What major change, to ancient Egypt, did Amenhotep IV make? What affect did it have on the civilization?

 

King Amenhotep IV.  One of the most famous known pharaohs today, mostly because of the major change he made to the Egyptians religion.  Amun was one of the many important gods the Egyptians were praying to. Amenhotep’s reign started out normally. He was crowned king at The Temple of Amun in Karnak. He took his cousin, Nefertiti, as his wife, and ruled Egypt from the capital of Thebes. After a few years, things started to change. Amenhotep declared that all other gods did not exist, and that there was only one god, Aten, and it was the sun itself. The Aten was shown as the sun's disk, with rays that ended as hands holding ankhs, the symbol of life. Then Amenhotep changed his name. Amenhotep’s name meant- Amun is satisfied, but he did not want to be associated with Amun or any other gods, so he changed his name to Akhenaten, meaning- servant of Aten. Getting rid of all the other gods, meant closing down all their temples. This put a lot of priests out of work. Then Akhenaten took it to the next level, and moved the capital city to a brand new city called Akhetaten meaning- The horizon of Aten. He wanted to move away from the old religion. The civilization, of course had to follow along to Akhenaten’s rules, and new religion, because he was their pharaoh. But after the “Armana period” passed, Egyptians returned to the old gods, such as Amun, and were said to have destroyed all the statues of Aten. 

 

Why was the middle kingdom period a “golden age” for Egypt?

 

The middle kingdom was called the Golden Age because, they expanded their territory, arts and architecture thrived, and a new powerful dynasty of pharaohs came to power. The textbook states, “The Egyptians expanded their territory to the south of Nubia and conquered northeast into present day Syria.” They expanded their land over thousands of acres which was useful for growing and farming more crops, to support the large population. With more land came more power. Egypt was also thriving with arts and architecture. “Painters painted the walls of tombs and temples with colorful scenes.” The textbook recites. This proves that the “golden age” was a time of happiness and color. Sculptors built and carved battle scenes into stone, and created enormous statues of the pharaohs showing them as normal, regular people. Not only did the people see them as god but also saw the pharaohs as normal people. I find that when I think of this, I felt as though Egypt was connected by a bond. With the new dynasty of pharaohs came wealth and order. Since Egypt itself was isolated, the pharaohs ordered a construction of a canal for trading. They built more irrigation dams and channels to support the population.  This dynasty was very powerful and wealthy, Egypt was very organized.

 

Why can the exchange of “envoys” be considered a major development in ancient Egypt?

 

The definition of envoy is, a government representative to another country. Using this definition you can probably already guess that it must mean the Egyptians were starting to understand politics. A representative from each country must meet and discuss politics. This is a major development, because politics is a huge step. Understanding what laws and government are, is a major step.

 

There are a few theories to how the pyramids were built. Research a few of the strategies that historians believe the Egyptians used to build these ancient wonders. Describe advancements in

math and technology that were developed to build these tombs.

 

No one really knows how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids. It is a mystery but there are still a few theories. Today I will be sharing with you two theories on how the Egyptians built the magnificent pyramids that we see today. The ancient Egyptians may have been able to move the massive stones by wetting the sand in front of them, until they reached a giant unknown contraption that would pull the heavy blocks onto the foundation of the pyramid. As you may have guessed, this would have taken a lot of men, and persistence, but could have worked according to the study that has found this theory. A wall painting in the tomb of Djehutihotep, which dates back 1900 B.C, shows 172 men hauling an immense statue using ropes attached to a sledge. “In the drawing, a person can be seen standing at the front of the sledge, pouring water over the sand.” Says Daniel Bonn, a physics professor at the University of Amsterdam. This lead to the first theory that was said here. This is most likely how researchers got ahold of that theory. There had tomb made advancement to make these pyramids. The Egyptians most likely had to figure how big the blocks were to be to be placed. How big the pyramid should be. Looking at a pyramid all the blocks look precise. For the technology part, the Egyptians would have had to build contraptions to carry the stones the stones. They would have had to make stronger technology if they even wanted a chance to move the heavy blocks.