1 Metropoles - Neighbors of Ancient Egypt Egypt s was the most stable civilzation that ever existed: three tousand years of political and cultural continuity, interrupted only occasionally by foreign rule. Get an overview to the civilizations raising the same time as Ancient Egypt did. Several Metropoles become partners in trading but also enemies and hard opponents. The following list shows some of the Metropoles and their relations to Ancient Egypt. Africa, Mesopotamia, Europe and Asia The choosen civilizations are summarized on the map and presented with a short text below Europe 19 16 7 10 4 12 17 6 2 Mesopotamia 3 8 5 13 14 18 Africa Egypt 1 2 9 15 Arabia 11 fi nd more information: www.tutankhamun-game.com
1. ) Akhet Aten (Amarna, Egyptian) Akhet-Aten ( horizon of Aton ) was founded by Akhenaten as the new capital and pharaoh s residence as well as the center of the Aten cult. The city - homes, temples, palaces - was built hurriedly and survived only for about 15 years, after which time it sank into the desert sand. Artists created pictures in their own Amarna style ( Tell el-amarna is the name of today s Akhet-Aten). 2.) Assur The Assyrians were named for their fi rst capital, Assur, in northern Mesopotamia. They were initially infl uenced by the Babylonians or were conquered by foreign tribes; around 1350 they achieved independence and expanded their realm. The Assyrians had connections to Egypt as early as the New Kingdom but did not become a political factor until the Late Period: During the course of Assyrian expansion in the 8th century BC, the Egyptians and the Assyrians collided with each other. In 671 BC the Assyrians took power in Egypt. 3.) Alexandria (Egyptian) City in northern Egypt, founded by Alexander the Great and named for him. As ships pulled into the harbor, they were greeted by the lighthouse (one of the wonders of the ancient world). At that time there was already a famous, extensive library in Alexandria. 4.) Athens Athens is one of Europe s oldest settlements and has been continuously populated for the last 5000 years. Castle and city originated during the Mycenean Period (ca 1200). In the city-state not only did a monarch rule but also the entire propertied male population, the Demos (from the 7th century on). This so-called democracy was a model for modern states. In its golden period (5th century BC) the city was a cultural stronghold (Socrates, Plato). After its destruction at the hands of the Persians, the Acropolis was reconstructed by Pericles under the direction of the famous sculptor Phidias and the architects Iktinos and Kallikrates. 5.) Babylon Located on the Euphrates River, Babylon rose from a provincial city (ca. 2000 BC) in the Kingdom of Ur to the capital of Babylon under Hammurabi (1792-50 BC). In 1594 BC it was destroyed by the Hettites but was subsequently rebuilt. Under Nebukadnezar the city was expanded in splendid fashion. At approximately this time the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews of the Old Testament took place. Babylon existed as a city until about 1000 AD.
6.) Byblos Byblos (ar. Gubail), on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, is one of the oldest settlements in the world (settled ca 4500 BC). The Phoenician city had commercial ties to Egypt beginning with the 2nd Dynasty - copper and cedar were exchanged for papyrus which was processed into rolls and then exported to Greece. The Greek name for the city sounds like the term for papyrus, from which the word for book biblion is derived - ( bible ). Even the beginnings of the Phoenician alphabet can be traced to Byblos (ca 1500 BC). Until the time of the crusades Byblos remained an important port city and is a small city today. 7.) Hatussa (Hettites) The great empire of the Hettites (Hatti) arose in Anatoly around 1600 BC. Both the Egyptians and the Babylonians had diplomatic and economic ties to the Hettites. During this epoch all three powers continually struggled for supremacy. The peace treaty between Ramses II and Hattushili III after the battle of Kadesh is considered to be the oldest known document of this type. 8.) Jerusalem (Israelites) Jerusalem is documented in Egyptian sources as early as 1800 BC. Around 1004 BC, David conquered the city and made it the center of the Jewish empire. With the construction of the temple by Salomon, Jerusalem also became the religious center. After the fall of the Jewish empire, Jerusalem came under a series of rulers: Egyptian (ca 930), Philistine, Assyrian, Babylonian (Babylonian Captivity 586-538), Persian, Greek, Roman. Interrupted by short periods of independence, struggles also continued after the beginning of our calendar. The city was considered to be sacred by Jews, Christians and Muslims, and important religious sites of each of these religions can be found there. 9.) Karnac and Luxor (Egyptian) Monumental temple structures are built in Luxor and in Karnac near Thebes. The Luxor Temple is connected to the temple complex at Karnac, whose columns are an impressive 40 meters high, by a road bordered on both sides by ram-headed sphinxes. The most famous and impressive temples are those of Luxor, Amun and Amenophis III. One of the obelisks which were erected in front of the temple can be found at the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Epoch: Middle Kingdom
10.) Carthage (Phoenician) Carthage was founded by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC and rose to become one of the most important trading cities in the Mediterranean. The Carthaginians also had considerable military power. In the Third Punic War (146-49 AD) Carthage was besieged by the Romans and subsequently destroyed, the population massacred. All historical documents of the Carthaginians were lost in the siege; thus, the Punic Wars are known only from a Roman perspective. The ruins of Carthage are in today s Tunisia near the capital of Tunis. 11.) Kerma (Nubian) Nubia denotes the area between Aswan in Egypt (1st Cataract) and Karima in the Sudan (4th Cataract). Nubia was conquered gradually and became a vice-royalty of Egypt. The word nubia is possibly derived from the Egyptian word for gold; that area did in fact have abundant gold deposits. The rulers of Kerma were able to re-conquer partial areas along the Nile around 1750 BC; however, the struggle for rule in Nubia stretched across several centuries. 12.) Knossos (Minoan Culture) The Creto-Minoan culture, named for the mythological King Minos, arose at the same time as the Helladic culture on the Greek mainland and formed the beginning of Greece s rise in antiquity. Crete is considered to be the fi rst cultural civilization in Europe, having its beginnings around 2600 BC. One of its most distinctive structures is the Palace of Knossos, pictured here. Around 1450 BC it was destroyed by an earthquake but was subsequently rebuilt. Crete cultivated a trading partnership with Egypt. 13.) Memphis The ancient capital of Egypt was located in the north near today s Cairo. According to legend, Memphis was founded around 3000 BC by the pharaoh Menes, whose existence cannot be proven. The city was fi rst called Ineb hedj white wall, but later, it was named after the pyramid of Pepi I: Men Nefer beauty remaining a name which came from the Greek form Memphis. The city was the imperial capital during the entire period of the Old Kingdom.
14.) Petra The capital of Nabataea (al-bitra) is famous for its monumental tomb facades which are chiseled directly into cliffs. Located halfway between the Gulf of Acaba and the Dead Sea, Petra was able to grow from an important trading post on the frankincense route (440 BC - 200 AD) to an infl u- ential city. The illustration shows the treasure house of the pharaoh - the name is somewhat confusing - with respect to the building, it refers to one of the tomb facades. Nabatäer (Epoche Ptolemäer, Griechen und Römer) 15.) Thebes (Egyptian) The hieratical city of Thebes (Weset, Uaset) in the South was the capital of Egypt from the 11th Dynasty (Middle Kingdom) up to the New Kingdom. With its main temple sites it was also the religious center of the kingdom. The city is located on both sides of the Nile. The temple of Luxor and the Amun temple (Karnac) are located in the eastern part and the necropolises, other temple sites and the Valley of the Queens are located in the west. Thebes was destroyed by the Assyrians in 652. 16.) Troy The name Troy became famous mainly due to the mythological Homerian epic, the Iliad. Whether that work really involves the trading city in Asia Minor is disputed, just as is the historicity of the Trojan War. This well-fortifi ed city was destroyed and rebuilt ten times. From 2000 BC, Troy had contact with the Greeks and also with its eastern neighbors, the Hettites. It is, however, improbable that this Troy is identical to the Hettite Vilusha. Troy s important geographical location for trade between Europe and the Orient made the city infl uential and prosperous. 17.) Tyros (Phoenician) The Phoenicians built a signifi cant trading state in the Mediterranean, where they had numerous trading stations, e.g., Carthage. They originally came from Canann (eastern Mediterranean) but spread out to the sea. The name Phoenician comes from the Greek and refers to the color purple, the most expensive but hardly the only trading object of this people. They named themselves after their places of birth. Almost all alphabets, be they European or Oriental, are based on the Phoenician alphabet, the fi rst phonetic spelling system. We can also thank the Phoenicians for the invention of the coin.
18.) Ur (Sumerian) Ur, a city founded by the Sumerians, is one of the oldest in existence. Its origins go back to the 4th century BC under the early dynasties of Ur (1st and 3rd) and it was the center of Mesopotamia until the destruction of the Amorites 2003. Under Nebukadnezar (605-562) it was reconstructed. 19.) Rome (Roman Empire) Rome arose from the merger of ancient Latin and Sabine settlements; the year 753 BC is considered the offi cial founding date and beginning of the Roman calendar. With that began the expansion within Italy, followed by Rome s rise to a world power - after the struggle with the Carthaginians (Punic Wars 264-241, 218-201, 149-146) which lasted for over a century. In 30 BC Egypt became a Roman province, but it had already subjugated before that. more information: http://www.tutankhamun-game.com