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pharaohs rise and fall s01e02
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00:08Their names are etched in stone, their stories carved into the very fabric of history to live
00:14on forever. This is the true story of Egypt's greatest rulers, from their meteoric rise
00:21to absolute power to their ultimate downfall. This is the rise and fall of the pharaohs.
00:50Ancient Egypt in the 3rd millennia BCE. The glory of the pyramid age has given way to division
00:57and chaos as the last pharaoh of a united Egypt has died.
01:03We start to see Egypt coming apart at the seams, literally, and we have all these little warring
01:09factions.
01:10But in the chaos, a new order is emerging in the southern city of Thebes, and a new dynasty
01:17is taking root.
01:18Egypt enters a renaissance. We have new art, new literature, and new ideas.
01:24But the quest to reunify Egypt is a difficult one. Only a ruler with strength and vision
01:31can reunite this shattered land into one. This is the story of Egypt's middle kingdom.
01:40At this time, Egypt is split among local rulers known as the nomarchs. These nomarchs are locked
01:46in struggle, each trying to become the man on top.
01:50The pharaoh is at the top of a hierarchy, and he is way above everyone else because he's
01:55on a completely different level.
01:57To become pharaoh is to be transformed into the god Horus. Horus is the god of kingship,
02:04and once the king becomes Horus, he then becomes a living god.
02:09So the pharaoh has three roles. He is the head of the military, he's the head of the
02:14government, and he's the head of the priesthood. With no pharaoh on the throne, what happens
02:20to all these institutions?
02:23Without a king, Maat is no more. Egypt exists in a state of chaos.
02:29Maat is a really important, kind of all-encompassing concept in ancient Egypt.
02:34It's really cosmic order. It's the way the universe is supposed to work.
02:39And the pharaoh's ultimate role was to ensure that that happened, to maintain Maat.
02:46While the pharaohs perhaps seemed extreme, we're now seeing the downhill progression
02:54of what happens to the society that has always known only the pharaoh.
03:01In this high-stakes game of politics, the fate of Egypt is on the line.
03:07The nomarchs are setting their own rules.
03:09They're creating their own laws, running things the way they want them to be run.
03:13And these regional rulers were constantly vying for territory
03:17and making alliances with each other against others, and it's a period of civil unrest
03:21and open warfare between the different gnomes or regions of Egypt.
03:26Through decades of warfare, two factions consolidate power.
03:30These two factions are centered in the city of Thebes in the south
03:34and Hierachonopolis in the north.
03:36This war between Thebes and Hierachonopolis lasts for years.
03:41Finally, a king-warrior arises from Thebes
03:44with the ruthless drive to unite all of Egypt under his rule, Mentuhotep II.
03:51Mentuhotep is named after the Theban god of war, Montu,
03:56and he lives up to his name.
03:57The nomarchs of Lower Egypt are no match for him,
04:00and he smashes their power base.
04:03Mentuhotep is going to recreate the office of pharaoh
04:05and unite the lands of Egypt once more.
04:07The office of pharaoh is historically passed down through the family line.
04:12Mentuhotep II needs a way of selling himself to the people of Egypt
04:16as a legitimate pharaoh.
04:18He wants to claim the rule of pharaoh,
04:21but he is not in the line of kings.
04:24He is the son of a Theban king.
04:26The family name was Inteph, but he changed the family name.
04:31Mentuhotep means Montu is content.
04:34So by linking himself with the god Montu and saying he was chosen,
04:38it means he's been divinely selected in order to restore the office of pharaoh
04:43and reunite Egypt.
04:45By 2060 BCE, Egypt is united under Mentuhotep II,
04:50and Thebes is made the new national capital.
04:54Showing the importance of Thebes in this new age,
04:57many prominent Thebans are appointed to major offices of state.
05:01This marks a new era of Egypt,
05:04one that will have long-lasting effects on the nation
05:07and the office of pharaoh.
05:10Mentuhotep understood that he needed to reform the nomarch system,
05:14so what he did was place a governor
05:16who only answered to him above all of them.
05:18This is a greater stratification of society,
05:21but also it's pulling power back into the centralized control of pharaoh.
05:27Mentuhotep's reforms not only strengthened the office of pharaoh,
05:31but also strengthened Egyptian society as a whole.
05:35With this sense of flourishing that came with the stability
05:39of the new rulership,
05:41came the creativity of what signified the Middle Kingdom.
05:45Literature, art and architecture become very important
05:49during Mentuhotep II's reign,
05:51and one of the most important manifestations of this new outlook
05:55is Mentuhotep's mortuary temple at Deir al-Bahari.
05:59Mentuhotep II built his mortuary complex
06:02using a series of terraces and pillared halls
06:05that derives from Theban burial traditions,
06:08not something that you would see up in the north
06:10from the Old Kingdom.
06:11His beautiful temple at Deir al-Bahari
06:14will end up being a model
06:16that other kings in later periods
06:18will use to align themselves
06:21with the founder of the Middle Kingdom,
06:24building their own temples close by,
06:26mimicking the style,
06:28really trying to show
06:29that they're part of this line of kings,
06:31whether or not they're related at all in blood.
06:35During his reign, it's kind of interesting,
06:37you're going to see more goods
06:39that show things associated with war,
06:43models of the army and things like that,
06:45which is showing the emphasis of his administration.
06:48He even has, next to his mortuary temple,
06:51a burial of a bunch of,
06:53we presume, elite warriors of his
06:56who must have done something great,
06:57we don't know what it was,
06:58but he appreciated them so much
07:00that they are buried near him.
07:02There were, I think, two officers
07:04and maybe 50 men, mostly archers,
07:07because they've still got their guards on their wrists.
07:10They weren't mummified.
07:11They were just wrapped up in Montuotep's linens,
07:15linen from the royal palace, the good stuff.
07:17They were wrapped up and put in a cave there
07:19and their bodies have lasted pretty well.
07:22And that temple is in a magical place
07:24where the goddess Hathor is there
07:26all the time to comfort them,
07:28where the god Amun comes to visit,
07:30where there are all kinds of festivals.
07:32So those soldiers, those ordinary guys,
07:36they get to enjoy all that for all eternity.
07:39Mentu-Hotep came to the throne
07:41at a time when Egypt was divided.
07:43While he unified the nation politically,
07:46the pharaonic institutions,
07:47such as a centralized workshop
07:49for the royal artisans,
07:51had been diffused or lost
07:52during the decades-long civil wars.
07:55These royal artisans
07:56were the ones who built the pyramids
07:58and the beautiful statuary of the Old Kingdom.
08:02Because of this loss
08:03of a centralized pharaonic art style,
08:05new styles based on local customs would arise.
08:08A great example of this can be found
08:11in the statuary of Mentu-Hotep II,
08:13which is strikingly different in style
08:15than those of the Old Kingdom.
08:18Some people have said the carving looks crude,
08:20it looks unprofessional.
08:22I think it looks different
08:23from what we've come to expect
08:24from the workshops of Memphis.
08:26But that doesn't mean it's worse.
08:28I think it's just emphasizing different things.
08:31This statue is quite unusual.
08:34The king is depicted
08:35with very, very black skin.
08:36Now, I suspect he was
08:37a very dark, complexioned man,
08:39but the blackness of it
08:41is to show that he has joined the god Osiris.
08:44He is now an underworld deity himself.
08:47Black is often caused
08:48by rubbing senetcher,
08:50incense and ointment,
08:51onto statues
08:52to make them even holier.
08:54Senetcher means to make divine.
08:56He's wearing a very short, white cloak,
08:59which is the cloak you wear
09:00for a said festival.
09:01It's a festival you have
09:03after 30 years on the throne
09:05to celebrate your longevity.
09:06And then he's wearing the red crown.
09:08And it's very imposing.
09:12You know, it's very large and muscular.
09:15But we don't have these beautiful,
09:17finite features
09:18and these lovely, smooth carvings
09:21that we were seeing before.
09:24Unlike the Old Kingdom kings,
09:25like Menkaure and Khafre
09:28who have beautiful, elegant statues
09:30showing you they've got muscles,
09:32but they are also gentlemen.
09:35And he doesn't really look like a gentleman.
09:39The 11th dynasty does not last long.
09:43After the death of Mentuhotep IV,
09:45he had no known heirs
09:47and a new dynasty would rise.
09:49A dynasty that was famous
09:50for using an innovative tool
09:52as their source of power and persuasion.
09:55So now we have this interesting figure
09:57called Amenemhat
09:59who, from an inscription that we have,
10:01appears to have been the vizier
10:04of Mentuhotep IV.
10:06And then suddenly later,
10:08he's now king.
10:10Amenemhat's name means
10:11Amun is at the forefront.
10:13Amun was the primary god of Thebes
10:15and Amenemhat closely tied
10:17his new dynasty to Amun
10:19and the priesthood of Amun.
10:21Here's a man who wants to aspire
10:24to the office of the pharaoh,
10:27but he has a problem
10:28and that is lack of legitimacy.
10:30He is not a descendant
10:32through dynastic succession.
10:34He is not linked
10:35to the major institutions
10:36of power in Egypt.
10:38But what he does have
10:39are influential priestly supporters
10:42and the power of prophecy.
10:44During his time period
10:46there's a lot of really
10:47wonderful literature written
10:49including that nice story
10:50about King Sneferu
10:52and the old man Neferti.
10:55Then a king will come from the south,
10:58Emoni, the Justified by name.
11:00Son of a woman of Tarseti,
11:02child of Upper Egypt.
11:04He will take the white crown.
11:06He will wear the red crown.
11:08He will join the two mighty ones.
11:11Well, if your name is Amenemhat,
11:13the short form for your name is Emoni.
11:15So the prophecy seems to be telling us
11:18that this very same Amenemhat
11:20is going to come and save us all
11:22and everything will be swell.
11:24And the only problem is
11:25that it probably wasn't written
11:27during the time of Sneferu
11:28and it was probably written
11:30in the time of Amenemhat
11:31or in the time of his son,
11:33Senwazert I.
11:36Amenemhat's use of the prophecy
11:37of Neferti
11:38would begin a tradition
11:39of his dynasty
11:40to use the written word
11:41to further a pharaoh's political agenda.
11:45During the Middle Kingdom
11:47we see an absolute golden age
11:50for the efflorescence
11:52of literature in ancient Egypt.
11:55We see so many different styles
11:57of literature being developed.
11:59We see poetry.
12:00We see narrative tales
12:01and many of those tales
12:02are told and retold
12:04into the Ptolemaic
12:06and even Roman periods.
12:08And you shouldn't think of it
12:09as just like,
12:10oh, these independent authors
12:11wanted to write a story
12:12like it is today.
12:14A lot of this literature
12:15is sponsored by the government.
12:17And a lot of this literature
12:18is there to make
12:19the government look good.
12:21These narratives
12:22not only entertain
12:24but also offer a window
12:25into the values, beliefs
12:27and everyday life
12:28of ancient Egyptians.
12:30One of the most celebrated
12:31literary works
12:32from this time
12:33is the tale of Sinuhe.
12:35It's a story
12:36about somebody
12:38who grew up in court
12:39with the king
12:40and he hears about
12:41the assassination of the king,
12:43Amenemar I.
12:44And for whatever reason
12:45he's terrified
12:46when he hears that the king
12:47has been killed
12:48and he decides to run away.
12:50And he runs and runs and runs
12:51until he ends up in Syria.
12:53And in Syria,
12:53being an Egyptian of course,
12:54he's smarter than everybody
12:56and braver
12:57and stronger and tougher
12:57and before you know it,
12:59he's a sheikh
13:00with a big family,
13:01beautiful wife.
13:02Everything is fine.
13:03But then he starts to get old
13:05and he thinks,
13:06oh no,
13:06what's gonna happen to me
13:07when I die?
13:08I won't be able
13:09to get to the afterlife.
13:11The Egyptian belief system
13:13said that if you were
13:14buried in Egypt
13:15you had a chance
13:16at eternal life.
13:17But this led to a problem
13:18for Egyptians abroad.
13:19If they were buried
13:20outside of Egypt,
13:22would they reach the afterlife?
13:24Many Egyptians believe
13:25no, they wouldn't.
13:26So he writes
13:28to the palace in Egypt.
13:30All the gods
13:31who ordained this flight,
13:33may you be merciful
13:34and bring me home.
13:35Perhaps you will let me
13:36see the place
13:37where my heart dwells
13:38that you reproached
13:39me for without me knowing it.
13:41I am truly despised.
13:44What matters more
13:45than my corpse
13:46being buried in the land
13:47where I was born?
13:49The king says,
13:50come back to Egypt.
13:51Don't allow yourself
13:51to be buried,
13:52wrapped up in a goat skin.
13:53I will welcome you back.
13:55There won't be any hard feelings.
13:57So Sinui leaves
13:58this life he made
13:59for himself
14:00and he goes back to Egypt
14:01and everybody is very happy
14:03to see him
14:04and things play out
14:05just as he had hoped.
14:07This tells us a lot
14:08about the Egyptian
14:09belief system
14:10and what this kind of literature
14:11is trying to say.
14:12It's saying,
14:13no, Pharaoh is benevolent.
14:15You don't need
14:16to leave Egypt.
14:17You want to be here
14:18in the fold with us.
14:19It shows us
14:20kind of how the Egyptians
14:21defined their own identity
14:24in contrast
14:25to these groups,
14:26right?
14:26Settled urban dwellers
14:27as opposed to nomadic
14:28pastoralists
14:29with certain beliefs
14:30and practices
14:31around death
14:32and the transition
14:33to the afterlife.
14:35Sinui can't really let go
14:36of this hope
14:37of, you know,
14:38being buried
14:38like an Egyptian.
14:39He can live
14:40like a Syro-Palestinian
14:41but he doesn't
14:42want to die like one.
14:43The tale of Sinui,
14:44as well as being
14:45perhaps a piece
14:46of entertainment,
14:47it's also a bit
14:47of political messaging
14:48and it's quite savvy
14:49because it positions
14:50everyone back
14:51within the province
14:52of the Pharaoh.
14:54The other famous
14:55story of this age
14:56is one of the first
14:58action-adventure stories
14:59in human history,
15:00the shipwrecked sailor.
15:03It's the tale
15:04of a sailor
15:05who finds himself
15:05shipwrecked
15:06upon a deserted island
15:08where he encounters
15:09this enormous serpent
15:11but it's a serpent
15:12with a beard
15:13and it can speak.
15:14It's a divine serpent
15:15and the serpent
15:17has his own sad
15:18tale to tell
15:19but the two work
15:20together
15:21and eventually
15:21the serpent
15:22returns the man
15:23to Egypt
15:24in a beautiful ship
15:25filled with
15:26all sorts of
15:27exotic fineries,
15:29fabulous animals,
15:30gold, silver.
15:31It's a delightful
15:32tale which tells
15:34us a great deal
15:34about what the
15:36ancient Egyptians
15:36thought the wider
15:38world might be like,
15:40about the fact
15:40that there was still
15:41divinity in that wider
15:44world, a divinity
15:45that was understood
15:46by the ancient Egyptians.
15:50In ancient Egypt,
15:52this writing could be
15:53found on temples
15:54or tomb walls
15:55but also on papyrus.
15:58Papyrus was made
15:59from strands
16:00of dried reeds
16:01which were bound,
16:02hammered together
16:03and dried under pressure
16:04to form something
16:05similar to paper.
16:07Papyrus allowed scribes,
16:09literate Egyptians
16:10to communicate stories
16:12but also administer
16:13the pharaoh's orders
16:14in a portable format.
16:16The writing system
16:18used by these scribes
16:19is known
16:19as hieroglyphics.
16:22Hieroglyphs
16:23are a combination
16:23of several different
16:24types of signs.
16:26They're all pictures
16:27but the way
16:28they use those pictures
16:29is a little bit different
16:30and they combine these
16:32to make the script.
16:33So you have signs
16:35that represent sounds,
16:36you have some of those
16:38representing a single sound,
16:40some representing a syllable
16:41or multiple sounds
16:43strung together
16:43and then you have signs
16:45that don't have
16:47a phonetic value.
16:48They're just there
16:50to kind of reinforce
16:52the meaning of the word
16:54or to stand
16:55as an entire word
16:56in themselves.
16:57For sun,
16:59you might have
16:59the sun sign
17:00which is just a circle
17:01with a dot through it
17:02and a little stroke
17:03underneath to show
17:04that yeah,
17:04we actually literally
17:05mean the sun.
17:07Some basic tips
17:08on how to read hieroglyphs
17:09look at where
17:10all of the animals
17:12are facing,
17:13they're all facing
17:14to the head of the line
17:15so you're reading
17:16sort of towards
17:18the faces of the animals.
17:20Hieroglyphics
17:21allowed the Egyptians
17:22to communicate
17:23not only stories
17:24in the will of pharaohs
17:25but also
17:26complex philosophical
17:27and political works
17:29and one of the most
17:30important of this
17:31style of work
17:32from this period
17:33is the so-called
17:34teachings of
17:35Amenemhat the first.
17:37This is typical
17:38where you have
17:38a wise father
17:40giving instructions
17:41to his son.
17:42In this case
17:43it's Amenemhat
17:44giving instructions
17:45to his son
17:45Senusret
17:46and this came out
17:47during Senusret's reign
17:49and in the document
17:50there's a prologue
17:52that describes
17:53how Amenemhat
17:54was assassinated
17:56in the palace.
17:57So here he is
17:58saying,
17:58oh, I was in my room
18:00I was sleeping at night
18:01and I heard some commotion
18:02in the palace
18:03and I woke up
18:04and you were not there
18:05my son.
18:06You know, and then
18:07he apparently dies.
18:09Then there's another
18:10bit of this
18:11in the tale of Senuhe
18:12and in that it is said
18:14that when
18:15King Amenemhat
18:16was assassinated
18:17Senusret was far away
18:18on a military campaign.
18:20Now think to yourself
18:21why are these stories
18:23coming out
18:23telling us
18:25that, oh, you know
18:26Senusret was nowhere
18:27near the palace
18:29when this was,
18:29obviously had nothing
18:31to do with this.
18:31That makes you wonder
18:32if he did have something
18:34to do with the assassination.
18:36The Middle Kingdom
18:37was a time
18:38where the power
18:39of the written word
18:40reached a new level
18:41of relevancy
18:42giving the pharaohs
18:43another tool of power.
18:45You know, one of our
18:46conceptions of ancient Egypt
18:47is that they had
18:48very low literacy rates
18:50but what we discover
18:51especially by the Middle Kingdom
18:53is that in fact
18:54there are people
18:56even people
18:57of non-high status
18:59peasants
19:00artisans
19:01who can read and write.
19:02This literacy
19:04is evident
19:04in a famous group
19:05of letters
19:06from a farmer
19:07to his son.
19:08They're called
19:09the Hekenacht letters
19:10and Hekenacht
19:11is a grumpy old man
19:13and he's gone
19:14to the north of Egypt
19:15to try and get grain.
19:17Hekenacht is writing
19:18letters back
19:19to his oldest son
19:20and he must have been
19:21driving the poor fellow crazy.
19:23He tells him
19:23which fields to sow
19:24which fields to rent
19:25and it's a big household
19:27and so we learn
19:28about all the people
19:29in the household.
19:30His old mother is there
19:32and her best friend
19:33and they've got to feed them too
19:34even though they're useless.
19:36There's also Hekenacht's new wife
19:39whom nobody likes
19:40oddly enough
19:41and her spoiled little son
19:43and old Hekenacht
19:44wants to make sure
19:45that she is treated properly
19:47and the boy is treated properly
19:49or else
19:50it is just
19:51some of the best stuff
19:52that ever survived
19:54from an ancient civilization
19:55and these letters
19:56are in very good condition.
19:57These letters
19:59bring into focus
20:00the everyday life
20:01of Egyptian farmers
20:02and the importance
20:03of the Nile
20:04in their lives.
20:06In the Middle Kingdom
20:07as in generations
20:08in the past
20:09the Nile
20:10is the key
20:11to Egypt's agricultural
20:12bounty
20:13and the nation's
20:14very existence.
20:15The Nile is the lifeline
20:18of ancient Egypt.
20:19It could not have survived
20:20without it.
20:21Egypt is essentially
20:22a giant oasis.
20:24There's desert
20:25on both sides
20:26but you have this river
20:27that not only provides water
20:29but in flooding
20:30every year
20:31it's depositing
20:32this rich silt
20:33onto the land
20:34and that's
20:35what provides the nutrients
20:36that you can farm with.
20:38If you were working
20:39the land in Egypt
20:40you are used to
20:41a steady procession
20:43of seasons
20:43but their seasons
20:45aren't determined
20:45so much by the weather
20:46as they are
20:47by the Nile.
20:48So there are three
20:49basic seasons
20:50in ancient Egypt
20:51there's
20:52Ahet
20:52which is the inundation
20:54there's Peret
20:55which is the growing season
20:56and then there's Shemu
20:57which is the dry season
20:59and this is essentially
21:00the cycle
21:01of the Egyptian calendar
21:03year after year.
21:04The Nile is the manifestation
21:07of Egyptian conceptions
21:09of order
21:10of Mahat.
21:12The ancient Egyptians
21:13used an ingenious
21:14yet simple method
21:15for measuring the flow
21:17of the Nile's flood waters.
21:18The Egyptians required
21:20a way to predict
21:21the Nile flood
21:22and to this end
21:23they created Nileometers.
21:25These were made of stone
21:26and they measured
21:27the height of the Nile
21:28along various points
21:30of the river.
21:31It was very important
21:32for the Egyptians
21:32to know when the Nile
21:34was going to flood
21:35and also if it was going
21:36to be a good flood
21:37or not.
21:38It takes a couple of weeks
21:39for the flood
21:40to reach the whole country.
21:41So down at Aswan
21:42that's where you notice
21:44it first
21:44and down at Aswan
21:46there are these things
21:47called Nileometers
21:48and they're basically
21:49sets of stairs
21:49going way down
21:50and there are numbers
21:52on the wall
21:53and a scribe
21:54or a priest
21:54could go down there
21:55every day and count.
21:56Okay, you were up to
21:57five palms
21:59and three fingers
22:00of water.
22:01They could send word
22:02on ahead
22:02to the people
22:03up in the north
22:04and say the flood
22:05this year doesn't look
22:06like it's going to be
22:07enough.
22:08We're going to be
22:08in trouble.
22:09Or the flood
22:10is already too high
22:11this year.
22:12Be careful.
22:13Warn the people.
22:14And during the inundation
22:16this was a period
22:16where the Egyptians
22:17would actually do
22:18something other than
22:19farming.
22:19The land was completely
22:21waterlogged.
22:22So this was actually
22:23a time during the
22:24great pyramids
22:25when the Pharaoh
22:26would use this
22:28workforce to build
22:29the pyramids.
22:31Thanks to the bounty
22:33in agricultural produce
22:34ancient Egypt
22:35is the breadbasket
22:37of the ancient
22:37Mediterranean world.
22:39And in the Middle
22:40Kingdom
22:40as in previous ages
22:42most Egyptians
22:43were farmers
22:44who worked the land.
22:45This created a societal
22:47structure
22:48that looked much
22:49like the pyramids
22:50which this land
22:51is so famous for.
22:52At the bottom
22:53of this pyramid
22:54are the great throngs
22:55of agricultural workers
22:57the peasants
22:58the people who
22:59kept Egypt fed.
23:00The people who
23:01allowed Egypt
23:02to flourish.
23:03At that time
23:05the Pharaoh
23:05owned everything.
23:06There was no
23:07land ownership
23:08by the general
23:10populace.
23:11You were essentially
23:12a serf
23:14under the Pharaoh.
23:15You grew
23:16the crops
23:17you harvested
23:17the crops
23:18and your payment
23:20was a food supply.
23:22Working in the field
23:23was a family
23:24endeavor.
23:24Everyone had
23:25a role to play.
23:25The fathers
23:27and the sons
23:27would go out
23:28into the field.
23:29If they had oxen
23:30they would till
23:31the fields
23:31with the oxen.
23:32If they didn't
23:33they did it by hand.
23:34To follow them
23:35their wives
23:36and daughters
23:37would come
23:38with baskets
23:39of seeds.
23:40And they would
23:41sprinkle the seeds
23:42in these newly
23:43tilled furrows.
23:45And then
23:46they would release
23:47the sheep
23:48or goats
23:49that they kept
23:50into the fields
23:52so that they could
23:52trample all
23:53of the seeds
23:54down into the soil.
23:56Even little kids
23:57as young as
23:57three and four
23:58were out there
23:59scattering seeds
24:00and mom was
24:01carrying the younger
24:02ones on the front
24:03or the back
24:03and you were just
24:04out there doing
24:05your work.
24:06They would mainly
24:07rely on bread,
24:09barley, fruits
24:10and vegetables.
24:11Equally they
24:12would depend
24:12on the animals
24:14that they would
24:15be domesticating
24:16and slaughtering
24:17for food
24:18or for offerings
24:18to the gods
24:19as well.
24:20Grain was so
24:21important to the
24:22ancient Egyptians
24:23it was even
24:24considered their
24:24currency as workers
24:26were often paid
24:27in it.
24:28Another form of
24:29currency was
24:30Egyptian beer.
24:31Beer isn't just
24:33a nice drink to have
24:34on a hot day
24:35in ancient Egypt
24:35it's actually a
24:36staple food.
24:38The beer that they
24:39had in ancient Egypt
24:40wasn't really like
24:41the beer that
24:41we're used to
24:42today.
24:43It was lower
24:44in alcohol.
24:45It was much
24:47stodgier, more like
24:48a porridge
24:49or a soup
24:50if you will.
24:51It was served up
24:52in clay containers
24:53and often drunk
24:54with a form of
24:55reed or straw.
24:56You put a lump
24:57of bread or bread
24:58dough in the
24:59bottom of a jar
25:00and then you put
25:01in something sweet
25:02like a puree
25:03of dates
25:04and then just
25:05cork it up
25:05and it will
25:06ferment on its own.
25:08It was safer
25:08to drink than
25:09water which could
25:10become contaminated
25:11but it also provided
25:13a number of vitamins
25:14that the everyday
25:15Egyptian would need
25:15to stay healthy.
25:17Egyptians only ate
25:18twice a day.
25:19They ate in the
25:20morning, quite a
25:21substantially large
25:22amount of food
25:23and then they ate
25:24at the end of the
25:25day when they
25:26were finished
25:26and everything in
25:27between was beer.
25:29It was a drink
25:30that little children
25:31would have
25:32that wasn't
25:33seen as something
25:34you know
25:35alcoholic per se.
25:37Ancient Egyptian
25:38beer was to bring
25:39in as offerings
25:40to the deities
25:41because it was
25:42crucial for the
25:43deceased to be able
25:44to sustain themselves
25:45for the journey
25:46of the afterlife.
25:47So it did have
25:48a sacred
25:49religious significance
25:51but it equally
25:52had a social
25:53aspect to it.
25:55There's also
25:55festival beer
25:56and festival beer
25:57is really made
25:58to make you
25:59drunk as a skunk.
26:00There were festivals
26:01where you
26:02deliberately went
26:02and got smashed.
26:06Agriculture
26:06was incredibly
26:07important for Egypt
26:09and to sustain
26:10greater yields
26:11the pharaohs
26:12of the middle
26:12kingdom undertook
26:13great construction
26:14projects.
26:15The pharaohs
26:17very early
26:17realized that control
26:18of the water
26:19of Egypt was control
26:21of Egypt.
26:22So the state
26:23took over control
26:24of irrigation.
26:25What irrigation
26:26meant was that you
26:26could move water
26:27around the country
26:28so that you could
26:29control where
26:30agriculture would work
26:31and wouldn't work.
26:32That meant that you
26:33could control the
26:33grain supply.
26:34But once you've got
26:36concentrated control
26:37of the land and the
26:38grain you've got
26:39control of all of
26:39Egypt because that
26:40is their currency.
26:42These canals were
26:43not only for
26:44agriculture but also
26:45for trade.
26:47One of the earliest
26:48canals existed
26:49linking the Nile
26:51to the Red Sea
26:52and the main
26:53function for this
26:54canal was land
26:56expansion but equally
26:57commerce and trade
26:59to explore new
27:00land and to expand
27:01building what one
27:03can call an empire.
27:04And it was not
27:05just canals that the
27:06the 12th dynasty was
27:07building.
27:09In this middle
27:10kingdom renaissance
27:11we start to see
27:12the building of
27:13pyramids once more.
27:15This is indicative
27:16of a few things.
27:18One of those is that
27:19Pharaoh's in charge
27:20again.
27:21We have centralized
27:22power.
27:23We have organization
27:23of labor.
27:24Egypt is almost
27:25back on top.
27:26These kings want to
27:27show us that they
27:28are the equal of those
27:29old kings from Memphis
27:31back in the old
27:31kingdom.
27:32But they've got
27:33other things to do.
27:33They've got wars to
27:35fight.
27:35They've got explorations.
27:36They've got all those
27:37waterworks to do in
27:38the Fayum.
27:39So they really can't
27:40waste all those resources
27:42on building a silly
27:43pyramid.
27:44And they do something
27:45brilliant instead.
27:47They make an interior
27:48structure of stone and
27:50they have it filled up
27:51with mud bricks.
27:52And then the outside
27:53is cased with beautiful
27:55white tour limestone.
27:56And when you walk past
27:58it looks exactly like an
27:59old kingdom pyramid.
28:00never quite as big but
28:02very, very big indeed.
28:03They are tombs but they
28:05also increasingly are
28:07sites of civic engagement
28:08in a much more immediate
28:10way for everyone living
28:12in that society.
28:13So in that sense they are
28:15once again re-tailoring
28:17the conception of the
28:18pharaoh and his
28:20relationship with society.
28:21Middle kingdom pyramids
28:23have been stripped of
28:24their beautiful stone
28:25coating.
28:25so most of them look like
28:27big lumps.
28:28Unfortunately today we're
28:30not seeing a lot of these
28:31left due to the erosion
28:34of the mud brick in the
28:36wind, the temperature
28:37drops, all of the same
28:38things that they were
28:39experiencing in the very
28:41first pyramids that they
28:42were building from mud
28:43brick.
28:45While the pharaohs of this
28:46age were buried in
28:48pyramids, the common people
28:50could also have their chance
28:51at being reborn in the
28:52afterlife.
28:54During the first
28:55intermediate period there
28:57was chaos in Egypt and
28:59tombs were being robbed.
29:00For the first time people
29:01were able to enter the
29:03tombs of their kings and
29:05see the writings that were
29:06inscribed on the walls.
29:08This led to a question in
29:10the mind of the Egyptian.
29:11What is this writing?
29:13And they learned these are
29:15spells that help you in the
29:16afterlife.
29:17Every Egyptian wants to
29:18reach the afterlife.
29:20And so from these early
29:21pyramid texts in the
29:23Middle Kingdom we start to
29:24see coffin texts.
29:26All of a sudden eternal
29:27life is not just reserved
29:29for the pharaoh but it's
29:31actually accessible to
29:32anyone who can have a
29:33scribe put the spells of
29:35what would later be known
29:36as the book of the dead
29:37on their coffins.
29:39You know, I'll give you
29:40so many bags of grain.
29:43Will you please write this
29:45incantation for me?
29:47And these were texts that had
29:48the magic spells that the
29:50deceased would need to
29:51overcome the many dangers
29:53that he or she would find
29:54on their way to the
29:56afterlife or to eternity.
29:58The Egyptian afterlife is
30:00often depicted in real life
30:02scenes of Egyptians working
30:03fields or the river in
30:05bright white clothes.
30:07The afterlife is always summer.
30:09People are always able to
30:10wear their fine linen garments
30:11and, you know, be comfortable.
30:13It's always harvest time.
30:14They're always harvesting.
30:15It's ideal.
30:16It's not really probably
30:18representing the full
30:19spectrum of clothing that
30:20people actually wore
30:21throughout the year.
30:23Wool was worn because there
30:25are times when it does get
30:26a little chilly in Egypt and
30:27so they use wool as well.
30:29The fashion of ancient Egypt
30:32was not only functional but
30:34also stylized.
30:35Men were wearing something
30:37known as a shanty and it
30:39was essentially a fold of
30:41fabric that was wrapped
30:42around the body like a
30:44skirt of sorts and then it
30:46had a sash to hold it in
30:48place.
30:49And this was often all that
30:51men wore.
30:52Women were long, normally
30:54down to the ankle length,
30:55white linen dresses, white
30:57obviously because it reflected
30:59the sun's rays.
31:00Linen comes from flocks which
31:03they grew locally.
31:04It is breathable and it
31:06allows someone living in a
31:07hot climate to still be able
31:09to function outdoors.
31:10The difference between upper
31:12and lower class people was
31:15really just the texture of
31:17the fabric.
31:18They were wearing the same
31:20type of fabric.
31:21It's just that on the sort
31:23of lower level of society
31:24the weave would have been a
31:26little less fine.
31:28It would have been a little
31:29bit rougher against the skin
31:31whereas the pharaohs and the
31:33queens and the court, it was
31:36all about the beautiful
31:39transparency of this fabric.
31:42It is said that Egyptian
31:43women had fabric so diaphanous
31:46that you could literally see
31:49everything.
31:51During the Middle Kingdom,
31:53Egyptians would wear elaborate
31:55jewelry made of gold, bronze,
31:57copper, and semi-precious stones.
32:00Common items include necklaces,
32:02amulets, bracelets, and rings,
32:04often featuring intricate designs
32:06symbolizing protection, status,
32:09and divine favor.
32:11These adornments are worn by both
32:13men and women alike.
32:15Both men and women wore makeup
32:17in ancient Egypt.
32:18Pigment for lips, for example.
32:20Some of it was for around the eyes,
32:22like coal.
32:23Coal was very important in Egyptian
32:26culture.
32:26Coal is a naturally plant-based
32:29derivative, often pounded into a
32:31powder and mixed with some sort
32:33of carrier, whether it's a fat or a
32:36beeswax.
32:37And while it's beautiful, it also
32:39had a function.
32:40It helped the eye in the bright
32:43sunlight.
32:44Much like you see a football player
32:46putting dark patches underneath,
32:48it helped to actually dispel the
32:50sunlight away from the eyes.
32:52They used two different colors,
32:54so they'd use lead galena, which is
32:56black, or malachite for green.
32:58Both of those minerals have
33:00antiseptic and antibiotic
33:01properties.
33:03Parasite-borne eye disease is a big
33:04problem in Egypt still today,
33:06would have been in ancient times.
33:08So antiseptic, antibiotic
33:09properties might have helped
33:11protect people's eyes.
33:12Those in the upper echelons of
33:14society depilated, so the men and
33:17the women shaved their heads.
33:18They all wore hugely expensive,
33:22very ornate wigs.
33:23And it just depended on who you
33:25were and what your role was, was the
33:28style of wig that you wore.
33:30So we often see these very elaborate,
33:34hard-helmet-looking hairdos, when in
33:37reality those are wigs, most often made
33:39from horse hair.
33:40And or perhaps human hair if it was
33:44cleaned and braided.
33:46But tiny little micro braids, thousands
33:49of them, would make up these wigs.
33:51Maybe because it's cooler and because
33:53then you don't have to have your hair
33:54dressed every day.
33:55Lice was something that nobody wanted,
33:58and certainly in hot climates it would
34:01have been prevalent.
34:02So keeping the body hair-free and using
34:05wigs as an adornment was a huge part
34:08of their aesthetic.
34:11In ancient Egypt, fashion is an
34:13outward representation of your status
34:15in society.
34:17From dress to adornments, the pharaoh
34:19is set apart from the rest of society,
34:22placing them closer to the divine
34:23than their fellow humans.
34:25This is especially true in regards
34:28to facial hair.
34:30Ancient Egyptians are not that big
34:32on facial hair.
34:33Once in a while you'll see a gentleman
34:36with a very neatly trimmed mustache,
34:39but they weren't like the Assyrians
34:41and Babylonians and Near Eastern
34:43cultures where they really emphasize
34:44a nice beard.
34:46That wasn't as much of a fashion
34:48statement in ancient Egypt, but a
34:50person who is portrayed with a beard
34:52is the king.
34:53This may have been a ceremonial beard,
34:55not something that the king actually
34:57grew.
34:58It was part of the regalia of kingship.
35:00You also see it on gods, and it is
35:03kind of a marker of his divine status.
35:06Like all aspects of society, fashion
35:09was also tied to the gods.
35:12Religion was deeply intertwined with
35:13daily life for all Egyptians.
35:16They worshipped a pantheon of gods
35:18who controlled every aspect of existence.
35:22Festivals were core to the rhythm
35:25of Egyptian life.
35:27These were times when they were free
35:28from work, where they could offer offerings
35:31to their gods.
35:33They could celebrate together and create
35:35social bonds.
35:36And also at the same time, these were
35:38moments where pharaonic power could
35:41loom large, because often the pharaoh
35:43was the patron of these festivities,
35:46along with the temple complexes.
35:48And the king is going to pay for the
35:50beer and the food, lots of beef, lots of
35:53cakes and dancers and singers.
35:55This all adds to the idea of the middle
35:59kingdom being prosperous, looking towards
36:02the future, taking the country with the
36:06king, with the court, into halcyon days.
36:11These festivals are also the chance where
36:13people have more direct contact with their gods.
36:18Typically, the ordinary Egyptian didn't
36:21see the statues of their gods, for example,
36:23that were kept in all the temple complexes.
36:26Temples were inaccessible to the public.
36:29This was a restricted area, so only those
36:31who were working inside the temple and equally
36:33the nobles or the members of the royal court
36:35were allowed in.
36:36But during festive times, those statues of the
36:39gods were brought out, and they were processed
36:41through the streets.
36:42And so here, they are made visible, they are
36:46rendered palpable as part of the local
36:49community, and objects of adoration.
36:53The Egyptian reverence of the gods can be
36:55seen in the names of the pharaohs.
36:57For example, Amenemhat, the founder of the
37:0012th dynasty's name, means Amun is at the
37:03forefront.
37:04Amun is the chief deity of Thebes, and while
37:07the Middle Kingdom is an age of great cultural
37:10advancement, war is always on the horizon.
37:13Because of this fact, the pharaohs of the
37:16Middle Kingdom use their great resources to create
37:19a string of defensive structures that are so large,
37:22they rival the pyramids in size and scope.
37:25In the early days, Egypt's relationships with its
37:28neighbours were somewhat hostile.
37:30To this end, they decided to build fortresses.
37:34These places were impenetrable, huge structures,
37:38mostly of mud brick.
37:39They weren't built to stand the test of time in the way
37:42that the pharaoh's tombs were, but they were
37:44extremely sturdy.
37:45This was a show of military might all the way along
37:49the Nile, at every border, especially with Nubia.
37:52Egypt had an interesting relationship with the
37:55Nubians, because on the one hand, there were Nubians
37:58that were living in Egyptian territory.
38:00They were even hired by the government.
38:02Some were working as mercenaries for the government.
38:04But then, the independent Nubians to the south,
38:07there were constant battles with them.
38:10And Nubia, you have to keep in mind, was a rich country.
38:12They had a lot of gold there, and the Egyptians wanted gold.
38:15They loved gold.
38:16The very name, Nubia, means land of gold in the
38:19Egyptian language.
38:21Originally, they would go into Nubia to raid.
38:24They would take their gold.
38:25They would kill their soldiers.
38:26Over the years, and over different dynasties, we see
38:29this relationship switch from an adversarial rivalry
38:33to almost a trade partnership.
38:35And so, if you're collecting gold, you're going to collect
38:38it in these fortresses.
38:40And every now and again, when the Nile is right,
38:42you send it downriver into Egypt.
38:44They look a lot like medieval forts.
38:46They have loops for arrows, for shooting arrows.
38:49They have fosses.
38:50They have ditches in front of them.
38:51Inside, there are little towns.
38:54So inside, there'll be a couple of little temples,
38:57the houses of the important people,
38:59smaller houses for the poor people.
39:01These fortresses are within running distance of each other.
39:04They're only a few miles apart.
39:06And if I get attacked, I can light fires on my bastions,
39:10and your men will come running.
39:11So this chain of fortresses along the Nile is very, very strong.
39:16But as the 12th dynasty continues,
39:19the threats from outside Egypt mount.
39:22During the Middle Kingdom,
39:24there's starting to be an organization,
39:25and a nation is being built.
39:28It's a city called Kerma,
39:29that is going to be the heart of a really powerful empire.
39:34And the Sumasra and the Mennonite kings, the 12th dynasty,
39:37they are trying to stop that from happening.
39:39They're trying to make sure that everybody in Nubia stays
39:43in a little tribe and very scattered,
39:45and that you don't get a real nation state being built.
39:49While the pharaohs of this age conducted military campaigns
39:52in the north and the south,
39:54the Middle Kingdom was mostly a peaceful period for the Egyptians.
39:58It is during this long-lasting period of stability
40:01that we see the rise of the pharaoh Amenemhat III.
40:05He is the first pharaoh since the Old Kingdom
40:08to build two pyramids in his lifetime.
40:10But Amenemhat III's long reign is a double-edged sword.
40:14The problem of reigning for a long time
40:16is that you outlive many of your successors.
40:19Amenemhat III only has one successor,
40:21and when he dies,
40:22that king isn't on the throne for a very long time.
40:25Egypt is suddenly in danger.
40:28They are left without a pharaoh.
40:30Without the pharaoh, there is no centralized authority.
40:33What are they going to do?
40:34There is no way that they want the country
40:38to fall back into the chaos that was,
40:41so they actually appoint a woman.
40:46Her name was Sobek Nofru,
40:48daughter of Amenemhat III,
40:50and she is Egypt's first woman king.
40:53This is unheard of anywhere else in the ancient world.
40:56You saw succession of sons as kings, but never daughters.
41:00But the royal blood in Egypt is unique
41:03in that it can be carried by the women of the family.
41:06Sobek Nofru, it's interesting because you can see
41:09that she really was struggling with how to depict herself
41:13both as a traditional ruler with masculine characteristics,
41:17but also with a nod to her feminine physique.
41:21There's a lovely statue of her in the Louvre,
41:23which unfortunately is not complete,
41:25but she is wearing the king's Neme's headdress,
41:28a woman's dress, a man's kilt over the dress,
41:32and a dagger in the belt.
41:34She would be still referred to as the king,
41:37rather than a queen, as a para, as a pharaoh.
41:39She's a woman, but in the eyes of her position,
41:44she is a man.
41:46She is able to construct herself as pharaoh
41:50based upon the same rules and pillars of authority
41:54that her father and predecessors have been able to do.
41:58She was the head military commander.
42:00She assumed the role of high priestess
42:02and also the role of king.
42:05What does that tell us?
42:07Well, it tells us, first of all,
42:08that because she was the daughter of the previous pharaoh,
42:11that had some legitimacy attached to it.
42:14But secondly, she must have been able to work
42:18with the head authorities in the military
42:21and at the temple complexes, the priests,
42:24in order to gain their support.
42:26This really is testament to the progressive nature of Egypt
42:31and its perhaps unique view of gender
42:34and a greater sense of equality
42:36amongst men and women in ancient Egypt.
42:38Ancient Egypt is a patriarchy.
42:41Men do still hold most of the power.
42:44But it's, I think, much more of a level playing field
42:48in terms of legal rights, for example,
42:52than it is in other places in the ancient world.
42:55So, for example, if you were a woman,
42:57you could divorce your rotten husband
42:59and disinherit your awful children,
43:03and that was perfectly legal.
43:05You had those rights.
43:06Egypt, even at this very early stage during the Middle Kingdom,
43:10was quite progressive compared to other cultures
43:13when it came to women rights
43:14and the position that they could hold in society.
43:17They could have very important priestly titles, for example,
43:22and, you know, they could run businesses,
43:24they could run their own household,
43:26and if you're running an estate,
43:28then that's, you know, quite a lot that you're in charge of.
43:32Sobek Neferu only rules for a handful of years.
43:35It is unclear what caused her reign to be cut short.
43:39Sobek Neferu dies, leaving Egypt with no pharaoh once again.
43:43To complicate matters,
43:44it seems there may have been a period
43:46of low flood inundation by the Nile.
43:49This series of weak Nile floods
43:51caused food insecurity for the Egyptians,
43:54which was intensified by an influx of new migrants.
43:58The Middle Kingdom was a period of dramatic change,
44:01change within the kingdom itself,
44:03and one of the greater forces of it was migration.
44:07There's a lot of evidence that climactic change
44:10was affecting the ability of people to survive
44:14in many of the regions around Egypt.
44:17They're coming from Palestine, from Libya,
44:21from Asia more generally,
44:22hoping clearly for a better life.
44:24The stability that was offered through the Middle Kingdom
44:29has made it quite attractive for others
44:32who lacked the stability where they come from.
44:34What is interesting is the ability of the Egyptian society
44:38to absorb these cultural differences,
44:41but equally the ability of the migrants to adapt
44:43to the Egyptian cultural beliefs and traditions.
44:47and this has led to a fusion of multiculturalism
44:50that existed very early in Egyptian history.
44:54By the late 12th dynasty,
44:57the migrants from the Levant are a significant element
44:59in the population,
45:00and these migrants begin to rise through the ranks
45:03of Egyptian society,
45:05even winning promotion to government positions.
45:08While the early migrants from Asia
45:10were seeking a better life,
45:11a true threat emerged by the 18th century BCE.
45:16There's squabbling happening
45:17amongst the different governors once more.
45:20There's no pharaoh to report to
45:21to keep all the no marks in check.
45:23Between all of these economic factors,
45:26agricultural factors and political factors,
45:29Egypt is starting to splinter.
45:30There are some enemies on the horizon
45:32who will take advantage of the weakness of Egypt
45:35in this period,
45:36and they would come to be known as the Hyksos.
45:39The chariot-driven Hyksos
45:41is Storm Egypt, sweeping southward
45:43to conquer the ancient capital of Memphis.
45:46Within a few years,
45:48Lower Egypt is Hyksos territory.
45:50The Hyksos chariot was devastating military technology,
45:54and it was something that Egypt
45:55couldn't match at that time.
45:57They also had weapons of metal,
45:59curved Khopesh-like swords.
46:01The Egyptian army at the time
46:03was mostly comprised of people with spears
46:06and perhaps more rudimentary weapons.
46:08Some swords were used,
46:10but often expensive metal weapons
46:12were outside the reach of the everyday foot soldier.
46:16The Hyksos were well-armed and well-trained,
46:18and with a somewhat divided Egypt more than a match.
46:22But who are these mysterious would-be conquerors of Egypt?
46:26The peoples of Upper Egypt depict the Hyksos as these vile invaders
46:31who stormed Egypt with their chariots and their wicked blades.
46:36However, there are other theories about who the Hyksos were.
46:39It's possible that these were Levantine people
46:41who were already settled in Lower Egypt,
46:44who rose up through the ranks
46:46and eventually took control of certain areas.
46:49We really can't be sure on the origin of the Hyksos.
46:52What we do know is they cause big problems
46:54for the native Egyptian rulers of the time.
46:57They have no respect for the centralized, structured order
47:01that you find in Egypt, or the office of Pharaoh
47:04as the source of order of Mahat.
47:07And then we go through a lengthy period
47:10where there is a Hyksos king in the Delta at Avaros
47:14and we have the king of Egypt in Thebes.
47:20For the Egyptians to have half their homeland conquered by foreigners
47:24leaves a deep scar on the national psyche.
47:28To them, the Hyksos represented an overthrowing of Mahat.
47:32This was a time very much of fear and paranoia
47:35amongst the native Egyptians of what these foreign rulers
47:38really had planned for them.
47:40When the Hyksos come into Egypt,
47:42they bring their own pantheon of deities.
47:45And that's very different to the Egyptian pantheon.
47:47There's almost no overlap.
47:49One of the few areas of overlap is the storm god Baal.
47:53And Baal, in some respects, overlays quite nicely
47:58with the Egyptian god Set.
48:00Set was seen in an adversarial role
48:03to Osiris, the father of Horus.
48:06Because the Hyksos are associated with Set,
48:08they are naturally the enemy of Horus, who is the Pharaoh.
48:13And if you can play into that, you can say,
48:16well, look it, we are the representations of Horus.
48:20We are his followers and they are the followers of Set.
48:23So this is like the battle between the two sides.
48:26Then you have a reason to go to war with them.
48:28While the elite of Egypt mark the battle with Hyksos
48:31as a war for the soul of the nation,
48:33the situation in the south is worsening.
48:36The Nubians, one of Egypt's oldest competitors,
48:40are on the march.
48:42The Hyksos are descending from the north.
48:44The Nubians are coming from the south.
48:46Can Egypt survive when it's surrounded?
48:49It seems from all sides.
48:51Enter Camose, the leader of Thebes,
48:53a powerful warlord who is set to reunify Egypt
48:57and drive out the invaders.
49:00Camose is a local Egyptian king operating out of Thebes.
49:06His main goal is to reunify Egypt,
49:09to kick out the Hyksos,
49:12make sure that Nubia stays under the thumb,
49:15and to bring all of the disparate parts of Egypt,
49:19the Nile Valley back together again under one ruler,
49:23and Camose wants to be that ruler.
49:26In 5040 BCE, in only his second year on the throne,
49:31Camose led his forces southward.
49:33Their immediate mission is to retake Nubia
49:36and secure Wawad against Nubian attack,
49:39therefore creating a buffer zone on the Theban southern flank.
49:42The problem with trying to deal with an enemy in the north
49:46and an enemy in the south is if they get together,
49:49you're in big trouble.
49:50Apepi, the king of the Hyksos,
49:52has sent a secret delegation to the Nubians.
49:55Apepi wishes to coordinate attacks against Camose
49:58and take Egypt once and for all.
50:01So the letter that Apepi sent to the Nubians
50:03never got there because Camose intercepted it.
50:07Camose learns that the Hyksos
50:09plan to split Egypt with their Nubian foes.
50:11Everything is on the line here.
50:13Considering that, Camose must do something, right?
50:17Because there's an existential threat
50:19to the upper Egyptian kingdom.
50:20He takes his forces and marches north
50:22to catch the Hyksos whilst they're off guard.
50:25His strategy was to go north first
50:27and hit the Hyksos as hard as he possibly could.
50:31And he was successful.
50:33He drove them all the way back to their city of Avaris.
50:37But in the siege of that city, he was killed.
50:42He's taken back to Thebes, held as a hero.
50:46But now no one is leading the army.
50:48The Hyksos have been driven back,
50:50but they haven't crucially been driven out of Egypt yet.
50:53Egypt is at a crossroads.
50:56While the Theban resistance has gained a foothold
50:58against the Hyksos,
50:59the death of Camose has set back the reconquest.
51:03The Thebans are once again on the back foot.
51:06With Camose out of the picture now, what's going to happen?
51:10Are the Hyksos going to come back
51:12and drive the upper Egyptians back out of the delta?
51:15Or is Camose's successor going to come with the force
51:19and finish the job?
51:22Luckily, Camose has a brother, Amose.
51:25This son of Thebes has one mission,
51:29to retake Egypt and usher in a new golden age
51:33of Egyptian civilization.
51:34For more information than we will learn
51:37and variation of history.
51:41The target of the Amose in Egypt
51:42part master This is carried out as a commandε°ζ°
52:01of Egypt as a prophet. In the
52:04,aciones, eating and living Abraham to Ocean
52:04- UCS keeping his head
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