Egypt Bentley Notes pt.2

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City Names

Vague Locations

Dates/Times

Names

Historical Evidence/Relations

Similar to Mesopotamia, densely populated cities introduced the idea of a specialized labor force in early African agricultural societies

Specialized labor was a prominent feature in the societies of the Egyptian economy

Was particularly productive because of its prosperity and geographical location

Egypt was a trade center linking the countries of Southwest Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean, and sub-Saharan Africa

Like Southwest Asia, the Nile Valley has been a site of sophisticated cultural development

Cities of the Nile Valley:

In early Nile Valley societies, cities were less prominent than in ancient Mesopotamia

According to legend, Menes the Conqueror founded Memphis in 3100 BC

Located at the tip of the Nile Delta, Memphis was conveniently located as the capital

Menes and many later pharaohs ruled a united Egypt from Memphis

After unification, Thebes became the administrative center of Upper Egypt, and several pharaohs even made the city their capital

Founded around 2900 BC, Heliopolis reached its peak of influence in the New Kingdom when it was the site of a vast temple of the sun god Re

Another important city is Tanis in the Nile Delta

Nubian cities are not as famous as Egypt

Both documentary records and archaeological excavations reveal the emergence of powerful and prosperous cities in both the South Nile Valley and Egypt

The most famous ancient Nubian cities were Kerma, Napata and Meroë

Kerma was the capital of the earliest Kingdom of Kush (Located just above the third waterfall of the Nile)

Around the middle of the 7th century BC the Assyrian army drove out the Kushites and claimed control of Egypt

The capital city of Kush moved further south, this time to the 5th point of the Nile, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from Egypt's southern border and 6th cataract

Presided over by Meroë