Amenhotep III's son, Amenhotep IV (1353-1335 B.C.), changed his name
to Akhenaton and embarked on a revolutionary reform which promoted
worship of the sun disc Aton above all other gods. As Thebes was
dominated by the powerful priesthood of Amen-Re, Akhenaton moved the
capital over two hundred miles north to Akhetaton, modern tell el-Amarna.
The Amarna Age, as this period is known, brought innovations in art
and literature; but Akhenaton paid little attention to foreign
affairs, and the Empire suffered. Documents from Akhetaton, the Amarna
Letters, represent diplomatic correspondence between local rulers in
Egypt's sphere of influence and pharaoh's court. They especially
illuminate the turbulent situation in Canaan, a century prior to the
Israelite invasion.
The reforms of Akhenaton failed. His second successor made clear his
loyalties to Amen-Re by changing his name from Tutankhaton to
Tutankhamen and abandoning the new capital in favor of Thebes. He died
young, and his comparatively insignificant tomb was forgotten until
its rediscovery in 1921. The Eighteenth Dynasty would not recover. The
General Horemheb seized the throne and worked vigorously to restore
order and erase all trace of the Amarna heresy. Horemheb had no heir
and left the throne to his vizier, Ramses I, first king of the
Nineteenth Dynasty.
Seti I (1302-1290 B.C.) reestablished Egyptian control in Canaan and
campaigned against the Hittites, who had taken Egyptian territory in
North Syria during the Amarna Age. See Hittites. Construction of a new
capital was begun by Seti I in the eastern Delta, near the biblical
Land of Goshen. Thebes would remain the national religious and
traditional capital.
Ramses II (1290-1224 B.C.) was the most vigorous and successful of the
Nineteenth Dynasty pharaohs. In his fifth year, he fought the Hittites
at Kadesh-on-the-Orontes in north Syria. Although ambushed and nearly
defeated, the pharaoh rallied and claimed a great victory.
Nevertheless, the battle was inconclusive. In 1270 B.C. Ramses II
concluded a peace treaty with the Hittites recognizing the status quo.
At home he embarked on the most massive building program of any
Egyptian ruler. Impressive additions were made to sanctuaries in
Thebes and Memphis, a gigantic temple of Ramses II was built at Abu
Simbel in Nubia, and his mortuary temple and tomb were prepared in
Western Thebes. In the eastern Delta, the new capital was completed
and called Pi-Ramesse (“domain of Ramses;” compare Genesis 47:11), the
biblical Ramses (Exodus 1:11). Indeed, Ramses II may have been the
unnamed pharaoh of the Exodus.
Ramses II was succeeded, after a long reign, by his son, Merneptah
(1224-1214 B.C.). A stele of 1220 B.C. commemorates Merneptah's
victory over a Libyan invasion and concludes with a poetic account of
a campaign in Canaan. It includes the first extra-biblical mention of
Israel and the only one in known Egyptian literature. After Merneptah,
the Nineteenth Dynasty is a period of confusion.
Egypt had a brief period of renewed glory under Ramses III (1195-1164
B.C.) of the Twentieth Dynasty. He defeated an invasion of the Sea
Peoples, among whom were the Philistines. The remainder of Twentieth
Dynasty rulers, all named Ramses, saw increasingly severe economic and
civil difficulties. The New Kingdom and the Empire petered out with
the last of them in 1070 B.C. The Iron Age had taken dominance of the
Near East elsewhere.
The Late Period (1070-332 B.C.) saw Egypt divided and invaded, but
with occasional moments of greatness. While the high priesthood of
Amen-Re controlled Thebes, the Twenty-first Dynasty ruled from the
east Delta city of Tanis, biblical Zoan (Numbers 13:22; Psalms 78:12;
Ezekiel 30:14; Isaiah 19:11; Isaiah 30:4). It was likely a pharaoh of
this dynasty, perhaps Siamun, who took Gezer in Palestine and gave it
to Solomon as his daughter's dowry (1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 9:16). The
Twenty-second Dynasty was founded by Shoshenq I (945-924 B.C.), the
Shishak of the Bible, who briefly united Egypt and made a successful
campaign against the newly-divided nations Judah and Israel (1 Kings
14:25; 2 Chronicles 12:1). Thereafter, Egypt was divided between the
Twenty-second through Twenty-fifth Dynasties. The “So king of Egypt”
(2 Kings 17:4) who encouraged the treachery of Hoshea, certainly
belongs to this confused period, but he cannot be identified with
certainty. Egypt was reunited in 715 B.C., when the Ethiopian
Twenty-fifth Dynasty succeeded in establishing control over all of
Egypt. The most important of these pharaohs was Taharqa, the biblical
Tirhakah who rendered aid to Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:9; Isaiah 37:9).
Assyria invaded Egypt in 671 B.C., driving the Ethiopians southward
and eventually sacking Thebes (biblical No-Amon; Nahum 3:8) in 664
B.C. Under loose Assyrian sponsorship, the Twenty-sixth Dynasty
controlled all of Egypt from Sais in the western Delta. With Assyria's
decline, Neco II (610-595 B.C.) opposed the advance of Babylon and
exercised brief control over Judah (2 Kings 23:29-35). After a severe
defeat at the Battle of Carchemish (605 B.C.), Neco II lost Judah as a
vassal (2 Kings 24:1) and was forced to defend her border against
Babylon. The Pharaoh Hophra (Greek Apries; 589-570 B.C.) supported
Judah's rebellion against Babylon, but was unable to provide the
promised support (Jeremiah 37:5-10; Jeremiah 44:30). Despite these
setbacks, the Twenty-sixth Dynasty was a period of Egyptian
renaissance until the Persian conquest in 525 B.C. Persian rule
(Twenty-seventh Dynasty) was interrupted by a period of Egyptian
independence under the Twenty-eighth through Thirtieth Dynasties
(404-343 B.C.). With Persian reconquest in 343 B.C., pharaonic Egypt
had come to an end.
Alexander the Great took Egypt from the Persians in 332 B.C. and
founded the great city of Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast. After
his death in 323 B.C., Egypt was home to the Hellenistic Ptolemaic
Empire until the time of Cleopatra, when it fell to the Romans (30
B.C.). During the New Testament period, Egypt, under direct rule of
the Roman emperors, was the breadbasket of Rome.
Religion Egyptian religion is extremely complex and not totally
understood. Many of the great number of gods were personifications of
the enduring natural forces in Egypt, such as the sun, Nile, air,
earth, and so on. Other gods, like Maat (“truth,” “justice”),
personified abstract concepts. Still others ruled over states of
mankind, like Osiris, god of the underworld. Some of the gods were
worshiped in animal form, such as the Apis bull which represented the
god Ptah of Memphis.
Many of the principal deities were associated with particular cities
or regions, and their position was often a factor of the political
situation. This is reflected by the gods' names which dominate
pharaohs' names in various dynasties. Thus the god Amen, later called
Amen-Re, became the chief god of the Empire because of the position of
Thebes. The confusion of local beliefs and political circumstances led
to the assimilation of different gods to certain dominant figures.
Theological systems developed around local gods at Hermopolis,
Memphis, and Heliopolis. At Memphis, Ptah was seen as the supreme
deity which created the other gods by his own word, but this notion
was too intellectual to be popular. Dominance was achieved by the
system of Heliopolis, home of the sun god Atum, later identified with
Ra. Similar to the Hermopolis cycle, it involved a primordial chaos
from which appeared Atum who gave birth to the other gods.
Popular with common people was the Osiris myth. Osiris, the good king,
was murdered and dismembered by his brother Seth. Osiris' wife, Isis,
gathered his body to be mummified by the jackal-headed embalming god
Anubis. Magically restored, Osiris was buried by his son, Horus, and
reigned as king of the underworld. Horus, meanwhile, overcame the evil
Seth to rule on earth. This cycle became the principle of divine
kingship. In death, the pharaoh was worshiped as Osiris. As the
legitimate heir Horus buried the dead Osiris, the new pharaoh became
the living Horus by burying his dead predecessor.
The consistent provision of the Nile gave Egyptians, in contrast to
Mesopotamians, a generally optimistic outlook on life. This is
reflected in their preoccupation with the afterlife, which was viewed
as an ideal continuation of life on earth. In the Old Kingdom it was
the prerogative only of the king, as a god, to enjoy immortality. The
common appeal of the Osiris cult was great, however, and in later
years any dead person was referred to as “the Osiris so and so.”
To assist the dead in the afterlife, magical texts were included in
the tomb. In the Old Kingdom they were for royalty only, but by the
Middle Kingdom variations were written inside coffin lids of any who
could afford them. In the New Kingdom and later, magical texts known
as The Book of the Dead were written on papyrus and placed in the
coffin. Pictorial vignettes show, among other things, the deceased at
a sort of judgment in which his heart was weighted against truth. This
indicates some concept of sin, but the afterlife for the Egyptian was
not an offer from a gracious god, but merely an optimistic hope based
on observation of his surroundings.
The Bible mentions no Egyptian gods, and Egyptian religion did not
significantly influence the Hebrews. There are some interesting
parallels between biblical texts and Egyptian literature. An Amarna
Age hymn to the Aton has similarities to Psalms 104:1, but direct
borrowing seems unlikely. More striking parallels are found in wisdom
literature, as between Proverbs 22:1 and the Egyptian Instruction of
Amen-em-ope.Daniel C. Browning, Jr. |
Copyright Statement
These dictionary topics are from the Holman Bible Dictionary,
published by Broadman & Holman, 1991. All rights reserved. Used by
permission of Broadman & Holman.
Bibliography Information
Butler, Trent C. Editor.. "Entry for 'EGYPT'". "Holman Bible
Dictionary".
<http://www.studylight.org/dic/hbd/view.cgi?number=T1742>. 1991. |
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