Soulful Creatures. Edward Bleiberg

President Stephanie Ingrassia, and the entire Board of Trustees for their support during the preparation of this unusual exhibition and book.

      Edward Bleiberg

      Curator of Egyptian Art

      Brooklyn Museum

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      (see figure 74)

      2. Detail of Seated Baboon

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      This chronology is intended to help readers navigate the vast tract of time known as ancient Egyptian history. The chronology outlines the development of Egyptian civilization through its many periods and comments briefly on the historical features of each principal era.

       Egyptologists divide Egyptian history into twelve major periods. Over the centuries, periods of strong central government, or kingdoms, alternate with intermediate eras of weaker central authority and reliance on local rule. In the Prehistoric Period (5000–4400 b.c.e.), most people were farmers and there was no central government. The Predynastic Period (4400–3000 b.c.e.) reveals traits that anticipate classical Egyptian culture and customs. The Early Dynastic Period (3000–2675 b.c.e.) witnessed the first centralized government in Egypt. The next period, the Old Kingdom (2675–2170 b.c.e.), is often called the Pyramid Age and produced the best-known monuments of ancient Egypt. Centralized government dissolved at the end of the Old Kingdom, leading to the First Intermediate Period (2170–2008 b.c.e.), a transitional era that existed “between kingdoms” and was marked by local rule. After it followed the Middle Kingdom (2008–1630 b.c.e.), a time of renewed central government and impressive artistic and literary production. A second gradual breakdown of central government, however, led to the Second Intermediate Period (1630–1539/1523 b.c.e.), which was dominated by West Semitic foreigners ruling in the north of Egypt while local princes of Thebes controlled the south. Egypt began to look outward with the beginning of the New Kingdom (1539–1075 b.c.e.), when a strong, wealthy central government held sway over the ancient northeast African and Near Eastern world. A Third Intermediate Period (1075–656 b.c.e.) followed, and foreign rulers from Libya and Nubia commanded the scene. The centralized government led by Libyans introduced the Late Period (664–332 b.c.e.), when foreign rule by Persians added to the rich mix of peoples living in Egypt. Alexander the Great’s invasion resulted in the Ptolemaic Period (332–30 b.c.e.), which saw the blending of Egyptian and Greek culture. The Romans took control of Egypt in 31 b.c.e. with the defeat of the Egyptian navy of Cleopatra VII and Marc Antony at the Battle of Actium. Rule from Rome and subsequently from the Eastern Roman Empire’s capital of Constantinople officially continued until the arrival of Arab rulers in Egypt in 642 c.e.

      A Brief Chronology of Ancient Egypt

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      A Brief Chronology of Ancient Egypt

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      Prehistoric Period

      Neolithic Period; Omari Culture, Maadi Culture

      circa 5000−4400 b.c.e.

      People lived in farming settlements. Nearly nothing is known of the political system.

      Predynastic Period

      Badarian Period, Naqada Period, and Dynasty 0

      circa 4400–3000 b.c.e.

       The Predynastic Period witnessed the earliest villages in Egypt in prehistoric times, and it stretched to the very beginnings of recorded history in Dynasty 0 about 1,400 years later. At first, Egyptians experienced numerous localized cultures. Archaeological evidence indicates the beginnings of international trade with the Near East and Nubia and the first writing in Dynasty 0.

      Badarian Period: circa 4400−3800 b.c.e.

      Naqada I Period: circa 3850−3650 b.c.e.

      Naqada II Period: circa 3650−3300 b.c.e.

      Naqada III Period: circa 3300−3100 b.c.e.

      Dynasty 0: circa 3100−3000 b.c.e.

      Early Dynastic Period

      Dynasties 1 and 2

      circa 3000−2675 b.c.e.

       Upper and Lower Egypt (i.e., southern and northern Egypt) were unified during the First and Second Dynasties. Monumental architecture appeared in tombs, and King Narmer founded the national capital at Memphis.

      Dynasty 1: circa 3000−2800 b.c.e.

      Dynasty 2: circa 2800−2675 b.c.e.

      Old Kingdom

      Dynasties 3 through 6

      circa 2675–2170 b.c.e.

       The Old Kingdom saw the centralization of political power in Memphis, the national capital. King Djoser completed construction of history’s first stone buildings, at Saqqara. The peak of this centralized power came in the reigns of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, Fourth Dynasty kings who built their pyramids at Giza. Fifth and Sixth Dynasty kings allowed power to devolve gradually to the provinces, resulting in a new period of localized political control.

      Dynasty 3: circa 2675–2625 b.c.e.

      Dynasty 4: circa 2625–2500 b.c.e.

      Dynasty 5: circa 2500–2350 b.c.e.

      Dynasty 6: circa 2350–2170 b.c.e.

      First Intermediate Period

      Dynasty 7 through first half of Dynasty 11

      circa 2170–2008 b.c.e.

      The First Intermediate Period included the last years of the Memphis royal house and the rise of rival kings of the Ninth and Tenth Dynasties in Herakleopolis, southwest of modern Cairo, and of the Eleventh Dynasty in Thebes. Local control was stronger than central government influence.

      Dynasties 7 and 8: circa 2170−2130 b.c.e.

      Dynasties 9 and 10: circa 2130–1980 b.c.e.

      First half of Dynasty 11: circa 2081–2008 b.c.e.

      Middle Kingdom

      Latter half of Dynasty 11 through Dynasty 13

      circa 2008–after 1630 b.c.e.

       The Middle Kingdom was a period of high achievement in the arts, architecture, and letters. In the Eleventh Dynasty, political power remained in Thebes, the home of the ruling dynasty. In the Twelfth Dynasty, the seat of power shifted northward to Lisht, located southwest of modern Cairo. The Twelfth Dynasty was the apex of centralized power in the Middle Kingdom. The Thirteenth Dynasty witnessed the gradual infiltration of West Semitic−speaking peoples into the eastern delta of the Nile and increased local control.

      Latter half of Dynasty 11: circa 2008−1938 b.c.e.

      Dynasty 12: circa 1938–1759 b.c.e.

      Dynasty 13: circa 1759–after 1630 b.c.e.

      

      Second Intermediate Period

      Dynasties 14 through 17

      1630–1539/1523 b.c.e.

      Northern Egypt was dominated by western Semites, so called from the Egyptian words meaning “Rulers of Foreign Lands.” Native Theban princes ruled the south. Most of these dynasties overlap with each other in time.

      Dynasty 14: uncertain but contemporaneous with late Dynasty 13

      Dynasty 15: 1630—1523 b.c.e.

      Dynasty 16: 1630—1523 b.c.e.

      Dynasty 17: 1630—1539 b.c.e.