Africa: Difference between revisions

From 3500 BC, [[nome (Egypt)|nomes]] (ruled by [[nomarch]]s) coalesced to form the kingdoms of [[Lower Egypt]] and [[Upper Egypt]] in northeast Africa. Around 3100 BC Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt to unify [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] was unified byunder the [[1stFirst Dynasty of Egypt|1st dynasty]] circa 3100 BC when Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt, with the process of consolidation and assimilation completed by the time of the [[3rd Dynasty of Egypt|3rd dynasty]] who formed the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt]] in 2686 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last=Abu Bakr |first=Abdel |title=General History of Africa: Volume 2 |chapter=Pharoanic Egypt |year=1981 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000134375}}</ref>{{rp|pages=62–63}} The [[Kerma culture|Kingdom of Kerma]] emerged around this time to become the dominant force in [[Nubia]], controlling territory as large as Egypt between the 1st and 4th [[cataracts of the Nile]].<ref>{{cite book |year=2012 |publisher= The Encyclopedia of Ancient History |first= J. R. |last= Anderson |doi= 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah15224 |title = The Encyclopedia of Ancient History|isbn = 9781444338386|chapter = Kerma}} She states, "To date, Kerma-culture has been found from the region of the First Cataract to upstream of the Fourth Cataract."</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=anthpubs |title= Nubian identity in the Bronze Age. Patterns of cultural and biological variation|year=2011|first= Michele |last= Buzon |access-date= 30 March 2017}}</ref> The [[4th Dynasty of Egypt|4th dynasty]] oversaw the height of the Old Kingdom, and constructed many [[Egyptian pyramids|great pyramids]], however under the [[6th Dynasty of Egypt|6th dynasty]] power gradually decentralised to the nomarchs, culminating in the disintegration of the kingdom, exacerbated by drought and famine, andthus the beginning ofcommencing the [[First Intermediate Period]] in 2200 BC. This shattered state would last until 2055 BC when the [[11th Dynasty of Egypt|11th dynasty]], based in [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]], conquered the others to form the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]], with the [[12th Dynasty of Egypt|12th dynasty]] expanding into [[Lower Nubia]] at the expense of Kerma.<ref>{{cite book |last=Abu Bakr |first=Abdel |title=General History of Africa: Volume 2 |chapter=Pharoanic Egypt |year=1981 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000134375}}</ref>{{rp|pages=68–71}} In 1700 BC, the Middle Kingdom fractured in two, ushering in the [[Second Intermediate Period]],. with theThe [[Hyksos]], a militaristic people from [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], invadinginvaded and conqueringconquered Lower Egypt, whilst Kerma coordinated invasions deep into Egypt to reach its greatest extent.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-7-2003_pg9_1 |title= Tomb Reveals Ancient Egypt's Humiliating Secrets |date= 29 July 2003 |work= [[Daily Times (Pakistan)|Daily Times]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105214410/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_29-7-2003_pg9_1 |archive-date= 5 November 2013 }}</ref> In 1550 BC, the [[18th Dynasty of Egypt|18th dynasty]] eventually expelled the Hyksos, and established the [[New Kingdom of Egypt]]. Using the advanced military technology the Hyksos had brought, the New Kingdom conquered the [[Levant]] from the [[Canaanites]], [[Mittani]], [[Amorites]], and [[Hittites]], and extinguished Kerma, incorporating [[Nubia]] into the empire, and sending the Egyptian empire into its golden age.<ref>{{cite book |last=Abu Bakr |first=Abdel |title=General History of Africa: Volume 2 |chapter=Pharoanic Egypt |year=1981 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000134375}}</ref>{{rp|pages=73}} Internal struggles, drought and, famine, and invasions by a [[Sea peoples|confederation of seafaring peoples]] contributed to the New Kingdom's collapse in 1069 BC, commencing the [[Third Intermediate Period]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Abu Bakr |first=Abdel |title=General History of Africa: Volume 2 |chapter=Pharoanic Egypt |year=1981 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000134375}}</ref>{{rp|pages=76–77}}

Egypt's disintegrationcollapse liberated the more Egyptianised [[Kingdom of Kush]] in Nubia, who manoeuvred into power in Upper Egypt and conquered Lower Egypt in 754 BC to form the [[Kushite Empire]]. The Kushites ruled for a century and oversaw a [[Nubian pyramids|revival in pyramid building]], until they were [[Assyrian conquest of Egypt|forcibly driven out of Egypt by the Assyrians]] in 663 BC as reprisal for their expansion towards the [[Assyrian Empire]].<ref name="JE66">{{cite book |last1=Elayi |first1=Josette |title=Sennacherib, King of Assyria |date=2018 |publisher=SBL Press |isbn=978-0-88414-318-5 |pages=66–67 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVNtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA66 |language=en}}</ref> The Assyrians installed a [[26th Dynasty of Egypt|puppet dynasty]] which later gained independence and once more [[Late Period of ancient Egypt|unified Egypt]], until they were conquered by the [[Achaemenid Empire]] in 525 BC.<ref>{{cite book |last=Abu Bakr |first=Abdel |title=General History of Africa: Volume 2 |chapter=Pharoanic Egypt |year=1981 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000134375}}</ref>{{rp|pages=77}} Egypt regained independence under the [[28th Dynasty of Egypt|28th dynasty]] in 404 BC however they were later reconquered by the Achaemenids in 343 BC. The conquest of the Achaemenid Egypt by [[Alexander the Great]] in 332 BC marked the beginning of [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic rule]] and the installation of the [[Ancient Macedonian|Macedonian]] [[Ptolemaic dynasty]] in Egypt.<ref>{{cite book |last=Riad |first=Henry |title=General History of Africa: Volume 2 |chapter=Egypt in the Hellenistic era |year=1981 |publisher=UNESCO Publishing |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000134375}}</ref>{{rp|pages=119}} The Ptolemaics lost their holdings outside of Africa to the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucids]] in the [[Syrian Wars]], however expanded into [[Cyrenaica]] and subjugated Kush in the 3rd century BC. In the 1st century BC, Ptolemaic Egypt became entangled in a [[Caesar's civil war|Roman civil war]], leading to its conquest by the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] in 30 BC. The [[Crisis of the Third Century]] in the Roman Empire freed the Levantine city state of [[Palmyra]] which conquered Egypt, however their brief rule ended when they were reconquered by the Romans. In the midst of this, Kush regained total independence from Egypt, and they would persist as a major regional power until, having been weakened from internal rebellion amid worsening climatic conditions, invasions by both the [[Noba]] and [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] and the [[Noba]] caused their disintegration into [[Makuria]], [[Alodia]], and [[Nobatia]] in the 5th century AD. The Romans managed to hold on to Egypt for the rest of the ancient period.