For ages, the ancient Egyptian civilization has been giving us one wonder after another. For nearly three thousand years this civilization was unrivaled. It was ruled by cruel rulers, popularly known as pharaohs. Their various diabolical activities are rare in human history. Infinite power, endless wealth, incredible status are enough to turn anyone to the dark side very easily. And this is exactly what happened to the pharaohs of ancient Egypt. Dynasty after dynasty had sunk into a sinful world
. Every pharaoh on earth was the epitome of a tyrannical despot, a pompous figure, and a depraved fornicator. Pharaohs claimed to be gods. However, they could never rise above various human defects such as desire, lust, greed etc. One could mistake the pharaohs for their madness upon hearing stories of their cruelty. Today is the first in a series of episodes that will begin on the cruelty of the various pharaohs, their misdeeds, rampant sexuality and their influence over the people. In ancient
Egypt there was a pharaoh who always treated his subjects with disrespect and worthlessness. He loved to use subjects only for his own needs. He is the second Pepi. His royal name was Neferkari. He was a late pharaoh of the Old Kingdom. And then was the golden age of ancient Egypt. Pepi II was the longest-reigning pharaoh in Egyptian history. His reign was 94 years. There is a famous legend about Pepi II or Neferkari. He did not like flies sitting on his body at all. So to avoid the infestation
of flies, he employed a servant whose job was to stand with honey all over his body, so that the flies would be attracted to him! Actually it was a very minor incident. But it gives a good idea of Neferkari's eccentricities. Neferkari had a fascination with various strange and eccentric things. He once sent his troops on an expedition to the sub-Saharan (Nubia). From there his men returned with a strange news. They said, in the Nubian expedition they found a kind of dwarf people. There is a hu
ge difference in the height of the Egyptians with those people of short stature. After hearing this, Neferkari made up his mind that he would like one of those curvy figures anyway! He told his soldiers, “I want nothing more, just guard the dwarf day and night and bring him to me alive. From a hieroglyphic inscription on a rock, we learn that the sole reason for bringing the pygmies to Egypt was to please Neferkari. Pharaoh Neferkari thought only of himself. He didn't care what others thought of
him. We learn of another ruler in China Egypt who was meticulous about his image. It got to the point where he even lied to the people for his fame. Rao Ramesses II (Reign: 1279 BC to 1313 BC) He was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. He won many battles during his reign and built many cities, temples and monuments. He also built huge images of himself. Ramesses II was an unabashed self-promoter. He established himself as a great, powerful warrior and protector of his kingdom
. He founded a temple called Abu Simbel, which has two images of himself on either side of the entrance. Each is about 30 meters high. We learn about the Battle of Kadesh from hieroglyphic inscriptions carved on the walls of Ramesses II's temple. This war was organized between the Egyptian Empire and the Hittites centered on the capture of the city of Kadesh. The Battle of Kadesh is the largest chariot battle in history. About 6,000 horse carriages took part in the war on both sides. Ramesses II
had about twenty thousand soldiers and the Hittite king Muatalish had twice that number of warriors. Ramesses II's forces were ambushed by the Hittites outside Kadesh. The Egyptian army was almost defeated in this attack and Ramesses almost lost his life. Later, the reserve forces arrived and forced the Hittites to retreat. As a result, Ramesses II was unable to recapture Kadesh and his army suffered badly. So he was the defeated force in this war. Ramesses II returned from the battle and procl
aimed that he had won the battle with infinite valor. He alone killed nearly a thousand Hittite warriors. He made a monument based on it! Ramesses II claimed to have won the battle, which he did not. But since he was the all-powerful Ramesses II, history says, he won the battle of Kadesh! The image he created and the false fame placed him among Egypt's greatest pharaohs. History tells of a pharaoh whose strange decisions caused chaos in the entire Egyptian empire. He is Amenhotep IV, better know
n as Akhenaten ("worshiper of the Aten"). Ni was a pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom.
His reign was 17 years and he died around 1334 or 1336 BC. He broke 2000 years of tradition in Egypt with his vision. Prior to Akhenaten's reign, Egypt's religion and culture were well established. But the arrogant Akhenaten set out to change religion, the most important and fundamental foundation of Egyptian culture and society at the time. He considered himself so powerful and divine that
it was not inappropriate for him to change society, religion overnight. And he accomplished this change by inventing a new god! He abandoned traditional Egyptian polytheism and introduced monotheism. In this case he chose Aten or the Sun as the deity for worship. Akhenaten also changed his capital. He moved his capital from the old capital Thebes to a brand new one at Amarna, which he named Akhetaten. The new capital was placed 250 miles or 400 kilometers north of the old one. In fact, it is ver
y difficult to say why he did such a thing. The most popular theory is that during his time the priestly community of the god Amun, which developed around the temple of Karnak, became very powerful and powerful. Akhenaten had to suppress this priestly group at all costs in order to maintain his influence and prestige. So he created an entirely new religion, in which Amun was no longer of any importance. As a result, the temple of Karnak became completely redundant. Thus the priestly society, whi
ch had so long held influence among the people, was completely cut off from Egypt's politics, religion, and economy. Ancient Egypt's main strengths were its well-established religion, social order and thriving economy. They were completely connected to each other. It can be compared to the water cycle or the food cycle, where a change in one component has a direct impact on the other components. The social hierarchy of Egypt in particular, which organized people into different occupations, was e
ntirely dependent on religion. So suddenly changing the religion of the empire can be called nothing but madness! Akhenaten might have been the most successful preacher in history, had his successors followed suit. But it didn't happen. Rather, all his memories were erased after death. Even his mummy was destroyed. But one of his identities could never be erased. And that is, he is the father of Pharaoh Tut. Akhenaten's various decisions may have bordered on madness, but he was never accused of
indiscriminate killing. But there was a pharaoh who put hundreds of people to death for his own pleasure. It is not for the present life, but for the happiness of the next life! It can be discussed in the next episode.
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