The New Kingdom

• 16 / 5 / 2023

The New Kingdom

The kingdom characterized wars and victory for the Egyptians, which was called the era of military glory. 

This era was marked by prosperity, and it was the most common time when the ancient Egyptian state grew until the second transition period began, then came after the third transition period, which lasted until Alexander entered Egypt and ended the era of the great pharaohs. The nineteenth dynasty was called the Rameses era, and all its kings were named after Ramses, from whom the name of this dynasty came. The New Kingdom came to resemble the Middle Kingdom in some customs and traditions; for example, the minister was the highest position in the kingdom, but in the fifteenth century BC there were two ministers, one for Upper Egypt and the other for Lower Egypt.

Some young bureaucrats were educated in temple schools, which fostered integration between the civil and priestly sectors, and administrative positions were often taken by officers from the army who served the king in his military campaigns.

This kingdom revered the god Amun-Ra so much that he was the god they were most interested in worshipping, and some of their kings named themselves after him, like Tutankhamun and other kings.

Under Amenhotep I, the pyramidal form of the royal tomb was rejected in preference to a rock-cut tomb, and except for King Akhenaten, most New Kingdom kings were buried in the Valley of the Kings and built their mortuary temples in the Western Desert, so Amenhotep I became the patron god of the workers who dug and decorated the royal tombs.

The New Kingdom stressed trade when foreign trade with other states such as Phoenicia, Puntland, and Nubia reached flourishing levels. Timber, incense, ivory, and gold found their way into the hands of Egyptians because of trade.

The periods of the New Kingdom saw a wonderful development of architecture with the building of many temples, such as Karnak Temple, the largest religious temple in ancient Egypt and in modern times, or Luxor Temple built by Amenhotep III, or Abu Simbel Temple erected by Ramses II, the most well-known temples found in Upper Egypt.

Eighteenth Dynasty

King Ahmose was the king who freed Egypt from danger, expelled the Hyksos, and founded the eighteenth dynasty. After he sent the Hyksos packing, his military campaigns extended, and he became interested in trade as he went into the mines and exported goods to other countries.

He also took care of the internal affairs of Egypt; for example, he reformed the tax system, reopened trade routes, and reformed the water canals and the irrigation system.

Thutmose I carried out military campaigns in Nubia, so he was the first king who decided not to be buried in a pyramid and wanted his journey to the afterlife to be different from his predecessors; his rule remained prosperous until he died, and his son Thutmose II came after him, and Queen Hatshepsut, one of the greatest queens that came in the history of Egypt, participated in the reign.

Then Queen Hatshepsut came, and her period lived in a period of prosperity as she expanded her commercial campaigns outside Egypt. Her name meant the concubine of Amun, and she ruled as regent due to the smallness of her brother King Thutmose III and considered herself a daughter of the god Amun, and this was always happening from the kings of the New Kingdom, and at first she suffered a lot because of the priests who refused to be a woman queen, but over time she was able to reign over all of Egypt in a period of up to about 20 years. 

Until Akhenaten came, who advocated monotheism and the worship of the god Atun instead of Amun and established a great religious revolution that had not happened before, as he built a temple in Upper Egypt, but when he came after the Golden King Tutankhamun, he restored the worship of Amun, and this king is famous for his golden mask, which was found in his tomb. In the Valley of the Kings, it is considered one of the most important semi-complete tombs that were discovered in the Egyptian state. After that came Hor Mahab, who demolished Akhenaten's temple and carried out several reforms in the state, as he took official measures against the rulers of Tel el-Amarna until he died, and a new era began during his reign, which is the era of the Raamasa dynasty.

Nineteenth Dynasty

This dynasty was famous for all its kings with the same name, which is Ramses, and it started with Ramses I, but he did not rule Egypt for long until he was followed by King Seti I, who was considered by Maniton to be the founder of this dynasty, but this is not true, but his life was full of victories, especially against the Hittites, and he left us important monuments such as a colonnade in Karnak and a funerary temple in Thebes.

Then he died and was succeeded by King Ramses II, the most important king of this dynasty, who left us great monuments, especially in Upper Egypt, like the temple of Abu Simbel. He also carried out several military campaigns on the Levant and Canaan, and it is inscribed for him on a temple called the House of the Valley that he carried out a campaign against Nubia with his sons.

After Ramses came many kings, like Merneptah and Seti II, until the last king of this dynasty, Tusret, and then a new rule began for a new dynasty in ancient Egypt. 

Twentieth dynasty

This dynasty was founded by St. Nakhty, but he did not rule for a long time. Then King Ramses III ruled after him, who is considered the last great king in the history of Egypt, as he reformed the economic and political power that was few during the era of his predecessors, participated in many invasions and wars, and was interested in construction and trade, as the New Kingdom reached its peak until King Ramses III was assassinated by his son and his wife.

King Ramses remained king until Ramses XI when the New Kingdom ended, the third transition era, and Egypt began to decline and deteriorate in a bad way until Alexander entered Egypt and began the rule of the Ptolemies.