Masr qabl al Islam (Egypt before Islam) - The Greatness of Ancient Egypt in its real dimensions

By: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
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[ Posted On: 2007-04-04 ]

Chapter 1: Egypt

The first chapter is an entry the author had originally published in Greek in the Elliniki Ekpaideutiki Encyclopedia of Ekdotike Athenon (Athens – Greece) under the title "Egypt." The entry covered the entire history of that country, down to present times, but the translated part that has been included in this book ends with the beginning of the Christian era in Egypt.

This lengthy chapter starts with the Neolithic settlements discovered in Egypt and then goes through all the pharaonic periods and dynasties. The Ancient Egyptian history is presented by means of a dialectical approach dealing much with the analysis of the various conflicting Ancient Egyptian priesthoods, and presenting the historical developments as the outcome of these conflicts.

The tremendous impact of the Ancient Egyptian clergy being very well known, what rather impresses the reader is the author’s effort to detect traces of rivalry between the monotheistic and the polytheistic systems in religion and politics. Much focus is made on the New Empire with numerous large paragraphs on Hatshepsut, Thutmosis III, Thutmosis IV, Amenhotep IV, Akhenaten, Ramses II and Ramses III.

Long coverage is also offered to later periods, especially to the times when the Memphitic priests were supported by Libyan princes in their opposition to the Theban clergy that did not dare get the military support of the Kushitic dynasty of Napata, the capital of the formidable Ancient Sudanese kingdom, near the modern Sudanese city of Karima, 750 km alongside the Nile in the south the modern Egyptian - Sudanese border. These implications brought about the three successive Assyrian occupations of Egypt that were led by Assarhaddon and Assurbanipal, and ended with the annexation of Egypt to Assyria, and with the installation of Psamtek (Psammetichus I) as a local vassal prince in Sais. A brief summary of the historical developments of the Ptolemaic and Roman times closes this chapter.

Chapter 2: The Eastern Mediterranean during the 13th and the 12th centuries BCE and the Sea Peoples

The second chapter is the Arabic translation of a scholarly article compiled by Megalommatis that was earlier published in Greek in the (Athens based) Journal of Oriental and African Studies (vol. 6 (1994), p. 1 – 50, with brief French Resume) under the title "the Eastern Mediterranean during the 13th and the 12th centuries BCE and the Sea Peoples." The present book offers to Arabic readership access to the vast footnotes accompanying the article that have also been translated from the Greek.

This chapter attempts to reconstruct the story of the Sea Peoples' attacks against a) the Hittite Empire in Anatolia, b) Ugarit and the rest of Canaan and c) Egypt. These events changed entirely the face of the Second Millennium Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, leading to

a) the final collapse of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia,

b) the disappearance of the highly educated, erudite and mercantile environment of Ugarit (a great Canaanite city next to the modern town of Ras Shamra in the coast of Syria, 5 km away from the Turkish border),

c) the fall of the Canaanite order throughout the rest of the Eastern Mediterranean shore,

d) the ultimate dispersion of the Sea Peoples (vanquished by Ramses III in three decisive land and sea battles),

e) the disintegration of the Mycenaean world in mainland Greece, Crete and the Aegean and

f) the gradual decadence of Egypt itself (despite the aforementioned victories).

Only then the way was freed for the rise and the supremacy of the Assyrian empire. The extensively long chapter provides the first modern Arabic translations of Hittite and Ugaritic historical records, as well as many excerpts from Hieroglyphic sources, notably the Annals of Ramses III (sculpted on the walls of his vast temple at Madinet Habu, at Luqsor West). The interdisciplinary approach and the comparative studies led the author come up with a very useful broad understanding of the historical developments.

After detecting the origins of the different peoples that were regrouped by the pharaonic scribes under the name of " Sea Peoples" that we use in modern bibliography, M. S. Megalommatis lets us see the Sea Peoples invasions as a reaction of the vast coalition (Pelasgians – Peleset, Lukka, Trojans – Taruisha, Wss – Assuwans and others) against the Hittite – Achaian / Mycenaean alliance (that had earlier achieved the destruction of Troy). The vast footnotes help the average reader get an accurate insight and a wide view of the ancient Oriental world of the Second Millennium.

Chapter 3: Psammetichus

The next chapter consists in a series of entries first published in Hydria Encyclopedia (edited in Greek and published in Athens, Greece) under the basic title "Psammetichus", name of three Pharaohs of the 26th (called by Manetho "Libyan") dynasty of Egypt (7th and 6th centuries BCE), and of three homonymous later pretenders to the Egyptian throne.

As expected, the largest part of the entry concerns the first Psamtek, known also through the Annals of Assurbanipal (Pisamilku in Cuneiform Assyrian – Babylonian), since he was educated in Nineveh, before being assigned as governor of Egypt that was reduced to an Assyrian province (Musur, or Mat Masri in Cuneiform Assyrian – Babylonian). Psammetichus I became independent only after the end of Assurbanipal’s reign (625 BCE), and ruled until 610 BCE to see Assyria disappear, and Babylonia rise to power in Asia.

Quite contrarily to the founder of the Libyan dynasty and to Nechao II, his successor, Psammetichus II, who was the third royal occupant on the throne of Egypt, did not have major concerns in Asia but in Africa. The qore (kings) of the Kushitic dynasty of Napata (today’s Karima, 750 km alongside the Nile beyond the modern Egyptian – Sudanese border) had been expelled from Egypt by the Assyrian emperors, Assarhaddon and Assurbanipal, following the three successive Assyrian invasions (671, 669, 666) and the annexation of Egypt. They remained however a potential threat for the Libyan dynasty, since they were a perfect political tool in the hands of the Theban Amun priesthood in its fight against the Heliopolitan priesthood that supported the Assyrians and the Libyans.

Psamtek II directed an entire expedition against Napata, supported mostly by his numerous Phoenician, Jewish, Aramaic, Carian, Lycian and Greek mercenaries. The author makes state of their traces (inscriptions, graffiti, etc) left at Abu Simbel and elsewhere. At the end, a special part of the entry tackles especially the subject of the establishment of Greek mercenaries at Naucratis during the Psamteks’ reigns. Bibliography and references are abundant.

Chapter 4, 5 and 6: The temple of Isis at Philae (Aswan); The temple of Horus at Edfu; The temple of Hathor at Denderah.

The three last chapters of the book consist in the Arabic translation of three large articles the author featured in the (Athens based) monthly review Trito Mati. They all concern Ancient Egyptian religious architecture and symbolism, being explanatory and introductory presentations of the temple of Isis at Philae (Aswan), the temple of Horus at Edfu and the temple of Hathor at Denderah.

Megalommatis goes through his innovative interpretational methodology combining this time the architectural details of the temples with the textual contents of the bas-reliefs that cover the walls of the temples in question. The overall architectural scheme, its analogies and its meaning, as viewed through the Egyptian Mythical Concept and Thought, were deeply analyzed by Megalommatis in his efforts to decorticate the numerous secrets that high priests, pro-eminent scholars of the Antiquity, erudite architects and wise men, venerable clergy and multi-talented artists saved (by codifying them in terms of religious architectural symbolism) in these huge monuments that have been erected at the twilight of the Egyptian Splendour, and were preserved until our times.

This book is indispensable to anyone wishing to evaluate the contribution of Egypt to the World History; it offers to the average Arabic readership an accurate and updated picture of the Greatness of Ancient Egypt, avoiding clichés and Orientalist denigrations.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis - is Orientalist, Assyriologist, Egyptologist, Iranologist, Islamologist, Historian and Political Scientist. Dr. Megalommatis, 49, is the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and writes more than 15, modern and ancient, languages.

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