Posted on 12/28/2015 4:46:55 AM PST by SunkenCiv
For nearly a millennium, Egypt's early pharaohs presided over a prosperous and wealthy state that built countless temples and palaces, enormous public works, and the famous Giza pyramids. Much of that prosperity depended on the regular inundations of the Nile River in a country that otherwise would be only desert.
Then, around 2200 B.C., ancient texts suggest that Egypt's so-called Old Kingdom gave way to a disastrous era of foreign invasions, pestilence, civil war, and famines severe enough to result in cannibalism. In the past decade, climate data revealed that a severe and long-term drought afflicted the region during this same time, providing evidence of an environmental trigger that led to what has long been considered a dark age of Egyptian history.
But a number of Egyptologists argue that the simple story of a drought resulting in an abrupt societal breakdown doesn't hold water. "The majority view today is that the Old Kingdom did not come to an end all of a sudden," says Thomas Schneider, professor of Egyptology at the University of British Columbia. Instead, he and others say that climate stress affected different parts of Egypt in different ways -- and not always for the worst. "We need to move away from this idea of collapse," he says.
Much of the 20th-century view of the period between the Old Kingdom's demise and the start of the Middle Kingdom -- what Egyptologists call the First Intermediate Period -- is based on a text called the "Admonitions of Ipuwer" that tells the story of a society in turmoil. "Everywhere barley has perished and men are stripped of clothes, spice, and oil," reads one passage. "Everyone says: 'There is none.' The storehouse is empty and its keeper is stretched on the ground."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
They discovered socialism
There are a thousand-odd cultures, societies, or lands that faded away....each for a different reason. In the cases of most....they simply transformed into something more or something lesser.
In the case of Egypt’s Kingdom....they needed to be able to take on any invader or threat, and they simply didn’t have the power to ensure that.
I also think commercial power (banking, trade, wealth, etc) eventually grew to be a weakness in their case. Rome stayed in a strong state as long as they were the central theme for all trade in the region. When they lost their ownership and control....they weren’t able to stay in control.
What will our mark on humanity be?
My love’s bigger than a Cadillac.
the rest of the world changed
the old kingdom did not
it succombed to exterior change
They appointed a “Kenyan” Pharaoh.
I listened to an audible book on ancient Egypt earlier this year. The first kingdom was extremely conservative and resisted any and all progress. Because of this, they succeeded as a civilization for thousands of years. Conservatism and belief in tried and true methods of structuring society works. Modern liberalism destroys civilization, pure and simple. We are living through the modern version of the decline of the Old Kingdom.
Death by sclerosis happens an awful lot more frequently than the apocalypse.
Not the Old Kingdom.
Including the Early Dynastic period, the Old Kingdom lasted nearly 1,000 years -- from BC 3,150 to 2,181.
It was brought down not by foreign invasion, but by 50+ years of severe climate change (all those SUVs & coal power plants, donchaknow!).
This resulted in over 100 years of civil war (so the records say) finally ended by Pharoh Mentuhotep II, who ascended the Theban throne in 2055 B.C. beginning the 500 year Middle Kingdom.
So, let's see... how old is our free republic, 240 years?
What do you suppose are the odds we'll last even half as long as Egypt's Old Kingdom?
“The first kingdom was extremely conservative and resisted any and all progress.”
Progress isn’t a thing one should proudly resist. (this is not to be confused with “progressivism”)
I would not put much stock in such conclusions about the Old Kingdom. What little we know comes from Upper Egypt. What we do not know lies in Lower Egypt (Giza and so forth) which is buried under hundreds of feet of Nile mud.
We do not know, for instance, the actual progression of Pharaohs as the Kings List is an old forgery, but is used nonetheless for official dating. Many Pharaohs had different names during their reigns, many of those names were identical to the names of Pharaohs which came before or proceeded them; some names are historically unknown, while others appear out of place on the List; a very confusing state of affairs.
Then there is the whole culture/societal situation. We think in linear and logical ways. They did not. They thought more along the lines of what we call symbolic thinking - radically different. To attribute features of Western civilization and thought like ‘progress’, ‘liberalism’, and ‘conservatism’ to them is to make them like us which they were not; a god to them was not an actual being, but a symbol of a particular train of thought or situation.
It goes on. They are a very fascinating people who may or may not be who they are currently believed to be. The whole of Egyptology and particularly the Old Kingdom is in turmoil, despite the heavy handedness of certain authority figures to keep the lid on as they have a lot invested in the current historical linear model of those times.
Egyptian archaeology is rigidly controlled by those individuals and by the Egyptian government so as to not rock the boat. This means that only those archaeologists and historians which are state approved may do research within the country, and even then some areas seem to be out of bounds, or permission given is revoked at the last minute for no particular reason.
From the article: climate data revealed that a severe and long-term drought afflicted the region during this same time, providing evidence of an environmental trigger
_________________________________________________________
Man made global warming. Obviously.
The ET’s left.
Thanks...quite insightful.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
