Men of Bronze
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Thoth
(Egyptian Djehuty.) The Egyptian god of learning and wisdom, patron of scribes and protector of the priest-physicians. Though normally depicted as an ibis-headed man, Thoth was also associated with the baboon and often assumed this form. The Greeks identified him with their own Hermes. His cult center was in Upper Egypt, at the town of Khemenu (Greek Hermopolis, modern el-Ashmunein).
Tumilat
A fertile valley connecting the eastern Nile delta with the Bitter Lakes (q.v.) and the Red Sea. Its pools and springs presented a tempting target to the water-deprived Bedouin of Sinai (q.v.).
Tyre
Situated a few hundred yards off the Phoenician mainland, the city of Tyre occupied the two largest of a chain of islands, joined by an embankment and a mole to create a pair of excellent harbors. The basis of Tyre's vast maritime empire was the Lebanese cedar and the murex, a species of mollusk that, when boiled, produced a deep purple dye. Tyrian ships ranged the Mediterranean, trading dye and lumber for other commodities — from gold and silver to papyrus and ostrich feathers. Colonists from Tyre founded the North African city of Carthage, c. 814 BCE.
Uadj-Ur
(Egyptian "Great Green".) The Mediterranean Sea.
Uadjet
(Egyptian "healthy eye".) The Eye of Horus (q.v.). Considered the most powerful talisman in ancient Egypt, the Eye symbolized protective strength, watchfulness, and the dominance of good over evil. In mythology, Seth (q.v.) plucked out Horus' left eye in battle as the latter sought to avenge the murder of his father, Osiris (q.v.). Once Horus was victorious, his mother, Isis (q.v.), restored his damaged eye.
Uraeus
Golden image of the cobra-goddess Wadjet, her hood extended in warning, which was attached to the brow of royal crowns and headdresses. The cobra was expected to protect Pharaoh by spitting flames at any who would harm him.
Ushabti
(Egyptian "the Answerers".) Small faience (q.v.) figurines intended to accompany the deceased on their various travels through the afterlife. They were expected to fulfill whatever responsibilities the gods might ask of the deceased, such as manual labor or errand-running. Most tombs included a full complement of uhabti — one for every day of the year plus extras to serve as overseers and managers — roughly four hundred figurines.
Vizier
(Egyptian Yaty.) The chief minister of Egypt, answerable only to Pharaoh. The vizier controlled the food supply, the reservoirs, kept a census on herds, and arbitrated territorial disputes and personal conflicts among the governors of Egypt's provinces. At times, the vizier also controlled access to Pharaoh's person. The office virtually demanded a man of uncommon intelligence and zeal who could be trusted with the business of court; often, the post served as a training ground for royal princes (as well as the occasional queen or princess).
Walls of the Ruler
A series of fortresses along Egypt's eastern border designed to stem the influx of foreigners into the Nile valley. They were garrisoned by elements of the regular army, as well as the Medjay, whose patrol routes took them from Pelusium on the Mediterranean coast to the Gulf of Suez. The Walls of the Ruler were first erected in the Twelfth Dynasty (1985–1773 BCE).
War Crown
(Egyptian khepresh.) The bulbous blue helmet, made of electrum, worn by Pharaoh on campaigns and during military processions.
Way of Horns
The road connecting Egypt with southern Palestine. It begins at Pelusium in the eastern Delta and passes through Sinai (q.v.) and the Negev Desert (q.v.) before reaching Gaza. From there, it continues on into the Phoenician littoral.
Yeb
Known today as Elephantine Island, Yeb occupies the middle of the Nile near the First Cataract (one of six white-water rapids near the Nubian border), facing the modern city of Aswan. The ancient Egyptians considered the island to be of strategic importance; its fortress gave Pharaoh's troops command of the surrounding waterways. Yeb also served as the cult center of the god Khnum (q.v.) and was the site of an important Nilometer (q.v.).
Zagros Mountains
A snow-capped mountain range in the heart of Media, its peaks rising to heights between twelve and fifteen thousand feet as it runs southeast from Mesopotamia. The summer capital of the Persian Empire, Ecbatana, lay in the Zagros Mountains, six thousand feet below the summit of Mount Alwand.
Chronology
Early Dynastic Period: c. 3000–2686 BCE
1" Dynasty: c. 3000–2890 (King Menes unified Upper and Lower Egypt)
2"' Dynasty: 2890-2686
Old Kingdom: 2686–2125 BCE
3" Dynasty: 2686-2613
4"' Dynasty: 2613–2494 (the Pyramids at Giza constructed)
5"' Dynasty: 2494-2345
6"' Dynasty: 2345-2181
7"' and 8"' Dynasties: 2181-2160
First Intermediate Period: 2160–2055 BCE
9"' and 10"' Dynasties: 2160-2025
11"' Dynasty (ruled only at Thebes): 2125-2055
Middle Kingdom: 2055–1650 BCE
11" Dynasty (all Egypt): 2055-1985
12"' Dynasty: 1985-1773
13"' Dynasty: 1773-c. 1650
14"' Dynasty (contemporary with 13`" Dynasty): 1773-1650
Second Intermediate Period: 1650–1550 BCE
15"' Dynasty (Hyksos): 1650-1550
16"' Dynasty (Minor Hyksos, contemporary with 15"' Dynasty): 1650-1580
17"' Dynasty (Thebans, contemporary with 151" and 1611' Dynasties): c. 1580-1550
New Kingdom: 1550–1069 BCE
18"' Dynasty: 1550–1295 (Egypt's "Golden Age"; the Amarna Period; Tutankhamun)
19"' Dynasty: 1295–1186 (the Ramessids; Rameses II, the Great)
20"' Dynasty: 1186-1069
Third Intermediate Period: 1069-664 BCE
21st Dynasty: 1069-945
22"" Dynasty: 945-715
2311 Dynasty (contemporary with late 22°d, 24"1, and early 25th Dynasties): 818-715
24"' Dynasty: 720-715
25"' Dynasty: 747–656 (Nubian pharaohs; the Assyrian conquest)
Late Period: 664–332 BCE
26"' Dynasty: 664–525 (Men of Bronze)
27"' Dynasty (15' Persian Period): 525-404
28"' Dynasty: 404–399 (revolt against Persia)
29t", Dynasty: 399-380
30"' Dynasty: 380–343 (Egypt reconquered)
31st Dynasty (2"d Persian Period): 343-332
Dates for Egyptian pharaohs and events used in Men of Bronze follow those given in: The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Ian Shaw, editor (Oxford University Press, 2000) and Monarchs of the Nile, Aidan Dodson (American University in Cairo Press, 2000). Greek dates are derived from: Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece, Lesley and Roy Adkins (Oxford University Press, 1997). Near Eastern dates are from: Babylon, Joan Oates (Thames and Hudson, 1979). All dates are BCE (Before Common Era).
667 Ashurbanipal of Assyria conquers the Nubian pharaohs of Egypt, paving the way for the rise of the Saite kings.
664 Wahibre Psammetichus (Greek: Psammis), a prince of Sais, seizes control of Egypt from the Assyrians and the Nubians; he becomes the first Pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. During his reign, Greek mercenaries, the "Men of Bronze," begin serving in the armies of Egypt.
c. 635 Lydia, in Asia Minor, is the first nation to coin money. The invention spreads rapidly through Greece and the Aegean.
c. 630 Greek colony of Cyrene founded in North Africa.
627 Death of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal creates a power vacuum. Babylon revolts and the Medes of central Iran begin subjugating their neighbors.
616 Assyria's domination of the Near East is ended by the rise of the Chaldeans (Babylonians) under Nabopolassar. Along with their neighbors, the Medes, the Chaldeans begin the slow conquest of the known world. Political marriage between Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar, and a Median princess cements an alliance between the two fledgling nations.
610 Wehemibre Nekau (Greek: Necos) becomes Pharaoh. He begins work o
n a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea; he sponsors the Phoenician Hanno's voyage around Africa. Nekau also resurrects the Medjay, now in the guise of foreign (non-Greek) mercenaries, to guard Egypt's eastern frontier. Babylon's rising power prompts Pharaoh to begin reasserting his interests in Palestine.
609 The (second) Battle of Megiddo. Pharaoh Nekau defeats a Jewish army under Josiah.
605 Pharaoh Nekau's forces crushed at Carchemish by Crown Prince Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Egypt relinquishes its hold over Palestine. Death of Nabopolassar.
604 Nebuchadnezzar ascends the throne of Babylon. Besides gaining renown as a war-leader and statesman, Nebuchadnezzar would be remembered for all time as the architect of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World (said to have been built to assuage his Median Queen's homesickness for the Zagros Mountains).
601 Babylon invades Egypt and is repulsed with heavy losses. In Palestine, the king of Judah, Jehoiakim, vacillates between casting his lot with Egypt or Babylon. The prophet Jeremiah counsels him to continue paying tribute to Nebuchadnezzar. Jehoiakim ignores him.
595 Neferibre Psammetichus becomes Pharaoh.
593 Egypt invades Nubia to the south and Palestine to the east, campaigns designed to discourage foreign invasion. They prove inconclusive.
594 Solon begins his program of reforms at Athens.
589 Haaibre (Greek: Apries) becomes Pharaoh.
587 Jerusalem destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, who deported its inhabitants to Babylon. Beginning of the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews.
573-573 Nebuchadnezzar lays siege to the Phoenician city of Tyre.
571 Libyans ask Egypt for aid against the expansionist policies of Cyrene. Pharaoh Haaibre, not trusting his Greek mercenaries to fight other Greeks, marches with an army of machimoi, native militia, to Cyrene. He is defeated and forced back to Egypt.
570 Khnemibre Ahmose (Greek: Amasis), a general in the army of Haaibre, uses the reversal at Cyrene to usurp the throne; defeats Haaibre in battle near Memphis. Haaibre escapes and flees to the court of Nebuchadnezzar at Babylon. Ahmose earns the name Philhellene ('Greek-lover') for his patronage of Greek colonists and soldiers.
569 Pharaoh Ahmose makes the town of Naucratis (established as a trading post under Wahibre Psammetichus), near Sais, the epicenter of trade between Greece and Egypt. Anti-Greek sentiments flare up among the machimoi; Ahmose is forced to garrison Memphis with Greek troops to prevent a native uprising.
567 Urged on by Haaibre, Nebuchadnezzar invades Egypt and is repulsed by Ahmose and his armies. Haaibre slain in battle; Ahmose recovers his body and gives him a state funeral. In Tyre, Hasdrabal Barca is born to Gisco, a merchant-prince with strong ties to Egypt.
565 Phanes born at Halicarnassus, in Caria.
562 Nebuchadnezzar dies; he is succeeded by a series of weak rulers. The great Chaldean Empire begins to erode. In Cyrene, Ladice is born into a noble family.
560 Peisistratus usurps power in Athens (the first of three times); though a tyrant (the Greeks used the word tyrannos to describe a king rather than a despot), Peisistratus was known as a patron of the arts and literature, and embarked on a program of public building and beautification.
559 Kurush (Greek: Kuros, Cyrus), a prince of the province of Anshan in Persis, deposes the Median king Astyages and seizes the throne for himself. Birth of the Persian Empire.
556 Nabonidus, an aging antiquarian and former statesman under Nebuchadnezzar, becomes king of Babylon. The lyric poet Simonides, who would later go on to compose the epitaph to the fallen Spartans at Thermopylae, is born on the island of Keos.
555 Callisthenes born at Naucratis.
550 Darius, son of Hystapes, born in Persia. In the Shara Mountains of Arabia, Jauharah is born to a family of mixed Bedouin and Nabatean descent.
546 Battle of Pteria. A coalition of states — Lydia, Egypt, Babylon, and Sparta — cross the Halys River to invade Persia, hoping to squash the rising power of Cyrus. The battle proves inconclusive; the coalition returns to their respective homes. Cyrus, though, pursues the Lydians and their king, Croesus, defeating them in battle at Thymbra and sacking the Lydian capital of Sardis.
542 Pharaoh Ahmose marries Ladice of Cyrene, his third known wife. The union makes Cyrene an ally of Egypt.
538 Cyrus conquers Babylon. Nabonidus slain. The Persian is hailed as a liberator by the Jews of Babylon, whom he allows to return to Palestine, thus ending their Babylonian Captivity. Cyrus' eldest son, Cambyses, is named governor of Babylon.
53 °Cyrus slain while fighting the Massagetae people near the Caspian Sea. Accession of Cambyses. Plans laid for the Persian invasion of Egypt.
527 In Athens, the tyrant Peisistratus dies; his eldest son, Hippias, becomes tyrant. At Babylon, Cambyses begins mustering his invasion force.
526 Phanes of Halicarnassus defects to the court of Cambyses of Persia. Battle of Memphis. Later in the year, Khnemibre Ahmose dies. His eldest son, Ankhkaenre Psammetichus, becomes Pharaoh.
525 Battle of Pelusium. The Twenty-sixth Dynasty ends as Egypt falls to the Persian Empire.
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