EDWARD'S LECTURE NOTES:
More notes at http://tanguay.info/learntracker
C O U R S E
The Bible's Prehistory, Purpose, and Political Future
Dr. Jacob L. Wright, Emory University
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C O U R S E L E C T U R E The End of Egyptian Imperial Control Notes taken on August 25, 2014 by Edward Tanguay |
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300 years after the fall of the Egyptian New Kingdom
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the states of Israel and Judah to take shape
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also Aram Damascus, Ammon, Moab, and Edom
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at fall of New Kingdom (1050BC)
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the reforms of Akhenaten had drawn Egypt out of international affairs
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Ramside Period (ending of the New Kingdom up to 1050BC)
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Egypt started to make its presence felt again in the Levant
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by this time, the Hittites in Anatolia (modern Turkey) had extended their sphere of influence
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Ramesses II had to hold them in check
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he did this in the Battle of Qadesh
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established with the Hittites a balance of power
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Ramesses' son Merneptah
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had campaigned in Canaan
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Merneptah's claim on the Merneptah Stele was that "Israel is defeated, Israel is no longer"
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despite this claim, Israel grew into a state that fought wars long after Merneptah
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scholars debate whether Merneptah actually campaigned in Canaan
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whatever the case may be, this claim about Israel shows Egypt's lack of concern of the peoples living up in this area
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Egypt is starting to give up its interest in Canaan
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Egypt's strategy was "divide et impera", keep the tribes down and against each other so they can't unite
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the rule of Ramesses and Merneptah was the beginning of the end of Egyptian rule
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a catastrophic collapse of the contemporary world systems
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climate change
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internal unrest
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Assyrian, Hittite courts had problems at home
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the coup de grace to this already unstable geopolitical structure: "The Sea Peoples"
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from the Aegean and Mediterranean worlds
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reflected in confused and frenzied images of Egyptian art from the period
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Ramesses III claims to have conquered various groups
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but it is suggested that he didn't conquer them but allowed them to reside near Egypt
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the forming of the five Philistine city-states on the Mediterranean coast
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de facto demise of an Egyptian province in Canaan
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the Bible describes many conflicts between these city-states and Israel
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1155 Ramesses III dies
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Egypt beset by
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droughts
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low Nile flood levels
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civil unrest
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corruption
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increasing power of the priests at Thebes
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incessant bickering in the court
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regionalization of cultures
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society has turned its attention inwards
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operated on a much more confined political sphere
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caused a power vacuum
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breathing room in which new peoples could emerge on the scene
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Israel, Judah, and their neighbors
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this is the case for three centuries, but then new empires emerge
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meant the end of Judah and Israel
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Egypt also wanted to use these states as a bulwark between them and the Assyrian and Babylonian armies
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Assyrian Empire (9th-7th centuries)
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Babylonian Empire (6th century)
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Persian Empire (6th-4th century)
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all of these empires focused their goals on Egypt
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this meant that the city-states in the Levant land bridge would have to forfeit their sovereignty