The New Kingdom of Egypt: The Golden Age

“More than 1,000 years after the pyramids were built, Egypt reached the height of its powers. The sophisticated, civilized society that we call the New Kingdom was led by a succession of remarkable kings. Between them, they liberated their country, conquered their neighbors and built an empire that stretched from Syria to Sudan. The empire brought Egypt unimaginable wealth and power. And they left a legacy that is still with us today 3,000 years later.”

At the end of the Second Intermediate Period, “the Hyksos were being forced back on the Delta. Seqenenre and Kamose died in battle, but Kamose’s successor…completed the task and drove the Hyksos out of Egypt. He became the founder of the mighty eighteenth dynasty, the first in the New Kingdom.”

“18th Dynasty
· Ahmose [He was successful in unifying Egypt in 1520 B.C, but gives credit to the sun god, Amen Re.]
· Amenhotep I
· Thutmose I
· Thutmose II
· Hatshepsut [She ruled for her stepson since he was not old enough to rule on his own yet. However, she intended to keep the throne, and even when Thutmose III was of age, she ruled with him. He hated his stepmother for this. She took the throne by claiming that her father appointed her as his successor, that she was in the royal line, and that she was the daughter of a god. She had to dress as a male so that she would be accepted more. She called herself pharaoh-not queen. The position of pharaoh was reserved only for males, so she was breaking that rule. She increased Egypt’s wealth by trading at Punt and bringing back many riches. During her reign she built many oblisques and temples and repaired others. She was the first successful female ruler. (video)]
· Thutmose III [After his stepmom died, he took the throne completely. He tried to take revenge on her by wiping her out of history. However, the things in her temples are still there so we know she existed. Thutmose III wanted to have an empire, so he expanded the military-some were volunteers and others were forced to join. He then took his troops of 20,000 men and marched down to Megiddo. Here there was a battle, but his men kept stopping to plunder, so he turned it into a siege instead. Seven months later, Megiddo surrendered and Thutmose III marched back to Thebes with all of their wealth. (video)]
· Amenhotep II [He controlled and protected Egypt not with weapons, but words. He wrote letters to his three enemies to keep the peace. (video)]
· Thutmose IV [This pharaoh erected a granite stela between the paws of the Great Sphinx. The upper part of this stela shows the king making offerings to the Sphinx and tells of how one of the gods promised Thutmose IV the throne if he would repair the Sphinx and clear away the sand that had piled up to its neck. Thutmose IV did just this. (Gahlin*)
· Amenhotep III [His way of diplomacy and friendship was giving gold. (video)]
· Amenhotep IV (Akhenaten) [“Akhenaten shook up traditional politics and religion. He moved Egypt’s capital from Thebes to a desolate site three hundred miles away, known today as Armana, and there he built a splendid new city from scratch. At the same time he tried to create a new religion, based on the worship of one god instead of many.” (Marston 13)]
· Neferneferuaten
· Tutankhamen [He abandoned the “capital of Akhenaten, along with the cult of its god. Having changed his name to Tutankhamun, [it used to be Tutankaten,] this young king set about reopening the temples that were closed during the reign of Akhenaten, restoring the old priesthood back to its former power. Despite the importance of his reign, Tutankhamun will probably be best remembered for his tomb, which was found almost intact in the early 1920s.The mummy mask of Tutankhamun is perhaps one of the most famous finds in the history of archaeology.”]
[“Tutankhamun having died without leaving an heir, the throne passed to two of his courtiers. The first was Ay, who is sometimes believed to have been a brother-in-law of Amenhotep III and who married the widow of the deceased king in order to legitimise his claims to the throne.”]
· Ay
· Horemheb" (source)
“The second was Horemheb, a former general who served under Tutankhamun and who may have been married to a sister of Nefertiti, Akhenaten's wife. It was during Horemheb's reign that the restoration policy after the Amarna Revolution turned into a policy of destruction: Akhenaten's names were chisled away, his statues torn down and his temples smashed to bits.”
“As he had no male offspring, Horemheb appointed an old comrade in arms, the general Paramesu, to be his successor. With Paramesu's accession to the throne as Ramesses I, the 18th Dynasty had come to an end.”

“19th Dynasty
[“The Nineteenth Dynasty (1320-1200BC) was established by the Horemheb's wazir, or minister, Ramses I who reigned for two years. Ramses and his descendants were warrior kings who recaptured territories lost under Akhenaten.”]
·Rameses I
[“His successor Seti I regained control over Egypt's eastern colonies in Palestine, Nubia and the Near East. Seti I also began construction on a majestic temple at Abydos which was completed by his son Ramses II…”]
·Seti I
· Rameses II [He “reconquered Asia Minor. Ramses also constructed monumental structures like the Ramesseum in Thebes and the sun temples of Abu Simbel.”]
· Merenptah [He “spent much of his reign driving back invaders from Libya and the Mediterranean, but he is believed to be the biblical Pharaoh described in Exodus.”]
· Amenmessu
· Sety II
· Saptah
· Tausret” (source)
·
“20th Dynasty
· Setnakht
· Rameses III [“Under him, Palestine, Syria, and the northern Euphrates area in Mesopotamia were brought within the New Kingdom.”]
· Rameses IV
· Rameses V
· Rameses VI
· Rameses VII
· Rameses VIII
· Rameses IX
· Rameses X
· Rameses XI" (source)

Under “Ramses III, the kingdom was occupied with defending itself against Libyan and "Sea People" invasions. Ramses III constructed the enormous palace temple of Medinet Hebu, but the empire had begun to disintegrate with strikes, assassination attempts and provincial unrest.”
“His successors, who were all named Ramses, presided over the decline of their empire until Ramses XI withdrew from active control over his kingdom, delegating authority over Upper Egypt to his high priest of Amun, Herihor, and of Lower Egypt to his minister Smendes. These two rulers were the last of the New Kingdom.”

Works Cited

Gahlin, Lucia. Egypt: Gods, Myths, and Religion. New York: Anness Publishing. 2005.

Marston, Elsa. The Ancient Egyptians. New York: Benchmark Books. 1996.

(Video)

* I was photocopying a page out of this book to use and since it was oversized, the copier cut off the page number!