Abu Simbel
Abu Simbel
By Runoko Rashidi
PART 4
Kmt's Third Golden Age: The New Kingdom
Under the inspired leadership of Ahmose I and his wife and queen, Ahmose-Nefertari (whose veneration continued for more than six hundred years after her death), the Africans finally marshaled the strength to eject the Hyksos. King Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari are hence recognized as the founders of Dynasty XVIII--the beginning of Kmt's Third Golden Age. Usually referred to as the New Kingdom and sometimes designated as the "Age of Empire" this epoch comprised Dynasties XVIII through XX and lasted from about 1750 B.C.E. to 1080 B.C.E.
Based at Waset it was during Dynasty XVIII that Kmt, out of a desire to guarantee its national security, established itself as a militant world power with the status of a large empire. Dynasty XVIII probably represents the absolute apogee of Kemetic might and influence both domestically and internationally. There were major expeditions to the land of Punt and important relations were maintained with Minoan Crete, Bronze Age Cyprus and Myceanean Greece. Much of Southwest Asia was subjugated during this time and reduced to vassalage.
In addition to Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari Dynasty XVIII was the age of Makare Hatshepsut, the determined and capable female sovereign who sent an expedition to Punt; Senenmut, `Overseer of Works' during the reign of Makare Hatshepsut and the architect of Hatshepsut's splendid mortuary temple at Waset; Menkheperre Thutmose III, the redoubtable warrior-king who personally directed seventeen military campaigns and extended the Kemetic empire from the Upper Nile to the Upper Euphrates; Menkheprure Thutmose IV, who excavated Hor-m-akhet (the `Great Sphinx'); Nebmare Amenhotep III (`The Magnificent'), who reigned for thirty-eight years at the peak of Dynasty XVIII; Queen Tiye, `Great Royal Wife' of Amenhotep III; Amenhotep (son of Hapu)--scribe, government official and architect during the reign of Nebmare Amenhotep III; Akhenaten, who orchestrated one of the world's most dramatic religious reformations and during whose reign the Kemetic empire was allowed to wither and decay; and Nebkheprure Tutankhamen ("King Tut"), the famous "boy-king," who held the throne for only nine years, but the contents of whose tomb the world continues to marvel at.
Kemetic Dynasty XIX was founded by Menpehtyre Ramses I, who reigned only briefly. Ramses I was succeeded on the throne by his son, Menmare Seti I, under whom efforts were made to revive the Empire. Clearly though the single most towering figure of Kemetic Dynasty XIX was Usermare Rameses II--commonly known as "Ramses the Great." The sixty-seven year reign of Ramses II was for Kmt an era of general prosperity, stable government and exceptional construction projects. The dominance of Amen was restored and his priests firmly reinstated. Ramses II was actually deified in his own lifetime and it was largely through the unrelenting projection of his own personality that both Dynasties XIX and XX are often simply referred to today as the "Ramesside Dynasties."
Following Ramses II the stature of Kmt, once again, began to deteriorate. Baenre Merneptah, the thirteenth son and eventual successor of Ramses II, was forced to repel a major foray into Kmt by a violent confederation of Sea Peoples--the perpetrators of rampant devastation in the eastern Mediterranean and northern Africa during the latter portion of the second millennium B.C.E.
During Dynasty XX, Usermare-Meryamen Ramses III led Kmt's defense against three desperate invasions of Libyan tribesmen and nomadic Sea Peoples. Shortly thereafter inflationary Kmt experienced prolonged labor troubles among government workers and an inflationary rise in wheat prices. During the middle of Dynasty XX occurred a decline in the value of both copper and bronze accompanied by a gradual weakening of central authority. Kemetic royal tombs were apparently robbed with impunity by high officials and the country may have experienced a severe famine. It is probably no coincidence that it was in Dynasty XX that the craft of mummification reached its zenith.
Copyright © 1998 Runoko Rashidi. All rights reserved.