IN a comparison between the two earliest civilisations; the Mesopotamian and the Egyptian, we talked in the last series of articles about the third millennium BC. We saw bow in Mesopotamia societal evolution started with the formation Of Sumerian small towns in the south, and how it was followed by the first Semitic civilisation known as the Akkadian With Akkad as their capital to the north of Sumerian .. Finally, it ended with the revival of the third dynasty of the Sumerian city of Ur.
On the other hand, at the beginning of that millennium, Egypt was united under King Narmer, who started the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom that was known as the era of the “Pyramid Builder”. The third millennium’ ended with a chaotic period known as the “First Intermediate Period’.
At the beginning of the second millennium, Mesopotamia wit¬nessed the growth of a third civilisation which was the Babylonian, with Babylon, to the north of Akkad, as its Capital city. The most known character of that period is Hammurabi, who is known for his “Code of Law”. In the middle of the millennium, the Babylonian Empire was invaded by the Hittites from the north and then by the Kassites, a tribe originating from Iran.
Parallel to the Babylonian empire and to the north of it, around the city of Assur, grew a fourth civilisation called the Assyrian.
They formed their Old Empire followed, in the second half of the second millennium, by the Middle Assyrian Empire. As we will see, the strong presence of the Assyrians will take place during the New Assyrian Empire in the next millennium (first millennium BC).
Parallel to this succession of civilisations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, during the second millennium BC, regained its power once again under the reign of MentuHotep I. He united Egypt once more leading it to a new era known as the Middle Kingdom With two strong successive dynasties (the twelfth and the thirteenth).
These two dynasties, extending over two centuries, developed administration in the country and were well known for efficient irrigation and agricultural projects. Under Amenemhet III the area of Fayyum was developed by the creation of the lake Moeris (Karun Lake today). Also under Sesostrls II a canal was dug between the Nile and the Red Sea allowing, for the first time, the possibility of navigation between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.
At the end of the 13th dynasty, Egypt went again into a period of unrest, which was followed by the invasion from some Semitic tribes known to the Egyptians as the Hyksos or ‘The chiefs of the foreign lands”. This unrest period is known in history as the “Second Intermediate Period” and lasted for about a century. At the end of this period, Ahmoses drove the Hyksos out of the coun¬try and founded the New Kingdom (dynasty XVIII). Under his successors, Amenophis I and Thotmoses I, Egypt became a major leading power.
The 18th dynasty had several famous Pharaohs such as Thotmoses III, Amenonpbis III and Akhenaton, who introduced the first Monotheist religion by worshiping only Aton the ‘Sun Disk’. He was followed by the famous young King Tut Ankh Amun, who became very well known after the rediscovery of his intact tomb at the Valley of the Kings by Howard Carter in 1922.
This dynasty was followed by the 19th dynasty, which was formed by Ramses I then Seti I followed by the great Ramses II. The last dynasty of the New Kingdom was the twentieth or the Ramiside dynasty which inc1uded Ramses II up to Ramses XI.
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