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Time > EarlyBronze | MiddleBronze | LateBronze | IronI | IronII Map | Climate | Glossary | Bibliography | Activities For more than 300 years during the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, Egypt ruled Canaan. Deities, arts and technology were intermingled between the two cultures. stele The Egyptian culture developed alongside
Cannan and Ancient Israel for thousands of years.
Early on in its history, Egypt was unified under
the rule of a single king, or pharaoh. In the Old
Kingdom of Egypt (2675&emdash;2130 BCE), the
pharaoh was the head a highly centralized
government and his officials oversaw massive
building projects along the Nile River. The most
famous of these projects were the three Great
Pyramids built in the Giza Plateau as tombs for the
pharaohs Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure. It was also
during the Old Kingdom that the process of
mummification came into use to preserve the body of
the Egyptian deceased. The peace and prosperity of the Old Kingdom
ended in years of civil war and discord (c.
2130&emdash;1980 BCE) known as the First
Intermediate Period. The Pharaoh Mentuhotep II
eventually reunified Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt to
begin the Middle Kingdom (c. 1980&emdash;1630 BC).
Thebes became the most important center for
Egyptian religion and many pharaohs chose to be
buried across the Nile River in the Valley of the
Kings. Turmoil once again boiled in Egypt as the
Hyksos, foreigners of Canaanite origin, took
control of Lower Egypt in the Second Intermediate
Period (c. 1630&emdash;1539 BCE). Native Egyptian
rulers from Thebes eventually expelled the Hyksos
from the Nile River delta and re-established the
centralized government. Egyptian control was
extended in the New Kingdom (c.1539&emdash;1075
BCE). Aggressive pharaohs marched their armies
south into Nubia and north as far as Syria. In 1456 BCE, Pharaoh Thutmoses III won a
decisive battle against a coalition of Canaanite
rulers at Megiddo. The great Pharaoh recorded his
triumph in Egypt: Annals of Thutmoses
III predynastic bowl Egyptian imperialism led to a dramatic increase in cultural exchange. Many Egyptian bureaucrats and soldiers were stationed in Canaan and Egyptians and Canaanites often lived side by side. Musical instruments, poetry, myths, weapons, clothing designs&endash;even gods and goddesses&endash;passed from one culture to the other. Many of these influences were long lasting. Scribes in Iron Age Judah continued to use Egyptian numbers 550 years after the end of the Egyptian empire. Although it may be interpreted from Egyptian written sources that Egypt exercised little control over this region after the Nineteenth Dynasty, the archaeological evidence from Palestine suggests otherwise at least for the first kings of the Twentieth Dynasty. Beth Shan remained an Egyptian colony with houses built according to Egyptian style, complete with door lintel inscriptions in hieroglyphics. Egyptian architectural structures, square-shaped houses made of mud-brick, occur at Aphek, Ashdod, Beth Shan (1550 and 1700 houses), Gaza, Hesi, Jemmeh, Joppa, Tell el-Farah S (Sharuhen) and Tell Masos and Tell esh- Sharia (Ziklag). The Timna copper mines continue to be controlled until perhaps Ramesis VI. Egyptian pottery can be cited from many early Iron I sites as well. In summary, it seems at least plausible to suggest that Egypt continued to dominate this region at least until the mid-part of the century and perhaps to the end of the century at least at Beth Shan. Egyptian contact in Iron II is limited to minor incursions. I Kings 9:16 records that the Egyptian Pharaoh destroyed Gezer. Shishak, the first Pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty, led a military campaign during the fifth year of Rehoboam, Solomon's son (1 Kings 14:25-26, 2 Chronicles 12:2- 9). A boundary stela of the Egyptian monarch was set up at Megiddo, and the king recorded his victory on the first pylon at the Temple of Karnak (ANEP., 349). At the end of the seventh century, Egyptian forces attempted to defeat the army of Sennacherib. Necco, Pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, campaigned in Palestine and northward to the Euphrates in 609. Necco's forces defeated Josiah at the Battle of Megiddo where the Judah king was slain in battle (2 Kings 23:29-30, 2 Chronicles 35:20-25). |
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