Egypt between the end of the New Kingdom and the rise of Naukratis

The “golden” New Kingdom ended (ca.1075 BCE) with a weak Pharaoh. Politically, we witness a clear division between the North (Tanis) and the South (Thebes). Theologically, “Amun is king” ruled, and so Egypt was a theocracy (headed by the military). In the period which followed, the Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1075 – 664 BCE), Nubia and the eastern desert were lost again (as well as the northern “Asiatic” regions). At the end of this period and for the first time since 3000 BCE, Egypt lost its independence.
The last Pharaoh of the New Kingdom, Ramesses XI (ca. 1104 -1075 BCE) had been unable to halt the internal collapse of the kingdom, which had already filled the relatively long reign of Ramesses IX (ca. 1127 – 1108 BCE). Tomb robberies (in the Theban necropolis) were now discovered at Karnak. Famine, conflicts and military dictatorship were the outcome of this degeneration. With the death of Ramesses XI, the “golden age” of Ancient Egyptian civilization had formally come to a close.
Dynasty XXI, founded by Pharaoh Smendes (ca. 1075 – 1044 BCE), formally maintained the unity of the Two Lands. But his origins are obscure. He was related by marriage to the royal family. In the North (Tanis) as well as in Thebes, Amun theology reigned (the name of Amun was even written in a cartouche), but in practice, the Thebaid was ruled by the high priest of Amun. The daughter of Psusennes I (ca. 1040 – 990 BCE), called Maatkare, was the first “Divine Adoratice” or “god’s wife”, i.e. the spouse of Amun-Re, the “king of the gods”. She inaugurated a “Dynasty” of 12 Divine Adoratices, ruling the “domain of the Divine Adoratrice” at Thebes, until the Persian invision of 525 BCE.

From the XXIII Dynasty onward, the status of the “god’s wife” began to approach that of Pharaoh himself, and in the XXVth Dynasty these woman appeared in greater prominence on monuments, with their names written in royal cartouches. They could even celebrate the Sed-festival, only attested for Pharaoh ! All this points to a radically changed conception of kingship, which became a political function (safeguarding unity) deprived of its former “religious” grandure and importance (Pharaoh as “son of Re”, living in Maat). Indeed, all was in the hands of Amun and Amun’s wife was able to divine the god’s wish and will …
Stone sculpture on a grand scale was rare. But work of unparalleled beauty & excellence was made on a modest scale (metal, faience). But in the North (Tanis), matter were not univocal either. Libyan tribal chieftains had been indispensable to the the Tanite kings, but with Pharaoh Psusennes II (ca. 960 – 945 BCE), they lost their power to them … 
With Dynasty XXII (“Bubastids” or “Libyan”), founded by the Libyan Shoshenq I (ca. 945 – 924 BCE), Egypt came under the rule of its former “Aziatic” enemies. However, these Libyans had been assimilating Egyptian culture and customs for already several generations now, and so the royal house of Bubastid did not differ much from native Egyptian kingship, although Thebes hesitated. After the reign of Osorkon II (ca. 874 – 850 BCE), a steady decline set in. In Dynasty XXIII (ca. 818 – 715 BCE), the house of Bubastids split into two branches.
In the middle of the 8th century BCE, a new political power appeared in the extreme South. It had for some generations been building up an important kingdom from their center at Napata at the 4th cataract. These “Ethiopians” (actually Upper Nubians) felt to be Egyptians in culture and religion (they worshipped Amun and had strong ties with Thebes). The first king of this Kushite kingdom was Kashta, who initiated Dynasty XXV, or “Ethiopian”, characterized by the revival of archaic Old Kingdom forms (cf. Shabaka Stone) and the return of the traditional funerary practices. Indeed, because they possessed the gold-reserves of Nubia, they were able to adorn empoverished Egypt with formidable wealth.

Piye (ca. 740 – 713 BCE), probably Kashta’s eldest son, was crowned in the temple of Amun at Gebel Barkal (the traditional frontier between Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia), as “Horus, Mighty Bull, arising in Napata”. He went to Thebes to be acknowledged there. After having consolidated his position in Upper Egypt, Piye returned to Napata (cf. “Victory Stela” at Gebel Barkal). 
At the same time, in Lower Egypt, a future opponent, the Libyan Tefnakhte ruled the entire western Delta, with as capital Sais (city of the goddess Neit, one of the patrons of kingship). Near Sais were also the cities of Pe and Dep (Buto), of mythological importance since the earliest periods of Egyptian history, and cult centre of the serpent goddess Wadjet, the Uræus protecting Pharaoh’s forehead. When the rulers of Thebes asked for help, Piye’s armies moved northwards. When he sent messengers ahead to Memphis with offers of peace, they closed the gates for him and sent out an army against him. Piye returned victoriously to Napata, contenting himself with the formal recognition of his power over Egypt, and never went to Egypt again. But the anarchic disunity of the many petty Delta states remained unchanged.
Pharaoh Shabaka (ca. 712 – 698 BC), this black African “Ethiopian”, also a son of Kashta, was the first Kushite king to reunite Egypt by defeating the monarchy of Sais and establishing himself in Egypt. Shabaka, who figures in Graeco-Roman sources as a semi-legendary figure, settled the renewed conflicts between Kush and Sais and was crowned Pharaoh in Egypt, with his Residence and new seat of government in Memphis. Pharaoh Shabaka modelled himself and his rule upon the Old Kingdom.
The first Assyrian king who turned against Egypt -that had so often supported the small states of Palestine against this powerful new world order- was Esarhaddon (ca. 681 – 669 BCE). For him, the Delta states were natural allies, for -in his view- they had reluctantly accepted the rule of the Ethiopians. Between 667 and 666 BCE, his successor Assurbanipal conquered Egypt (Thebes was sacked in 663 BCE) and this Assyrian king placed Pharaoh Necho I (ca. 672 – 664) on the throne of Egypt. With him, the Late Period was initiated.

Conclusion

In the Third Intermediate Period, or post-Imperial Era, we witness the decentralization of Egypt, and the reemergence of new divisions, either between Tanis and Thebes or between Sais and Napata. After the XXIth Dynasty, the former “enemies of Egypt” ruled, i.e. the Libyans and Nubians (both used as mercenaries at the beginning of the New Kingdom).
However, we cannot say these fully egyptianized Libyan or Ethiopian rulers destroyed Egyptian culture, quite on the contrary. They were proud to stand at the head of Egypt, to prove to the traditional pantheon that their rule favored them and they Egypt (so that the deities of Egypt would remember them). Indeed, just before and after the Assyrian conquest, Dynastic Rule was characterized by a revival of archaic Egyptian forms. The extraordinary wealth of Egypt was monumentalized on a grand scale by artist and architects who were also state-funded archeologists of Egyptian culture. They studied the papyri in the various “Houses of Life” and rediscovered the old canon. They copied “worm-eaten” documents to make them better than before. For in their minds, the Solar Pharaohs of old were the true foundation of Egyptian Statehood (Old Kingdom nostalgia can also be found in the New Kingdom).

A few remarks concerning the Late Period.

The XXVIth or “Saite” Dynasty (664 – 525 BCE) installed by Assurbanipal, allowed for the resurgence of Egypt’s unity and power. Necho I was killed by the Nubians in 664 BCE and his son Psammetichus I (664 – 610 BCE) was an able statesman. He was trusted by the Assyrians and left alone by the “Ethiopians”. Because the Assyrians could not maintain their military presence in Egypt, Pharaoh was able to reunite Egypt. He immediately revitalized the Egyptian form by relying on the vast cultural heritage and its recorded memory. A short renaissance saw the light. And also in this period, the Greeks recontacted the Egyptians for the first time since generations. Carians and Ionians were enlisted by Pharaoh, who made his scribes study Greek.

“Saitic Egypt, with her turning back to the great pharaonic times and her consciousness of a great cultural past, the memory of which reaches back to a time long forgotten (“Saitic Renaissance”, Assmann, 2000), is seen as the teacher of knowledge and wisdom, for she is recognized for her old age and for her wisdom that derives from that antiquity. It seems to be especially this “cultural memory” (Assmann, 2000) of Saitic Egypt that determines the image of Egypt in later Greek generations.” – Matthews & Roemer, 2003, pp.14.

The Saite Dynasty sought to maintain the great heritage of the Egyptian past. Ancient works were copied and mortuary cults were revived. Demotic became the accepted form of cursive script in the royal chanceries. These Pharaohs focused on keeping Egypt’s frontiers secure, and moved far into Asia, even further than the New Kingdom rulers Thutmose I and III.
When Cyrus the Great of Persia ascended the throne in 559 BCE, Pharaoh Ahmose II or Amasis (570 – 526 BCE) was left with no other option than to cultivate close relations with Greek states to prepare Egypt for the Persian invasion of 525. The latter led to the defeat and capture of Psammetichus III (526 – 525) by Cambyses (who died in 522 BCE).
Under Persian rule (525 – 404 BCE), Egypt became a satrapy of the Persian Empire. The Persians left the Egyptian administration in place, but some of their rulers, like Cambyses and later Xerxes (486 – 465 BCE) disregarded temple privilege. The gods and their priests were humiliated. Only Darius I (522 – 486 BCE) displayed some regard for the native religion. When Darius II died (404 BCE), a Libyan, Amyrtaios of Sais, led an uprising and again Egypt would enjoy a relatively long period of independence under “native” rulers, the last of which being Pharaoh Nektanebo II (360 –  343 BCE).

A second Persian invasion (343 BCE) ended these short Dynasties (28, 29 & 30, between 404 – 343 BCE). But with Alexander the Great (entering Egypt in December 332 BCE), Egypt came under Macedonian rule. The Greeks respected Egypt and its gods and Greek communities had been living there for generations. In 305, the Ptolemaic Empire was initiated (it ended in 30 BCE). Mass immigration happened  : Greeks, Macedonians, Thracians, Jews, Arabs, Mysians and Syrians settled in Egypt, attracted by the prospect of employment, land and economic opportunity. Foreign slaves and prisoners of war were brought to Egypt by the new rulers.
Between 30 BCE and 642 CE, Egypt was ruled by the Romans and the Byzantines, before it became Islamic as it still is today.

Greek trading, recontacting & settling in Egypt

Old Kingdom Egypt used mercenaries in military expeditions. Nubians settled in the late VIth Dynasty in the southernmost nome of Elephantine and were employed in border police units.

“Contact with Minoan Crete and the Mycenaean Greeks is well attested. The image of Egypt is already firmly established in the Homeric poems and a plethora of Egyptian artefacts has been unearthed in Greece, the Aegean and even in western Greek colonies such as Cumae and Pithecusa in Italy from as early as the eighth century.” – La’ada, in Matthews & Roemer, 2003, p.158.

The presence of Libyans and Nubians is attested in the armies of Pharaohs Kamose and Ahmose at the start of the New Kingdom. An alliance between the Hyksos Dynasty and the Minoans existed.

“In return for protecting the sea approaches to Egypt, the Minoans might have secured harbour facilities and access to those precious commodities (especially gold) for which Egypt was famous in the outside world.” – Bietak, M., 1996, p.81.

With Pharaoh Ahmose (ca. 1539 – 1292 BCE), Minoan culture enters Egyptian history. Indeed, in the aftermath of the sack of Avaris (Tell el-Dab’a – ca. 1540 BCE), the capital of the Hyksos in the Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1759 – 1539 BCE), the fortifications and palace of the last Hyksos king (Khamudi) were systematically destroyed. Pharaoh Ahmose replaced them with short lived buildings reconstructed from foundations and fragments of wall paintings of the ruins. The fragments were found in dumps to level the fortifications & palatial structures of Ahmose. These paintings were Minoan !

Their presence, 100 years earlier than the first representations of Cretans in Theban tombs and earlier than the surviving frescos at Knossos, whose naturalistic subject matter they share, shows the cultural links between Crete and Egypt (before and after the sack of Avaris). These frescos seem to owe little to Egyptian tradition and serve a ritual purpose : bull-leapers, acrobats and the motives of the bull’s head and the labyrinth point to Early Cretan religion.
As a small amount of Minoan Kamares ware pottery was found in XIIIth Dynasty strata (Middle Kingdom), it is not impossible Egyptian artistic style influenced Crete as far back as the Old Kingdom (jewels). These early periods do not evidence the systematic immigration of Greeks. The links between Greece and Egypt, as with many other nations, were probably foremost economical.

We know Pharaoh Psammetichus I (664 – 610 BCE) employed Carian and Ionian mercenaries in his efforts to strengthen his authority (ca. 658 BCE) against the Assyrians. He also put some boys into the charge of the Greeks, and their learning of the language was the origin of the class of Egyptian interpreters, and the “regular intercourse with the Egyptians” began. He allowed Milesians to settle in Upper Egypt (not far from the capital Sais). This was the first time Greeks were allowed to stay in Egypt.
“With the enrollment of Greek mercenaries into his service, Egypt became more important from the Greeks’ point of view than the ruined cities of Syria.” – Burkert, 1992, p.14.
It is Herodotus who, in his Histories, informs us that camps (“stratopeda”) were established between Bubastis and the sea on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile. They were occupied without a break for over a century until these Greek mercenaries were moved to Memphis at the beginning of the reign of Pharaoh Ahmose II or “Amasis” (570 – 526 BCE). They were reintroduced in the area at a later stage to counter the growing menace of Persia (525 BCE). 
The Greek inscription found on the leg of one of the colossi at Abu Simbel, indeed indicates that mercenaries, under Egyptian command, formed one of two corps in the army, whose supreme commander was also an Egyptian. Under Pharaoh Apries (589 – 570 BCE), there was a revolt of mercenaries at Elephantine … Because the Ionians and Carians were also active in piracy, the Egyptians were forced to restrict the immigration of Greeks, punishing infringement by the sacrifice of the victim. 

Herodotus (II.177,1) also comments that during Pharaoh Amasis, Egypt attained its highest level of prosperity both in respect to crops and the number of inhabited cities (indeed, an estimated 3 million people lived in Egypt). It was under this Pharaoh that the Greeks were allowed to move beyond the coast of Lower Egypt. Trade was encouraged and the sources, mostly Greek, refer to trading stations such as “The Wall of the Milesians”, and “Islands” bearing names as Ephesus, Chios, Lesbos, Cyprus and Samos. 
A lot of Greek centres emerged, but the best-documented trading centre was Naukratis on the Canopic branch of the Nile not far from Sais and with excellent communications. It was founded by Milesians between 650 – 610 BCE (under Pharaoh Psammetichus I). From ca. 570 BCE, all Greek trade had to move through Naukratis by law. So, before the end of the 6th century BCE, the Greeks had their own colony in Egypt. The travels of individual Greeks to Egypt for the purpose of their education, as well as Greek immigration to Kemet, the “black” land, is usually dated at the time of the Persian invasion (525 BCE). However, it can not be excluded that Pharaoh Psammetichus I allowed Greek intelligentsia to study in Memphis.
Source: Sophiatopia|| By Wim van den Dungen
This article originally appeared on Sophiatopia. Read the original article here.