What Caused the fall of Egypt - Research Paper Example

? What Caused the fall of Egypt A close look at the kingdoms of Egypt reveals dark sides of pharaonic civilization, which often areglossed by the marvels of the pyramids without considering the political system that made them possible. Many people took vicarious pleasure in military victories of pharaohs without reflecting the brutality of warfare in ancient world and being unaware of what it was being under despotic leader. While ancient Egypt was essentially a discrete culture historically and very successful with time, it experienced long petrifaction and changes especially after 1100 BC that contributed to its fall. There is great parallelism linking events in Egypt’s past to those in its present; thus, prevailing circumstances in Egypt are not shocking to scholars of Egypt’s long history. It is appropriate to observe that problematic state in Egyptis no surprise to historians of Egyptology since the accompanying comparison of the nation’s past to its present form part of Egyptology analysis. The tradition offers a narrative, cantered on origins and ultimate supremacy of western civilization that doomed Egypt to being considered mediocre to western modernity. Ancient Egypt is interpreted as progenitor of western civilization; however, the nation declined and slipped into stagnation while the grand march of civilization made its way onward through Greece. Others note that believe that has been particularly been a result of colonialism, which hardly has a positive lineage; therefore, a series of continuous history of Europeans begin from outside Europe, with Egypt being important only for a moment (Carruthers, 2011; Wilson, 1956). Egyptology ought to be about the past; however, it often deals with illustrating negative attributes toward Egypt’s present and its people since they declined, who implicitly become interpreted as inferior. Wilkinson’s op-ed and book taken alongside each other give perfect illustration of this tradition, even though it may be unintentional. For instance, Wilkinson states that since the pharaonic period onward, there never existed a custom of political debate in the country, though it is unclear what ‘political debate’ when one considers political activism it becomes clear that the tradition does not exist. For example, there have been revolutions in 1879-1882, 1919, 1952 and the latest 2011 since Egypt is politicized like any other nation, which indicates that Egypt was once great but not now. Egypt’s passing glory was tempered with brutality by leaders, who were despotic, a statement that offers a balanced picture of ancient Egyptian civilization. Wilkinson adds the impression that Egypt is the progenitor of western civilization, a keen point worth imparting considering the role Egypt played in other religious arenas (Carruthers, 2011). For decades, despotic leaders with the support of western imperial powers and leaders behaving have ruled Arab nations and conducting business within their nations like pharaohs that ruled ancient Egypt, Egypt included. Current political disturbance in the country revealed the miserable situation of what was considered the world’s greatest empire resulting from prevalent corruption, malpractice and insufficient investment crippled the nation’s economy. It is strange considering that the period between 3500 to 3000 years ago at the time of Egypt’s New Kingdom, Egypt was a one of the most advanced nations across the globe. In the past, Egypt was a superpower, whose reach went beyond Sudan to southern edge of modern day Turkey, powered by a powerhouse economy combined with masterful builders. The new kingdom rose under propulsion of strong military strategists who figured ingenious ways of beating insurgent desert tribes who caused problems to their predecessors (Christensen, 2009). Compared to other brutal world conquerors’ Egyptians had benign and wise approaches for governing their new lands by allowing local rulers to remain in power, but taking the ruler’s sons as hostages to Egypt and offering them education in order to adopt and learn Egyptian ways. Despite rich documentation available to scholars, it remains a huge task to pinpoint what happened to the mighty ancient empire that led to its decline and fall. However, some problems that faced the ancient kingdom parallel those experienced by modern Egypt since it had bureaucratic corruption, autocratic regime and dramatic economic inequity. Moreover, in ancient Egypt, religion was a powerful force within Egyptian society that priestly elite controlled 30% of the country’s land, which gave them disproportionate share of the country’s output and income. Ruling the mighty empire required a large army, however, the Egyptians increasingly relied on foreigners, mercenaries and even captured soldiers found their way into the nation’s army ranks. In addition, such army required major expense for the country; even in peacetime, thus it was common for foreign soldiers to be rewarded with farms, which eventually trickled to their descendants, given that they agreed to work in the army. The influx resulted in intensive cultivation of the nation’s fertile soils straining them in productivity (Emadi, 2011). One single event, which could have been a catalyst for the nation’s decline, could be the rise of Amenhotep IV rule from 1370 to 1353 BC who decided to alter Egyptian society radically in order to consolidate his power through changing the nation’s established religion. The leader abolished traditional worship and introduced new way of worship in addition to moving the empire’s capital from conventional city to a new city in an attempt to reduce the power of status quo. However, upon his demise, the changes he instituted were eventually reversed during the reign of another pharaoh who came to throne as kid until his death at the age of 17 years; nevertheless, the rips in Egypt’s social fabric were never fully modified. Thus, the kingdom’s cohesiveness gradually eroded and Ramses II who ruled and left behind at least 79 sons did not make the situation any better since this led to extremely messy struggle in an attempt to succeed their father (Patrick, 2011). Though a new dynasty came into power, with the name Ramses and established order for some time, Egypt effectively split into two states with one running from Thebes and the other state running from Tanis to the south. One thing is certain that internal causes of Egypt’s collapse are internal even though Egypt was not invaded by foreign people in military action apart from routine policing at the few points the country was not isolated to the rest of the world by natural barriers. Hence the trickle of immigrants across Suez into Egypt thus, immigrants were not sufficiently numerous an active to influence Egyptian population or attempt insurrection. Considering internal causes, the last king Pepe II ruled for 90 years inspiring one of his sons, grandsons or great-grandsons with impatience to start enjoying the abundance of ‘divinity’ himself, which could have been the spark that set off the explosion of civil war for possession of the throne (Wilkinson, 2011). In conclusion, regardless of the source of Egypt’s strive; it is clear that the explosive material was deep in the society’s structure of the society destroyed over time. What transpired in Egypt was more than a simple political mayhem to change the leadership; it was the destruction of civilization as well as the crumple of its honourable foundations. Order in the nation vanished in anarchy and banditry since no man knew whether he would be struck down by ambush or murdered in his house; since, robbers became possessors of riches, great ladies gleaned in fields, children of great men were dashed against the walls and owners of fine robes wore rags. Nevertheless, the persons who never wove for themselves became owners of fine linen, thus, the nation had risen and perhaps precariously to a point beyond pure socialism, that made the collapse more terrible. Thus, internal turmoil in reaction to the country’s weakness people held to their empire resulting in the collapse of the reputation of the nation that lasted centuries. Moreover, Egypt at the epitome of its power and glory should have been a fascinating place to visit, since it attracted influx of foreign people who came with different ideas that could have played a role in the collapse of the nation. References Carruthers, W. (2011). The rise and fall of ancient Egypt? Egyptology's never-ending story. Antiquity, 85(330), 1444-1447. Christensen, W. (2009). Empire of ancient Egypt. New York: Chelsea House. Emadi, H. (2011). EGYPT: THE FALL OF A MODERN PHARAOH. Contemporary Review, 293(1700), 1-9. Patrick. (2011). Why Did Ancient Egypt Decline. National Geographic Society. Retrieved June 19, 2013 from http://tvblogs.nationalgeographic.com/2011/02/26/why-did-ancient-egypt-decline/ Wilkinson, T. A. H. (2011). The rise and fall of ancient Egypt: The history of a civilisation from 3000 BC to Cleopatra. London: Bloomsbury. Wilson, J. A. (1956). The culture of ancient Egypt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Read More