The Pharaoh and Kingship Part 7

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From the course by University of Pennsylvania

Introduction to Ancient Egypt and Its Civilization

830 ratings

University of Pennsylvania

Introduction to Ancient Egypt and Its Civilization

830 ratings

Colossal pyramids, imposing temples, golden treasures, enigmatic hieroglyphs, powerful pharaohs, strange gods, and mysterious mummies are features of Ancient Egyptian culture that have fascinated people over the millennia. The Bible refers to its gods, rulers, and pyramids. Neighboring cultures in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean wrote about its god-like kings and its seemingly endless supply of gold. The Greeks and Romans describe aspects of Egypt's culture and history. As the 19th century began, the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt highlighted the wonders of this ancient land, and public interest soared. Not long after, Champollion deciphered Egypt's hieroglyphs and paved the way for other scholars to reveal that Egyptian texts dealt with medicine, dentistry, veterinary practices, mathematics, literature, and accounting, and many other topics. Then, early in the 20th century, Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun and its fabulous contents. Exhibitions of this treasure a few decades later resulted in the world's first blockbuster, and its revival in the 21st century has kept interest alive. Join Dr. David Silverman, Professor of Egyptology at Penn, Curator in Charge of the Egyptian Section of the Penn Museum, and curator of the Tutankhamun exhibitions on a guided tour of the mysteries and wonders of this ancient land. He has developed this online course and set it in the galleries of the world famous Penn Museum. He uses many original Egyptian artifacts to illustrate his lectures as he guides students as they make their own discovery of this fascinating culture.

From the lesson

The Pharaoh and Kingship

The Pharaoh and Kingship Part 14:55

The Pharaoh and Kingship Part 24:19

The Pharaoh and Kingship Part 34:18

The Pharaoh and Kingship Part 42:30

The Pharaoh and Kingship Part 56:21

The Pharaoh and Kingship Part 65:50

The Pharaoh and Kingship Part 74:55

Meet the Instructors

David P. Silverman
Eckley Brinton Coxe, Jr. Professor of Egyptology
Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations

[MUSIC]

There are however, on the royal level,

literary references to the death of Pharoah.

I've already mentioned the story of Sinuhe, and

even an assassination attempt in the teachings of Amenemhat.

The king is very concerned about his own succession in a story

that occurs even earlier, perhaps hinting at his death.

The actual depiction of such a happening, however, does not occur.

However, we might consider, for example,

the seeing of the coffin in Tutankhamun's tomb.

It is a cortege of friends who are leading the coffin and

it is really unprecedented in any royal tomb either before or after him.

It was clearly an attempt to cover up the fact

that the tomb's original owner really was not royal.

And that this scene was probably not royal.

The identification of Tutankhamun comes in three areas,

above the coffin and in the two cartouches to the left.

This scene, however, occurs in many different private tombs

earlier and later, but it is a one time occurrence

in the tomb of royalty at this one period in history.

And the reason for

this is the probability that this tomb was not really prepared for him.

It was actually prepared for a non-royal person

who was given the right to be buried in the Valley of the Kings.

And when Tutankhamen died prematurely, the tomb was hastily readied for a new owner.

Now, this individual was probably a man by the name of and

eventually he took over from King Tutankhamun and

when he died a few years later, he used another tomb.

Perhaps the original one that was supposed to be for Tutankhamen.

So this smaller tomb was made royal simply through

the addition of a cartouche in this one scene.

There are of course alterations elsewhere, but

it shows you how important is the name of an individual.

To a small extent, the strange absence of depictions of the death of a Pharaoh,

except for Tutankhamun, might imply royal immortality on a decorative level.

In other words, again, having to do with decorum,

perhaps as an element of iconographic or imagery decorum.

If so, then the only aspect not achieved by Pharaoh

before death is the attribution of superhuman traits.

Life in ancient Egypt was difficult, and the people suffered a high

rate of infant mortality and royalty was not immune from it.

Even if Princes survived infancy, it was not unusual for

the eldest son of the great King's wife not to life long enough to

ascend to the throne, due to illness or other reasons.

We have several of royal Princes who never made it to throne in fact.

The 18th dynasty of Amenhotep IV was the only surviving

son of Amenhotep III and he succeeded his father to the throne.

But we are aware of at least one other son Thutmose and

there is a small coffin for his cat and that has his name on it.

Many of the sons of Ramesses II are shown on

the walls of the Ramesseum, and they died before their father.

Some, if not a good number of the population,

would also be aware of such events.

And even the more deified king, Amenhotep IV, who came to the throne and

then changed his name to Akhenaten, was not immune.

When one of the six daughters died in childhood,

the occasion was recorded in an unprecedented scene

in the family burial in his new capital in the city of Amarna.

And there you see the family members mourning the death of the young princess.

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