When talking about Ancient Egypt, the first things that come to mind are the images of the great pyramids, the mummies and artifacts in the museums, the temples and the atmosphere of adventure that surrounds everything that it concerns the time of the pharaohs, which literature and cinema show us as always present in archaeological expeditions.
However, much is already known about the way of life, the social structure, the economic structure, the political relations of Pharaonic Egypt. But the circulation of this information is often restricted to the academic world or to a few hundred dedicated researchers. Unfortunately, there are many things that do not reach the public, providing the formulation of fanciful ideas that are not verifiable, thickening an extensive hall of beliefs about Egyptian culture, difficult to combat.
Over the course of more than three thousand years, Egypt has gone through periods of great brilliance, but also of decline and political upheaval. Egyptian history is often divided into:
- Pre-dynastic period
- dynastic period
Predynastic Period (5000 - 3200 BC)
Since 5000 BC, Egypt was inhabited by people who lived in clans, called nomos. These nomes were independent of each other, but they cooperated with each other when they had problems in common. These relationships evolved and led to the formation of two independent kingdoms:
Kingdom of Lower Egypt --> Union of Northern Nomes
Kingdom of Upper Egypt --> Union of Southern Nomes
Around 3220 BC, these two kingdoms were unified by Menes, who became the first pharaoh, the absolute ruler of Egypt, considered a true God on Earth. The pharaoh wore a double crown to demonstrate that he was the king of Upper and Lower Egypt. Menés thus founded the first dynasty of pharaohs, ending the Pre-dynastic period.
Dynastic Period (3200 - 1085 BC)
It was during the dynastic period that Egypt's territorial, economic and military growth took place. This period is divided into:
Ancient Empire (3200 - 2423 BC)
During the Old Kingdom, the pharaohs gained enormous powers in the religious, military and administrative fields. This time was known as the time of the pyramids. The first to create a pyramid was King Djezer and his architect Imhotep in Sakara.
Later another pharaoh, Snefer, inspired by this pyramid, built three pyramids, because only the last one was able to house the mummy of the king. The son (Kufu or Keops), the grandson (Quefrem) and the great grandson (Mikerinos) of Snefer built the magnificent pyramids of Giza. The 5th Dynasty family was perhaps the most powerful family in the entire history of Egypt.
Society was divided into officials who helped the pharaoh and an immense legion of poor workers, who dedicated themselves to agriculture, construction and paid heavy tributes. In the Old Kingdom, the capital of Egypt was, first, the city of Thinis; then that of Memphis. Around 2400 BC, the Egyptian Empire was shaken by a series of revolts led by provincial administrators. Their purpose was to weaken Pharaoh's authority. With the authority weakened, the power of the pharaoh declined, Egyptian society was disorganized and Egypt experienced a period of turmoil and civil war.
Middle Empire (2160 - 1730 BC)
Representatives of the Theban nobility managed to gather forces to put down the revolts that shook Egypt. This city eventually became the capital of the Egyptian Empire. From it emerged new pharaohs who ruled the empire in the following centuries. During the Middle Kingdom, Egypt achieved a certain political stability, economic growth, and artistic flourishing. This spurred the expansion of borders, leading to the military conquest of Nubia. Around 1750 BC, Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos (nomadic people from the Middle East), who proved to be superior to the Egyptians in terms of military techniques. In this way the invaders managed to dominate the northern region of Egypt and establish the capital in Avaris. So they remained for approximately 170 years.
New Empire (1500 - 1085 BC)
Again the Theban nobility gathered forces and managed to drive out the Hyksos, re-establishing political unity in Egypt. Then the New Empire began. Using military techniques learned from the Hyksos, the pharaohs organized standing armies, launching them into wars of conquest. Thus, they invaded territories of the Middle East, dominating cities such as Jerusalem, Damsco, Assur and Babylon. The dominated peoples were obliged to pay tribute to the pharaoh in the form of gold, slaves, food, handicrafts, etc. At that time, there were the most famous pharaohs, such as Hatshepsut, Akenaton, Ramses - The Great, among others. Queen Hatshepsut ruled Egypt, even though she was a woman, and it was not a bad government:she built wonderful monuments that are well known today, but after her death her name was erased. The Egyptians did not like the idea of having been ruled by a woman. Ramses the Great besides being a great warrior was a great builder, he was the one who built the temples in Abu Simbel, he is even mentioned in the bible, in the story of Moses he would be the pharaoh who refused to release the "people of Moisés". Akenaten was a great revolutionary, he implanted monotheism, making everyone believe only in Aten the sun god. He also moved Egypt's capital from Thebes to El-amarna. But after his son, Tutankhamun returned to the ancient capital of Egypt. Tutankhamun became famous for his tomb found intact. He was 9 years old when he became Pharaoh and died at 18.
From 1167 BC, the Egyptian Empire was shaken by popular uprisings, entering a period of decadence. Most of the population was taxed and sunk into growing poverty. Meanwhile, Pharaoh and his family, military chiefs and priests displayed luxury, wealth and power.
Decadence of Egypt
After the twelfth century BC, Egypt was successively invaded by different peoples. In 670 BC, the Assyrians conquered Egypt, dominating it for eight years. After liberating itself from the Assyrians, Egypt began a phase of economic recovery and cultural brilliance known as the Saite renaissance. This phase got its name because the Egyptian recovery was driven by the rulers of the city of Sais. Prosperity, however, was short-lived. In 525 BC, the Persians conquered Egypt. Almost two centuries later came the Macedonians, commanded by Alexander the Great, and defeated the Persians. Finally, removing Cleopata from the pharaoh's throne, Egypt was dominated by the Romans, who ruled for 600 years, until the Arab conquest.
Bread in Ancient Egypt:manufacturing process At the base of the power supply in Ancient Egypt there was bread, which was produced in many different forms following a manufacturing process quite long and laborious. The salient phases of the aforementioned procedure are reproduced in vario