New Kingdom
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The New Kingdom is the period in Egyptian history between the 16th century BCE and the 11th century BCE, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt. It followed the Middle Kingdom, and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period.
The New Kingdom saw Egypt attain its greatest territorial extent. It expanded far south into Nubia and held wide territories in the Near East. Egyptian armies fought Hittite armies for control of modern-day Syria.
One of the best-known New Kingdom pharaohs was Amenhotep IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten in honor of the Aten and whose exclusive worship of the Aten is often interpreted as history's first instance of monotheism (and was argued in Sigmund Freud's Moses and Monotheism to have been the ultimate origin of Jewish monotheism). Akhenaten's religious fervor is cited as the reason why he was subsequently written out of Egyptian history. Under his reign, in the 14th century BCE, Egyptian art flourished and attained an unprecedented level of realism.
Another celebrated pharaoh was Ramesses II ("the Great"), who sought to recover territories in modern Israel, Lebanon and Syria that had been held by Eighteenth-Dynasty Egypt. His campaigns of reconquest culminated in the Battle of Kadesh, where he led Egyptian armies against those of the Hittite king Muwatalli II and was caught in history's first recorded military ambush. Ramesses II was famed for the huge number of children he sired by his various wives and concubines; the tomb he built for his sons, many of whom he outlived, in the Valley of the Kings has proven to be the largest funerary complex in Egypt. Still greater military ability, if less self-promotion, was shown by Ramesses III.
Two other very important pharaohs were Queen Hatshepsut and Thutmose III. Queen Hatshepsut concentrated on expanding Egypt's external trade, sending a commerical expedition to the land of Punt. Thutmose III ("the Napoleon of Egypt") expanded Egypt's army and wielded it with great success.
Ancient Egypt Clipart and Pictures
- Ancient Egypt Architecture (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Architecture)
- Ancient Egypt Art (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Art)
- Ancient Egypt Clipart (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Clipart)
- Ancient Egypt Clothing (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Clothing)
- Ancient Egypt Architecture (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Commerce)
- Ancient Egypt Daily Life (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Daily_Life)
- Ancient Egypt Games and Toys (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Games_and_Toys)
- Ancient Egypt Hieroglyphs (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Hieroglyphs)
- Ancient Egypt People (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Historical_People)
- Ancient Egypt Illustrations (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Illustrations)
- Ancient Egypt Mummies (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Mummies)
- Ancient Egypt Musical Instruments (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Musical_Instruments)
- Ancient Egypt Pyramids (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Pyramids)
- Ancient Egypt Religion (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Religion)
- Ancient Egypt Statues (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Statues)
- Ancient Egypt Temples (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Temples)
- Ancient Egypt Transportation (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/Transportation)
- Ancient War and Armies (http://classroomclipart.com/cgi-bin/kids/imageFolio.cgi?direct=History/Ancient_Civilizations/Ancient_Egypt/War_and_Armies)