The following is an excerpt (Chapter IV, pages 32-36) from Ancient and Medieval History (1946) by Francis S. Betten, S.J. Although some information may be outdated, the Catholic historical perspective it provides remains pertinent. Use the link at the bottom of post to read the previous/following pages. Use Search to find specific topics or browse using the Resources tab above.

CHAPTER IV (continued)

POLITICAL HISTORY

28. The Earliest Times — The Old Kingdom. — At the time to which the earliest sources carry us, Egypt consisted of some forty petty states, each of which extended from side to side of the valley and a few miles up and down the river. Probably the individual villages had originally been independent, and had combined either voluntarily or by force of the superior power of neighbors, in order to control to better advantage the flow of the risen Nile. The construction and maintenance of dikes and canals, to lead the water to as many places as possible, required indeed greater means, and also the right over a larger territory than small villages possessed. Even an armed force might be necessary to defend such important and expensive waterworks against private and public enemies. Thus the river, which had made the country, also contributed its share towards its political unification. As a matter of fact, the forty odd states soon appear grouped into two large ones: Lower Egypt, under Menes, a prince of Memphis, and Upper Egypt, under another ruler who resided at Thebes. About 3400 B.C. these two kingdoms were united, and the people began to look upon Menes as the first king of their country. Thus began what is called the Old Kingdom, which lasted from about 3400-2400 B.C. This period is famous for the building of the pyramids and sphinxes (§§ 21, 22). It was not without revolutions and other interior disturbances, though on the whole Egypt was prosperous under the rule of these pharaohs. The names of Menes and Cheops (Khufu) are of particular importance.

29. The Middle Kingdom, 2400-1600. — In consequence of interior troubles a new dynasty, which had risen in Thebes, succeeded in gaining control of all Egypt, making that city its capital. As a new departure the pharaohs went for foreign conquests. The chief renown of this class of rulers lies in the admirable administration of the country. They developed the existing system of irrigation (§ 17); improved the roads; explored unknown regions; encouraged trade; and extended Egyptian commerce to Crete and probably to other islands and coasts of the Mediterranean, and to distant parts of Ethiopia. A king of about 2200 boasts in his epitaph, probably not without reason, that all his commands had “ever increased the love” of his subjects towards him.

This outburst of glory was followed by a great calamity. When king and people lost their warlike propensities, chiefs of Arabian nomad tribes entered the country from the northeast, and if we believe one isolated report, conquered all Egypt without a blow. These tribes and their chiefs are called Hyksos or Shepherd Kings. Their principal seat was Lower Egypt. They ruled Upper Egypt by tributary underkings, who were native Egyptians. By the Hyksos the Egyptians became acquainted with the horse. The barbarous tribes gradually adopted the higher standards of Egyptian culture, and their chiefs ruled as Egyptian pharaohs.

30. The New Kingdom. — One of the Egyptian tributary underkings succeeded in expelling the Hyksos. Thebes again was the capital of all Egypt. Thus began the New Kingdom, 1600. The struggle with the Hyksos had roused a military spirit in the population. Within a rather short time Egypt was a world power, reaching from beyond the upper Euphrates and the Taurus Mountains down beyond the boundaries of Ethiopia and westward far along the African coast. On the banks of the Euphrates the Egyptians came into contact with the culture of Babylonia, which was equal to their own, though of a different kind. A great king of this period was Rameses II. For a brief space Egypt even ruled over Babylonia, thus effecting the first political union of the Orient, and in some way paving the way for the later empires of Assyria, Persia, Alexander the Great, and the Romans. Commercial relations, too, developed, and the merchants from the banks of the Nile exchanged their wares with those from the Euphrates and Tigris. Yet the improvement of the interior of Egypt was not neglected. (To this period belongs the reign of Tutankhamen, § 21.) It is known that about 1300 there existed a canal, joining, in an east-and-west direction, the Red Sea with the Nile and thus with the Mediterranean.

31. Division of the Country. — Here also we have to record a period of disaster, which, however, was followed by a short time of real greatness. Through dissensions between rival parties and rival kings the country broke up into many small principalities, which in turn fell under the sway of a foreigner, an Ethiopian chieftain. In 672, Egypt became for twenty years a province of the now mighty empire of the Assyrians (§ 48). It is noteworthy that from now on the dates in Egyptian history become more definite, whereas many dates of preceding ages follow a margin of several years, and sometimes of decades and even centuries.

32. In 653 Psammetichus, a tributary prince under the Assyrians, made himself independent, and became one of the greatest pharaohs. He threw open the doors to foreigners. He welcomed in particular the Greeks, who were just coming into notice as soldiers and sailors. A Greek colony, Naucratis, arose in the Delta, and Psammetichus’ own capital, Sais, swarmed with Greek travelers, merchants, and adventurers. Thus Egypt passed on the heirloom of culture, increased by her own improvements, to the western world through a younger race.

33. Neco, another great monarch, about 600, though failing in an effort to reopen the old canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, continued encouraging commerce. One of his ships accomplished the extraordinary feat of sailing all around Africa, starting from the Red Sea and returning by the Mediterranean. The Greek Herodotus, who tells us this story, adds: “The sailors reported — others may believe it but I will not — that in sailing from east to west (south of Africa) they had the sun on their right hand.” This report is good proof for us that the story was true.

34. This age of Egyptian greatness lasted only 128 years. In 515 B.C. the country became a province of the Persian Empire for two centuries. After that time Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire. With his coming, Greek culture, Greek customs, and the Greek language rose to a dominant position in the land of the Nile. Egypt merged into the wider Greek world, finally to come, like the other lands of the Orient, under the sway of the all-conquering Romans.