Egypt's Middle Kingdom

The 11th dynasty marks the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. This dynasty lasted from 2040 to 1640 B.C. The Middle Kingdom was the start of many new things to the Egyptians. Some of these things included trade, arts, and the literature expanded majorly.

During the Middle Kingdom, there were many kings that ruled the throne. the first known ruler is known to be a man named Nebhetepre Mentuhotep I. Mentuhotep I ruled for about 51 years on the throne. Before Mentuhotep I, Upper and Lower Egypt were ruled by seperate rulers, but then Mentuhotep came around and meshed them into one. He brought great stability to Egypt. "The Middle Kingdom is when the country flourished again as it did in the Old Kingdom". (David, Rosalie.Pg.29 BOOK SOURCE ONE)

Egypt's Middle Kingdom is known as the Golden Age. This is the time where trade, arts, and literature became big and well known. It was also a time where Egypt trained and built up strong armies to defend themselves from their neighbors. During the Middle Kingdom, the kings and pharaoh's were supposed to be grand and very smart. They were to expected to be good to their people and fair to all people also. After the kings or pharaoh's died, they were placed into their tombs where they would then, as they believed, enter the after-life that was filled with wealth or joy or poor-ness and sorrow. It was either a very good or a very bad place.

During the Middle Kingdom, there were many pyramids that were built. Most of the pyramids that are still standing today were built in the old and middle kingdoms. Amenemhet III seemed to be the last powerful pharaoh of the 12th Dynasty. During his reign, he built the first pyramid at Dahshur. The pyramid that he had built was called the Black Pyramid. This pyramid was 272 feet high, 350 feet wide, and had an incline of 57 degrees. The pyramid consists of unburned bricks and clay. Today, the pyramids odd shape stands out in the vast desert.

Since most of the pyramids still standing today were built in the time of the Middle Kingdom, this must mean that they were built very strong and ready for anything to come. When the pyramids were built, they were actually so smooth that they kind of shined. Today, the pyramids are all jagged and messed up because over time, people from the outside cities have come in and stolen some of the stones that they used and used them on another building. And yet they have gotten through all of this and are still standing today.


BOOK SOURCE #1
Rosalie, David. Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt. New York. Oxford University Press. 1998

BOOK SOURCE #2 ONLINE BOOK!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amenemhet_III

Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom in Egypt was actually the time period of the dynasties one through six (3100-2890 B.C. to 2181-2125 B.C.). In the next few paragraphs, I'm going to be explaining each dynasty thoroughly.

The First Dynasty was from 3100-2890 B.C. But before the first dynasty, Egypt was actually two separate lands. It is told that King Menes was the man who joined these two lands called Upper and Lower Egypt. To keep Egypt under control, there had to be one man that would basically control EVERYTHING. When the King gained enough power, the people called him "Pharaoh." The pharaoh thought of himself to even be part god! CRAZY! Since the pharaoh had so much to do, he had family members and important people help him out wit his tasks. The First Dynasty is also the time where the Egyptians started to use papyrus. This helped them record important things that were happening that that time and write down what we are learning in history today.

The Second Dynasty was from 2890-2686 B.C. At the end of the First Dynasty, there was arguments over who was going to rule Egypt. The feud was never really resolved and toward the end of the dynasty, there seemed to have been more disorder and possibly civil war.

The Third Dynasty was from 2686-2613 B.C. This particular dynasty marks history. This dynasty is the one where the first actual monumental building is built; the Pyramid. But these pyramids were weakly constructed and not as good as those you will see in the fourth dynasty.

The Fourth Dynasty was from 2613 2494 B.C. The pyramids in this dynasty were constructed very good. The Pyramids at Giza were built during the fourth Dynasty and are one of today's most visited sites in Egypt.

The Fifth Dynasty was from 2494 2345 B.C. During this period, many people ruled Egypt. There was around nine rulers that ruled Egypt. When the rulers would die, they were put into tombs. The tombs were inside of the pyramids and these tombs were grand.

The Sixth Dynasty was from 2345-2181 B.C. The sixth dynasty includes records of trading expeditions to the south from the reigns of Pepi I.

King Khufu

King Khufu was born into a royal Egyptian family. Khufu was born around 2589 B.C. to his father Snefru and his mother Hetepheres. Khufu'a full birth name was Khnum-Khufu, meaning, "The god of Khnum protects me." Khnum was an Egyptian god at that time. Many egyptologists say that Khufu got many building ideas from his father when he was just a little boy. Pharaoh Snefru is known for building as many as three pyramids. One of these pyramids being the Bent Pyramid. (Clayton, 42)

Not much is known about King Khufu. But there are a couple of very important things that are known. King Khufu came to rule Egypt in his 20's and ruled for about 50 years. Khufu had 3 wives and 9 sons. Khufu was known for being a harsh and wicked ruler. Khufu created and had many people build the Pyramid at Giza.

King Khufu wanted to be remembered for ages to come, so he wanted something spectacular to be built for him that was the biggest and grandest in all of Egypt. He wanted a huge pyramid to be built with an amazing tomb built on the inside. King Khufu created and thought up all the ideas for the pyrimid. He had 100,000 people work on this amazing pyramid for thee months of each year. About 2.3 million stones weighing approximately 2.5 tons were used on the pyramids construction. Now thats ALOT of work! (Lassieur, 37)

In order to build the Pyramid at Giza, there was alot of manpower that was needed. And King Khufu could get that manpower because he was King/Pharaoh of Egypt, and he could make anybody or everybody do whatever he wanted for him, whenever. If these people did not do what Khufu told them to do, they would not do anything at all. They were out of work unless they worked for King Khufu.

Although the Pyrimid at Giza is the most detailed and spectacular pyramid built in all history, it also serrved as a tomb for King Khufu. Inside the tomb, egyptologists have found items such as boats that they think were to lead Khufu through his journey in the afterlife.

Today, the Pyramid at Giza is the most visited site in all of Egypt. It served as a spectacular tomb as well as a beautiful pyramid, and today is the most beautiful pyramid int he world.


Lassieur,Allison. The Ancient Egyptians. San Diego, California. Lucent Books, Inc. 2001

Clayton,Peter. Chronicle of the Pharaohs. New York:Thames and Hudson Inc. 1994

Wikipedia!

The Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi is a set of laws that was written by Hammurabi, the ruler of Babylon. It is one of the earliest set of laws that was set up for a civilization, if not even the earliest. The code consisted of 282 laws that were carved onto an 8 foot high stone monolith. It was carved into stone so that the laws could not be changed.

Hammurabi was Babylon's sixth ruler. He started his rule in 1792 B.C. Hammurabi inherited the throne from his father Sin-Muballit. A little while after this, Hammurabi started to write the Code of Hammurabi. Unlike other laws, Hammurabi wrote the set of laws in Akkadian. He wrote it in Akkadian because, even though there were few people that were literate, that was the language that they spoke and read. Hammurabi died in 1750 B.C.

The Code of Hammurabi talked about many different aspects of life. He sorted his laws into groups such as family, labor, personal property, real estate, trade, and business. He also talked about witches and crime. The laws were harsh and sometimes even unfair, but since Babylon was the worlds first metropolis, the large population needed to be bound by a strict set of organized civil laws. The code was severe in its penelties, prescribing 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'. The Code of Hammurabi has a very harsh punishment system that talks about both civil and criminal law, and defines procedures for both commerce and trade.

Although the Code of Hammurabi was written in Akkadian, it was carved in cuneiform. Once the set of laws was carved, it was set out for all people to see. The code is the longest code in all of Babylonian history. It consists of 36,000 lins of cuneiform and is 8 feet tall and 6 feet wide.

The Code of Hammurabi is alomost the same as the Ten Commendments. The Ten Commandments are similar to the Code of Hammurabi in a couple different ways. The Code of Hammurabi and the Ten Commentments share some of the same rules. These rules are honor your father and mother, do not murder, do not steal, do not commit adultery, do not bear false testimony against your neighbor and do not covet your neighbors things. Both of these sets of laws are very important to people today and to people in history. The Code of Hammurabi has changed society and history forever.