Historiography of Historians of a Historical Event - Essay Example

Historiography of Historians of a historical event HISTORIOGRAPHY OF HISTORIANS OF A HISTORICAL EVENT Titus Rock Manickam Order No. 294950 05 May 2009 Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………….3 Manetho……………………………………………………………..4 People and Passion………………………………………………..6 Conclusion………………………………………………………….12 Sources……………………………………………………………..13 HISTORIOGRAPHY OF HISTORIANS OF A HISTORICAL EVENT Introduction Many historians watching Egypt and could not help expressing their fascination at the 3000 years saga of might and marvel, emphasized an aspect that served to highlight a particular chain of events in the entire history of Egypt. The rise and fall of Egypt as the world’s first known super power is interesting and tragic. It is interesting due to the sheer aggrandizement of the power that the rulers executed over their kingdom. It is tragic because even the pharaohs, treated like the gods, ultimately went the way of all ordinary mortals. But they were revered while they lived. The more powerful amongst them built their own pyramids, some of them eliciting praises for the structures made with scientific and mathematical precision that defies human capabilities today. Egypt is based on five thousand years of history. This is where civilization began. The histories of Babylonia, Assyria, the Greeks and the Romans will be incomplete without Egypt. The Jewish, Christians and Islamic religions have their bases in Egypt. For over two thousand years, the mention of the name Egypt evoked strong feelings of recognition and respect. But the kingdom did fall into difficult times. Changes were occurring elsewhere and the monarchs who ruled in between could not face the onslaught of the marauding Hyksos. Also, internal strife led to civil wars. The obsession with the construction and maintenance of the pyramids was depleting the once-grand resources of Egypt. Gradually, the society that ventured out from its territories and established its power beyond its borders began to feel the effects of want. These factors combined to leave the majestic empire tottering and to its ultimate demise. The glory and tragedy is not limited to the political and militaristic prowess and its decline in Egypt. It is the overall scenario of disharmony and lethargy in the country that did it in. Strong external pressures and inner turmoil finally put paid to their vaunted positions on a number of occasions. However, Egypt kept rising after every fall. Nonetheless it was finally conquered by the Greeks and thereafter never rose again to their former glory. The story begins in 3200 B.C. with the unification of the Upper and Lower Egypt. This was the time when the 1st and 2nd dynasties consolidated the kingdom for the 3rd dynasty. The construction of the pyramids in Giza began with the 3rd dynasty. The history of Egypt is incomplete without the pyramids. The pyramids provide the fascination and weave the chain of events in the history of Egypt. The pyramids continue to fascinate the world today. The pyramids constructed by the 4th dynasty at Giza were the greatest ever monuments produced by mankind. Nothing before or after these masterpieces came close in design and construction (Miller, Joseph M. et al). Manetho It is difficult to find any ancient historian in the annals of the Egyptian era except Manetho. Manetho was a priest during the closing periods of the Egyptian history as a super power. He lived in Sebennytos, capital of Egypt during the 30th dynasty. Manetho did a yeoman service in collating facts and folklore from available records then. If we have a better idea of the glories of the Egyptian kingdoms, it is largely due to the efforts of Manetho. Manetho wrote about the ascendance as well as the decadence of the pharaohs. An accurate study of Egypt is difficult without Manetho. Manetho lived during the reign of Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II about 300-260 B.C. He wrote the book Aegyptiaca, a collection of three books. These books contained the history of ancient Egypt. He was a priest and had access to the archives of the temple where he served. Such archives contained vast number of different kinds of writings ranging from mythological texts to official records. Hence, his writings contain both folk-tales as well as Egyptian history (Who is Who in Ancient Egypt). Nothing much is known about Manetho, except that his name closely resembles ‘keeper of the horses’. Manetho is responsible for dividing the Egyptian kings and monarchs into 30 dynasties. Sometimes two dynasties overlapped. For instance, the 13th and 14th dynasties reigned together when the country split in two parts (Miller, Joseph M. et al). Nothing much is known about the first two dynasties except that they were responsible for bringing together the two entities of Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt. The Egyptian empire continued through from 3200 B.C. to 730 B.C. when it was conquered by Ethiopia and subsequently by Assyrians and Persians. Ptolemy I was a friend of Alexander the Great and an able administrator. He was succeeded by Ptolemy II after his death. Ptolemy II entrusted Manetho with the research work of ancient Egypt with a view to bring together the Egyptian and Hellenistic cultures. Manetho provides a mixture of facts and folk-lore. His brief was cultural. As such, it was necessary for him not to omit accounts that did not appear sufficiently credible. At any rate, not all accounts that comprise folk-lore appear incredible. There are mixes up in dynasties. For instance, the 18th dynasty starts with the rule of Ahmose who was a brother of the last king of the 17th dynasty. The third king of the 18th dynasty was probably not related to his predecessors but is still placed in the same dynasty. Probably the record keepers of the dynasties were bossed to write down certain accounts that did not tally with facts. The Egyptians were fine scientists, mathematicians and architects. However, they did not put such technologies to better use in book keeping. Nevertheless, there is enough information and historical objects such as the pyramids and their contents to glean facts from the work of Manetho. Manetho has created an account from which it is possible to get facts and ignore the folk-lore. We must remember that Manetho was essentially not only writing history but also endeavoring to find common grounds for the Egyptian and Hellenistic cultures. Thus, Manetho must be excused for extraneous information in Aegyptiaca (Who is Who in Ancient Egypt). People and Passion Christian Jacq, author of the international triumphs Ramses and The Stone of Light, brings the people and passions of ancient Egypt to life in an enthralling epic novel in three volumes. Jacq casts the net far and wide. He touches the whole history of Egypt and vividly describes the glory and majesty of the kingdom of pharaohs. He highlights romance and intrigue. Jacq dwells at length on the bravado of one woman and her daughter in writing about Egypt. With the backdrop of the entire history of the pharaohs he highlights the deeds of one widow, Teti and her beautiful, fiery daughter, Ahhotep. It was the time the Hyksos from the east were making matters miserable for the Egyptians. Ahhotep is the saga of a solitary woman against the might of the invaders. Ahhotep stirs the imagination of the people with scintillating recollections of the Egyptians might and wisdom. She leads from the front. She fights, she attacks and she holds on to the city of Thebes. One rarely comes across a woman to provide the lead and do so effectively and courageously. The Egyptians were feared fighters. They would not have held world supremacy for as long as over 2000 years if they dilly-dallied in the war scenario. However, long years of supremacy and competition were beginning to have impact. Earlier, the pharaohs had organized the people into service for the construction of the pyramids. The construction of the pyramids was a divine act. The people had no choice but to obey. It is not possible to stand up to an activity invoked in the name of god. It became impossible to stand up to this activity in the course of time when rebellion invited instant condemnation and death. Also, the hoi polloi had little choice in an affair that invoked god. And thus, the activity soon became a habit. It was the same old story of exploitation in the name of religion. The people were religious. They also became gullible. The river Nile built a civilization with a system which embraced science, mathematics, arts and crafts, magical arts, agriculture and astronomy ((Phippen, Kari). It was the time of the old kingdom. The Egyptian history is divided into three phases of the pharaohs. There was the old kingdom comprising the earliest pharaohs and the building of the pyramids. It lasted from 3200 B.C. to 2280 B.C. The kingdom of the pharaoh declined from 2280 to 2050 B.C. This was the time when bandits plundered the kingdom, there was internecine warfare, and the pharaohs became powerless to deal with banditry and disunity in the kingdom. There were no large scale projects (Miller, Joseph M). Then between 2050 and 1200, Egypt experienced the middle kingdom when the 11th and 12th dynasties reasserted their supremacy. Soon however, Egypt broke into two competing entities in 1786 B.C. The 13th dynasty ruled over one half with its capital at It-tawi, and the 14th dynasty ruled over the other half with its capital at Xois. This supremacy ended with attacks from the Hyksos. The Hyksos came between the 1725 and 1600 B.C. The Hyksos ruled as the 15th and the 16th dynasties. At the same time, a native Egyptian ruled as the 17th dynasty from Thebes. The Hyksos were later expelled in 1600 B.C. by Kamose, the last ruler of the 17th dynasty (Miller, Joseph M. et al). Overall, the old kingdom flourished under the pharaohs who were shrewd and progressive. By and large, there was peace for over a thousand years since the formation of Egypt as one nation. The 11th dynasty built a series of irrigation canals which are in use even now. However, the people were farmers and peasants and initially had no choice but to remain gullible under the authority of the pharaohs. They built the pyramids, they took military training, and they followed the pharaoh or his generals in military campaigns. The culture and tradition of the Egyptians was strong enough to stand up against the might of foreign powers on a number of occasions in the three thousand years old history of the Egyptian empire. For a long time from the beginning the pharaohs had made themselves almost invincible in the eyes of the common man. The pharaohs were gods and their dead bodies were to be preserved to facilitate their afterlife journey. Jacq strokes well in imaginatively guiding the reader through the three volumes of The Empire of Darkness. The Hyksos were brutal barbarians. Jacq does nothing to hide this fact. In fact, the account of Ahhotep becomes extraordinarily cheerful because she withstands the Hyksos. Without the courage and passion of Queen Ahhotep, it is difficult to imagine the existence of the glorious treasures of the pharaohs (The empire of darkness). If Jacq’s account of Egypt is carved out of facts and imagination, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt by Ian Shaw goes a step further in academic excellence. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt uncovers 700,000 years of history, geography, and pre-historic domain of the region. This book describes the story of Egypt from 700,000 B.C. to 311 A.D. Much of the account before 3200 B.C. investigates the changing nature of life and death in the Nile valley. The history of the pharaohs unfolds from 3200 B.C. The lineage of the pharaohs was hierarchically family-based. However, the full category of the pharaohs belonged to different dynasties. It was not one family block imposing its dictates during the entire stretch of the pharaohs’ rule. Ian Shaw draws on existence in the Nile extensively much before 3200 B.C. Thus his book has more details and in-depth information of the region. Life in the region was extensively organized with art, architecture and literature in the ancient world forming the basis for the implosion of a civilization that was to be the first one in history of mankind. Shaw’s book provides the background to the civilization that developed during the reign of the old kingdom of Egypt. 700,000 years of intellectual development must certainly contribute to the making of the grand pyramids. There were mysterious secrets the Egyptians kept closely guarded. It is not as if the powers that came later on such as Babylonia, Assyria and Greece considered the pyramids a waste of manpower and resources. Even if they were enthralled by the pyramids, they had little time to set to work on such edifices that required the efforts of hundreds and thousands of men and took decades to complete. Obviously, the early pharaohs had all the time in the world to erect massive structures. They lived in fairly inactive times when there was little threat from outside. The pharaohs of the middle kingdom during the period 2000-1200 B.C. were able and good administrators. However, their hands were full due to the incursions of the Hyksos and internal disturbances. However, the pharaohs must be credited for sustaining authority for well over a thousand years’ period. The pharaohs of the old kingdom certainly played their part to keep abreast their times. Somewhere down the line there was a breach in the military order due to which the Hyksos were able to take on the Egyptian army and route it. Although it was down, the Egyptian kingdom was far from obliteration. The Hyksos held to one part of the kingdom while the other part continued under the rule of the pharaohs. The Hyksos were overthrown after two centuries in 1600 B.C. Coming back to Ian Shaw’s book, it succinctly and authoritatively explores Egypt and its wonders and provides details on the lives of the pharaohs and their idiosyncrasies. The contents are serious and the information is laid out in clear, documentary tones. Historical accounts are not glossed over. The book is for serious reading purposes. One rarely comes across an historical volume with such painstaking concern for accuracy. Historians may differ in their perspectives on historical personalities. Ian Shaw wants to give complete information without taking recourse to partiality. Conclusion Egypt reigned for the longest period in known history as world super power. For the most part, the pharaohs ruled wisely and well. But they were vain. For the people of Egypt, the pharaohs were the god Horus. The pharaohs had their subjects kiss the earth their feet under them. Needless to say, the pharaohs led luxurious lifestyles. The mummification of their bodies took 70 days. At first, their internal organs were removed and mummified. It was then put inside a canopic jar. Then their bodies were salted with natron and left for 50 days. It took another 15 days to wrap the body and cover it with good charms and omens. Then the bodies were buried with food and treasures. The belief in the afterlife led the pharaohs and the Egyptian people to go to extraordinary lengths to preserve the body. The nature of their lives and their beliefs are chiefly responsible for the long life of the Egyptian dynasties (Pharaohs and Mummies). Sources: Ancient Black Egypt, http://wysinger.homestead.com/blackegypt101.html Down, David, The pyramids of ancient Egypt, http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v26/i4/pyramids.asp Grimal, Nicolas-Christophe & Shaw, Ian, A History of Ancient Egypt, Published by Wiley-Blackwell, 1994 ISBN 0631193960, 9780631193968 Historians of Egypt, http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=645 Jacq, Christian & Dyson, Sue, The empire of darkness, Atria Books, 2003, ISBN 0743476875, 9780743476874 Miller, Joseph M. et al, The Rise and Fall of Civilizations, http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_01/mbutler121401.html Pharaohs and Mummies, http://kiaoranz.tripod.com/ancientegypt/id1.html Phippen, Kari, The Ancient Egyptian People’s Dependence on the Nile, Ancient Egypt – Culture, http://carbon.cudenver.edu/stc-link/AE/culture.html Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, http://www.geocities.com/Axiom43/oldegypt.html Shaw, Ian, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 0192804588, 9780192804587 The Rise and Fall of Egypt, http://www.globusz.com/ebooks/AncientMan/00000018.htm#top Tutankhamun’s mystery truths hidden by Egyptian historians, http://www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/article_1878.shtml Warren, Dr. Lee E, The Great Pyramid of Giza, http://www.plim.org/greatpyramid.html Who is Who in Ancient Egypt, http://www.ancient-egypt.org/index.html Read More