The New Kingdom

18th-20th Dynasty (1550-1070 BCE)

Ancient Egyptian Time Frames

• Early Dynastic Period (3100-2649 BCE)

• The Old Kingdom (2649-2150 BCE)– The Age of the Pyramids

• The Middle Kingdom (1991-1700 BCE)

– Expansion of Boundaries

• The New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE)– The Golden Age of Egypt

• Late Dynastic Period (688-343 BCE)• Ptolemaic Period (332-30 BCE)

Hatshepsut“Foremost of Noble Ladies”

Thutmosis III“Son of Thuth”

Akhenaton“Spirit of Aton”

Tutankhamun“Living Image of Amun”

Ramses II“Ramses The Great”

Hat-SHEP-sootThoot-MOH-sisAh-ke-NA-tonTOOT-n-ka-munRAM-seez

New Kingdom Egypt (aka: The Egyptian Empire)

• Ahmose founded the 18th dynasty & completed the expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt

• He used horse and chariot technology to expand Egypt’s territory

• After securing Palestine and Syria, Egypt became a great empire at the height of its power Dagger of Ahmose

(Royal Ontario Museum)

Queen Hatshepsut• ruled for her step son Thutmosis III• Re-established trade routes that had been

disrupted during the Hyksos occupation• Constructed hundreds of building projects

across Egypt

The Pharaoh was considered to be the “son of Re” and male symbols were often associated with the Pharaoh

Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple – an example of perfect symmetry that predates the Parthenon

The King Herself• 1799: Napoleon’s expedition found Hatshepsut’s tomb in KV20.• 1903: Howard Carter discovered Hatshepsut’s sarcophagus in KV 20, but it was

empty! • Egyptologists did not know whether her mummy had survived. Her son, had

systematically chiselled off any remnants of her reign from temples , monuments, and obelisks

• 2007: It was discovered that a mummy in KV60, previously thought insignificant, is likely Hatshepsut!

• How did they figure it out?– A broken tooth from a canopic jar in her burial chamber containing Hatshepsut’s royal

seal (and her embalmed liver & stomach) was discovered after a CT scan of the jar.– The tooth fit almost perfectly into the space of a missing molar in the mouth of the

mummy.

• Today she is enshrined in one of the two Royal Mummy Rooms at the Egyptian Museum, with plaques proclaiming her “Hatshepsut, The King Herself”, reunited at long last with her extended family of fellow New Kingdom Pharaohs

Thutmosis III

• Thutmosis III blotted out his stepmother’s name after a lengthy power struggle

• His military campaigns into Syria & Nubia created the largest empire Egypt has ever seen.

Obelisk of Tuthmosis III – in IstanbulObelisk of Tuthmosis III – in Rome

Obelisks…

• Placed in pairs at the entrance to temples

• Symbolized the sun god Re

• represented a ray of the “sundisk”

There are 30 known ancient Egyptian obelisks known to have survived & they

are dispersed around the world…

• Egypt: 9• France: 1• Israel: 1• Italy: 11• Poland: 1• Turkey: 1• United

Kingdom: 4• United

States: 1 Place de la Concorde – Paris, France

Obelisk of Senusret I – in Cairo

Obelisk of Ramses II - ParisEarliest known Obelisk 12th dynasty

Tip of Hatshepsut’s fallen obelisk

The “Unfinished” Obelisk at Aswan

Hatshepsut“Foremost of Noble Ladies”

Thutmosis III“Son of Thuth”

Akhenaton“Spirit of Aton”

Tutankhamun“Living Image of Amun”

Ramses II“Ramses The Great”

Hat-SHEP-sootThoot-MOH-sisAh-ke-NA-tonTOOT-n-ka-munRAM-seez

Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton)(“Ah-mun-HO-tep”)

• Abandoned traditional Egyptian polytheism & focused his worship on Aton – the disk of the sun (the sun’s rays)

• This is sometimes described as the first mono-theistic religion, but it did not deny the existence of other gods

The capital city was moved to Amarna

The Great Temple to Aton at Amarna

Akhenaton’s Wife: Nefertiti

• Made famous by her bust, which is the most widely copied works of Ancient Egypt.

Akhenaton’s Son:

Tutankhamun• Manipulated by

temple hierarchy to return to Thebes and reject his father’s reforms

• Died at age 18 (mysteriously); buried in Valley of Kings

• Restored worship of Amon Re in Thebes

• Never really mentioned until his discovery in 1922

Ramses II• Ramses II led several

campaigns to conquer Palestine and Syria

• He had one of the longest reigns in history – 67 years in power and probably lived well into his eighties

• Responsible for many colossal building projects, such as the Ramesseum (his mortuary temple), the hypostyle hall at Karnak, and the majestic temples of Abu Simbel

• Many other buildings were simply adapted to make it seem as though he built them himself

Hypostle HallRamesseum

Abu Simbel

Battle of Kadesh• He took on the Hittite army at a place called Kadesh in Syria• He claimed this battle to be a great victory, even though the

Egyptian army only a narrowly escaped a heavy defeat• He had the battle depicted on the walls of many temples,

including Abu Simbel and hypostle hall at Karnak

Hatshepsut“Foremost of Noble Ladies”

Thutmosis III“Son of Thuth”

Akhenaton“Spirit of Aton”

Tutankhamun“Living Image of Amun”

Ramses II“Ramses The Great”

Read pp. 63-67-develop 3-5 pointsindicating importantaccomplishmentsfor each Pharoah

Five Pharaohs of the Golden Age

• 1. Read pp. 63-67 and rank the five kings using a graph like the one below.

• 2. For each king, explain why you placed him/her where you did on the graph. Develop at least 3 reasons for your decision.

MoreSignificant

LessSignificant

Hatshepsut Tuthmosis III Akhenaton Tutankhamun Ramses II

Engineering an Empire: Egypt

New Kingdom:• Hatshepsut

(1473-1458 BCE)

• Amenhotep IV(1352-1336 BCE)

• Seti I(1294-1279 BCE)

• Ramesses II(1279-1212 BCE)