Egyptology is a minor academic discipline focusing on a 5,000 year stretch
of historical culture along the Nile River. The art and architecture of
this ancient civilization has mesmerized generation after generation of
scholars and laypeople with unparalleled continuities of art and
architectural forms that lasted, pretty much unchanged, over immense
periods of time. No other culture on earth had anything like the staying
power of the classical Egyptian expressions.
The modern view of historical Egypt, especially the standard accepted
chronology, has evolved almost entirely in the mid- to late 20th century.
Partly this is due to the increased numbers of people working in the field
and improvements in archaeological techniques in general, but the
development of the reigning Egyptological paradigm has also been effected
greatly by the unquestioned attitudes about what constitutes
"progress" that is inextricable from the psychological matrix of
modern times. The central tenet of historical definition in this process
is the belief that human culture has evolved in a linear form from greater
to lesser ignorance. Starting about 4000 BC with the first town
settlements in Iraq, the model of civilization is supposed to have
traveled by dispersion to all other subsequent examples of human
"developed" social community.
Recent excavations in Iraq and India, however, have pushed against this
envelope of thought. Not only is civilization now seen to have started
millenia earlier (ca. 10,000 BCE and counting), independently evolved
cultural streams are becoming revealed in the Indus Valley and Chinese
culture. Moreover, there are some strong anomalous examples of apparently
"higher" cultural forms appearing fullborn, apparently out of
nowhere. Egypt is a classic case in point.
These pages are presented in an effort to re-examine the currently held
view of Egyptology about a predecessor culture in the Nile Valley, one
from which the ancient Egyptians considered themselves descended. One of
the most common complaints given by the Egyptological professoriate is
that they have no evidence for such a high culture. Here we will see if,
in fact, such evidence is not indeed already long in hand and now being
ignored or overlooked simply through conceptual habit. Egyptologists have
done an immense amount of work and are in no mood to see such themselves
as having made such a mistake. As ordinary people, though, we can look
without the glaring interference of the tenure track. Remember, however,
that anything you decide for yourself is not valid in conversation with
Club Egyptology members; they are much like the Borg in their recitation
of the standard model ("You will be assimilated. Resistance is
futile").
According to the Club brochure, Egyptian history has been divided into
ten areas of academic focus; but despite the apparent precision of the
dates before 1070 BC they are flying on a wing and a prayer to the gods of
historicity:
-
Predynastic (ca. 5000 BC)
Sticks and stones, mostly flint, department, thrown in with a lot of
painted pottery. Recent scholarship has shown the population along
the Nile varied with periods of wetness in the Sahara, pushing the
dates back to 7500 BC and earlier, while still regarding this era as
Neolithic.
-
Early Dynastic (ca. 3000-2705 BC)
Dynasties 1-2. The first fixed settlements are supposed to have been
developed during this time, but that too is challenged by new
excavations. In line with similar practices found across the globe,
sutee burials of entire courts also take place in this era.
-
Old Kingdom (ca. 2705-2155 BC)
Dynasties 3-6. The so-called Pyramid Age saw the development of the
vast necropolises, like Saqqarah and Abydos, from which comes much
of the remaining evidence for life at this period. This was
allegedly when the Sphinx and the Great Pyramids at Giza were
created, but the Club board still holds them to be tombs, also.
"Tell me t'aint so!"
-
First Intermediate Period (ca. 2155-2134 BC)
Dynasties 7-10. This was not a happy time, as for some reason
everything fell apart--or as the ancient Egyptians would have said,
out of Ma'at. Contending towns, priesthoods, and noble houses
chopped up the countryside between themselves, and basically stopped
talking to everyone outside of Egypt proper for about a hundred and
fifty years.
-
Middle Kingdom (ca. 2134-1781 BC)
Dynasties 11-12. Putting things back together again, Theban princes
emerged as the central authority. Religion was to some extent
democratized among the larger classes of nobles and administrators.
No longer were the Pharoah and high priests alone entitled to grant
a tomb privilege or keep to themselves the sacred texts of
redemption. Strong period of infrastructure development also
occurred, with irrigation and construction projects to benefit a
wider range of people.
-
Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1781-1550 BC)
Dynasties 13-17. Psychological shock supreme, as the sacred land of
the gods Egypt is invaded by outsiders called Hyksos. This coalition
of Syrians, Palestinians, and others introduced the horse and
chariot, as well as new weaponry. Actually, the native Egyptians
retained control of the south part of the Two Lands, and the Hyksos
were confined pretty much to the Delta.
-
New Kingdom [or, alternately, "Empire"] (ca. 1550-1070
BC)
Dynasties 18-20. A Golden Age of renewal and great attainments in
the arts and architecture. Aside from the momentary burst of
monotheism with the heretic Pharoah Akhenaton (ca. 1365-1348 BC),
the temples grew enormously in size, influence, and wealth--this was
trouble brewing. A hint of the material accomplishments can be seen
in the tomb of Tutankamen, which comes from this period.
-
Third Intermediate Period (1070-750 BC)
Dynastis 21-24. The rule of the Pharoahs became eclipsed by the high
priesthoods, at Karnak in the south and at Tanis in the north,
effectively returning to the ancient division of Egypt into two
lands. Libyans establish two dynasties during this time.
-
Late Period (750-332 BC)
Dynasties 25-30, though that distinction is fairly bogus. Invaders
effectively shuck Egypt into more parts. Assyrians invade the north,
Nubian/Ethiopian kings take control of the southern areas. Aside
from a brief renaissance period around the Delta town of Sais, Egypt
would continue to be dominated by outside political powers.
-
Ptolemaic/Roman (332 BC- 395 AD)
Alexander the Great arrives, and after his death the Ptolemies ruled
until the last Egyptian queen, Cleopatra VII and her husband Marc
Antony were defeated at the naval battle of Actium in 30 BC. The
cultural destruction of the ancient world by Christianity finally
closed the last of the Egyptian temples and the gods were officially
dead by 395 AD.
The vast amount of Egyptological study is undoubtedly correct from the New
Kingdom onward, where there are tangible mechanisms to establish
consistent dates. The basis of documentation is overwhelming and supports
the general trend of analysis. The available material of the more ancient
periods is scarce and highly fragmented. Furthermore, the vast majority of
excavations that delivered these materials to the literature were
undertaken without proper techniques (looking for trophies, no better than
ancient grave robbers, vide Amilineau, de Morgan, et al). The cultural
prejudice of the era of these diggers usually colors the way that the
results are viewed, as well, particularly in the effort to make ancient
history conform to the Christian doctrine that the world was created in
4004 BC. In an effort to integrate the unknown with the known, also,
evidence that would be unacceptably tenuous otherwise is admitted without
question. Often, too, what was once the surmise of earlier, 19th century
explorers has in places now become ossified as unquestioned fact, even
though the original comment was ventured speculatively or in flights of
pure romantic fancy. |