ANC: Lesson - Egypt: Politics and Religion

Map of the Egyptian Empire in the 15th Century BCE. Includes both Egypt and Kush. Egypt is located in NE Africa.Egypt: Politics and Religion

Mesopotamia was never a unified political structure that dominated the entire region. That distinction belongs to a civilization that emerged around the same time and to the southwest—the Nile River Valley Civilization. By 3200 BCE, Egypt was unified as one political state.

Egypt had a few geographic advantages that Mesopotamia did not, and it helped shape their different societies. The first was that Egypt’s floods were much more predictable. These annual floods would leave behind fertile soil. Beyond this fertile land, Egypt is surrounded by the Saharan desert. This meant that Egypt (and Kush, Egypt’s neighbor to the South) enjoyed the benefits of the river with a lot less worry about invasion.

Image: a bust depicting a pharaohThe Politics and Religion of Ancient Egypt

By 2000 BCE, ancient Egyptians had established a strong tradition of a theocratic monarchy in a unified political state. Their kings were known as pharaohs and they built their capital in the city of Thebes. 

Pharaohs were considered to be the descendants of the Egyptian gods, particularly the sun god Ra, and served as the civilization's commander in chief, judge, and main religious figure. They were basically responsible for keeping Ma'at, the Egyptian term for order. They were also assisted by priests who honored the gods in temples.

The Age of the Pharaohs

The age of the pharaohs lasted over three thousand years and is marked by periods of great development as well as destruction. Two of the most important early pharaohs were Khufu and Hatshepsut. Khufu lived around 2500 BCE and was the first Pharaoh to declare himself a god. The Egyptians had a better outlook on their gods than the Mesopotamians (after all, their geography was easier) and they also believed that if a departed soul could pass dangerous tests, the afterlife was a good place. So as a god-ruler, Khufu wanted to have a wonderful afterlife. He commissioned the Great Pyramid of Giza, which took over 20 years to make and to this day is still nearly 450 ft tall! In addition to the mummified body of the Pharaoh, servants filled the pyramid with food, drink, jewelry, pets, and more. Many other pharaohs and nobles were mummified and entombed. Another famous Pharaoh was Hatshepsut. It was unusual for a woman to be a Pharaoh, but she encouraged trade, art, and magnificent architecture.

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