The Rise of the Egyptian Empire
In the middle of the 2nd millennium B.C., Egypt emerged from the chaos of the Second Intermediate period energized as never before and entered the period of its history known as the New Kingdom (c. 1552–1069). It was under the New Kingdom that Egypt, for the first and only time in its history, expanded outside the secure geographical confines of the Nile Valley and conquered an extensive empire. The New Kingdom was the creation of the greatest of all Egyptian dynasties, Dynasty 18, an Upper Egyptian dynasty whose founder, the pharaoh Ahmose, drove the Hyksos from their strongholds in the Nile Delta and pushed them back into Canaan. Ahmose’s successors, Amenhotep I and Thutmose I, turned their attentions to the south and began the conquest of Nubia. The greatest of all Dynasty 18 pharaohs, Thutmose III, rounded out Egypt’s growing empire with the annexation of Canaan and southern Syria, defeating a coalition of native rulers at the great Battle of Megiddo.
The Imperial Army and Administration
The New Kingdom was a period of strongly centralized government, with power concentrated in the hands of a king whose warrior qualities were emphasized. The Egyptian homeland was administratively divided for the first time into Upper and Lower provinces, each under its own vizier. Egypt’s traditional administrative districts, called nomes, provided local administration under nomarchs, whose main responsibilities were financial. Egypt’s empire fell naturally into two parts: the Levant and Nubia. The way in which Egypt administered these two areas reflected their very diverse natures. Nubia was given a very close administration under a viceroy and was subdivided into two units, each under a deputy viceroy who oversaw several provinces, each in turn under a governor. The Levant had a looser administration with no viceroy, only several provinces whose governors dealt with local leaders. Led by a professional officer corps, the Egyptian army was organized into several divisions of infantry, named for the gods, but its elite force was its chariot corps.
The End of the Egyptian Empire
Egypt’s imperial fortunes began to wane following the reign of Thutmose III. After the mid-14th century B.C., Egypt faced a new and dangerous rival in the Levant in the form of Hatti, the empire of the Hittites. Botched efforts at a marriage alliance after the death of Tutankhamun resulted in the Hittites temporarily driving the Egyptians from most of the Levant. Under Dynasty 19, multiple threats gathered on Egypt’s imperial horizons. Hatti continued to challenge Egypt in the Levant, while for the first time the desert peoples who lived west of Egypt attacked the Nile Delta. Even aggressive leadership from capable pharaohs such as Sety I and the famous Ramesses II could only hold the line against Egypt’s enemies, not eliminate them. Finally, under Dynasty 20, the dam broke: Egypt was driven from the Levant and retreated from Nubia. Soon afterward, even Egypt’s internal unity dissolved, not to be restored until centuries later.
Robert L. Dise Jr. has taught at the University of Northern Iowa since 1992; prior to joining its faculty, he taught at Clinch Valley College (now the University of Virginia’s College at Wise). He received his B.A. in History from the University of Virginia (at Charlottesville), concentrating on the history of the ancient world, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, specializing in the history of Rome.
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