Ancient Egypt had a lot of dynasties. About thirty, give or take. And unlike dynasties in other countries, we don't even call them by unique names. We just say "First Dynasty, Second Dynasty," etc.
Some of these dynasties are super important. Some are unimportant, but contained important rulers or coincided with important events. Others are not important in any way.
In this post, I'll highlight the three that I think are important to come up, by themselves, as answers.
(1) The Third Dynasty
This is the first dynasty of the "Old Kingdom", the classic Egyptian civilization. It was also the dynasty under which pyramid building began. Its most notable ruler was Djoser, the first king to build a step pyramid. Another notable figure was Imhotep, the chancellor who designed the pyramid. Imhotep was also an early pioneer in medicine. He later became a god in the Egyptian religion.
(2) The Fourth Dynasty
This is the dynasty under which the Great Pyramids at Giza were built. Its rulers, therefore, include the three kings who built the three pyramids: Kufu, Khafra, and Menkaure.
But there are other notable Fourth Dynasty figures!
Sneferu: the father of Kufu and founder of the fourth dynasty. He built three pyramids, including the famous "bent" pyramid. He was the first king to build a non-stepped pyramid.
Hetepheres: a common female name during this dynasty. If you hear a question about a pharaoh having a daughter or wife named Hetepheres, you can be sure that you are in the fourth dynasty.
Djedefre: OK, putting this guy here is kind of a stretch. But he was the older son of Kufu who was pharaoh before Khafra. He built a big pyramid on a hill near Giza, but very little of it survives, due to it being plundered for stone during the Roman and Arab periods.
(3) The Eighteenth Dynasty
Probably the most famous Egyptian dynasty, and the only one I would consider writing an ACF Fall tossup about. This is the dynasty that began the Egyptian New Kingdom by expelling the Hyksos (a good Hyksos clue: they allegedly banned hippopotamus hunting, one of many evil and oppressive acts that later historians would accuse them of).
Tons of famous pharaohs here, including:
Hatsepshup: the most famous female pharaoh
Thutmosis III: Hatsepshut's son, who greatly expanded Egyptian military power
Amenhotep III: Considered the peak of Egyptian power, influence, and diplomacy
Ahkenaten: Religious reformer who attempted to institute monotheism; was married to Nefertiti; did all sorts of crazy things and may have had all sorts of physiological disorders
Tutankhamen: restored the old Egyptian religion, only intact royal tomb to be discovered
An important set of documents from the 18th Dynasty are the Amarna Letters. These are named for the new (and later abandoned) capital that Akhenaten established. They are a record of Egyptian diplomacy with the Levant during the reigns of Amenhotep III and Ahkenaten. Not only are these important to Egyptologists, they are also important to people who study the Mitani and other Ancient Near Eastern polities. Also, they are written in Akkadian, not Egyptian (Akkadian was a lingua franca of the ancient world). This is important because vowels are written down in Akkadian, but not in Egyptian. Thus, the Amarna letters give us our best glimpse of what vowels were like in Ancient Egyptian.
Eh, I think in part this is simply because the time span involved. Think about modern Britain, which really goes back less than 1,000 years -- you have at least the following dynasties: Angevins/Anglo-Normans,Yorkists and Lancastrians, Tudors, Stuarts, Cromwells, House of Orange, Hannoverians, and the present-day House of Windor (formerly Saxe-Coburg and Gotha).
ReplyDeleteWe'd never be able to keep up with them all if we assigned names to Egyptian dynasties!