1. Empires of Egypt &
Nubia Collide

2. What do you think?
 Add to your notes: Egypt
both invaded other lands
and was invaded. What
conditions, if any, might
justify an invasion on
another country? (3-4
sentences)

3. Main Idea:
 2 Empires along the Nile, Egypt and Nubia, forged
commercial, cultural, and political connections
 THEMES: Invaders, cultures collide, what a leader
focuses on
 Why it matters now?
 Neighboring civilizations participate in cultural
exchange as well as conflict

4. Setting the Stage
 Egypt grew (during Middle
Kingdom) by trade with
Mesopotamia and the Indus
Valley
 600 miles south a new
civilization was emerging-region
of Nubia

5. New Kingdom of Egypt
 After Middle Kingdom success,
succession of weak pharaohs
weaken Egypt
 Invaders, Hyksos invaded and ruled
Egypt
 Loss in confidence of geographical
protection
 Finally a series of warlike pharaohs
and queens strengthened Egypt and
kicked the Hyksos out= NEW
KINGDOM BEGUN

6. Empire Builders
 New weapons: bronze
weapons, 2-wheeled
chariots
 Red & White Crown=
symbols of royalty
 Blue Crown= war crown,
battle helmet

7. Hatshepsut
 Declared herself
pharaoh
 Took over because her
stepson was too young
to take the throne
 She encouraged trade
rather than war

8. What do you think?
 Add to your notes:
Why would a ruler
encourage trade
rather than making
war?

9. Thutmose III
 Hatshepsut’s stepson
 More warlike, may have even killed
his stepmom in eagerness to get
the throne
 Conquered areas of Nubia,
returning with gold, cattle, ivory,
and many enslaved captives
Egypt has never been as strong as it
was during the New Kingdom

10. Hittites
 When Egyptians conquered parts
of Syria and Palestine they ran
into conflict with the Hittites who
had also expanded into that area
 Many battles
 Battle of Kadesh: major battle
between Hittites and Egyptians
(Ramses II), ended with a treaty
that formed an alliance that lasted
for the rest of the century

11. Age of Builders
 Huge builders in order to
secure their state in the
afterlife
 Valley of Kings
 Pharaoh means “great
house”
 Ramses II: one of the
greatest builders, lived to
age 99 and had 150
children
 After Ramses death, a
series of invasions

12. Invasions by Land & Sea
 Both the Egyptians and Hittites
were attacked by “the people of
the sea”
 May have been the Philistines
from the Bible
 From the east came the
Palestinians
 From the west came the
Libyans

13. Kushites
 Egypt dominated Nubia and the
Nubian kingdom of Kush
 As Egypt fell in power, Kush
emerged and established its
own Kushite dynasty

14. People of Nubia
 The Nile River provided the best north-south
trade route
 Kush linked Egypt and the
Mediterranean world and southern
Africa
 Kerma= first Nubian kingdom
 Kerma’s kings were buried in
chambers larger than those in any
Egyptian pyramid
 Kerma prospered during Egypt’s
Hyksos period

15. Interaction of Egypt &
Nubia
 For a long period, Egypt ruled
Kush
 Kush capital became the center for
the spread of Egyptian culture to
Kush’s other African trading
partners
 Kush leaders adopted Egyptian
languages, gods, customs,
clothing, rituals, writing,
architecture…
 When Egypt decline, Kushites saw
themselves as the guardians of

16. Piankhi Captures
Egyptian Throne
 Piankhi= Kushite king,
overthrew the Libyan dynasty
that ruled Egypt and united
the entire Nile Valley, set up
new dynasty and “restored”
Egypt’s glory
 Assyrians came and
conquered Kushites and they
were forced south up the Nile
 Despite their loss of Egypt
they experienced a golden
age

17. Meroe
 Kushite royal family moved
south to Meroe
 Meroe enjoyed rainfall, iron
ore, and manufactured iron
weapons and tools
 Trade along the Red Sea to
Arabia and India
 Declined to the rise of the
Aksum Kingdom, while
Egypt was ruled by the
Assyrians