Egyptian Imperialism

The Viceroy of Kush (King's son of Kush) was a high official in the structure of the Egyptian imperial administration during the New Kingdom. The textual and archaeological evidence of the Ramesside Period indicate that some Ramesside viceroys had played a significant military role during the reigns of Sety I, Ramesses II and Merenptah, to support the political, economic and military authority of the Ramesside Empire in its southern territories. They had participated in the major Ramesside military campaigns against Nubia under the command of their warrior kings that aimed to crush any Nubian revolts in the regions of Irem or Wawat. They had also led other campaigns by themselves for the same purpose and for any other political or economic purposes. This paper surveys and discusses this point, in order to shed some light on a new aspect of the Egyptian imperialism in Ramesside Nubia.

This dissertation will argue that Akhenaten’s temples in Nubia reinforced geopolitical boundaries of Egyptian imperial control while expanding the Amarna Revolution’s influence outside of Egypt. By examining how Akhenaten’s successors responded to his temples in Nubia in the aftermath of the Amarna Revolution, this dissertation will also argue the continued significance of these temples to Egyptian imperial control in Nubia during the collapse of the 18th dynasty. Temples examined will include those at the sites of Soleb, Sesebi, Dokki Gel, and Gebel Barkal.

Charioteers were very significant in the Ramesside Period, evidenced for example by the frequent mention of them in texts dated to the reign of king Ramesses II. Charioteers also played an important role in diplomacy as many Ramesside charioteers held the title ’’the royal envoy to every foreign country’’. This paper will focus on the diplomatic role of the charioteers in the Ramesside Period and their status in Egyptian society.

The Egyptian military activity in Canaan and Nubia was very significant during the reign of Merenptah (1213–1203 BC) and was an important part of the historical developments during the New Kingdom of Egypt as well as in the contemporary Late Bronze Age of the Ancient Near East. The Canaanite and Nubian wars of Merenptah reestablished Egypt’s influence in the Levant and Nubia after the massive rebellions that occurred in the territories of the Egyptian empire. This paper surveys and discusses some significant historical notes and perspectives on the Canaanite and Nubian wars of Merenptah, in order to shed some light on new military and political aspects of the Ramesside Empire.

The triumph scenes of the pharaohs are the longest-lasting and best-attested iconographic motif of Egyptian culture. As stated by many historians and Egyptologists, they are a purely formal representation of Pharaoh’s timeless role as victor for Egypt and its gods, as also confirmed here. The triumph scenes of the Ramesside warrior pharaohs in which the king is represented smiting different groups of northern and southern enemies with his mace and in the presence of Amun-Re were usually displayed to glorify their victories. The triumph scene and text of Merenptah, which is located at the south end of the inner face of the eastern wall of the “Cour de la Cachette” at Karnak temple, is one of the most significant and important historical sources for Merenptah’s reign; it sheds light on new aspects of his military events and campaigns in Asia and Nubia. Some recent Egyptological studies dealing with the historical texts and battle reliefs of Merenptah in Karnak and elsewhere provide valuable information that could allow a different historical reading and interpretation of the Karnak triumph scene and text. This paper presents a new study of the triumph scene and text of Merenptah at Karnak in light of this context.

The various Ramesside war scenes and texts of the Karnak temple are main historical sources for all the scholars who are interested in the study of imperial policy of Egypt in its territories in Syria and Canaan during the New Kingdom, in the ancient Egyptian military, the political situation in the ancient Near East during the Late Bronze Age, and Biblical archaeology as well. The Canaanite town of Yenoam features prominently in the war scenes and texts of the Ramesside Period, where it is depicted and mentioned in some of the most important Ramesside military historical sources, such as the northern war scenes of Sety I at Karnak, the First Beth-Shan stela of Sety I and the triumph hymn of Merenptah. This paper surveys and discusses the depiction and registration of the town of Yenoam in the Ramesside war scenes and texts of the Karnak temple, and aims to shed light on new historical aspects of this significant strategic town during this period.

The Sherden were a part of Sea Peoples who attacked Egypt during the Ramesside period. The Sherden raiders were enemies of Egypt at the beginning of the reign of Ramesses II, who proclaimed its victory on them. After their defeat, many of them were captured and integrated into the Egyptian army, becoming one of the best troops of foreign auxiliaries. They were used by Egyptians during all the Ramesside period. They served as units of infantry or as bodyguard of the king. The famous reliefs describing the battle of Kadesh and the battle of Dapour in the time of Ramesses II, the Libyan war of Merenptah, and the Libyan and northern wars of Ramesses III, refer to the significant presence of the Sherden units in the Egyptian army. This paper surveys and discusses the military role of Sherden warriors in the Egyptian army during the Ramesside period.

State, Empire and Economical Exploitation in New Kingdom Egypt
The main objective of the current thesis is to build a model of the Egyptian imperial
domination. This model is based on the maintenance of local structures and it is built
according to the experiences of the internal economy of Egypt. This economy is
structured on the extraction of surplus self-sufficient villagers’ communities. In this
sense, the thesis tried to analyze the structure of the pharaonic state, especially during
the New Kingdom, based on its class dynamics and decomposing it into two
expressions: the material state and political state. From this perspective, the thesis
addressed the imperial political economy to demonstrate that local structures have been
maintained and subsumed by the Pharaonic imperialism.

ABSTRACT: Power point lecture-10 introduces the army and navy in Ancient Egypt (in a summary form with text and pertinent illustrations), following the broad themes covered by chapter 9 in R. David (2007), Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt (revised edition). Many of the power point slides/pages were extracted from my pre-existing and on-going, more detailed lectures on Egypt in the Age of the Pyramids (Anth.309), and Imperial and Post-Imperial Egypt (Anth.310), which in-turn represent an expansion and modification of varied past lectures (at WLU; UCLA; UT; UWS; UAB).  In some areas, I follow more closely the data presented by R. David (e.g., the history of Egyptology; past-present research on mummification), while for other chapters I have edited and re-arranged my existing power points to fit the textbook and this course’s thematic approach.  This course actually began as Anth.207 (Introduction to Egyptian Archaeology), but after I expanded this material into two more detailed, and more chronological courses (Anth.309; 310), I realized a need for an additional course that incorporated (1) a brief thematic overview of Ancient Egypt (e.g., geography; history; social organization; architecture & art; cultic & mortuary religion; language & literature; military; trade; economy & industry; daily life), (2) some featured documentaries and response sheets on early to recent explorers and Egyptologists (e.g., Belzoni; Champollion; Budge; Petrie; Carter; others), and (3) a brief introduction to Egyptian hieroglyphs (Collier & Manley, How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs).  Hence, the development of the current course, which received very good reviews in Fall 2012 and will be offered in alternate years and updated periodically.  In addition to these lectures, I have uploaded copies of my in-class power points following Collier & Manley’s chapters 1-8, and extracted exercise worksheets from their chapters for use in-class, while requiring my students to work through Collier and Manley’s chapters at home and pre-prepare the exercise for in-class sessions.  Collier and Manley’s excellent, introductory text, other textbook choices (see the separate syllabus), the aforementioned documentaries, and other Egyptological materials have sufficed to enthuse a few undergraduate students from UAB to pursue more detailed graduate training in Egyptian archaeology and languages.  Hopefully, these lectures may be of assistance to others in looking at various aspects of Ancient Egypt, in designing and improving upon such a thematic approach, or in providing any feedback regarding any omissions or errors that may have crept into the course materials.  I try to revise this material each time I teach the course (usually in alternate years), and remain indebted to my initial teachers, diverse Egyptological sources, online materials (mainly used for illustrative and educational purposes), and other dialogue with my students and colleagues for feedback and ideas incorporated into the course’s design and revision. UPDATE: Dec. 2021.

Approaching the relationships between Egypt and Nubia in the 18th Dynasty is a complex
enterprise. Since the beginning of the 18th Dynasty these relationships were marked by demonstrations of
force and resistance. Examples are the Theban military campaigns against Kush and the incorporation of
Wawat under the Egyptian administration. In this context of domination, it seems to be crucial to realise
asymmetric relations of cultural interchanges. This paper privileges the notion of conflict over integration.
Therefore, it argues for the utilisation of the term Egyptianisation as a conceptual instrument to explain the
whole social reality. The concept is especially useful when combined with a complex view of Nubian society,
composed by different classes with their own interests. These interests were expressed in various relations
among local classes and imperial administration.

Abstract: The Techniques of the Egyptian Imperial Domination in Asia during Tuthmosis III's reign: Propaganda and Reality.

This paper aims to determine the political-economic methods of domination used in Asia during Tuthmosis III's reign, as an analysis based in the studies related to the "economical and political Anthropology".

This study has been centered essentially in the "Gebel Barkal Stela" so that in it are mentioned the most important methods of domination imposed by Tuthmosis III in the conquered territories.

The "Gehel Barkal Stela" can be analyzed under two aspects: the historical properly, which relates the king's military campaigns, and the theological-propagandist dedicated to the exaltation of the royal person.

This stela was erected by Tuthmosis III in Gebel Barkal (Nubia), in the year 47 of his reign, and commemorates the occupation of the district of Karoy, south of the 4th Cataract.

As to the historical aspect, the stela mentions the 1st and 8th campaigns of Tuthmosis III in Asia, in which the king makes a non-chronological reference to his principal military accomplishments.

As a document of royal propaganda, the stela emphasizes the king's outstanding physical conditions, which together with the support of the god Amun rendered possible his military successes. Throughout the whole text we see the intention to demonstrate that the king is responsible of all decisions and victories. The text of propaganda was ordained by the king, with the purpose of making public his activities.

In conclusion, it can be said that this kind of texts through the description of the outstanding qualities of the king and the constant mention of the divine support, contributed to legitimate and justify a Pharaoh's reign.

In a previous paper I presented an analysis of the geographical distribution and linguistic affiliation of the names of local rulers attested in the Amarna letters. There I argued that these names are not scattered at random, but rather that their distribution shows that names having the same linguistic matrix are distributed in geographically well-defined clusters. Moreover, the analysis of the sociolinguistic context of such names made it possible to argue that their distribution is not specific of the Amarna period, but seems to reflect, at least to some extent, the socio-linguistic landscape of the region before the establishment of the Egyptian domination on the area. On the basis of these observations, in the conclusions of that previous article I noticed that a preliminary survey of the evidence suggests a correlation between such socio-linguistic landscape and the geographical developments of the military campaigns of Thutmose III and Amenhotep II. The present article focuses on this correlation in order to assess its significance for our understanding of the Eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian imperialism in the Levant.

The paper analyzes the final decades of the Second Intermediate Period and the beginning of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, our aim being to show the creation of the political, economical and military bases to the construction
of the Egyptian empire in the Near East.

The author re-assesses from evidence the conjectured role for the children of Canaanite rulers as wards and involuntary hostages in the Egyptian royal household during the period of the New Kingdom Egyptian Empire in the Levant, and finds the model unfounded.

Scholars have traditionally interpreted the relationships between Egyptians and Nubians on the grounds of the superiority of Egyptian social norms and culture, which were imposed onto Nubia in the New Kingdom. I argue that this perspective finds its roots in the intellectual setting of the XIX century, which consistently emphasized the inferiority of the cultures of Sub-Saharan Africa. On the contrary, a more careful analysis of the Egyptian imperialism in Nubia should consider the dynamics and conflicts inherent to the Nubian society. Following this perspective, this paper investigates how the Egyptian imperialism stimulated the appearance of strict social hierarchies in Lower Nubia in order to create an effective system to explore local natural resources, which would play an important role in the keeping of the empire. In this context, Egyptian relations of production were preferred over Nubian ways of organizing society.

Course description:
Summary: This course covers both Egypt’s Imperial Age (Dyns. 18-20) and post-Imperial Age (Dyns. 21-30), from 1550-332 BCE.  However, the course focuses largely on Egypt’s New Kingdom empire, which spans 1550 through 1150 BCE, with less time spent on the post-imperial age: 1150-332 BCE.  The course incorporates history, archaeology, religion, literature, art, and architecture, in an attempt to provide a broad and fairly comprehensive overview of the diverse aspects of these time periods. Of note, although this course follows ANTH.309 (Egypt in the Age of the Pyramids: 5,000-1550 BCE), it is an independent introductory course and does not require prerequisite knowledge. Expectations: attendance (10%); Best eight of Ten in-class documentaries (3% each [24% total]) are shown during the semester to augment the lecture materials and readings, and to provide other scholarly views and topics regarding Egypt’s New Kingdom to post-Imperial periods.  Four study guides and tests aid students in mastering the basic materials for the time frame and topics covered in the semester (36%).  A research paper (2,500-3,500 words) enables students to pursue further topics of interest that could not be explored sufficiently during the semester; it incorporates three stages, starting with submitting (a) an introductory paragraph and bibliography (i.e., to obtain feedback) (2.5%), (b) submitting the final paper (25%), and (c) re-submitting the corrected final paper adding indicated corrections to ensure future improvements in paper compilation (2.5%).  The instructor provides additional in-class instruction concerning essay research and formatting, alongside the online essay guide. Aims: In essence, this course aims to augment research and writing skills, to furnish a comprehensive overview of multiple aspects of Imperial Egypt, and to serve as a “gateway” course to provide interested students with sufficient data to pursue more advanced studies in this field, related fields, or a more focused aspect of this discipline. UPDATED: Placing additional "online 2021" and "in-class 2019" pdf of my syllabi under this paper.

The main hypothesis of this master degree dissertation is as follows: the control of Lower Nubia by the Egyptian State was a relevant and specific factor in the construction of Egyptian imperialism, and as well in allowing Egypt to became an "hegemonic power" in the Near East during the New Kingdom (1550-1069 B.C.). In order to develop this hypothesis, we choose to study te Eighteenth Dinasty, as it was the period when a reunified Egypt knew its maximum territorial expansion. The sources used include the tomb inscriptions of Egyptian officials and Nubian princes, texts relating military campaigns and such diplomatic correspondence of the time as survived (know as Amarna Letters).

International Conference “Perspectives on the Ramesside Military System”

Date: December 10-11, 2021

Venue: Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, Auditorium (Gabelsbergerstraße 35, 80333 München)

Organisers: Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Hoffmann, Dr. Mohamed Raafat Abbas