Ancient Egypt may once have been a powerful stable civilization, but climate change, followed by the invasion of multiple empires, and eventual loss of culture and religion, caused great suffering and decline.
Three Artifacts that have significance in terms of the decline of ancient Egypt, displaying change and, or continuity.
In this picture, it’s clear people are tackling climate change, showing how people grow their agriculture. When the environment changes, humans must also change to ensure their resources don’t deplete. However, despite all the cautions one can take, sometimes climate change just can’t be overcome. According to Michael McCormick, a medieval historian at Harvard University, “civilizations that lasted a long time, that were just as smart and able and enterprising as we are. And yet, they were sometimes dealt devastating blows by the environment. Sometimes they were able to overcome them, but sometimes they were overcome by them.” During the Ptolemaic age(305 – 30 B.C), ancient Egypt was flourishing, had a great economy and military. Unfortunately, the people at the time primarily depended on the Nile River floods, because of the lack of rain. It was during this time that the flooding never occurred for multiple years. The Egyptians at the time were probably clueless to the volcanic eruption in this same period. This eruption is what changed the atmosphere and lowered the water levels of the Nile River. Despite all the actions the Pharaoh did, the citizens became unhappy and a civil war took place. Joseph G. Manning, a historian at Yale University stated, “It shows there are real political and societal consequences to environmental changes like global warming and disasters.” Although civil war won’t necessarily result in food, the people tend to become desperate, and political conflicts arise. This comes to show that once the change occurred, Egyptians simply couldn’t survive after being deprived of the flooding of the Nile River. They suffered famine and political instability, which are both very negative changes. Although this never caused the civilization to fully decline, it was a major factor for weakening the empire, allowing it easier for invasion.
This picture depicts a Pharaoh holding his enemies, somewhat as if he is in control of them. It’s not known to us which Pharaoh is being resembled in this picture. However, the other men are said to be Libyans, who were also said to have been composed of more than one race, as seen in the picture. Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs would have to fight and prevent major invasions from the Libyans, which caused them to be an enemy. Although the Libyans didn’t cause their decline, they are still very important, because they were one of the first people who started a series of major invasion attempts on Egypt. The traditional enemy of the Egyptians were Nubians and Libyans, and they became a symbol of the Pharaohs’ military prowess. It’s seen through the history of ancient Egypt that, foreign invasion was very crucial to their decline, presumably the biggest cause of it. This picture resembles a lot of change that would happen. In this picture, it shows the power of a strong Pharaoh, which in the coming centuries would begin to slowly disappear. It also shows them being superior in a way. However, towards the last few centuries before Ancient Egypt fell, their enemies were much stronger in terms of military, economy, etc. Let’s take a look at who these enemies were. In the last 700 years B.C.E, Ancient Egypt was invaded by three different huge empires. War with Assyrians in 692 BCE, then Persia invaded in 525 BCE, seizing control and making it a colony for more than 100 years. After Persia was defeated by Alexander the Great, he made Egypt a province and the Egyptians welcomed him. Lastly, the last foreign invasion by Rome and the arrival of Christianity, is mainly what caused Egypt to lose most of its culture and religion
Bibliography:
Delta. “Pharaohs In Trouble: Climate Change And Natural Disasters Led To Political Uprisings In Ancient Egypt.” Ancient Pages, October 17, 2017. Accessed March 05, 2020.
Wan, William. “Ancient Egypt’s Rulers Mishandled Climate Disasters. Then the People Revolted.” The Washington Post. WP Company, October 17, 2017. Accessed March 05, 2020.
Un. “How Climate Change and Population Growth Threaten Egypt’s Ancient Treasures.” UN Environment. Accessed March 5, 2020. https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/how-climate-change-and-population-growth-threaten-egypts-ancient-treasures.
“Climate Change in Ancient Egypt.” The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, October 4, 2011. http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Green-Economics/2011/1004/Climate-change-in-ancient-Egypt.
Dun and Fox. “Tour Egypt.” The Enemies of Ancient Egypt. Accessed March 16, 2020. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/enemies.htm.
Scala. “Ancient Egypt Gave Rise to One of the World’s Oldest Christian Faiths.” Coptic Christianity originated in Egypt shortly after the death of Jesus, April 26, 2019. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2019/03-04/coptic-christianity-ancient-egypt/
“Tour Egypt.” A History of Christianity in Egypt – Birth and Early Growth. Accessed March 16, 2020. http://www.touregypt.net/chiste1.htm.
Ancient Egypt 